{"id":7034,"date":"2025-08-26T09:24:45","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T14:24:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scpronet.com\/wordpress\/?p=7034"},"modified":"2025-09-15T11:02:43","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T16:02:43","slug":"grow-adds-creole-spice-to-the-menu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scpronet.com\/wordpress\/2025\/08\/26\/grow-adds-creole-spice-to-the-menu\/","title":{"rendered":"GROW adds Creole spice to the menu"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Need relief from all the crazy? Put on your party dress, lace up your dancing shoes, and join us Thursday night at 8 for GROW\u2019s first Blues Workshop Jam.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It promises to be a lively gathering, headlined by\u00a0Donald Cesar<\/strong>, who has become a crowd favorite at GROW\u2019s jazz shows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Louisiana native who now lives in Orangeburg, Cesar was born into a family whose musical heritage spans generations. His grandfather Alphonse \u201cBois Sec\u201d Ardoin, was a pioneer of the gumbo that is\u00a0zydeco, and was so accomplished that he\u00a0earned a\u00a0NEA Heritage Fellowship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Small wonder that Ceasar would become a musician himself, learning to play the drums, keyboard, and harmonica. He has shared the stage with legendary artists,\u00a0including\u00a0John Delafose, Fats Domino, The Nevilles, B.B. King , Ruth Brown, Gatemouth Brown, Allen Toussaint, James Brown, The Platters, The Drifters, The Clovers, The Temptations, Tyrone Davis, Prince<\/strong>, and\u00a0Dion Warwick<\/strong>, among many others.\u00a0Cesar has performed at Spoleto, at various music festivals, and in venues across the South.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe\u2019s played with everybody,\u201d said vocalist Sara Williams,<\/strong> a fixture in the local music scene and the original force behind GROW\u2019s jazz workshops. \u201cHe brings such joy to his music that you can\u2019t help but dance when he\u2019s on stage. He\u2019s also just a really good guy. I met up with him in DC when he drove Drink Small <\/strong>up there to receive a national award.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ceser has deep roots in the Creole tradition, and he\u00a0plans to weave music history into the shows, making them true workshops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCesar is a natural\u00a0entertainer,\u201d said\u00a0Brett Bursey<\/strong>, executive director of the SC Progressive Network, the nonprofit overseeing GROW\u2019s operations. \u201cWe are thrilled for the chance to showcase his extraordinary talent and help grow the blues community in Columbia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blues workshops will be held 8\u201310pm every 2nd and 4th Thursday, will follow the style and spirit of the jazz workshops, which feature a core band, Justus, who are joined by musicians of various backgrounds and abilities each night. Some are regulars; some stop in every now and again. Every night is as different as the players on the stage, which keeps it interesting and fresh. The only constant is the warmth and camaraderie in the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is a generosity of spirit during these jam sessions that is a balm in these tough times,\u201d said Becci Robbins<\/strong>, the Network\u2019s communications director and GROW\u2019s building manager. \u201cNow I\u2019ve got two more Thursdays each month to help me adjust my attitude. I swear it is the best therapy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Ceasar himself commands, “Come get you some!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GROW<\/a> is located at 1340 Elmwood Ave. in the heart of Columbia. Easy parking. Doors open at 7:30. Music begins at 8. No cover, but we rely on donations to help support the artists and keep the lights on at GROW.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Questions? Call 803-808-3384 or email network@scpronet.com.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check out one of Cesar’s first performances at GROW,\u00a0a rendition of Kansas City<\/a>\u00a0punctuated with white-hot harmonica.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Need relief from all the crazy? Put on your party dress, lace up your dancing shoes, and join us Thursday night at 8 for GROW\u2019s first Blues Workshop Jam. It promises to be a lively gathering, headlined by\u00a0Donald Cesar, who … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-network-newsevents"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scpronet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scpronet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scpronet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scpronet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scpronet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7034"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.scpronet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7034\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7057,"href":"https:\/\/www.scpronet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7034\/revisions\/7057"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scpronet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scpronet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scpronet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scpronet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}