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Traditions Series

Béla Fleck and the Flecktones - HEAR THE MUSIC!

featuring Victor Lemonte Wooten, Future Man and Jeff Coffin

Saturday, September 22, 2007
7:30 p.m.
Lund Auditorium
Tickets $41 | $31

One of the most innovative musicians in the world, virtuoso Béla Fleck has reinvented the image and sound of the banjo through a remarkable range of solo projects and collaborations. The eight-time Grammy winner has been nominated in more categories than anyone in the award's history. His combo, the Flecktones, is known for its eclectic mixture of acoustic and electronic music with roots in folk, bluegrass, funk and jazz with each of the ensemble's musicians contributing insights from their own remarkable solo careers. Even without a hit single, a gold album or heavy rotation on the radio, the group’s history of transcendent live performances allows it to attract nearly half-a-million fans to concerts each year.

“Béla Fleck seems to have happily embraced his role as a virtuoso. His shows are one of the few places in the world you’re guaranteed to see air banjo.”
- Time Out Chicago

The American Beauty Project - HEAR THE MUSIC!
featuring Jim Lauderdale, Ollabelle, Catherine Russell, Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams

Saturday, April 19, 2008
7:30 p.m.
Lund Auditorium
Tickets $43 | $33

The Grateful Dead reached a crossroads in 1970. Burnt out on psychedelic jams, in debt and reevaluating the late ‘60s, the band returned to the simplicity of the music that inspired it. Within six months, the Dead released two triumphantly popular albums featuring a new style of organic, country-inflected rock and lyrical references to Steinbeck, provocative blues standards and the Book of Psalms. Considered masterpieces, both albums rank in Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums and have defined American acoustical music for decades. Workingman’s Dead finds a spare beauty and joy in songs like “Uncle John’s Band” and “Casey Jones.” American Beauty is more intricate and wistful, reaching free-wheeling perfection in songs like “Friend of the Devil,” “Sugar Magnolia” and “Truckin’.” The diverse artists paying tribute to these seminal albums in an exclusive Chicago-area stop include Grammy-winning bluegrass singer/songwriter Jim Lauderdale, Gospel-inspired ensemble Ollabelle, jazz/blues vocalist Catherine Russell, mandolinist Larry Campbell and singer Teresa Williams.

“New life for a Dead classic.”
— New York Times

Otis Clay - HEAR THE MUSIC!
“Abject soul songs with magnificent timing and dynamics from a moan to a shout.”
— New York Times

With Opening Act: Sharon Lewis

Blues and the Spirit Symposium Concert

Friday, May 23, 2008
7:30 p.m.
Lund Auditorium
Tickets $28 | $22

When Chicago was one of the world’s soul-hit recording capitals, Otis Clay was its most vital and spirited vocalist. Still true to the mid-‘60s traditions, he’s now a global ambassador for the Windy City’s soul-blues sound, a timeless mix of supercharged vocal intensity, churning grooves and an emotional uplift born of the testifying in gospel music. Clay, who has long made Chicago his home, earned his Billboard chart pedigree with sides like “She’s a Mover” and “Trying to Live My Life Without You.” Like his colleagues Al Green and Ann Peebles, he’s crossed back and forth between spiritual music and the sensually secular. On stage, he proves the soul-blues sound remains irresistible, a lover’s Saturday night shout that’s just a whisper away from Sunday’s revival meeting.

Follow the link for more information about Blues and the Spirit Symposium.