It will be a summer of strings and gospel in Duke Gardens. The beautiful Angle Amphitheater will ring with blues, gospel, classical and bluegrass music in eight performances in June and July.
Aaron Greenwald, interim director of Duke Performances, worked with Beverly Meeks, assistant director of marketing, to scale back the number of music performances in the Gardens from about 20 in years past to eight this year.
"By making it more manageable, we could also tell more of a story," Greenwald said. "In the process, we could bring in high-profile groups."
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This summer, the story is strings and gospel music, and musicians who illustrate where the styles intersect. The Carolina Chocolate Drops, a young trio that studied under octogenarian fiddler Joe Thompson, opens the series June 21. Reviving the antebellum African-American banjo and fiddle tradition of the rural Piedmont, the musicians also show off their talents on the guitar, harmonica and jug.
Next, the Ciompi Quartet, Duke's resident chamber music ensemble, will perform on July 5, spotlighting Jane Hawkins on piano and Nancy Billman on horn.
On July 8, Bishop Dready Manning & Mother Marie will fill the night with joyful gospel music, as they have done at two churches every week for 40 years. Flamboyant performers, Manning and his wife (Mother Marie) will showcase many bluesy gospel pieces written by Manning.
Summer Music in the Gardens
All performances are at 7 p.m. in the Angle Amphitheater in the Doris Duke Center in Duke Gardens. Rain location: Kirby Horton Hall. Tickets: $10 general admission, $5 Duke employees and students, free for children under 12. 684-4444 or tickets.duke.edu
Thursday, June 21: The Carolina Chocolate Drops
Thursday, July 5: The Ciompi Quartet
Sunday, July 8: Bishop Dready Manning & Mother Marie
Thursday, July 12: Chuck & the Waggin' Ears featuring Charles Pettee
Thursday, July 19: Chatham County Line (pictured)
Sunday, July 22: Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
Thursday, July 26: The Mallarme Chamber Players
Sunday, July 29: Double Bill: Capital City Five & The Gospel Jubilators
Chuck & the Waggin' Ears take the stage on July 12. Mandolin and guitar player Charles Pettee, founder of Shady Grove Band, and Fiddlin' Al McCanless, a Red Clay Ramblers alum, along with Shady Grove Band member John Boulding on banjo and dobro, will play traditional bluegrass and original tunes.
Chatham County Line crosses into Durham on July 19. These local "newgrass" youngsters are making it big in the States, but they're already at the top in Norway. Their last album went gold there, and their song "Amerikabesøk" performed with a Norwegian musician, hit No. 2 on the country's charts. Band members say their rollicking bluegrass repertoire is meant to appeal to both "the thinking man and the drinking man."
Gospel bluegrass performers Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver will appear July 22. Lawson took up the mandolin at age 11 and formed his band in 1979. Over the years, the group has accumulated three Grammy nominations, four Dove Awards, and nine International Bluegrass Association honors.
"They're world-class musicians," Greenwald said. "I've always wanted to present them."
The Mallarme Chamber Players come home to play on July 26. The Durham-based ensemble comprises 25 professional musicians who perform in mixed ensembles of three to seven artists. The group performs programs including rarely heard works from the traditional chamber music repertoire as well the music of African-American, Asian, Latino, Indian and women composers.
The season will end July 29 with a double dose of a cappella gospel from Raleigh's Capital City Five and Durham's Gospel Jubilators. Some of the men have belonged to the jubilee-style Jubliator quartet for nearly 40 years. The Capital City quintet sings in the style of the Blind Boys of Alabama.