friendship. Little Bill Englehart and the Bluenotes will be performing live with other local talents, The New Blues Brothers, Rock n’ Roll Magic and more on April 26 for the Musicians Fun Music Festival in support of fellow musician, Dean Tsapralis. (Photo courtesy of Broadway Center)
Dean Tsapralis is a Tacoma musician and has been a professional drummer and percussionist in the Northwest for nearly 50 years. In 2006, he was involved in a car crash that nearly took his life. Prior to the accident in 1998, Tsapralis slipped into a clinical depression that lasted for eight years and left him homeless for months. Friends and other local musicians are helping him get back on his feet financially by putting on the second Musicians Fund Music festival as a benefit for him on April 26.
Michael Mitchell and Tim Hall are two of Tsapralis’ friends who started the festival because they had a fellow musician friend of theirs who was in need of financial and medical help. “We started it back in December 2008 and decided it was a huge success, so we wanted to do one once a quarter,” Mitchell said. The last show benefited musician Joe Blenis.
Ever since Tsapralis was young, he has played all styles of music ranging from gospel, jazz, blues, rock and classical with the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra. He has also played with many bands as supporting drummer during their shows. “He has played with almost every single jazz, blues and rock group in the Northwest. When national acts came to tour, he was always first choice as a drummer,” Mitchell confirmed.
As for Tsapralis now, he seems to be back in good spirits and to his old self. “One day I was out and Dean walked up, pointed to me and said, ‘I’m back!’” Mitchell recalled. “He’s a wonderful man, the nicest man I’ve ever met in my life. (He’s) a genuinely nice person, and would give you the shirt off his back in a snowstorm.”
One of the main catalysts for Tsapralis’ benefit is to raise money so that he can buy a car and travel with his drum kit to start playing shows again. He recently bought a new one after selling his last one years ago. “Fans want to see him but he has no method of transport,” Mitchell said.
For the benefit concert, Tsapralis’ friends will be asking for donations in the suggested amount of $10, but more would definitely be welcomed. “Every penny is going to him,” Mitchell affirmed.
The bands set to play the show are Little Bill and the Bluenotes, HipBone with Jay Mabin, GABRIEL, The New Blues Brothers, the Jazz Collective, Rock n’ Roll Magic and Doug Skoog’s Blues Alliance, and all were chosen for a reason. “First of all, these are probably the premiere bands in the Northwest right now, and second, Dean has been the drummer in each one,” Mitchell said. Many bands would have loved to play the event, but there was not enough time available to accommodate them all.
Anyone who has a vested interest in the life system of Tacoma music past, present and future should attend the event and assist Tsapralis on his road back to the stage.
The second Musicians Fund Music festival will be held on April 26 from 2:30-10 p.m. at the Imperial Dragon Restaurant, located at 6805 6th Ave. Table reservations are available. For more information, contact Michael Mitchell at (253) 549-6294.
