Legendary R&B band The Ohio Players will open the African Festival Friday in Washington Park.
The Ohio Players are a funk and R&B ensemble that began in 1959 as the Ohio Untouchables, singing "Fire" and "Love Roller-coaster."
The first group split, regrouped in 1964, separated in 1970 and finally emerged with Leroy Bonner, Clarence “Satch” Satchell, Ralph “Pee Wee” Middlebrooks, Robert “Rumba” Jones, Greg Webster, trumpeter Bruce Napier, trombonist Mervin Pierce, and keyboardist Walter “Junie” Morrison.
Some of their notable album titles were "Pain," "Pleasure," "Ecstasy," "Climax" and "Honey." The Ohio Players thrill audiences with such hits as "Skintight," "Who’d She Coo," "O-H-I-O," "Jive Turkey," "I Want to be Free" and "Funky Worm."
Also performing during the four-day event will be saxophonist Booker T. Jones, jazz pianist Ahman Jamal and Mr. Funkadelic himself, George Clinton.
Jones, a Memphis native, was a musical icon whose reputation reached international acclaim. In fact the saxophonist, Hammond B3 organ virtuoso and Stax Record artist was a crowd pleaser in the 60s. He created the “Memphis Sound” as an accompanist and arranger for Carla and Rufus Thomas and Otis Redding, to name a few. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award.
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