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Jazz festival offers eclectic lineup from E. to Z

Shiela E. headlines opening night of annual music weekend
Sheila E. headlines opening night of the 2025 Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival Oct. 16 at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center. She performed a variety of pop, jazz, funk and latin music, singing and on the drums. She performed her hit “A Love Bizarre,” which was a crowd favorite. BILL SHULL PHOTOS
Bill Shull
October 20, 2025

The Glamorous Life came to Rehoboth Beach for a night.

Sheila E. headlined opening night of the Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival Oct. 16. She was named the jazz festival 2025 Artist of the Year.

Sheila E. (Escovedo) is best-known for hits like “The Glamorous Life” and “A Love Bizarre.” She performed the latter while strolling through the audience at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center.

Sheila E. introduced her band as her family. They have been together since 1997.

“I started this band because I wanted to play the drums. Pop music, R&B, funk, Latin, jazz and salsa, I enjoy playing a little bit of everything on the drums,” she told the sold-out crowd.

The band members all hail from Oakland, Calif., but her base player Afton Johnson now lives in Rehoboth.

Sheila E. is a protege of late musician Prince. She opened for him during his Purple Rain Tour in the 1980s.

Mychael Gabriel, who was her guitar player for the Rehoboth show, is also her godson and Prince’s godson.

The jazz festival kicked off with a performance by Brain Simpson, Jackiem Joyner and Marion Meadows.

Chris Rausch, Cape Gazette owner and publisher, received the Jazz Festival’s Producer of the Year award for his commitment to the community.

Carla Briccotto talked about the DD Project, which produces a variety of wines.

“One hundred percent of the proceeds go to fund women in business in Delaware,” she said.

Briccotto introduced Rausch as the new president of the DD Entrepreneurial Foundation.

 

Sheila E. on her signature drums. She said she started her current band in 1997 because she wanted to play the drums.
Sheila E.’s bass player, Afton Johnson, is from California, but now calls Rehoboth Beach home.
Sheila E., right, said her band is her family. The guitar player on the left is Mychael Gabriel, who is her godson and the godson of the late musician, Prince.
The night began with a jazz performance by (l-r) Jackiem Joyner, Marion Meadows and Brian Simpson. Simpson has been playing at the Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival for 14 years.
Chris Rausch, Cape Gazette owner and publisher, received the Jazz Festival’s Producer of the Year award.
Jesus Spencer, left, and Carla Briccotto on stage before the show began. Briccotto talked about wines from the DD Project. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the wines go to fund women in business in Delaware. Briccotto introduced Chris Rausch as the new president of the DD Entrepreneurial Foundation.

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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.

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