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Posted by perle0 on 2008-03-12 16:29:07
(5949 views) 
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[Events]
[Louisiana] |
 Pontchartrain Vineyards, Louisiana’s premier producer of fine artisan wines in the classic French tradition, announces the line-up of performers for its Spring 2008 season of Jazz’n the Vines outdoor music concerts. This will be the ninth season of presenting the immensely popular Jazz’n the Vines concert series at the vineyards and winery, located north of Covington in northern St. Tammany Parish.
"We are altering the format of the series this year by having a Spring and Fall season of 6 concerts each in order to shoot for the best weather prospects of the year for enjoying the outdoors in South Louisiana," said John V. Seago, founder of the award-winning winery. "We will open up the season," he continued, "with 2 concerts in April, 3 in May, and 1 in June. We’ll break for the "heavy duty" summer months, which also is a time for a tremendous amount of work at the vineyard and winery, with most of the harvest and crush taking place in July and August. We will resume the fall season in late September, continue with 3 concerts in October, and conclude the series in early November."
If you attend, be sure to tell them you heard about it on LaWineClub.com |
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Seago said, "Jazz’n the Vines provides an opportunity to celebrate some of the highlights of Louisiana’s rich cultural heritage: her food, her fine wines, and her music, while re-establishing a contact and relationship with the land and the many cultures that came together to form perhaps one of the most unusual and unique places in the United States, if not the world."
In many ways the so-called Florida Parishes (which includes St. Tammany) make up a transition zone between the widely diverse cultures of the largely French- and Catholic-influenced culture of south Louisiana and the predominantly rural/agrarian and Protestant culture of north Louisiana. Seago continued, "So, in this "neutral ground" of sorts we open up the 2008 Spring season on April 12 with Kenny Bill Stinson & His Band from Downsville in the hills of northeast part of the state, with their take on some hard-core Louisiana Rockabilly." According to Mr. Stinson, this musical genre arises from what he describes as a train wreck involving hardscrabble delta blues and real American country music. According to Seago, "If watching or listening to Jerry Lee Lewis leaves you short of breath, Kenny Bill’s performance out here may go down as the fastest 2 hours of musical performance ever recorded in these parts."
On the heels of Kenny Bill, the following week on April 19, the Diva of New Orleans Rhythm & Blues, Charmaine Neville and her band take the stage at Jazz’n the Vines. "So, in two weeks of April, there will be presented the chance to discover or rediscover the farthest reaches of the diversity of the Louisiana musical experience," Seago observed.
The 3 concerts in May begin with chanteuse Ann Savoy & Her Sleepless Knights on May 10. Ann, part of the musically rich Savoy family of Eunice, Louisiana, will be performing songs from the world of cabaret accompanied by her ensemble of acoustic jazz musicians. Anticipate an evening of sophisticated jazz more or less inspired by the likes of Django Reinhardt, Marco Cappelli, and other European "Gypsy" jazz artists.
On May 17th, the international jazz theme continues with world-renowned trombonist, Rick Trolsen and his mainly acoustic jazz troupe, Gringo Do Choro, performing the intricate, highly syncopated, and energized sounds of Brazilian street jazz.
We finish May on the 31st with Covington’s own Don Vappie & the Creole Jazz Serenaders. Their performance will uncover the many sources of musical impulses that came together to produce early New Orleans jazz, America’s first and only original art form. This world-traveled, peerless group of musicians performs an extraordinary repertoire of early New Orleans jazz with grace, style, and uncommon energy.
The Spring season ends on June 14th with a reunion of sorts of a couple of Louisiana’s real success stories in the music business, Louisiana legends and Baton Rouge native sons, Casey Kelley and Duke Bardwell. Casey and Duke played together in the very popular Greek Fountains band in the 1960’s before going on to pursue successful careers in the music world. They have separately and together toured and performed with, as well as composed for, the likes of Elvis Presley, Jose Feliciano, Tom Rush, Kenny Rogers, and Dottie West, among others. They will be joined with 2007 Grammy winner Leslie Ellis and Todd Cerney, who along with Casey, are successful songwriters and performers working out of Nashville.
The Fall season’s schedule is still under development but should be released within the next couple of weeks. |
All performances begin at 6:30 p.m. and conclude at 9:00 p.m. Admission is $10.00 per person with children 12 and under admitted free. No outside alcohol is permitted. Pontchartrain Vineyards wines will be sold at regular Tasting Room prices. Patrons are encouraged to seize the opportunity to put together a picnic dinner in the grand style, to celebrate Louisiana’s rich cultural heritage of outstanding food, wine and music. Gourmet Sandwiches are available for purchase.
Pontchartrain Vineyards is located at 81250 Hwy.1082, 6.5 miles from the juncture with Hwy.21, just north of Covington, LA. For more information, visit the website or call (985)892-9742. |
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