Wed 8/16 @ 7-9PM
Blues harmonica player Wallace Coleman has been part of the northeast Ohio blue scene for a long time. Like many blues musicians he made the trip from south to north, coming up from Tennessee in 1956. The self-taught musician spent many years playing with various musicians in area clubs and then, following his retirement from his day job at Hough Bakeries, he joined the band of the late Robert Lockwood Jr. at age 51 and became a professional musician.
He left Lockwood’s band in 1997 to go out under his own name and he’s released several CDs on his own, reflecting his love of both southern folk blues an Chicago electric blues. They include a tribute to his late bandmate, Remembering Robert Jr. Lockwood: Blues in the Wind; Wallace Coleman Live: From Sao Paulo to Severance. It features studio tracks, live TV recordings and live performance recordings, including tunes performed with Brazil’s Igor Prado Band and an MLK Day performance at Severance Hall; and Folk Blues on Dutch Ground, performed live in the Netherlands and in a recording studio in The Hague.
You can see this living treasure perform with the Wallace Coleman Band at downtown Akron’s Cascade Plaza as part of its Wednesday Live & Local series, which runs through August 30. Admission is free. Bring a chair or blanket, Drinks and snacks will be available or grab something from one of the nearby restaurants, and enjoy the music!
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