A night of extraordinary musical collaboration at the UCD Festival, as Morgan Freeman joined the RT Concert Orchestra for The Delta Blues Project'

Academy Award Winning Actor Morgan Freeman joined the RT Concert Orchestra last night for The Delta Blues Project', which was held in O'Reilly Hall at the University College Dublin (UCD) Festival.

The project between the RT Concert Orchestra and US-based jazz and blues impresario David O'Rourke featured the music of blues greats, including Robert Johnson, John Lee Hooker and BB King, as well as music from those inspired and influenced by the blues.

Mr Freeman is co-founder and co-owner of Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale Mississippi, which is considered the #1 Blues Club in the world. He described the project as a treat for all of us .

My love of music doesn't start and end with the blues. I also love the symphony. The talent of amazing musicians and the immersive nature that grabs you, and pulls you right in. So we had an idea at Ground Zero, why not take the best of Delta Blues and combine it with a musical experience provided by a world class symphony'. So we did it, and this is it, the symphonic blues experience.

The first half of the concert featured music by the extraordinary trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, recently voted Trumpeter of the Year' by the Jazz Journalists Association, and whose latest album, The Art of Intimacy Volume 2: His Muse, shot to Number 1 in the jazz charts this year.

The second half of the concert showcased music from the Mississippi Delta and featured blues vocalist and guitar player Anthony Big A' Sherrod, a regular performer at Ground Zero Blues Club, as well as legendary drummer Lewis Nash and award-winning pianist Caili O'Doherty.

General Manager of the RT Concert Orchestra Joe Csibi said: It's been a great privilege for our team and The RT Concert Orchestra to produce this project and bring to Ireland the music of the Delta Blues. The calibre of artist and musicianship was something to behold and the marriage of this music genre with the orchestra was overwhelming! As for Morgan Freeman we are incredibly grateful to him for his time, commitment and belief in this project.

IMAGE: L-R: Anthony Big A Sherrod and Morgan Freeman (Credit: Kyran O'Brien)

LINK:	https://about.rte.ie/2023/06/12/a-night-of-extraordinary-musical-colla...
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