18 Stirling Road
on the Circle in Watchung, NJ 07069
Central New Jersey's Home for the Arts
WACenter@aol.com
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18 Stirling Road on the Circle in Watchung, NJ 07069 Central New Jersey's Home for the Arts |
WACenter@aol.com |
The Blues is America's musical gift to the world. A people's story that is rooted in the deep South and that follows their migration North to Chicago, West to the San Francisco Bay Area and East to the Carolinas. The Blues is a precursor to Jazz and the wellspring for R&B and Rock n' Roll. Blues traditions are being carried on today by prominent artists like B.B. King whose career spans the better part of modern blues and Eric Clapton who cut his teeth on the raw sounds of America's blues pioneers like Robert Johnson, Big Bill Broonzy and Muddy Waters.
We'll feature a variety of Blues, R&B, Cajun and Zydeco bands and solo performers -- in electric as well as acoustic presentations. Most shows will include both a feature performer and an opening act. Admission to all presentations will include an intermission with desserts and coffee. Also, our shows take place at one of two excellent listening rooms - The Watchung Arts Center or the "Dome".
So, "Step it up and go" to an upcoming show! You will not be disappointed.
Ann Rabson (of Saffire --The Uppity Blues Women) makes
a rare appearance with her talented nephew, Kenji Rabson and the
legendary, Charles “Honeyboy” Otis!
Back home in Indiana, Ann heard Big Bill Broonzy’s version of
“Move to the Outskirts of Town” and her life was changed. Ann says
her world “went from black and white to color”. Now, in her 40th
year as a recording and touring blues artist, Ann Rabson is known and
respected worldwide. As a blues performer, she is a triple threat!
She demonstrates perfection, nightly, on great two-fisted piano solos;
with her smoky, barrelhouse vocals; and with her intricate, finger-picking
guitar style. She is joined here by nephew Kenji, a sought after
NYC jazz bassist, and by Charles “Honeyboy” Otis, a quintessential gentleman
timekeeper and lyrical percussionist. Come see and hear the heart-stopping,
jaw-dropping style of blues that has won Ann seven consecutive nominations
as the W.C. Handy Award Female Traditional Blues Artist of the Year.
Jeanne Lozier Band - Englewood New Jersey native Jeanne Lozier,
who burst upon the nightclub and festival scenes with Tommy Knight
and Moose and the Bulletproof Band, has teamed up with Sticky
Fingers' Gar Francis on guitar, Mike Fagan on guitar &
vocals, Tony Storm on bass, and Glen Johnson on drums. Jeanne hopes to capture the hearts of a new breed of listeners with her sultry, yet powerful vocals that have already attracted
such notables as Ernest Hayes of Screaming Jay Hawkins fame.
From coffeehouses to concert halls,
festivals and beyond, John
Hammond has spent forty years entertaining blues,
folk and rock audiences around the world, performing intense
solo-acoustic blues. A Grammy Award winner and four time nominee,
Hammond is also a multiple W.C. Handy award winner who
has shared the stage and/or recorded with many of the masters,
including Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, John Lee Hooker and
Howlin' Wolf. John has recorded over twenty five albums
and his passionate commitment to traditional blues made him
the natural choice to host the BRAVO TV special and Sony Home
Video, "The Search for Robert Johnson". His latest
CD "Wicked Grin", penned and produced by his longtime
friend Tom Waits, has been collecting accolades all year.
Smokin’ Joe Kubek is one of the hottest guitar
players on the blues scene today. He and his guitar have
been burning up stages for the past 30 years. A prodigy
at the age of 14, Kubek frequented the clubs around Dallas playing
with Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert King and Freddie King. At age
19, he was a member of Freddie King’s band. His style is most
often compared to that of Vaughan and yet the influences of the “Three
Kings” are ever present, as well as, those of Hendrix and Winter.
Kubek hit his stride when he teamed up with bebop jazz guitarist, B’nois
King. Somehow, King’s silky smooth vocals and fat jazz rhythm chords
are a perfect match to Kubek’s blues-rock lines.
