· ***FRIDAY NIGHT POSTPONED DUE TO EXCESSIVE HEAT AND ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS***
The line-up includes the musical genius of Charlie Wood, John Németh, Robin McKelle or The Blues Paddlers
· This year the festival features a new headline band, The Bo-Keys, based out of Memphis and led by Scott Bomar.
· The FREE concerts will be held on July 14, 15 and 16 on the sands of San Agustín Beach, part of the Maspalomas Costa Canaria
Maspalomas Soul Festival Lineup
This weekend’s Maspalomas Costa Canaria Soul Festival lineup looks set, once again, to delight soul lovers, during three days of unforgettable music right down on the sands of San Agustín Beach, on the south of Gran Canaria.
The festival dates have changed, for the first time moving ahead of the Porretta Soul festival, in Italy, from which it was originally spawned.
The festival features many renowned soul artists, most of whom will also appear next week in Porretta, including the legendary Louisiana blues man Bobby Rush, who also appeared here for the 2016 edition and who now returns with two Grammy Awards under his belt; and Charlie Wood, the mythical Memphis-born soul singer, writer and keyboardist who hales from the very best traditions of the blues.
A newly appointed resident stage band, The Bo-Keys, present a lineup that has kept the spirit of Memphis’ classics alive while writing a vital new chapter for sound and style. Led by producer and bassist Scott Bomar, the group includes, trumpeter Marc Franklin (Gregg Allman Band, Bobby Blue Bland), original Hi Records keyboardist Archie Hubbie Turner (Al Green), saxophonist Kirk Smothers (Ike Turner), guitarist Joe Restivo (The City Champs) and drummer David Mason.
Bobby Rush at the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum, 1150 Lakeland Drive Jackson, Mississippi 39216. Photos for the album “Sitting on top of the Blues.” © photo by Bill Steber
Bobby Rush has been performing for more than six decades, now in his late 80s yet still able to seduce an audience with energy and intuition. He is a living legend of blues and soul.
Known for his unmistakable style and a passionate voice, he has two Grammy Awards (2017 and 2021), is a member of the Blues Hall of Fame, he has won the Blues Music Award 12 times, named as B.B. King artist of the year, an occasional actor (makes a cameo in Eddie Murphy’s Dolemite Is My Name)… and he has forged his career on the chitlin circuit every night with his sweaty and unbridled blues parties, but now bursts forward with force in a spectacular album Porcupine Meat, which earned him the Grammy and has opened the doors of long tours around the world as the headliner of choice.
Charlie Wood is a hugely talented multi-award winning pianist and vocalist, who fuses soul, jazz and R&B into his music. His captivating voice and ability to improvise on the piano have earned him critical acclaim and respect from his peers. Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Wood got his start in blues and R&B music in his hometown. At seventeen he left for New Orleans, where he spent several years soaking up the exotic piano traditions and exuberant lifestyle of the Big Easy. In his early 20s, Charlie was the keyboardist for legendary blues guitarist Albert King, with whom he toured the United States and Europe.
As a teenager in the early ’90s and growing up in the muddy potato fields of Idaho, John Nemeth was drawn to the harsh sounds of hip hop and rock bands of the time, until a friend, Tom Moore, introduced him to the Junior Wells and Buddy Guy classic “Hoodoo Man Blues.” Together they formed Fat John & the 3 Slims, which is still considered a legendary band in the Boise region. John played harmonica and sang in local groups, often opening for national blues tours, and quickly caught the interest of blues musicians. In 2013 John moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where he teamed up with producer Scott Bomar and his classic Memphis Soul band, the Bo-Keys, to create an album of revisited soul classics, “Memphis Grease” (2014 Blue Corn). John won the 2104 BMA for Best Male Soul Blues Artist.
A talented singer-songwriter, Robin McKelle has gained recognition for her unique voice. From country music to rhythm and blues, he has made a career exploring the rich vastness of American music. With Impressions of Ella, his latest album, he pays tribute to the first lady of American song, Ella Fitzgerald, with an album that marks an inevitable coming of age for McKelle’s career in jazz, as the years of his hard work and training finally mature and bear fruit.
During its two-decade history, soul group The Bo-Keys has featured some of Memphis’ finest musicians, both legendary studio veterans and sought-after young backing musicians. The Bo-Keys have kept the spirit of classic Memphis music alive while writing a vital new chapter in sound and style.
