[StBernard] GULF AID BENEFIT CONCERT TO SUPPORT GULF RELIEF

[Westley Annis]

GULF AIDT 

BENEFIT CONCERT TO SUPPORT GULF RELIEF EFFORTS 

Lenny Kravitz, Allen Toussaint, Mos Def, 

Ani DiFranco, John Legend, Voice of the Wetlands Allstars to Perform 

Musicians, business leaders in New Orleans and community radio station
WWOZ-FM have come together to create the GULF AIDT benefit concert to raise
funds for wetland recovery efforts, fishermen and their families as oil
continues to gush into the Gulf of Mexico from the site of the collapsed
deepwater Horizon. The fundraising concert will take place on Sunday, May
16, rain or shine from noon - 10 pm at Mardi Gras World River City
overlooking the Mississippi River in New Orleans.  

 

Lenny Kravitz, John Legend, Mos Def, Allen Toussaint, Ani DiFranco, The
Voice of the Wetlands Allstars (featuring Tab Benoit, Dr. John, Cyril
Neville, George Porter Jr., Waylon Thibodeaux, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux,
Johnny Sansone, and Johnny Vidacovich), Zachary Richard, Preservation Hall
Jazz Band, Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk, Soul Rebels Brass Band, Beausoleil,
Steve Riley and The Mamou Playboys with Jon Cleary, Marcia Ball, Irvin
Mayfield's Playhouse Review, Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers, Rebirth
Brass Band, Big Sam's Funky Nation, Shamarr Allen, Jeremy Davenport,
MyNameIsJohnMichael, with additional artists to be announced. 

 

Tickets are $50 and are available exclusively via Elevate (www.elevate.com).
VIP packages will be available. All funds will be managed and distributed by
Gulf Aid in partnership with WWOZ. The fund has been created to assure that
all monies are properly distributed to organizations to focus on two key
elements of recovery - the wetlands/coastal environmental issues and the
well-being of fishermen and the regional seafood industry. 

Donations may be made at gulfaid.org or mailed to Gulf Relief Foundation, a
501 C3 non-profit corporation located at P.O. Box 6917, Metairie, LA 70009. 

Ewell Smith, Executive Director of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and
Marketing Board stated: "Our fishermen appreciate the unprecedented support
and leadership of the efforts to draw attention to the extraordinary need of
our coastal fishing communities. Thousands of families across south
Louisiana will potentially be impacted for years to come and will need all
the help they can get to survive. They bring the catch of Louisiana seafood
to America's tables. Without them we lose a vital part of our culture and
heritage that make Louisiana so special." 

 

 

GULF AID will be held at Mardi Gras World's scenic River City, which offers
dramatic views of the Mississippi. The site is being donated by Joe Jaeger
and Barry Kern, partners in the Mardi Gras World facility. "As a response to
the threat to our fishing industry and wetlands, we decided to create an
awareness and fundraising drive, GULF AID, and called on our personal
friends, musicians, restaurateurs and corporate sponsors to help," said
Barry Kern, Blaine Kern Studios. 

 

New Orleans Jazz and Heritage radio station WWOZ 90.7 FM will broadcast live
from the concert, which will also be streamed live on the internet:
wwoz.org. "Our response is sure, immediate and passionate-our music
community, through its music and heritage station, WWOZ, is calling on all
its many friends throughout the country, to step forward in an effort to
give heart to the devastated and the displaced," said David Freedman, WWOZ
General Manager. 

 

Rehage Entertainment, producer of the Voodoo Experience and the Essence
Music Festival is producing GULF AID. "WWOZ and the New Orleans Jazz and
Heritage Foundation called about this very special project and we have had
the privilege of working non-stop for the last 3 days," Rehage said. "The
event will feature world-renowned artists, including the home team players,
all of which share a love for our city and concerns about how the recent
developments in the Gulf will affect the lives of people in Louisiana and
bordering Gulf states." YES Productions has donated video production
services to document the concert. 

 

Sidney D. Torres, IV, owner of SDT Waste and Debris, LLC is a concert
financer and organizer. "As a native of St. Bernard Parish, I have family
members and friends who have been affected by this tragedy. We can all come
to the aid of the fishing industry and those whose livelihoods depend on
fishing by buying a ticket to GULF AID," Torres said. 

Updates on the concert will be posted at www.wwoz.org 

On twitter: http://twitter.com/GulfAid 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gulfaid