This week the Disco Biscuits announced that their annual festival, Camp Bisco, which has been held almost-annually since 1999, will take a year off. In its place, City Bisco will return to its original home, The Pavilion at The Mann Center for Performing Arts in Philadelphia for 2 nights over July 9 & 10.
Camp Bisco deserves the absolute best, and we didn’t want to compromise on that.
So, we are canceling the festival this year and refunding all ticket buyers in full. These refunds will begin to process immediately, and will be completed over the next 7-10 days.
— The Disco Biscuits 🌲👽🌲 (@disco_biscuits) June 1, 2021
City Bisco features both The Disco Biscuits and Lotus for two nights, with interlocking DJ sets from Orchard Lounge on Friday and Luke the Knife Saturday.
We’ve been lucky enough to have had a few opportunities over the last year to play shows to our hometown here in Philly – at Citizens Bank Park, the Fillmore and elsewhere – but none of them have had an in person audience. This is the first time we’ve been able to perform at home for a large audience in over a year.
It’s exciting, and there’s something very classic about Lotus and Orchard Lounge being there with us. Our fans are constantly asking us to team up with them – it’s an old school lineup. It’s going to be a special weekend.
The Disco Biscuits’ Jon Barber.
The return to The Mann will mark the fourth official City Bisco, after residing in both Philadelphia and New York City throughout the years since its inception in 2012. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 4 at 12 noon ET at Ticketmaster.com.
While Camp Bisco takes a year off, the festival has a great history, spanning over 4 decades. Read our history of Camp Bisco IV, held in Van Etten, NY in August 2005.
If you’re looking for your Biscuits fix this weekend, tune into Couchtour.tv and Fans.Live for a weekend simulcast of the the Disco Biscuits two-night run from the Westville Music Bowl in New Haven, CT.
Couchtour.tv has been the virtual host for The Disco Biscuits’ fall and spring tours, presenting each broadcast in hi-definition audio and video in real-time and then making them available via video on-demand.
Fans can purchase the livestreams through both platforms, which air Fri. June 4th and Sat. June 5th at 6:30pm ET/ 3:30pm PT.
This summer, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead (JRAD) performs monthly at Westville Music Bowl in New Haven, CT. With shows from Memorial Day weekend through September 4, there are ample opportunities to see the fantastic reimaging of the extended Grateful Dead catalog, along with a heavy dose of improvisation.
Revisit the shows below with photos by Vince Brazen, video from the band, and the detailed setlists for each night.
JRAD at Westville Music Bowl – September 4, 2021 Setlist
Set 1: Don’t Ease Me In*> Cats Down Under the Stars w/ Norwegian Wood and Throwing Stones teases> Tell Me, Momma w/ Jessica tease> Mama Tried, Candyman, Jam w/ The Other One tease> Truckin’ w/ The Other One teases and New Speedway teases
Set 2: Feel Like A Stranger> Help on the Way> Throwing Stones w/ Shakedown teases> Shakedown Street W/ throwing Stones teases> Throwing Stones reprise w/ Land Down Under and Shakedown teases, Comfortably Numb> Morning Dew**
Joe thanks the crowd, tells them we all need live music! Dave Niedbalski from Westville Music Bowl/Lovely Day Presents thanks everyone, said it was the best 9 nights of the summer! Then they unveiled a banner from the upper deck commemorating the 9 show residency.
Encore: One More Saturday Night***>Sugar Magnolia
*First since 3/3/19, 5th time played by JRAD **First time played since 9/13/19 ***First time played since 9/14/19
JRAD continued their no repeat streak in their Westville Bowl residency from July 30-August 1. Amid perfect weather all weekend, a nice change of pace from their two previous runs this summer. The partial capacity crowd (~3,000) at Westville had more seating on the floor this weekend, making it feel a little more crowded, but still short of 50% capacity at the tennis stadium.
Saturday’s show had a jam of Pink Floyd’s “Pigs” during “Birdsong,” bassist Dave Dreiwitz singing “Broken Arrow”, and a monster “Terrapin Station” suite to end the second set. The venue erupted during “Sugar Magnolia,” marking 16 sets of no repeat Grateful Dead covers.
