This amazing field trip was made possible by a few people that I absolutely need to thank. First, thank you to VCS for seeing the educational value in today's field trip and signing off on our adventure. Thanks to the family of Scott Schultz for their financial gift, ensuring that every student who wanted to participate could. Thanks also to Greg Guy for being so kind to us and doing a phenomenal job behind the board. Thanks to the staff at Legends for making us feel so welcomed. Thanks to all the parents who came out to support us; I couldn't believe the amount of seats we filled. Thanks to June Saavedra for handling all the logistics of the day. Thanks to Bobby Francis Schaefer-Murray for driving the van and taking such good care of our instruments. And thanks to our uber talented house band of Bobby, Carolyn Rodea, Zach Hall, Greg Kenworthy, Bill Romer, as well as Nathan Kaufman for giving of your time and talents to the Blues Project. You guys are the best.
So today I was able to take 44 kids up to Buddy Guy's Legends in Chicago to perform at one of the premier blues clubs in the world. (You can watch the performance on giggity.tv by going to - https://gigity.tv/event/113254 ). Like true blues musicians, we rode the train in to Chicago and hoofed it several blocks in the pouring rain to the club. Inside, the kids got to eat some tasty food, perform on an incredible stage with great sound, and soak up a virtual museum of Chicago Blues. There were some inspired performances, no doubt, but what I was most proud of was how complimentary that the staff at Legends was of our kids. Multiple staff members told me how well mannered, well behaved, and gracious my students were. You all did Valparaiso proud. Well done.
This amazing field trip was made possible by a few people that I absolutely need to thank. First, thank you to VCS for seeing the educational value in today's field trip and signing off on our adventure. Thanks to the family of Scott Schultz for their financial gift, ensuring that every student who wanted to participate could. Thanks also to Greg Guy for being so kind to us and doing a phenomenal job behind the board. Thanks to the staff at Legends for making us feel so welcomed. Thanks to all the parents who came out to support us; I couldn't believe the amount of seats we filled. Thanks to June Saavedra for handling all the logistics of the day. Thanks to Bobby Francis Schaefer-Murray for driving the van and taking such good care of our instruments. And thanks to our uber talented house band of Bobby, Carolyn Rodea, Zach Hall, Greg Kenworthy, Bill Romer, as well as Nathan Kaufman for giving of your time and talents to the Blues Project. You guys are the best.
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Below you will find the information sheet that I gave to our field trip participants Friday. It includes all pertaniant information regarding our April 6th field trip to Buddy Guy's Legends in Chicago. You will also find a lunch menu. If you could give me an idea of what you might order on Wednesday, I can make sure that the kitchen staff at Legends is prepared for our group. Dan Petreikis was at VHS to cover the 2016 Blues Project and his story and photos were published on ValpoLife's website on Sunday, March 13th. Check out the article and pictures with the links below.
Article: http://www.valpolife.com/entertainment/tv-movies-music/59035-the-soul-of-the-blues-comes-to-valpo-for-10th-annual-ben-franklin-blues-project-at-valparaiso-high-school Photo Gallery: http://photos.ideasinmotionmedia.com/Education/Art-Music-and-Theatre/2016-VHS-Blues-Project/ On Wednesday, April 6, Ben Franklin's Blues Project will be taking a field trip to Chicago to play the lunch hour at Buddy Guy's Legends. We will be performing from approximately 11:30-1:30. If students want to participate they need to complete the following permission slip and return to Mr. Cvelbar by Wednesday!! ![]()
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 ;)
The Blues Project is scheduled to play the following dates:
April 6 - Buddy Guy's Legends in Chicago; 11-1 June 12 - Chicago Blues Fest (BluesKids Tent); Time TBA September 17 -Taltree Folk, Blues, and Brews concert; time TBA Blues Project rehearsal scheduled for tonight (Thursday, 2/25) is cancelled due to the snow. PLEASE practice on your own with the recordings!! Our next full band rehearsal will be next Thursday 3/3 as previously scheduled.
![]() Fruteland Jackson visited the BF auditorium on Monday, February 1st to kick of the Blues Project for our 8th grade students with his Blues 101 program. Fruteland is a former KBA winner and blues musician who regularly plays at Buddy Guy's Legends. He's the perfect man to introduce the unit to our kids because he does such a thorough job of explaining the original forms of African-American music - the field holler, the work song, and the spiritual - which is where the whole story starts. He even closed out his performance with a new song he's working on, "straight out of research and development," as he said. Check him out at http://www.fruteland.com/ and come out to our concert finale on March 12th to hear him perform Blind Willie Johnson's "Soul of a Man." At the end of January, Mary and I got the pleasure of traveling down to Memphis, Tennessee for the Keeping the Blues Alive awards and the International Blues Challenge. We spent a couple days enjoying some top-notch blues by artists from all over the world being played day and night on Beale Street. And on Friday, I had the great honor of receiving a KBA award from the Blues Foundation. It was a unforgettable experience and I'm eternally grateful to the Blues Foundation for the trip of a lifetime. |
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