The Emery Ed Fund, headed by Eugenia Bowman and members from various institutions in Emeryville organized a benefit concert featuring the Emery Secondary School Jazz Band led by George Spencer and The Junius Courtney Big Band with featured artists Pete Escovedo and Juan Escovedo which was held at Expression College for Digital Arts on April 18th, 2007. This fun event was also filmed and recorded by Expression students for future podcasts.

Pete Escovedo has been a major force in the Latin Jazz scene since the early 1960’s. His son Juan began playing percussion at age 10 with his father Pete, sister Sheila E. and brother Peter Michael.

This awesome concert opened with a warm introduction from Expression College President and Creative Director Spencer Nilsen, stating that Expression College loves to open its doors to helping today’s youths and their pursuit of fulfilling their dreams.

The benefit concert was such a success that it raised more than $8000 dollars to benefit the music program of the Emeryville Secondary Schools. The money will be used to repair instruments, purchase new instruments, and develop a residency program to make professional instruction available to Emery music students.

Event sponsors included:

Emery Ed Fund
Expression College for Digital Arts
Meyer Sound

Corporate supporters included:

Bank of Alameda
California Pizza Kitchen
Courtyard Marriott
Fuddruckers
Peet’s Coffee
Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grill
Ruby’s Café
Skates on the Bay
Trader Joe’s
Woodfin Suites Hotel
Azo Noodle Bar

Individual friends and supporters included:

Kurt Brinkman
Lois Brown
Henry Der
John Gooding
Randy Nelson
Patrick O’Keefe
Steve Rasmussen

The Event Committee included:

Eugenia Bowman, Gary Caffey, Kathy Crow, Jamie Evora, Christine Fetterhoff, and George Spencer