Maria Maldaur & her Red Hot Bluesiana Band

Description

When you step in the door at Ashkenaz Music & Dance Community Center, the first images you see on the wall are aging photos of some musical greats wailing the blues from the Ashkenaz stage.

"John Lee Hooker - Nov 28, 1981."
"Big Mama Thornton - Feb 28, 1982."
"Joe Louis Walker - Dec 10, 1992."
"Taj Mahal - Jan 17, 1988."

The blues has remained one of the offerings in Ashkenaz's diverse musical palette, but starting in February the blues and its close cousin, swing, will take up several regular spots on the club's monthly calendar with a fresh series featuring top talent in blues, West Coast Swing, New Orleans R&B, East Coast Lindy Hop, Gypsy Swing and Jump 'n' Jive Jazz... in true Ashkenaz form, music fit for dancing the night away.

The "SWEET & LOW DOWN WEDNESDAYS" series, appropriately named after a Gershwin tune about a cabaret pianist, will take up all odd Wednesdays (1st, 3rd, 5th) throughout the year. Each installment will follow the uniquely Ashkenaz format of optional dance lesson appropriate to the music of the night, followed by live music until the cows come home.

The series will launch on Wednesday, February 24, with Bay Area vocal great Maria Muldaur, along with her Red Hot Bluesiana Band. Most of Muldaur's local appearances in recent years have been for sit-down concerts, so this is a rare chance to not just listen to an acclaimed musician, but also to dance to her hits and down-home blues songs on the spacious Ashkenaz dance floor - voted "Best Dance Club" in the East Bay Express Reader's Poll once again in 2009.

The sweet and soulful California Honeydrops will follow Muldaur in the series, on the 1st Wednesday of March (March 3), and Ms. Dee & the VIPs (affectionately nicknamed "The Queen of Hearts" by Johnny Otis) play the next odd Wednesday (March 17). Other acts to look for in the series include Lavay Smith & her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, Bernard Anderson & the Old School Band, Steve Lucky & the Rhumba Bums, Quinn DeVeaux & the Blue Beat Review and George Cole & Vive le Jazz. Harmonica ace Mark Hummel, who is very familiar with the Ashkenaz stage - having hosted many of his annual "Blues Blowouts" there - is also rumored to be checking his calendar for an appearance.

This regular home to the blues is welcome news to the Bay Area Blues scene, which has seen a number of performance venues close their doors in recent times. Anna's Jazz Island in Downtown Berkeley is the latest (hopefully temporary) closure and Eli's Mile High Club's closure in May 2008 was devastating. Equally heartbreaking was the cancellation of the 2009 SF Blues Festival, which had been going strong for 36 years until funding became scarce in 2008 and forced the festival's producer Tom Mazzolini to call a hiatus until the situation improves.

Such big hits to the Bay Area's vibrant music scene are certainly just cause for getting the blues. While moping is tempting, Ashkenaz encourages sympathizers to instead come out dance their blues away on the welcoming dance floor of Berkeley's nonprofit world music club, and support the Bay's fantastic independent musicians during these tough times.


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More about Maria Muldaur
The blues has been the foundation of Maria Muldaur's music since her teen years in New York City's Greenwich Village clubs where she learned at the feet of greats from Mississippi John Hurt and Son House to Sippie Wallace. Coming to national prominence in the original Jim Kweskin Jug Band, where her first recorded vocal was "I'm a Woman" (which years later became one of her solo hits), she went on to a short duo career with then-husband Geoff Muldaur, and has since issued dozens of solo albums with a who's who of backing and accompanying musicians. Her early '70s international hit, "Midnight at the Oasis," remains a radio staple. A long association with Dr. John resulted in developing her "bluesiana sound," dipping into Louisiana blues and soul. Her recordings have included appearances by the likes of Mavis Staples, Bonnie Raitt, Ann Peebles, Charles Brown, Odetta, Aaron and Ivan Neville... the list goes on and on. Her new CD, "Good Time Music for Hard Times," by Maria Muldaur and Her Garden of Joy, reunites her with Taj Mahal and her old jug band compatriots including John Sebastian, David Grisman, Dan Hicks and Fritz Richmond.

Maria Muldaur & her Red Hot Bluesiana Band perform at the launch of the Sweet & Low-Down Wednesdays Series on Wednesday, February 24, 2010. Doors open at 7:30 p.m., Blues dance lesson starts at 8:00 p.m., and showtime is at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $18 or just $15 for students with valid ID. Advance tickets are also $15 and can be purchased through http://www.ticketweb.com, or at Ashkenaz during shows. All ages are welcome at all shows, and children age 12 and under enter for free unless otherwise noted.

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About Ashkenaz:
Ashkenaz offers one of the finest rooms for dancing to music from around the world (it has been named best dance club by such publications as the Oakland Tribune and East Bay Express). It serves as a teaching facility with an array of daytime dance and music classes by the Bay's top teachers; one can learn flamenco, belly dancing, beginning ballet and creative movement for children, Afro-Cuban, Bhangra, swing dancing and much more. Plus most concerts offer free dance lessons before the live music begins. Ashkenaz holds over 330 performances each year, and is always all ages.

DavidRoots and Vision:
In 1973 folk dancer and human rights activist David Nadel opened the doors to a converted Berkeley warehouse at 1317 San Pablo Avenue and named it Ashkenaz in honor of his East European Jewish ancestry. His vision was simple: to provide a place where people of all backgrounds and beliefs can come together to celebrate a shared humanity through music and dance. Initially a Balkan Folk Dance Café, Ashkenaz's programming quickly expanded to include live music and dance from all over the world six nights per week, as well as hosting fundraisers for community and global causes. Following Nadel's death in 1996, a group of dancers, musicians and employees banded together to convert Ashkenaz to its current nonprofit status and continue Nadel's vision.

More Info

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http://www.ashkenaz.com

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