Eleanor Ellis, Bill Ellis & Andy Cohen with Special Guest Joan Crane
Caffe Lena Saratoga Springs, NY
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This will be a true feast for fans of acoustic blues. Three towering talents take the stage together to bring you blues classics from the Delta, the Piedmont, the Paramount record catalog of the '20s and '30s, and pieces learned in the homes of the creators themselves.
Eleanor Ellis is a celebrated master of the country and Piedmont blues--one of the most significant women in the acoustic blues genre. She is a torchbearer especially for her friend, mentor and musical partner, blues & gospel singer and guitarist Flora Molton, with whom she recorded two albums: I Want to Be Ready to Hear God When He Calls and the eponymous Flora Molton," recorded for Radio France.
Acclaimed Americana/Blues guitarist William Lee Ellis was named after his godfather, legendary bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe. His father, Tony Ellis, was one of Monroe's Blue Grass Boys. After earning a master's degree in classical guitar performance, Ellis met Piedmont blues giant Reverend Gary Davis. "Davis was a great sacred bluesman...There's a combination of the heavenly and the hellish, there are wonderful dynamics, tension and drama." In his quest to make the music's message live for today, Ellis has created a new style of Americana / roots music - one that's all his own.
Blues picker Andy Cohen is a connector between the legendary bluesmen of the last century (Big Bill Broonzy, Rev. Gary Davis, Honeyboy Edwards) and today's generation of blues revivalists. As a youngster coming up in the '60s folk revival, Andy began the explorations with "source" musicians that led to his current status as a virtuoso fingerstyle guitarist and "walking, talking folk-blues-roots music encyclopedia." An Andy Cohen performance encompasses the well-known, the obscure and the weirdly wonderful, and often involves autoharp and dolceola along with acoustic 6 and 12-string guitars.
Special Guest Joan Crane, a North Country treasure, has performed for all the major guitar manufacturers at the National Guitar Luthiers Symposium and has won statewide guitar competitions with her Piedmont and Delta styling. She'll be accompanied this evening by bassist Steve Feinbloom.
Location
Caffe Lena (View)
47 Phila Street
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
United States
