“Bridge To Hope” All-Day Music Festival in San Francisco | Sept. 26th, 2009 | TheUrbanMusicScene.com

“BRIDGE
TO HOPE” ALL-DAY MUSIC FESTIVAL, TO FEATURE TOP ARTISTS, GOURMET FOOD,
ART SHOW, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26TH AT FORT MASON’S GREAT MEADOW

Lazarex Cancer Foundation Presents Event to Raise Funds and Awareness

San
Francisco’s iconic Golden Gate Bridge is the perfect scenic backdrop
for the first annual “Bridge to Hope,” an all day music festival set to
be held Saturday, September 26th at San Francisco’s famous Fort Mason
on the Great Meadow from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. The
event will also include an art show featuring many of the Bay area’s
best local artisans, and a selection of gourmet fare from a number of
the city’s favorite eateries.

A
“Bridge to Hope” will feature a stellar line-up of top artists from a
variety of musical genres including R&B, jazz, gospel and blues.
R&B icon Charlie Wilson (pictured above), former lead singer of the
crowd-pleasing, funkadelic Gap Band, will headline the concert along
with multi Grammy-nominated R&B superstar Brian McKnight, urban jazz saxophone greats Gerald Albright and Kirk Whalum (performing their “Sax for Stax” show), A Taste of Honey featuring Janice-Marie, and 70s disco-diva Maxine Nightingale. Blues singer Zakiya Hooker (daughter of the legendary John Lee Hooker), Saint Gabriel’s Celestial Brass Band and Orquesta D’Soul are also set to perform. The 50 member Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir will open the concert, getting the festivities off to a rousing start.

Lazarex
Cancer Foundation, a Danville-based California non-profit organization,
is presenting the concert to raise funds as well as awareness, in their
quest to change the face of cancer. Lazarex is
dedicated to providing financial assistance to defray the costs
associated with participation in FDA approved clinical trials for end
stage cancer patients who have exhausted all other treatment options. The foundation also helps patients navigate their clinical trial options, and offers community education and outreach services.

Tickets are on sale now. General admission (lawn seating) is $38.00. Preferred tickets are $78.00 which includes seats in the main stage area, a gourmet boxed meal and a commemorative T-shirt. VIP tickets are $185 and include reserved cabaret–style seating in the front stage area, access to VIP parking, duffel bag, commemorative
T-shirt, two meals per person for gourmet buffet in the VIP tent and a
hosted bar for beer, wine & soft drinks from noon to 6:30 pm. Tickets can be purchased online at Tix.com (keyword Bridge to Hope) or at www.bridgetohopelcf.org, or by calling 800 595-4849. All proceeds from “Bridge to Hope” will benefit the patients of Lazarex Cancer Foundation (www.lazarex.org). Lazarex
Cancer Foundation will also designate $1 of each ticket sold to serve
the prostate cancer community on behalf of Charlie Wilson, who is a
prostate cancer survivor himself.

With one of the most distinctive voices in R&B, Charlie Wilson is in a league of his own. His second solo album, Uncle Charlie, released earlier this year on Jive Records, debuted at the top of both Billboard‘s R&B and pop charts, once again putting him on a career high. His
unique vocal style and funky mix of contemporary music with classic
R&B continues to ignite audiences wherever he plays. He will
perform a mix of his new R&B hits, along with popular selections
from the extensive Gap Band catalog.

Having
sold over 20 million records worldwide with 7 platinum albums to his
credit, R&B singer-songwriter Brian McKnight has earned himself a
place in music history. McKnight has
collaborated with such superstars as Justin Timberlake, Mariah Carey,
Diddy, Christina Aguilera, and Rascal Flatts to name a few. Currently, he co-hosts his own morning show on 94.7 KTWV‘s “The Wave” in Los Angeles, and is the host of “Soul Session Countdown with Brian McKnight” on BETJ.
He will make his debut as host of a nationally syndicated late night
television talk show, which premieres the same weekend as the concert.

Veteran
contemporary urban jazz sax stars Gerald Albright and Kirk Whalum have
been touring throughout the summer to sell out crowds with their
dynamic hit show Sax for Stax, celebrating the enduring legacy of the music from the classic Memphis-based label. Each
a star, both Albright and Whalum are considered among the most
versatile composers and performers in contemporary jazz, making their
pairing a natural evolution of their talents. Whalum’s smooth grooves and Albright’s soulful style are always a crowd pleaser.

