Tickets are on sale for the HarborPark Jazz and Blues festival featuring Eric Marienthal Aug. 18 at Celebration Place on Kenosha’s scenic lakefront. Musical guests include Chicago bluesman Toronzo Cannon, the R&B jazz classics group Funk Bunker and the KUSD Jazz All-Stars. Performance times will be announced at a later date. Previous headliners included Ramsey Lewis, Nick Colionne, Alex Bugnon, Marion Meadows and Nelson Rangel.
Tickets are $30 for general admission, $85 for VIP seating in the main stage area and free for children 10 and younger. Tickets are available at the Kenosha Community Foundation, Tenuta’s Deli and Andrea’s or you can visit www.mahonefund.org.
Chicago’s very own Funk Bunker will kick off the festival at the new “Music Oasis.” Funk Bunker electrifies the audience by performing classic smooth jazz and R&B jazz hits from such artists as Grover Washington Jr., David Sanborn, Spyro Gyra and many others.
Toronzo Cannon brings the powerful, gospel-flavored vocal style and soulful blues sounds of his Cannonball Express to Kenosha..
The KUSD Jazz All Stars, under the direction of Ken Wiele, will make a return appearance and open up for Eric Marienthal. The group was formed in partnership with the Marylou and Arthur F. Mahone Fund and Kenosha Unified School District (KUSD), with a goal of encouraging and inspiring students to pursue careers in music. The 20-piece ensemble is made up of the finest high school jazz musicians in KUSD. The All Stars will perform a broad range of big band repertoire including music from jazz legends Count Basie, Les Hooper, Matt Harris, Bob Mintzer, Gordon Goodwin and Wynton Marsalis.
The HarborPark Jazz and Blues Festival is produced by the volunteer efforts of the Marylou and Arthur F. Mahone Fund. All proceeds benefit the Fund’s Career Exploration Organization (CEO) initiative, which provides academic and career coaching to minority youth ages 14 to 17 and supports breast and cervical cancer initiatives for women in treatment.