Get ready to jump, jive and wail with Rich Ridenour, the Dearborn Symphony Orchestra and the Boogie Woogie Babies 8 p.m. Friday at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center.
Ridenour, who will be appearing with the Dearborn Symphony for an unprecedented fifth time, and the Boogie Woogie Babies, featuring tight vocal harmonies and swing sounds in the style of the Andrews Sisters, will present a tribute to the big band era from Count Basie to Duke Ellington. They will perform such gems as “One O’Clock Jump,” “Take the ‘A’ Train,” “In the Mood,” “Sing Sing Sing” and “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.”
Ridenour has been described as “an act that’s as masterfully musical as it is wickedly funny … a Victor Borge waiting in the wings,” stated the Grand Rapids Press, while the Idaho State Journal called him “an approachable artist with remarkable technical skills whose passion seems to make the concert experience one of sheer delight — a combination that’s not easy to find. Ridenour held his huge audience in the palm of his talented hands.”
For a complete night on the town, the Dearborn Symphony has partnered with local restaurants to offer a 20 percent diners’ discount for symphony ticket-holders on concert nights. Advance reservations are recommended at Andiamo Dearborn, La Pita, The Early American Room at the Dearborn Inn, Kiernan’s & Silky’s, Parisian Bistro, and The Grill at The Ritz-Carlton Dearborn.
Tickets — $15 to $30 for adults and $10 for students — are available by calling the symphony office at (313) 565-2424 or going to www.dearbornsymphony.org. Tickets are also available at the Ford Center box office, (313) 943-2354.