On September 20, Radio City Music Hall will play host to Easy Rider Live, a special movie/concert event featuring the iconic 1969 film screened along with a live soundtrack. With the recent death of Easy Rider actor/writer Peter Fonda, the event will now also celebrate the memory of the legendary actor.
The evening at Radio City was originally planned to kick off with a statement from Fonda, and Fonda’s wife, Parky, said regarding the night “We are all still healing from Peter’s sudden passing, but he would insist that the message of Easy Rider and the culture for which it stands carry on. The celebration of a cinematic masterpiece, a Hollywood icon, and my beloved husband will not only be one of a kind, but exactly what he wanted.”
Easy Rider Live also celebrates the 50th anniversary of the film. The legendary soundtrack will be performed live by John Kay, Roger McGuinn, & special guests, with the evening’s music produced by T. Bone Burnett. More information can be found here.
Yo La Tengo have confirmed their annual Hanukkah run for 2019, with special guests joining them for eight consecutive nights at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom. The shows start Sunday, December 22 and end Sunday, December 29. Tickets for every night are on sale now.
The annual Hanukkah run features surprise guests each night, with 2018 seeing Graham Nash and Preservation Hall Jazz Band join Yo La Tengo. This year’s eight night residency marks the third year at Bowery Ballroom, after prior years in Hoboken, NJ at Maxwell’s.
Phish bassist Mike Gordon will hit the road with his band in early winter 2020, kicking off with their first ever show at The State Theatre in Ithaca, NY. The tour includes shows in Toronto, Chicago, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, Portland and wraps up in Seattle on February 1.
Tickets are now available for pre-sale, ending Thursday, September 12 at 5PM EST). Visit mike-gordon.com/tour for more info. Mike Gordon band is Scott Murawski (guitar), John Kimock (drums), Craig Myers (percussion) and Robert Walter (organ). Check out photos and review from his show in Jersey City in March.
Jan 17 State Theatre Ithaca, NY Jan 18 Danforth Music Hall Toronto, Ontario Jan 19 Mr. Smalls Theatre Millvale, PA Jan 20 Newport Music Hall Columbus, OH Jan 22 Thalia Hall Chicago, IL Jan 23 20th Century Theater Cincinnati, OH Jan 24 Delmar Hall St. Louis, MO Jan 25 Majestic Theatre Madison, WI Jan 26 Varsity Theater Minneapolis, MN Jan 28 Boulder Theater Boulder, CO Jan 29 The Commonwealth Room Salt Lake City, UT Jan 31 Crystal Ballroom Portland, OR Feb 01 The Showbox Seattle, WA
Rapper Cardi B brought her ” Femme It Forward” tour to Saratoga Performing Arts Center on Friday September 6th. The South Bronx native had originally been slated to perform on May 26, but rescheduled the show to September, but that didn’t keep the fans from packing SPAC.
Cardi gave fans a short 50 minute set, but fans didn’t mind as she churned through her hits, even though hits like “Money” and others were consensed from their album length. With multiple costume changes, plus Nicole Bus and Teyana Taylor leading the way, Cardi B gave Saratoga a night to remember.
It’s that time of year again! The annual KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival is back for its eighth year. The event promises to be “a 12-day, all-out, no-holds-barred, multi-disciplinary visual and performing arts festival featuring international, national and local artists.” The 500+ events taking place between Sept. 10 through 21 include theater (physical, street, musical), comedy, visual arts, family entertainment, dance, spoken word, opera, poetry, literature, and music.
Plasticiens Volants
Making their return is French theater troupe Plasticiens Volants returns with their larger-than-life puppets, projections, and music. Read about their 2017 performance in our NYS Music coverage from 2017 here, and catch them at Parcel 5 on Friday, Sept. 13 and Saturday, Sept.14.
British sensation Massaoke, a live band that plays all your favorite sing-along songs for the ultimate karaoke experience, will be back for their second year in a row. Read the NYS Music coverage of last year’s event here, and join them at the Chestnut stage for two themed nights on Friday, Sept. 20 and Saturday, Sept. 21.
A plethora of musical events awaits, many of them free. In honor of the International Fringe Festival tradition, these are acts who reside off the beaten path: Consensual Sax, salsa band Grupo Calle Uno, Table Top Orchestra, WADAIKO (traditional Japanese performance drumming), and RIT’s Ukelele Club. There are plenty of locals on the bill, including Cottage Street, Siena Facciolo, and Cigs Inside. UofR’s Institute for Popular Music returns this year, with a tribute to the band Yes and a tribute to Tom Petty featuring several local bands will be held at George Eastman’s Hidden Garden. Musicians are also coming in from out of town, like NYCduo Charming Disaster and Ithaca’s DJ ha-Meen. Many of the musical events are free, but some require tickets.
