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Blues for Humanity International Festival

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO ATTENDED, PERFORMED AND VOLUNTEERED FOR THIS EVENT.  THE MUSIC WAS GREAT, AND THOUGH ATTENDANCE WASN'T WHAT WE HOPED FOR, WE ALL HAD A WONDERFUL TIME!  PHOTOS AND VIDEO WILL BE POSTED SOON SO STAY TUNED.

 

WE ESPECIALLY WANT TO THANK THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE WHO STEPPED UP TO HELP BLUES FOR HUMANITY WITH IT'S FIRST EVENT.  THEIR GENEROUS DONATIONS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED.  THANK YOU!

 

Andy's Guitars

Linda C. Reiser

Paul S. Deitchman, Ph.D.

Steve Kahn

Alvin Stauber

Steve Mindlin

Elaine & Irwin Kantrowitz

Laurie & Kelly Dozier

Chuck Kahn

Arthur L. Stern

2:00pm-6:30pm Sunday, February 1st 2009
Temple Israel Sanctuary, 2215 Mahan Drive, Tallahassee Florida (Click For Map)

Featuring CG & The Hammer (Tel Aviv Israel Middle East), Big Daddy & Red Hot Java (USA - 46 Overseas Tours), Hammerin’ Pat Horgan (Cork Ireland Europe), Steve Sternberg (Florida USA), Mark Russell (Melbourne Australia) Damascus Kafumbe (Kampala Uganda Africa), and Special International Guests.  READ MORE BELOW.

This 4+ hour event (2:00pm-6:30pm Sunday February 1st 2009) is dedicated to peace, love and understanding through music.  As Bluesman Willie Dixon says, "You take one man's heart and make another man live;  You even go to the moon and come back thrilled;  Why, you can crush any country in a matter of  weeks;  But it don't make sense you can't make no peace."  All net proceeds will benefit Temple Israel's Capelouto Music Fund.

Blues For Humanity is a new organization whose mission is “ …to use music in promoting benevolent treatment and provide assistance for all people in order to better humanity.  We are guided by morality, reason, compassion and respect for all human beings."

FESTIVAL PERFORMERS & MINI-BIOS WITH LINKS:

CG & The Hammer (Tel Aviv Israel) - is collaboration between two veteran Blues artists: singer/harmonica player Dov Hammer and guitarist/singer Sagi (CG) Shorer. When these two Bluesmen first met in Tel Aviv, Israel in 1999, both had already paid plenty of dues as sidemen (sharing stages with such blues greats as Steve Freund, Paul deLay, Zora Young, Deitra Farr, Billy Branch and the late King Earnest Baker, among others) and leading their own bands. The two soon joined forces to create the group now known as "The CG & the Hammer.”  The critics praise: “Blues like this can only be heard in Chicago” - Hilik Gurfinkel , “Ha’ir” Weekly Magazine; “Hammer’s vocals and harmonica are consistently inspired…Shorer’s guitar solos light up each track….the band wails with the right combination of imagination and reverence for the Blues tradition” – David Brinn, “The Jerusalem Post;”  Dov Hammer is a master harmonica player…very authentic and exciting Blues…rivaling anything you’ll find here in Chicago” – Peter Krampert, Author of “The encyclopedia of the Harmonica” www.eharmonica.net.  The group comes back to the USA for the second time in five years for the International Blues Challenge February 5th in Memphis. Visit  http://www.myspace.com/cgthehammer for more information.

Big Daddy & Red Hot Java (46 International Tours) - Big Daddy & Red Hot Java’s ministry of Blues is a true celebration of the human condition.  It’s a sizzling brew played somewhere between Big Daddy’s home town of Chicago and his adopted musical home of New Orleans. The Chicago Tribune calls Big Daddy & Red Hot Java “a delicious concoction of caffeine infused Blues!”  HOTBANDS.com says “Big Daddy & Red Hot Java is fronted by three hundred pounds of heavenly joy and backed by a tight as a gnat’s booty rhythm section.”  World Blues Review exclaims “Big Daddy & Red Hot Java’s patented ministry of booty quakin’ soul shakin’ Blues pierces the very core of your soul, and then sends you into a wild voodoo dance.”  WWOZ 90.7 FM New Orleans’ Jazz & Heritage Station broadcasts “Big Daddy & Red Hot Java cooks up a wonderful Blues based roux peppered with Soul, Funk, R&B, Jazz and Hip Hop.”  Big Daddy & Red Hot Java is Randall “Big Daddy” Webster on lead vocals and guitar, Michael Greif on bass and backup vocals, Joël Johnson of lead guitar and Larry Wilson on drums and backup vocals.  Says “Big Daddy,” “We dig playing Blues… it’s in our soul.  And it’s our mission to spread this ministry of booty quakin’ soul shakin Blues around the world!”  “Big Daddy & Red Hot Java” has opened for and/or shared the stage with B. B. King, Robert Cray, The Doobie Brothers, Huey Lewis & The News, Kool & The Gang, and many others.  Big Daddy just completed his 46th overseas performance tour in September 2008.  Live concert audio, photos, video and more is available at http://www.myspace.com/bigdaddyredhotjava and http://www.BIGDADDYBLUES.com.

