With divisions across the country on display through peaceful protest and violence, songs of unity and calm are not the first thought, but can provide an escape, even if briefly, giving pause amid the chaos in cities throughout the state and America. One of those songs is “My Sisters and Brothers”
Originally written by Charles Johnson of The Sensational Nightingales, Jerry Garcia Band would perform “My Sisters and Brothers” numerous times from the 1970s through the 1990s, and is featured on Jerry Garcia Band. The version below is the encore of the October 28, 1987 (late) show from the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in Manhattan.
Words are like honey; they can be sweet to hear but the message might not always stick. And over time, messages get lost in translation. Take the late great Muhammad Ali, who refused to fight in the Vietnam war because, as only he could put it, “no Vietcong ever called me n*****.” When Ali took his stance, he was stripped of his world championships, boxing license and was vilified by the public.
“I am not allowed to work in America and I’m not allowed to leave America,” Ali said in February. 1968, the start of his first full year of exile from boxing. “I’m just about broke.” This is why the Kaepernick comparisons aren’t apt. While Ali struggled to afford groceries, Kaepernick is backed by a billion-dollar corporation in Nike. After Ali’s passing in 2016, revisionist history took over. Ali’s mid-career struggles were now celebrated. Despite being spurned by the very country that now celebrates him.
What does this all have to do with Lauryn Hill? Well, have you ever asked yourself how the first woman to be nominated in ten Grammy categories in a single year, and the first woman to win five trophies in one night found herself out of the spotlight a couple of years after her acclaimed solo debut? Well, I’m here to tell you this was coming all along, oh and she warned us about it.
Lauryn Hill’s Revelation
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is a magnum opus of black music, encompassing the best of multiple genres. However, due to her lack of activity musically, Lauryn Hill’s presence in contemporary pop culture is now reduced to jokes about her punctuality, and not the sacrifice she herself prophesied.
On “Final Hour,” the album’s seventh track, she makes her priorities apparent, regardless of her status as a world-famous entertainer. In the chorus she raps “you can get the money; you can get the power. But keep your eyes on the Final Hour.” With the “Final Hour” representing religious salvation. She even raps later in the record “I’m making sure I’m with the 144.” The 144 is a reference to the Book of Revelations. In it 144,000 people are specifically chosen by God to serve as his agents.
by 1998, Lauryn Hill had taken the world by storm
Lauryn Hill has always been open about her faith and spirituality yet, in her earlier work as a member of The Fugees, religious references were further and fewer in between. So, what changed? After selling millions of records, winning awards and being propped as the face of a generation of women, had Lauryn Hill learned new information that brought on this stance?
Decoding The Lyrics
At the end of the first verse she says, “People feel Lauryn Hill from New-Ark to Israel (clever play on words here as she makes a reference to the “Ark of the Covenant” and she’s from Jersey). And this is real, so I keep makin’ the street ballads, while you lookin’ for dressin’ to go with your tossed salad.” Followed by the aforementioned chorus, these lyrics emphasize her stance on the music industry. After all, tales of the the entertainment industry’s sexual deviance are now far too common. Hence, the “dressing” and “tossed salad” lines.
Throughout the song, she juxtaposes her glamorous life with her faith. Symbolizing that one wouldn’t be there without the other. In the last verse she says, “now I’m a get the mozzarella like a Rockefeller / Still be in the church of Lalibela, singing hymns a cappella / Whether posed in Maribella in Couture / or collecting residuals from off The Score.” While it may seem braggadocious, she lets the listener know what she would choose if it came time for a decision by saying, “I’m making sure I’m with the 144.”
Hence why she denounced the “dressing” (a symbolism for opulence) because the cost is her spirituality and beliefs. Being Lauryn Hill of course, (at one time one of the world’s most popular entertainers) there may not have been an option to continue her career without politics, corruption and possible harassment (there’s Harvey Weinstein’s in the music industry too).