JRAD at Westville Music Bowl – July 31, 2021 Setlist
Set 1: Stagger Lee > Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again* > West L.A. Fadeaway^ > Unbroken Chain jam > West L.A. Fadeaway > I Need A Miracle@ > Birdsong > Pink Floyd Pigs (Three Different Ones) jam > Birdsong Set 2: Broken Arrow > Throwing Stones$ > Ship of Fools > Dark Star > Terrapin Station (full suite) Encore: Sugar Magnolia
*w/ Big Boss Man and Eleanor Rigby teases ^ w/ Uncle John’s Band, Let It Grow and “Your Party” (Ween) teases @ w/ vocal jam and Dark Star teases $ w/ 2001 teases and Phishy Duo jam
On Friday, “Jack Straw” > “Wharf Rat” > “King Solomon’s Marbles” closed a strong first set, and they returned with no let up for set two, with a stellar stretch of “Althea” > “Lost Sailor” > “Saint of Circumstance,” and an acoustic “China Doll” as well, featuring Eric Johnson of Fruit Bats taking lead.
JRAD at Westville Music Bowl – July 30, 2021 Setlist
Set One: Jam -> Friend Of The Devil -> Jack A Roe, Jam -> Black Throated Wind @ -> Jack Straw > Wharf Rat # -> King Solomon’s Marbles Set Two: MB Solo -> Yazoo St Scandal $ -> Jam % -> Golden Road To Unlimited Devotion, Althea > Lost Sailor ^ > Saint Of Circumstance &, China Doll *+, Box Of Rain * Encore: Never Been To Spain *, When You Love Somebody * @@
@ – With a Jack Straw Jam – With Dark Star Teases (TH) $ – With Tennessee Jed Teases (Band) % – With “Maze” (Phish) Teases (Band) ^ – With Let It Grow & Playing In the Band Teases (JR) & – With Terrapin Station Teases (MB & TH) and a “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)” (Four Tops/Holland-Dozier-Holland) Tease (DD) With Eric D. Johnson (Fruit Bats) on Acoustic Guitar and Vocals Not Played by Almost Dead since 2017-10-13, Brooklyn Bowl Brooklyn, NY, a gap of 101 shows @@ – Fruit Bats Cover, Not Played by Almost Dead since 2019-08-16, Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, a gap of 25 shows
Six shows into their run at Westville Music Bowl and JRAD has still not repeated a song. More than 70 songs have been performed since their Memorial Day weekend run, meaning that perhaps, when JRAD returns to Westville July 30-31, they may still continue this streak. To start the night, a 5-piece brass band walked through the crowd towards the stage. Many of them sat in throughout the course of the show, which had four The Band covers, with violinist Katie Jacoby sat in on “Rag Mama Rag.”
JRAD at Westville Music Bowl – June 20, 2021 Setlist
Set 1: Iko Iko, China Cat Sunflower, Ophelia, Operator, Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?, Hard to Handle, Casey Jones
Set 2: Alabama Getaway, Feel Like a Stranger, Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo, Good Lovin’, Let it Rock, Road Runner, Rag Mama Rag, Cats Under the Stars, C.C. Rider
Encore: The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
Highlights from June 19 include JRAD playing the Bob Weir solo tune “Gonesville” as well as working in a few Allman Brothers tunes. “Whipping Post” was teased during “Cumberland Blues” and in Set 2, “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” got the full band treatment.
JRAD at Westville Music Bowl – June 19, 2021 Setlist
Set 1: Jam ->They Love Each Other ->Gonesville ->Cumberland Blues @, Row Jimmy, Mr. Charlie # ->Viola Lee Blues ->Brown-Eyed Women Set 2: Jam ->Here Comes Sunshine >Uncle Johns Band, Alligator >Man Smart, Woman Smarter $, In Memory of Elizabeth Reed %, Peggy-O Encore: Brother Esau @ – With “Whipping Post” (The Allman Brothers Band) Teases (Band) # – Unfinished $ – With a “Reveille” (Traditional) Tease (SM) % – With Dark Star Teases (TH) & a JR Solo
On June 18, JRAD returned to Westville Music Bowl for their second run of the summer. With five bustouts and covers including “All Along The Watchtower” and “Atlantic City,” a sold out crowd was treated to a rare cover of Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London” to close the night.
