Blues & Jazz Festival 2002

The 10th Annual Erie Art Museum Blues and Jazz Festival

This summer highlights the 10th anniversary of the Erie Art Museum Blues & Jazz Festival in Erie, Pennsylvania. A free, two-day event, the festival provides a great mix of music and culture that brings thousands of friends and families together each year. The Erie Art Museum Blues & Jazz Festival will be held on Saturday and Sunday, August 3 and 4, at Frontier Park at the corner of the Bayfront Parkway and West 8th Street. In addition to the many performances by local, national and international acts, the festival also features arboretum tours of the park, children's activities at the McCain Pavillion area and, as always, great food by local vendors.

Bring your blanket, lawn chair, or tent. Pizza, ice cream, and other delicacies will be available. The 10th year anniversary logo, designed by Todd Scalise, will be available on t-shirts, buttons, and limited-edition prints, which are generously provided by Icon Screenprinting.

Shuttle service to and from Frontier Park is available at the Park & Ride lot on the Bayfront Parkway. Shuttle service will run every 15 minutes from 11:30 to 10:30 p.m. each day. There is a nominal charge of 50¢ per ride.

Volunteers are needed to help with this year's festival. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Volunteer Coordinator Heather Gill at (814) 459-5477 or heather@erieartmuseum.org.

Special Events

• A RACHEL SUMNER REPRISE for children will be performed in front of the main stage on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

• Fun and free CHILDREN'S ART ACTIVITIES are offered from 1 to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday at the Patricia Murphy McCain Outdoor Classroom, thanks to WQLN.

• Beautiful walking TOURS OF THE LAKE ERIE ARBORETUM at Frontier Park will be given on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. and Sunday at 5:30 p.m. Meet at the kiosk in Frontier Park near the corner of 8th Street and the Bayfront Parkway.

• Meet and talk with VIBRAPHONIST AND COMPOSER KHAN JAMAL at the Meet the Composer Workshop on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. at the Arboretum Gazebo.

• POET SEAN DOUGHERTY will perform on Sunday at 7:30 on the main stage. A former high school dropout and factory worker, Dougherty is now a nationally renowned performance poet. He is author of five books including the book of experimental prose The Biography of Broken Things and Except by Falling, winner of the 2000 Pinyon Press Poetry Prize from Mesa State College and nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. He has performed coast to coast at such venues as the Detroit Art Festival, the Connecticut Poetry Festival, NYC’s The Knitting Factory, and the Lollapalooza Music Festival. Currently, he teaches at Penn State Erie and as a poet in the schools across the East Coast.

Information About the Bands

Saturday, August 3:

Rachel Sumner: Winner of the National Parenting Publications Award, and finalist in the 1999 Children’s Music Web Awards—an award voted on only by children-—Sumner strives to educate children on self-esteem and languages through the arts. Currently a resident artist at the Wolf Trap Institute, Sumner states "The arts are a very powerful educational tool. There is nothing more rewarding to me than seeing a young person learn from one of my songs or stories." Sumner is also dedicated to helping parents and educators by leading workshops on using rhyming songs and hands-on activities to educate children.

Starting her career as an actor and singer, Sumner performed with orchestras and in television and radio before breaking into full-time children’s entertainment. Having toured across the country and in Europe, Sumner is loved by children of all ages. Her music videos can be seen on The Learning Channel’s "Ready, Set, Learn" and her recordings can be heard on various children’s radio stations. This multiple award winner definitely provides an energetic and upbeat performance-—expect to get up and dance!

Orquesta Tropical: One of Pittsburgh’s most exciting dance bands, this Latin ensemble features two vocalists and a full rhythm section, including congas, bongos, timbales, and guiro. They play the entire spectrum of Afro-Cuban and Caribbean music and show off some great Latin dances including the salsa, meringue, cha cha, mambo, and bomba. Heating up the Pittsburgh scene for years with their explosive horn section, dynamic rhythms and complex vocal stylings, the ensemble comes to the Erie Art Museum Blues and Jazz Festival for the first time.

