Founding members of 60s bands to hold guitar workshop and concert

West Milford —Blues Project and Blood, Sweat & Tears founding members — Stefan Grossman, Danny Kalb, and Steve Katz — will perform in concert at Music at the Mission on Saturday, May 19, at 8 p.m. Grossman and Kalb will also be conducting a guitar workshop that afternoon from 1 to 4 p.m. Guitarist Kalb was born into a musical family. Raised in Mount Vernon, New York, he picked up the guitar at age 13 and he hasn’t put it down since. A protege of Dave Van Ronk, Kalb established himself in New York’s seminal folk and blues scene where he was first known as a solo performer and session player with Phil Ochs, Judy Collins, Pete Seeger and others. In 1965, Kalb founded the Verve/Folkways recording group, The Blues Project, with Al Kooper, Roy Blumenfeld, Andy Kulberg, Tommy Flanders and Steve Katz. In the early seventies, Kalb and Grossman recorded an album together called “Crosscurrents.” Guitarist, educator and historian, Grossman was a student of acoustic blues and gospel singer/guitarist Rev. Gary Davis. Beginning when he was 15, Grossman studied with Davis on weekends, spending eight to ten hours at his house in Harlem, absorbing all he could. In the early 1960s Grossman formed the Even Dozen Jug Band and worked with the political rock band, The Fugs before moving to Great Britain. In 1968, he co-founded Kicking Mule Records. Grossman’s solo discography goes all the way back to 1966, when he recorded “How to Play Blues Guitar” for Elektra Records. Katz, along with John Sebastian, Maria Muldaur, and David Grisman, formed the Even Dozen Jug Band and recorded an album for Elektra in 1964. In 1965, Katz joined Kalb in The Blues Project. They recorded three albums while together in their first incarnation. Katz then became a founding member of Blood, Sweat & Tears, which won three Grammies and sold millions of records worldwide. Katz went on to produce two Lou Reed albums, both of which went into Billboard’s Top Ten. His last official band membership was with American Flyer in the mid-seventies. Katz then went on to become a vice-president of Mercury Records where he produced the Irish band, Horslips. Music at the Mission is located at 1452 Union Valley Road in West Milford, at the West Milford Presbyterian Church. Tickets are available online and at ticket outlets. Visit www.MusicattheMission.org or call 800-613-1455 for more information.