Live Arts Florida Calendar Concert Series 2009-10
WCHS Theatre 1/31/107:30pm An Evening of Solo Violin
7:30pm An Evening of Solo Violin Tinsley Ellis & Friends: 
Together with Bob Marley, the Wailers have sold in excess of 250 million albums worldwide. In England alone, they’ve notched up over twenty chart hits, including seven Top 10 entries. Outside of their groundbreaking work with Marley, the Wailers have also played or performed with international acts like Sting, the Fugees, Stevie
Wonder, Carlos Santana, and Alpha Blondy, as well as reggae legends such as Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, and Burning Spear. As the greatest living exponents of Jamaica’s reggae tradition, the Wailers have completed innumerable other tours, playing to an estimated 24 million people across the globe. They have also been the first reggae band to tour new territories on many occasions, including Africa and the Far East. Drummer Carlton “Carlie” Barrett died in 1987, leaving his brother as the main beneficiary of the Wailers' mantle. Subsequent line-ups have revolved around Family Man, who is widely regarded as one of the world’s greatest bass players. Modest and unassuming, he was present on all of those unforgettable performances by Bob Marley & The Wailers from the seventies. He and lead singer Elan Attias form the main axis of the current Wailers – a group that’s one of the last, great reggae institutions, yet which refuses to live off past glories.
Bio Ritmo, founded in 1991, is internationally recognized as one of the leading bands preserving the roots of "Salsa Classica" while simultaneously taking this music to its next level. Compositions are original, inspired by 70’s Latin music plus incorporate many less common sonic influences such as Electronica, Afro-Beat, Brazilian and Middle Eastern grooves. Bio Ritmo’s music has gained the highest respect of Latin-music connoisseurs and dancer plus attracts a wide variety of fans from across the listening spectrum. Their latest release “Bionico”, ranked in the “Top-Ten iTunes Latin Tropical Albums for 2008 & hailed by the San Franciso Bay Guardian as “one of the best Latin releases of the year!” Bio Ritmo’s enticing vintage salsa may very well have you dancing like it’s 1973, but not before realizing you’ve never heard anything like it. For one thing, they don’t pretend that the last 30 years of music never happened; they don’t bury their love for punk, disco, electronica, Brazilian pop, Afro-beat, Middle Eastern music and classical music when making their batch of salsa. Sometimes, the fusion is brash and in-your-face, like in the song “Tu No Sabes,” off the Salsa System EP. Though it starts off safely enough as an instantly danceable tune with an Afro percussive tumbao layered with fierce trumpet-trombone-sax blasts, it is accentuated with an exotic Arabic scale on trumpet that would have sounded equally good on a Turkish zurna (squeaky, wooden clarinet-like instrument). Other times, the permeation is much more subtle, as on their take of Bobby Valentin’s classic “Seguirás Criticando” off Biónico, where at the end of the song they sneak in an irresistible, galloping Afro-disco-beat epilogue using two beats from the original song, but in a pulsating sequence. There’s also “A La Cha,” an exquisite, zapping Middle Eastern funk salsa number influenced by ‘60s Egyptian icon Abdel Halim Hafez, the “Arabian Elvis.” After 17 years in the game, this is where Bio Ritmo is today.
Acclaimed violinist Mark O'Connor returns to the concert stage performing his acclaimed solo recital. From foot stomping fiddle tunes, his electrifying caprices and warm homage to his violin and fiddle heroes" to ragtime, free improvisation, jazz and blues" A memorable evening of breathtaking Mark O'Connor performances, unheard and unseen in more than a decade
"When I walk on stage with the solo violin, an instrument that has been around for so many hundreds of years, it is so exciting to be able to bring new dimensions to the instrument while at the same time honoring the past traditions and great legacies of the players who came before me. To add to the repertoire with new literature as well as add to the technical and stylistic language of the violin, the instrument that is so close to the human soul, has been my great passion."
This dynamic quintet play Scottish traditional music at its best. The band’s potent mixture of traditional ballads and fiery instrumentals leaves their audiences spellbound. As tight and versatile as any band in the Celtic music scene, the Tannahills can summon rock-n-roll intensity or haunting introspection.
