Ann Rabson has been playing and singing the blues professionally since 1962. She performs solo and with various bands, including ad hoc ensembles known as The Annimators. For 25 years she was a member of Saffire—The Uppity Blues Women.

Ann has toured Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hong Kong, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, and Switzerland, performing solo, with Saffire, and with piano legend Erwin Helfer.

Ann has been nominated nine times for a Blues Music Award (formerly W.C. Handy Award) as Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year. In 2008 she was nominated for Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of the Year; her first solo album, Music Makin' Mama, was nominated for Album of the Year in both the Traditional Blues and Acoustic Blues categories; and her composition Elevator Man was nominated for Song of the Year.

Doors open at 6:30pm.

The Fab Four is elevated far above every other Beatles Tribute due to their precise attention to detail. With uncanny, note-for-note live renditions of Beatles' songs, the Fab Four will make you think your are watching the real thing.

 This incredible stage show includes three costume changes representing every era of the Beatles ever-changing career. This loving tribute to the Beatles has amazed audiences around the world, including Japan, Australia, France, Hong Kong, The United Kingdom, Germany, Mexico and Brazil.

 Hear record-perfect live performances of such classics as "Can't Buy Me Love," "Yesterday," "A Day In The Life," "Twist And Shout," "Here Comes The Sun,"and "Hey Jude."

Doors open at 10:00pm.

Each Sunday, The Hamilton will present an all-you-can-eat buffet filled with breakfast classics and Southern dishes to warm anyone’s down-home heart. This is not a snacking affair. Enjoy carving stations, scrambled eggs, bacon, breakfast pastries, and seasonal fruit. Fill your plate with shrimp & grits, fried chicken, gumbo, buttermilk biscuits & sausage gravy, and much more. Your ticket also includes a choice of one morning specialty mimosa or bloody Mary.

As you eat, enjoy a celebration of Gospel Music on stage. February features the sounds of The Gospel Persuaders. Phil Johnson started a career in gospel music by forming a group known as The Gospel Persuaders on Mother's Day, May of 1994. The Gospel Persuaders have become a very successful gospel music ministry performing city-to-city, state-to-state. Their latest CD Living for Christ was produced by Shurfine Gospel Record Company, Benson, NC and was released in 2004.

Doors open at 10:00am.

You are not going to Oscars ceremony this year? That's OK

Enter on the red carpet in Black-Tie Optional attire and join us for the Third Annual Oscars Live Viewing Night at the most glamorous and latest addition to Downtown DC’s scene, a 24 hour entertainment and dining venue - THE HAMILTON!!!

As the Academy reveals its Annual Awards, enjoy lively, minute-by-minute coverage of entertainment's glitziest night of the year with Live Jazz band and Oscar themed cocktails by DC's best mixologists!

Gather your friends and hang out as we rally for our favorite movies of 2011! Don’t forget, the all so extravagant Oscar’s fashion...as you might win something too!
We will have our nominations for “Best Dressed to Kill Woman” and “Best Dressed to Kill Man”; as well as our annual Oscars Pools.

As always, expect Limousines, Red Carpet, Paparazzi's, Interviews and lots of camera flashes!!

Dress code: Black Tie Optional
Tickets: $25 please get your tickets in advance to secure seats

Like a freight train rolling through the night, guitarist/vocalist Michael Burks plows through the blues with relentless power and a full head of steam. Combining his remarkable talent with an intense dedication to his craft, Michael has earned well-deserved national recognition and become one of the blues worlds’ fastest rising blues stars. Although he was a W.C. Handy Award nominee for Best New Artist 2000, Michael is a seasoned veteran in every sense. His first gig came at the age of six, when, during a family trip to southern Arkansas, the fledgling Burks took the stage with his cousin’s band and thrilled an unsuspecting audience. Today, each live performance is a testament to Michael’s thirty-plus years of playing the blues. His hard-driving fretwork and captivating showmanship have ignited a legion of fans, as audiences from coast to coast can’t help but jump on the Michael Burks train.

