Blues Night on Civic Plaza Ready to Hit All the Right Notes in Downtown Albuquerque
An evening of soulful music, culinary treats from food trucks, and a fantastic atmosphere is cued up as the City of Albuquerque in partnership with the 17th Annual New Mexico Jazz Festival present Blues Night on Civic Plaza on Sunday, September 24 from 6 – 9:30 p.m. The free event is a celebration of the rich heritage of blues music and will feature GA-20 at 6 p.m., Toni Morgan & Soulful Sounds at 7:10 p.m. and Charlie Musselwhite at 8:15 p.m.
Boasting a 50 year career of nonstop touring, performing and recording, Charlie Musselwhite is living proof that great music only gets better with age. Having cut his (musical) teeth alongside Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf, and everyone on the South side of Chicago in the early 1960s, he is a revered elder statesman of the blues. Musselwhite has been nominated for 13 Grammy awards, including winning an award for the album, Get Up (2013) with Ben Harper; is a 33-time Blues Music Award winner; has released more than 25 albums; and has collaborated with everyone from Ben Harper, Cyndi Lauper, Eddie Vedder, Tom Waits, Bonnie Raitt, to The Blind Boys of Alabama, George Thorogood, Cat Stevens and personal friend and best man at his wedding, John Lee Hooker.
A former background singer for Gladys Knight, Toni Morgan has been a freelance artist since her departure from the road, performing for several events in New Mexico, including the NM State Fair, NM Expo, Santa Fe Summer Series, and NM Jazz Festival. Because she loves all genres of music, she forms her bands according to requests by various venues and named her group “Soulful Sounds” after realizing all the wonderful talent here in New Mexico. For this event, Soulful Sounds will feature Steve Figueroa, keys; Dimi DiSanti, guitar; Robert L. “Milo” Jaramillo, bass; and Jordan Adkins, drums.
GA-20 is a dynamic, throwback Boston-based blues trio featuring guitarist Matt Stubbs (lead guitarist for Charlie Musselwhite for ten years), vocalist Pat Faherty, and drummer Tim Carman. They have been at the forefront of traditional blues revival since they first formed in 2018. Recently featured in a cover story in Performer Magazine, they have skyrocketed to the top of the Billboard Blues Chart and recently released their third full-length album, Crackdown, topping the Billboard Chart again as one of the Top Blues Albums.
Blues Night on Civic Plaza is made possible through the generous support of sponsor McCune Foundation. The event is free.