Boogie Woogie Swing Group Performs August 11
Concluding the 2011 Omaha Performing Arts Jazz on the Green series at Midtown Crossing is Steve Lucky and The Rhumba Bums featuring Miss Carmen Getit on Thursday, August 11. The boogie woogie swing group will perform at 7 p.m. at the free summer concert series in Turner Park at Midtown Crossing, 31st and Dodge streets. The venue opens at 5 The San Francisco Bay Area-based Steve Lucky and The Rhumba Bums have been called "instant crowd favorites" by the San Francisco Blues Festival and "consummate musicians and entertainers" by New York City's Lincoln Center. The group shines before a live audience, bringing an intense energy and sheer personal magnetism to the stage.
Musician Steve Lucky started playing the piano at age 8, and by the time he was13, he was playing and singing professionally. Lucky attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he founded and led the six-piece Blue Front Persuaders, a swing group that went on to perform on Star Search in the 1980s. After living in New York City for several years, Lucky moved to San Francisco in 1993 and formed The Rhumba Bums as a quintet. The addition of Miss Carmen Getit in 1994 rounded out the group.
A versatile vocalist, Getit is primarily a self-taught musician, learning to play the guitar at age 10. Lucky introduced Getit to the music of T-Bone Walker, Ruth Brown and Etta James, among others. Getit recorded a critically acclaimed release with The Rhumba Bums, called “Come Out Swingin’!,” which earned four stars in both Downbeat and Blues Access magazines and accolades from the press.
Steve Lucky and The Rhumba Bums have appeared on PBS’ “CD Highway,” on a Bravo! documentary titled “This Joint is Jumpin’!” and on several newscasts, including CBS’ “Good Morning America” and CNN’s “Showbiz with Jim Moret.” The group has earned a reputation as captivating entertainers with "superior musicianship" (Downbeat), engaging audiences at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, the Half Note Jazz Club in Athens, Greece, the San Francisco Blues Festival, as the house band at the Derby in Hollywood and hundreds of nightclubs, festivals and performing arts centers around the world.
All concerts for Omaha Performing Arts Presents Jazz on the Green at Midtown Crossing are free to the public. No reservations or tickets are needed. The venue opens at 5 p.m. and the performance starts at 7 p.m. Midtown Crossing offers convenient and secure parking for more than 3,000 vehicles. Two parking garages are easily accessible from 33rd, Farnam and Harney streets. In both garages, the first three hours are free and visitors pay only $1 for each hour thereafter (with a maximum daily fee of $6). Ample metered parking is available along Farnam Street. Metered parking is short-term (max. two hours) and is monitored Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. $5 Valet parking is also available at Farnam Court from 5 p.m. to close. Midtown Crossing will be offering a free event shuttle throughout the evening, beginning at 5 p.m. For more information on parking and shuttle services, please visit MidtownCrossing.com. Sponsors for Omaha Performing Arts Presents Jazz on the Green at Midtown Crossing are Mutual of Omaha, Omaha Steaks, Alegent Health, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska, C&A Industries, Inc., Fran and Rick Juro and Mutual of Omaha Bank. Media sponsors for this year’s series are Omaha World-Herald, KETV, NET, KIOS and Curzon Promotional Graphics. In-kind sponsorship is provided by Crystal Clear Water and Ink Tank Merch. For more information on Jazz on the Green at Midtown
Crossing, visit JazzOnTheGreenOmaha.com.
