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Blues at the Crossroads

Montgomery County Community College

Montgomery County Community College (MCCC) presented Blues at the Crossroads: two concerts by an intergenerational roster of artists, representing several significant strands of blues music. The first concert, Blues at the Crossroads: The Robert Johnson Centennial Concert, showcased guitarist and singer David "Honeyboy" Edwards, a friend and contemporary of American blues singer and musician Robert Johnson; guitarist Hubert Sumlin, a contemporary and band mate of Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf; and two of the next generation of blues/rock ensembles they influenced: Big Head Todd and the Monsters, and Cedric Burnside and Lightnin Malcolm. The second concert featured celebrated young singer Shemekia Copeland, daughter of Texas blues artist Johnny Copeland. The project included pre-concert and "Blues in the Schools" lectures by MCCC faculty.

Recipient
Montgomery County Community College

Montgomery County Community College

Over its 18-year history, Montgomery County Community College (MCCC) Lively Arts Series has engaged local and national artists to share their work with the college and surrounding Blue Bell community. In recent years, MCCC has explored the influence of African culture on new world music, with Center-supported projects such as Africa, the Call and Response and Then and Now: Jazz Cubano. The latter is a fall 2013 series of concerts and programs focusing on the Afro-Cuban influence in jazz, featuring Poncho Sanchez's Cubano Be Cubano Bop, Ninety Miles, and the Omar Sosa Afri-Lectric Experience. MCCC has emerged, along with Bryn Mawr College, as an important venue for performances that are not otherwise available for Philadelphia audiences.

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