The Blues Paddlers aka Samuel and Davis, (who feature on this years poster) are made up of Jan Samuel Harris and Cedric Davis Brownlee, a duo that has been singing and dancing since the age of 12. Both grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, surrounded by blues and R&B music and home to such incredible artists as Isaac Hayes, Aretha Franklin, David Porter and The Bar-Kays, to name a few from their origins.
Dan Dombrowe has been working as an international DJ since 1988 and his Baltic Soul Weekender event was nominated for best festival in Germany at the Live Entertainment Awards 2011 and 2019. As a DJ he has already performed his exclusive soul singles in some of the most famous soul & jazz clubs in the world. His record collection is internationally recognized and contains some of the rarest records in the world.
Musician, presenter, journalist and figure committed to all kinds of cultural expressions, Sergio Miró shares his most music-loving side through his role as a DJ. With a degree in Popular Music Performance from Thames Valley University (London), Sergio has been linked to Canarian bands such as Los Pulpos (later known as Limbo), Birkins, The Good Company, Aburrido Cósmico or Los Coquillos, as well as collaborator, producer and / or session musician in numerous albums on the regional and national scene. Together with Alby Ramírez he forms El Quebradero, a duo responsible in recent years for the production of albums by artists such as Miguel Cedrés, Paula Espinosa, Sánches, or Ginés Cedrés.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/soulmaspalomas
-
- Maspalomas Soul Festival Lineup
-
- Friday 14th
-
- Saturday 15th
-
- Sunday 16th
Bobby Rush: “I’m sitting at the top of the blues, proud of what I do and who I am”
· The legendary vocalist, winner of two Grammy Awards, will perform on Saturday, July 15 at the Maspalomas Costa Canaria Soul Festival
Bobby Rush, considered one of the legends of the blues, arrives at the Maspalomas Costa Canaria Soul Festival with the power to show how he has earned his two Grammy awards (2017 and 2021) and the contribution of his musical genre to soul. Rush headlines on Saturday’s program and will be accompanied for the occasion by Mississippi singer Mizz Lowe on a stage he already knows, as he was one of the artists who participated in the 2016 edition.
Bobby Rush forged his career in the American Chitlin’ Circuit, a collection of performance venues throughout the eastern, southern, and upper Midwest areas of the United States that provided commercial and cultural acceptance for African American musicians, comedians, and other entertainers during the era of racial segregation in the United States through the 1960s, and was considered to be by, for, and about black people. There is debate as to when the Chitlin’ Circuit peaked. Some say its peak was in the 1930s, some say it was after World War II, and others say it was the time of the blues, with sweaty, wild parties held every night. Rush published his latest album, Rawer than Raw, in 2021 with which he won the Grammy for best traditional blues album.
Approaching his 90th year on this planet, his level of energy on stage belies the calibre of his performances. The Chitlin ‘circuit ran through halls and theatres considered true temples of African-American music, such as the Apollo in Harlem, the Regal in Chicago, the Howard in Washington D.C., the Uptown in Philadelphia, or the Fox in Detroit, places where artists like Duke Ellington, James Brown, BB King, Jimi Hendrix, Nina Simone, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding and The Jackson 5 all cut their teeth.
Bobby Rush at the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum, 1150 Lakeland Drive
Jackson, Mississippi 39216. Photos for the album “Sitting on top of the Blues.” © photo by Bill Steber“I’m sitting on top of the blues. I’m a bluesman who is sitting at the peak of his career, proud of what I do and proud of who I am and grateful that people accept me for who I am and who I am,” says Rush, who adds “I’m happy with what I do and still excited about what I do. And I think we have good songs.”
Throughout his extensive artistic career, his reputation for spectacular live performances has grown exponentially as he performed a minimum of 200 performances a year on the Chitlin’ circuit, during which time he recorded a series of memorable albums. His general recognition began when he earned his first Grammy nomination for his album Hoochie Man (2000), followed by an appearance in the documentary series The Blues (2003) produced by Martin Scorsese, with his own segment in the episode The Road to Memphis. The Rolling Stones
themselves pointed to their album Rush Hour (1979, Philadelphia International) as one of the best blues albums of the seventies.
To date, Rush has won 12 Blues Music Awards and had 48 nominations for different awards, including the prestigious B.B. King Entertainer of the Year Award and Album of the Year, and has participated in some of the biggest music festivals around the world, including Chaifetz Arena, Byron Bay Bluesfest, Porretta Soul Festival, Fuji Rock Festival, Bonaroo and New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, among others, in addition to being the first bluesman to perform on the Great Wall of China, attracting an audience of more than 40,000 people, and now comes to the Maspalomas Costa Canaria Soul Festival to exhibit his talent and his seniority.
