Market Music

There are always lots of buskers at the Market Square Farmers Market. These guys actually sounded pretty good playing some jazz standards.

Moving Targets

Here are local favorites Hector Qirko and R.B. Morris playing a concert at the restored Candoro Marble building in South Knoxville. I'm posting this because it's the only photo that I took of them that I managed to get in focus. Yay me.

Spotlight

One more from Hollerpalooza. The music for this little street festival was continuous - and fantastic. Here's the last act of the night - local favorite Cruz Contreras delights the crowd with a spirited blend of country and bluegrass music. I took a lot of photos of the band, but I like this one the best because of the lighting. Maybe he's about to ascend in a tractor beam to the Mothership.

Jazz Buskers

These days, Market Square has all kinds of buskers, especially on weekends. Usually it's not very elaborate - a lone saxophone player, or a guy strumming a guitar, or the girl that brings her cello out occasionally to play Beatles tunes. So when this trio casually set up, I didn't pay much attention - until they started playing. They were the most astonishing jazz trio I've ever heard on the square, playing standards like Take the A Train. They attracted quite a crowd, too (and made a great photo opportunity). I hope they come back again.

I've been a bit under the weather for the past few days, so I haven't been able to visit too many of you recently, but once I get feeling better, I'll be coming 'round again!

Blue Plate Special

Every weekday at noon, local radio station WDVX hosts a free hour of music called the Blue Plate Special. Country, bluegrass, roots, gospel, or blues are what you'll hear, broadcast live on the air at the performance stage of the DVX downtown studio. Sometimes musicians show up unannounced to play - often in town to play a paid concert later that evening. Yesterday the Cruz Contreras Band brought their spirited country sounds to a standing room only audience (Cruz is behind the microphone). WDVX is a listener supported non-profit station whose mission is to spotlight the musical heritage of the Southern Appalachian region of the U.S. As they say : "no government funds, no ads, not NPR." They stream live on the web, so go on, treat yourself to some great regional southern music.  

Hey Mister DJ

So I was walking down Market Square recently one evening, and I saw this tall, thin guy, and he looked remarkably like Barack Obama. And this guy was swinging these two glowsticks attached to a string, swinging them around and around in different patterns. And I said to myself, that can't be Barack Obama because Barack may want change, but I don't think he's interested in glowsticks. And I was right. This guy is one of the DJs at The Fairbanks nightclub in Bearden.

Preservation

Preservation Pub on Market Square is one of the best places to enjoy free concerts on the square  - especially if you get the seat by the door. Just sayin'. Do you have an outdoor concert venue in your town?

Jazz Portrait

Last week at 4620 jazz club, pianist Donald Brown was kind enough to allow me to snap his photo. Unfortunately, my battery died after this shot, so what you see is what you get. Good thing Mr Brown is photogenic. I don't have much experience shooting portraits, but if you want to see some exquisite portraiture, hop on over to Olivier's daily photo blog. I couldn't aspire to anything higher.

Vestival

The South Knoxville Arts and Heritage Center holds a festival every year in the little community of Vestal in South Knoxville to raise money to restore the beautiful and historic Candoro Marble Company office building for use as a community arts center. Vestival is a fun way to hear great local music and contribute to a good cause. I took some photos of the inside of Candoro, as well as the ruins of the adjacent marble factory that I'll share with you soon. Candoro Marble Works was once the nation's largest producer of pink marble. You can see this marble in many buildings and monuments in Washington D.C. and around the U.S.

This photo shows the Johnson Swing Quartet playing some Django Reinhardt gypsy jazz tunes in the portico of the Candoro building. 

Jazz Night

Last night I went to one of my favorite jazz clubs in town, 4620, to hear the Donald Brown quintet. You can just barely see Donald on piano back in the shadows. He teaches in the jazz program at the university, and is one of the nicest people I know. But if you missed the show last night, don't worry - you can see him at the Paris Jazz Festival this summer. 

Oh, and that's my companion, Jack Daniels, in the foreground.

The Sundowners

Sundown In the City, a series of free concerts on Market Square, started their season this evening. People, I just can't describe the thousands of folks that descend on the square for this event every Thursday, so I'm showing you a shot I took tonight from the balcony of the TVA Towers plaza overlooking the square. 

Enjoying the Music

Mike T and the Mascot Ramblers entertain a crowd of all ages at the Dogwood Arts Festival. They play classic country music like Hank Williams and Merle Haggard. Yes, I do love me some Merle Haggard. I also love that just changing a few settings on my digital camera takes me from color to black and white! (It's my first digital camera, can you tell?)

Rockin' on a Sunday Afternoon

Knoxville has an abundance of local musical talent of all kinds. Name your favorite kind of music - jazz, blues, rock, country, bluegrass, folk, gospel, classical - you'll probably find someone performing it around town. Today the sun was out, the weather was perfect for an outdoor concert, and I had the great fortune of finding the Rockin' Womyn's Music Festival taking the stage on Market Square. This free festival of female bands is sponsored by the Lambda Student Union of the University of Tennessee. Donations helped raise money for the Knoxville Family Justice Center, which helps victims of domestic abuse.