JRAD at Westville Music Bowl – June 18, 2021 Setlist
Set 1: Jam @ ->New Speedway Boogie # ->Let It Grow, Black Muddy River >All Along The Watchtower$ > Greatest Story Ever Told % -> Dear Prudence Jam -> Greatest Story Ever Told Reprise ^ Set 2: Atlantic City & ->Tell Me Mama * ->Big River, Tennessee Jed +, Cryptical Envelopment @@ ->Crazy Fingers -> The Other One > Stella Blue Encore: Werewolves Of London ##
@ – With “Spoonful” (Willie Dixon ) Teases & Truckin’ Teases (TH) # – With a Playing In The Band Jam & Let It Grow Teases (Band) $ – Scott Vox, Not Played by Almost Dead since 2014-12-29, Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY, a gap of 212 shows % – With a “Dracula” (MMW) Tease (MB) ^ – Not Played by Almost Dead since 2018-03-17 State Theatre, Portland, ME, a gap of 74 shows & – With “China>Rider Transition” Teases (Band) * – With a “Chuckles” (Wolf) Tease (SM) + – With a Hell In A Bucket Tease (Band) and a bit of a “Becky” (Benevento Russo Duo) reference (MB & JR) @@ – Part One, With a Dark Star Jam, Not Played by Almost Dead since 2019-03-16 Masonic Auditorium, Cleveland, OH, a gap of 34 shows ## – Not Played by Almost Dead since 2019-03-01 Palace Theater, Albany, NY, a gap of 40 shows
Over three rainy nights at Westville Music Bowl in New Haven, CT, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead (JRAD) brought music back to life and satiated sold-out crowds with their improvisational takes on the music of the Grateful Dead.
JRAD at Westville Music Bowl – May 28, 2021 Setlist
Set 1: Not Fade Away@ -> Ruben & Cherise -> New Minglewood Blues, Sugaree#, The Wheel$ ->Touch Of Grey% Set 2: When I Paint My Masterpiece^, Foolish Heart& -> Help On The Way -> Slipknot!* -> Hey Bulldog Jam+ -> Slipknot! Reprise, Hell In A Bucket, Dancing in the Street@@, Ripple## Encore: Fuckin’ Up $$ @ – With a “Serpentine Fire” (Earth Wind & Fire) tease (SM) # – Not played by Almost Dead since 2018-01-13 $ – With a “Cold Rain & Snow” Jam (Band) % – With “Ruben & Cherise” Teases in the intro (TH) ^ – Bob Dylan Cover, second time played. Not played by Almost Dead since 2016-11-12 & – With Slipknot! Teases (TH) * – With a “Tom’s Diner” (Suzanne Vega) Tease (SM & JR) + – With some lyrics. Not played by Almost Dead since 2016-11-12 @@ – Proceeded by a Dark Star Tease, with a Loose Lucy Tease (SM), a DD Solo, an MB Solo, hints of “The Wizard” (Black Sabbath), and a JR Solo ## – Not played by Almost Dead since 2019-01-18 $$ – Neil Young Cover, with Chris Harford on Vocals and Guitar
JRAD at Westville Music Bowl – May 29, 2021 Setlist
Set 1: Silvio ->Bertha, Me & My Uncle ->Shakedown Street@, Black Peter# >Music Never Stopped Set 2: Such A Night, Cream Puff War >Truckin$ -> New Speedway Jam% -> Truckin Reprise^ ->St. Stephen& >Tough Mama > I Know You Rider Encore: On The Road Again * @ – With Let It Grow Teases (Band) # – Not played by Almost Dead since 2018-07-19 $ – With a Cryptical Tease (TH) % – Not played by Almost Dead since 2017-08-31 ^ – Not played by Almost Dead since 2018-07-19 & – With Not Fade Away and Good Times Bad Times Teases (JR) and a Caution-esque Jam * – Not played by Almost Dead since 2016-12-29
JRAD at Westville Music Bowl – May 30, 2021 Setist
Set 1: Eyes of the World> Estimated Prophet, Cassidy > Going Down the Road Feelin’ Bad > Candyman, The Eleven, Franklin’s Tower Set 2: Scarlet Begonias > Fire on the Mountain, Beat It on Down the Line, He’s Gone >Playing in the Band, Samson and Delilah Encore: Born to Run
Stuart Bogie sat in on saxophone and flute throughout the night
Samuel E Wright, found of the Hudson Valley Conservatory, voice of Sebastian the crab in 1989’s The Little Mermaid, and Tony Award nominated actor has died at age 72. A longtime resident of Walden, NY, Wright passed away peacefully after a three-year battle with prostate cancer.