As
founder and principal songwriter of the Grammy award-winning group “A
Taste of Honey,” Janice-Marie first captured the pop world’s attention
with her disco hit “Boogie Oogie Oogie,” which garnered the band a
“Best New Artist” Grammy. Currently enjoying a
solo career, Janice-Marie’s song “Until the Eagle Falls” won a Native
American Music Award, and she was inducted into the Native American
Music Association Hall of Fame in 2008. Once again she will seduce listeners with her vocal art and musical expertise.

Best
known for her 70s pop classics “Right Back Where We Started From,”
“Love Hit Me” and “Lead Me On,” London born Maxine Nightingale is a
seasoned vocalist who has entertained audiences all over the world,
garnering international acclaim and touring throughout Europe, Asia and
Central and South America. In recent years she
has returned to the limelight, shifting musical gears from disco and
pop to sultry jazz, performing with everyone from Carlos Santana to Boz
Scaggs and Lionel Richie.

A
Bay Area institution, the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir appears year
round at local events such as Oakland’s noted Art and Soul Festival and
the Monterey Jazz Festival, performing regularly throughout the United
States, Europe, Israel and Australia. The
celebrated choir has performed with such luminaries as Stan Getz, Lyle
Lovett and Joan Baez, and played for dignitaries Nelson Mandela, South
African Bishop Desmond Tutu and Mikhail Gorbachev.

Since
making her debut performance with her legendary father (blues great
John Lee Hooker) Zakiya Hooker has performed with everyone from Etta
James, Charles Brown, John Hammond and Taj Mahal. She has recorded four
solo CDs, including Color of the Blues and her latest, Keeping It Real.
Blues fans who caught her previously at the San Francisco Blues
Festival (formerly held the same weekend as Bridge to Hope) will be
happy to see her return to the stage.

Bringing
the sounds of the Crescent City to San Francisco, Saint Gabriel’s
Celestial Brass Band offers a solid, danceable repertoire that spans
100 years of American music. The group has
played all over the world with top jazz, blues and Latin stars
including B.B. King, Taj Mahal, Buddy Guy, Herbie Hancock, Tony Bennett
and many more. Known for their rhythm section, festival-goers will
‘feel’ this band before they even see them!

Rounding
out the lineup is the popular and versatile Bay Area ensemble Orquesta
D’Soul. Blending traditional Latin styles of music, salsa, rumba,
mambo, ranchera, and meringue with rock, hip-hop and R&B, the group
creates a lively, tropical-splashed vibe that simply demands dancing.
Trumpeter, band leader and group founder Marina Garza will be joined by
singers Liza Jimenez and Nikki O’Shaughnessy, drummers Jason Gianni and
Brian Andres, conguero Patrico Angulo and bassist Mike Lazarus, who are
sure to rock the house.

“We
are very excited about this event. ‘Bridge to Hope’ gives us a
platform to spread the word about our mission while raising much needed
funds to support our end stage cancer patients who are clinging to life
through participation in FDA approved clinical trials. ‘Bridge to
Hope’ gives Lazarex Cancer Foundation the opportunity to create
relationships with new friends while they enjoy great music, food, fun
and festivities in the City of San Francisco. They will literally be
building a bridge back to hope, dignity and life for cancer patients
who have been told they have no more options but who are not yet done
with their journey in life. We look forward to this becoming an annual
event,” said Dana Dornsife, founder of the Foundation.

Lazarex Cancer Foundation was founded in 2006 by
Dana Dornsife, who first became involved in cancer patient advocacy
when her brother-in-law, Mike Miller, was diagnosed with pancreatic
cancer in 2003. Dornsife and her family
searched for options for Mike that would buy the family some time and
found a clinical trial treatment. Mike was treated successfully and
lived long enough for his youngest daughter to have real memories of
him. Since then, Dornsife has fought tirelessly for improved treatments
for cancer patients who have been told they are out of time and
options. The foundation helps patients of all
ages, from all walks of life and with all forms of cancer take
advantage of today’s key medical breakthroughs and clinical trials.

Public transportation is available from the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. Check www.bridgetohopelcf.org or www.fortmason.org/directions/ for directions and parking information. Doors open at 11:00 a.m., and the concert begins at 11:30 a.m. and continues until 7:00 p.m. For further information, please call 925 820-4517.