Three days of activities will mark the 2013 Jazz Festival in Downtown Jacksonville May 23-26. Among the performers are BWB featuring Rick Braun, Kirk Whatum and Norman Brown, Euge Groove, Gerald Albright, Gregory Porter, Poncho Sanchez and the Yellowjackets.

In addition to the music on three stages, there will be Art in the Heart Downtown, an art show and sale, the Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition, Youth Jazz Talent Showcase, jazz brunch, exhibits and display. Most of the activities are free and open to the public.

For additional information, go the website or follow the festival on Twitter or Facebook.More

The Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park announced The Allman Brothers Band and Widespread Panic will play two nights at the Wanee Music Festival held April 18-20 in Live Oak, Fla.

This will be the Allman Brothers’ eighth year hosting Wanee and Widespread Panic’s third year headlining the fest.

Also on the ticket: Gov’t Mule, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Leon Russell, Towner of Power, Les Claypool’s Duo De Twang, Electric Hot Tuna, Maceo Parker, Steel Pulse, North Mississippi Allstars, Blackberry Smoke, Galactic and Friends, The Greyboy Allstars, Voice of the Wetland All-Stars featuring Tab Benoit, Cyril Neville, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Jumpin Johnny Sansone, Waylon Thibodeaux, Johnny Vidacovich; Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Royal Southern Brotherhood, Bobby Lee Rodgers Trio, The Lee Boys, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, The Revivalists, Monophonics, Boombox, Oli Brown Band, Flannel Church, The Yeti Trio and Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch.

VIP tickets have already sold out, but general admission tickets priced at $205 are available now through April 8.

For more information about Wanee, visit the festival website.More

Sam Querrey beat Thomaz Bellucci 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in the first match to give the U.S. a 1-0 lead over Brazil in the first round of the Davis Cup on Friday at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.

About 3,000 fans attended the afternoon match, but Querrey expects a major draw for Saturday's doubles match.

"This could be your one chance to see the greatest doubles team of all time," Querrey said.

Bob and Mike Bryan will face Marcelo Melo and Bruce Soares on Saturday. The Bryan brothers are ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in doubles and are the most prolific doubles team in men's tennis history, having won the Australian Open last week for their record 13th Grand Slam title.More

Sarah Emerson will install a mural based on her own imaginary interpretation of Aokigahara, Japan’s forest, from March 11-22 at the Haskell Atrium Gallery in the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville. 

MOCA Curator Ben Thompson is encouraging visitors to come to the museum and interact with Emerson while she is painting. 

After 14 days of work, the three-wall mural will be complete to close the second season of Project Atrium. Emerson will give a presentation of her work at 2 p.m. March 22. The exhibit opens March 23 and continues through July 7.

Emerson’s mural “Underland” is a continuation of a series of paintings she has created based on the dark reality of Aokigahara, a forest in Japan that is a popular place for suicide. The rock is magnetized, sometimes compasses won’t work, and people get lost and can’t find their way out, Emerson said.

“I was really fascinated by this gray area, this natural place exists that can swallow people and embody this kind of journey that you might not get out of,” Emerson said. “It’s a nice parallel for the way I kind of view life, which is a very beautiful thing and then also very dark and scary at the same time.”

“Underland” has become a real narrative in my work with a sense of innocence and paradise lost, Emerson said. The mural will embody a gaping forest scene filled with trees, black holes, animals and imagery throughout.

“If anything I kind of want the viewer to feel a little innocence and corrupted at the same time,” Emerson said.

It’s a very dark subject that is rendered superficially, but it’s rendered in a very pleasant and colorful manner, Thompson said.

“I’m really excited to work with her because she is still relatively unknown,” Thompson said. “She has a following, but some of the artists we have presented are probably a little bit further along in …More

St. Augustine artist Martha Rose Cardot-Greiner is participating in the group exhibit “The Power of Perception” at Raw Art Space next month in New York. The exhibit is on display from March 1-15 with a reception 6-9 p.m. March 7.

Cardot-Greiner captures moments in everyday life that are often overlooked by applying meticulous detail through various mediums.

She grew up on a farm in a small town in Pennsylvania and learned to appreciate the simplicity and beauty in the natural world. Cardot-Greiner aims to educate her viewers while also providing an enriching aesthetic experience.

A local artist based in St. Augustine with her own studio and boutique, Cardot-Greiner specializes in colored-pencil, graphite and lead drawings, oil paintings and handmade jewelry. She incorporates real gems from all over the world into her artwork paired with other components to make each piece unique. Cardot-Greiner’s art takes stagnant objects and suggests movement. She also applies India Inks to her art for vibrant colors to make the subject stand out.More

The Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville selected dance instructor Claudia Kuendig-Williams and sculptor David Engdahl as winners of the 37th annual Arts & Culture Awards with a celebration to be held 5:30-8:30 p.m. Friday, April 12, at the Main Library Downtown.

