2/10: 26th Annual Mardi Gras Ball at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet · The event will benefit VSA Arts RI

2/10: 26th Annual Mardi Gras Ball at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet · The event will benefit VSA Arts RI

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Saturday, February 10, 2018
6:30 p.m. – midnight
26th Annual Cajun & Zydeco Mardi Gras Ball
to benefit VSA arts of Rhode Island
Rhodes on the Pawtuxet
60 Rhodes Place
Cranston, RI 02905
Featured bands include:
Beausoleil avec Michael Doucet
Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas
The Knickerbocker All-Stars

Tickets:  $30 Advance/$40 Door; Table of Ten: $325 (Advance only)
Buy Tickets: bit.ly/26thMardiGrasBall

 

TICKETS ON SALE
for the
26th ANNUAL MARDI GRAS BALL

at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet

Lagniappe Productions, creators of the annual Labor Day weekend Rhythm & Roots Festival in Charlestown, R.I., are bringing their well-loved brand of great music, food, dancing and fun to the 26th annual Louisiana Mardi Gras celebration.

Southern New England’s popular Mardi Gras Ball is set for 6:30 p.m. to midnight, Saturday, Feb. 10, at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet in Cranston, R.I. Doors open at 6 p.m. in anticipation of Grammy-winning Cajun band Beausoleil avec Michael Doucet, international performers Nathan & the Zydeco Cha Chas, and New Orleans blues from Rhode Island’s own Knickerbocker All-Stars.

Cajun and Creole cuisine is offered by the renowned Chili Brothers Food Company – arguably the most popular food vendor at the Rhythm & Roots Festival every year, serving up their world-famous, Louisiana-inspired cuisine.

The ball also features a costume contest with cash prizes in a variety of categories including best group, best couple, best individual and a grand prize of $250 for best overall costume.

Tickets are $30 in advance or $40 at the door. Reserve a table for 10 (in advance only) for $325. Tables sell out fast. Tickets may be purchased at http://www.rhythmandroots.com/mardi-gras-ball or by calling 401.783.3926.

Lodging is available at the Rodeway Inn, 1940 Post Road, Warwick. Rooms are $79 per night. Call 401.732.0470 and ask for the Mardi Gras rate.

The event will benefit VSA Arts RI, the nonprofit organization that opens the world of art to children and adults with disabilities.

About the Bands

Lafayette, LA-based Beausoleil avec Michael Doucet has been one of the most esteemed Cajun groups in music since forming in 1975. BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet take the rich Cajun traditions of Louisiana and artfully blend elements of zydeco, New Orleans jazz, Tex-Mex, country, blues and more. From The Grand Ole Opry to Newport Folk, from concert hall to dance floor, the music of BeauSoleil captivates audiences the world over. Michael Doucet sings and plays violin, guitar, accordion and mandolin.

Accordion master Nathan Williams, of Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas, was mentored by one of the greats, Buckwheat Zydeco. He has been inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame and has been honored with the Zydeco Music Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Formed in 1985, the band has brought its unique take on regional South Louisiana music around the world. Dennis Paul Williams, Nathan’s brother, brings his jazz-influenced guitar to the band.

The Knickerbocker All-Stars is made up of legends of the blues community who have found their home at the Knickerbocker, the historic venue in Westerly, R.I., that gave rise to Roomful of Blues, which launched the blues revival in the 1970s. Musicians in the All-Stars have included Jimmie Vaughan, Duke Robillard, Al Copley, Monster Mike Welch, Ricky Russell, Willie J Laws, Brian Templeton, Sugaray Rayford, Rich Lataille and more. For the Mardi Gras Ball, The All-Stars will be showcasing a set of New Orleans music classics with a special tribute to recently passed Fats Domino.

Join Mardi Gras Ball/Rhythm & Roots E-mail List!

Whaling City Sound represents in the Midwest Record- Dave Zinno and Eric Wyatt

Whaling City Sound represents in the Midwest Record- Dave Zinno and Eric Wyatt

WHALING CITY SOUND
DAVE ZINNO UNISPHERE/River of January:  This is a vastly different set from the kind from back in the day when jazzbos first discovered world beat and began to incorporate it.  Zinno charts a course to a new world with players that can maneuver it with their eyes closed.  Tasty jazz at the core throughout, this is a side of serious adult sitting down listening that really makes the time fly.  Lusciously played throughout, this crew defines another facet of the sound of summer.

ERIC WYATT/Look to the Sky:  A sax man that was kind of adopted by Sonny Rollins after his own father passed, this label debut is loaded with the kind of church basement honking you might expect from a cat given the freedom to chase that muse.  Muscular, angular playing that takes no prisoners and gives no quarter, this hard hitting date will angry up your blood just enough to let you know your heart is still beating righteously.  Tasty throughout.

Alma Micic’s album shows youthful exuberance, but also a mature assurance

Alma Micic’s album shows youthful exuberance, but also a mature assurance

By: Joseph Lang

Serbian-born singer ALMA MICIC has been on the New York scene since graduating from Berklee College of Music in the late 1990s.  She has performed both locally and internationally and produced three albums prior to her current recorded endeavor, That Old Feeling (Whaling City Sound – 099).  She enlisted guitarist Rale Micic, bassist Corcoran Holt, drummer Jonathan Blake and vibist Tom Beckham for this nine-tune collection.  Micic’s voice is immediately welcoming.  She opens with the title track, but there is nothing old in the feeling of her singing.  She has a youthful exuberance, but also a mature assurance that finds the heart of each lyric.  In addition to familiar tunes like “That Old Feeling,” “Moonglow,” “Cry Me a River,” “Honeysuckle Rose,” “Estate” and “Blue Moon,” she sings two Serbian songs, one of her own and a folk tune, plus Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon.”  All in all, That Old Feeling is a solid outing by Alma Micic.
To buy That Old Feeling, click here
How Vance Gilbert helped get “Ethical Brew” off the gorund

How Vance Gilbert helped get “Ethical Brew” off the gorund

BY CURT SCHLEIER

Beth and her husband, Perry Stein, run Ethical Brew, a series of roots (or folk) concerts run out of the Ethical Culture Society in Teaneck. The series is, in their words, “a quality blend of live music and social action.” The Steins became involved in the concerts because of their love of music and a family history of social activism. “It was a fluke,” Perry said in a recent interview. “We go to a lot of concerts as fans.”

One series they attended on a regular basis, Outpost in the Burbs in Montclair, combined music and charity. Those concerts were run by a group of young progressives and, Perry said, it “looked like a very familiar place,” similar “to the culture at Ethical Culture,” where the Steins are members. It was here that fate intervened. At an earlier concert, they’d placed themselves on the mailing list of folk singer/song writer Vance Gilbert; they got an eblast from him, saying that he was thinking about doing a few house concerts.

The Steins wrote to Mr. Gilbert to see if he’d be willing to come to Teaneck to do “a large house concert,” and he said yes. They got the Ethical Culture board to let them use the organization’s facility. And they were in business.  Their first concert, in January, 2013, “was a sell out,” with the Bergen County Sanctuary Coalition as the charity of record. “It was a big success and we had so much fun doing it,” Beth said. Although it was supposed to be a one-off, “we felt good about it,” Perry added. “We asked ourselves why don’t we start doing this on a regular basis.” “It combined two things we’re about: music and social action,” Beth said.

If you’e interested in seeing Vance Gilbert live, he will be playing four shows later this week

To read the full article, click here

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