Aftermath
It comes as no surprise that by the turn of the millennium, Lauryn Hill was out of the public eye. Yet, sehe returned in 2002 with her MTVUnplugged No. 2.0 live album. However, critics weren’t as kind this time around, as chic hip hop girlie Lauryn way to a spiritually devoted Mrs. Lauryn Hill. While her lyrics pick up where she left of on “Final Hour.” So, no. Lauryn Hill didn’t go crazy, she didn’t lose her rapping and songwriting abilities. She made a decision.
Lauryn Hill is now 45 years old. She still tours and performs medleys of her most popular songs (oftentimes restructuring the entire song and keeping the lyrics). She never regained the same level of stardom and probably won’t ever grace the covers of Time, Rolling Stone, Vibe, People or Entertainment Weekly ever again. Yet, it seems to have been a conscious sacrifice, preferring to sing her hymns for those that are keen to listen for their education and enjoyment. Not because the machine tells them to.
The 26th annual Schenectady Kids Arts Festival will take place on the weekend of June 6 and 7. The festival is usually held in downtown Schenectady, but due to COVID-19, this staple of the community will be broadcasted on cable television, the Internet and social media and will be viewable from your home this year.
Photo from Schenectady Kids Arts Festival’s website.
The festival will be made up of 28 segments. These segments were created by the participating individuals and organizations who are local artists and entertainers. These segments make up four episodes each lasting approximately one hour. Some of these segments were pre-recorded at Open Stage Media on the MainStage at Proctors in Schenectady. Mike Purcell of A-1 Entertainment of Clifton Park also included submissions of Capital District residents dancing to pre-recorded tracks in each episode.
The festival will feature: Alex Torres & His Latin Orchestra, Puppet People (a professional touring puppet company based in Schenectady,) students of the Dance Me School of Dance and Character Development, the Oneida Middle School Jazz Band, and many more.
The festival can be viewed on Spectrum on channel 1302 in Albany and Schenectady. It will also be broadcasting on Verizon Fios on channel 37 in Albany. The first and second episode will be broadcast live at 10 a.m. and noon on Saturday, June 6. The third and fourth episodes will be broadcast live at noon and 3 p.m. Sunday, June 7. The festival will also be broadcasted live on the Schenectady Kids Arts Festival’s Facebook page. After the live broadcast, the episodes will remain available on the Schenectady Kids Arts Festival’s Facebook page and will become available for streaming free at Open Stage Media’s
Photo from Schenectady Kids Arts Festival’s website.
For more information and a full schedule of events can be found on Schenectady Kids Arts Festival’s website.
In his latest music video “Talk 2 Me,” Nick Deutsch retorts the poetics of up all night running through rainy New York City backend streets to nowhere and isolated vocals searching for a voice on the back of a bar napkin, into tender melodies. “Talk 2 Me” ruptures the singer-songwriter essences of spacial time and place, to recapture the breath behind the vocals in a wholly original inspiration. The best expressions of the human experience don’t tell us what to feel, they provide a compass through ourselves.
“Talk 2 Me” texts the pressing distances between 2AM love lost and the possibility of tomorrow that pulls us inwardly without asking where or when we’ve arrived at the place we embody. Thematically Nick Deutsch constructs a soundtrack for a new depth of vulnerability but also finds playfulness in the unmasking of pretenses. A note on the mantle of infinite possibility, if only you “Talk 2 Me.” Maybe a reminder that all the broken pieces can recoup a liberated spirit of being; The perfect song to cinematic imagery for a pause in reclamation of that breath we all need before the feelings fall out.
Nick Deutsch is a New York based piano playing, indie pop Singer/Songwriter originally from Wilmette Illinois. Jazz arranging and harmony brought Nick to New York University where he met and became friends with Tina Shafer, CEO of the New York Songwriter’s Circle. He has shared the stage with established singer-songwriters Ian Axle, (Great Big World) Billy Porter (Kinky Boots) Rob Mathes (Sting), as well as recorded with American Idol’s finalist Marissa Pontecorvo.