Kuendig-Williams, an instructor at Brentwood Elementary School for the Arts, Riverside Presbyterian Day School and the Cathedral Arts Project, will be honored with the Arts Educator Award, according to a statement from the Cultural Council.

Engdahl, retired chief architect for the Haskell Company, will be honored with the Innovator Award for his work with the Museum of Science & History, the CoRK Arts District and the Northeast Florida Sculptors.

The Jacksonville Chapter of the American Institute of Architects will receive the Business Arts Award for its volunteer work on MOSH’s “Jacksonville by Design” exhibit as well as work with City Beautiful Jax, the University of North Florida and Florida A&M University.

Each award winner will receive a custom piece from Ponte Vedra sculptor Lucy Clark. The event will feature work by local artist Jeff Whipple.

Tickets to the event are $75. For more information, go to culturalcouncil.org.More

It's every theater major’s dream to be cast in a nationally touring production straight out of college, and for Chelsea Turbin, a recent graduate from The Boston Conservatory, that dream came true. 

Turbin landed a spot in the ensemble cast of Green Day’s “American Idiot” her senior year. “American Idiot” is a musical adapted from the Green Day album. The play centers around three discontented young men and their desire to break free of suburbia.

The show began its tour in the United Kingdom, and, by its completion, it will have visited six different countries. The production is set to come to Jacksonville, an hour away from Turbin’s hometown of Ormond Beach.

Folio Weekly spoke to Chelsea Turbin by phone about her experience on tour with “American Idiot.”

Folio Weekly: Did you always know that performing is what you wanted to do? 

Chelsea Turbin: As a kid I was always singing. I would be running around making my parents watch the “Chelsea Show” or singing on little cardboard box stages that I made. Around first grade my mom put me in Children’s Musical Theater in Ormond Beach, and I ended up staying there for eight years. It was kind of where I lived; it’s where I made most of my friends.

F.W.: Tell us about getting the part in “American Idiot.”

C.T.: It was unreal. I had auditioned for this show once before. I had just turned 18, and I was going to a casting call for “Bye Bye Birdy.” So, I did the audition and Jim Carnahan, from Carnahan Casting tells me “You’re not quite right for the part, but I’m also doing a casting for this Green Day show, so we’ll call you.” At that point I’m like "Yeah, OK, sure you’ll call me," but they did! So I went, but I ended up being way too young and inexperienced. I get there and there are just these amazing women, and guys with guitars. … but some …More

It is as grungy as a musical can get. “American Idiot” satisfies both musical theater afficionados and hardcore Green Day fans. 

The show opens with the entire cast performing the anthemic, energetic “American Idiot” number. The carefully crafted staging achieves the raw angst and haphazard look appropriate for the punk rock spirit. The actors give passionate performances and stay true to the Green Day sound. 

Adapted from the Green Day album, “American Idiot” follows the lives of three friends, Johnny (Alex Nee), Tunny (Thomas Hettrick) and Will (Casey O’Farrell). The young men desperately try to throw off the suffocating blanket of suburbia only to realize that life outside of their comfort zone is even less forgiving. 

The somewhat scattered storyline parallels the life of Johnny. However, the plot is held together by the letters he sends home, which we hear through Johnny’s soliloquies.

Early in the story, Will, Tunny, and Johnny pack their bags and set off to leave their hometown. However, Will learns his girlfriend, Heather (Kennedy Caughell), is pregnant and is forced to stay behind. Farrell's electric performance connects with the audience during “Jesus of Suburbia.” 

The friends' paths continue to diverge when Tunny joins the Army and Johnny is seduced by drugs, developing a hardcore addiction personified as St. Jimmy. 

St. Jimmy (Trent Saunders) is introduced in a larger-than-life musical number, where nearly 30 TV screens display the live performance from different stage angles. This was one of many memorable numbers throughout the 95-minute play along with “Are We the Waiting” and “Letterbomb.” 

Preceded by a letter written from Johnny to his mother on Sept. 10, “Wake Me Up When September Ends” was an especially moving number. Through choreography, the ensemble …More

Elvis tribute performer Alex Swindle of Birmingham, Ala., won the eighth annual Ted McMullen I’ll Remember You Elvis tribute competition Jan. 25-26 at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak.

Swindle had the hip gyrations and look necessary to advance to compete at the Images of the King Championship on Aug. 11-16 at the New Daisy Theater in Memphis.

Jeff Barnes of Evans, Ga., finished second, followed by Atlanta’s Matthew Spalding, Cote Deonath (of Dunnellon), Austin Irby (of Greenville, S.C.) and Tampa’s Jeff LaJess. Chad Hannum, 12, of Palm Coast, won the youth division. Deonath was the audience vote winner. Eighteen Elvis tribute artists competed.

More

Congratulations to Tim Renshaw for winning our drawing for two tickets to the Johnny Winter concert on Feb. 14 at Ponte Vedra Concert Hall. Renshaw was selected randomly among the readers who posted a perfect score on Folio Weekly's Johnny Winter quiz.More