NYS Music 202​0

Category: News Desk

  • Caffe Lena Adds New Classes To Music School

    This fall, Saratoga’s Caffe Lena is expanding its music school. First announced back in January, the Caffe Lena School of Music has proven so popular it’s offering even more classes for children and adults alike.

    Caffe Lena Music School
    Photo from Caffè Lena’s website.

    “With people cooped up and needing a positive outlet, especially school kids, the timing turned out to be unexpectedly good,” said Caffè Lena School of Music Coordinator, Vivian Nesbitt.

    Saratoga musicians Oona Grady and James Gascoyne will continue overseeing the children’s program, with fall classes beginning on September 15. Courses include beginner and intermediate fiddle, ukulele, and guitar, as well as Irish tin whistle and fiddle tunes. If students qualify for free or reduced school lunch, the school offers full scholarships for their lessons and instruments.

    Each class consists of 10 weekly 40 lessons over Zoom in groups of four. Despite the distance, Caffè Lena seeks to uphold the tradition of teaching and learning folk music as a group. Parents have praised the program, calling it “a stellar service” that inspires “motivation to keep the creative spark alight.”

    “This is how people entertained themselves before radio and television turned us into music listeners instead of music makers,” said Nesbitt. “It fills our hearts to make music together, even if it has to be online for now.”

    Adult classes are 4 weekly lessons of 90 minutes each, also via Zoom. Two-time Grammy winners Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer have joined the faculty, teaching beginner clawhammer and guitar. Other adult classes include songwriting and accompaniment with Dan Navarro, blues guitar with Guy Davis, and clawhammer banjo and old-time fiddle with Bruce Molsky. Caffè Lena’s website has suggested experience levels for some courses.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CDl79mnpImi/

    “We believe in the power of music to get us through the hard times,” continued Nesbitt. “Zoom is not what we had in mind when we launched the School of Music, but it won’t be long before these students are on stage in front of a live audience. Our dream is that the next generation of folk musicians will be born out of this crisis.”

    Thanks to its increased online presence, the legendary folk venue is still going strong despite restricted operations. In addition to its burgeoning music school, the cafe has been offering a near-nightly “Stay Home Sessions” streaming series on YouTube. The full calendar of Caffè Lena events is available on their website.

  • JazzFest White Plains Announced Virtual Festival Dates

    JazzFest White Plains announced virtual festival dates. The virtual festival will take place September 8-11 and will host a variety of artists. The 9th annual JazzFest White Plains will be streamed on Zoom and on Facebook. 

     The four days of Jazz will include not only performances but conversations as well. It will feature a mixture of artists at the forefront of jazz and rising stars. From Westchester jazz talent to jazz masters the festival will be something spectacular for Jazz enthusiasts. JazzFest White Plains are teaming up with the spirit of Arts Westchester’s annual ArtsBash. 

    The festivities will start at 4:30 – 5:30PM on September 8 with the  “ArtsBash Virtual Mixology” event making Jägermeister cocktails and live jazz music by The Rico Jones Trio. Then at 6PM there will be a “presenting Jazz in the time of COVID-19” conversation. At 8PM the night will wrap up with “Westchester Jazz: Then and Now” featuring Art Bennett on sax, Kathryn Farmer on piano and vocals, Kenny Lee on trumpet, and Rocky Middleton on bass.

    The second day will start at noon on September 9 with a performance form “Isabella Mendes & Flavio Lira Duo.” At 6PM there will be “Jazz Education in Westchester” conversation. Wrapping up at 8PM the “Jazz, From One Generation to the Next” event will happen featuring conversations and performances by Alexis Cole and Lucy Wijnands, Bobby Sanabria and Gabrielle Garo, and Ulysses Owens Jr. and Aaron Jennings.

    On the third day September 10 the fun will start bright and early at 8AM with “Jazz at the Intersections” performances featuring Amir ElSaffar with an Arabic music and jazz combination, Jomion & the Uklos with a West African/Carribean music and jazz combination, and Pablo Mayor with a Columbian music and jazz combination. 

    On the last day September 11 the festival will wrap up at 8PM with “Jazz’s Rising Stars” featuring performances of Connie Han on piano, Matthew Whitaker on piano, Veronica Swift on vocals, and Alicia Olatuja on vocals. There will also be a moderated discussion about what it’s like to be a young rising star in jazz today which will be moderated by Keanna Faircloth, WBGO.

    The festival is free to the public but is accepting donations online here. People wanting to register for certain events to get the zoom link can do so on JazzFest White Plains’ website. The events will also all be live streamed on Arts Westchester’s Facebook Page. 

    For more information visit JazzFest White Plains’ website.

  • Bronx Music Heritage Center Presents The Bronx Blast

    Bronx Music Heritage Center is bringing viewers the Bronx Blast on their Facebook page. The Bronx Blast are mini-performances that will be presented in front of the Bronx Music Hall. The theater is currently under construction and will be a future home to the Bronx Music Heritage Center.

    bronx music heritage center

    In July, Martha Zarate and Pilar Maez of Mazarte Dance Company danced to “El gavilancito,” a song from the son jarocho tradition from Veracruz, Mexico. “Jarocho” describes the people and culture of the southern coastal plain of Veracruz. The song, dance and costumes represent the Indigenous, Spanish and African influences on the cultural tradition. Watch the video on Facebook.

    For episode two, the Bronx Music Heritage Center brought in Carmelo Soto, Jorge Vazquez, Bobby Sanabria, and Carlos Espada to demonstrate Plena. Plena is one of the traditional forms of music from Puerto Rico, often referred to as the “periódico cantado” or “sung newspaper” as many times the lyrics relate incidents from daily life or commentary on local events. The lyrics to plena was written by Carlos Espada and can be seen below.

    Que bien yo me siento, en esta occasión
    la gran apertura el Bronx Music Hall.

    Oyeee, finalmente, les presento yo,
    este gran proyecto aquí en el Bronx

    Y muchos no saben, fue la visión,
    de Elena Y Bobby, que se construyó

    Que viva, que viva, la diversidad,
    de toda la gente, nuestra hispanidad.

    English Translation:
    How good I feel on this occasion
    of the grand opening of the Bronx Music Hall.

    Finally I present to you
    this great project here in the Bronx

    And many don’t know, it was through
    Elena and Bobby’s vision that it was built.

    Long live the diversity
    of everyone, our Latino community.

    In their latest episode, Nélida Tirado returns home to the neighborhood where she grew up to perform some rumba flamenca in front of the future Bronx Music Hall. Watch the performance here.

    Check out NYS Music’s coverage of The Bronx Music Heritage Center’s concert series that occured this past June.

  • Tom Petty Estate share “Wildflowers” homerecording, album reissue date

    The estate of the late Tom Petty has released the solo demo version of his classic track “Wildflowers (Home Recording).” The video premieres alongside a video featuring never before seen footage of Tom at his home, shot by Martyn Atkins during the recording of Wildflowers.

    Thanks to commitment from his family, bandmates and collaborators, many who helped unearth previously unheard gems, help to fulfill Tom’s vision of this project is becoming a reality.

    You can pre-order the long-awaited reissue and comprehensive collection Wildflowers & All The Rest now, which will be released on October 16.

    Petty Legacy – Adria, Annakim and Dana Petty – shared the following statement upon the announcement of the album’s reissue:

    We are so excited to announce that we will finally be releasing Wildflowers and its long anticipated second album All The Rest, Tom’s solo masterpiece and first collaboration with Rick Rubin as co-producer.

    Curating this project was a beautiful experience for us. We’re releasing the collection as Tom envisioned along with a number of additions exploring the two year writing and recording process and live performances of songs from Tom and the Heartbreakers over the years.

    We found so many incredible unreleased demos, versions of songs, notes, lyrics, and film reels in our archives. We look forward to sharing a number of special goodies with you all.

    In this intimidating endeavor we continued to work alongside Tom’s trusted bandmates and team: Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench, Rick Rubin and Ryan Ulyate as well as Mary Klauzer and Alan “Bugs” Weidel, to lovingly curate each disc and keep it as close to what we believe “rings true” to what Tom would have wanted. We are so grateful to them for their unique knowledge.
    We hope you find joy and inspiration in this music and the magical world Tom created.

    We are honored to steward the warmth he shared through his music and relationship with fans.

    We hope you find it uplifting and love it as much as we do.

  • Acclaimed Record Producer Ian Brennan to Release Inspiring Album “Who You Calling Slow?”

    Grammy award-winning music producer and lauded field-recording trailblazer Ian Brennan will release his most personal album to date featuring the Sheltered Workshop Singers’ debut album, “Who You Calling Slow?”, on Friday, September 18.

    Brennan is renowned for scouring the world in musically underrepresented regions to document singers in an uninhibited, authentic fashion. His most acclaimed recordings include artists such as Tinariwen, Zomba Prison Project, and Malawi Mouse Boys. Brennan’s latest project “Who You Calling Slow?” brings him closest to home as he collaborates for the first time with his older sister, Jane — who has Down syndrome — along with her fellow workshop companions at a Bay Area adult-care facility. 

    Ian Brennan

    With Brennan’s father on hand for this cherished experience as he battled stage-four cancer (and ultimately passed just two months after the recording was complete), an unparalleled recording session took place that the world now has the privilege to hear. A diverse group of over 20 people participated in “Who You Calling Slow?,” ranging in age from early-twenties to sixties. Many of them had disabilities and no one had sung before into a microphone or attempted to play a stringed instrument.

    While Brennan enters each recording project prepared not to release it, a moment of miraculous epiphany came to light when Janet began singing “I’m not afraid of anything” from her wheelchair. The album expresses the hurt, love, and bravery of these sheltered workshop companions.

    Speaking about “Who You Calling Slow?” Brennan shares how his sister inspired him to make this album:

    Growing up, I’d witnessed my sister’s discomfort — eyes steered down sideways and hard, unable to contain her oversized tongue due to the shame — too many times to not remain vigilant and braced for a lifetime. I had little option but to make the right choice: to always side with those marginalized. Jane was diagnosed as ‘severely retarded,’ just one step above the lowest denomination of catatonic and mute. Our main connection was through music — joy expressed through dance, sadness and longing with melody. As her level of functioning has begun to diminish markedly in recent years, I knew the time was now or never to capture moments where music speaks volumes.

  • SummerStage Jubilee Benefit Announced by the City Parks Foundations

    SummerStage Jubilee was announced by City Parks Foundations to benefit free programming in the park. The benefit will take place on September 17, 2020 at 8PM across different virtual platforms. The benefit will include performances from big names like Sting, Norah Jones, and Trey Anastasio and an appearance from Billie Jean King.

    The 2020 SummerStage Jubilee Benefit Concert will help support the free parks programs and ensure they can continue. The City Parks Foundation is the largest presenter of free arts and cultural programs in New York City parks. They serve 300,000 New Yorkers each year through arts, education, sports and community building initiatives. The fundraising being done through the SummerStage Jubilee event will help fund free tennis and golf instruction, experiential, science-based lessons, buying tools and bulbs for volunteers to beautify local parks, providing training, microgrants, and coaching to facilitate their local advocacy. Donations will also help ensure SummerStage, New York City’s largest free music festival, and SummerStage Anywhere, its virtual festival, will remain free and available to all New Yorkers. At a time when public programs have been upended, destroyed, and cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic, the city’s parks have remained open as some of the only public assets available to all still in these trying times. 

     David Barse, City Parks Foundation Board Chairman spoke about the SummerStage Jubilee Benefit Concert saying,  “This benefit concert will help support the important work that the City Parks Foundation does in every community, park and green space we serve in New York City. Although the concert is free, as is our usual SummerStage festival, we hope that viewers will feel motivated to support our work and make donations to keep that work going during these challenging times.”

    The benefit will last an hour and will highlight the various City Parks Foundation programs. SummerStage Jubilee will feature musical performances by Sting, Norah Jones, Trey Anastasio, Rufus Wainwright, Leslie Odom Jr., Rosanne Cash, Emily King, PJ Morton and others to be announced on top of notable advocates for CPF’s work including tennis icon BillieJean King.

    https://youtu.be/BQE9IqKPMAA

    The benefit festival can be viewed  across all SummerStage social platforms (Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and Twitch) via live stream on Thursday, September 17 at 8PM EST. Donations can be made on the SummerStage website.

    For more information on the event visit the City Park Foundations website.

  • 2020 Woodstock Film Festival Embraces Hybrid Format

    Updated: 9/27/2020

    The Woodstock Film Festival 2020 has released the lineup for feature length premieres being showcased at this year’s festival. LOS HERMANOS/THE BROTHERS, WOODSTOCK TUVAN STYLE, ZAPPA, and BEHIND THE STRINGS are four music-related films that will be premiering at the festival. Click on the movie titles below to view a synopses and diretor’s bio for each film.

    LOS HERMANOS/THE BROTHERS (Drive-In) – World Premiere with live musical performance!
    THE HUMAN FACTOR (Drive-In) – East Coast PremiereWOODSTOCK TUVAN STYLE (Drive-In) – World Premiere
    JACINTA (Drive-In) – New York Premiere
    LORELEI (Drive-In) – US Premiere
    A CALL TO SPY (Drive-In) – New York Premiere
    DEAR MR. BRODY (Drive-In) – New York Premiere
    THE DRUMMER (Drive-In) – World Premiere
    ZAPPA (Drive-In) – New York Premiere
    KENNY SHCARF: WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE (Drive-In) – East Coast Premiere
    WHAT BREAKS THE ICE (Drive-In) – World Premiere
    WILDFLOWER (Drive-In) – World Premiere
    FREELAND (Drive-In) – New York Premiere
    THE SIT IN (Drive-In) – New York Premiere
    ASKING FOR IT (Drive-In) – East Coast Premiere
    HORSE LATITUDES (Online) – North American Premiere
    MODEL (Online) – New York Premiere
    PAPER SPIDERS (Online) – New York Premiere
    COMING CLEAN (Online) – New York Premiere
    BEHIND THE STRINGS (Online) – World Premiere
    BARBARA LEE SPEAKS FOR ME (Online) – East Coast Premiere
    SURGE (Online) – East Coast Premiere
    THE PUSHBACK (Online) – East Coast Premiere

    Organizers of the 21st Woodstock Film Festival announced that this year’s festival will be brought to fans through a combination of drive in showings and online viewings. Starting September 30 at 9 a.m. est., the festival will run until October 4 at 11 p.m. est.

    A full lineup of films will be featured at the Greenville Drive-In Outdoor Cinema in Greenville along with the Overlook Drive-In in Poughkeepsie. Other area drive-ins are also slated to participate in this year’s film festival along with special events planned for Woodstock itself.

    Woodstock Film Festival

    The premier independent film festival will be inclusive of those that would prefer to stay at home by offering films for online viewing complete with Q&A sessions with the filmmakers. According to the press release, attendees can also expect a conversation series with members of the film industry. Filmmakers will still be able to attend a modified Maverick Awards ceremony and networking opportunities online.

    “We are all going through challenging times, and challenging times call for innovative approaches. I am thankful that recent advances in contemporary technology, along with the reinvigorated nostalgia for the classic American drive-in have made it possible for us to continue supporting outstanding independent cinema, while offering new and returning audiences alike the opportunity to experience excellent films in safety and comfort.”    

    Woodstock Film Festival Co-Founder and Executive Director Meira Blaustein

    Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, changing direction became the only course of action in order to keep everyone involved safe. The Woodstock Film Festival offices have been closed since mid-March and all in person events were cancelled.

    The Woodstock Film Festival has continued to provide stellar content, shifting programming to online platforms. Provided to the public free of charge, the spring calendar included; live conversations with industry luminaries, notable directors and actors, as well as a curated selection of films with introductions from their filmmakers.

    Individual tickets for films and events at the drive-ins and online will be made available beginning of September, while passes for either the full online film portion of the festival, the full online panel series, or both, are available for purchase now HERE.

  • Beau Fleuve Music & Art Festival Announces 2020 Lineup

    Beau Fleuve Music & Art Festival announced it’s 2020 Lineup for it’s 4th annual festival. The festival will take place on August 30 from 10AM-8PM and will be held virtually this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

    Beau Fleuve Music & Art Festival takes place at City of Buffalo and celebrates all genres of music, arts and culture. The festival strides to be unique and trendsetting while  bridging the gap between generations, communities and cultures. This year’s festivities will be a mixture of live, pre-recorded, and interactive content featuring some of Wester New York’s favorite artists, musicians, curators, and community stakeholders. Annual Beau Fleuve Music & Arts Festival  might be on the virtual screen this year but it will continue it’s traditions of an all day celebration exhibiting a “Mind, Body & Soul” Concept utilizing our platforms to speak to the state of our community, society and self.

    The festival will start at 10AM with an interactive art gallery called the “La Maison Des Arts.”  Throughout the virtual art gallery attendees can literally walk through and purchase art from Western New York’s finest artist. Gallery will feature paintings by artists and visual content. At 12PM there will be a yoga session called the “Yoga Fleuve.”. Attendees will be led by certified yoga instructor Taminka Jones as she guides you through a mental elevation to be liberated and conscious. Rounding in at 2PM the “Buffalo Then & Now” discussion will take place. These discussions will be amongst Buffalo & Western New York Community Stakeholders on the current state of our society, Buffalo past & present, arts community and more. At 4PM there will be the Black Art’ appreciation section titled “Black Art.” The festival is bringing Buffalo and Western New York’s black community to the table to talk about the appreciation for black art & artists, its influence, disparities, and more. At 6PM there will be a performance/ visual art exhibit by Edreys Wajed aka Billy Drease Williams called “Check out my melody?” Wrapping up the festival at 8PM there will be a performance by Curtis Lovell featuring Naila Ansari called the “Night with Beau Fleuve.” 