While this may be new music from Nick, he is no stranger to the international music scene for his songs off his EP’s Crazy Ride and Heartsaver have led to nominations for Best Pop Male Vocal (2013 IMEA Awards), and The Great American Song (2013 POP Category). Additionally, his music has been featured on Nickelodeon’s “Jagger Eaton’s Mega Life” and TV Land’s “Younger.”
In the meantime of Nick’s upcoming music releases, visit his website to subscribe to his email newsletters and request a song for his weekly live performances.
In a hilarious new video, moe.’s Rob Derhak waxes philosophical while drinking chocolate syrup from the bottle. “2020 didn’t really turn out the way we all expected did it?,” Derhak asks. “But it still is moe.’s 30th anniversary.”
While moe. can’t celebrate on the road with live shows (just yet), the band is asking on fans to shoot videos and share photos of their favorite memoe.ries using the hashtag #thisisnotweare.
Submissions are open through Monday, June 8, with 10 winners selected to enjoy a virtual happy hour with the band.
NYC-based indie folk artist Hayfitz releases debut album Capsules, which debunks the value of time and nurtures brief yet defining experiences into lush songs.
The foundation of Capsules was recorded over eighteen days in a Seattle home surrounded by idyllic views of the Puget Sound and the region’s mountains and evergreens. The setting brought Hayfitz the emotional space to deliver the record with resolve, bringing intentional details to each song and distilling the franticness of a Brooklyn lifestyle.
Capsules took on its current shape in a secluded winter cabin in Parker, Pennsylvania where friend turned collaborator, Patrick Gregg, hosted Hayfitz for two separate week-long periods. Each inspired by contemporaries like Andy Shauf and Chad Vangaalen, Gregg and Hayfitz collaborated to bring a range of woodwinds to the recording process, with Gregg playing everything from bass clarinet to saxophone. Gregg’s added aptitude in both modular and analog synthesis formed the underlying soundscapes that created a cohesive record, running Hayfitz’s demo midi sequences through various vintage synthesizers.
The album opens up with the song “Pinpoint,” an illustration of Hayfitz’s complicated and perplexing emotions towards a girl. Throughout the album are songs like “Daylight,” that display Hayfitz’s fear and susceptibility and “Hold On,” which demonstrate Hayfitz’s perseverance to have strength and hope in his darkest moments. The song “Kitchen,” relates to today’s current situation, making it the perfect quarantine reflection:
“Kitchen” is about being left alone with someone you’ve just met and quickly becoming enamored with them. We hardly ever have control over the circumstances of these first moments we share with a stranger and it’s utterly terrifying to think about what’s going through their head. It’s oddly coincidental that my song about being unexpectedly trapped in a kitchen is coming out during a time where we now all find ourselves in isolation, without having planned for it. We’re finding expedited and deeper connections with those who we’re sharing our small spaces with and being forced to adapt immediately to this new way of life.
People have experienced feelings of fear and uncertainty due COVID-19, but Hayfitz’s album communicates that all we have to do is just “Hold On.”
Window Sessions, the first official performance series presented and hosted by Lark Hall, will continue on Friday, June 19 with a performance by Victory Soul Orchestra, in commemoration of Juneteenth.
The ongoing series will also serve as a fundraiser with funds collected to be donated to local organizations such as Voix Noire, Urban Grief, African American Cultural Center, All of Us, and Citizen Action of New York, all of whom continue the upward mobility of communities of color in the Capital Region.
“As every venue and theater has had to identify ways to recalibrate, as a new venue, we decided that this would be a great way to introduce our space to musicians and artists,” said Justin Miller, co-owner.
“Through Window Sessions, we’re able to support not just a great cause in that of Feed Albany, but to add some much needed vibrancy back to Lark Street,” noted Jennifer Miller, co-owner.
The innovative performance series will simulcast performances to YouTube and Lark Hall’s social media channels, in addition to amplified through the venue’s historical windows. In compliance with state guidance regarding entertainment, only the musicians and essential personnel will be allowed. On-street listeners at the corner of Hudson Avenue and Lark Street may listen, so long as they are social distancing and not impeding upon sidewalk right-of-way.