Charming Disaster – photo by Shervin Lainez
If you like musical theater, they’ve got you covered. American Idiot The Musical is sold out, but you can still get tickets for Dogfight the Musical. And there’s a free showing of the movie Grease at the outdoor “pedestrian drive-in.”
The popular silent disco, Cirque du Fringe, and many more delights await! Check out the full guide at RochesterFringe.com.
The Saratoga Performing Arts Center together with The Philadelphia Orchestra have announced a celebration of the 250th birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven to take place in 2020. In a concentrated four-night event, August 12-15, 2020, The Philadelphia Orchestra and Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin will present Beethoven’s Complete Cycle of Symphonies in dialogue with music by composers of today. The Philadelphia Orchestra has commissioned works that reflect on the relevance of Beethoven’s legacy today by its Composer-in-Residence, Gabriela Lena Frank, and a diverse group of composers from her Creative Academy of Music – including Jessica Hunt, Carlos Simon and Iman Habibi.
“Traversing the complete Symphonies of Beethoven is a profound and deeply moving musical experience. To hear them under the baton of the great Yannick Nézet-Séguin, in such a concentrated period, will be an artistic experience unlike anything we have ever presented at SPAC,” says Elizabeth Sobol, President and CEO of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. “Though Yannick and the Orchestra will also be performing the cycle in Philadelphia and at Carnegie Hall, only at SPAC will audiences be able to experience the symphonies in this immersive and virtually unprecedented manner.”
“We are incredibly excited to share the majesty of Beethoven’s masterpieces in four consecutive nights with our beloved fans in Saratoga,” said Philadelphia Orchestra Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin. “By pairing his groundbreaking works with new companion pieces, we look forward to creating fresh perspectives on Beethoven’s legacy today. It will surely be an exhilarating and deeply moving experience unlike anything we’ve ever presented before at SPAC.”
Beethoven 2020:The Philadelphia Orchestra Beethoven Cycle at Saratoga Performing Arts Center August 12-15, 2020
Wednesday, August 12th
Conductor: Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Carlos Simon: Work in Dialogue with Beethoven – PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA COMMISSION
Beethoven: Symphony No. 8
Beethoven: Symphony No. 4
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7
Buoyant and humorous, the Eighth Symphony belies none of the composer’s worsening health issues or what had to be the devastating end of a love affair, detailed in a famous letter written around the same time to his “Immortal Beloved.” Perhaps the least known, the Fourth was widely admired: Schumann compared it to “a slender Greek maiden” between the two “Norse giants” of the Third and Fifth; Berlioz insisted it was the work of an angel. And Tchaikovsky described the triumphant Seventh as “full of unrestrained joy, full of bliss and pleasure of life.” The exhilarating and familiar second movement is said to have been so inspiring at the premiere, an encore was demanded instantly.
Thursday, August 13th
Conductor: Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Jessica Hunt: Work in Dialogue with Beethoven – Philadelphia Orchestra Commission
Beethoven: Symphony No. 2
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 (“Eroica”)
Beethoven was just beginning to go deaf when he wrote his Second Symphony and though he was losing his hearing, he was finding his voice. He could have composed a manifestation of despair, but instead gave the world one of his most ebullient and life-affirming works. The Third Symphony was groundbreaking, a turning point in the composer’s oeuvre and a watershed in musical history. A vast ode to heroism, revolution, and freedom, the “Eroica” is considered by many to be the greatest not just of Beethoven’s symphonies, but of all time.
Friday, August 14th
Conductor: Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Iman Habibi: Work in Dialogue with Beethoven – PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA COMMISSION
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5
Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 (“Pastoral”)
The indelible four-note opening of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony lays the foundation for a truly fateful symphonic journey. Written in 1804, and on the program when The Philadelphia Orchestra gave its first concert in 1900, it’s an epic tour de force that resonates in 2020. Following its rousing conclusion come the verdant valleys and sweet smells of the woods and the Austrian countryside, an exposition of Beethoven’s love of nature. Composed and premiered at the same time, the “Pastoral” offers a striking contrast to the assertive Fifth.