Doors open at 6:30pm.

The Black Lillies take their name from a song on that first record. After filtering through several lineup changes, Cruz Contreras assembled a crackerjack team of pickers, players and singers who have what it takes to put meat on those songs. Tom Pryor made a name for himself playing pedal steel for damn near any band that could talk him into it; drummer Jamie Cook anchored the rhythm section for Americana darlings the everybodyfields; harmony vocalist Trisha Gene Brady can wail like a hellcat or purr like a wildcat, and everybody who’s heard her sing agrees it only makes sense that someone with her pipes can provide the perfect counter-balance to Cruz. Bassist Robert Richards is the latest addition to the band, and under his steely-eyed gaze, no bass, stand-up or electric, stands a chance.

100 Miles of Wreckage, the band's sophomore album, has so far spent more than five months on the Americana radio Top 40 charts – four of them in the top 20 – once again proving that a band with this much spirit can break through traditional industry boundaries to achieve success independently, without the constraints of a major label. The band continues to tour non-stop, and without a doubt, they’ll soon be appearing in a town near you. That’s a relative term, of course, but trust us on this – they’re worth the drive, however far it is, because you’ll leave feeling like you’ve witnessed an old-fashion Southern tent revival. These songs will haunt your thoughts long after the curtain closes, rattling through your head like a crooked screen door slaps against its frame when a storm is coming.

Doors open at 7:00pm.

PAUL KANTNER, along with MARTY BALIN founded JEFFERSON AIRPLANE in 1965. THE AIRPLANE were the biggest rock group in America during the 1960s and the first San Francisco band to sign a major record deal, paving the way for other legends like GRATEFUL DEAD & JANIS JOPLIN. They headlined the original WOODSTOCK FESTIVAL in 1969 and like THE BEATLES with whom they are critically compared, lasted a mere 7 years ... though their influence and impact on rock music continues well into the 21st century.

Doors open at 6:30pm.

Perpetual Groove has become a rock band. That’s the impression fans got when they heard one of the rock & roll tracks from Perpetual Groove’s new album, LIVELOVEDIE at the band’s sold out New Year’s Eve performance. LIVELOVEDIE was produced by Grammy winner Robert Hannon (Outkast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below) and Perpetual Groove. The album was produced with renewable energy through Perpetual Groove’s partnership with Tree Sound Studios, Sustainable Waves, and Green Mountain Energy Company and is being released by the environmentally progressive label, Tree Leaf Music.

A celebrated, international touring act for over four years, Perpetual Groove has built a reputation on intense, emotional music that fans call “trance arena rock,” and won over legions of fans with their experimentations in live 5.1 concert surround sound, an intense retina blinding light show, and a willingness to keep the connection strong between band and fans. The Athens, GA-based band’s riveting live performances have catapulted them into the “must-see” category of live rock bands. With a funky blend of jazz-rock, neo-psychedelia, R&B, trance electronica, progressive rock and anthemic arena rock, the Bonnaroo veterans have conquered the festival circuit and continue to tour relentlessly.

Doors open at 7:00pm.

“Science fiction blues” isn’t a genre you’ll find in an illustrated history of rock and roll. At least not yet. But Devon Allman and his group Honeytribe make a case for its inclusion with their ground-breaking new album Space Age Blues.

“I had a concept that you could simplify as ‘Darth Vader meets B.B. King,’ ” the guitar-slinging scion of one of rock’s royal families shares. “Even before I’d written the first song, I decided I wanted to make a statement about the way we live. I love blues and I’m a sci-fi geek, so I imagined a marriage of the two: music with a backbone that’s solid and soulful, lyrics that talk about where we’re at and where we’re heading, and a sprinkling of cosmic dust — colorful, creative sounds — on top of everything.”

