Sat 3/22 @ 8PM
Sun 3/23 @11AM-3PM
Thu 3/27 @ 7PM
Sat 3/29 @ 2PM
Sun 3/30 @ 8PM
A performance by Cleveland soul veterans the Hesitations (pictured) kicks off Collinwood Crossroads Week, a week-long series of events dedicated to Cleveland’s blues and rhythm & blues history and community. It includes a couple of concerts and a soul brunch at the Beachland Ballroom, a concert at the Callaloo Café, an oral history program at the Space: ROCK Gallery, and a program in a neighborhood elementary school.
The Hesitations were one of countless R&B vocal groups in the ’60s to enjoy a bit of local and regional success, even if their aspirations of Motown-level fame fell short. They group reunited for a show at the Rock Hall in 2006, giving them the impetus to continue performing as a special-occasion group. They’ll perform at the Beachland Ballroom with three-woman vocal group Rare JuElle on Sat 3/22. Tickets are $12.
On Sun 3/23, the Beachland’s weekly brunch will feature DJ Lawrence Daniel Caswell, a Collinwood resident, spinning classic soul vinyl.
The action shifts to Callaloo Café on Thu 3/27. There, 70-year-old Cleveland blues scene veteran “Crazy Marvin” Braxton and Dan Bode, a younger veteran of Cleveland’s rock and blues scenes, will trade harmonica licks and vocals, backed by Bode’s band, Moko Bovo. That event is free.
Crazy Marvin gets the spotlight to himself on Sat 3/29 when he’s interviewed as part of nonprofit Cleveland Rocks: Past, Present & Future’s oral history project to record and archive interviews with significant Cleveland music figures. He’ll sit down to be interviewed at Space: ROCK Gallery on Waterloo, for an event that’s free and open to the public. Come armed with questions! The interview will be videotaped and preserved at the Rock Hall Library and Archives at Tri-C.
Finally, the celebration concludes at the Beachland Ballroom on Sun 3/30 when the Lockwood All-Stars are joined by guests from the area blues scene to pay tribute to Cleveland’s greatest blues legend of all, Robert Lockwood Jr., who died in 2006 at the age of 91, and was actively performing until just a few months before his death. The show comes two days after what would have been Lockwood’s 99th birthday.
It’s free.