STERN GROVE FESTIVAL WELCOMES THE SPIRIT OF NEW ORLEANS WITH ALLEN TOUSSAINT AND TROMBONE SHORTY AND ORLEANS AVENUE

SAN FRANCISCO, June 3, 2008 — Rock and Roll Hall of Fame legend Allen Toussaint will bring the Big Easy to Stern Grove Festival in an admission-free performance. Opening for Toussaint will be 22-year-old music sensation Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews with Orleans Avenue. The admission-free show will take place on Sunday, July 6th at 2:00 p.m in Sigmund Stern Grove, located at 19th Avenue and Sloat Boulevard in San Francisco. A pre-concert Troc Talk with Allen Toussaint will take place before the concert in Stern Grove’s Trocadero Clubhouse.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Allen Toussaint

With a career spanning forty years, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Allen Toussaint is one of America’s greatest musical icons. A singer, pianist, songwriter, arranger, and producer, this New Orleans native has had an influence on American music that extends from rhythm and blues, pop, and country to musical theater, blues and jazz. Toussaint’s career began at age 17, when he signed on with Earl King’s band and became a fixture on New Orleans’ thriving music scene. In his early twenties, Toussaint accumulated an amazing string of hits for Minit Records, producing, writing, arranging, and often performing on tracks by Ernie K-Doe, Irma Thomas, Art and Aaron Neville, Chris Kenner, Jessie Hill and Benny Spellman.

In 1958, Toussaint cut his first solo record for RCA. Two of his earliest tunes, “Java” and “Whipped Cream” (the Herb Alpert hit and theme for The Dating Game) became instrumental standards. Toussaint’s output in the seventies for his Sea-Saint Recording Studios included some of the most seminal recordings of the funk and disco era, including Dr. John’s “Right Place, Wrong Time” and Patti LaBelle’s “Lady Marmalade,” while his horn arrangements were featured on such legendary rock recordings as The Band’s “Rock of Ages,” and Paul Simon’s “Kodachrome.” Toussaint has produced artists such as Etta James, Albert King, The Meters, LaBelle, and Dr. John, and has been covered by or performed with Bonnie Raitt, Robert Palmer, Otis Redding, Boz Scaggs, Ringo Starr, Paul Simon, Lenny Kravitz, and Elvis Costello, among others. Some of the best-known hits penned by Toussaint include: “Mother-in-Law,” “Fortune Teller,” “Working in the Coal Mine,” and the Grammy-nominated “Southern Nights.” 

Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue

Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews is a virtuoso trombone and trumpet player who honed his skills in New Orleans’ culturally rich Treme neighborhood. Andrews studied at the prestigious New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, joining the ranks of alumnae like Wynton and Branford Marsalis and Harry Connick Jr. In 2005, Andrews joined Lenny Kravitz’s world tour as a featured member of the horn section. After working with producer Bob Ezrin and U2 in London in 2006, Andrews performed with U2 and Green Day during the re-opening of the New Orleans Superdome for the NFL’s Monday Night Football pre-game show. In 2007, Andrews appeared on the NBC television show Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and was named  Performer of the Year and Best Contemporary Jazz Performer by Offbeat magazine. Andrews performs with Orleans Avenue, a funk/pop/hip-hop hybrid group featuring Mike Ballard on bass, James Martin on tenor sax, Pete Murano on guitar, Joey Peebles on drums, and Charlie Smith on keyboards.

ABOUT STERN GROVE FESTIVAL

Stern Grove Festival’s 71st Season of 10 admission-free concerts runs every Sunday at 2:00 p.m. from June 15 through August 17, 2008 at Sigmund Stern Grove in San Francisco. Stern Grove Festival also provides outreach programs at each concert this season and on some weekdays at Stern Grove.

Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis and the concert meadow may be closed when capacity is reached. There is no public parking at Stern Grove and Festival patrons are encouraged to use public transportation to Stern Grove. MUNI metro lines K and M and MUNI bus lines 23 and 28 provide service to Stern Grove. Free shuttle service from the entrance at 19th Avenue and Sloat Boulevard into the Grove is provided to seniors and disabled patrons.

Stern Grove Festival’s 71st Season is made possible with support from Season Sponsor Parkmerced. Additional support provided by Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, National Endowment for the Arts, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and media sponsor KPIX - CBS 5, KBCW - The CW 44 Cable 12, and SF Weekly. Concert sponsor is the Koret Foundation. Additional support is provided by the Consulate General of Israel to the Pacific Northwest, celebrating Israel’s’ 60th anniversary. Media sponsor is SFStation.com. Radio sponsor is KDFC, Classical 102.1

PHOTO EDITORS, PLEASE NOTE: Photos are available to the media. Please call Monica Ware at (415) 252-6253 or send an e-mail to mware@sterngrove.org.