Chris Beard: Bluesman Chris Beard has been playing guitar since the tender age of five, and once he started playing guitar there was no stopping him. His father Joe Beard, an acclaimed blues artist from the South, first encouraged him to pick up the guitar. By age fifteen Beard was performing and writing his own songs, but it was not until almost twenty years later that he pursued a music career. In 1997 he released his first album, Barwalkin’, and by the following year he was nominated for the W.C. Handy Award for Best New Blues Artist. Since then, he has gone on to release two more albums and has won the Muddy Waters Award for Best News Blues Talent. Influenced by the Motown era, Jimi Hendrix, and his father, Beard has proven his versatility as an artist by capturing both traditional and modern blues. Blues Revue raves about the Rochester, NY native, "His guitar work has great tone and a mature, individual style, and his songwriting bears some tasty fruit."

Big Bill Morganfield: "Morganfield delivers a swaggering, sauntering, stomping and sweaty five-alarm show that has the audiences roaring," raves the Toronto Star. One of the most accomplished blues musicians to appear in years, Morganfield has been revered by critics as a walking tribute to his father, McKinley Morganfield, better known as Muddy Waters. He has a style all his own that is reminiscent of the 40s and 50s blues accompanied by powerful, husky bass vocals and a distinctive guitar slide.

After traveling in Europe and Canada in the 1990s with Bob Margolin and Pinetop Perkins, Big Bill decided to start performing on his own. In 2000 Big Bill won the W.C. Handy Award for the Best New Blues Artist. A self-taught guitar player—just like his father—he has written over 200 songs, appeared in a PBS documentary tribute to Muddy Waters, and released two albums. His debut album Rising Son was praised as both a tribute to his father and a highly original recording. According to The Boston Herald "Morganfield brings plenty of originality to the party—in the high quality of his original tunes, his blunt yet effective guitar style and the way he casually rises to the first-rank level of his accompaniment."

Super Rail Band: "A spellbinding display!" raves The New York Times about the Rail Band for their participation in the Africa Out Loud series at Lincoln Center. The band comes from Mali in West Africa and is led by Djelimady Tounkara, one of Africa’s most brilliant musicians. Djelimady ‘s laser-sharp fret work on the guitar is truly awesome—he was voted best African artist in the BBC 2002 World Music Awards. The Super Rail Band performs a unique, danceable Afro-pop based on Afro-Cuban jazz, American swing and traditional Manding melodies, with a fiery blend of several other musical styles including reggae and salsa. According to the Arcadiana Sunday the band "Can twist trilling African tones on a dime into funky, fuzzy chords reminiscent of the jazz fusion music of the 60s and 70s." The band maintains their popularity, at home and on the international scene, by basing their work on ancient African music.

The Rail Band started in the early 1970’s by playing in Bamako, Mali’s capital, to entertain travelers for the national railroad line. Since then they have gone on to release numerous CDs including Mansa and their latest release De Bamako which is praised for its blend of Afro-Cuban style and American Jazz. So put your dancing shoes on and be sure not to miss this opportunity to see the Super Rail Band!

Sunday, August 4:

Dave Stevens Big Band: See Northwestern Pennsylvania’s only professional big band right here in its hometown of Erie! The band’s leader, Dave Stevens, is a freelance trombonist who teaches at East High School and has played with many local ensembles including the Erie Philharmonic. The band, with its 22 members, has opened for nationally-known Huey Lewis and the News, Nancy Kelly, and many others. According to the band, their mission is to "create and foster knowledge of America’s true, original art form, jazz, in the greater Erie community." They bring this mission to life by playing at local festivals and entertaining, young and old, with an eclectic mix including swing, jazz, rock, and contemporary. Sure to please even the most critical of listeners!

Chuck Ventrello’s Sack O’ Bones: For years Chuck Ventrello has entertained audiences with his smooth jazz style, playing locally with the Philharmonic and with legends including Mel Tormé and Johnny Mathis. He brings his octet to the festival, featuring four trombones, guitar, bass, drums, and Ventrello on saxophone and flute. Sure to delight any listener, expect hard-swinging original arrangements devoted to the music of such luminaries as Charlie Parker, Thelonius Monk, Miles Davis and John Coltrane. The ensemble has been prominent at a number of venues besides the Blues and Jazz Festival including Jazz in the Pines, Erie Summer festival of the Arts, WQLN Music Series and First Night Erie. The trombonists are Dennis Kitchen, Kent Tucker, Lee Williams and Dave Stevens. The rhythm section consists of bassist John Huegel, drummer Carl Alanakian and guitarist Sheldon Peterson.

