This Year's Blues Ball Celebration is especially fun for Memphis Sound Entertainment™, as our own Memphis Premier Female Vocalist Award Winner and Memphis Sound Band™ Lead Singer Jackie Johnson will be performing with Ann Peebles. Jackie has just this week come out of a session in which she sang the lead vocal on THREE songs for the upcoming Denzel Washington movie, out in the winter of 2007, so we know she'll be in excellent voice - as always. In addition, Woody Degan of Memphis Sound Entertainment™ has orchestrated the Wealth Network local camera crew for the documentary shoot of the Blues Ball. Woody was already working with the lead project manager in California on the Bronzes Of The Brave™ project when he was contacted to put together a High Definition crew for the Blues Ball Event. "It was a no-brainer. I called and set-up Running Pony Productions for the shoot. They'll make us all look good!" On Sunday, Degan will begin shooting the Bronzes Of The Brave™ documentary with the same Project Manager. Good Luck, Blues Ball!
Through a whirlwind of brightly colored mylar, oversized art, tropical plants, and 3-D glasses, The Blues Ball transforms oddly ordinary spaces into theme parks for the senses—all in the name of goodness.
Each fall, partygoers from around the globe arrive in Memphis for The Blues Ball, a celebration of the music that changed the world—Memphis Music. From the Hollywood Hills to the Upper East Side, The Blues Ball is attended by one of the most eclectic crowds ever assembled. "We always sell The Blues Ball out the first day, 2,500 seats," Pat Kerr Tigrett, founder and general chairman, said. "The secret is the extraordinary musicians. Despite the name, the focus at The Blues Ball is on all kinds of Memphis Music, from rock to gospel," she said. Each year the artists that shaped the Memphis Sound™ attend and perform at The Blues Ball. Legendary B.B. King, Soul Man Isaac Hayes, wild man Jerry Lee Lewis, Bobby Blue Bland, Reverend Al Green, Eddie Floyd, Jason D. Williams, Ruby Wilson, The BarKays, and the late Carl Perkins and Rufus Thomas have been just a few of the legends to play the Ball.
Celebrating its Fourteenth Anniversary this year, The Blues Ball has been held in numerous locales including the world-renowned Peabody Hotel, the Gibson Guitar Factory, the Central Train Station, Memphis Cook Convention Center, and Memphis' greatest landmark, The Pyramid.
This year we are taking over two full blocks in downtown including the Gibson Guitar Factory, Westin Hotel (and it's two hundred guest rooms!), and Lee's Landing parking garage. We are also launching the grand opening of Morgan Freeman's Ground Zero Blues Club and King Biscuit Soul Club on the same evening. All of these locations open up George W. Lee Street which will be tinted with over one hundred thousand blue lights.
The Fourteenth Anniversary of The Blues Ball honors Isaac Hayes and David Porter (Stax Recording Studio) and Willie Mitchell (Hi Records) with our prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award. These recipients join Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis as the only other recipients of this award.
We also salute the “First Family of Stax,” The Rufus Thomas Family, as we celebrate the following: “50th Anniversary of Soul” • 50th Anniversary of Hi Records • 50 Years of Graceland (Elvis purchased Graceland in 1957).
For Complete information, visit the Official Blues Ball Site Here!