Born on November 20, 1948 in Camden, SC, Wright moved to New York City in 1968 to begin his acting career. After a few years in London, Wright returned to perform in 18 Broadway productions, beginning with Jesus Christ Superstar in 1971. He later landed the role of Pippin in 1972, replacing Ben Vereen as the lead.
In 1983, Samuel Wright received his first Tony Award nomination for The Tap Dance Kid, which found Wright as the unsympathetic father of a young boy (Alfonso Riberio). More recently, he originated the role of Mufasa in Disney’s The Lion King, which garnered him his second Tony nomination, and a Drama Desk Award.
“Look at the stars. The great kings of the past look down on us from those stars.” Rest In Peace, Samuel E. Wright | 1946 – 2021 Original Broadway Cast, Mufasa. pic.twitter.com/MDuQAZJalZ
— The Lion King – Musical (@TheLionKing) May 25, 2021
Wright acted in several films, including Clint Eastwood’s 1988 Bird, playing the role of Dizzy Gillespie to Forest Whitaker’s Charlie “Bird” Parker. In the 1995 Apollo Theater revival of The Wiz, he played the Scarecrow in alongside Whitney Houston, Keith David and Cedric the Entertainer.
In 1989, he earned Grammy, Oscar and Golden Globe Awards for Best Original Song for “Under the Sea,” from The Little Mermaid. The song would achieve RIAA certification and double platinum status, leading to parodies from Saturday Night Liveto The Simpsons. With his new success, he moved north from New York City to Walden in Orange County. Here, he would continue to commute for the role of Mufasa, while creating a legacy in support of the arts.
Founded in 1994, the Hudson Valley Conservatory (HVC) is the first performing arts school in the Hudson Valley offering classes in acting, music and dance, to ages 3 and up. Started by Samuel E. Wright, Amanda A. Wright and Pamela A. Murphy in 1994, HVC is a place for children to learn and grow in the arts.
Per their mission statement, HVC pride themselves on offering a well-rounded arts education and helping children develop not just as artists, but confident, competent young adults. Students at HVC have the opportunity to take part in productions throughout the year in HVC’s black box theatre, The New Rose Theatre.
Notable fans of Samuel Wright include Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, who named his oldest son after Sebastian.
Wright is survived by his wife, Amanda, and their three children, Keely, Dee and Sam.
To honor the life of Samuel E. Wright and continue their mission, the New Rose Theatre Group will be starting The Samuel E Wright Scholarship Fund. This fund will be used to support the children, school and community of young artists he created at the Hudson Valley Conservatory. If you would like to make a contribution to the fund, checks can be mailed to:
Samuel E Wright Scholarship Fund Via New Rose Theatre Group PO Box 702 Walden NY 12586 or donate directly to New Rose Theatre Group by Venmo @Rose-Group
The East Village of Manhattan has been home to immigrants, the working class, Beatniks, hippies and artists over the last 300 years. Originally home to the Lenape tribe before the arrival of Europeans, the East Village today is comprised of Alphabet City (the setting for the musical RENT), Ukrainian Village and the Bowery (home to CBGB). In the early to mid-20th century, it would be home to Jewish gangsters and Dixieland jazz at the famed Stuyvesant Casino.
The name Stuyvesant has roots in America dating back to the 17th century, with the arrival of the Dutch in New York Harbor in 1624. Peter Stuyvesant would serve as Governor in Chief of Amsterdam in New Netherland, later named New York after surrendering the city to the British in 1664.
While he was effective with trade in New Amsterdam and created a sense of law and order for a diverse colony, Stuyvesant was intolerant of full religious freedom in the colony. In 1657 he refused to allow Lutherans the right to organize a church, and later refused to allow the permanent settlement of Jewish refugees from Dutch Brazil in New Amsterdam, joining Jewish traders already there.
Ultimately, directors of the Dutch West India Company needed to pressure Stuyvesant to allow Jewish immigrants to stay in the colony as long as their community was self-supporting. Still, Stuyvesant and the company would not allow them to build a synagogue, leading them to worship at a private house instead.
The name Stuyvesant would end up having a negative connotation, as he did few favors in his life to gain support of those he was placed in charge of. Upon turning over New Amsterdam to Britain after no one would defend the city, his name was tarnished. He would eventually settle on a farm, a bouwerie, until his death in 1672.
