Six cities showed love last week to Fred and his band The New JBs, and fans at the six venues got their money's worth in excellent funk and jazz music. Thank you to Jimmy's, Boston City Winery, Pittsburgh City Winery, Ardmore Music Hall, Sony Hall NYC and Bethesda Theater. Enjoy photos below and look forward to many happy returns.
Next up: on Saturday, July 6, two days after he turns 81, God willing, on the 4th of July, Fred will be the featured guest of jazz bassist John Brown's Little Big Band at the Ocean City Jazz Festival, North Topsail Beach, North Carolina. Click here for tickets.
Click here to check the calendar for tickets for future dates.
Not pictured in the photo below but definitely heard and felt during the weeklong tour of the U.S., the band's first since 2008, was Vince Evans, who filled in on keys with the funk soldiers who make up the New JBs, shown onstage below at the Bethesda Theater: Bruce Cox on drums, Dwayne Dolphin on bass, Reggie Ward on guitar, Gary Winters on trumpet and Jay Rodriguez on saxophone and flute.
The band's set at theArdmore Music Hall was double bill with the Soul Rebels, with superstar jazz bassist Marcus Miller as a special guest. The Soul Rebels trombones got pics with Fred ...
... plus Dwayne and Marcus shared some double-bass moments.
The Boston stop included an interview with Skippy White and Brother Ike.
At Jimmy's in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Fred connected with Lettuce guitarist Eric Krasno and family.