Tommy Emmanuel | Courtesy Allen Clarke

Guitarist Tommy Emmanuel, a Chet Atkins protege who long ago established his own musical voice to go along with fiery picking, headlines Jefferson Center’s annual tribute to the late guitarist Brad “Buster B.” Jones, a onetime Bedford County resident admired by guitarists around the world for his guitar prowess.

Emmanuel and Jones have a common denominator — Chet Atkins. Both Emmanuel, an Australian, and Jones, who lived in Bedford County from about 1985 to 2001, were influenced by and became friends with Atkins.

Read about Emmanuel’s thoughts on Jones in Friday’s Extra section or at music.roanoke.com. And check out this podcast with streaming music from “The Colonel & The Governor” — Emmanuel’s recent record with another guitar genius, Martin Taylor.

Lalah Hathaway | Courtesy Jefferson Center

Jefferson Center is back in cahoots with Snarky Puppy — the  Brooklyn, N.Y., via Denton, Texas jazz/funk/world band of musical monsters.

Snarky Puppy and musical guests including R&B/soul singer Lalah Hathaway (daughter of Donny Hathaway) will record live in front of audiences during two days at the Jeff’s Shaftman Performance Hall. The March 8-9 performances will benefit the Music Lab at Jefferson Center‘s education programs. And when the Snarks’ release the CD/DVD set on their  groundUP Music/Ropedope label, a portion of the sales will go to the music lab, as well.

The recording project was inspired by Snarky Puppy’s Family Dinner, a series of shows the band has played at New York City’s Rockwood Music Hall, according to a Jefferson Center news release. Those sessions, recorded live, feature the band backing up a variety of performers doing original music.

Also performing at the Roanoke sessions will be N’Dambi, Malika Tirolien, Lucy Woodward, Chantae Cann, Shayna Steele, Tony Scherr and Magda Giannikou. See more info about them, courtesy Jefferson Center, by hitting the jump link below.

Here’s the show and ticket info, courtesy Jeff Center.

Snarky Puppy

Two VIP On Stage Opportunities:
Friday, March 8th at 7:00pm & 9:00pm VIP Live On Stage Audience – $60 per person
*Limited seating available on Shaftman Performance Hall stage.
You will be seated on stage, right in the middle of the band as part of the live CD/DVD recording.

General Admission Orchestra:
Saturday, March 9 at 8:00pm G.A. Shaftman Performance Hall Audience – $34
*This is the live concert portion of the Family Dinner CD/DVD recording sessions.
You will be seated inside Shaftman Performance Hall’s orchestra section.

And here is some video of Snarky Puppy, which has pretty  much mastered this live recording art thing.

Read more »

Bukuru Celestin and band at CityWorks (X)po 2012 | Courtesy Jefferson Center

When Acoustic Africa performs at Jefferson Center on Friday, the audience will get a bonus.

The venue last week announced an opening act. Young singer-songwriter Bukuru Celestin, who joined the Music Lab at Jefferson Center about two years ago, will open the show, fronting a band of regional music heavyweights and his three sisters on backing vocals.

In his short time at the lab, Celestin’s songwriting and performances have led to a recording session with internationally touring jazz-funk band Snarky Puppy. He has also begun to play around the Roanoke Valley, including recent spots at Go Outside Festival and CityWorks (X)po 2012.

With Snarky Puppy, whose frequent Roanoke appearances have created a strong fan base, Celestin and his sisters – Ndayishimiye Furaha, 17, Niyonzima Ethrasie, 14, and Nibigira Elvanie, 12 – recorded Celestin’s song “Yesu,” with more studio work yet to come.

Hear “Yesu,” streaming here. Read the full story and get show details.

Chad Eby Quartet | Courtesy Jefferson Center

The second annual Jazz Institute at Jefferson Center will feature the members of Greensboro, N.C., act Chad Eby Quartet as its instructors when classes begin on June 18.

Eby, a critically respected saxophonist and University of North Carolina at Greensboro instructor, brought in Marsalis brothers Branford (sax) and Jason (drums) to help out with his most recent album, 2010′s “Broken By Shadows.” I’m listening to it right now. It’s very good.

Eby and his bandmates — bassist Steve Haines, guitarist Andrew Shillito and drummer Daniel Faust — round out the list of Jazz Institute instructors, which will include teachers from the Music Lab at Jefferson Center, as well.

“We are excited to have Chad and his quartet serving as instructors this year,” Dylan Locke, Jefferson Center artistic and education programs director, said in a news release. “Chad and his entire quartet are true talents and having that caliber of musician instructing local teens in a very personal and almost one on one scenario is an outstanding opportunity for young artists interested in jazz.”

The quartet will perform at Blue 5 Restaurant on June 19. Jazz Institute participants will perform for the public at Jefferson Center on June 21.

Spots at the institute remain open to anyone ages 14 to 22 who wants to get together the jazz thing. If you’re interested, go to www.jeffcenter.org/jazz-institute today to download an application, or call Dylan Locke, 343-2624, for more information. Tuition for the five-day institue is $200, or $40 per day. Don Pullen Scholarships are available by application. To  learn more about the Pullen scholarships, go to the jazz institute’s page, download the application and complete the “financial assistance” portion. Pullen will be smiling down on you from jazz heaven.

jeffcenter.org

Hey, young jazz monster wannabes. Check out the second edition of Music Lab at Jefferson Center’s Jazz Institute, which has opened its enrollment for the June 18-22 event.

High-profile jazz musicians including will be mentors (guitarist Rodney Jones and drummer Ocie Davis were among them last year), and students will get to learn about playing jazz and about its history. Better yet, there will be opportunities for live performance, so you can show off what you’ve learned, even to learn about recording your music. A Music Lab recording that week will pair masters with students.

