Blues
Festival to showcase power-packed artists
lineup
By
Brian Brannon
Summer Forty-Niner
When
Ray Charles, pulled out of the 24th Annual
Long Beach Blues Festival, things looked
bleak. A bad hip prevented the rhythm and
blues vocalist known as The Genius from
performing at the Labor Day weekend event
at Cal State Long Beach as expected.
"It
was just recommended by his doctor that
he didn't do any more dates for a while,"
said Gary Chiachi, producer of the Blues
Festival and director of concert promotions
for radio station KJZZ 88.1FM.
But
the show must go on, and Chiachi was able
to secure another artist of comparable stature,
the legendary Al Green, known for such hits
as "Take Me To The River," "Love
and Happiness," "Let's Stay Together"
and "Tired of Being Alone."
Green
performed a few years ago for a sold-out
performance at one of the biggest blues
festival crowds in history. And when Chiachi
called to ask him to fill in for Charles,
the singer agreed.
"I
just got really lucky," Chiachi said.
The
Blues Festival is a two-day event featuring,
in addition to Green, a powerhouse line-up
of blues artists. Included on the bill this
year are Joe Cocker, the Neville Brothers,
Keb' Mo', Billy Preston, Joe Louis Walker,
Charlie Musselwhite and his Continental
Drifters, Irma Thomas, and a Blues Master's
Jam featuring Carey Bell, Hubert Sumlin,
Pinetop Perkins, Willie "Big Eyes"
Smith and Bob Margolin. Opening the festival
are Southern California's own King Brothers.
Virtually
all of the performers at this year's festival
are headline material, said Sean Heitkemper,
producer of the Atomic Lounge radio show
on KKJZ and membership manager for the radio
station.
For
instance, raspy-voiced blues singer Joe
Cocker reached international stardom with
his versions of "A Little Help From
My Friends" in 1968 and "The Letter"
with Leon Russell. But like many other British
rockers, including the Rolling Stones, the
Animals and the Beatles, Cocker got his
start singing blues songs.
Speaking
of the Beatles, festival performer Billy
Preston was known as the "fifth Beatle"
for the piano and organ sounds that he contributed
to many of the Fab Four's recordings. Chiachi
said he hopes to get Preston and Cocker
together on the Blues Festival stage to
perform "You Are So Beautiful,"
which Preston wrote and was one of Cocker's
biggest hits.
Bringing
their New Orleans style of funky gumbo to
the Blues Festival stage for the first time
are the Neville Brothers, an all star line-up
in themselves. Aaron Neville is known for
the 1966 pop hit "Tell It Like It Is,"
while brothers Art and Cyril Neville were
members of The Meters, a highly regarded
New Orleans funk group.
Irma
Thomas is another Crescent City legend who
will be performing at the festival. Known
as the "Soul Queen of New Orleans,"
Thomas sung such hits as "You Can Have
My Husband (But Don't Mess With My Man),"
"Wish Someone Would Care" and
"Time Is On My Side."
Blues
harmonica player Charlie Musselwhite and
His Continental Drifters will play an Afro-Cuban
infused set of blues at the festival. Backing
Musselwhite is another all-star group of
artists including Francisco Aguabella, Tiki
Pasillas, Kid Ramos, Johnny Blas and Bobby
Matos.
Tickets
for the Blues Festival are still available,
but Heitkemper said it would likely be sold-out
by the opening day of the show. Proceeds
from the festival offset KKJZ's operating
costs. The event, which typically brings
in about $700,000, is the single largest
fundraiser of the year for the listener-supported
jazz and blues radio station.
"That
has been a key in keeping the station alive,"
Heitkemper said.
Held on August 30 and 31, the event
will also feature 30 to 40 booths offering
food and drinks, clothing and collectibles.
But the most important thing, Chiachi said,
is the music which brings the audience together.
"It's
one of the few days of the year when everybody
in LA, no matter what color their skin and
how much money they make, can actually get
together and have a good time," Chiachi
said. "And that's the single thing
I'm most proud of."
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