Allman and Honeytribe’s newest record is much more than a concept album. It’s also a musical thrill ride, carefully constructed, but full of surprises like guitar licks that explode into whistling comet trails, lush beds of strings and an overall sonic palette that draws on the best of electric music’s past and present, blending the stomp of classic rock with the sweet caress of soul and the intoxicating swirl of modern psychedelia.

Slowly building a solid, loyal fan base worldwide over the past decade, Devon Allman and Honeytribe continue building this army one gig at a time. They have been in constant motion, averaging 250 to 300 shows a year across the Globe.

Doors open at 6:30pm.

Chose from different ticket types:

$500.00    Lightning Premium Seated Tickets -  Invitation to the VIP reception at 6:00pm and premium reserved seating (All but $70 is tax deductible)

$150.00    Thunder Premium Seated Tickets - Invitation to VIP reception and reserved seating. (All but $70 is tax deductible)

$45.00      Concert Only - GA Seated Ticket

$45.00      Concert Only - GA Standing Ticket

For more information, call the Rex Foundation at 415-561-3135.

The wheel is turning and you can’t slow down…

In December 2010 at The Fillmore in San Francisco, musicians who have been part of Jerry Garcia’s musical life over the last 50 years came together full circle and created a magical night of music.  This was too good to happen only once, so we set the wheels in motion to reach the East Coast.

Join us on March 24^th at The Hamilton in Washington, DC for a one-of-a-kind evening to celebrate the music and the musicians, and to help us cover just a little more ground. 

Brand new, in downtown Washington, DC, appointed with elegance and state-of-the-art sound and stage, reserved seating on the floor, The Hamilton, provides a beautiful setting for this special occasion.  At the pre-concert reception, enjoy hearty finger foods and beverages and fun connections with friends and family. Your generous reception/concert ticket purchase of $150 or $500, of which all but $70 is a charitable contribution, will fund Rex Foundation grant making, and you'll receive a print of the event poster.

Round, round, robin run around

Gotta get back where you belong… 

In 1962, Jerry Garcia began playing the banjo and exploring bluegrass music, forming a band called the Hart Valley Drifters that included David Nelson on guitar. In 1964, Jerry and his pal Sandy Rothman packed up a tape recorder and took off for the American South on a bluegrass pilgrimage, especially wanting to see “Jim and Jesse” (McReynolds), of Dothan, Alabama.  Jerry was delighted to see them perform and get Jesse’s autograph, and he held Jesse’s mandolin playing and music in high esteem for many years. Jim and Jesse went on to legendary status in the bluegrass world, with more than 45 years at the Grand Ole Opry, Grammy nominations and awards, and membership in any Hall of Fame that means anything to this music.

Meanwhile, in 1969, as the Grateful Dead released Aoxomoxoa, they also turned to their own musical roots.  Jerry, wanting to play his new pedal steel guitar, reconnected with old friend John “Marmaduke” Dawson and with Nelson, formed New Riders of the Purple Sage.

Fast forward to today: The New Riders continue to fire up fans as they play their past favorites along with new songs written by David and Robert Hunter.  Moonalice brings together seasoned musicians John Molo, Barry Sless, Roger McNamee, Ann McNamee and Pete Sears, mixing a variety of genres with extended musical improvisations evoking a sense of adventure and exploration.

And, in October 2010, Jesse released Songs of the Grateful Dead – A Tribute to Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter.  Collaborating on this special album of 12 classic Dead songs, from Black Muddy River and Ripple to Franklin’s Tower and Standing on the Moon, is none other than David Nelson.  And, to top it off, there’s a brand-new McReynolds-Hunter tune called Day by Day.  Check out more about the CD and Jesse at http://jimandjesse.com/resources/JessestributetoGarciaandHunter.php.

Every time that wheel turn round

Bound to cover just a little more ground...

On March 24^th, the musicians bring us full circle in a tribute to Jerry Garcia’s musical legacy and the musical spirit that he inspired. Join us as we come together to celebrate the music and where it will take us next. 

