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The 15th
Annual
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The 15th
Annual
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NEWS FLASH: Click here for the latest photos from the Festival!
The
Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival
(WFBF) will mark its 15th year when more than 80 Blues and Blues-related
acts perform on three stages over five days. Included among the headliners are:
Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Ike Turner & The Kings of Rhythm,
Al Kooper, Michelle Shocked, and Pacific Northwest stalwarts including
Curtis Salgado, Paul deLay, Lloyd Jones, Linda Hornbuckle,
and Terry Robb. And it's all to benefit the Oregon
Food Bank, the hub of a network of regional food banks and local hunger-relief
agencies in Oregon and Clark County, Washington.
This year's Festival will again be the premier event of the summer. The lineup (click here to view) looks to be outstanding, with something for everyone's Blues tastes. And, with three stages again this year, it will allow for more acoustic acts, special jam sessions and archival Blues films in the WFBF tradition. The two alternating main stages — the Co-Op Network Blues Stage at the north end of the bowl and the Miller Genuine Draft Blues Stage to the south — provide the audience nonstop performances. The third stage, The Oregonian A&E Front Porch Stage, located just north of the Hawthorne Bridge, will again feature acoustic acts, jam sessions, artist workshops and archival Blues films from the Northwest Film Center. (Click here to see the schedule of events for this stage.)
Daily admission is only a $5 donation plus 2 cans of nonperishable food. A five-day Festival Pass ($20 plus a service charge) is available in advance through all Safeway FASTIXX outlets (1-800-992-TIXX or www.fastixx.com), or at the Festival gates for $25.
For more information, call 1-503-973-FEST or visit the Festival's Web site at www.waterfrontbluesfest.com.
The CBA At The Festival
Your Cascade Blues Association will be actively involved again in this year's Festival. First of all, our Membership and Merchandise Booth will be at the Festival, manned by CBA volunteers. The main purpose of the booth is to recruit CBA members and market CBA merchandise. The merchandise marketed by the booth simply subsidizes the low cost of the CBA membership. Also at the CBA booth will be a donation / drawing for a guitar autographed by many national Blues artists, including Phillip Walker, Anson Funderburgh, Elvin Bishop, Sonny Rhodes, and a lot more. For each $1 donation to The Christopher Mesi Memorial Music Scholarship and the CBA Event Fund, you will receive one chance at the drawing. You need not be present to win.
As mentioned above, The Oregonian A&E Front Porch Stage is the place where special events and performances will be featured. There will be acoustic acts, special jams, informative and educational workshops, after-hours Blues and Blues-related archival films presented by The Northwest Film Center, and more on this very successful third stage that was instituted just a couple of years back. The CBA is taking an active role in helping host this venue at the 2002 WFBF. Click here to see the Special Events schedule.
One other new thing we're doing this year is posting photos from the Festival on our Web site, for those of you who can't make it down to the Waterfront, as well as those of you who were there and want to relive the blues-drenched experience. Starting on Thursday, July 4th, visit the CBA home page every day and follow the link to fresh photos from the previous day's performances! Or, since you're already here, just click here to see the latest photos!
Blues Acts Not To Be Missed Include:
John
Mayall & The Bluesbreakers — Mayall spearheaded
the British Blues Invasion of the 1960s, and introduced the world to a succession
of stunning Blues guitarists: Eric Clapton, Peter Green
and Mick Taylor.
The
Duke Robillard Band - Inspired by Blues legends like T-Bone Walker
and Big Joe Turner, Duke Robillard's guitar work has spanned
the worlds of Jazz, Blues, and Swing since he founded the renowned big band
Roomful Of Blues in 1967. Ruth Brown makes a special appearance
with the Duke Robillard Band.
W.C. Clark — The man known as "The Godfather of Austin Blues" has influenced Jimmie Vaughan, Marcia Ball, Angela Strehli, Lou Ann Barton and The Fabulous Thunderbirds.
Candye
Kane, a former Los Angeles stripper turned "Big Mama Blues Belter,"
has emerged as a queen of Jump Blues, Swing and R&B. Kane
was a huge hit on the A&E Front Porch Stage two years
ago, and returns this year on the main stage.
Ike Turner was an innovator of Rhythm & Blues and Rock N' Roll. Turner released what most Rock historians agree was the first Rock N' Roll record, "Rocket 88." Ike Turner & the Kings of Rhythm have rocked major festivals across Europe and the U.S., released a critically-hailed comeback recording, and garnered a slew of W.C. Handy Awards, which is the Blues industry Grammy.
Junior
Watson — Long revered as a cult figure for his role in California's
Jump Blues revival. Watson is a guitarist's guitarist, "an
instrumentalist so simultaneously right and off-the-wall that 'genius' would
not be an inappropriate title...the best Blues guitarist working" (Los
Angeles Times).
Phil Guy — Buddy Guy's soulful younger brother. Phil plays the good ol' Chicago Urban Blues as well as anyone on the circuit today. Guy's a tasty, disciplined guitarist who knows the Blues inside and out. He is a must to see and hear any time he's in town!
Kenny
Neal & Family — For his Waterfront debut, Baton Rouge guitarist
Kenny Neal is joined by several of his kin: father Raful,
the legendary harmonica ace and "godfather" of the Baton Rouge Blues
scene; daughter/vocalist Syreeta Neal; and 17 year-old nephew
Tyree, who this year won the Memphis-based Blues Foundation's
Albert King Award, given annually to a promising young guitarist. Kenny
Neal plays guitar, harmonica and sings Blues with natural talent and
pure passion that's matched only by a rare few in the field of Blues.
Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown has been dishing up his unique blend of Blues, R&B, Country, Jazz, and Cajun music for more than 50 years. A virtuoso on guitar, violin, harmonica, mandolin, viola, and even drums, Gatemouth has influenced performers as diverse as Albert Collins, Frank Zappa, Lonnie Brooks, Eric Clapton and Joe Louis Walker.
Marcia
Ball is an Austin-based "Bayou Boogie Queen." Over her three-decade
career, Ball has earned a huge and intensely loyal following all
over the world. Her exquisite piano playing and passionate, playful vocals fuse
New Orleans and Gulf Coast R&B with Austin's deep songwriting tradition.
She has garnered no fewer than five W.C. Handy nominations this year.
David "Honeyboy" Edwards — Edwards is one of the few living links to the Delta Blues tradition of Robert Johnson. "Honeyboy" Edwards' slashing, Delta-drenched guitar and gruff vocals, says "Living Blues" Magazine, "evokes the smoldering intensity and elusive spiritual brilliance of the fabled Delta tradition as well as anyone alive...a national treasure."
One additional Blues act not to be overlooked is a reunion appearance by Jimmy Lloyd Rea & The Switchmasters. Baker City's Rea, a Cascade Blues Association "Muddy Award Hall of Famer," will team up with his old cohorts from this popular Northwest band: Vince Hozier on guitar, Randy Lilya on drums, Mike Moothart on harmonica, and special guest, San Francisco guitarist Kenny "Blue" Ray. This one's gonna be nothing but FUN!
Finally, make sure you don't forget the Harp Blow-Off! (Details on the Special Events page.)
Rick Hall
(WFBF Info by Peter Dammann)
© 2002 Cascade Blues Association