Local 10-hour streaming music festival to raise money for those hurt by COVID-19
Despite the bad news of live music show cancellations, there are plenty of new and affirmative homebound events to share as the new normal of our COVID-19 impaired world rips through a new month.
Two fundraisers — one local, the other national — top this week’s lineup of live streaming events.
▪ The prime local streaming summit will be Aid the Industry, a 10-hour online festival bringing together nine Central Kentucky acts. The goal is to raise money for regionally based musicians, venues, restaurants and bars whose income has been hurt by the COVID-19 outbreak. The lineup will include sets by Nicholas Jamerson, Grayson Jenkins, Brother Smith, Trippin Roots, Ivy Rye, Chelsea Nolan, Dark Moon Hollow, Eight Daze Sober and Jordan King. The music commences at 1 p.m. on April 11. For more information, including ways to donate, go to aidtheindustry.com.
▪ Seeking to send help around the country will be “PSA: People Supporting Artists,” an online telethon from Nashville that has Rosanne Cash, Shovels & Rope, John Oates, Keb’ Mo’, Aaron Lee Tasjan, JD McPherson, David Hidalgo and Louie Perez of Los Lobos, Molly Tuttle, Jim Lauderdale and many others performing to benefit the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund. Music begins at 7 p.m. on April 11. Viewable at peoplesupportingartists.com.
Archived streams
As mentioned here previously, numerous livestream events of note pop up with minimal advance word, so we can’t tip you off to them ahead of time. But all are quickly archived for viewing anytime. Here are late ads from last week that will sound good as new this week.
▪ My hands down favorite was an 80-minute Saturday night solo performance by Jorma Kaukonen at his Fur Peach Ranch in Ohio. Several notches above the usual iPhone livestream, this impeccable sounding, multi-camera session revisits folk/blues gems that predate Kaukonen’s work with Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna while also offering generous treats from the careers of both bands (“Good Shepherd,” “Sea Child”). Viewable at furpeaceranch.com/live-concerts.
▪ “I’m going to play you some dobro music here because I know you haven’t had enough of that today.” That was the greeting 14-time Grammy winner and one-time Lexingtonian Jerry Douglas gave his online audience at the onset of a 25-minute stream of solo resonator guitar music that began with the plaintive grace of “A New Day Medley” and concluded with a wiry but warm take on “Home Sweet Home.” Best of all. Douglas promised another streaming session this week. Viewable at facebook.com/jerrydouglasband.
Canceled concerts
The initial round of concert postponements and call-offs dealt mostly with March events. With April nearly one-third gone, we have word of several other Lexington events that won’t be happening.
▪ The biggest by far is the postponement of what would have been the first concert at Kroger Field. The April 25 summit featuring Lexington-born country celebrity Chris Stapleton and a pack of cross-generational, multi-genre pals – namely Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow and Yola - has been pushed back a full year to April 24, 2021. The good news out of all this, according to Stapleton’s website, is that the entire lineup has been retained for the new date.
▪ Christian pop songstress Lauren Daigle’s April 30 concert at Rupp Arena has been postponed along with all shows on her spring tour. No new dates have been announced. Daigle fans should note, however, that she will be participating on April 11 in a 12 hour live online benefit. Titled “Human to Human,” the event will also feature Hunter Hayes, Rick Springfield, Jonathan Russell of The Head and the Heart, Jewel and many others. The event will be simulcast on Facebook Live beginning at 12 Noon. For more information, go to humantohuman.watch.
▪ On a smaller scale, the remaining three concerts of the current Origin Jazz Series’ third season have now been canceled. The announcement came a few days prior to what would have been an April 4 performance by longtime regional pianist and composer Keith McCutchen. The cancellations also include an April 26 duo concert by clarinetist Anat Cohen and guitarist Marcello Goncalves and a May 16 show featuring violinist and Lexington native Zach Brock.
Remembrance
The coronavirus was particularly unkind to the jazz world last week. In a week that also saw the passing of soul stylist Bill Withers from unrelated causes, COVID-19 complications claimed the lives of three veteran artists with extensive and influential recording careers.
▪ Ellis Marsalis, 85, was an esteemed New Orleans pianist and educator whose students included Harry Connick, Jr. and Terence Blanchard. But his influence was most keenly exhibited through the musicianship of his sons – trumpeter Wynton, saxophonist Branford, trombonist Delfeayo and drummer Jason.
▪ Bucky Pizzarelli, 94, was a guitarist with a wildly far reaching career that stretched from session work on revered of pop/soul classics (Ray Charles’ “Georgia on My Mind” topped the list) to jazz styles that revolved around multiple melodic and bass lines to extensive collaborations with son and fellow guitarist John Pizzarelli.
▪ Wallace Roney, 59, was an trumpeter who worked, while still in his 20s, in the bands of Art Blakey and Tony Williams. He was also one of the final proteges of Miles Davis. All this preceded a solo career that gained notoriety while Roney was still in his 20s. He mastered numerous jazz styles, bouncing from bop to fusion to free jazz and more.