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Legendary Guitarist Marc Ribot to Headline 9th Annual Les Paul Festival at Ramapo College

(PDF) (DOC) (JPG)February 5, 2020

MAHWAH, N.J. — With a career spanning more than 40 years, legendary guitarist Marc Ribot will headline the 9th Annual Les Paul Festival at Ramapo College of New Jersey on Friday, February 21 at 8 p.m. Ribot will take the stage with The Young Philadelphians, including bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma, drummer Calvin Weston, a guest guitarist and a three-piece string section. The Young Philadelphians perform a mind-blowing mixture of harmolodic punk-funk of Ornette Coleman’s first Prime Time band, and the sweet, optimistic pulse of 1970’s Philly Soul.

Marc Ribot was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1954. As a teen, he played guitar in various garage bands while studying with his mentor, Haitian classical guitarist and composer Frantz Casseus. After moving to New York City in 1978, Ribot was a member of the soul/punk Realtones, and from 1984-1989, of John Lurie’s Lounge Lizards. Between 1979 and 1985, Ribot, whose work has been featured on 25 albums, also was a side musician with Brother Jack McDuff, Wilson Pickett, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas, Chuck Berry and many others. Rolling Stone points out that “Guitarist Marc Ribot helped Tom Waits refine a new, weird Americana on 1985’s Rain Dogs, and since then he’s become the go-to guitar guy for all kinds of roots-music adventurers: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Elvis Costello, John Mellencamp.”

In addition to the concert, Ribot will sit down to discuss his work at noon on Friday, February 21 in the Sharp Theater of the Angelica and Russ Berrie Center. This talk is free, and open to the public.

Tickets for The Young Philadelphians concert are now available online at Ramapo.edu/berriecenter or by calling the box office at 201-684-7844.

The Angelica and Russ Berrie Center for the Performing and Visual Arts is located on the campus of Ramapo College of New Jersey in Mahwah.

This event was made possible with the generous financial support of the Les Paul Foundation.

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About Ramapo College

Ramapo College of New Jersey is the state’s premier public liberal arts college and is committed to academic excellence through interdisciplinary and experiential learning, and international and intercultural understanding. The comprehensive college is situated among the beautiful Ramapo Mountains, is within commuting distance to New York City, was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful College Campuses in America by CondeNast Traveler, and boasts the best on-campus housing in New Jersey per Niche.com. Established in 1969, Ramapo College offers bachelor’s degrees in the arts, business, data science, humanities, social sciences and the sciences, as well as in professional studies, which include business, education, nursing and social work. In addition, the College offers courses leading to teacher certification at the elementary and secondary levels, and offers graduate programs leading to master’s degrees in Accounting, Applied Mathematics, Business Administration, Contemporary Instructional Design, Computer Science, Creative Music Technology, Data Science, Educational Leadership, Nursing, Social Work and Special Education, as well as a Doctor of Nursing Practice.

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