25th Annual Down Home Family Reunion A Celebration of African American Folklife August 15, 2015 Richmond, Virginia Elegba Folklore Society, Inc. Richmond’s Cultural Ambassador 101 E. Broad St, Richmond, Virginia 23219 804/644-3900 (PH) 644-3919 (F) • [email protected] www.efsinc.org OFFICIAL PRESS KIT Contact/Spokesperson: Janine Y. Bell, Festival Coordinator 804/644-3900 [email protected] Fact Sheet WHEN Saturday, August 15 • 4 - 11 pm, Free. WHERE Abner Clay Park, Belvidere & West Leigh Streets (at I-95 & Exit 76B Interchange) in Historic Jackson Ward, Richmond, Virginia. WHO A Family Festival Open to the Public. Presented by Elegba Folklore Society, Inc. Richmond's Cultural Ambassador Sponsored by: City of Richmond, CarePoint Health Partnering with Reliance Medical Group, Dominion, MetroPCS, Martin’s, Upscale Magazine, Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation & Community Facilities, WRIR 97.3FM, Richmond Independent Radio Additional Support: Arts & Cultural Funding Consortium - Richmond, Henrico, Hanover and Radio Communications of Virginia WHAT A Celebration of African American Folklife. Returning for its Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Year, this Weekend Event shares global African cultural influences with An All-Star Line-Up of World Music and Dance, Entertainment and Material Culture Traditions. FEATURES Onstage: Celebrated Balladeers, The Delfonics, Afrobeat with Benin’s Jah Baba, Lady E & the Blues Sensations, BanCaribe, African Dance, Music & the Oral Tradition with Elegba Folklore Society and more. Emceed by J. Ron Fleming, A Master of the Spoken Word. In the Park: Interactive Folkloric Demonstrations, The Heritage Market, Delicious Down Home Food, Annie Tyler Memorial New School Pavilion featuring youthful performers and cultural engagement plus Waverly Crawley Memorial Community Row. ### 25th Annual Down Home Family Reunion/333 Contact/Spokesperson: Janine Y. Bell, Festival Coordinator 804/644-3900 [email protected] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ELEGBA FOLKLORE SOCIETY PRESENTS 25th ANNUAL DOWN HOME FAMILY REUNION, A CELEBRATION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN FOLK LIFE RICHMOND, VA • The 25th Annual Down Home Family Reunion explores a full spectrum of music, dance, stories, food, shopping and enrichment in this weekend Celebration of African American Folklife. Elegba Folklore Society, Richmond’s Cultural Ambassador, presents this cultural arts festival, in this notable anniversary year, that takes attendees on a journey of heritage and folklore from West Africa into the Americas. On Saturday, August 15, the 25th Annual Down Home Family Reunion‘s Family Festival will happen, 4:00 - 11:00 p.m., at Abner Clay Park, Belvidere and West Leigh Streets, downtown in Historic Jackson Ward. Elegba Folklore Society invites Virginians and visitors to this event designed to link West African and African American cultural traditions and to demonstrate ways these practices have influenced the American South. The 25th Annual Down Home Family Reunion is presented by the Elegba Folklore Society, Inc., Richmond's Cultural Ambassador and sponsored by the City of Richmond, CarePoint Health Partnering with Reliance Medical Group, Dominion, -more- 25th Annual Down Home Family Reunion/444 Metro PCS, Martin’s, Upscale Magazine, Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation & Community Facilities and WRIR 97.3FM, Richmond Independent Radio with partial support from Arts & Cultural Funding Consortium – Richmond, Henrico, Hanover and Radio Communications of Virginia. The VIP Gold Circle returns this year. Festival attendees may obtain special seating at the stage throughout the day, complimentary food and beverages and a private meet and greet with the 25th Annual Down Home Family Reunion’s headliner, The Delfonics. Tickets are $30.00 and available at http://efsinc.org or by calling or visiting Elegba Folklore Society’s Cultural Center, 101 E. Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, 804.644.3900. The Delfonics caught the rising tide of R&B music at just the right time in the late 1960’s. The group’s unique style of singing and their patented dance steps captured the attention of popular music followers, making them an attraction at concerts, theaters and clubs. The motivating force for the group was William (Poogie) Hart. Hart, inspired by Frankie Lyman & The Teenagers and Little Anthony & The Imperials, organized his first singing group at the age of fourteen. Their first single, like all The Delfonics future hits, was penned by Hart and entitled He Don't Really Love You. The Delfonics, which included Wilbert Hart and Randy Cain, were well on their way to success when Hart wrote La La Means I Love You, which reached the Top Ten charts across the country. Before long, the song was winning favor in Europe, especially in England. The group