The Wheel

Lyrics By: Robert Hunter

Music By: Jerry Garcia, Bill Kreutzmann

“Time hangs heavy on the vine/Let’s make wine,” Ryan Montbleau sings in the lulling, sensual verse that gives his group’s new album its title. Ryan Montbleau Band has been tending its own musical vineyard for a few years, on the patient cusp of a breakthrough. Their distinctive, long-fermenting blend of neo-folk, classic soul, and kick-out-the-jams Americana finally comes to full fruition in Heavy on the Vine. It’s an album that represents the product of — and further promise of — a very good year.

Tempted as Montbleau might be to look toward the big picture, not losing sight of the small one is why the band has maintained such a loyal and evangelistically inclined base. “I still go back to my original philosophy of just one person at a time,” he says. “I never even told people ‘Bring your friends to the show’ at the beginning, because it wasn’t about them bringing their friends, it was about them bringing themselves. I’m trying to focus on the one person, because if they come and like it, they are going to bring their friends. We’re still grass roots in that way.” No surprise, then, that those welltended roots have sprung up into such pregnant vines.

Since emerging as a favorite new live band out of Austin TX in the late 2000s, The Band of Heathens has toured relentlessly, building a devoted following and landing on some of the finest stages in music. Over three studio albums and hundreds of shows each year, they’ve evolved as a group and broadened their sound. Their most recent album Top Hat Crown & The Clapmaster’s Son spiked the already potent punch with a dash of jammy psychedelia. And the rich and righteous vocal harmonies that set TBoH apart from the beginning have just gotten better

The Band of Heathens continues to be distinguished by creative collaboration and their epic live shows, which have earned them a strong fan base of folks who appreciate improvisation and a good jam, but crave a great song. And while songwriting and vocal duties are chiefly handled by the guys at the front of the stage, they are decidedly a five man band, benefitting from the equal input of all. It is truly a band that needs to evolve to survive, and the fans have rewarded that growth at every turn.

Doors open at 6:30pm.

Saxophonist/Singer/Songwriter Mindi Abair has not only set sonic trends, but has broken all the boundaries as she continues to define the less traditional future of jazz. Her own brand of pop and soul meets jazz adds a refreshingly unique voice to an exciting new generation of crossover artists. Raised on the road with her father’s band, she graduated from Berklee College of Music and headed to Los Angeles where she became a sought after sideman. She signed to Verve Records in 2002 and never looked back. Her solo career has produced 10 #1 radio singles, and her records have consistently topped the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Charts. She has hosted the internationally syndicated radio show “Chill With Mindi Abair” for 5 years, and has successful 5 major label solo releases to her credit “It Just Happens That Way” (2003), “Come As You Are” (2004), “Life Less Ordinary” (2006), “Stars” (2008), and “In Hi Fi Stereo” (2010). She is an elected governor for the Los Angeles Chapter of NARAS, and is an Artist Ambassador for Campell’s Labels for Education and The Grammy Foundation. She's been featured on this season of  "American Idol" as a featured soloist with Paul McDonald and Casey Abrams, won Best International Instrumentalist at the 2011 Wave Awards in Toronto, and  Best Female Artist of the Year at the 2011 Oasis Contemporary Jazz Awards.  She is a regular columnist for Wine and Jazz Magazine and author of the book "How To Play Madison Square Garden - A Guide To Stage Performance."  She is currently touring the US and abroad with her band. The list of artists she has toured or recorded with are a testament to her talent. They include the Keb’ Mo’, Lalah Hathaway, Duran Duran, Lee Ritenour, the Backstreet Boys,  Mandy Moore, Adam Sandler, Max Weinberg, Mocean Worker, Bill Champlin, Teena Marie, John Tesh, Sheila E, Bobby Lyle, Jonathan Butler, Peter White and Rick Braun.

Doors open at 7:00pm.

