NEWPORT, R.I. – Ten-time Grammy Award winner Chaka Khan will replace Etta James as the Friday Aug. 7 opening night act of George Wein’s CareFusion Jazz Festival 55, scheduled for Aug. 7-9.
James, herself a jazz icon, had to bow out of her performance due to illness, festival organizers said today.
Khan, whose 1978 debut solo album Chaka made her an instant sensation with the disco hit “I’m Every Woman.” In 1982, she recorded Echoes of an Era, a collection of jazz standards featuring performances from Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Stanley Clarke, Chick Corea, and Lenny White.
Clarinetist Anat Cohen and guitarist Howard Alden will open the show.
Tickets to the festival can be found online at jazzfestival55.com, by phone at (800) 514-3849 and by mail at George Wein’s CareFusion Jazz Festival 55, P.O. Box 3865, Newport, RI 02840. Tickets for the Friday night show start at $35 and tickets to the Etta James concert will be honored.
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Newport, RI
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Can you say Bait and Switch? Didnt this happen a few years ago as well?
I hear U2 and the Stones are playing next year.Get your tickets early.
Eddie’s memory is correct. In 2007, Etta James was also scheduled to open what was then known as the JVC Jazz Festival – Newport, but withdrew after canceling a series of East Coast performances due to illness. She was replaced at that time by Susan Tedeschi, who as it happens played the Nantucket Nectars Sunset Music Series at the Newport Yachting Center on June 27th.