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AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | FEBRUARY 6, 2019
It’s not unusual: Tom Jones tribute with Motown comes to Mesa BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI
Get Out Editor
R
oger’s Tom Jones knows how to put on a show. To raise funds for the American Cancer Society, the band is bringing along The Motown Blossoms, Amber Dirks and Nisha Kataria, for a gig at the Mesa Arts Center’s Piper Repertory Theater on Sunday Feb. 10. “We’ve been doing the Tom Jones tribute for a couple of decades,” said the lead who goes professionally only by Roger. “We had the good fortune of doing performances in Asia, Europe and America. We had a little thing at the Luxor in Las Vegas not too long ago. “This time, we’ve teamed with the Mo-
IF YOU GO
What: Roger’s Tom Jones with special guests.
Where: Mesa Arts Center’s Piper
Repertory Theater, 1 E. Main Street, Mesa. When: 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 10. Tickets: Tickets: $29 and $40. Information: mesaartscenter.com or 480-644-6500.
town Blossoms. They are three ladies bringing all those Motown hits, which people like. It’s a nice combination, if you say.” The Motown Blossoms perform a string of classic Detroit hits by The Marvelettes, The Supremes, Aretha Franklin, The Shirelles, Martha Reeves and The Vandellas.
Amber Dirks A national and international recording artist, Amber Dirks has performed solo and occasionally with Sister Sledge. “I’ve been able to travel the world because still to this day Sister Sledge is a well-respected group,” Dirks said. “We have sold out many audiences and big events since 1994.” Dirks was born in Holland and raised in New York before her family moved to Phoenix, where she attended Washington High School. She speaks fluent Dutch. At the Piper Repertory Theatre, Dirks will sing solo hits like “Dominate My Love” and “This is My Life,” along with covers of Gladys Knight songs. “These rehearsals (with Roger’s Tom Jones) have been so much fun,” Dirks said. “They’ve been phenomenal. I wish I could be in the audience and just watch. There’s tremendous talent here.” “Shepherd’s Pie”
(Special for GET OUT)
Roger’s Tom Jones with special guests The Motown Blossoms are to play the Mesa Arts Center on Feb. 10 in a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.
Nisha Kataria Nisha Kataria is pop’s unsung hero. The Phoenician has been singing since she could walk, she says, but in her teens, she learned how to moonwalk. When she was 17, she visited the Arizona State Fair with her family. As Kataria walked through the parking lot, she sang a short tune, which was heard by a Michael Jackson acquaintance. Her father gave him a live demo and subsequently handed it to
Jackson’s manager. After singing “I Will Always Love You” for Jackson’s manager, she was introduced to the King of Pop. “I skipped school and drove to California to Neverland Ranch and it all felt like a dream,” she said. “I went in alone, with my family outside, and Michael hugged me. He was very warm. We had a nice conversation and he asked me to sing to him. “I stood up and sang ‘I Will Always Love You;’ a good portion of it was a cappella. He applauded me. He said I had the voice of an angel. Not a lot of people could do what I did—stand up and sing to the king of pop.” He said he wanted to make Kataria “a star.” Jackson moved Kartaria and her mother into a guest suite at Neverland. “It was nothing short of a dream,” she said. “In between recordings, we would enjoy Disneyland, life, horseback riding and going to the movies. We recorded a song that is unreleased called ‘Wonderful World of Candy.’ I wish I had that track in my hand. I would be golden.” Kataria only knows the masters are in Jackson’s house, somewhere. “I don’t know where it could be,” she said. “He wanted the public to see me for the first time next to him.”
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