Two and a half centuries later, the name Stuyvesant would be fading as a surname, but was the given name of an East Village casino with a rich 20th century history.
140-142 Second Avenue are indicated by the red arrow, and 138 Second Avenue is indicated by the orange one. Image via VillagePreservation.org
The Bowery attracted Irish and German immigrants starting in the 1850s, Poles and Ukrainians arrived in the 1880s, and by the early 1900s, Italians and Eastern European Jews arrived.
Originally a German YMCA beginning in 1881, the building was a pair of late federal-style houses, dating back to around 1830 when the area was known as “Little Germany.” The building stayed intact and in its original form, with sloped peaked roofs and dormers at the top, meaning the YMCA had not changed much of the exterior, and perhaps the interior as well.
Around the late 1800s, this area of Manhattan’s Lower East Side became the center of Jewish life in America. Crowded and culturally vibrant, a rise in crime would lead to gangs forming by the end of the century. Second Avenue was a main road, bustling with theaters, cafes, nickelodeons, bars, and vaudeville houses, making the region a draw beyond its residents.
Stuyvesant Casino
In 1910, Stuyvesant Casino opened at 140-142 2nd Avenue, owned and operated by Gerson Schmidt, an Eastern Europe immigrant from Galicia (now located in Ukraine). This stretch of 2nd Avenue encompassed part of Stuyvesant’s farm, and thus the name was given to the business.
The Stuyvesant Casino offered sumptous food, dazzling decor, and a first-class house band. High rollers and hitmen were among the clientele, particularly Big Jack Zelig, head of the Eastman Gang after the death of “Kid Twist” Max Zwerbach, in 1908.
Big Jack Zelig
During a party on December 2, 1911, Zelig lured a drunk “Julie” Morrello, an Italian gangster called “one of the most notorious gun and knife fighters on the east side, to Stuyvesant Casino. Around 1am, the lights went out and four shots rang out. As the lights flickered on moments later, Morrello was lying prone on the dance floor, filled with bullets.
In post-World War I New York City, Stuyvesant Casino would be a notorious hangout for Jewish gangsters, but by World War II, the venue became known for music producing the hits.
In the 1940s and into the 1950s, Stuyvesant Casino became a popular destination thanks to the arrival of New Orleans and Dixieland jazz artists. Big names such as Sidney Bechet, Wild Bill Davison, Rex Stewart, James P. Johnson, Georgie Lewis, Joe Sullivan, the great Bunk Johnson, and the Conrad Janis Tailgate Jazz Band could be heard for the low cost of $1.25.
Owner Gerson Schmidt was at one point encouraged by the Stuyvesant’s head waiter to allow a band consisting of his three sons to perform at the Casino. The three Perelmuth Brothers – Pinchas (violin/vocals), Michoyl (piano) and Sender (bass) – were a hit, leading to partygoer and movie theater impresario Samuel Lionel “Roxie” Rothafel, to discover Pinchas’ voice and recognize his potential. When Roxie asked why he was only singing in a “mere catering hall,” Perelmuth responded, “I would love to be an opera singer, but don’t have the money for a vocal coach.”
Opera legend Jan Peerce got his start at Stuyvesant Casino as a child
Roxie would take Pinchas under his wing and helped him get his break, helping him study voice and making his name among the opera elite of New York City. Perelmuth would make his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1933, under a new name, Jan Peerce. He would make his Broadway debut in 1971 in Fiddler on the Roof, a far distance for the son of Russian immigrants to travel from the Lower East Side.
As noted in the book The Jews of Capitol Hill, Gerson had a son, Mordechai, who married Myra Bank, the daughter of Galician immigrants. The two would have a son, Lawrence Jack Smith, a Democrat from Florida who served five terms in the House of Representatives from 1983-1993. Smith, whose parents ran catering establishments in the New York kosher catering scene, would work for their business and at Stuyvesant Casino from an early age.
When the Dixieland jazz made its way north, Gerson’s Stuyvesant Casino was the natural stop for an eclectic melting pot of music. Saxophone great Steve Lacy hung around the Casino as a teenager was exposed to early Dixieland Jazz greats, some of whom he would join there on a regular basis, including Henry Red Allen, Pee Wee Russell, Buck Clayton, and his teacher, Cecil Scott.
