New York, NY (Top40 Charts) A concert honoring Leon Russell's 80th birthday will be held in Tulsa on Sunday, April 3, at 2:30 p.m. at the Will Rogers High School Auditorium, and will be hosted by Executive Producer Teresa Knox and Producers Johnny McDonnell and Dick Risk (a former classmate of Leon Russell). Russell's 80th Birthday Concert is co-presented by The Church Studio
Music Foundation's "LeonLifer Shindig" and the Will Rogers High School Community Foundation.
Leon Russell was a Grammy Award-winning member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Oklahoma
Music Hall of Fame. Leon is also a member of the Will Rogers High School Hall of Fame, where he graduated in 1959 as
Claude Russell Bridges.
Music director Paul Benjaman and co-director Frank Padilla will lead the Leon Russell Birthday Concert's performing ensemble, which will include
Queen of the Tulsa Sound and Oklahoma Hall of Fame inductee, Ann Bell, and Claudia Lennear along with Don White and
David Teegarden and many other Tulsa Sound legends. Leon Russell's hits like Superstar, Honky Tonk Woman, This Masquerade, Tightrope, and all your favorites are included.
Exclusive 80th Birthday Concert merchandise will be available for purchase. The Church Studio
Music Foundation and the Will Rogers High School Community Foundation will benefit from the concert's proceeds.
Ann Bell: With her soulful voice and innate rhythm, Ann Bell brings Tulsa Sound culture and sensation to the stage. She has been dubbed the High Priestess of Soul and the
Queen of the Tulsa Sound by her peers. Celebrated as the Epochal Doyenne of funk, she is revered. She is the Voice of the Ages... Lady of Tulsa Sound, Ann Bell. For more than 50 years, no one has been able to approach Ann Bell's authenticity and palpability when it comes to the blues. When she was a Tulsa teen, she was a nightclub headliner who was embraced by rock 'n' roll legends. Leon Russell helped her get her start, and she went on to tour with J.J. Cale and Joe Cocker. In September, Ann was inducted into the Oklahoma
Music Hall of Fame.
Claudia Lennear: For decades, Claudia Lennear was a pioneer in the music industry, performing as a background vocalist on stage and in recordings with artists such as Ike and Tina Turner, the Rolling Stones, Joe Cocker, Leon Russell,
George Harrison, Elton John, Taj Mahal, and more. The producers and sidemen musicians who laid the foundation for the late 1960s and early 1970s pop music scene in the United States and England were frequent collaborators of Claudia. Lennear was the inspiration for songs written by Mick Jagger,
David Bowie, and Leon Russell, including "Brown Sugar," "Lady Grinning Soul" and "Delta Lady". Lennear appeared in the Sundance Film Festival's premiere of the Academy Award-winning documentary 20 Feet from Stardom (2013).
FEATURING A STAR-STUDDED BAND:
Ann Bell, Claudia Lennear, Paul Benjamin,
David Teegarden Sr., Beau Charron,
Brandon Holder, Billy Estes, Pete Marriott, Jennifer Marriott, Tom Nicholson, Don White,
David Thayer, Alan Ransom, Wade Inman, Johnny Williams, Frank Padilla, Jon Glazer, Jared Tyler Frederick, and
Cortez Johnson.
