Cajun Fest with Flow Tribe
Saturday, May 8 from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Friends of James Weldon Johnson Park is excited to announce a new FREE festival coming to the park in May of 2021. CAJUN FEST will feature the best in New Orleans style food and music. Food trucks such as The Gumbo Man and more will feature Cajun and Creole dishes such as shrimp and grits, crab boil and beignets.
Music will include Bill “The Sauce Boss” Weathers, who cooks gumbo while he plays blues slide guitar, local band Let’s Ride Brass Band featuring their Duval Sound and New Orleans Funk & Soul outfit Flow Tribe.
The concert presented with partner Yaya Productions will feature socially distant pods, with VIP pods available for purchase. Masks will be required of all guests entering and exiting their pods. VIP Pod Tickets will go on sale Feb 26th via 904Tix.com
For more information follow us on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram or call Savannah Hebert at (904) 515 – 5098 ext. 3.
About Flow Tribe: Few bands arouse a crowd into a collective shake like Flow Tribe. The six-member band’s onstage chemistry reflects a seamless combination of soul and movement that hits the audience within the first few notes. Virgin listeners and avid fans alike are drawn in by the distinctive sound that feels both familiar and original. From major festival stages around the world to leading a parade down the street, this is a group of professional musicians who have found their passion and are living a dream where everyone is welcome.
Second line brass and Cuban-Caribbean rhythms meld with R&B, soul, rock and hip-hop beats in high-energy performances that turn every show into a celebration. New Orleans is influence itself, the unparalleled free and easy city weaving its way into track after track of original scores that make up a single definition of sound, which Flow Tribe has dubbed “backbone-cracking music.”
K.C. O’Rorke (vocals, trumpet), John-Michael Early (harmonica, washboard, vocals, keyboard), Nick Solnick (drums), Chad Penot (bass, vocals), Bryan Santos (guitar, timbales) and Mario Palmisano (guitar) are native New Orleanians and high school pals who’ve been writing music and playing live shows since the band’s inception in 2004. Post-graduation, they went their separate ways, but after Katrina, each returned to their hometown, inherently becoming active members in the rebuilding of a community that’s stronger than ever.
In 2017 Flow Tribe teamed up with legendary Hip Hop producer Mannie Fresh (Lil Wayne, Big Tymers) to create the album “BOSS.” The album reached #55 on the Billboard R&B charts and #5 on the Relix/Jambands.com chart reflecting the diversity of sound represented on the album. After relentless touring, Flow Tribe completed building a state-of-the-art studio in New Orleans called Downman Sounds. They are now putting the finishing touches on a 2-part EP coming out in late 2018 and 2019.
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About Let’s Ride Brass Band: Based in Jacksonville, FL. Let's Ride Brass Band is bringing "That Duval Sound" to the rest of the world. Taking the form of a traditional New Orleans brass band and morphing it into a high energy sound that we like to call, THAT DUVAL SOUND. Founder, Paul Jackson Live, cast this 10piece ensemble with young, experienced, talented and educated musicians. Our roster is professional and diverse. From intense training in classical, jazz, music theatre, and music theory, we have formed the perfect group for that "Let's Ride" sound. Adding that Real Brass to Hip-Hop, Funk & Jazz Fusion! The intensity of the band’s energy is fueled by their desire to inspire others. The band understands that music is a universal language, and it can be used to lift spirits, bring smiles, and move hips! While working on their original album, they have been "riding out" to all your favorite music. So "Let's Ride" Y'all!
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About Sauce Boss: Legendary performer (as chronicled in Jimmy Buffett’s 1999 hit “I Will Play for Gumbo”) Bill “Sauce Boss” Wharton brings his Florida slide guitar blues, his gumbo, and his own hot sauce to every multi-sensory performance. His show includes a culinary demonstration with audience stirring and sampling the gumbo. Sauce Boss is a powerhouse of energy with his one-man band.
Florida swamp-funk slide guitarist, Bill Wharton has been a musician for over a half a century. On his 1989 New Year’s Eve gig, Sauce Boss splashed a bottle of his Liquid Summer Hot Sauce into a huge pot of simmering gumbo, feeding the entire audience, the rest is history. 200,000 bowls later, he is still feeding the masses for free at his shows. The Sauce Boss show is a soul shouting picnic of bluesy, rock and roll brotherhood.
One morning in the early ‘70s, The Sauce Boss walked out of his house and found a 1933 vintage National Steel guitar in his front yard. That lead him down the Blues path. Deep in the shed, he penned “Let the Big Dog Eat.” That Sauce Boss anthem was just on the top of the Roots Blues Charts for 12 weeks in 2016 with Albert Castiglia’s cover. And the tune is also in Jonathan Demme’s movie “Something Wild” AND on Jimmy Buffett’s “Late Night Menu at the Margaritaville Cafe” album. AARP’s syndicated TV show, “My Generation” came to St. Louis to do a feature story on The Sauce Boss. NPR's "All Things Considered" and "Morning Edition" have both covered the Sauce Boss. CNN and EXTRA sent film crews to New York City Sauce Boss extravaganzas, The Food Network's series "Extreme Cuisine" visited the Sauce Boss on location in New York and another Food Network series "Keith Famie's Adventures" filmed a Sauce Boss show in Miami. The Sauce Boss is the only personality that has been featured in “Living Blues,” “GQ” AND "Gourmet Magazine.”
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About Friends of James Weldon Johnson Park (FOHP): Friends of James Weldon Johnson Park is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming Jacksonville’s oldest public park into a modern, urban space that engages diverse communities and brings vitality to our city’s public square. To learn more about the park and upcoming events, visit jamesweldonjohnsonpark.org.