Blues Project 2016 is a wrap, and it was a fitting 10 year celebration. We had a great crowd this year, and Angelo Cicco's call and response with them throughout the night was a lot of fun. We had a "Love Train" chugging around the aisles, the whole audience chanting "I'm Black and I'm Proud." MC June Saavedra was lovely and welcoming as always, and I thought VU professor Heath Carter was a perfect capstone to the night. Musically, we had some of our most memorable performances. Monique Nunes brought a tear to my eyes on "Precious Lord Take My Hand" and Corey Dennison stole a page from the Reverend Gerry Hundt's book and left the microphone to prowl the stage for an unforgettable performance of "I've Been Loving You too Long." The Planetary Blues Band found a thick groove on "Freddie's Dead," Rocco Calipari Jr. hit the sweet spot on "I Heard it Through the Grapevine," and Fruteland Jackson brought the down-home gospel blues on "Soul of a Man." The horn section added a lot this year, and a big part of that is the hard work of VHS students Chris Zart, Elizabeth Bell, and Ben Kroeger. And the student performances were some of the most consistently enjoyable we've ever had. I loved Logan Conrick's slick guitar work on "Soul Man," Kelsey Minko's silky smooth "Living For the City," Ruthie Marfoe's stellar pipes on "Dancing in the Streets," Jay Dalton's smooth delivery of "Higher and Higher," and Caleb Goldfarb's conducting the "Love Train." Ollie Grcich, Julia Fink, and Mikey Neito all delivered some show stopping performances, and were instrumental in the getting those lush background vocals that we heard all night. But it was the 7th graders that absolutely floored me - Addie Janoviak, Julia Fezatt, Kate Remijan, Annalee Cvelbar, Lexi Gonzalez, Savannah White - they were all superb. I can hardly wait until next year! Thanks to all students, staff, musicians, janitors, and everybody else who helped to make this year a success. Lets all get some rest ;)
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