New Orleans bandleader Bunk Johnson would frequently perform at Stuyvesant Casino, occasionally joined by Louisiana-born bluesman Huddie “Leadbelly” Ledbetter, who lived on nearby East 10th Street. Trumpeter Hot Lips Page recorded a version of the 1924 classic “When My Sugar Walks Down the Street” at the Casino, and would later open rival venue Birdland with Charlie Parker, who lived nearby on Avenue B, in 1949.
Portrait of Bunk Johnson, Leadbelly, George Lewis, and Alcide Pavageau, Stuyvesant Casino, New York, N.Y., ca. June 1946
Robert Thompson, a Dixieland drummer known for his group The Red Onion Jazz Band, recalled Bob Maltz as an organizer of jam sessions at Stuyvesant Casino that attracted well paid world class musicians. The Red Onion Jazz Band served as legendary Dixieland revivalists, borrowing the name from Clarence Williams’ traditional New Orleans supergroup Red Onion Jazz Babies, which included Sidney Bechet and Louis Armstrong playing together for the first time in studio.
via Jazz Lives
The Red Onion Jazz Band would perform into the 1960s, just as folk music made its way through Greenwich Village. In the Traditionwould bring together folk musicians by way of Dave Van Ronk and his Prestige label, along with jazz musicians for a unique album. Vocalist Natalie Lamb would perform with The Red Onion Jazz Band and in 1972, married Thompson. A few years later, the group’s long-time trombonist, Dick Dreiwitz and his wife Barbara – a Hunter College alumnus who switched from French horn to tuba so she could play Dixieland jazz – would welcome a son, Dave. Now the bassist for Ween and Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Dave Dreiwitz continues a tradition forged in the East Village confines of Stuyvesant Casino. The Red Onion Jazz Band would continue to perform until Thompson’s death in 2010.
From: A Pictural History of Jazz by Keepnews and Brauer. L to R, Buster Bailey, Vic Dickenson,Wilbur deParis, Omer Simeon, Hot Lips Page, Rex Stewart.
A first hand account of Stuyvesant Casino from Mr. Madison Arnold, as shared with Jazz Lives:
I was one of the steady jazz loving week-end customers at the Central Plaza and Stuyvesant Casino from around 1950 to 1952 and got these post cards weekly. This is the only one I kept. I started when I was still in Erasmus Hall H.S. (they didn’t card in those days). My favorites were Bechet & Wild Bill but I loved them all. Among my memories: I helped Pops Foster put his bass in a cab one night and we went to the Riviera on Sheridan Sq., Red Allen pulled me up on stage once and we sang “The Saints Go Marching In” together. I became friendly with Baby Dodds and invited him over for dinner one evening to our apartment in Brooklyn. I also visited his place in Harlem. I have a Xmas card he sent me, written, I think, by his lady friend as I don’t think he could write. My personal Louis Armstrong stories are even better! (at least to me). He was a wonderful guy.
Mr. Madison Arnold
An autographed show promo from Stuyvesant Casino
By the mid-1950s, due in part to restrictive immigration laws and a rise in crime and building abandonment, Stuyvesant Casino would close its doors. A home for Eastern European refugees since the late 1800s, new immigrants from Poland and Ukraine headed to the East Village for an escape from communism in the mid-20th century, in addition to Puerto Ricans who had U.S. citizenship.
Stuyvesant Casino also contained the Ukrainian National Home, a community center that opened in 1958, an effect of the change in neighborhood demographics. Offering cultural and social services to the East Village’s Ukrainian population, an area now known as Ukrainian Village, the “Ukie Nat” hosted a diverse array of artists in the 1980s including Elvis Costello, New Order, and the Misfits, as well as balalaika music filling the Ukrainian Home Restaurant.
New Order would perform their first American show at Ukrainian National Home, testing out new material that built off Joy Division’s sound. During the 80s post-punk era, synth-based freestyle and electro could be heard at downtown clubs – a melding of white, Latino and Black artists who were mixing in the same area where punk rock inspired New Order’s early sounds.
Looking back on Stuyvesant Casino’s heyday, jazz music from beyond New York would find a home in this region of the city that so many others had sought refuge in for centuries prior. Home to Germans, Jews, African-Americans, Ukrainians and many more, the area at 140-142 Second Avenue has been a bustling center of cultural diffusion and artistic growth for nearly two centuries, and continues to be so today. The original Stuyvesant Casino building burned down in 1985.
