Big band jazzes up Nassau Vineyard
A big band with a big jazz sound brought the house down at the Nassau Valley Vineyards Oct. 17.
The Thad Wilson Big Band performed as part of the 13th annual True Blue Jazz Festival.
Joining the band were vocalists Steve Washington and Allison Crockett to pay tribute to jazz greats Billy Eckstine and Sarah Vaughn.
The True Blue Jazz Festival hosted shows at venues in Rehoboth Beach and Lewes throughout the weekend.
True Blue is a nonprofit. The festival is organized by Peggy Raley and her husband, Eddie Sherman.
She said they do it all for young musicians.
“We had a master class clinic with the great Wycliffe Gordon, with three middle schools and two high schools, and those kids hung on every word. We ran and hour-and-a-half over. That’s the way it should be, right?” Raley said.
Bill Shull has been covering Lewes for the Cape Gazette since 2023. He comes to the world of print journalism after 40 years in TV news. Bill has worked in his hometown of Philadelphia, as well as Atlanta and Washington, D.C. He came to Lewes in 2014 to help launch WRDE-TV. Bill served as WRDE’s news director for more than eight years, working in Lewes and Milton. He is a 1986 graduate of Penn State University. Bill is an avid aviation and wildlife photographer, and a big Penn State football, Eagles, Phillies and PGA Tour golf fan. Bill, his wife Jill and their rescue cat, Lucky, live in Rehoboth Beach.
