The North Central Florida Blues Society is excited to partner with the A. Quinn Jones Museum & Cultural Center and offer free Blues concerts on their patio. The next one is Sunday, April 30 at 7 pm with the Rev. Billy C. Wirtz!
Reverend Billy C. Wirtz is a comic genius, gifted pianist and American musicologist who defies easy classification. Likely the only person on earth to be mentored by Chicago blues pianist Sunnyland Slim and also to work with Root Boy Slim, Wirtz has also worked with the famed DC Blues band the Nighthawks, starting back when Jimmy Thackery was a member.
Wirtz is passionate about the history of the Blues and R&B, and his concerts also include that aspect, as well as his radio shows on KPIG and WMNF. He has also written for such notable publications as Blueswax, Musician, Keyboard, and All Music Guide. However, his stock in trade is provoking laughter, and ever since his emergence during the early 1980s, his sanctified routines have elicited belly laughs from club crowds worldwide.
The A. Quinn Jones Museum & Cultural Center, housed in the former Jones Family home at 1013 NW 7th Avenue in Gainesville, serves as a tribute to one of the most influential educators in the history of Alachua County. The Museum features a permanent exhibit on “Prof” Jones, the people and places of the Fifth Avenue/Pleasant Street neighborhood, and houses a collection of oral histories centering on the African-American experience in Gainesville. The rest of the space houses rotating exhibits.
The bi-monthly series features local and regional Blues artists. This series will provide a network of association for area Blues lovers. We hope you find it entertaining and informative.