Lazar Bear presents the 12th annual Hawaii Rhythm &Blues Mele 2014 — A Blues, Roots &Jazz Festival, featuring blues guitar masters Elvin Bishop, Duke Robillard with Charlie Baty and Tinsley Ellis. The tour comes to Kailua-Kona Saturday with a show at Sheraton Kona Resort &Spa at Keauhou Bay’s convention hall. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.; show starts at 6:30 p.m.
About the entertainers:
Elvin Bishop
Bishop is a founding member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and released the revolutionary debut LP “East-West.” He received a gold record for “Fooled Around and Fell in Love” from his 1976 LP “Struttin’ My Stuff.” He has recorded with legends Mike Bloomfield, Clifton Chenier, John Lee Hooker and The Allman Brothers.
Duke Robillard
Robillard is a founding member of Roomful of Blues and lead guitarist for the Fabulous Thunderbirds. The Blues Music Awards (formerly W.C. Handy Awards) has named Robillard “Best Blues Guitarist” four years out of five. In 2007, he received a Grammy nomination for his “Guitar Groove-a-rama” CD and was also honored with the Rhode Island Pell Award for “excellence in the arts.” Other awards over the last decade include three Canadian Maple Blues Awards for “Best International Blues Artist,” The Blues Foundation’s “Producer of the Year” award, The French Blues Association “Album of the Year” award in 2002 for “Living with the Blues” and “Guitarist of the Year” awards.
Charlie Baty
Baty’s mastery of American Roots Music is fueled by his guitar acrobatics. Baty’s wild, seemingly impossible, guitar excursions, from jazz to blues to rock to surf, shows he has all the styles mastered and seamlessly blends various elements into a guitar sound that is his alone.
Tinsley Ellis
Ellis wears his Southern roots proudly. He was a member of the Alley Cats, a gritty blues band that included Preston Hubbard of Fabulous Thunderbirds fame. In 1981, along with veteran blues singer and harpist Chicago Bob Nelson, Tinsley formed The Heartfixers, a group that would become Atlanta’s top-drawing blues band. Averaging more than 150 live shows a year, Ellis has played in all 50 states, as well as Canada, Europe, Australia and South America.
Tickets are $45 general admission or $65 for Gold Circle table seating. Tickets are available at lazarbear.com, by calling 896-4845 or from Sound Wave Music, Kailua-Kona; Kiernan Music, Kainaliu; Waimea General Store, Waimea; Taro Patch Gifts, Honokaa; or CD Wizard, Hilo Guitars and Hilo Music Exchange.