Ry Cooder Joins Hurricane Benefit

That in itself might not necessarily be news – Browne and benefits go together like bacon and eggs. But when the roster of friends includes the reclusive Ry Cooder, and the show is on his Southern California home turf, that gets our attention.

After all, it was only two months ago that Cooder played a benefit show at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall, at which his daughter-in-law told the audience, “Ry would never play in L.A.,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Well, Santa Monica isn’t Los Angeles, but it’s close enough. Fans of the guitarist and musicologist are in for a rare treat as he joins Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Joan Baez, and Ben Harper and the Relentless 7 onstage to raise funds to help victims of the second-nastiest Atlantic hurricane season on record.

The concert supports Operation USA’s ongoing disaster relief efforts in the U.S. Gulf Coast, Cuba and Haiti, with specific attention to programs designed to address the urgent local needs of displaced families and health facilities stretched to the breaking point.

The 2008 hurricane season didn’t end with Gustav and Ike. The program underscores the need for disaster aid following the devastation to Cuba and Haiti by hurricanes Omar and Poloma in November.

The concert is also a project of the Guacamole Fund, headed by all around good guy Tom Campbell and his staff. Other supporters and sponsors include Darius Anderson and Platinum Advisors, Andy Spahn, Cuba Travel Services, the Center For Democracy in the Americas and The New America Foundation.

The Guacamole Fund is making a limited number of sponsor ticket packages available for this once in a lifetime show through the Fund’s Web site.

Reserved tickets can be purchased through Jackson Browne’s Web site.