THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 28, 1994 TAG: 9407270112
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FRANKLIN LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
Tonight there will be some spice mixed with jam.
``A Touch of Spice'' will perform for We Be Jammin' Thursdays, the biweekly outdoor funfest sponsored by the Franklin Downtown Business Association.
The group mixes today's music with nostalgia and straight jazz, as it has in Hampton Roads since 1990, playing oldies, top-40, beach music, rock 'n' roll, country and some originals.
Here is a look at the performers:
Craig Powers, the force behind the group, is a Hampton native who has been performing in eastern Virginia, New Jersey and California for 20 years.
He has performed at Sugar Ray Leonard's Club in Maryland and has opened for Roy Ayers and the Marvellettes.
Powers is the band leader and drummer for A Touch of Spice as well as its lead singer. He provides some background vocals, occasionally plays bass and trumpet.
Charles Alexander, a Salem, Ohio, native, is keyboardist and vocalist, with a repertoire of songs covering the '50s to the '90s.
Cheryl Bridges of Newport News, a well-known Peninsula musician, is bassist and vocalist, saxophonist and flutist.
The lead guitarist-vocalist is Don Johnson, a Miami native. Like Powers, he boasts 20 years of musical experience locally and as a touring musician working with such prestigious artists as B.B. King and Millie Jackson.
Finally, there is Denise Alexander, a Coraopolis, Pa., native who is also a veteran of the Peninsula musical scene. She doubles as vocalist and drummer. MEMO: We Be Jammin' Thursdays, sponsored by the Franklin Downtown Business
Association, runs from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. tonight at South Main Street on
the bulkhead adjacent to Be-Lo. There is no admission. Food and
refreshments are available.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo
A Touch of Spice mixes today's music with nostalgia and straight
jazz.
by CNB