The Gran Canarian group Family Soul Band joins the Maspalomas Costa Canaria Soul Festival
· The program will be completed with DJs Dan Dombrowe and Sergio Miró
The Canarian group Family Soul Band joins the Maspalomas Costa Canaria Soul Festival, which will also feature the musical selection of the deejays Dan Dombrowe and Sergio Miró, along with the new resident band The Bo-Keys, straight out of Memphis.
Family Soul Band was born at the beginning of 2020 in the capital of Gran Canaria with the aim of being able to offer the public a show based on soul music, with touches of different musical styles, including The Blues Brothers, James Brown, Amy Winehouse, Frank Sinatra and Michael Bublé, among others. The group is composed of musicians from different musical genres, both professional and amateur, united by the strength of this genre and who have played in different bands over the years, which combines experience and a lot of enthusiasm, which infect the public in each of their concerts.
Sergio Miró is another of the promoters of soul in the Canary Islands. Musician, presenter, journalist, and a figure committed to all kinds of cultural expressions on the Islands, Miró shares his music-loving side through his role as a DJ. He has been part of outstanding local festivals including the Festival Cero, the LPA Beer & Music Festival, and the International Film Festival of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, as well as in numerous halls and events of the Archipelago. His musical sessions are an uninhibited journey through a multitude of styles, where above all the desire to surprise and not leave a single foot still in the room prevails. Since 2020 he has incorporated television into his usual activities with his program El mundo que viene, on Televisión Canaria.
Dan Dombrowe, another of the guests to participate in this new edition of the Maspalomas Costa Canaria Soul Festival, has been working as an international DJ since 1988 and his event Baltic Soul Weekender was nominated as the best festival in Germany at the Live Entertainment Awards 2011 and 2019. His entrepreneurial spirit and international contacts have led to close friendships with many legendary artists such as The Temptations, The Supremes, Aloe Blacc and many others. As a deejay, he has performed his exclusive soul singles at some of the world’s most famous soul & jazz clubs (Ronnie Scotts, 100 Club, Jazz Cafe) and also lectures on youth subcultures and the development of African-American dance music at universities in England and Germany. His record collection is internationally recognized and contains some of the rarest records in the world.
Soul Food and Restoration at the Maspalomas Costa Canaria Soul Festival
· The restaurant area will have more than a dozen food trucks and “gastronetas” with a varied gastronomic offer
· Global and the taxi sector will strengthen their services to encourage the use of public service and avoid circulatory collapse in the area
The large restaurant area located very close to the stage will offer free music master classes this edition by The Norman Sisters and Scott Bomar, director of the North American formation The Bo-Keys, which this year premier as the resident band, enriching the Maspalomas Costa Canaria Soul Festival.
With more than a dozen food trucks or “gastronetas” offering a range of foods, and drinks bars, with cocktails, wines, mojitos, craft beers, offered in reusable cups from the first drink in an effort to respect the environment. This space will also have a small stage in a chill-out format set hosted by the deejay Sergio Miró.
Friday, from 6:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.; Saturday, from 12.00 to 2.00 hours, and Sunday, from 11.00 to 20.00 hours.
The free master classes will be held on the stage in the restaurant area. The first, on Saturday, at 5:30 p.m., The Norman Sisters singers will talk to the public about the contribution of the gospel genre to soul music. The second masterclass will be on Sunday, at 12.00, featuring Scott Bomar, who will show the influence that the so-called ‘Memphis Sound’ has had on pop music.
The Maspalomas Costa Canaria Soul Festival this year will feature figures such as the legendary vocalist, winner of two Grammy Awards, Katrina Anderson, Charlie Wood and once more the British singer and compere Rick Hutton, among others. This festival is made possible by the contribution of the Town Council of San Bartolomé de Tirajana through its Department of Culture.
Reinforcement of public transport
The passenger transport company Global and the taxi sector of the municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana will also reinforce services during the days of the Maspalomas Costa Canaria Soul Festival. The bus lines will have a frequency every 15 minutes, until 9:00 p.m., and from that time it will be 30 minutes, in addition to being able to intensify them depending on demand. The organization of the festival recommends using public transport to avoid traffic collapses in the area.
