SUN CITY – The Blues Brothers have left Chicago and are coming to Sun City again – black suits, soul music, Dodge Monaco, and all.
But watch out, because now they call themselves the Blooze Brothers. It’s a change of name only; the mafia-style hat, fast-car, high-living, rock music image remains.
Sun City resident Ed Slomski annually teams up with popular tribute band The Blooze Brothers to help end world hunger by raising money for Heifer International. (Photo by Chris LaPelusa/Sun Day)
The 11-piece coed show band will show up at Drendel Ballroom at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 11, for their fifth concert and fund-raiser in Huntley.
And like before, they’re “on a mission from God,” this time with a humanitarian, charitable, feed-the-poor attitude. The Blooze Brothers concert benefits Heifer International, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending world hunger and poverty and caring for the earth. They provide livestock, trees, seeds, training, and other resources to help struggling families throughout the world. Since 1944, they have partnered with more than 8 million families in more than 125 countries to improve the quality of life where needed.
The Blooze Brothers
When: October 11, 5:30 p.m.
Where: Drendel Ballroom
Tickets: $18 pre-registration, $22 day of event
More info: sccah.com, sweethomechicagoband.com
“Each year our goal has been to raise enough money to purchase an Ark for Heifer International,” Ed Slomski, a Sun City resident, Heifer volunteer, and event coordinator for the Blooze Brothers Band for the past eight years, said. “The Blooze concerts are a fun way to get a lot of new people involved and entertained for a great cause.”
There will be door prizes and a silent auction in addition to the music, Slomski said.
“We split the profits with the Sun City association, and all of the other proceeds go to the Heifer organization,” he said.
The Blooze Brothers, started in 1992, works to keep the blues and soul sound of the film alive, as well as working to alleviate maladies like juvenile diabetes and world hunger.
“We started out reprising the original Blues Brothers music in the ’90s,” Chuck Little, the band’s leader, said. “More recently, we have expanded our repertoire to include classic rock, soul, some swing, and popular standards. We do about 80 percent of our concerts within 100 miles of the Chicago area, close to our Chicago roots. But we also tour nationally in working with different charitable groups.”
Some traditions never die, however.
“We’ll arrive in our Dodge car, like in the movie,” Little said. “We’ll be dressed like Jake and Elwood and the boys were back in 1980, when this whole “Blues Brothers” phenomenon started.”
