Performance Series events are made possible by grants from the NorAM/Minnegasco Foundation and by Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council, Waseca from appropriations by the Minnesota State Legislature. Events are also funded in part by our generous Performance Series donors, the Nadine B. Andreas Endowment, the Bunny Just Piano Festival Endowment and the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.
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Guitarist Charlie Parr plays original and traditional folk and blues. Raised in a household that prized traditional American folk music, his style bears the influence of Smithsonian/Folkways field recordings as well as the country blues of Mississippi John Hurt and Dave Van Ronk.
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Recently completing a tour of Australia, Miller appears at the Earley Center for Performing Arts with his band performing well-written tunes sung with heart and commitment. The group handles everything: gut-bucket blues, funk, dynamic soul and elegant jazz.
Website: www.scottiemiller.com
Listen to the Scottie Miller Band
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The Barley Jacks sing original vocals and play jaw–dropping instrumentals in a spirit of excitement and fun. They are masters of the fiddle, guitar, bass and drum who meld their divergent backgrounds of blues and bluegrass, classical and Celtic, R & B and bebop to inspire each other and create something entirely new. Front man and fiddler Brian Wicklund has been integral to the national acoustic music scene for decades, touring internationally in bands with Stoney Lonesome, Judith Edelman, Kathy Kallick, Chris Stuart, and Brother Mule.
Website: www.barleyjacks.com
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A superlative ensemble, the Chiarina Piano Quartet explores the rich artistic work and new music of piano quartet repertoire, exhibiting the very best in chamber music performance. The University’s David Viscoli, piano, will be joined by Mary Horozaniecki, violin; Nancy Nehring, viola; and Mark Rudoff, cello.
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Garrett can’t get enough of that boogie-woogie beat! Born in Iowa City, Iowa in 1989, Chase started playing piano at age nine and began playing professionally by age 17. Chase has performed internationally alongside some of today’s best boogie-woogie, blues and jazz pianists such as Axel Zwingenberger, Joachim Schumacher, Julian Phillips and Michael Kaeshammer. Deeply influenced by Albert Ammons, Meade ‘Lux’ Lewis, Otis Spann, Fats Waller and Oscar Peterson, Chase’s playing moves seamlessly between boogie-woogie, blues, jazz, stride and swing.
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Charles Asche has performed internationally as a recitalist, a concerto soloist and as a chamber musician. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, Asche has been awarded first prizes in the Wiedemann Shreveport Symphony Competition and the Three Rivers Southwestern Regional Competition. He has presented master classes and lectures throughout the state of California, and in 1993 and 1994, Asche was invited to present classes at the Samara Musical College and the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Russia.
Website:http://www.music.ucsb.edu/NEW_MUSIC_SITE/FacultyPages/Asche.htm
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As a teen, Marienthal attended Berklee College of Music for two years, went on tour for seven months with Al Hirt, and worked in the studio, including being on the staff at Disney. In 1986 he crossed paths with Chick Corea. Soon, he was in Corea's Elektric Band and started recording his own dates for GRP. Eric Marienthal has also toured with David Benoit and Lee Ritenour in addition to recording with the GRP All-Star Big Band. In 1998, he released Walk Tall, his tribute to Cannonball Adderley
Website: www.ericmarienthal.com
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Perennial Mankato fan favorite Tab Benoit returns to perform in his natural habitat at Hooligan’s Bar in the Madison East Center. Get ready to boogie with a night of swamp-pop classics, gritty blues, and rootsy jams. Grammy Nominated Benoit, Louisiana's #1 Roots Music Export, was recently honored with four WC Handy award nominations: Entertainer of the Year, Album of the Year, Contemporary Male Artist of the Year, and Contemporary Album of the Year.
Website: www.tabbenoit.com
The duo effortlessly blends the rich folkloric traditions of Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Serbia. The resulting music is as alluring as it is complex. Exotic Middle Eastern motifs merge gracefully with the evocative sounds of Eastern Europe. Beautifully conceived folk passages are followed by perfectly executed Mahavishnu-inspired pyrotechnics. The passion and urgency at which this group plays is heard in every note.
Website: www.akgiduo.com
Ray Bonneville is a Canadian born, Austin (TX) based singer, songwriter, guitarist and harmonica player, who is known for his “loose, darkly funky vibe” (All Music Guide). His Red House release Goin’ By Feel was named one of the best CD’s of 2008 by DownBeat Magazine.
Ray is a unique player and has performed with such blues luminaries as B.B. King, Muddy Waters, and Robert Cray. A world-class guitarist, harmonica player and hard-hitting songwriter, it is no wonder that Ray has received rave reviews from blues, jazz and roots critics alike and can
count among his fans such artists as Chris Smither, Tim O’Brien and Ray Wylie Hubbard.
Website: www.raybonneville.com
