Tommy Ward.
There are a variety of methods artist Vladimir Kush could employ to blend his work with live musical performance. Operating a paintbrush in one hand and a tambourine in the other, for instance.
But no.
Rather, in the latest fundraising effort for Keep Memory Alive, Kush is partnering with Las Vegas singer-songwriter Tommy Ward for an event billed “Kush & Ward: Sights & Sounds” set for 3 to 7 p.m. April 25 at Kush Fine Art Gallery in the Forum Shops of Caesars Palace.
The event is free and open to the public, with the performance starting at 4 p.m. If you happen to be trolling through the Forum Shops at that time, you will hear the event piped through the entire retail center.
Keep Memory Alive is the fundraising arm of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. The duel performance of Kush and Ward is to showcase a piece created by Kush, start to finish, with Ward and his six-piece backing band performing as the artist works.
The finished work will then be put up for live auction, with that money going to KMA and Lou Ruvo Center. Titled “B-Rain,” the piece is characteristic of Kush’s surreal paintings on canvas, many of which are offered for sale at the gallery.
The title and theme of the painting link art and music to the treatment of brain disorders. Patients who suffer from such disorders as Alzheimer’s disease often benefit from learning an instrument or being introduced to music, and the event is to promote that connection.
Lou Ruvo Center Director Dr. Jeffrey Cummings has said Kush’s work is indicative of the brain’s highest level of activity, creativity, thus the linking of Kush’s art and the center’s mission is a natural fit.
As for the involvement of Ward, the 19-year-old performer is forging important connections in Las Vegas as he advances his budding career. Over the past year or so, the singer-songwriter has performed at the events venue at Lou Ruvo Center, drawing the attention of Quincy Jones Productions, with whom he has forged a management agreement and is listed as a CJP artist in the company’s stable of performers.
Ward has drawn praise from Jones himself, who in a video clip has called Ward “the epitome of great music” and said the young artist reminds him “in some strange way” of Frank Sinatra.
Ward and his band initially drew attention and media interest from his appearance as Frankie Moreno’s opening act at the Stratosphere, and Ward also opened for Louie Anderson early in Anderson’s run at the Plaza.
Ward is a telegenic crooner with an appeal that reminds of some of the more famous heartthrobs of the 1950s, but he also is serious about his music. His horn section is stacked, with trumpet player Chandler Judkins, sax man Rob Stone and trombonist Caleb McKee (who inspired the hash tag-trombone solo posts on Twitter and Instagram, for you social media creepers), all of whom are late of Moreno’s band.
Ward’s appearance is the first in what will be a series of fundraising shows under the “Vladimir Kush Performance Series” umbrella, where Las Vegas entertainers will perform for a specific charity. Set for May 30 is Travis Cloer of “Jersey Boys” at Paris Las Vegas, raising money on behalf of Nevada SPCA.
Kush will work his artistic wizardry then, too, in this collaborative brush with inspiration.
Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.
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