Community Corner

An Actress, A Raylette, The Original Bad Girl of Rock'n'Roll

All came together in the Band Together concert to benefit Save the Children.

Hundreds of Westporters and Band Together fans attended a hip-shakin', soul-singing concert Thursday to benefit the Westport-based Save the Children and its efforts in Haiti.

The event was held at the Westport Country Playhouse and sponsored by the Westport Downtown Merchants Association.

A fairly new Westport resident and actress Melissa Joan Hart opened the show with a pre-recorded video message to welcome the crowd and urge them to be generous to the cause. Much like Westporters came together in the wake of the March 13-14 storm, Hart said everyone needed to come together for a country that saw far greater devastation after the 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck near Port-au-Prince in early January.

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Following Hart's message, performer after performer echoed her call in urging those in attendance to support Save the Children and its work to help children and families in Haiti. Former Raylette for the late Ray Charles Gisele Jackson opened the evening's show, which ended with headliner Ronnie Spector, the "original bad girl of rock'n'roll," who sang some of her famous singles, including "Be My Baby" and "Walking in the Rain."

While Save the Children has reached hundreds of thousand of Haitians, it reports there are many still at risk in damaged communities and temporary camps. Children, especially, are vulnerable to disease, malnutrition and exploitation and don't have access to quality health care and education.

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With many schools in ruins, the agency has moved quickly to reopen learning centers for children who survived the quake. Large outdoor tents give them a place to continue their education, play and interact with each other in a safe environment. Save the Children plans to set up 300 temporary classrooms over the coming weeks.

With these children in mind, Band Together and the Westport Downtown Merchants Association hosted the benefit concert.

Band Together CT, founded by local businessmen and musicians Rob Fried and Jerry Vigorito, features an endless community of talented musicians who join with concerned citizens to raise money for local and national charities.  Band Together 16, HeArt & Soul, featured 20 of the area's top musicians letting loose with a variety of rock'n'roll classics.

Featured performers in the show included:

  • Ronnie Spector, the lead singer of the quintessential "Girl Group," The Ronettes. Beginning in 1963, Ronnie and the Ronettes recorded a  long string of classic pop hits including the Grammy Award winning "Walking in the Rain," "Do I Love You," "Baby I Love You" and the international No. 1 smash "Be My Baby."  As the Number One pop group in England, The Ronettes headlined over acts like The Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton and the Yardbirds.  Her latest CD, The Last of the Rock Stars (Bad Girl Sounds/ Sony RED),  features contributions from Keith Richards, Patti Smith, Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and members of the Raconteurs. Ronnie was inducted in 2004 into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and in 2007 into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 
  • Gisele Jackson is fresh off her one-woman show, "JUMP!" In addition to touring as a Raylette with the late Ray Charles at the culmination of his career, Jackson has performed solo at the nation's leading jazz houses including Jazz at Lincoln Center, Tattoo, Maxims, The Supper Club and Blues Alley.   She has performed as the opening act for Tito Puente, Bette Midler, Ricky Martin, The Commodores, B52's, Tania Maria and Ahmad Jamal.  Billboard magazine called her a "rising diva" on the heels of her smash hit, "Love Commandments."  The single reached No. 3 on Billboard's dance chart. 
  • Christine Ohlman is the queen of blue-eyed rock n' soul who grew up loving both the sweetness of soul and the raunch of rock. Early on in her career, she teased her blonde hair into a beehive in honor of fellow performer Ronnie Spector and never looked back, forging a career as a songwriter in the process.  She is the current, long-time vocalist with the Saturday Night Live Band who sang on SNL's 25th Anniversary telecast, The 2009 Obama Inaugural Gala in Washington, D.C., Bob Dylan's 30th Anniversary bash at the Garden (with George Harrison, Chrissie Hynde and others), and the Central Park Summerstage Tribute to Janis Joplin where she fronted both Big Brother & The Holding Company and the Kozmic Blues Band.  Christine currently appears on two Grammy-nominated recordings, A Tribute To Howlin' Wolf (with Taj Mahal and Lucinda Williams) and Charlie Musselwhite's One Night In America (with Marty Stuart) and also sings the theme song for NBC's 30 Rock. 
  • Susan Didrichsen is a singer and a published songwriter who has sung with a diverse array of artists such as Wilson Pickett, Spyrogyra, Barbara Harris, John Cale, David Byrne, Enya, and many others. She has sung on countless song parodies and jingles for regional and national radio, as well as in films such as Along Came Polly and Hot Rod. Susan performs regularly with Uptown Horn leader Crispin Cioe's soul band, Cracked Ice; she is featured on the band's debut CD, Soul Noir. 


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