Meet the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame's 2014 inductees
By VICTOR PAUL ALVAREZ | April 30, 2014
A funky band of brothers from Fox Point. A Juilliard-trained conductor who changed the face of Rhode Island classical music. A beloved Providence club owner who was also a Little League coaching legend. A Pawtucket-raised tenor sax man who achieved immortality with a solo onstage in Newport in 1965.
This year the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame honors its third crop of local musicians, educators, and industry professional who have carved out a legacy in our state and beyond. Duke Robillard, one of this year’s inductees, is a fine example. He’s a Woonsocket boy known around the world as a top shelf bluesman who has played with the likes of the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Dr. John, and Ruth Brown.
This year’s induction ceremony and concert event spans two days. On Saturday, May 3, a concert, featuring Tavares as well as a tribute to Freddie Scott led by Rhode Island’s own Mac Odom, will take place at Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel in downtown Providence. The induction ceremony and concert is set for the next day at the Met and Hall of Fame’s brick-and-mortar home, in Pawtucket’s Hope Artist Village. That event will feature the unveiling of all nine 2014 inductee exhibits as well as performances by Cheryl Wheeler, Duke Robillard, the Mark II, and a tribute to Paul Gonsalves led by world-renowned saxophonist Dan Moretti.
So, who are all of these people? And why do they matter?
Read on, music fans. (For more on the RIMHOF and its 2014 induction festivities, go to rhodeislandmusichalloffame.com.)
