CUTHBERT, Georgia - Fletcher Henderson Jr., a pianist, arranger and bandleader who is credited with ushering in the swing era of the 1920s and '30s, will be honored at a jazz festival Saturday in his hometown, where his father was a school principal and his mother, a music teacher.

Saturday's festival in Cuthbert, a southwest Georgia town of 3,700 near the Alabama line, will feature five bands, including the Macon Jazz Band & Chorus, the U.S. Marine Corps Jazz Combo from Albany and a group from Albany State University.

The Cuthbert Chamber of Commerce sponsored the first Henderson festival in 1987, and Lionel Hampton, a famous jazz bandleader, percussionist and vibraphone virtuoso, performed there the following year.

The festival wasn't held for a few years. Then Kearney retired from the New York school system, returned to her hometown and rekindled interest.