Saturday, August 15th
Conductor: Yannick Nézet-Séguin Chorus: Albany Pro Musica Concert Chorus
Frank: Work in Dialogue with Beethoven – PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA COMMISSION
Beethoven: Symphony No. 1
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 (“Choral”)
Beethoven was just 25 when he wrote his First Symphony. Delightful and high-spirited, floating on strains of Mozart and Haydn, it’s a fascinating glimpse of the greatness and genius to come—all on full, glorious display in the climactic Ninth. Written just a few short years before his death, “Beethoven’s profound ode to brotherhood, salvation, and pure joy reminds us why we are here as an orchestra,” says Yannick, “and why we constantly try to make our world better by playing music.”
Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe ‘Thick As Thieves Fall Tour 2019’ will roll through Saratoga Springs on October 18 for a hot night of funk at Putnam Place. On the heels of touring the U.S. this summer as the saxophonist in The Rolling Stones, Denson reconvenes KDTU for 22 dates this fall, mixing headline performances alongside several dates supporting Thievery Corporation.
Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe is supporting its latest studio album, Gnomes & Badgers, out now on Seven Spheres Records. Distilling the sweeping stylistic range of KDTU’s concert performances into their own authentic sound, the inimitable Denson and his long-standing seven piece unit that includes guitarist DJ Williams, drummer Zak Najor, bassist Chris Stillwell, keyboardist David Veith, trumpeter Chris Littlefield and slide/lap steel guitarist Seth Freeman have delivered what is undoubtedly their strongest work yet.
The album’s first video and single, “Change My Way,” makes a poignant statement about the current crisis at the U.S. border. The clip was directed by award-winning director, writer and producer TG Herrington, whose work includes ‘The Free State of Jones,’ a series of music videos for Paul McCartney and the new feature-length documentary ‘A Tuba To Cuba.’ Denson co-wrote “Change My Way” with New Orleans singer-songwriter Anders Osborne and co-produced the track with Adrian Quesada (Brownout, Spanish Gold).
KARL DENSON’S TINY UNIVERSE Thick As Thieves Fall Tour 2019
10/3 – Charleston, SC – The Pour House 10/4 – Macon, GA – Big House Museum 10/5 – Asheville, NC – Orange Peel 10/6 – Virginia Beach, VA – Elevation 27 10/8 – Washington, DC – The Hamilton Live 10/9 – Charlotte, NC – The Neighborhood Theatre 10/10 – Richmond, VA – The Broadberry 10/11 – Pittsburgh, PA – Rex Theater 10/12 – Philadelphia, PA – The Fillmore * 10/13 – Boston, MA – House of Blues * 10/15 – Portland, ME – Aura 10/16 – Quebec City, Canada – Le Capitole * 10/17 – Montreal, Canada – Mtelus * 10/18 – Saratoga, NY – Putnam Place 10/24 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore * 10/25 – Indianapolis, IN – The Vogue * 10/27 – Minneapolis, MN – Varsity Theater * 10/28 – Chicago, IL – House of Blues * 11/6 – Miami, FL – The Fillmore * 11/7 – Tampa, FL – The Ritz * 11/8 – Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle * 11/9 – Orlando, FL – House of Blues *
Famed rock photographer Jay Blakesberg has announced the release of his latest photographic endeavor, JERRY GARCIA: Secret Space of Dreams – a fine art, hardcover photography book of Jerry Garcia, beginning from the middle of his career with the Grateful Dead and covering the last third of his life.
In early September 1977, the Grateful Dead performed four Labor Day weekend concerts along the east coast and at the legendary September 3rd Englishtown, NJ show where Blakesberg’s connection with the Grateful Dead was born. A year later, on September 2, 1978 at Giants Stadium, Blakesberg’s father, an amateur shutterbug himself, loaned his 16-year-old son his Pentax camera, a couple of lenses and a few rolls of film to photograph the Grateful Dead for the very first time. A photograph of Jerry Garcia from this show begins the chronological display of photographs that spans the following decades of Garcia’s life in JERRY GARCIA: Secret Space of Dreams.
The book’s Foreword is written by Grammy-award winning musician and guitar master John Mayer, who has been touring with the surviving members of the Grateful Dead as Dead & Company’s lead guitarist and vocalist since 2015. Providing the unique perspective of re-interpreting the lead guitar slot once held by Jerry Garcia, Mayer explores the magic and distinction of Garcia’s playing and the profound and lasting impact of his music on the world.
