NYS Music 20​17

Tag: snarky puppy

  • Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals to Host Non-Profits

    The legendary Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals will host a formal non-profits village for the first time since their foundings in the 1950s. Non-profit organizations from Rhode Island and the surrounding states will be part of the “Participation Row” social action village at both festivals.

    The Newport Folk Festival and the Newport Jazz Festival will make it easier for attendees to make a positive impact on the community through Participation Row. Organized by Headcount, Participation Row will feature several non-profit organizations focused on environmental protection, health and civic participation. Each organization will feature a specific action attendees can take to better the world around them and help the festivals make a positive impact on the community. Headcount is currently accepting applications for Participation Row.

    In addition to Participation Row, Headcount, who has had a presence at Newport Folk Festival for nearly a decade, will host a silent auction to benefit the participating organizations.

    The Newport Folk Festival takes place July 28 to 30 at Fort Adams State Park in Newport, Rhode Island. Performers include the Fleet Foxes, Wilco, John Prine, Regina Spektor, American Acoustic (Punch Brothers, I’m With Her and Julian Lage), the Drive-By Truckers and Alone & Together (Kevin Morby, Sam Cohen, Eric D. Johnson of the Fruit Bats, Joe Russo and Josh Kaufman). Tickets for the festival are sold out, but the organizers setup an official fan ticket exchange.

    The Newport Jazz Festival takes place Aug. 4 to 6 also at Fort Adams State Park in Newport, Rhode Island. The festival features headliners Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, Snarky Puppy and The Roots. Other performers include Maceo Parker, the Branford Marsalis Quartet, Rhiannon Giddens, Hudson (Jack DeJohnette, Larry Grenadier, John Medeski and John Scofield), Philadelphia Experiment (Questlove, Christian McBride and Uri Caine), John Medeski on solo piano and D.J. Logic’s Project Logic. Tickets are available now for $170 for a three-day pass or $145 for a two-day Saturday and Sunday pass. Single-day tickets are also available for $65 for Friday and $79 for Saturday or Sunday. The Newport Jazz Festival offers a special student ticket for $20 each day for students ages 16 and older with a valid student ID.

    Headcount is currently accepting applications for Participation Row for both festivals.

  • New York Artists Make a Splash at 2017 Grammys

    Talk of the 2017 GRAMMYs will center on Adele’s profanely humble request to re-start her tribute to George Michael so she can “get it right for George,” Beyonce’s cinematic performance of “Love Drought” and “Sandcastles” from her universally acclaimed album Lemonade or Bruno Mars’ role as the Purple One in the joyous celebration of Prince that also included Morris Day and the Time. The televised portion of the awards is the show, with the focus on performances and the marquee categories. However, there was a slew of awards presented throughout the weekend that weren’t televised. NYS Music detailed a number of the New York-based honorees and nominees in December. Many took home Grammys this weekend.

    2017 grammysThe late David Bowie was nominated in five categories for his groundbreaking album Blackstar and won all five. Taking home the Grammy for Best Rock Performance, Blackstar, Best Rock Song, “Blackstar,” Best Alternative Music Album, Blackstar, Best Recording Package, Blackstar, and Best-Engineered Album, Non-Classical, Blackstar.   Bowie had never won for his music throughout his storied career prior to this year. In his later years, the Great White Duke maintained a residence in Woodstock.

    DJ duo the Chainsmokers, Andrew Taggart (a Syracuse University graduate) and NYC native Alex Pall, were nominated in three categories – Best New Artist, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for their single, “Closer,” which also features Halsey on vocals, and for Best Dance Recording for their single, “Don’t Let Me Down,” featuring Daya – ultimately leaving with a win in the Dance category.

    2016 Nobel Prize winner Bob Dylan was nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, Fallen Angels, and for Best Historical Album, The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg Series, Vol.12 (Collector’s Edition), winning for Best Historical Album.

    New York-via-Texas transplants, Snarky Puppy were also nominated and won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for Culcha Vulcha, an album NYS Music reviewed last year. The jazz fusion band made several stops in New York last year, breathing new life into the genre. You can read our review of Snarky Puppy’s Syracuse stop last year here.

    Perhaps one of the most powerful performances of the night came from Queens natives a Tribe Called Quest who were joined by Busta Ryhmes and rising rap newcomer Anderson .Paak to perform “Award Tour” and “We the People.”  An empty microphone stand was present in tribute to fallen Tribe member Phife Dawg, who passed away last March.

    The performance with Rhymes delivering a particularly scathing diatribe of President Trump and the executive order signed to prevent people from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. It concluded with a parade of people of varying ethnicities entering the stage to cheers from the people in attendance.

    Art rock pioneers the Velvet Underground were honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award, an award few would have imagined for the band in the burgeoning New York City art scene of the late 1960s. The late Lou Reed and Sterling Morrison, former roommates at Syracuse University, along with Welsh-born John Cale formed an early version the Velvets, called the Worlocks in the mid-60s. Cale was in attendance at Sunday’s ceremony to represent the band.

    The Velvet Underground was a band that never achieved significant commercial success. But as producer Brian Eno once said in an interview, “everyone who bought one started a band.”