The fourth installment of Window Sessions features Victory Soul Orchestra and Jordan Taylor Hill & Friends, in a performance centered around uplifting black voices and bringing awareness to social justice causes.
The performance takes place on the historic date that commemorates the emancipation of slavery. Victory Soul Orchestra as well as Hill & Friends perform in efforts to heighten awareness of social injustice and to recognize the groups in our community that highlight the voices and needs of black people.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNc8qJ-HnPY
Viewers and listeners can visit Lark Hall on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube for the Window Sessions feed starting at 5PM on Friday, June 19. Additional performances will be announced on social media. Stay tuned to NYS Music for weekly updates.
Located in the heart of Albany’s Lark Street neighborhood, Lark Hall is a multi-use performing arts and community-oriented venue. Owned and operated by Justin and Jennifer Miller, Lark Hall provides an unparalleled live music and performance experience for both fans and artists alike.
The venue, previously a dance studio for the last 80 years, recently underwent renovations and was slated to open its doors in Summer 2020 before mass gathering events including live music were cancelled. Lark Hall will fill a void when it does officially open, providing Lark Street, Albany’s ‘Village in the City,’ with a large music venue able to hold 400 plus attendees.
Dan Smalls is a promoter who works in central New York and the surrounding areas. He heads Dan Smalls Presents (DSP), which promotes concerts and events in Cooperstown, Syracuse and Albany, as well as DSP’s home base in Ithaca. NYS Music spoke to Small about how COVID-19 is affecting the music industry, particulary in a smaller market such as Ithaca.
Dan Smalls. Photo via Dan Smalls.
Nora Hones: As a promoter, what are the difficulties you expected to undergo during COVID-19, and what are some unexpected challenges?
Dan Smalls: Well I think they are both the same honestly. There is so much uncertainty with what people know about the disease and how it’s transmitted, I think we are pretty clear that our business is the one that is the most affected. Anytime people are indoors and are in close proximity for a period of time you’re gonna have a problem. So we sort of expected there to be issues, maybe not as much as there was, but the hardest part is not knowing when we will be back to doing shows again.
In the same vain, I don’t expect it to be the same again. Things changed when 911 happened and I think the future of the music industry is very different now. That being said we are luckily going into it in a really good place, where we feel like surviving it will be okay and we are pretty forward thinking in how we are as a company. So I think we will be prepared for whatever comes next and be ready to capitalize on it.
Dan Smalls speaking into microphone. Photo via Dan Smalls.
NH: In a city like Ithaca, that has a really big music scene and central business, what are fallouts you are expecting due to the pandemic?
DS: Well I think this community is relatively isolated, at least when you talk about Ithaca, in that it’s driven from education and the services surrounding it. That being said education is impacted and if people aren’t coming back to town then that will affect our community more than most. In most economic downturns, cities like Ithaca can survive pretty well because education is always here. It’s not manufacturing, it’s not things that change. If kids don’t come back it’ll be a little more [difficult] than in the past. So we will have to see, I think Ithaca College is very bold by saying they are going to have kids on campus this fall but who knows at this point. Like anyone who says that stuff it’s a little bit of an interesting choice at this point.
NH: So coming off of that [vein of thought] as a promoter who is working through this, what are your ideas of how things will work once they start the phased reopening of different venues like, State Theater vs. the Beak and Skiff?
DS: I’m not going to pull punches here, but my opinion is that we’re (and maybe I’m wrong, I hope I am) but I don’t think indoor shows in theaters are going to be. I think the best case-scenario is probably March or April of 2021 at th0is point. I think outdoor shows next summer we have a better chance, but again, all of this is predicated on so many unknowns. Will there be a treatment or a breakthrough? I’m not a proponent of believing a vaccine will come out any quicker than in the past, but I’m also not trying to get elected so I don’t have to say these things. But it’s definitely doom and gloom to believe it’s going to be a long time but it’s better to be prepared for a longer break and come out of it in different ways and find ways to spend the time like with different types of programming or content creation in the meanwhile.
NH: I 100% agree with you. I think it’s going to be a long time before we are back to indoor shows.
