Celebrate the holidays with an exciting evening of great music, fun and festivity as Grammy Award-winner, Dr. John, and acoustic guitarist, Leon Redbone, perform a holiday show on Saturday, Dec. 16, at 8 p.m., in Fairfield University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts.

Hailed as the ambassador for his hometown of New Orleans, Dr. John - nicknamed "Mac" - is an artist whose musical journey has taken him on an incredible ride. He began his career as a session guitarist and pianist during the heyday of 1950s' R&B. In 1968 he began as a front-man when he pioneered a fusion of R&B, psychedelia, swamp pop and blues and created an alter-ego called the Night Tripper, a character of wild passions and dark motives, with which he enveloped himself during the next decade.

The early '70s were Mac's most prolific and successful period. He cut a plethora of accomplished albums, including "The Sun, Moon & Herbs," featuring Eric Clapton and Mick Jagger, and "In the Right Place," which spawned a Top 10 hit, "In the Wrong Time."

In 1989, Dr. John released "In a Sentimental Mood" which denounced the wildness of his past and concentrated on classics by Cole Porter and the like. His newest release, "Trippin' Live," is remarkably the first official Dr. John live album. Solidly steeped in the New Orleans' culture, Mac's performance celebrates his present-day post as a true world music pioneer, effortlessly mixing and matching traditional blues, Dixieland jazz, swamp rock and pop into a timeless soulful modern gumbo.

It's rare to fine anyone in the annals of popular music more difficult to define than Leon Redbone. Initially, at the core of his career was the desire to simply honor songs from the past which established him as the sole curator of the museum of 20th-century music. But over the course of his 25-year, 10-album career, the bard has flirted with numerous styles ranging from classical, to delicate blues, to tormented tangos, to Hungarian folk music.

When performing live, his musical repertoire can hover between Dylan's "Living the Blues," to Jelly Roll Morton's "I Hate a Man Like You," to Eddy Arnold's Bouquet of Roses," to the childhood favorite, "Polly Wolly Doodle." He is most comfortable being defined as "everyman's performer," but his audiences categorize him as "great."

Tickets to the concert are $40 and $35 with discounts available for seniors, students and groups. To reserve call (203) 254-4010 or toll free at 1-877-ARTS-396.

Posted On: 11-02-2000 09:11 AM

Volume: 33 Number: 92