Richmond Jazz Festival preview, part 2

Headed to the Richmond Jazz Festival this weekend, still deciding, or just want to know what you’ll be missing? Here’s some info on some of the artists who are scheduled to perform.

August 13, 2010; 11:52 AM • by Dean Christesen

Pictured: Trumpeter Rick Braun and saxophonist Richard Elliot are scheduled to perform together this weekend at the Richmond Jazz Festival.

Continued from part 1, here are the remainder of the artists scheduled to perform this weekend at the Richmond Jazz Festival. There was a huge response to our first post about the festival, “All that jazzy: The Richmond Jazz Festival.” Check it out for different perspectives on smooth jazz and a great discussion about the genre.

Rick Braun & Richard Elliot

Trumpeter and saxophonist
Websites: www.rickbraun.com and www.richardelliot.com
Latest album together: “RnR” (2007)
Claim to fame: Co-founded the ARTizen Music Group record label (now known as Artistry Music) together in 2005.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHw5zRbdLJg[/youtube]

Alex Bugnon

Pianist
Website: www.alexbugnon.com
Latest album: “Going Home” (2010)
Claims to fame: Has studied at Paris Conservatory, the Mozart Academy in Salzburg, and Berklee School of Music in Boston. Originally from Montreux, Switzerland.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZCp7JFz8Js[/youtube]

Bob Baldwin

Pianist
Website: www.bobbaldwin.com
Latest album: “Never Can Say Goodbye (A Tribute to Michael Jackson)” (2010)
Other: Based in Mount Vernon, New York.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rly9lLe8Zn4[/youtube]

Chuck Mangione

Flugelhornist
Website: www.chuckmangione.com
Claim to fame: “Feels So Good” (1977). One-time member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers.
Wikipedia says: “In addition to music, Chuck Mangione had a recurring voice-acting role on the animated television series King of the Hill. In it he portrays himself as a celebrity spokesman for Mega Lo Mart, although his animated form appears much younger than his current age, more closely resembling how he looked in the late 1970s.”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWSevt_i51w[/youtube]

Boney James

Saxophonist
Website: www.boneyjames.com
Latest album: “Send One Your Love” (2009)
Wikipedia says: “It was on the road with [Randy] Crawford that he earned his now-famous moniker; his per diem as a touring musician barely kept him fed, and a bandmate notoriously commented of his dwindling physique, ‘At this rate we’ll have to start calling you Boney James!'”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W22xGKCTH5U[/youtube]

Ledisi

Vocalist
Website: www.ledisi.com
Latest album: “Turn Me Loose” (2009)
Claim to fame: Nominated for four Grammy Awards.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg6DfIpfZjY[/youtube]

Plunky And Oneness

Led by saxophonist J. Plunky Branch
Website: www.plunkyone.com
Latest album: “2012: Collectors’ Box Set” (2009)
Wikipedia says: “Their song, ‘Every Way But Loose’ is featured on the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, playing on fictional radio station Paradise FM.”
Other: Along with the late addition to the festival Shanta “Bunmi” Jasper, Plunky And Oneness is one of two Richmond, Virginia-based groups that will perform at the Richmond Jazz Festival.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZKQCAGXH9Y[/youtube]

Lalah Hathaway

Vocalist
Website: www.lalahhathaway.com
Latest album: “Self Portrait” (Stax 2008)
Claim to fame: Her 1999 collaboration with Joe Sample (“The Song Lives On”) won a Billboard/BET On Jazz Award (for Mainstream Jazz Album) and reached #2 on Billboard’s jazz.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czOSppWIt68[/youtube]

The Richmond Jazz Festival will take place Saturday, August 14, and Sunday, August 15, at Maymont Park and will feature Chaka Khan, Poncho Sanchez, Chuck Mangione, Boney James, Ledisi, Stanley Clarke, Norman Brown, Plunky and Oneness, and more. For more information and for ticket sales, visit jazzatmaymont.com.

August 13, 2010 11:52 AM 3