FRANK LEWIS

PDT Staff Writer

Accomplished musicians from around the state of Ohio and the tri-state area will perform a free concert Sept. 2 during the Big Band Reunion at Tracy Park in Portsmouth.

“It will be big band swing, and we’ll have musicians such as Wes Orr coming,” Gary Billups, one of the organizers of the event, said. “He is the lead trumpet with the Columbus Jazz Orchestra. We’ve got some heavyweights coming. We have done this for 20-some years. A lot of people know it is there, and they just come back every year.”

In addition to Orr, Doc Green, the former lead saxophone player with the Columbus Jazz Orchestra; Nelson Fought, who also played with that orchestra; bassist Mike Harbour from Huntington; Tom Stevens from Greenup, music director at Raceland, will play keyboards and guitar. Many other musicians from Portsmouth and the surrounding area will be a part of that orchestra.

The event is sponsored by the Southern Ohio Jazz Society, and several local businesses, and the concert begins at 7 p.m.

Billups said Musicians Local 4-82-1 out of Cincinnati and Portsmouth; the Portsmouth Beautification Society and area sponsors will present a free concert by Steve Free and his band, this Sunday (Aug. 26) from 7-9 p.m., also at Tracy Park in Portsmouth. Billups said the Local is inviting people to bring a lawn chair and enjoy the music of one of Ohio’s best known performers.

Frank Lewis may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 232, or at flewis@heartlandpublications.com