After three critically acclaimed solo records, dozens of world tours and TV appearances, Jesse Malin found himself back in New York City questioning his next move. From his days fronting seminal hardcore trio Heart Attack and infamous glam punks D Generation, then seven years on the road as a solo artist, Malin had cultivated a devout fan base. He’d shared stages with everyone from The White Stripes to Counting Crows, The Hold Steady to Lucinda Williams, but felt like he was losing the plot.

Over the summer of 2009, in the basement of Avenue A watering hole Hi-Fi, Malin worked with his newly formed band to bash out an album’s worth of gritty anthems, and The St. Marks Social was born. A solid band, but one with an open door to Malin’s community of musician friends - longtime partner in crime Ryan Adams, pop singer Mandy Moore, fellow label mate Brian Fallon, and former bandmates from D Generation Howie Pyro and Danny Sage - the Social is a group effort to keep the P.M.A.

When Jesse met producer Ted Hutt (Lucero, Flogging Molly, The Gaslight Anthem) one drunken night at a local bar, their talk of making a record fast, loose, and raw, was the beginning of Hutt’s quest to create a record that would encompass Malin’s roots and evolution—from hardcore thrasher to punk/folk singer-songwriter. The album’s basic tracks were laid in three days at Greenpoint, Brooklyn’s Mission Studios, and the rest at Sonic Youth’s Think Tank Studios in Hoboken, NJ. Filled with the characters Malin does best—messengers and misanthropes, hipsters and hypocrites—and as always, his constant themes of redemption, nightlife, heartbreak, and survival, LOVE IT TO LIFE—a sentiment taken from a ticket stub Joe Strummer autographed for Jesse—was built with desperate optimism that shouts in gang vocals that no matter how bad it gets, you’re never alone.

Doors open at 6:30pm.

Pegi Young initially came to the public's attention through her longstanding role as backup singer with Neil Young, her husband of three decades. In addition to Young's own compositions, Foul Deeds features the artist's personalized interpretations of a quartet of songs by other writers. Her compelling readings of Will Jennings' "Pleasing to Me," Lucinda Williams' "Side of the Road," Devendra Banhart's "Body Breaks" and B. Boatman's "Blue Sunday" imbue those already-distinctive songs with additional depth and color.

Pegi Young began writing songs and playing guitar while still in high school, but eventually put her creative instincts on hold to attend to the demands of family life. Pegi and Neil's experiences caring for their son Ben, who was born with cerebral palsy, led Pegi to co-found the non-profit Bridge School, whose innovative methods of aiding children with severe speech and physical impairments have established the school as a leader in its field over the past 25 years. Pegi and Neil have also been the forces behind the annual all-star Bridge School Benefit concerts, and Pegi continues to serve as president of the school's Board of Directors.  

Doors open at 7:00pm.

Born in 1935 in Lexington, Kentucky, Les McCann is a self-taught musician (other than the four piano lessons he took as a youth from a nice old lady who lived in the neighborhood). In the early fifties, he left the South and joined the Navy. While stationed in California, he took every opportunity to visit San Francisco's jazz clubs, where he first experienced Miles Davis and his music. His first major influence though, was pianist Erroll Garner, who shared the same exuberance and bursting vocalizations. After his discharge from the military, McCann moved to Los Angeles and formed a trio, Les McCann Ltd., which became a favorite on the Sun Strip in the late fifties.

McCann's laid-back personality has always been an opening for musicians to perform together. 1960/2 Antibes Jazz Festival was a hit as he shared the stage with Ray Charles and Count Basie. The year after he toured Europe with Zoot Sims and Charlie Byrd. He would move constantly, playing in countless sessions with the greatest names in jazz. He co-produced and co-headlined the debut album from Lou Rawls, Stormy Monday (1960), and guested on each other's records with Stanley Turrentine, who played sax on McCann's In New York (1960) and McCann on Turrentine's That's Where It's At (1960). In the early seventies, McCann heard Roberta Flack for the first time at a nightclub in Washington D.C., and immediately became her champion, as he did similarly with Mahalia Jackson and Nancy Wilson. After a brief stint on the Limelight label (subsidiary of Mercury Records), which boasted Dizzy Gillespie, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and Art Blakey, McCann signed to Atlantic Records in 1967, his first major label deal.

