Arkansas PBS > Engage > Pressroom > Rodney Block & The Real Music Lovers to be featured on AETN Arts Fridays Nov. 1
Posted 25 Oct 2013
"AETN Presents: On the Front Row With Rodney Block & The Real Music Lovers" will premiere on the Arkansas Educational Television Network (AETN) Friday, Nov. 1, at 6:30 p.m. Block returns as the 10th anniversary season opener for "AETN Presents: On the Front Row," delivering a smooth, energy-infused show.
This episode features Block's virtuosity on the jazz trumpet, as well as highlighting his ensemble The True Music Lovers. The performance includes a mix of high energy jazz and ballads, including many songs from his new album, "Steel," plus a fan favorite, "The Nearness of You," with guest vocalist Bijoux.
Block, a native of Dumas, is an up and coming trumpet player who describes his style as groovy, upbeat, hip-hop jazz. Block has shared the stage with such artists as Earth, Wind, & Fire, Joe, Whodini, Johnny Gill, Johnathon Butler, Dave Hollister and Wynton Marsalis. Playing with him are The Real Music Lovers, featuring Sam Carroll on keyboards, Jonathon Burks on drums and Oliver "OT" Thomas on bass. This core ensemble has been together for five years, performing throughout the state, the South and abroad.
"AETN Presents: On the Front Row With Rodney Block & The Real Music Lovers" repeats Sunday, Nov. 3, at 1 a.m. following "Austin City Limits."
Also airing Nov. 1 at 9 p.m. will be "Great Performances: Moby-Dick From San Francisco Opera." One of the nation's leading opera companies, San Francisco Opera has been the site for many memorable productions. In October 2012, "Great Performances" partnered with the company once again to record composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer's acclaimed adaptation of the classic Herman Melville novel "Moby-Dick." Joshua Kosman in The San Francisco Chronicle dubbed the opera "a masterpiece of clarity and intensity, with a score that is at once thematically compact and richly inventive." Fresh from his headline-making appearance as a last-minute replacement in the title role of Siegfried in the Metropolitan Opera's epic Ring Cycle, Jay Hunter Morris stars as the obsessive Captain Ahab.
"AETN Presents," which is celebrating its 10th anniversary season, features a variety of arts and cultural subjects. Previously included in the series have been the Arkansas Acoustic Festival; performances by the Cate Brothers, Trout Fishing in America, Dale Hawkins, Wayland Holyfield and Friends, Shannon Boshears Band and Epiphany; and "On the Same Page" with authors Buzz Bissinger, Billy Collins, John T. Edge and Kenneth L. Smith.
The Arkansas Educational Television Network (AETN) is Arkansas's statewide public television network that enhances lives by providing lifelong learning opportunities for people from all walks of life. AETN delivers local, award-winning productions and classic, trusted PBS programs aimed at sharing Arkansas and the world with viewers. AETN depends on the generosity of Arkansans and the State of Arkansas to continue offering quality programming. For more information, visit aetn.org, or follow the AETN blog at aetn.org/engage. AETN is broadcast on KETS (Little Rock), KEMV (Mountain View), KETG (Arkadelphia), KAFT (Fayetteville), KTEJ (Jonesboro), and KETZ (El Dorado).