Evening Shade
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THE 18TH SEASON OF EVENING SHADE, a local concert in the park, hosted Jonathan Blanchard after opening with the soulful sounds of Catherine “Catt” Galop. The event was held Friday evening in Johnston Park.
Don Ledford Automotive Center — Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac — is corporate sponsor for this third concert in the 18th season of Evening Shade.
The Shawn Perkinson Project will come together as a combination of musicians that may never again perform in this unique combination.
Perkinson, who teaches guitar at Lee University, is gathering a group of some of the finest jazz musicians he “works with and has learned from” for this special concert.
Perkinson was born and raised in Cleveland. A graduate of Cleveland High School, he was All-State Jazz Guitarist in 1986-87 and was nominated for the Macy’s Day Parade in New York City in 1987. He studied jazz guitar at the University of Tennessee. He has also studied under the renowned Jerry Coker, Donald Brown and Mark Boling. Perkinson is a former member of “Kings of the Killer Fish” and has opened shows for Jerry Garcia Band, Wide Spread Panic and Charlie Daniels Band and performed at the 1997 MTV Spring Break Show in Panama City. He released a jazz album in 2002 with the E.M.P. Project. While he has studied jazz most of his life, Perkinson is proficient in all styles of music. He teaches guitar privately and serves as an instructor at Lee University. He joined The Collins Brothers in 2003.
“We will perform some of the music that inspired us to play jazz in the first place,” Perkinson said, noting the influence of Pat Metheny, Mike Stern and Michael Brecker. “When you put together a group of fine jazz musicians, we know a lot of the same songs and will feed off of each other.”
Perkinson pointed out that the musicians who will “merge” for this concert all do other things and may never gather in this combination again.
“Because they are such fine jazz musicians merging for this concert, you won’t want to miss the Shawn Perkinson Project if you like good jazz,” Kyle Elrod, event organizer said. “They join this year’s lineup as some of the most talented the Evening Shade concert series has had.”
Opening on May 18 are jazz guitarists Jeremy Montgomery and Josh Serum. This duo often plays dinner music and jazz at Café Roma.
“Jazz guitar became popular in the early 20th century,” Elrod said, “and has evolved through the generations. Because of the exceptional quality of these musicians, we think this concert will appeal to lots of music lovers, young and not-so-young. And remember, all the Evening Shade concerts are free to the community.”
The free, family-friendly concert series is made possible each year by the Allied Arts Council of the Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce. It is funded in part by local sponsors and under an agreement with the Tennessee Arts Commission.
