Buffalo Music Hall of Fame Jazz and Blues vocalist Janice Mitchell performs with the Jim Beishline Trio at the 2016 Burgers, Brews and Blues event. (Photo courtesy of The Martin Group)

WILLIAMSVILLE — The Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities will host their second annual "Burgers, Brews and Blues" summer fundraiser on Tuesday, Aug. 15 at St. Mary of the Angels Convent, 201 Reist St., in Williamsville. Event proceeds will benefit the sisters' important ministries throughout Western New York and beyond.

The evening's activities will begin with a social hour starting at 5 p.m., followed by dinner at 6 p.m. and live music featuring Buffalo Music Hall of Fame jazz and blues vocalist Janice Mitchell, accompanied by the Jim Beishline Trio with Jim Beishline on piano, from 6:30-9:30 p.m.

Mitchell's extensive musical background includes five world tours as a backup singer for Ray Charles. She has also performed live as a backup vocalist for Stevie Wonder. Beishline has accompanied nationally known pop and blues artists, including Aretha Franklin, Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters when they performed in Buffalo, and has also played piano for numerous local recording artists.

In the late 1990s, Mitchell and Beishline became musical partners and continue to give their personal and unique interpretations to jazz and blues standards for local concerts and jazz festivals.

Event sponsors include Dopkins & Company LLP, The Martin Group, Wardynski Meats, Msgr. Michael J. Yunk, Carol and Reg Newman, Jerry and Barb Mazurkiewicz, Life Storage, and Caputi Wine and Liquor.

Also on board this year is 12 Gates Brewing Company, who will provide the brew. Established in 2015 and located in Williamsville, 12 Gates is an independent, craft-production brewery that produces high-quality, handcrafted beers. Advance sale tickets are $50 per person.

The Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities is a congregation of 387 vowed women religious. The community was formed when several smaller orders of Franciscan sisters in Central and Western New York, downstate New York, Pittsburgh and Hawaii merged in 2008. These congregations shared the same origins in Philadelphia dating back to 1855. The sisters follow the rule of life of St. Francis of Assisi. Today the sisters serve in 12 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as in Kenya and Peru.

For more information, contact Cindy Munschauer at 716-632-2155 x-687, or cmunschauer@sosf.org, or visit https://sosf.org.