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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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Jazz Festival
By Ken Shimamoto
Surely one of the most under-promoted musical events here in the Fort has to be the annual Juneteenth festival. Last year, I.M. Terrell alumnus and ex-Ornette Coleman sideman, saxophonist Dewey Redman, returned to his hometown to play the event ... to an audience of something like six people.
Lady Pearl Johnson and her BTA Showband were an event staple for years. Lady Pearl’s gone now, the victim of a heart attack just two weeks after she graced Fort Worth Weekly’s cover last October. Her daughter Miss Kim will bring the band back this year, though, filling Pearl’s customary 10pm slot with an hour of gritty, earthy, down-home blues and R&B. Kim’s a raw-throated belter of real intensity and a marvelously athletic dancer. The BTA band, led by her uncle Ray Reed on guitar and vocals, lay it down in the classic style. Since Pearl’s death, they’ve relinquished their regular Sunday night gig at the Swing Club, but they still appear around town at venues like the Captain’s Den. A documentary on Pearl, Kim, and the band by City Video’s Chris Connell is currently in the works as part of Community Cable Television’s West Side Stories series. Stay tuned.
Further down the bill, fiery guitarist-singer and “Linda Lu” originator Ray Sharpe will appear with an all-star band that includes Hash Brown, Christian Dozzler, Bobby Baranowski, and Terry Montgomery. Get there early so you can hear jazz by longtime Ronald Shannon Jackson collaborator Thomas Reese, as well as Vintage Gold from the Vales and R&B from Road Crew, featuring former Johnnie Taylor sidemen, including hot guitarist Tony Pinella.
7pm Sat at General Worth Square, 9th and Main Sts, FW. 817-335-9605.
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