Summertime Blues – Blues added to summer Topeka park concerts
Cassie Taylor, the bass-playing, blues-singing daugher of blusman Otis Taylor, and her band will kick off the Topeka Blues Society’s Summertime Blues series with a free concert at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 14, at the Gage Park Amphitheater.
In addition to jazz, marches and show tunes, blues will be heard this summer at free concerts in two of Topeka’s parks.
The Topeka Blues Society has added itself to the roster of nonprofit entities presenting music at the Shawnee County Parks and Recreation-operated Gage and Garfield parks.
The blues society will present blues acts in rotation with the series regulars:
■ Marshall’s Civic Band, a Topeka institution since 1884 when it was founded by its first director, John B. Marshall.
■ North Topeka Band, established in 1996 to commemorate that neighborhood’s history.
■ Topeka Jazz Workshop Band, which since 1960 has performed jazz big band charts.
■ Topeka Santa Fe Band, which has its roots as a railroad band founded in the shops of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.
The music will get started at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 14 at the Gage Park Amphitheater where the Topeka Blues Society will present national blues act Cassie Taylor.
Taylor, 26, grew up hearing the blues being played by her father, modern-day blues innovator Otis Taylor. At age 12, she picked up a bass and played the iconic line of the blues-rock anthem “Hey, Joe” perfectly after being shown the lick just once.
The young prodigy soon joined her father’s band as bassist and backing singer and now fronts her own band. Yellow Dog Records last week released her album, “Out of My Mind,” which she showcased in Memphis, Tenn., the same week the Blues Music Awards were presented.
Taylor serves on the board of directors of the Blues Foundation where she leads the organization’s Generation Blues initiative, which provides performers younger than 21 with musical scholarships.
Here are the other summer parks concerts:
■ 7 p.m. Sunday, May 26: Topeka Jazz Workshop Band, Gage Park.
■ 7 p.m. Sunday, June 2: Topeka Santa Fe Band, Gage Park.
■ 7:30 p.m. Monday, June 3: North Topeka Band, Garfield Park.
■ 7 p.m. Sunday, June 9: Marshall’s Civic Band, Gage Park.
■ 7 p.m. Sunday, June 16: Topeka Santa Fe Band, Gage Park.
■ 7:30 p.m. Monday, June 17: North Topeka Band, Garfield Park.
■ 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 19: Topeka Blues Society presents the Josh Vowell Band, Gage Park.
■ 7 p.m. Sunday, June 23: Topeka Jazz Workshop Band, Gage Park.
■ 7 p.m. Sunday, June 30: Marshall’s Civic Band, Gage Park.
■ 7:30 p.m. Monday, July 1: Kansas National Guard 35th Infantry Division Band, Gage Park.
■ 7 p.m. Sunday, July 7: Topeka Santa Fe Band, Gage Park.
■ 7:30 p.m. Monday, July 8: North Topeka Band, Garfield Park.
■ 7 p.m. Sunday, July 14: Topeka Jazz Workshop Band, Gage Park.
■ 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 17: Topeka Blues Society presents the Back Porch Blues Band, Gage Park.
■ 7 p.m. Sunday, July 21: Marshall’s Civic Band, Gage Park.
■ 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 21: Topeka Blues Society presents That Damn Blues Band, Gage Park.
Rain dates for the Sunday concerts will be the following Thursday.
The Gage Park Amphitheater is located west of the Topeka Zoo and north of the Blaisdell Family Aquatic Center. The amphitheater has fixed bench seating, but patrons can bring blankets and lawn chairs for seating.
The concerts in Garfield Park, 1600 N.E. Quincy, are performed from a gazebo built for the band. Those attending should bring lawn chairs or blankets for seating.
Tickets are frree. Concessions will be sold at all of the events.
