
DATE: Thursday, June 5, 1997                TAG: 9706050743

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E4   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ADAM BERNSTEIN, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   73 lines

HARBORFEST MUSICAL PERFORMERS

HERE'S A PEEK at the Harborfest musical lineup, running Friday through Sunday, at Town Point Park:

Sammy Kershaw, 7 p.m. Sunday. Kershaw's singing career started with a platinum album in 1981, ``Don't Go Near the Water.'' He has nurtured a sturdy following ever since. Frank Roberts, in The Virginian-Pilot last year, described Kershaw as a ``short, husky singer (with) a powerful voice, and it comes complete with a good old twang.''

Chuck Berry, 7 p.m. Saturday, Port Stage. Now past 70, this pioneer rock guitarist is still ``duck walking'' to ``Maybellene,'' his first hit. So influential was his music that the Beatles recorded ``Rock and Roll Music.'' A generation and a half later, even Michael J. Fox jammed to ``Johnny B. Goode'' in ``Back to the Future.''

Poncho Sanchez, 9:30 p.m. Friday, Port Stage. This 45-year-old Grammy Award-winning conga player undergirds his Latin music with virtuosic rhythmic tattoos. Band members accompany Sanchez with styles ranging from bebop jazz to more traditional mambos and rumbas. Keep an ear out for a bolero or two.

Terrance Simien, 4 and 6 p.m. Saturday, Starboard Stage. This Louisiana-born zydeco performer, who compounds Cajun with Delta-blues sounds, appeared on the soundtrack to the 1987 film ``The Big Easy.'' His 1994 album, ``There's Room for Us All,'' netted 3 1/2 stars from Rolling Stone magazine.

KoKo Taylor, 1 p.m. Saturday, Starboard Stage. During a 30-year career belting out the blues, Taylor has won the W.C. Handy Award, the Grammy Award of the blues, more times than Elizabeth Taylor has been married. Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley has even declared KoKo Taylor Day in her honor, although she moved to the Windy City from Memphis, Tenn., when she was 18.

Junior Brown, 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Port Stage. Brown, a 43-year-old Texan, fuses country music with ``the spirit of rock n' roll'' on his self-designed guit-steel instrument, a crossbreed of the standard six-string and steel guitar. He's also known for infusing his songs with a sense of humor.

Tito Puente, 8 p.m. Friday, Starboard Stage. This Puerto Rican percussionist started playing Latin jazz when Franklin D. Roosevelt was president. Puente has since developed one of the most unique voices in music, blending precision with soul.

The Radiators, 8 p.m. Saturday, Starboard Stage. This five-member musical brigade from Louisiana heats up the music scene with rock, not zydeco. The band members pride themselves as hard-edged groove artists. Three of them have the beards to prove it.

The Spinners, 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Starboard Stage. After a rocky stint at Motown, the Spinners took its vocal stylings to Atlantic Records in the early '70s. The group had its biggest success in 1980, ironically, with the release of the Motown standard ``Working My Way Back to You.'' That single won the singers their 14th Atlantic gold record.

Three Dog Night, 6 p.m. Sunday, Starboard Stage. After less than a decade of relentless touring and selling more than 40 million rock records, Three Dog Night burnt out and broke up in 1975. Several years later, the group reunited and still sings its 1971 No. 1 hit, ``Joy to the World.''

Little River Band, 5 p.m. Saturday, Port Stage. From 1976 to 1982, this Australian rock group garnered a dozen top-30 hits, including ``Help Is on Its Way'' and ``Lady,'' before the old ``creative-differences'' syndrome struck. After a reunion album in 1987, however, many of the original members formed a touring group. ILLUSTRATION: Photos

MERCURY NASHVILLE

Sammy Kershaw brings a touch of country to Harborfest.

FILE PHOTO

Rock 'n' roll pioneer Chuck Berry is still going strong past age 70.

ALLIGATOR RECORDS

KoKo Taylor has fashioned a 30-year career belting out the blues.

MCG CURB

Junior Brown fuses country and rock with a humorous twist.