How is that really going to work with them being postponed all at the same time and trying to prioritize?
DS: There is for sure lots of traffic, but that being said I think we are going to manage it pretty well and it will come together as it does. I think there will be a lot of opportunities when it’s done with bigger acts playing in smaller venues just because they will be afraid with how much their tickets will be worth. But there will be a lot of traffic, no doubt. This is how people make money now so the question is: how do we manage that and prioritize?And really, I hate to keep going back to it, but there is just a ton of unknowns. How many venues will survive? Luckily our partners are mostly in very good shape and I think we are going to chrome out of it okay but we will have to see. It depends how long [this pandemic] goes on for.
NH: I know you are involved in some smaller festivals like the Ithaca Reggae Fest for example, how do you think this pandemic will affect small festivals like that across the United States?
DS: They are all going to lose a year.
NH: For sure, but how many do you think will be able to come back in the capacity they were used to coming back in every year?
DS: Well again, it’s going to depend on how the industry is going to [handle things]. Everything is going to be understated, I really believe it’s going to take years to get back to what we are used to. So a lot of them will probably not take the risk. A lot of it was dictated by sponsorship dollars and all of that and I don’t know if all of that will be as out there when the economy is struggling.
NH: Have you seen a lot of sponsorships getting pulled?
DS: Not at this point. It’s more just that everyone is trying to believe that a future will come back around and I just don’t know if the sponsorship piece of that is [will,] it’s relatively small at this point.
Dan Smalls (right). Photo via Dan Smalls.
NH: What’s your thoughts a venue’s chance of surviving with so many small businesses closing?
DS: Being the Vice President of the Independent Promoter Alliance not-for-profit, that recently formed to help guide indie performers and their venues, I’m hearing a lot of challenges from a lot of people. The question is just who is going into this in a position where they aren’t behind the eight-ball financially I guess. Venues who serve food and things like that have been able to pivet pretty well, at least some of them have, it really just comes down to how management has done in the past and how they run their businesses. I don’t know how else to put it.
We don’t have a ton of venues of that size. We generally have [places that are] 300 and up [for capacity] but I hope they [venues] all find a way though. I really do but I think looking at what’s happening to restaurants in NYC [you can see] there is going to be a lot of fallout here and the question is just how long we can prop them up or whether the economy will come back quicker than people will believe. Again, I hate to go back to uncertainty, but that’s all we really are talking about here. It’s hard to make a prediction.
NH: For sure, everything is very uncertain right now. And there is so much fake news out there, nobody really knows what’s going on.
DS: I wish they never created it. I wish it was just news, you know?
NH: Me too, believe me I always have to tell people you have to check out the website you’re looking at.
What are your thoughts about bands, who are smaller local bands whose members supplement their income with performing, how it’s going to affect these bands and their members who are no longer able to supplement their income?
DS: Well a lot of them are finding creative ways though selling special merch or doing live-streams and stuff like that, and I think that’s all we really have for now. So the question is who can do them [the most] creative, and do them a little more uniquely, and go from there. I think how you find ways to stand out in that game are important.
Photo via Dan Smalls.
NH: What kind of advice would you give to musicians who are trying these creative ways to supplement their income?
DS: What I think, is that there are so many – It’s the wild wild west. There is no other way to put it. The more I think about it, anything goes tight now. Everybody is talking to everybody and the goal is just how do we take care of each other through this? The spirit of working together between managers and agents and promoters and venues has never been better and that’s what I think we are looking for in this. Let’s work together and go from there, you know?
NH: Definitely. Have you heard about these social distancing concerts that have been being put on, like the one in Arkansas?
DS: I will completely say no thanks. That’s not something I’m interested in doing. I think they are just such a terrible experience we aren’t interested in those at this point.
NH: I think that’s the safe and fair opinion on them at this point. It seems like a very risky revenue and road to go down.
DS: Yeah I agree. It’s just for us how we categorize our business, [is] we have been a forward thinking artist and fan-centric business. And we want the best experience for both the fan and the artist. It’s been our motto and our goal from day one. So that being said we’re not going to start doing things different because of this. We would rather wait it out and do it proper.
