The BCPA (Brighton Center for the Performing Arts) and 2 Stones Events are partnering on Brighton Blues Bash! — an evening featuring two of metro-Detroit’s finest acts: Boogie-woogie blues piano master Mr. B, and Detroit’s Queen of the Blues, Thornetta Davis, presented by Cooper & Binkley Jewelers.

This event will include a food drive for the Livingston Hunger Council, and attendees are asked to bring a non-perishable item. Of course, they’ll also take a monetary donation — every dollar donated provides three meals locally.

The doors for the special Sunday show at the BCPA will open at 3 p.m. with Mr. B taking the stage from 4-5 p.m. followed by Thornetta Davis from 5:30-7 p.m.

Tickets are $25 for the Main Floor and $15 for the balcony online before Sept. 7. Prices will increase to $35 and $25 day-of at the door.

ABOUT MR. B

Blues and boogie-woogie pianist Mark Lincoln Braun has become one of the premiere purveyors of a vanishing art. Having learned his craft first-hand from the early masters, he is a rare living link to the first generation of blues and boogie pianists. Steeped in the rich legacy of this tremendously exciting music, Mr. B learned directly from blues and boogie legends like Little Brother Montgomery, Boogie Woogie Red, and Blind John Davis.

In demand for both educational programs and concert performances, he has performed coast to coast and throughout Europe, Canada, Mexico, and South America. In 2002 and 2016, he was a guest artist at the Irving S. Gilmore International Keyboard Festival. He is also the organizer of the annual Mr. Bʼs Blues and Boogie Piano Celebration that attracts major figures in the blues and jazz piano world to Ann Arbor for collaborative performances with Mr. B.

ABOUT THORNETTA DAVIS

Crowned Detroit’s Queen of the Blues, international singer/songwriter/recording artist Thornetta Davis has opened for blues legends such as B.B. King, Ray Charles, Etta James, Koko Taylor, Johnny Johnson, Bonnie Raitt and more. A 2018 Kresge Foundation honoree, she also won the 2023 Blues Foundation Blues Music Awards for Best Soul/Blues vocalist female. A winner of over 30 Detroit Music Awards, Davis received six of those honors in 2018 and also won several in 2017 for her album Honest Woman (including Outstanding Record Producer, Outstanding Blues Recording, Outstanding Blues Vocalist and Outstanding Live Performance).

In 2017, the winner of awards from Blues Blast Magazine (Best Soul/Blues Album) and Big City Rhythm & Blues Magazine (Coolest Blues Song) also garnered international attention by winning first place in the International Songwriting Competition for Best Blues Song (“I Believe Everything Is Gonna Be Alright”), and the following year earned the prestigious French La Academie du Jazz Award for Best Blues Album (Honest Woman).

From Down Beat Magazine’s 2018 Monterey Jazz Fest performance review: “The follow-up at the Garden Stage on Saturday blew the crowd away. In her first time performing at Monterey, Detroit’s Queen of the Blues, Thornetta Davis, sang with no-nonsense sass, fearless in her missives against lovers, as she preached the Blues.”

COMMUNITY BENEFITS

The Livingston County Hunger Council works to prevent hunger in our community by maintaining a food response system. Highlights in 2024 include:

• 26,248 meals and snacks were provided at seven locations during Summer Lunch Bunch, which supports children and families throughout the summer.
• A total of 13,638 frozen weekend meals were served by Meals on Wheels.
• 46 food distribution sites available throughout Livingston County distributed 3,576,465 pounds of food through Gleaners, including 1,045,777 pounds of fresh produce.
• Distributed 146,403 pounds of food through Mission Nutrition Mobiles and senior mobiles which provided 122,002 meals.
• 2,350 pounds of fresh produce were grown in a local community garden and 11 fresh produce carts were spread across Livingston County.
• Mission Nutrition Livingston served 2,939 meals to 1,982 households at school food mobiles.