Music in the Park - Saturday, May 17
Main Stage |
North Carolina Stage |
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The John Brown Quintet Media Sponsor: The Carolina Times 2:00-3:00
The John Brown Quintet is John V. Brown (bass), Ray Codrington (trumpet), Gabe Evens (piano), Brian Miller (saxophone), and Adonis Robe (drums).
John Brown is a Grammy-nominated bassist and the Director of the Jazz Program at Duke University. He has performed all over the world with artists like Elvin Jones, each member of the Marsalis family, Nnenna Freelon, Rosemary Clooney, Nicholas Payton, Mark Whitfield and has performed regularly with the North Carolina Symphony since 1992.
The combination of the diverse backgrounds of each band member allows the group to play a wide range of jazz styles including original versions and new arrangements of traditional jazz standards, modern jazz pieces and original compositions of each band member. Collectively, the band members share decades of experience performing for all types of events all over the world. The members of the group have performed at some of the world's best known venues including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland), Jazz a Vienne (France) and other festivals in Italy, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Belgium and Japan.
Otis Taylor Media Sponsors: Fairway Outdoor Advertising & 4:00-5:00
With Otis Taylor, it’s best to expect the unexpected. While his music, an amalgamation of roots styles in their rawest form, discusses heavyweight issues like homelessness, tyranny and injustice, his personal style is lighthearted. “I’m good at dark, but I’m not a particularly unhappy person,” he says. Part of Taylor’s appeal is his contrasting character traits. But it is precisely this element of surprise that makes him one of the most compelling artists to emerge in recent years. Guitar Player proclaimed him “arguably the most relevant blues artist of our time,” while Billboard has called him “one of the most innovative, thought-provoking blues artists to emerge in the last 20 years.” Whether it’s his unique instrumentation (he fancies banjo and cello), or the sudden sound of a female vocal, or a seemingly upbeat optimistic song takes a turn for the forlorn, what remains consistent is poignant storytelling based in truth and history. His latest release, Recapturing the Banjo is Taylor’s eighth album.
In addition to traditional touring and recording, Taylor spearheads a Blues in the Schools program called "Writing the Blues." Created with his wife, Carol, the program includes visits by Otis to elementary schools and universities around the country to offer advice, enlighten, and mentor students about the blues.
Janiva Magness 6:00-7:00
Los Angeles based Janiva Magness is one of today’s most talented and recognized blues and roots vocalists. A three-decade darling of the blues genre, Janiva currently resides at the top of the genre. In May 2007, Janiva won her second consecutive Blues Music Award for Contemporary Female Artist of the Year beating out contemporaries Susan Tedeschi, Shemekia Copeland and Marcia Ball. Janiva is nominated for the 2008 Blues Music Award for the B.B. King Entertainer of the Year Award.
Janiva was barely a teenager when she was consumed by the power and expression of rhythm and blues from the radio stations of her hometown of Detroit, Michigan. Janiva’s influences include Etta James, Billie Holiday, Elmore James, Robert Johnson, Aretha Franklin, Jackie Wilson, Memphis Minnie & Koko Taylor - some of whom she has since shared stages with and drawn comparisons. In addition to being an outstanding vocalist, Janiva Magness is a favorite on the North American and European festival circuit. She has provided vocals to Brian Setzer, Jimmy Buffett, the late R.L. Burnside, both former Fabulous Thunderbird guitarists Kid Ramos and Kirk ”Eli” Fletcher, and many others.
Janiva continues to tour behind her seventh album and sophomore release for NorthernBlues Music entitled ‘Do I Move You?’ In December 2007 she returned to the studio to record her eighth album to be released on Alligator Records.
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Killer Filler 11:30-12:30
Killer Filler hails from Hillsborough, NC, and has been rocking Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill for the past three years. Killer Filler plays entirely instrumental music, with a penchant for 1960’s-stye surf, Memphis soul, lounge, and New Orleans funk. There’s even a touch of big band, swing, latin, and pop thrown in for good measure. If you have discovered bands like The Ventures, Booker T and the MGs, The Champs, The Meters, and The Shadows, then you know where Killer Filler is coming from. The brainchild of guitarist Chris Bess, the band also features Pete Gamble, Byron Settle, Mark Murphy, and Rusty Miller.
Mixed Water 1:00-2:00
Born out of the band room in 2005 at Shaw University in Raleigh, N.C. these seven musicians had no choice but to obey the forces of nature that brought them together. With the mellow, melodious sounds of the keys, trumpet, sax, bass, trombone, drums and vocals, their formula concocts an emotion like a strong, elixir to the palate of sound. Comprised of Aaron McCoy, Brandi Q. Hancock, Chris Evans, Jonathan Randall, Jermone Randall, Andre Bernard, and Montrell Parker, the group has performed for or with such artists as The O’Jay’s, Natalie Cole, Clifton Davis, L.L. Cool J., The North Carolina Symphony, and many more.
Shalini 3:00-4:00
Shalini is a guitarist and bass player who is crazy about 60s, 70s and 80s pop music. Her live musical experience started in the mid-80s playing bass in a college band while attending UW-Madison. After moving to San Francisco in 1990, she searched for other musicians with the same taste, established her own band, Vinyl Devotion, and gained experience playing to city crowds, while writing songs and making records for independent, like-minded labels. After a move to the South, she expanded her musical horizons by trying to fill in gaps in her rock education and meeting more seasoned and professional-level musicians, which boosted her own self-taught level of playing. The move opened new doors: to enjoy more stability, travel regionally, and play more outdoor shows to larger, varied audiences.
Completed in the summer of 2007, the eleven-track The Surface and the Shine is due Oct. 8th on Electric Devil/125 Records. The theme is more cosmic and mature, but the songs retain the thread of fun that runs through Shalini's previous material.
Nathan Asher & The Infantry 5:00-6:00
Nathan Asher & the Infantry didn't anticipate their recent explosion of praise when they first established the band in 2003. All they set out to do was create great music with meaning and connect with their fanbase, both lyrically and instrumentally. The Raleigh band's albums, including 2005’s Sex Without Love, were released to rave reviews, and have drawn comparison to the works of Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. Band members include Nathan Asher, Lawson Bennet, Chris Serino, Turner Brandon, Dan Abbate, & Nick Abbate.
Asher, an award winning poet, songwriter, and playwright, has a distinct and powerful gift for storytelling. His lyrics punch through the music, bridging the gap between the lyrical dexterity of spoken-word and the melodic and emotional subtlety of anthemic rock-n-roll. The songs are driven by interwoven organ, piano, guitar and harmonica lines. The band has won both the John Lennon International Songwriting Contest and the Great American Songwriting Competition.
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