Mary Alice Brown: A woman who needs no introduction, Erie’s own Queen of Jazz returns to the festival with an enthusiastic performance in her superlative style. After polishing her talent at the Erie Conservatory of Music, Brown has spent a lifetime entertaining and educating with her music. In addition to her great repertoire of concerts, Brown established a community music school at the John F. Kennedy Community Center and currently works with students at the Center and at Mercyhurst College. Ms. Brown has traveled the world, performing with greats such as Bob Hope, Kenny Burrell, Jimmy Smith and Dexter Gordon, before returning home to Erie to enliven audiences and inspire students throughout the region.

Khan Jamal Quartet: Winner of DownBeat magazine’s International Critics Award for vibraphone, Khan Jamal brings a mesmerizing performance to Erie that features the music of Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, and Thelonius Monk as well as his own "creative improvised" originals. This vibraphone master’s music also reflects and pays homage to the great artists who came from Philadelphia, his place of residence, such as Philly Joe Jones and McCoy Tyner. Performing for over 20 years, Jamal has released numerous albums and played with many renowned contemporaries including Archie Shepp, John Lewis, Grover Washington Jr. and Sun Ra.

In addition to participating in over 60 recordings, Jamal has toured worldwide making his music, influenced by African and Caribbean percussion, known on the international scene. He is also co-founder and director of the Philadelphia Jazz Composers Forum Orchestra a "non-profit organization that was established to nurture and support musicians as they create original works of music." A "Meet the Composer" workshop, where listeners can meet and talk with Jamal, will be held before the quartet’s performance at the Arboretum Gazebo on Sunday at 3:30 p.m

Mario Canonge: A native of Martinique in the West Indies, Canonge is one of today’s most versatile and thrilling jazz pianists and composers. He explores the riches of his native culture by mixing the music and the songs, inventing a brilliant new blend of zouk, salsa and jazz. Having refined his style for more than two decades with over fifty recordings and innumerable performances throughout the world, Canonge expresses adept vocal abilities along with a phenomenal piano performance. JazzReview.com states "Canonge is a master of jazz piano and has some of the most exciting solo performances one is likely to come across." Now residing in France, this artist comes to Erie for the first time to display his amazing ability to move smoothly from steamy jazz to "evangelic lyrics" making this a definite must see! Canonge is accompanied by Micle Alibo on bass, Jean Philippe Fanfant on drums, Bago on percussion, and Tony Chasseur and Beatrice Poulot on vocals.

The festival is made possible by the generous support of hundreds of volunteers and by many local individual and corporate sponsors. Major sponsors include: Erie Arts Endowment of the Arts Council of Erie; the City of Erie; Highmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield; Classy 100 and Z102 FM; Erie Times-News; Spiegel Management; Saint Vincent Health System; Avalon Hotel; Erie Insurance Group; Amthor Steel; 5 Boys & A Dad; Hilbert Industries Inc.; WQLN Public Broadcasting; American Tinning and Galvanizing; Otto Imig Memorial Fund; RentWay; Dr. Michael W. Brown; Gannon University; McCain Foundation; Citizens Bank; Action Printing; Bay Harbour Electric; Icon Screenprinting; Erie Brewing Company; the Gensheimers, the Holsteins, and the Speichers; JazzErie; and Pepsi. The festival is also sponsored by Plymouth Tavern, LeMac Packaging, Gohrs Printing, Ferraro Ford and Sunset Designs.

Support for this program is provided in part by the Clarence E. Beyers Music Performance Fund of the Erie Arts Endowment, The Erie Arts Endowment is the endowment of the Arts Council of Erie.

Funding for Meet the Composer, Inc. is provided with the support of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, ASCAP, Virgil Thomson Foundation, and National Endowment for the Arts.

Khan Jamal is partially supported by a grant from the Pennsylvania Peforming Arts on Tour, a program developed and funded by the Vira I. Heinz Endowment; the William Penn Foundation; the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency; and The Pew Charitable Trusts; and administered by Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation.