Skyfoot is back to cure your quarantine blues with their fourth album, Astronomy Man. This four-piece band from Boston has firmly established themselves in the Northeast music scene over the last decade, playing hundreds of shows and being named “Best In State” at the 2019 New England Music Awards. Skyfoot recorded this album this past winter and spring and thanks to a successful Indiegogo campaign, Astronomy Man was released on November 2nd.
The eleven tracks on this album shimmy through a number of different genres and feature tremendous psychedelic and funky jams from start to finish. Starting things off is “What’cha Gonna Do,” an upbeat, soaring opener with a catchy chorus. The track culminates in an incredible jam combining Tyler Arnott’s fantastic guitar work with Eric McEwen’s beautiful organ playing. The opening slide guitar in “Follow Me Down” will immediately perk your ears as Aaron Morey’s drum beat kicks in, invoking a cross between a steam engine crossing the plains and a lone cowboy on horseback.
Astronomy Man also features a bunch of longer tracks that allow the members of Skyfoot to explore the space in your living room. “Take Time” is a toe-tappin’ ditty featuring a beautiful dance between banjo and keys before morphing into a kaleidoscopic puddle of a jam. James Taylor’s bass oozes funk during “Everybody Have a Good Time Tonight” and if you close your eyes during this track, you’d swear you were shoulder to shoulder with your best friends at a show. The title track is the quirkiest and catchiest song on the album, but features a shredding guitar solo before skyrocketing into the interstellar. This album takes you on a stellar journey from start to finish, ending with the angelically prismatic “Spoke.”
Skyfoot was able to do something really wonderful with this record. They used every bit of aural space within 67 minutes to pack a mind-bending amount of music into these eleven tracks. This is a band truly worth traveling to see once we are blessed with live music again. Check out Astronomy Man on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube or visit the Skyfoot Store to purchase the album.
Key Tracks: Everybody Have a Good Time Tonight, What’cha Gonna Do, Lovin’ Kind
Each Sunday evening from 7-9pm you’ll find EQXposure on WEQX, featuring two hours of local music from up and coming artists. Tune into WEQX.com this Sunday night to hear the latest from Saratoga’s Ugly Muppets and many more!
WEQX has long been the preeminent independent station in the Capital Region of New York, broadcasting from Southern VT to an ever-expanding listening audience. NYS Music brings you a preview of artists to discover each week, just a taste of the talent waiting to be discovered by fans like you.
Ugly Muppets is a three piece psychedelic indie garage band coming from the sewers of Saratoga Springs, and straight into your heart. With fuzzed-our guitars, blistering kazoos, and sometimes-on-key vocals, people have said of the band, “Oh yeah, I think I’ve heard of them.”
This group of proto-post-punk weirdos includes Josh Clark (vocals, guitar, bass), Daniel Burt (vocals, drums), and Jeremy Katz (vocals, bass, guitar, kazoo, synth, production)
Pulling on influences including The Stooges, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Black Angels, Black Lips, Black Flag, Black Sabbath, and pretty much any band with black in the name, and for Josh Clark, Oasis, Ugly Muppets has been together for five years, while performing in various bands since high school both independently and together.
The sound of Ugly Muppets is has an overall character that is as much a result of wanting to create something raw while embracing the happy accidents.
Ugly Muppets have well crafted songs that retain a raw production quality, which ties the full band sound together and in a way, becomes a character, if not member of the overall band.
Katz says of their sound, “We used a franken-rig of all our collective gear to do the recording and tracked as much as we could live so the sounds already had their own unique character, which we tried to lean into when we did the mixing,” with Burt adding, “It took us a while to form a sound we where happy with, a heavy garage influence was inevitable considering the music we were listening to and the gear we were working with.”
Update: On January 17 at 8PM ET, the fourth episode of It Was The Music will feature a special livestream event featuring Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams along with special guests Rosanne Cash, John Leventhal, and Buddy Miller. The livestream, available on FANS, will be hosted by David Keith.
It Was The Music, a film in 10 episodes chronicling the lives and love of musicians Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams, will premiere on Sunday, December 13. Directed by award-winning filmmaker Mark Moskowitz, It Was the Music serves as both a musical odyssey and deeply personal love story of Campbell and Williams in search of their “music utopia.”
Having embarked on a joint musical career, It Was the Music sees the Woodstock couple packing their bags, guitars, amps, and 30-year marriage into their SUV and setting out across America to sing their own extraordinary songs along with riveting interpretations of beloved gospel, blues, country, and classic rock ‘n’ roll.
A three-time GRAMMY® Award-winning multi-instrumentalist, producer, singer-songwriter, and bandleader from New York City, Campbell is a veteran musician hailed for his work with artists including as Levon Helm, Phil Lesh, Bob Dylan, The Black Crowes, among others.
Williams, an exceptional alto singer and actor known for her highly acclaimed roles as Sara Carter in Keep On The Sunny Side and the title role in Always….Patsy Cline, has also served as a vocalist for Emmylou Harris, Jackson Browne, Phil Lesh and Friends and Peter Wolf, to name but a few.
Accompanying It Was the Music is a stellar soundtrack gathering previously unreleased music from Campbell and Williams, including new renditions of songs made famous by The Band, Grateful Dead,Little Feat, Buffalo Springfield, and more. The soundtrack features performances from Campbell and Williams who are joined by friends such as friends as Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller, Bill Payne, and the late Levon Helm’s world famous Midnight Ramble Band. The first track “It Ain’t Gonna Be A Good Night”has been released with the full soundtrack due out December 6. Pre-order and find more info about the film series here.
It Was the Music is first and foremost a love story, with Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams showing how love can create the music and how the music can bring us together. The film follows Campbell and Williams over 15 months on the road, starting point on a Friday afternoon at Williams’ seventh generation farm in Peckerwood Point, TN, traveling to Campbell’s native New York City and finally the couple’s home in Woodstock.
Along the way they stop at recording studios, clubs, and theatres across the country, with highlights including exclusive live performances from intimate venues and jam-packed music festivals. The finale of the film features parts of the star-studded “The Last Waltz 40th Anniversary Celebration” presented by Lincoln Center at NYC’s Damrosch Park.
Along with the couple’s own personal story, It Was the Music includes exclusive interviews and never-before-seen performances from Jackson Browne, Rosanne Cash, William Bell, Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady, Phil Lesh, Jerry Douglas, Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton, Garland Jeffreys, Happy Traum, David Bromberg, and many more.
Director Mark Moskowitz says of It Was the Music:
It Was the Music is about what music means to us, the way my film, Stone Reader, is about what books means to us, and my upcoming film, Art Stops Here, is about what art means to us. In the end, these films are about us, how people respond to the arts. Not quite documentary, not quite reality, not quite memoir, not quite even story, It Was the Music is referential, memory-like. It’s allusive. Things touch other things…much like a song.”
It Was the Music premieres Sunday, December 13, with new episodes debuting every Sunday, except on January 3 – two episodes will be available on January 10.
The members of Taking Meds are looking forward to taking a trip out to Chicago at the beginning of December to perform on Audiotree Live.
The NYC-based indie punk band had to cut a cross-country tour short this spring when COVID hit. Shows started getting cancelled while they were on the road. “On the fourth day we were in Georgia, and 50% of the shows had cancelled,” Taking Meds frontman Skylar Sarkis told NYS Music. “We decided to head home.”
Eight months, an EP, and a music video later, and they’re excited to finally be hitting the road again. While they’ve been actively working, they haven’t been able to play some of their new songs in front of an audience since March.
“Everyone’s missing live music,” continued Sarkis. Most venues have not reopened since the start of the pandemic, due to contagion risk at gatherings. “Audiotree has a COVID-friendly way of continuing to do what they’re doing, and I think being able to access high-quality studio sessions online is really key for everybody right now.”
This will be Taking Meds’ debut on Audiotree. What started as an artist discovery platform has continued this tradition by continuing to work with emerging independent artists and artists on indie labels. The recorded sessions are just one facet of Audiotree’s footprint in the music industry, but they have become a cornerstone in the international music scene over the past decade.
Tune into Audiotree on Friday, December 4 at 4PM CT (5PM EST) for the Taking Meds performance. Viewers will be treated to a few songs off the band’s new EP The Meds You Deserve, released in July on Smartpunk and Near Mint. Sarkis added that they plan on debuting a new song from their next LP, which they just finished recording with Kurt Ballou at GodCity in Massachusetts.
Taking Meds is comprised of Sarkis on vocals and guitar, Ben Kotin on guitar and vocals, Jon “Steel Wolf” Markson on bass and vocals, and Alex Salter on drums. They don’t all live in the same city. It’s an occasion when they are able to gather at the studio, or go out on the road together, or shoot a music video.
Earlier this year, they got to meet up with director Luke LeCount to make a video for one of the songs on The Meds You Deserve, “Sucks To Be Me.” It features Sarkis as his narcissistic alter-ego, firing band members as he tries to impress some sleazy A&R types. He can be seen playing out this persona in a series of off-the-cuff low-budget promotional videos on the Taking Meds YouTube channel.
Leading up to the tour, they released a series of humorous videos about packing for tour, filmed by their manager/agent Alex Martin and featuring Sarkis trying to pack merch, gear, his cat, and pictures of Michael Stipe of REM. While Sarkis cites REM, Fugazi, and other bands from that era as band influences, their angular sound is impossible to pigeon-hole as any one genre.
“We’re just trying to write whatever we want,” explained Sarkis. “Lately that’s coming out sounding like it’s pretty squarely influenced by early 90s stuff. I’m trying to make songs that I would want to listen to.”
Other people are digging their sound, too. Most fans have discovered them through word of mouth or by catching a live show. “My experience with this band is that there’s not a lot of hype. We get fans when we’re on tour and they stick around. It’s cool to build a fanbase that’s loyal.”
Their recent EP The Meds You Deserve, and their full length albums My Life As A Bro and I Hate Me are available for purchase digitally. At the time of press, there are a handful of copies of The Meds You Deserve and I Hate Me on vinyl at Near Mint.
Punk supergroup The Myrrhderers (as in, The Murderers) bring together prominent members of the North Pole underground scene for their debut album, The Myrrhderers Sleigh Christmas.
Al Frankincense (Dead Kringles), Elliott Gold (Prancid), and Bill Myrrhey (Sleigher) entered the studio in 2020 for an historic documentation of the North Pole underground Christmas culture.
Hard-hitting versions of classic carols like “Deck the Halls” and modern classics such as “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” pepper The Myrrhderers’ debut EP. The Myrrhderers Sleigh Christmasmakes its worldwide debut November 20, and will be followed up by The Myrrhderers Sleigh Some More on December 11.
Discussing the first single, ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’ Elliott Gold says,
Making Christmas punk music is a bit of a balancing act – you need to give the songs some kind of twist to make them work in a punk context, but you also don’t want to push a song so far that it loses its original Christmas ‘feeling.’ This is one of the heavier tracks on the record, but we wanted to put it out first because we feel like it captures both sides of that equation, without compromising one for the sake of the other.
Our scene isn’t gonna be around forever. Since Bezos came along, there’s been a lot less work up here, so most of our friends have moved south looking for a better life, and not to mention, less melty terrain. We figured if we don’t document this now, it might never happen.
The Myrrhderers Sleigh Christmas is produced by land-based producers Jamie Hilsden of Man Alive (The Militia Group), Corey Ben-Yehuda of Usless I.D. (Fat Wreck Chords), and mixed by Vince Ratti (Bouncing Souls, Brand New, The Wonder Years, Tiny Moving Parts, Circa Survive). Visit their Bandcamp to pre-order the album.
Long Island rapper Nikmoody has been writing his entire life, taking the lemons of life and turning them into more than just lemonade. Case in point: a 1,000-point scorer in both high school and college, Nikmoody transferred his passion for Basketball to the pen after an ACL tear, leading him to a Masters degree in English Literature.
Drawing on influences such as Kendrick Lamar, Atmosphere and J.Cole, as well as Nirvana, Moody creates a conscious lyricism with soul, amid a blend of grunge and boom-bap hip hop. With the release of “Either Way,” he shows growth in style, adding in trap sounds within his strong lyrical base. Experiences of loss and addiction have helped Moody find his voice, adapting his music as he evolves within hip-hop, which he considers to be the most descriptive art form in the world, when combined with pain and passion.
Moody released his first EP, House of Mirrors, in 2017 and hasn’t slowed down since. He has continued to create music, releasing eight singles, ten music videos and his 2019 EP The Quiet One. Moody has performed at SXSW in Austin, headlined at SOB’s in Manhattan and opened for Wyclef Jean, Dizzy Wright, Raz Simone and KOTA The Friend.
Nikmoody works with his passion and continues to release singles, including April’s “Hysteria,” which was written with the guise of trying to bring a unified culture to Long Island. While The Quiet Two is planned, Moody notes below in an interview with NYS Music that it may not surface in 2020, as new projects have his attention.
PeteMason: Recently you posted on Facebook: “I know I haven’t been as active on social media lately. It’s only because I’m locked in. We been experimenting with new sounds, new flows…New music coming very soon.” Inquiring minds want to know – what new sounds and flows do you have coming?
Nikmoody: There’s been a lot of experimenting in the last few months. I wrote that in my post because I’ve been digging into other genres like trap, grunge rock, dubstep. I’ve been trying to find a way to harness the aggression that lies at the heart of my music and display it melodically. It’s been a learning experience but I’m really excited about the direction of the new music.
PM: How has quarantine life been for you on personal and creative levels?
NM: Quarantine has been a rollercoaster. My family got sick early into the lockdown so that was nerve-racking and worrying. But after everyone got healthy, I was still unemployed and stuck in the house. It became a blessing in disguise because it was the first time in my life that I was able to be creative without being in school or having to work full time. It allowed me to broaden my horizons musically and try new things. It also gave me a peak into what life would be like when I turn my music into my full time occupation. That was quite beautiful.
PM: Speaking about sacrifice in an August post, you discuss everyone being on their own journey, closing with “But that is their journey, not mine. I still see 100,000 at Bonnaroo every time I touch the mic.” Is it safe to say that performing at Bonnaroo is a big destination on your own journey?
NM: 1,000%. I’ve been to Bonnaroo twice as a camper (once general admission and once with an RV) and I have to say those were some of the most incredible days of my life. Nothing but music and love in the air. I met a lot of people from all over the world at those shows and to this day, Bonnaroo is the most coveted memory my friends and I have. To play there would be a dream. Chance the Rapper on Saturday night of Bonnaroo 2018 is the greatest show I’ve ever been to. To imagine myself doing the same is fun to think about.
PM: You’re from Brooklyn and Long Island – how did growing up between the two influence your creativity, your love of music, and connection to others?
NM: Well I kind of split time with where I grew up. I lived in Canarsie, Brooklyn until I was 11. Then, my family moved to Merrick, Long Island. Although I didn’t spend my high school days in BK, the attitude that comes with growing up in Brooklyn still sticks with me. It was a drastic difference moving to Long Island. That juxtaposition is vital to me as a person. Coming from a small apartment in a diverse neighborhood and moving to a house in an all white town took a lot of adjusting for me as a kid. I didn’t have a lot of friends growing up. I didn’t know how to connect with my classmates in Long Island. I liked rap, basketball and frequented corner stores. They liked pop punk, lacrosse and traded baseball cards.
It took me a while to fit in but I learned a lot in those confusing times. That’s when I really started to write a lot and just observe people. I never really hung out with one group of people, I wasn’t always with the athletes or the stoners or whatever stereotype you can think of. Fast forward to now and that duality is present all over my music. Learning to combine all these influences into one complete thought has been a challenge but when I do, you’ll know when you hear the song who it is because no one else could make it.
PM: How does The Quiet Two differ from past releases, and how does it connect to The Quiet Ones?
NM: Well I’m not sure if The Quiet Two will ever see the light of day if I’m being honest. I will be dropping some of the songs off that project as singles but I’m not sure if it’ll drop as a full entity. I’ve started working on something else that I’m really proud of. It’s early on but the music has evolved a great deal. It differs in the fact that it’s a bit more modern, the sounds we’re using are more in tune with the times but the lyrics and rhyme schemes have stayed in that old school realm of hip hop. I’m still the quiet one that you got to watch haha.
PM: When did you come up with the mantra “I can turn a negative into a positive with just one line – +”?
NM: I write lyrics on paper for the most part and I was just playing around with symbols one day and that line came into existence. I think it really represents what I stand for and my logo in general. While it looks dark and negative, it’s ultimately positive. We’re spreading hope at the end of the day.
Nikmoody now focuses on the one year anniversary of The Quiet One with the upcoming release of his new single “No Pulse.” Due out on Thursday, November 19 as thanks to his supporters for continuing the journey with him. Given the pandemic and artistic responses to increased isolation and time to create, whatever comes from Nikmoody will surely resonate with his audience.
Multi-talented Brooklyn artist, Brooks Hudgins, just released his new single “February” off of his upcoming debut album Drive Thru Communion. The single first premiered on Cool Hunting, Nov. 13. The album is set to be released Friday December, 11.
Photo Cred: Kevin Lombardo
“February” is a breakup track with dark wit and immaculate production. It transitions into jazzier components as the song carries on. According to Cool Hunting the “lyrics of conflict paint a picture of distaste and concern over a person caught up in vice-laden and content-streaming lifestyle.” Hudgins’s prominent vocals are raw and emotive, a highlights as they blend with the song’s instrumental. In addition to his vocals, Hudgins has songwriting credits for creating his compelling track.
Drive Thru Communion will feature 13 tracks that were all recorded in different studios and bedroom closets across the country. The various locations helped bring a dark peculiarity characteristic that fans have never heard from Brooks Hudgins.
Hudgins has also released two other tracks during 2020 including “405 South” and his debut double single “Only Fans/Gas Station Viagra.” Record producer and former violinist, Grant Gardner, teamed up with Hudgins at Corner Store Studios in Ridgewood, NY to record Drive Thru Communion. Despite little experience, the duo created an alt-country album that shows flashes of brilliance and moments of musical amateurism.
Hudgins started out his musical career as a techno DJ who split time between LA and the UK. He later settled in New York and tried his hand at songwriting and recording tracks in his Bushwick basement studio while working at Sugarfish restaurant at night. Hudgins used his screenwriting experience to write and produce an eight-episode season of an iHeart Country Musical Podcast for MGM and WME. The podcast featured Billy Bob Thornton, Miranda Lambert, Dennis Quaid and Craig Robinson.
The popular Blue Note Jazz Club and Restaurant is finally re-opening their doors to jazz lovers and music enthusiasts alike, with a set capacity limit of 25 percent.
Promotion for Blue Note’s first night of re-opening.
I am very happy to announce that the Blue Note will reopen for dining this holiday season. The safety of our guests is our highest priority and our staff is working around the clock to ensure our guests have a comfortable dining experience.
Steven Bensusan, President of Blue Note Entertainent Group
Blue Note originally had to close because of the Covid-19 shutdown. Although they kept active by streaming live shows online, there’s nothing like an in-person jazz experience.
Starting Nov. 27, the club will provide dinner services for selected evenings from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., along with brunch on selected weekends from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dining packages will also be available to guests who want to experience the “magic of the holidays,” at Blue Note. The diners will be able to experience a list of respectable musicians while eating their meals.
The Greenwich Village club has been around for almost four decades. Opening in 1981, Blue Note became a center for culture and music in New York City. They are known as one of the premier jazz clubs in the world, where they strive to preserve the history of jazz. In the past, they featured renowned artists like, Chick Corea, Joe Lovano, John Scofield, and Chris Botti. The club also frequently promotes up-and-coming jazz, hip-hop, R&B and soul musicians.
Dining packages start at $45 per person, while livestream access is $10. Regardless of whether you would like to enjoy a meal in the presence of a jazz show or do the same thing from home, all the information and payments can be made at Blue Note’s website.
Incidental Music Calendar:
Maurice “Mobetta” Brown Residency – Nov 24, Dec 4, Dec 11, Dec 18
Eddie Palmieri Residency – Nov 28, Dec 5, Dec 12, Dec 19, Dec 26
New York City was much different in the early 1980s then it is today, and without Carnival Crash. The city had a dangerous seediness that was fueled by a Reagan era recession and a deadly arms race that was being perpetrated between the Super Powers of East and West. Everyday could be your last, and the young people of that time questioned everything and trusted no one. They banded together with a “can’t take it with you” attitude that challanged all of the prevailing norms of Reagan’s 80’s America. This cacophony of chaos was the genesis of the post-punk movement, which created some of the most iconic music in history in dank & dirty NYC punk clubs like CBGB and the famed 82 Club.
Bands like the Talking Heads and Television transcended from the punk scene to legendary heights, but for every success there were a multitude of brilliant but brief post punk outfits that never made it out of the NYC scene. This unfortunately was the case for Carnival Crash, a three piece dynamo that lasted just about two years, but luckily for the listener, this obscure trio left us a glorious time capsule. Their legacy of recordings, compiled on It Is A Happy Man (Obelisk Records), stands the test of time. This seven track gem of an EP is the reissue of two different recording sessions that Carnival Crash engaged in back in 1981 and 1982, before they ultimately disbanded later that year.
The now defunk trio was comprised of Norman Westberg (guitar), Ivan Nahem (vocals/drums), and John Griffin (bass/vocals). Although the lifespan of Carnival Crash was short, the members left their mark with tracks like “Tell Tale Heart.” Nahem’s vocals and Griffin’s bass paint the picture of a smoke filled club with sticky floors and plenty of patrons adorned in black leather “slamming” to the hypnotic beat. The band showcases Westburg’s club seasoned guitar stylings, as well the band’s affinity for the classic monster genre with just a dash of twisted humor with numbers like “Frakenstein” and “Edge Of Night.” Both songs could easily be used today on any maccabe low budget horror flick soundtrack.
Carnival Crash brings out their inner Bauhaus with Griffin’s haunting vocals and Nahem’s spot-on percussion work for the album’s fifth and sixth tracks “Nostalgia” and “Method 1.” The recording fidelity on these tracks could be described as poor compared to today’s digitally sanitized world, but these numbers were recorded on a TEAC 4-track recorder way back in 1981. The roughness and grittiness of these recording works in complete synergy to the Carnival Crash’s artistic aesthetic. There are no fancy modern Pro Tools production gimmicks like auto tune on this EP. The band just provides a boat load of reverb with healthy dose of post punk angst and pure artistic expression.
Although their tenure as a band was brief, the members of Carnival Crash continued to create powerful and provocative art throughout the years and are still at it even today. Norman Westberg went on to join Michael Gira as the guitarist for NYC experimental rock band Swans, which would eventually disband in 1997. Westburg still creates music performing and recording as a solo act. Ivan and his brother Andrew formed Ritual Tension with Michael Shockley and Marc Sloan which has recently re-formed after their dissolution in the early 1990’s. They are currently touring and have recorded a new album It’s Just The Apocalypse, It’s Not The End, will be released this Fall on Arguably Records. John Griffin is still producing work as a painter and musician . His latest musical project is called the griffin morrissey catastrophe.
It Is A Happy Man by Carnival Crash will be released by Obelisk Records later this month. The record will be pressed on a limited run of 150 copies on chartreuse vinyl as well as being available in a digital format.
Flushing Town Hall announced a jazz lineup which started back on November 11 and will run through December 20. The program currently includes five different performances throughout both months. A sixth event will ‘spill over the bar-line’ into 2021. The first two programs have come and gone, but the jazzy fun is far from over.
The Town Hall is a Smithsonian affiliate and is located in Queens in New York City that presents multi-disciplinary global arts to engage and educate global communities. They are a member of the New York City’s Cultural Institutions Group (CIG). They have restored and managed the historic 1862 landmark on behalf of the City of New York. Specifically they try to embrace the history of Queens as the home of jazz, by presenting the finest in jazz performance. Although the historic venue’s doors have been temporarily closed due to COVID-19, Flushing Town Hall continues to pursue its mission of bringing people together by providing global arts for a global community through its online series,FTH at Home! Which will be presenting the November and December programming.
On Thursday, November 19, 7:30 p.m. EDT Flushing Town Hall will present “Lioness: Women in Jazz Concert Series Featuring Lauren Sevian’s LSQ” The series featured Lauren Sevian’s LSQ with Lauren Sevian (baritone saxophone), Helen Sung (piano), Christian McBride (bass) and E.J. Strickland (drums). Tune in to YouTube for a free pre-recorded streaming performance, taped just for this event, followed by a LIVE Q&A with the musicians.
On Wednesday, December 9 at 7 p.m. EDT the Virtual Jazz Jam “Holiday Party” will be taking the stage. This is the Flushing Town Hall’s free Virtual Jazz Jam: Celebrating the Legacy of Louis Armstrong. Open to amateur and professional musicians, including high school students, jammers are invited to perform their favorite holiday song, and recall any memory around their tune. Participants can also show-off their family’s traditional holiday treats and drinks, and toast the season.
The programming will wrap up on Sunday, December 20 at 5:30 PM EDT with “New Music Horizons – Collaborative Artists in Concert.” This will be part 2 of the Bruce Arnold & The Mark Wade Trio New Music Horizons Part II presents two more dynamic jazz composers Bruce Arnold and Mark Wade. Bruce Arnold will present a set of solo acoustic guitar featuring his style of lyrical melodies and raw dissonances. The Mark Wade Trio will follow with their brand of group interplay and expressive improvisation that has brought them an international following.
To participate, musicians should email education@flushingtownhall.org and identify a three- to four-minute tune they intend to play (live or pre-recorded). Only 15 musicians will be selected on a first-come, first-served basis. Anyone is invited to tune in to the LIVE VIRTUAL jam and listen on Facebook or Zoom.
The Lioness: Women in Jazz Concert Series Featuring the Lioness Ensemble was scheduled for Sunday, December 13 at 2:30 p.m. EDT but has been postponed until 2021. This women in Jazz Concert Series will feature the Lioness Ensemble with Alexa Tarantino (alto saxophone), Jenny Hill (tenor saxophone, flute), Lauren Sevian (baritone saxophone), Amanda Monaco (guitar), Akiko Tsuruga (organ) and Sylvia Cuenca (drums). Tune in to YouTube for a free pre-recorded streaming performance, taped just for this event, followed by a LIVE Q&A with the musicians.
Catch Up on Past Events:
On November 11, the Jazz Jam celebrated “November Gratitude.” This event celebrated the Legacy of Louis Armstrong invited musicians and jazz aficionados to participate or simply listen during its monthly jam session. In November, musicians will choose songs that fit into the theme “November Gratitude.”
The “New Music Horizons – Collaborative Artists in Concert” took place on Saturday, November 14, 7:00 p.m. EDT. It featured part-I of the David Shenton & The Mark Wade Trio who are two dynamic jazz composers. David Shenton is a classical composer and Mark Wade is a jazz composer.
To attend the programming or get more information on it visit Flushing Town Hall’s website.
