Music on the Mississippi River Reunion Concert with Will Kjeer, Billy Peterson, and Larry Long, Thursday, August 20th, Danish American Center.
When one surrounds themselves with the wonders of amazement, amazingly wonderful things happen. Two of those wonders of amazement are Billy Peterson & Will Kjeer.
Billy Peterson is the elder sibling of the legendary Peterson Family. He carries the creative torch of his father Willie, who like my dad died far too young.
Billy & I met in the early 1970’s when he was performing with the legendary saxophonist Bobby Rockwell III in an explosive electric jazz ensemble called Natural Life. A music promoter in St. Cloud, Minnesota put Bobby, Billy and my old traveling buddy Fiddlin’ Pete Watercott & I together for an all-acoustic folk-jazz fusion concert at St. John’s University, where we played a galactic forty-minute improvisational rendition of the Orange Blossom Special & Cumberland Gap.
This was the first time I heard the handle ‘Planet Willard‘ given to Billy. And for good reason. Planet Willard abides by his own time. It’s not so much the notes he plays, but the notes he leaves out that matters. But don’t get me wrong. When Billy lets loose on the upright bass, you best close your eyes; he’ll take you to places you’ve never been before and you’ll be grateful you had.
Billy Peterson is a Grammy Award recipient for his musical support on Dylan’s ‘Blood on the Tracks’. Throughout his six-decade career he’s toured and recorded with the Righteous Brothers, Leo Kottke, Steve Miller Band and the ‘whose who’ in the music world, including lesser-known artists like me. Four of my most musically engaging albums Billy either produced, played on, or did both. Specifically Sweet Thunder, Well May The World Go (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings), Living In A Rich Man’s World, and Run For Freedom (Produced by Marian Moore),
It was through Billy I met the young and masterful pianist Will Kjeer. Five years back, Billy, Will, and I helped launch the Music on the Mississippi concert series at the Danish American Center in Minneapolis. In the five years that have passed Will has not only received a master’s degree from Juilliard but tours nationally and internationally as the pianist for Judy Collins and his own ensemble. Last month Will Kjeer joined storyteller Kevin Kling and I at the Dakota for an intimate Father’s Day concert.
This coming month on Thursday, August 20th, Will Kjeer, Billy Peterson, and I will be returning for a five-year reunion concert at the Danish American Center. This three-concerts-in-one evening will feature each of our individual work, along with moments of improvisational musical bliss. Hope to see you there.
For tickets go to: DanishAmericanCenter.Org/music-at-dac or by contacting the office at dainfo@dac.mn or 612-729-3800.
Danish American Center | 3030 West River Pkwy South | Minneapolis 55406
Alex Hjulbyhavn PettersonPaul Juhl@@Rock the Cause Inc. 501c3Scott Thomsen