NH: So what kinds of things are you doing currently, despite COVID-19 sort of destroying everyone’s plans? I saw you’re doing the live-stream for Bob Dylan’s birthday, but what other things is Dan Smalls Presents currently doing?
DS: We are going to keep doing those [live-streams] for the State Theater and some one offs here and there for other venues close to us. We’re announcing some ticked live-stream stuff in the next couple of weeks here with the Whitney show this week and we should have a couple more of those coming. We are making the best use of the time. We’re gonna do our best to just keep coming up with creative ideas and that’s our goal. More will come out of this for working with managers on lots of crazy ideas. So stay tuned, everyday is a new idea.
NH: So how do the ticketed live-streams work? I’ve seen some different things about them but I’m not sure exactly how they work. Do people buy a ticket and get a code for the live-stream or something like that?
DS: Yup, they buy a ticket and it gives them access. Whitney has done it, Japanese Breakfast has done it, there’s a bunch of them that have happened already. They’re pretty cool. They are just another way [to do things.] There are two schools of thought, the suggested donation generally works pretty well but some of them want to have a wall up and have a ticket and that works. It’s really simpler than it looks. It’s just like buying a ticket to a show and all they do is send you a link and a code to get into to watch it.
NH: Okay, awesome, that sounds really cool. So that was pretty much all my questions. Do you have anything else you would like to say? Anything else you would like to put out into the world?
DS: I wish the news was better and everything was more solid but unfortunately at this point we just don’t know. It’s day by day, hour by hour, and it’s a good time to take stock of your friends and your family and your life. What we [have] learned is that the go, go, go mentality doesn’t have to come back that way. I have been pretty good about that even in the past. I think we were ready for this, we were prepared for it from a financial standpoint, we will weather the storm and come out the other side strong.
Dawn, an all-night cultural arts festival, will take place virtually on May 28 and 29 from 7PM to 6AM PT (10PM-9AM ET) for the celebration of Shavuot. The 11 hour celebration will include three reimagined tracks of the 10 Commandments as well as art, comedy, music, film, and conversation. Shavuot is a Jewish holidays that commemorates both the first harvest of early summer, as well as the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai following the exodus from Egypt.
The event will live-stream on Reboot’s website. The festivities will include Yoga, Meditation, Sound Bath, Cooking Class, Music, DJ Dance Party among the many activities.
One of the main attractions will be an Original Score by Cecil B Demille of the Ten Commandments pt.1 performed by Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, Steven Drozd of the Flaming Lips and Scott Amendola. This reimagining of the silent era film from 1923 will be split into two stories. The first revolving around the Jewish Exodus from Egypt and a present day, or present for 1923, melodrama. The new score will musically follow Moses out of Egypt and into the dessert where he receives the Ten Commandments.
The Dawn celebration will also have lots of other appearances. Others on the bill include Jill Soloway, Carl Reiner, Norman Lear, Gabi Moskowitz, Kasher vs. Kasher (Moshe Kasher and Rabbi David Kasher), Michaela Watkins, John Schott, Tiffany Shlain, The Milk Carton Kids, Zackary Drucker, and AJ Jacobs.
The festival is being put on by Reboot and the Jewish Emergent Network. Reboot has put on festivals in the past in San Francisco for Shavuot but because of COVID-19 this year’s programming will be a little different. The hope of these organizations is that moving to a digital platform will make them accessible to a larger audience.
Hamilton Movie Theater has announced that they will continue Hamilton Unity Concerts starting Sunday, May 31 and running through the end of June.
Concerts will be live streamed at 7PM on their Facebook page. Hamilton Unity Concerts Part II will support a variety of non-profit organizations. A link will be provided on their Facebook page for people to donate to the organizations and offer tips to the artists.
The concerts will kick off with Vermont-based indie-rock band Jesse Taylor on May 31. Other artists who will perform include: Liz Fiddle, Jeffrey Monty, Sam Herbert, and Blaine Holcolmb. Check out more details below.