And scholarships will be available in the name of the late Don Pullen, a Roanoke native who became one of jazz music’s great pianists. According to Jefferson Center: “The Don Pullen scholarship supports teenage musicians in the exploration of jazz through quality education and artistic opportunities. Jazz Institute scholarships are available through the application process.”

For more information, contact the Jeff’s artistic director, Dylan Locke, via dlocke@jeffcenter.org or 540-343-2624 (ext. 215). Download an application.

Darell Scott performs on Friday night at Jefferson Center | Photo courtesy of Carrie Crawford

Contributed by  Carrie Crawford

Those who attended the Darrell Scott show at Jefferson Center on Friday night were treated to a musically magical night.  From the low baritone sound of his voice, to the high yodeling and flawless guitar picking, Scott was on point from the moment he stepped on to the stage.

Scott had promised an “extravaganza” and he delivered in spades.  His one-off Jefferson Center band consisted of Pete Finney on pedal steel, Shad Cobb on fiddle, Dirk Johnson on piano, Bryn Davies on bass and long-time friend Kenny Malone on drums.  Scott allowed all of his band members to take turns showing off their exceptional talents, and the crowd loved it.

From the first note of “Headed South” to the last note of “River Take Me,” the crowd was completely mesmerized.  The songs from Scott’s new album, “Long Ride Home,” seemed to transport the crowd back to the days of Hank Williams Sr., back to a time when country music was country music.  It was back to his roots: “Pre-Toby, pre-mechanical bull, pre-video,”  Scott said.

He peppered in a few fan favorites along with the new material, including “Great Day to Be Alive,” “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive” (which brought several in the crowd to tears), and “Crooked Road.”  He requested audience participation for his new song “Pay Lake,” and everyone enthusiastically sang right along.

But the highlight of the evening was the encore.  Scott has been actively working with the Music Lab at Jefferson Center and the Roanoke Children’s Choir on a project for a tune called “There’s a World of Song.” He premiered it at the show, with help from  The Roanoke Children’s Choir, several local gospel vocalists and local musicians. The number brought the crowd to its feet.

Proceeds from the downloads of the song (to be released this summer), the accompanying video and ticket sales from Friday night’s show will benefit the Music Lab at Jefferson Center.

This was certainly a night that anyone in attendance will not soon forget.  It was fun, emotional, and quite possibly one of the best nights of music Roanoke has ever seen.

– Carrie Crawford sings and plays bass for local outlaw country act Casey and the Moonshine Band.

Darrell Scott photo by Scott Simontacch

Hitmaking singer/songwriter Darrell Scott returns to Jefferson Center on Friday, for the debut of “There’s A World of Song,” the number he wrote and donated to the Jeff’s after-school music lab program. He will perform it with a children’s choir and a gospel choir — and his own, one-off band of Nashville, Tenn.’s best players.

Scott and his band will survey his catalog, with some emphasis on Scott’s latest album, “Long Ride Home” (Full Light Records). Read more, get show details. We talk about the whole deal with Scott on this podcast, and we stream four songs from the disc — “Hopkinsville,” “Out in the Parking Lot,” “The Country Boy” and “No Love in Arkansas.”

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Here are the performers who have contributed parts to the song upon hitting Jefferson Center or Kirk Avenue Music Hall for a show: Blind Boys of Alabama, Kathy Mattea, John Cowan, Tim O’Brien, Rene Marie, Del McCoury (and other members of the McCoury family), Roanoke College Childrens Choir, Otu Kojo, Janiah Allen and Quinten Baxter.

Current and former music lab students who have participated in the recording: Bukuru Celestin and Sisters, Abby Cohen, Judi Jackson, Chris Howard Woods.

Other artists have confirmed that they want to participate, but their studio times have not been set. They are: Richard Thompson, Victor Wooten, Chris Thile, Micheal League, Patrick Henry High School Strings, Jeff Midkiff.

Photo courtesy Toni Blackman

Toni Blackman has been an annual fixture in Roanoke. For years, she has been working with Jefferson Center after-school program Sisters of the Circle, and she has expanded her Big Lick to-do list to include freestyle workshops and more.

She and the Sisters hit Kirk Avenue Music Hall on Tuesday for a performance. We talk about that, about what it means to be a hip-hop ambassador for the U.S. State Dept., and much more on this podcast from the Music Lab at Jefferson Center. Streaming music — Streaming music — “Hollywood Dreams” and some freestyle rapping.

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Dumpstaphunk

Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk is, as its name implies, way funky. This New Orleans-based act brings the show to Roanoke on Friday, with a performance at Growler’s Towers (formerly Awful Arthur’s Towers). But at 4:30 p.m. that day, the band will visit the Music Lab at Jefferson Center for a semi-private performance and lecture workshop.

To get in on the action, contact the Jeff’s artistic director, Dylan Locke, via dlocke@jeffcenter.org or 343-2624 (ext. 215).

Photo by Brett Lemon

Saturday’s column in The Roanoke Times and roanoke.com/entertainment tells the story of Roanoke-based booking agency owner Bruce Houghton and the small scholarships at Music Lab at Jefferson Center that he has endowed in the name of his former client, the late Solomon Burke.

Here, Houghton tells the story of how he came to be Burke’s agent, along with a couple of stories about the soul immortal. Also, we talk a bit about the music lab and the potential it brings to Roanoke.

UPDATE 2:51 a.m. 1.28.12: Here is the Jefferson Center link to the Solomon Burke and Don Pullen Scholarships. We wrote about Pullen before a tribute concert last weekend, featuring onetime Pullen cohort Hamiet Bluiett. Here is my colleague Ralph Berrier’s review.

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