Ravinia 2019, Issue 1, Week 2

NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALLSTARS Brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson formed the North Mississippi Allstars in 1996, having grown up around the music shepherded by their father—longtime, well-loved Memphis pro- ducer Jim Dickinson—and steeped in the blues roots of the south. Also bringing jam-band and rock-and-roll energy to their road shows, the brothers quickly found success not just as tour- ing musicians but also in the recording studio, earning Best New Artist honors from the Blues Music Awards for their first album, Shake Hands with Shorty (2000). The duo also picked up Grammy nominations for Best Contemporary Blues Album for both the debut disc and their 2001 follow-up, 51 Phantom . On their third disc, 2003’s Polaris , the North Mississippi Allstars teamed up with Duwayne Burnside, the son of one of their early influences, R.L. Burnside; the generations came together on 2004’s Hill Coun- try Revue: Live at Bonnaroo , with Luther and Cody inviting not only R.L. and Duwayne Burn- side to join them for a Bonnaroo Festival set, but also their father, Jim. In 2005, the Allstars earned another Grammy nod with their fourth studio disc, Electric Blue Watermelon , and also joined John Hiatt on tour after backing him on Master of Disaster , released that same year. Luther be- gan splitting his time between the Allstars and The Black Crowes in 2007, becoming the latter band’s lead guitarist across the Warpaint (2008), Before the Frost … Until the Freeze (2009) and Croweology (2010) albums; meanwhile, Cody re- vived the “Hill Country Revue” moniker for two albums, Make a Move (2009) and Zebra Ranch (2010). The brothers nonetheless remained de- voted to making music together, establishing their own label to release Hernando in 2008 and the live double disc Do It Like We Used to Do in 2009. After their father’s death in 2009, the Dickinsons assembled such family friends as Ry Cooder and Mavis Staples to record Keys to the Kingdom in tribute. Most recently, the Allstars brought together another host of longtime col- laborators for Prayer for Peace , featuring such classics as Mississippi Fred McDowell’s “You Got to Move” and R.L. Burnside’s “Long Haired Doney.” The North Mississippi Allstars are mak- ing their Ravinia debut. SHEMEKIA COPELAND Born in Harlem in the late 1970s, Shemekia Copeland had already been wooing listeners for a decade when she broke out with her 1998 Alligator Records debut, Turn the Heat Up . The daughter of blues legend Johnny Copeland, she began performing and touring alongside him at age 8, and she instantly became a top voice in blues and R&B—a soul-inflected shouter in the tradition of Koko Taylor and Etta James— with that disc’s release. Copeland earned a Grammy nomination with her follow-up in 2000, Wicked , which featured a duet with R&B diva Ruth Brown, and from her debut through 2005’s The Soul Truth , she received eight Blues Music Awards. Talking to Strangers (2002) was produced by Dr. John, and The Soul Truth had Steve Cropper of Booker T. and the MGs at the helm. Copeland worked with the Telarc label for her next two discs, both produced by Oliver Wood of The Wood Brothers: Never Going Back (2009), after which she was named a rising star by DownBeat , and 331/3 (2012), which earned her a second Grammy nomination. During 2012, she also performed at the White House for former President Barack and First Lady Mi- chelle Obama alongside B.B. King, Mick Jagger, Buddy Guy, Trombone Shorty, Gary Clark Jr., and several other artists. Copeland returned to Alligator for 2015’s Outskirts of Love , which fea- tured guest appearances by Robert Randolph, Alvin Youngblood Hart, and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. The disc not only earned her another Grammy nod, but also won her Album of the Year honors at the Blues Music Awards as well as recognition as Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year. After the birth of her son in 2016, Copeland found fresh inspiration for her latest album, 2018’s America’s Child , featuring one of her father’s songs, “Promised Myself,” in between her anthemic opener “Ain’t Got Time For Hate” and her closing lullaby “Go to Sleepy Little Baby.” Produced by Will Kimbrough, the album includes another Who’s Who of guests, from John Prine and Rhiannon Giddens to Mary Gauthier and Emmylou Harris. Shemekia Copeland is making her Ravinia debut. 6:00 PM SATURDAY, JUNE 15, 2019 BENNETT GORDON HALL LINCOLN TRIO DESIRÉE RUHSTRAT, violin DAVID CUNLIFFE, cello MARTA AZNAVOORIAN, piano HAYDN Keyboard Trio in G minor * Moderato molto Menuetto Presto BEETHOVEN Piano Trio No. 2 Adagio—Allegro vivace Largo con espressione Scherzo: Allegro Finale: Presto PATRICK ZIMMERLI Piano Trio No. 3 ( Views of Chicago ) ° (in one movement) There will be no intermission in this program. ° World premiere * First performance at Ravinia JUNE 10 – JUNE 16, 2019 | RAVINIA MAGAZINE 93