followed with a steady string of hits including, You Get Yours I’ll Get Mine, I’m Sorry, Break Your Promise and Ready Or Not. In 1970, Didn’t I Blow Your Mind This Time, also written by William Hart, reached the number one position on Billboard Pop Chart. The song sold over one million copies in the same year, winning the band its first platinum record and a Grammy. -more- 25th Annual Down Home Family Reunion/555 The Delfonics’ sexy soulful style of singing grew in appeal, and the group was featured heavily on TV at home and abroad. The group continued with such popular singles as For The Love I Give To You, Trying To Make A Fool Of Me and When You Get Right Down To It. In 1973, after the release of the LP, The Delfonics Super Hits, Richmond, Virginia native, Major Harris (Love Won't Let Me Wait), replaced Randy Cain. Harris died in 2012. The next chart climbing album was entitled Tell Me This Is A Dream. Original member Randy Cain returned to perform with the group until his death in 2009. The Delfonics' lead is original member and lead vocalist, William Hart. Garfield Fleming, the newest member of the group, adds a style that has been compared to David Ruffin, and veteran vocalist, Johnnie Johnson completes the group. The 25th Annual Down Home Family Reunion packs in a lot. Jah Baba, aka Oladipo Abiala, is a singer and instrumentalist who is Beninese and Nigerian. His initial influences were his grandmother and his father. He says, " I have been playing music since my childhood. I grew up in music. Since my grandmother herself has composed songs and sang many times. She is also the really author of several of my songs that I produced. In addition my dad had also been a singer, percussionist and choirmaster for years. So I grew up in music…." This musical heritage insured an attachment to the cultural and ancestral roots he has expressed professionally for over twenty years. Jah Baba’s music is a blend of traditional music, jazz and other contemporary forms. In the footsteps of his parents, Jah Baba draws inspiration from the cultural values of his country. He plays the drum orchestras -- bata and gangan (talking drum) -- and he guides his audiences to experience the spirit and mystery of the Oro and Guèlèdè (Gelede) practices indigenous to his native region from which he draws his inspiration. -more- 25th Annual Down Home Family Reunion/6 "My music is deeply rooted in African rhythms and as I am in Benin," he says, "there are Benin rhythms and, my works are focused on these rhythms." Jah Baba will encourage dancing. He says, " You should know that a concert can only be in live, I’m in the live, all I do is live. Because I think music is an expression of what we feel… the music is made to communicate with the listener, we must remain in the same spirit that so it must be in live…. I promise to offer them a musical festival, a true African feast. Whatever your region, you will be comfortable, you’ll consume and you will be satisfied. You should not forget that music also heals many diseases." Richmond’s own Lady E & the Blues Synsations will accent the main stage with their special brand of down home blues. Get on board to take a ride on an emotional journey experiencing joy, pain, sorrow and hope. Lady E started singing the blues to cope with her son’s untimely death in 1993. Right away people responded, and Lady E says there is still, “A great euphoric feeling I go through after I sing. … It's like I'm so filled up that once it's aired out, I feel good because it's like I've touched so many people, you know, and they come up and tell me…. They feel what I'm singing.” Native New Yorker Kevin Davis began his music career studying music theory and percussion while growing up in New York’s culturally diverse neighborhoods. Tito Puente, Eddie Palmeri and Sam Cooke influenced him. His music has led him to study abroad in Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and he now resides in Virginia’s capital city of Richmond. Kevin Davis & Ban Caribe is a blend of Afro-Cuban/Latin/Caribbean music laced with soulful rhythm and blues fused together by complex polyrhythms. "Clave Soul" is Kevin Davis & Ban Caribe's unique style that replaces the drum set with timbales, congas, bongos, maracas, steel pan and claves with guitar cords and harmonic vocals. Says Davis, “I was inspired to create the “Clave Soul” sound from listening to the Rhythm & Blues of Sam Cooke, and the Salsa music of Tito Puente & -more- 25th Annual Down Home Family Reunion/777 Eddie Palmeri. Music is a part of my heritage, soul, heart and blood. The clave rhythms are connected to my soul. I love the partnership of Latin with R & B, because it's in perfect harmony, and it makes the music all so smooth.” The group's repertoire is spiritually inspired by traditional African rhythms and chants. Davis is a 2006 Recipient of the Teresa Pollak Award for Excellence in the Arts.