Price, Polson delight at Black History Month fundraiser
Many local music enthusiasts gathered in the Lassen Community College Sports Complex on Feb. 24 for a concert featuring jazz musician Kenney Polson and former lead singer for The Temptations and The Drifters, Louis Price.
The concert is an annual event put on to help raise funds for the college foundation, which mainly goes towards scholarships.
Kenny Polson pumped up the crowd with his upbeat jazz music.“A lot more people attended this year than last year,” said Dr. Marlon Hall, president/superintendent of Lassen Community College. Hall said he noticed a lot more students in attendance this year and feels it was due to the special student admission price. Kenny Polson started out the evening, playing several songs on a couple different types of saxophones.
Polson’s upbeat jazz music inspired a few couples to hit the dance floor together. Following Polson’s performance were performances by two of Louis Price’s backup singers: Carmel Echols and Shannon Pearson, known to her fans as Sangingdiva Shannon.
Then Price hit the stage. His optimistic and upbeat performance delighted the audience and drew a huge crowd to the front of the stage.
The Susanville Choral Society joined Louis Price onstage for “Amazing Grace.”For the song “Amazing Grace,” Price had the Susanville Choral Society join him on stage. “It was great to have the community perform up there,” said Hall. “The audience really enjoyed it.”
Price ended the evening with the Temptation’s hit song “My Girl” and used it to introduce the band on stage. He also brought up individuals from the audience to help him sing parts of the song.
Hall said more than $10,000 was raised for scholarships, and he hopes to have Price and Polson return next year.
“I think next year we can expect more people to come,” said Hall, “it just gets better and better every year.”
