Lavay Smith & the Red Hot Skillet Lickers, Steve Lucky & the Rhumba Bums, Kim Nalley, DJ Jesse Miner, Scott Petersen Benefit Basie-style Big Band.
This event is a rare and special one that brings out the two top Bay Area swing dance bands – Steve Lucky & the Rhumba Bums and Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers – to share the evening in a medical fundraiser for beloved local saxophonist Scott “Edawg” Petersen, www.scottpetersen.org. Petersen has been a busy player on the local scene, performing in both bands and many others including the Mike Vax big bands and the Stan Kenton Alumni Orchestra, despite suffering from the congenital disease cystic fibrosis. His career has included a long stint with legendary jazz drummer J.C. Heard’s band, and he performed with Hammond organ greats Shirley Scott and Brother Jack McDuff, as well as a who’s who of pop from Aretha Franklin on down. Now the time has come for Petersen to receive a double lung transplant. Tonight’s bands raise money for his operation, joined by special guests.
The Rhumba Bums have been one of the West Coast’s most popular, to say nothing of most entertaining and fun, bands since composer-pianist-leader Steve Lucky assembled the group back in ’94 in the early days of the swing dance revival. The Rhumba Bums continue to play and sing just about the most irresistible dance tunes extant. They mix some well-known ’40s and ’50s jump blues and swing charts with rare and nearly forgotten gems that deserve to be resurrected. The band’s trump card is singer-guitarist Miss Carmen Getit, who offers vocal sparring matches with Lucky and guitar playing that, whether swing, blues, or even some bebop licks, is inspired, fast, and faithful to the genre. In pre-Rhumba Bums years, Lucky discovered Getit (who had played piano before she could read and has played guitar since shortly thereafter), bought Getit her first electric guitar and introduced her to the music of T-Bone Walker, Ruth Brown, and other swing-R&B legends, and they formed a piano-guitar duo in New York City. www.luckylounge.com
Before swing became a national craze, jazz vocal stylist Lavay Smith and her band were making music as sharp and irresistible as her period costumes that recall the pinup girls of the Forties. More than a decade later they are still the Bay Area’s hottest swing attraction, as well as that rarity that sounds as good as it looks. Big, bluesy-voiced Smith has deservedly raked in national attention from network television to NPR, and Johnny Otis proclaims that “she and her band are a breath of fresh air!” Multiple award winners, Smith and her Skillet Lickers present not only the best-dressed but also one of the most exciting shows of East Coast Swing and Lindy Hop dance music, as well as sultry torch songs. www.lavaysmith.com
WHAT: Scott "Edawg" Petersen Transplant Benefit Dance Concert www.scottpetersen.org/
WHO: LAVAY SMITH & HER RED HOT SKILLET LICKERS STEVE LUCKY & THE RHUMBA BUMS featuring Miss Carmen Getit Plus a BIG BAND playing Basie-style big band charts featuring many Bay Area jazz musicians who are coming in support of Scott.
Plus special guest DJ Jesse Miner
WHEN: Sunday May 18
Doors: 6 pm
6:30 Swing Dance Lesson with Nick Lawrence
Showtime: 7 pm Lavay Smith & the Red Hot Skillet Lickers 8:30 Scott Petersen Benefit Big Band
9:15 Steve Lucky & the Rhumba Bums featuring Miss Carmen Getit
WHERE: Ashkenaz Music & Dance Community Center
1317 San Pablo Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94702
www.ashkenaz.com
Show line/Venue Phone: (510) 525-5054
PRICE: $15 minimum donation.
Advance tickets available from the Ashkenaz front desk on show nights or online from Ticketweb or call 1-866-666-8932.
Beer & Wine, food available.
Easy to get to from Highway 80.
On San Pablo Avenue just South of Gilman, across from R.E.I.
Kids 12 and under receive free admission.
Ashkenaz has ample free parking in the lot across the street.
Celebrity swing DJ Jesse Miner spinning tunes in between band sets.
Door prizes.
PRESS CONTACT:
Miss Carmen Getit, carmen@luckylounge.com, phone: 510 658 3610
Raffle/Door Prize items so far:
**Dance Pass or Competition Pass to the SF Balboa Fest and North American Open Swing Championships http://www.balboabattle.com/
** a Private Tour & Tasting at Arrowood Vineyards & Winery for up to four people with a complimentary bottle of wine from their classic wine list to take after the tour and tasting. The value of the package is $165.
http://www.arrowoodvineyards.com/
**CDs from musicians…too many to mention here.
FOR UPDATES: check the thread at http://www.swingtalk.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7669
***It’s not too late to donate goods and services to the raffle and/or auction!
Send a note and/or make a donation to help Scotty now:
Scott Petersen Transplant Fund
P.O. Box 1010
Novato CA 94948-1010
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