June 2, 1994

Press contact: Craig D'Ooge (202) 707-9189
Public contact: (202) 707-6590

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Rhythm and Blues Quartet To Perform

The American Folklife Center will present The Legendary Orioles, an African-American rhythm and blues singing quartet, on Thursday, June 16, from 12 noon to 1 p.m. on the west front steps of the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress at 10 First St., SE. The event is free and open to the public. The rain location is the Mumford Room on the sixth floor of the Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. SE.

The Legendary Orioles are Diz Russell, Reese "Silver Fox" Palmer, Larry Jordan, Eddie Jones, and Skip Mahoney. The group has helped to spawn a revival in the Washington-Baltimore area of the rhythm and blues vocal quartet tradition nearly five decades after it burst forth onto the popular music scene.

In its heyday, dozens of local groups like the Clovers, the Velons, and the Jewels, joined other groups, many who were nationally popular--the Drifters, the Flamingoes, the Cadillacs-- performing on the "Chitlin Circuit," a loose affiliation of African American nightclubs in several states. Places like the Apollo Theater in Harlem, the Royal in Baltimore, the Howard Theater in Washington, D.C. and smaller venues like Eugertha's and the You- Can't-Find-It club in the Maryland-Virginia area hosted nightly performances of comedy and music. Sonny Til and the Orioles from Baltimore were among the most popular of these groups. Though the rhythm and blues era and the original Orioles have passed, the fans and a third generation of Orioles remains.

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PR 94-101
6/1/94
ISSN 0731-3527