LIN ROUNTREE
The Redstone Room
Saturday, May 20, 7 p.m.


Reviewing Lin Rountree's Groovetree CD in the Michigan Chronicle, David G. Watkins wrote, "The smooth, progressive beats and rhythms are tantalizing and can send the listener into a virtual groove-based trance," and as anyone who's heard his music can attest ... wait, what was I saying? Rountree, the featured performer at the May 20 fundraising event for the Smooth Jazz Concert Series (being held in the River Music Experience's Redstone Room), is an accomplished R&B, soul, and jazz trumpeter/composer who has risen to the forefront of the Detroit music scene, but his presence has been felt far beyond the Great Lakes State; in Jazz Monthly magazine, D.J. Fazio wrote, "If first impressions are lasting ones, then Lin Rountree's CD Groovetree should make him a lasting player." 
JASON RICCI & THE NEW BLOOD
Blueport Junction
Thursday, May 11, 8 p.m.


From the research I've done, it sounds like Jason Ricci really blows. Of course, he's a harmonica player, so that's actually a good thing. Playing Davenport's Blueport Junction on Thursday, May 11, Ricci's performance biography begins in 1995, when the musician performed the main stage of the King Biscuit Blues Festival, competed in the International Blues Competition in Memphis, and recorded his debut CD ... all before the age of 22.