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SIOUX FALLS JAZZ AND BLUES ANNOUNCES 2010-11 CONCERT SERIES LINE-UP
POSTED: APR 10, 2010
Sioux Falls Jazz and Blues announces their 2010-2011 Concert Series. This season brings an added sixth concert featuring blues and jazz vocals, a Hammond B3, and Cajun Blues.
The artists for the 2010-11 Concert Series are as follows:
Ruthie Foster - October 1st, 2010 - 8pm - Sioux Falls Orpheum Theater
When Ruthie lays it down, you'd be well advised to listen. From her beginnings in the Brazos Valley of Central Texas, this extraordinary songwriter/performer has taken her uplifting lyrics and electrifying vocals from choir lofts to folk bistros and onto stages in Europe and Australia, raising multiple flags of American Music.
"With comparisons to Ella and Aretha, Ruthie's irresistible blaze will make it impossible to look away or close your eyes, even for one second," observed the Philadelphia City Paper in one such rave.
"Everybody ought to have a stone love," so says Ruthie on the opening cut of The Truth According to Ruthie Foster. Ruthie tackles life's big issues throughout her sizzling new album and repeatedly testifies to her core message - that through all the ups and downs of living, you must stay true to yourself.
Tab Benoit - November 19th, 2010 - 8pm - Sioux Falls Orpheum Theater
Who's the prolific, gritty, Cajun-flavored environmental activist and savvy guitar player that still has people talking about his 2008 set at JazzFest? Tab Benoit- high energy guitar blues will bring home the sounds of the bayou.
A guitar player since his teenage years, Tab played along side the likes of Tabby Thomas, Raful Neal, Henry Gray and other high-profile regulars and learned the blues first-hand from the faculty of living blues legends.
The nightly impromptu gigs were enough to inspire Benoit to assemble his own band - a stripped down bass-and-drums unit propelled by his solid guitar skills and leathery, Cajun-spiced vocal attack. He took his show on the road in the early 90's and hasn't stopped since.
Sachal Vasandani - December 2nd, 2010 - 7pm - Sioux Falls Orpheum Theater
This young, talented star in jazz is already a great singer at 24. Breaking the established jazz ties with an eclectic movement, going beyond and creating a crisp vibe; dip into Sachal's refreshing blends and succumb to the world he constructs through his vocals for an elegant, tasteful evening of music.
After moving to New York, Vasandani quickly became a part of the jazz scene, and made a musical home in storied clubs like the Zinc Bar. He was also tapped for a number of guest performances and recordings, notably be the Lincoln Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Wycliff Gordon, Eric Reed, T.S. Monk, and countless other peer and mentor musicians. After Vasandani's breakthrough debut recording, he toured extensively. He opened for such disparate artists from jazz trumpeter Chris Botti to pop singer Joan Osborne, garnering respect from a diverse spectrum of audiences.
"My music always starts off with jazz, but can end up in any number of places because of all my different influences," says Vasandani. "I guess I value the freedom to explore as much as the discipline of my tradition."
Stefon Harris & Blackout - January 21st, 2011 - 8pm - Sioux Falls Orpheum Theater
Passionate artistry. Energetic stage presence. Astonishing virtuosity. Stefon Harris & Blackout have propelled into the forefront of the current jazz scene. Widely recognized and lauded by both his peers and jazz critics alike, this band is committed to both exploring the rich potential of jazz composition and blazing new trails on the vibraphone. Stefon Harris & Blackout are the hottest thing in "progressive" post modern jazz today.
"Music is about authenticity, telling your story and sharing real-life stories that are from the ‘here and now', not just about the past," Harris says of the Blackout's group philosophy. That said, Harris doesn't completely do away with the jazz tradition. With ingenious variations of classics such as George Gershwin's "Gone, Gone, Gone" from Porgy & Bess, Harris exhibits tremendous reverence and understanding of jazz history.
Roomful of Blues - March 25th, 2011 - 8pm - Sioux Falls Orpheum Theater
Returning to Sioux Falls after an electrifying performance at JazzFest in 2004, Roomful of Blues are deeply rooted in swing, rock ‘n' roll, jump, blues, and soul. Having played countless gigs and many major festivals for almost 40 years, earning five Grammy Award nominations and seven Blues Music Awards, Roomful of Blues are truly in a class all their own.
Even though Roomful of Blues' lineup has changed over the years, the band has always been one of the tightest, most joyful blues ensembles in the world. Currently an eight-piece unit led by guitarist Chris Vachon, the band has never sounded fresher or stronger. With their non-stop touring schedule, long-time fans and converts alike can see for themselves why The Chicago Sun-Times said, "This is a band on top of its game, sliding easily from big-band jazz-blues to guitar-drenched urban blues...let the party begin."
Joey DeFrancesco - April 16th, 2011 - 8pm - Sioux Falls Orpheum Theater
With virtuosic technique, innate soulfulness, and an unending reservoir of creativity and blues-drenched melodies that have made him a peerless master of the jazz Hammond B-3 organ, Joey DeFrancesco is a phenomenon that burns red-hot on swinging blues tunes. Simply stated- when it comes to jazz organ- he's the best.
"I love Jimmy Smith; to this day he's the king. The Blue Note records he did in the late ‘50s are very innovative; he was doing things that Coltrane did five-six years later," DeFrancesco admits. "He's a great hard bop single-note player with impeccable technique."
DeFrancesco's high visibility career kicked off when Miles Davis asked the 17-year-old organ wunderkind to join his late 80's band. The result was a five record contract with Columbia Records.
You could appropriate DeFrancesco's description of Jimmy Smith to describe his style. He swings ferociously, executes spot-on single-note lines and imaginative bass lines underneath them, can dig deep into the pocket or float over time.
Subscriptions for the 2010-11 concert series start at $192 per person and are available through Sioux Falls Jazz & Blues. For more information about Sioux Falls Jazz & Blues visit their website at www.sfjb.org. If you have questions regarding the concert series please call the office at 605-335-6101.
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