Hammerin’ Pat Horgan (Cork Ireland) – A founding member of the Dizzy  Blues Band from Cork Ireland (home of Rory Gallagher), Horgan is a blazing guitarist with soulful vocals.  Equally talented acoustically or plugged in, Horgan performs tasteful Blues covers and brilliant originals.  He has toured internationally several times bringing his Emerald Isle Blues to numerous Blues Festivals with sizzling performances, including the 2005 Freedom Blues Festival in Tallahassee.  Horgan is into roots music big time, and he’s presented a few programs on Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, and Song and ballad collectors on RTE Radio 1 (Ireland’s national radio station).  He was also key in establishing Cork Ireland’s Lee Delta Blues Club, which is a sister Blues society with the Apalachee Blues Society in Tallahassee.

http://www.violinjazz.net/Mark02.jpghttp://www.violinjazz.net/Mark04.jpg

Mark Russell (Melbourne Australia) is a violinist, composer, and teacher. He began studying violin at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, Australia. In his late teens, he became interested in Jazz, Blues and traditional music from Ireland and Australia. Joining The Sundowners in 1983, he toured extensively around the world, and began to incorporate musical styles from India, China, and Indonesia into his compositions and improvisations.  He performed in front of stadium crowds with The Sundowners during a 3 month tour as opening act for Dire Straits  in 1986.  Meanwhile, his interest in Jazz and Blues continued to grow through direct contact with artists such as Stephane Grappelli and Brownie Macgee.  In 1991 he left The Sundowners and moved to Paris, where he continued to explore diverse venues for violin performance in theater as well as clubs. Moving to the United States in 1994, he formed the groups Paris Match, and Ekyo, recording CDs with both.  He also toured as featured artist with the Phat Cat, a Soul/R&B group.  Highlights  include concerts at The House of Blues in New Orleans and in Chicago, the Capitol Jazz festival in Washington D.C., and on The Tom Joyner Fantastic Voyage.  His Phat Cat backed performance of Ain't no Sunshine was an R&B hit in 2000 and was recently included on the Atlantic records compilation Rare Requests.  Visit http://www.violinjazz.net/index.html for more information on Mark Russell.

Steve Sternberg (Florida USA) – Sternberg is a Boogie-Woogie, Blues, Ragtime and Neo-Classical Pianist who has been entertaining audiences from ages 3 to 103 throughout Florida since 1989.  Steve won an award in 2002 in the Best New Florida Song Contest with "Apalachicola Blues," and is a popular six-time performer at the Florida Folk Festival, the nation's largest and oldest folk festival.  The critics say, “Steve Sternberg is one of the most versatile musicians I know. He plays a polished contemporary style, and he is a master of early jazz piano, with his boogie-woogie, stride and ragtime renditions. In his music you will hear the roots of American musical heritage.” - Ken Crawford, Florida Heritage Events Coordinator, Museum of Florida History, Tallahassee, FL.  "The vivaciously versatile Sternberg plays a rollicking barrelhouse and a playful boogie-woogie." - Mary Leslie, The Tallahassee Democrat. "Talented, eclectic and absolutely fun.  What an impressive performer!" - Sally Anderson, House Concert Presented.  Please visit http://www.stevesternberg.com/ for more information on Steve Sternberg. 

Damascus Kafumbe photo

Damascus Kafumbe (Kampala Uganda Africa)  As a child in his native Uganda, he awoke to the sounds of African drums and horns. Today, he stands as a nexus between the music of East and West, traditional and modern.  Damascus Kafumbe, doctoral student in the ethnomusicology program at the Florida State University College of Music, is a rising star as a world music performer. He just released his fourth CD, "Kitaffe" ("Our Father"). Instruments he's mastered include the adungu (bow-harp), the akogo (lamellaephone), the madinda (xylophone), the ndingidi (tube-fiddle), the nnanga (bow-harp), the nkwanzi (panpipes), the ndongo (bow-lyre), the mbuutu drum, the mpuunyi drum, the ngalabi drum, namunjoloba drum, the ndere (notched flute), the nsaasi (gourd shakers), and the nseege (reed-box rattles). He has already sounded his ability, through scholarship, to preserve and perpetuate East African musical traditions. He recently returned from Uganda where he conducted field research for his doctoral dissertation.  Damascus Kafumbe is playing hard to preserve and bridge cultures.  Please visit http://campus.fsu.edu/profiles/kafumbe/ for more information on Damascus Kafumbe.

Refreshments and light snacks will be available for purchase during the event.  Ample free on-site parking is available.  The Blues for Humanity International Festival is a family-friendly non-smoking event.  It’s the joining of musical forces from five continents, and the inaugural event for Blues For Humanity.  Please plan on attending.  Thank you for your support.  Wishing you the very best in Blues and life!