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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Musicians
Hall of Famer Al Kooper to Appear with The Funky Faculty at Long’s
Park August 9, 2009.
LANCASTER, PA -- Al Kooper, “one of the giants of ‘60s
rock” (All Music Guide) and co-founder of Blood,
Sweat & Tears, will bring his immortal sound to Long’s
Park on August 9, 2009. Kooper and his six-piece band The Funky
Faculty will rock the park at 7:30 pm as part of the 47th annual
Long’s Park Summer Music Series.
A singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, producer, engineer and author,
Al Kooper has a passion for blues, gospel, R&B and soul that
has spanned more than 50 years. This natural musician turned professional
at the age of 15 when he joined the Royal Teens. He began
writing music by the early 1960s and got his first big break when
he co-authored the No. 1 hit, This Diamond Ring. He went
on to be the talent behind the keyboards on Dylan’s Like
a Rolling Stone and helped the Blues Project create their
unique, urban sound. He left them to co-found Blood, Sweat &
Tears in 1967, with whom he made their landmark debut album,
“Child is Father to the Man.”
In the years since, music has never taken a break from Al Kooper’s
life -- even when a debilitating condition threatened his eyesight.
His keyboards have been heard on hundreds of records, including
The Rolling Stones’ You Can’t Always Get What You Want,
Jimi Hendrix’s Long Hot Summer Nights and The Who’s
Rael. Having also worked with such household names as Simon
& Garfunkel, B.B. King, Tom Petty, Trisha Yearwood and countless
others, Rolling Stone included 12 albums with serious participation
by Kooper in its 500 Greatest Recordings of All Time. His influences
in the music industry have truly been both diverse and limitless,
ranging from TV soundtracks (“Miami Vice”), to discovering
rock legends like Lynyrd Skynyrd during his days as a producer
to, more recently, being sampled on Jay-Z’s “Dynasty”
album.
Kooper’s 2005 album “Black Coffee,” his first solo
album since 1975, garnered him the Memphis Blues “Comeback
of the Year” award. Two years later he was inducted into Hollywood’s
Rock ‘n Roll Walk of Fame and honored for his life’s work
with the Les Paul award. In 2008, Kooper was taken into the Musicians
Hall of Fame in Nashville.
Al Kooper will be accompanied to Long’s Park by The Funky
Faculty. A band of professors from Berklee College of Music,
where Kooper once taught and from whom he received his second Doctorate
of Music, this sextet has been acclaimed across the United States,
Norway, Japan, Scandinavia, Italy, Spain, Denmark and the Czech
Republic.
The Long’s Park Summer Music Series is produced and underwritten
by the Long’s Park Amphitheater Foundation. Thanks to generous
sponsors, private donors and proceeds of the Labor Day weekend Long’s
Park Art & Craft Festival, admission and parking are free. Sponsors
of the 2009 season are Lancaster General and Susquehanna Bank. Season
media sponsors are WARM 103 and 96.1 WSOX. WGAL- TV is season weather
sponsor.
Stevens & Lee, PC is sponsoring the 2009 Long’s Park Art
& Craft Festival.
Long’s Park concertgoers are invited to bring picnics, blankets
and lawn chairs to the park. A selection of food purveyors will
also be in the park, offering a complete meal’s worth of family
foods and desserts. Long’s Park is an alcohol-free park.
Long’s Park is conveniently located at 1441 Harrisburg Pike
in Lancaster, just off Route 30 across from Park City Center. All
performances are held rain or shine, except in the case of dangerously
inclement weather.
Additional information and links to musical previews of Long’s
Park’s performers can be found at www.longspark.org,
or on Facebook. For details on corporate sponsorships of the Long's
Park Summer Music Series and to learn how to make individual and
corporate contributions, contact the Long's Park Amphitheater Foundation
at www.longspark.org.
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