    Beau Fleuve Music & Art Festival can be attended via their social media platforms on Instagram and on Facebook.

    For more info visit Beau Fleuve Music & Art Festival’s website.

  • Drug Couple Releases Psychedelic EP ‘Choose Your Own Apocalypse’

    Brooklyn-based musical duo Drug Couple has released their sophomore EP Choose Your Own Apocalypse via Papercup. The EP draws inspiration from classic rock greats, like the Rolling Stones, Liz Phair, and REM, exploring finding that someone special to spend the end of times with.

    Choose Your Own Apocalypse

    A real life couple, as well as creative duo, Drug Couple’s music showcases the ongoing dialogue they’re engaged in, and the spirit of deep collaboration that colors their songwriting as well as their lives at home together. The pair released their debut EP Little Hits in November of 2019, establishing their unique brand of “off-kilter indie” (The Deli).

    Their sophomore EP, Choose Your Own Apocalypse, is a collection of songs about finding someone special to share the end-times with. They started writing and recording the EP back in the summer of 2016, as events were leading up to the election of Donald Trump. Drug Couple decided to make an album based around the concept of falling in love mid-apocalypse without fully realizing that’s exactly what they were doing. 

    A meditation on the idea of holding on tight to love during the worst of times, the album (as well as their recently released single “Protest Song”) proved to be oddly prescient, written long before 2020 turned out to be one of the scariest and most trying years in recent memory.  Drug Couple hopes that their clairvoyance wasn’t causal, though they’d be lying if they said they didn’t feel partially responsible for the disintegration of the very fabric of our society. 

  • Hudson Valley Philharmonic Maestro Randall Fleischer passes away suddenly

    Randall Craig Fleischer, Maestro of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic (HVP), passed away suddenly Wednesday night at his home in Los Angeles, CA. Fleischer was much loved by all who knew him and were fortunate enough to create music with him. Fleischer was considered the heart and soul of the HVP.

    Randall Craig Fleischer

    Fleischer became music director of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic in 1992 and was a leading force in the classical music scene all over the United States. His charismatic personality and contagious love of music ignited orchestral brilliance in every concert he conducted.

    He was an active guest conducting career with many major orchestras in the United States and internationally including repeat engagements with the Israel Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Boston Pops, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Utah Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, and Houston Symphony, among others.

    Additionally, he was also music director of the Anchorage Symphony and Youngstown Symphony Orchestra.

    Active as a composer, Mr. Fleischer was also a national leader in the area of symphonic rock and world music fusion. Pioneering these new and growing genres for more than 20 years, he had worked with artists such as John Densmore (The Doors), Natalie Merchant, Blondie, Ani DiFranco, John Cale (Velvet Underground), Garth Hudson (The Band) and Kenny Rogers. Mr. Fleischer’s arrangements and orchestral works have been performed by major orchestras worldwide.

    He also composed several new works focusing on the interrelationship of Native American music and culture and the symphonic realm. He collaborated with artists R. Carlos Nakai, Burning Sky, The Hawk Project and The Benaly Family. Mr. Fleischer’s work “Triumph” premiered in Flagstaff, Arizona in 2005. His work “Echoes” premiered in Washington, D.C. in November of 2008 at the National Museum of the American Indian (Smithsonian). Fleischer’s most recent work entitled “Symphony in Step” features the dance ensemble “Step Afrika” and is the first and only orchestral work featuring the African American dance tradition of “stepping.”

    Mr. Fleischer first came to international attention when, while serving his first of five years as assistant and then associate conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO), he conducted Dvorak’s Cello Concerto with Mstislav Rostropovich as soloist during the NSO’s 1990 tour of Japan and the U.S.S.R. Mr. Fleischer again had the honor of being chosen to accompany Maestro Rostropovich, once more conducting the NSO, this time in Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall in a performance of Prokofiev’s “Sinfonia Concertante” in celebration of the composer’s birth. In December of 1992, he conducted an ensemble of over 70 cellists, including Yo-Yo Ma, and a 190-voice chorus in the Kennedy Center Awards tribute to Rostropovich, televised nationally on CBS, with President and Mrs. Bush presiding.

    Mr. Fleischer studied with Leonard Bernstein as a conducting fellow at Tanglewood in 1989. He served as the assistant conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra from 1986 to 1989. While working toward his master of music at the Indiana University School of Music, he served as chorus master of the I.U. Opera Theater program from 1983 – 1985. Fleischer received his bachelor of music education from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and has studied conducting privately with Otto Werner Mueller and in master class with Seiji Ozawa, Ricardo Muti, Gustav Meier and others.