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| Virginia Arts Festival Brings Ruth Brown Home Ruth Brown, the legendary blues and R&B singer, will perform in her native Portsmouth, Virginia at the star-studded celebratory concert Saturday, May 13, organized by Virginia Arts Festival. The electrifying singer, known as "Miss Rhythm, " rocked the house last year at Norfolk's Attucks Theater and wowed Festival audiences with her Hampton Roads performance on "A Prairie Home Companion" with Garrison Keillor. Brown, a Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame member, is one of VH1's "100 Greatest Women of Rock 'n' Roll." She also won Broadway's Tony Award for Best Actress for her role in "Black and Blue." On the all-star blues bill with Miss Brown are Shemekia Copeland, a Grammy Award-nominated singing sensation; guitarist Bo Diddley, one of Rolling Stone's "Fifty Greatest Artists of All Time, " performing with the Debbie Hastings Band; and New Orleans legend Clarence "Frogman" Henry. Copeland is often compared to Brown, Etta James and Aretha Franklin, and is acclaimed not only for her singing but also for her original music. Diddley, the Southside Chicago bluesman, is in the Blues Hall of Fame and the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. Henry's remarkable falsetto helped him score hits with "I Don't Know Why I Love You (But I Do)" and "You Always Hurt the One You Love." The Ruth Brown Blues Festival is just one of several noteworthy concerts scheduled for Mother's Day weekend in Portsmouth. Jazz at Lincoln Center's Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, described by the Los Angeles Times as "rhythmic energy bursting in all directions, " performs at Willett Hall on Friday, May 12. Pianist Arturo O'Farrill, the son of famed jazz musician and composer Chico O'Farrill, leads the 18-piece orchestra. The group performs classics from the Afro-Latin canon by composers Mario Bauza, Machito and the late Chico O'Farrill. The weekend's attractions begin in a different tempo with chamber music Thursday, May 11 at noon at the Trinity Episcopal Church. Violinist Ani Kavafian, pianist Charles Woodward and the Miami String Quartet open the Lunchtime Chamber Music series, led by pianist Andre-Michel Schub. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Jazz News :: home page |