**PROUDLY PRESENT**
WesFest 10
A Concert to Benefit the Wes Wehmiller Scholarship at Berklee College Of Music
We’re proud to present…
VICTOR WOOTEN and Special Guests, Featuring STEVE BAILEY
also performing:
Mike Keneally & Beer For Dolphins
The WesFest All Stars
and
Danny Mo and the Exciters
* featuring 2014 Wes Wehmiller Scholarship
Award Winner Stefan Sandman
with Jonathan “JR” Robinson & Kira Small
ALSO: Wes Wehmiller Scholarship recipients Will Snyder and Hayley Jane Batt
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EVENT DETAILS
Sunday, March 8, 2015
The Roxy
9009 West Sunset Blvd. West Hollywood, CA
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Presenting:
Victor Wooten and Special Guests, Featuring Steve Bailey
Five-time Grammy winner and one of the top ten bassists of all time according to Rolling Stone, Victor Wooten hit the worldwide scene in 1990 as a founding member of the Grammy-winning super-group Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Soon after, he released his first solo project, A Show of Hands, which was voted one of the most important bass records of all time. Victor is a loving husband and father of four, a skilled naturalist and teacher, a magician and acrobat, and has won every major award given to a bass guitarist including being voted Bassist of the Year three times in Bass Player Magazine‘s Reader’s Poll—the only artist to win more than once. He spearheaded the super-group SMV with two of his childhood heroes, Stanley Clarke and Marcus Miller, and has recorded and performed with artists such as Chick Corea, The Dave Matthews Band, Prince, and many others. In 2000, Wooten opened his acclaimed Bass/Nature Camp which expanded into the 150-acre Wooten Woods in Tennessee where he leads up to eight camps annually. These intensive programs have helped thousands of people of all ages enhance their musical and personal lives. Sharing his ideas about music through anecdotes and mysticism, in 2008 Victor released The Music Lesson: A Spiritual Search for Growth Through Music. Now translated into multiple languages, this book is currently used as part of curriculums in schools and universities including the prestigious Berklee College of Music and Stanford. His respected reputation as a speaker on the subjects of both music and nature have garnered invitations for him to speak at schools and spiritual centers around the world. He continues to record, host music and nature camps, and tour with the Flecktones, various other artists, as well as solo. The headlining set will also feature a guest performance by renowned bassist Steve Bailey (Jethro Tull, Willie Nelson), the Chair of Berklee’s Bass Department.
Mike Keneally & Beer For Dolphins
Long acclaimed as one of the world’s most creative and intense guitar and keyboard players, Mike Keneally’s talents as a vocalist, songwriter, arranger, producer and multi-instrumentalist are nearly unequalled in rock music. Keneally has released 24 albums of his original music since 1992, and has built a body of work of remarkable inventiveness and originality. Keneally played in Frank Zappa’s last touring band, performing as a vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist. He’s appeared on many Zappa albums, is currently a touring member of both Dethklok and the Joe Satriani Band, and has also recorded or performed with Robert Fripp, Wayne Kramer, Kevin Gilbert, Solomon Burke, Steve Vai, Chickenfoot, Bear McCreary, Henry Kaiser, Michael Manring, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Andy Prieboy, Mullmuzzler, The Persuasions and many others. Known for his innovative, unpredictable live shows, Keneally has played extensively in the United States and Europe, in contexts ranging from solo and duo concerts to performances with large-scale orchestras. His 52-minute orchestra-with-guitar suite The Universe Will Provide received its world premiere in 2003 by Keneally performing with Holland’s Metropole Orkest; the US premiere of Universe occurred at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles in 2011. 2012’s release was Wing Beat Fantastic: Songs Written by Mike Keneally & Andy Partridge, a collection of material written with ex-XTC leader Andy Partridge; the album was widely acclaimed, ranked highly on several critics’ “Best of 2012″ lists, and spawned the early 2013 release Wing Beat Elastic: Remixes, Demos & Unheard Music. Keneally’s most recent album is You Must Be This Tall, featuring Mike playing all instruments on several pieces, as well as performances from Marco Minnemann, Bryan Beller and Andy Partridge. Time Out New York says, in reference to the Mike Keneally Band, “this band, with such a peculiar genius leading it, is a thing to savor.” Joining Mike will be returning WesFest headliners Joe Travers on drums (Zappa Plays Zappa) and Bryan Beller on bass (Joe Satriani, The Aristocrats, Dethklok). Hear Mike’s music online anytime at www.radiokeneally.com
Danny Mo and The Exciters
An annual tradition at WesFest, Danny Mo & The Exciters is a group led by Wehmiller’s former bass professor and close friend DANNY MORRIS, and features the winner of the year’s Wehmiller Scholarship Award, STEFAN SANDMMAN on bass. Danny Morris says, “Stefan is a 6th semester music business major focusing on marketing. He exudes confidence, has a creative palette, and is extremely active as a performer playing with several bands on and off campus. He has bundles of talent, is mature and has his business in order. Stefan plays a solid foundation and is capable of branching out in rock, metal, fusion and Neo-Soul. He has a voracious appetite for all kinds of music while remaining committed to serving the song from the bottom up as a bassist. As evidenced from his videos he’s got some technical chops as well!” — Also performing with Danny Mo & the Exciters
John “JR” Robinson The Most Recorded Drummer In History
We’re honored to welcome back Berklee alum JR Robinson. Most known for his work with Quincy Jones, including Michael Jackson’s multiplatinum Off the Wall album and the charity single “We Are the World.” Grammy winner Robinson has played on a number of motion pictures as well as with an enormous list of artist. Check out his website HERE!
Kira Small
We also welcome back another WesFest/Berklee alum, Kira Small! “Girl you sound like a neat glass of single malt in a world of Michelob Ultra.” – Grammy award winning songwriter Mike Reid (“I Can’t Make You Love Me”) Nashville recording artist and 2012 Independent Music Awards winner Kira Small’s albums Raise My Voice [2010 Offrow Records] and Love In A Dangerous World [2007 Offrow Records] were produced by Bruce Dees (James Brown, Ronnie Milsap) and feature many Muscle Shoals & Motown veterans. An accomplished pianist, songwriter and arranger, her impressive resume includes a stint on Berklee College of Music’s voice faculty, back-up vocalist for Martina McBride’s 2012 and 2013 Joy of Christmas Tour and work with with Peter Frampton, Garth Brooks, Wynonna Judd, Randy Travis, Ray Price and more. For more info visit www.kirasmall.com.