“I’ve always said that musicians play like they are, and in the case of Garcia, his performances serve as a detailed map of a man, his intentions, his desires, and his impressions of the world around him,“ Mayer writes. “And going by that map, Garcia was a lovely, mighty soul. I never met him and will never understand the loss of those who did, but the vast archive of his music amounts to the makings of a starry night sky that turns listeners into explorers.”
John Mayer
The introduction, by journalist, musician, radio host and Grateful Dead historian David Gans, dives deep into the character and charisma of the mythical non-frontman, frontman – and Blakesberg’s innate ability to capture Garcia’s magic on film. In the book’s 208 pages, Blakesberg shares 139 photographs of Garcia spanning nearly 20 years––September 2nd, 1978 (at Giants Stadium) through the April 1995 making of the “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” music video. With an essay by Garcia’s daughter Trixie and quotes from the likes of Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, David Crosby, Jim James, Carlos Santana, Trey Anastasio, Robert Hunter, Jackie Greene, Jorma Kaukonen, Country Joe McDonald, David Grisman, the “core four” members of the Grateful Dead––Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart– and more, Blakesberg leads us on a visual journey of Garcia’s life, both on and off the stage.
In the afterword, Widespread Panic founding member, author, and producer Dave Schools muses on the man, myth and legend portrayed in the pages of the photographic biography. Schools thoughtfully reflects on Garcia’s ability to “display his own frailty in the service of the song,” and to connect with the audience as participants in the performance.
“These are just some of the attributes of a human being who led without leading, who conveyed his own truth better through his music than he was able to do through the spoken word…and who lived the majority of his life onstage being part of a performance troupe that went far beyond the sum of its parts,” he writes. “And luckily for those of us who want and need to remember such experiences we have a vast recorded archive of music, millions of words both scholarly and lay, and in our hands now these magnificently telling photographs by Jay Blakesberg so that we can always queue up the memories of our shared experiences with a rare human being known as Jerry Garcia and his equally rare cohorts.”
Dave Schools
The release of JERRY GARCIA: Secret Space of Dreams comes on the heels of Blakesberg’s recent photography books FARE THEE WELL: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Grateful Dead (December 1, 2015) and Eyes of the World – Grateful Dead Photography 1965-1995, (October 23, 2017). FARE THEE WELL is a vibrant visual record of the Grateful Dead’s 50th anniversary “Fare Thee Well” concerts, gathering iconic images from all five performances, plus two rehearsal days, as well as band portraits, a few archival images, written tributes and setlists from the historic shows. Eyes of the World celebrates The Grateful Dead with photographs spanning their entire career from the likes of Jim Marshall, Annie Leibovitz, Herb Greene, Peter Simon (60 different photographers) and Blakesberg, who has the most photos in the book from any single photographer.
Signed copies of JERRY GARCIA: Secret Space of Dreams are available now for pre-order. Pre-orders will begin shipping September 23.
Music is Medicine Festival, a one day music festival helping raise awareness for Pancreatitis, will be held on Saturday, September 14 at Putnam Place in Saratoga Springs. Headlined by Bret Bollinger (of Pepper), the event is co-headlined by funkmasters Hartley’s Encore from Albany who will kick off the event.
The genesis of the festival comes from founder Jetta Intelisano’s wife Kate, who has been battling this disease and nearly lost her life three times in the past year. Countless trips to NYC to see a specialist to have dangerous, and life-threatening procedures performed to save her life. Out of this tragic situation, Jetta has endeavored to raise awareness of this disease through our common love of music. Join Music is Medicine in this celebration as the community embarks to find better treatment and ultimately, a cure.
Additional music performances at Music Is Medicine Festival include Resinated (St. Petersburg, FL), Audic Empire (Austin, TX), Joint Operation (Baltimore, MD), The Brothers Grim (Rome, NY), and The Lateshift (Albany, NY). For more information, visit the event page.
On Sunday, August 25, Beau Fleuve Music & Arts Festival hosted their third annual festival at Silo City in Buffalo. The one day event, an “Ultimate Sunday Funday,” lived up to its name and featured more than 30 performances of all genres of music, as well as art installations, a silent disco, vendors village, beer and wine garden and much more.
The big takeaway from the festival was the diversity of the event. Artists and performers included Curtis Lovell, Miller & the Other Sinners, DJ Magic, The Sofa Kingz, Heather Russell and many more. From the music to the art, those that attended were of all ages, walks of life, backgrounds and nationalities and enjoyed a care free day with the historic Buffalo Backdrop of the Silos.
Check out the festival recap video below, and a photo gallery from the festival here.
