The second-born child of independent music pioneer and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Frank Zappa first took the stage with his famous father at the tender age of 12. He was entranced by the elder Zappa’s “control over the music [that] almost seemed like a magic trick.” By the mid-1980s, he was contributing his own riffs to Frank’s albums such as Them or Us and finding an artistic identity of his own as an actor, MTV VJ, and Grammy award-winning musician. For this first family-sanctioned tribute to Frank Zappa, who passed away in 1993, Dweezil and company will take on all tracks from the classic Roxy & Elsewhere to commemorate its 40th anniversary and celebrate the iconoclastic views of an artist whose “eccentric genius was undeniable” (The Rolling Stone Album Guide).
With The Hendrix Electric Ladyland Project, the rock of guitar god Jimi Hendrix makes a rendezvous with jazz in a supercharged showcase of electric virtuosity. Sheryl Bailey, whose burning jazz work captivated ELLNORA crowds in 2011, knows “everybody loves Hendrix,” and when she joins forces with fellow jazz guitar favorite Vic Juris, bassist Lincoln Goines, and drummer Tommy Campbell, numbers like “The Midnight Lamp,” “Manic Depression,” “The Wind Cries Mary,” and “Castles Made of Sand” speak anew in inspired interpretations on the astounding Hendrix continuum.
The full lineup for ELLNORA | The Guitar Festival at Krannert Center (September 5-7, 2013) will be released on June 11. Please visit EllnoraGuitarFestival.com for information on previous festivals and for up-to-the-minute announcements.
About ELLNORA | The Guitar Festival: Krannert Center for the Performing Arts is situated on the campus of the University of Illinois, in the micro-urban community of Champaign-Urbana, and is North America’s premier university-based performing arts complex. ELLNORA | The Guitar Festival (originally called the Wall to Wall Guitar Festival), held biennially, was launched in 2005 and through its eclectic global mix has presented many of the world’s most influential guitarists and bands, including Buddy Guy, Ani DiFranco, Luther Dickinson, Jerry Douglas, Pepe Romero, John McLaughlin, Bill Frisell, Vernon Reid, Derek Trucks, Richard Thompson, Kaki King, Andy Summers, The National, Los Lobos, and the North Mississippi Allstars.
