Last week, Pat Jackson called the offices of Delegate Kristen J. Amundson (D-44) and Senator Linda "Toddy" Puller (D-36). She wanted to make sure that the roads were clear for the weekend. It wasn't that she needed to get to the grocery store. Jackson was more concerned that people could get to her and the Mount Vernon Unitarian Church for the 5th Annual Benefit Concert for the Bryant Early Learning (BEL) Center.
And come they did. Natural and mechanical forces combined to make the streets clear enough for more than 250 people to get the show.
And what a show it was. Each of the four featured performers did two sets each, with a finale at the end with all of the groups.
Organized by Jackson and Karen Tyson, this show raised more than $5,000 for the center, twice as much as the year before. Those who have attended these concerts in the past have come to expect the combination of blues, folk, country and jazz from Cleve Francis and Friends, as well as the mix of tender and funny songs by singer and guitarist, Herb Tyson.
Tyson said, "I've been the common thread. It was my idea to start the concert and I've stayed with it."
NEW THIS YEAR was Jump Start, a group consisting of guitarist Jim Besser, fiddler Kathy Kerr, and pianist and fiddler Julie Gorka, who played a rousing mix of French-Canadian, Irish and Scottish music.
Herb Tyson said that he has known Besser for almost 20 years and asked his group to join the program to "fill a hole." They were well received and Tyson also used them for backup when he performed. Joshua Carr was there for the first time. A saxophonist with a degree in jazz performance from temple University's Esther Boyer School of Music, he was joined by bass player Oliver Albertini; drummer Paul De-Castro; trombonist Brian Keegan; guitarist Scott Myers; and harmonica player Alan Radcliffe-Holmes.
The now anticipated finale was a rendition of The Heart of It All, written five years ago by Tyson. Jackson said, "He composed it the first year and they sing it every year. It describes everything so perfectly-UCM, our church, the community. It still brings tears to my eyes."