When I was very young, my house was filled with Dvořák, Beethoven, Verdi, Mahler, and Bach.

Through their many comments on Facebook and other social media sites, DelFest fans have made it clear that they are excited about the already announced DelFest lineup.

This year’s Magnolia Festival was characterized by the usual wonderful blend of bluegrass, reggae and families and by unusually cold night- time temperatures.  Hovering above freezing at night, the mountain music sounded just right in the cool mountain air of the Florida “hills”.  As I sit in tank top and shorts in eighty degrees of Florida sunshine to write this, frozen fingers, frozen breath, the warmth of the fire and being bundled up from head to toe here last weekend seems surreal.  Though it was “crisp” t

It was 7am and the sun was already beating down relentlessly on my tent, so much for sleeping in.  In an “I don’t want to wake up now” haze, I attempted to claw my way out of the sealed vessel in search of cooler air.  As I emerged, hair sticking straight up and out, I could hear a few people stirring around me, but most were just snoring.  Our neighbors had finally passed out and were resting up for round two, the line for the port-a-potties was already exceeding thirty folks, and the showers… two-hour wait.  As people walked by our camp you could just see clouds of dir

The Burlington Discover Jazz Festival celebrates its 28^th year from June 3-12, 2011, with the sounds of jazz, blues, funk and Latin music in the idyllic setting of Vermont. For 10 days, over 50,000 people enjoy a unique mix of concerts, dances, jams, street parties, cruises on Lake Champlain, meet the artist sessions and workshops.

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2011 Headliners include:

Herbie Hancock

Béla Fleck and the Original Flecktones

I first became immersed into African music from the influence of an amazing musician, friend, and teacher Matt Wasowski currently with Mohammed Alidu and the Bizung Family, and Zivanai Masango and Pachedu and formerly with Jaka and Jyemo amongst other groups. Matt who plays mostly guitar, also dabbles and even builds with his students many African instruments such as the Mbira or thumb piano and Marimbas.

As I make my annual pilgrimage to my 6th Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, I cannot help but see the nostalgia in the place that is so familiar for many reasons. It starts with the car ride, where I feel like I can drive forever because I cannot wait to pass those Bonnaroo toll booths that symbolize a sense of accomplishment and enlightenment that is about to take place. The way I see it, I now have 96 hours of church to fill my soul until next year.

In December of 2004 I saw Béla Fleck & the Flecktones at the Water Street Music Hall in Rochester.  At that show Béla made a mention of his plans which at that time included traveling to Africa to research the roots of the banjo.  This intrigued me as I had just been to Morocco and seen banjos being played out in the square, a sight I was not expecting, and as I also have a large amount of family in Africa.

Thanks for waiting to read about the best part of Wakarusa! The best three shows of the festival lay here in the second half of the review. In this section, I want to tell you which bands earned my top three ribbons of the festival.  Please keep in mind that I could not possibly see all of the bands that played, although I did try to see most.

Bela Fleck & the Flecktones