
On March 3, 2013 in honor of the film’s tenth anniversary, a new show called Standing In The Shadows Of Motown LIVE! will continue the tradition, kicking off its East Coast tour at Rahway, New Jersey’‘s Union County Performing Arts Center. The music of James Jamerson will be front and center in this production, which features an electrifying eleven-piece band comprised of sidemen veterans from the Funk Brothers’ film and tours, members of the band from the National touring company of the Broadway show “The Color Purple,” and Standing In The Shadows Of Motown’s producer and creator Allan Slutsky.
Heralded R&B master and multi-Grammy winner Peabo Bryson and STAX recording artist and BET-TV personality Leela James will front the band while James Jamerson Jr.—the only bass player alive who plays exactly like his father—will be holding down the groove on two dozen Motown songs. As he delivers heartfelt reminiscences and side-splitting anecdotes, dozens of projected images and video from the movie will appear on a 9 X 12 screen above the band. And in the process, that tiny basement studio on Detroit’s West Grand Boulevard—the one that gave birth to all those groundbreaking Funk Brothers tracks—will come alive once again to remind us what ‘60s soul was all about.
ROUTING
3/3 – Rahway, NJ – Union County Performing Arts Center
3/5 – Providence, RI – Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel
3/6 – Boston, MA – The Wilbur Theatre
3/8 – Washington, DC – The Howard Theatre
3/9 – Glenside, PA – The Keswick Theatre
3/10 – Huntington, NY – The Paramount
3/11 – Annapolis, MD – Ramshead On Stage (2 shows)