The Kelly Strayhorn Theater will honor an American music icon with Simply the Best: A Tina Turner Tribute Concert with Dwayne Fulton, and singer-songwriter Chanell C.J. Harris among a talented band of local formers.
The concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 16, promises to “invoke Tina Turner’s magnetic energy and earthshaking talent” by exploring the her half-century career.
As Rolling Stone wrote in 1969, Turner “comes on like a hurricane. She dances and twists and shakes and sings and the impact is instant and total.”
Fulton, a Pittsburgh-based musician, pianist and composer, is music director for performers including \Julia Flowers, J.R. Jones, Michael Davis, Zuliakha Mason, Krystyn Kirkland, and Gary Davis.
Harris, who will bring her own high-voltage energy to embodying Tina Turner, recently returned to her hometown, where curated and created original music for The Writer’s Landscape, a permanent exhibition at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center. The award-winning composer’s original work can be heard on the BET show Real Husbands of Hollywood, where she served as music supervisor.
Harris performs regularly in Con Alma, Downtown, with the band Tempo Noir, and is currently focused “on creating a music catalog for underserved markets and emerging streaming and media platforms.”
“There are a lot of parallels in her story and mine,” Harris said of Turner. “She didn’t get her first real hit record until she was 44 years old, and I’m 45 years old. This industry can age a lot of people out, because they always want the new, younger talent. But sometimes they pass over some really dynamic individuals. The story we’re telling is all about Tina’s energy, energy, energy. It’s going to be nonstop from the time we hit.”
Tina Turner concert on March 16. (Image: Mark Simpson)
Since 2020, KST has collaborated with Fulton on a recurring series of tribute concerts, including: Black & Solid Gold: the Hits of Magnificent Motown in fall 2021; When Doves Cry, the sold-out Prince tribute in February 2022; and last year’s R.E.S.P.E.C.T. An Aretha Franklin Tribute Concert.
“We are grateful to collaborate once again with Dwayne, who helps bring these larger-than-life musical legacies to the stage in full, vibrant color,” Joseph Hall, KST’s executive director, said. “Our purpose is to uplift historically resilient communities and extend the legacy of artistry that Pittsburgh represents, ensuring that Black and queer folks in our city have space to create, express, and celebrate together. This program embraces Tina Turner’s effusive energy and astounding life story, demonstrating the power and value of artistic expression, joy, and fearlessness.”
TICKETS AND DETAILS
Simply the Best: A Tina Turner Tribute Concert with Dwayne Fulton is at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater, 5941 Penn Ave., East Liberty, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 16. Tickets are $25-$65 at kelly-strayhorn.org.
While you are there: Through June 8, the KST Gallery presents Abolitionist Expressions from the Let’s Get Free Permanent Collection. The visual arts features art made by people in prison, as well as artists creating in solidarity with imprisoned people. “It chronicles the current moment of abolitionists through drawings, paintings, prints, cross-stitch, banners and poetry, exploring personal stories that express political yearnings and aspirations for the future.” For more on Let’s Get Free, visit https://letsgetfree.info/.
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