Giving Hunger the Blues concert returns to Nathan Benderson Park

Ed Linehan, the president of the Jazz Club of Sarasota, has heard all the bands that will perform at Giving Hunger the Blues Feb. 6, except for one.

Linehan hasn’t heard Sarasota’s Panama Drive, a jazz fusion band.

“Some of the artists in the band are people that I know, but as a band, I haven’t heard them,” Linehan said. 

He is looking forward to that experience during the 24th annual Giving Hunger the Blues at Nathan Benderson Park to benefit the Mayors Feed the Hungry program of Sarasota. 

The Jazz Club of Sarasota is hosting the event, which is a music festival featuring eight artists from R&B to pop to jazz and latin music. The headliners are nationally known blues artists Selwyn Birchwood and Albert Castiglia. 

“Both of our headliners are just amazing blues artists who are fun to listen to in the car and even more fun to hear in person,” Linehan said. 

Seven out of the eight bands are based out of the greater Sarasota area. 

“They all have their own following, and we are looking forward to having each one of these bands not only bringing their own audiences but also indirectly helping in some cases their audiences be exposed to bands they might not be familiar with,” Linehan said. 

Attendees will be able to enjoy a day of music, food trucks and vendors. The vendors will be informational booths on various organizations, clubs and groups. 

Linehan hopes Giving Hunger the Blues will raise $10,000 to donate to Mayors Feed the Hungry program. The nonprofit collects food and purchases food gift cards to distribute to those in need.

“Sarasota is a wealthier-than-average community, but that’s not a universal condition,” Linehan said. “Oftentimes I think the poverty within our area is somewhat unseen and unnoticed, but it’s there nonetheless. It’s important to me that this is one of the ways that our community, in particular our music community, says, ‘Hey, we care about what’s happening and we’d like to help out and be a part of the solution.’” 

The Jazz Club of Sarasota also will be holding a food drive where people can donate canned and non-perishable food items that will be given to Mayors Feed the Hungry program.  

“We’re hoping to fill a truck with canned food to make a tangible contribution right on that day in addition to the financial contribution,” Linehand said. 

This year’s Giving Hunger the Blues is the first to be held since the COVID-19 pandemic started in March 2020. The last Giving Hunger the Blues was November 2019. Due to the pandemic, Linehan expects about 3,000 people will attend this year’s festival. 

“It’s been too long since we’ve had this opportunity,” Linehan said. 

It’s the first year the Jazz Club of Sarasota is producing the music festival. Giving Hunger the Blues is one of the first events the organization has been able to host since the pandemic began.  

“We’re excited to be coming back online so to speak, to have this new partnership with Giving Hunger the Blues,” Linehan said. “We are glad the (COVID-19 positive case) numbers have started to drop in our region, and we’re glad we have a high level of vaccination in our region and that people who are vaccinated are not becoming seriously ill or hospitalized in any significant numbers. That bodes well for our being able to continue so far.”

Giving Hunger the Blues started as an indoor day of music at the Five O’Clock Club until it became a street festival on Hillview Street until 2013 when the festival closed. 

Peter Anderson, a co-chair of Giving Hunger the Blues, relaunched the festival in 2015 on Hillview Street. He moved the festival to the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in 2017 and then to the Sarasota Polo Club in 2019. 

“It’s exciting that it has grown from being a street festival to the largest single-day charity music festival in Sarasota,” Anderson said. “We had estimated crowds of more than 5,000 people, and we have provided a lot of meals for less fortunate families in our community because of it.”