Les is best known for his work in the late 60s and early 70s with partner/saxman Eddie Harris, whom he first encountered at the Montreux Jazz Festival. The resulting album, Swiss Movement (1960), was a top selling jazz record, and the single "Compared to What" sold platinum. Rhino/Atlantic has recently re-released Swiss Movement, featuring a new track and some new arrangements. Less is perpetually known as a grooveman, and as a result, over the last few years, his music has been sampled by the hottest hip hop and jazz artists out there.

Javon Jackson came into international prominence as a member of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. As a member of Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, Javon toured and made many recordings with the legendary drummer. In addition to Blakey, Jackson has toured and recorded with Elvin Jones, Freddie Hubbard, Betty Carter, Cedar Walton, Ron Carter, Donald Byrd, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Richard Davis, Bobby Hutcherson, Curtis Fuller and Stanley Turrentine. As a recording artist, Jackson has appeared on over 125 recordings. Additionally, he has developed a formidable career as a leader, recording and touring throughout the world.

 Doors open at 7:00pm

Vusi Mahlasela is simply known as 'The Voice' in his home country, South Africa, celebrated for his distinct, powerful voice and his poetic, optimistic lyrics. His new album Say Africa is full of songs of freedom, of revolution, of love and of life.  Raised in the Mamelodi Township, where he still resides, Vusi became a singer-songwriter and poet-activist at an early age teaching himself how to play guitar and later joining the Congress of South African Writers. After his popular debut on BMG Africa, When You Come Back, Vusi was asked to perform at Mandela's inauguration in 1994 and continues to spread Mandela's message as an official ambassador to Mandela's HIV/AIDS initiative, 46664.

After worldwide touring and international acclaim, Americans first caught a glimpse of Vusi in the lauded documentary film Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony, and the accompanying soundtrack. After the release of the film, long-time admirer and fellow South African, Dave Matthews, signed Vusi to his own ATO Records label and released The Voice (2003)¸ a collection of the best songs from Vusi's catalog. In 2007, ATO released Guiding Star, his first full-length release in the States. ATO Records released the highly anticipated follow-up record to Guiding Star on January 18, 2011. The new album, Say Africa, produced by Taj Mahal and recorded at Dave Matthews Band's studio in Charlottesville, VA, captures Vusi's hope for the future of Africa: 'Let all those who share in Mandela's greatest wish—to one day see an Africa that is at peace with herself—SAY AFRICA.'

After recording the album in the States in the spring of 2010, Vusi returned to his home in South Africa and was honored to help ring in the World Cup at FIFA's Kick Off Concert at Orlando Stadium. The concert was broadcast internationally to an estimated one billion viewers. Following his performance, Vusi proudly introduced fellow South African, Archbishop Desmond Tutu on stage. Vusi's anthemic song 'When You Come Back' was ITV's official theme song for the World Cup in the UK. Other recent highlights include performing at Mandela Day to honor Mandela's birthday, touring with Bela Fleck behind the release of his Grammy-winning album 'Throw Down Your Heart,' which features a live track from Vusi and Bela, two appearances at the TED conference and performing with international icons such as Paul Simon and Dave Matthews Band.  Vusi has also recently toured with both Ray LaMontagne and Amos Lee in the States and partnered with Angelique Kidjo and Hugh Masekela in tribute to the late South African singer Miriam Makeba.

In the midst of a busy international touring schedule, Vusi remains dedicated to his social activism and partnerships with non-profits, including his own Vusi Mahlasela Music Development Foundation, committed to the promotion of and preservation of African music. Other organizations that Vusi actively supports are OXFAM, The Acumen Fund, The African Leadership Academy and the ONE campaign.

Doors open at 6:30pm.