Get ready, Baltimore.
This week, jazz luminaries B.B. King, Al Green and Little Richard and other jazz greats and up-and-comers make their way to Charm City for the newest major jazz festival in the United States.
The PAETEC Jazz Festival Baltimore was conceived by Arunas Chesonis, the Baltimore City-born chairman and chief executive officer of the company after which the festival is named.
The festival is an offshoot of the Rochester International Jazz Festival in New York, now in its sixth year, and the Stockholm Jazz Festival, now entering its 24th year. Both fests drew more than 50,000 jazz fans.
“We?re invitingjazz lovers from around the globe to experience a musical encounter unlike anything that?s ever happened in Baltimore,” Mayor Sheila Dixon said in a statement. “From Billie Holiday to Cab Calloway, jazz has set the musical tone for Baltimore for decades. …”
Indeed, the show will draw together a host of classic, new and alternative blues performers in various events, some of which are free, at various venues.
When Bonerama performs, it will be a homecoming of sorts for the band that has built a loyal following at smaller clubs throughout the city. The New Orleans band, billing itself as R&B, funk, rock and jazz, includes former members of Harry Connick Jr.?s band.
“We just got a craving to put something fun together,” said trombonist Mark Mullins, noting that Connick?s growing television and movie career has left the members with free time. “We are serious musicians. We take our careers and music seriously, but it?s OK to have fun, too.”
One recent stop for the band, which is targeting festival performances this summer, was the Rochester International Jazz Festival. Such a warm reception was given to the group that festival organizers invited them to play in Baltimore City.
“This is really exciting for us,” said Mullins, calling Baltimore City a great music town. “We will be playing for people who don?t know much about us. It?s really fun to watch them get more and more into it.”
Jazz superstar Al Green can?t hide his glee about the festival?s lineup, especially his co-headliners.
“This show is the bomb,” he said by phone, before singing bits of his classic song “Let?s Stay Together.” “You can expect it to rock.”