"Scotland’s Tannahill Weavers play acoustic instruments, but the atmosphere at their shows is electric. The quintet is as tight and as versatile as any band in the Celtic music revival. They can summon rock ‘n’ roll intensity or haunting introspection." - The Boston Globe, Boston MA
"Among the half-dozen most popular groups leading the current revival of Celtic traditional music, the Tannahill Weavers…probably make the most explicit connections between tradition and the electric folk reels of bands like Big Country and U-2." - Stephen Holden, New York Times
Guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Tinsley Ellis ranks among the top blues/rock guitarists working today. Ellis sings and plays with the energy and soul of all the great Southern musicians who have come before him. He attacks his music with rock power and blues feeling, in the same tradition as Deep South musical heroes Duane Allman, Freddie King and Warren Haynes. Atlanta Magazine declared Ellis “the most significant blues artist to emerge from Atlanta since Blind Willie McTell.” Since first hitting the national scene with his Alligator Records debut GEORGIA BLUE in 1988, Ellis has toured non-stop and continued to release one critically acclaimed album after another. Tinsley’s hometown paper, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, calls his music, “a potent, amazing trip through electric blues-rock.” Rolling Stone said, “feral blues guitar…non-stop gigging has sharpened his six-string to a razor’s edge…his eloquence dazzles…he achieves pyrotechnics that rival Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton.”
Since 1939, The Blind Boys of Alabama have sung a fervent blend of traditional and contemporary Gospel music. Much has changed during these seven prolific decades. Stylistic phases have waxed and waned; personnel has come and gone. 78 r.p.m. records have given way to LPs, followed by eight-track tapes, cassettes, and CDs. The Blind Boys’ audience – once rigidly segregated and confined to traditional Gospel venues – now reflects the group’s eclectic, global following, while their repertoire has expanded to embrace secular songs with a strongly spiritual message. Such wide acceptance is also evidenced by four Grammy Awards, an honor that didn’t exist when the Blind Boys started out. Even so, the Blind Boys’ lengthy saga remains a steadfast testament to constancy. Singer Jimmy Carter, who was there when the group was first formed, leads the band today with the firm conviction, joyous commitment, and gravitas that befit an elder statesman.
Local PBC Fireman and Wellington resident Jody Marlow, has taken his musical gifts to yet another level. This former band leader and original founding member of the South Florida Based band "Hot Brass Monkey" has redirected his attention to his new breed...no monkey business band... "The Brass Evolution"... a true reflection of what the old group represented musically, with a few changes in the right direction.So get ready for an evening to remember...a reconnection with some of the best quality timeless music from "in the day"...as we pay tribute the music of Steely Dan, Chicago & Blood, Sweat, & Tears
This performance promises to be memorable l as Copeland Davis performs as a quintet playing jazz standards and original compositions.
As one music critic said: "He is a special person. He captivates the audience when he plays. He makes it fun. He has phenomenal technique on the piano. He combines mechanical proficiency with spontaneous artistic creativity. Davis can explore the possibilities of any number of tunes, while still remaining in the boundaries of tight musicianship."
A standing ovation was the response to Copeland’s TV debut on the "Tonight Show." With appearances following on "Good Morning, America," and his own PBS special. In addition to three appearances on ABC’s "B.L. Stryker," was his subsequent induction into The International Who’s Who in Music.
After one of his performances as Artist-In-Residence with the Florida Symphonic Pops Orchestra, the Maestro said: "Copeland is one of America’s foremost symphonic jazz piano innovators. He not only has extensive training in classical performance, but his jazz improvisation capability is in a class by itself."
Donna the Buffalo is an American band from Trumansburg, New York. They play several musical styles: zydeco, jamming, folk-rock, country rock, reggae and bluegrass. They play both originals (primarily written by Jeb Puryear and Tara Nevins) and covers. Donna the Buffalo's music is often sociopolitical in nature, calling for peace and justice. Other songs refer to timeless themes, such as love, birth and death.
The group is very well known as a mainstay of music festivals in the United States for the last 20 years but band plays primarily in the Midwest and on the East Coast of the United States. The followers of the group are called "The Herd." The band's name has its origins in their first live performance. They had intended to be known as "Dawn of the Buffalo", but an inebriated M.C. slurred the introduction and the name stuck.
