Saturday, December 30, 6 p.m.
The Redstone Room, 129 Main Street, Davenport IA
Named in honor of the program's beloved founder who passed away last December, the River Music Experience's Ellis Kell Winter Blues Jam, taking place on December 30, will showcase the burgeoning talents of students who completed the venue's week-long Winter Blues Camp for area musicians ages eight to 18.
An area-music legend in his own right, Kell founded the camp in 2008 as a means of passing on the traditions and joy of blues music with younger generations. As Kell explained in a 2015 River Cities' Reader interview: “It's a real treat to see those kids grow. You know, some of them, when they first came into Winter Blues, they've maybe played a few rock tunes, and they didn't have a clue, really, about the blues. And now they're blues fans, and they're digging it, and they're going back and finding out about the old guys and learning about the traditions – and we just sit back and smile. It's like, 'Yeah. There'll be somebody to take it over and pass it on.'”
This year's Winter Blues Camp sessions run from December 26 – 30, with sessions held from 1 – 5 p.m. in the RME Performance Hall, the Redstone Room, and in the venue's sound lab. Led by the RME's Bret Dale alongside the Mississippi Valley Blues Society's Hal Reed, the camp features other veteran blues musicians from the region as special guests for workshop sessions where the focus is on sharpening the students' skills and expressing themselves through the blues/roots form. Particular attention is placed on learning how to improvise and the composition of original blues lyrics and music.
The Ellis Kell Winter Blues Jam will feature students performing both original works and traditional blues compositions, and the event starts at 6 p.m. For more information, call (563)336-1333 or visit RiverMusicExperience.org.
