a copy of the 2016 Blues News!

Monroe County Library System’s 29th Annual Black History Month
2016
Monroe County’s
history lesson with
a backbeat!
Recipient of The Blues Foundation’s Keeping the Blues Alive Award 2009
SUGAR BLUE - Tuesday, Feb. 2, Ellis Library & Reference Center – 7:00 pm
Blues 2016 begins with a rare intimate, acoustic concert by the legendary Sugar Blue, a Grammy
winner whose astonishing mastery of the harmonica has been called him both the Jimi Hendrix
and the Charlie Parker of the instrument. Known for his unique, melodically fluid style, instantly
recognizable for its soaring trills, flamboyant flourishes and swooping glissandos, Sugar Blue
inspired Rolling Stone to identify him as “one of the foremost harmonica players of our time”
and the Rolling Stones to use his unmistakable sound on three of their albums—that’s Sugar
Blue providing the timeless riff on their tune “Miss You.” 3700 S. Custer Road in Monroe, MI
Larry McCray with guest Thornetta Davis - Tuesday, Feb. 9, Dorsch Memorial Branch Library – 7:00 pm
“Tuesdays are Bluesdays” continues with the Monroe debut of Larry McCray, the Arkansas-born,
Michigan-based singer, guitarist, band leader, songwriter and heir apparent to a lineage that includes
personal heroes and influences like B.B. King, Freddie King and Albert King, all of whom McCray’s met
and performed with. Twenty-five award-winning years, eight albums and thousands of live shows
around the world have blended Larry’s reverence for the roots of the blues with his own unique,
soulful spin. Detroit’s Queen of the Blues (and Monroe Blues Series favorite) Thornetta Davis will join
her friend Larry for a few tunes at this special concert. 18 E. First Street in Monroe, MI
Alvin “Youngblood” Hart - Tuesday, Feb. 16, Carleton Branch Library – 7:00 pm
Only one performer could be called “the cosmic American love child of Howlin’ Wolf and Link Wray,”
and that’s Alvin “Youngblood” Hart, about to make his Monroe debut. Hart’s relayed his eclectic musical
message around the world and earned praise from everyone from Bob Dylan to British guitar gods Eric
Clapton and Mick Taylor. A Grammy Award for his contribution to Beautiful Dreamer: The Songs of Stephen
Foster, work in the films Black Snake Moan and The Great Debaters, and a tour of Mississippi high schools as
part of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz are but a few highlights from the career of a true “musician’s
musician.” 1444 Kent Street in Carleton, MI
Victor Wainwright - Tuesday, Feb. 23, Bedford Branch Library – 7:00 pm
Savannah-born, high-octane pianist Victor Wainwright had quite a 2015: he’s been nominated for the
B.B. King Blues Entertainer of the Year, Band of the Year (with his group, the WildRoots) and Pinetop
Perkins Piano Player of the Year Blues Music Awards, his Boom Town album hit #5 on the charts, and a
30-second clip from a November concert has been viewed over 1,000,000 times on social media. Living
Blues said “Wainwright serves as an electrifying guide to a good time--spinning tales, telling his listeners
how to beat the blues, and meticulously conjuring raw soul and energy out of his acoustic piano.” With
a sharp sense of humor and a knack for storytelling, Victor was an easy choice to perform our 2016 Ann
Rabson Concert, named in honor of the late, great friend of the Blues Series.
8575 Jackman Road in Temperance, MI
For more information on Monroe County’s 29th Annual Black History Month Blues Series, phone the
Ellis Library & Reference Center at (734) 241-5277 or visit us online: mymcls.com/blues
Hey! We’re just getting started! More on the flip side...
Toronzo Cannon with guest Bubba Wilson - Thursday, Feb. 25, Ida Branch Library – 7:00 pm
Guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Toronzo Cannon has become one of Chicago’s most recognized and most
popular bluesmen through the sheer force of his music, his soul, his songs, his charisma, and, maybe
most impressively, his passion. He’s played the Chicago Blues Festival nine times, including last year’s
breakthrough headlining slot, and his new release, The Chicago Way, is out on the city’s famed Alligator
Records. Bruce Iglauer, Alligator’s founder, says Toronzo’s music “comes right from the heart of the
city.” Opening for Toronzo in Ida will be Dundee’s own Bubba Wilson, a 2015 finalist in the Detroit Blues
Society’s International Blues Challenge competition.
3016 Lewis Avenue in Ida, MI
Monroe County’s 29th Annual Black History Month Blues Concert
The Big
Gig!
Saturday, February 27, 2016: Monroe County Community
College, La-Z-Boy Center, Meyer Theater – 7:00 pm sharp
The Big Gig! Monroe County’s 29th Annual Black History Month Blues Concert
starring The Campbell Brothers with very special guest Maria Muldaur, Davy
Knowles and Rev. Robert B. Jones.
Monroe County’s annual month-long celebration of Black History Month and the blues, “the roots
of all American music,” climaxes with another free concert starring an only-in-Monroe lineup of
blues and roots music greats.
The Campbell Brothers light up stages around the world with “the growling, wailing, shouting, singing and swinging
voice of the steel guitar, played as you have never heard it played before,” and for The Big Gig! 2016 they’ll be joined
by the legendary, Grammy-nominated folk, soul and blues vocalist Maria Muldaur, best known for her 1974 mega-hit
“Midnight at the Oasis.” Making his Monroe debut is Davy Knowles, one of the blues world’s most highly acclaimed
up-and-coming guitarists, who’s won over fans from Peter Frampton and Joe Satriani to Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo
festivalgoers. Hosting and opening the show will be Detroiter Rev. Robert B. Jones, who began Monroe’s blues tradition
in 1988 and has returned each year since.
– 1555 S. Raisinville Road in Monroe, MI
The Big Gig! is an extremely popular event—no tickets are required, but seating is general admission, firstcome, first-served, until venue capacity is reached. Doors open at 6:00 pm.
Monroe County’s 29th Annual Black History Month Blues Series is presented by the
Monroe County Library System and made possible by the 2016 Blues Coalition of community co-sponsors:
Monroe County Community College, DTE Energy Foundation, Friends of Bedford,
Friends of Carleton, Friends of the Dorsch Memorial Branch Library, Friends of Ellis,
Friends of Ida, and Detroit Blues Society. This activity is supported by the Michigan
Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Visit us online at mymcls.com/blues