In January 2023, Ev Grieve shared news that during renovations at 132 Second Ave, a flyer for Stuyvesant Casino was found on a pole, decaying but clearly showing an event on a Saturday night.
photo by Kevin Goodman
As we close out this look at Stuyvesant Casino, listen to a WMGM broadcast from Friday, March 14, 1952, via Jazz Lives, featuring Master of Ceremonies Aime Gauvin, joined by Jimmy McPartland (cornet), Ziggy Elmer (trombone), Bud Freeman (tenor saxophone), Bob Wilber (clarinet), Kenny Kersey (piano) and Don Lamond/George Wettling (drums). They perform a medley including “Saints, “Lady Be Good,” “Coquette,” and “The World is Waiting for the Sunrise.”
Eastbound Throwdown returns this all to Irwin Farm in Salem, NY, with hosts Eastbound Jesus performing both days.
After canceling the 2020 event due to the coronavirus pandemic, Guthrie/Bell Productions and Eastbound Jesus will host a slightly scaled down event, with a capacity of 500. And while in previous years there was music on two stages, this year there will only be one. The rest of the artist lineup will be announced at a later date.
The Eastbound Throwdown is held at the Irwin Family Farm in Salem, NY, located near the Vermont border, roughly 45 minutes east of Saratoga Springs. A fifth generation owned and operated farm focusing on beef and hay production, for one week of the year, they move the cattle, clean up some fields and are hosts the festival.
The Throwdown is a grass-roots homegrown festival, with the band members and Irwin Family working side by side to make it all possible for music fans from near and far.
Two day passes with camping included go on sale this Friday, May 28th at 12pm for $80. All ages are welcome. Tent camping is included in the ticket price, with RV passes available for an additional fee.
Tickets are available here and up to date event details can be found here.
Trey Anastasio will return to the Beacon Theatre on June 22nd and 23rd for two solo acoustic performances, this time with a full capacity audience. The shows will mark the first time the Beacon has had a crowd since March 2020.
After 8 weeks of Beacon Jams in Fall 2020, which found Anastasio performing with TAB and assorted guests, including the Rescue Squad Strings, he returns this June for two nights solo. All guests over the age of 16 will need to be fully vaccinated for this event and provide proof upon entry.
Tickets for the shows will go on sale Thursday, May 27 at Noon ET, here. Note – there is no pre-sale for these shows.
Update – these shows are now both sold out. James Dolan, Executive Chairman and CEO of MSG Entertainment said the following in a statement:
Trey was the only artist to play live at The Beacon during the pandemic, so we’re honored that he’ll be the first artist back on our stage playing for a packed house. There’s no question people are eager to start gathering to once again experience events they love — and are more than willing to get vaccinated to do so. We’re focused on opening up all our venues to not just usher in the return of live entertainment, but of New York.
James Dolan
For anyone looking to request to purchase a taper ticket for the shows at the Beacon Theatre, please email tapertickets@gmail.com by 9pm ET on Wednesday, May 26th. Access to taper tickets is extremely limited and not guaranteed.
The Beacon Theatre venue vaccination policy and stipulations are as follows:
Guests will need to be fully vaccinated for Two Evenings with Trey Anastasio at the Beacon Theatre, meaning the event must be at least 14 days after your second dose of the Pfizer-BioNtech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine or at least 14 days after your single dose of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen COVID-19 vaccine. The only exception is for children under the age of 16, who may provide proof of a negative antigen COVID-19 test, negative PCR COVID-19 test or full vaccination and are accompanied by a vaccinated adult. For more information, please visit beacontheatre.com/faqs.
Yasgur Road in Bethel will open its first festival of the 2021 season with Yasgur’s May Meltdown over Memorial Day Weekend. With more than 30 bands on the lineup, including headliners The New Motif and PEAK, the festival takes place at Max Yasgur’s former 103-acre homestead in Bethel, NY.
Yasgur Road hosts multiple shows each year, including their annual Woodstock Reunion. The venue keeps vending affordable but encourages bringing your own supplies for the weekend (no glass, please). Bathrooms, showers, campfires, and camping near the stage are just some of the amenities of the festival grounds, as well as onsite parking close by. Free craft vending is allowed with purchase of a weekend pass. Dog passes are also available.
Truly the home of the spirit of Woodstock, the most famous music festival in history, Yasgur Road is less than 3 miles from Bethel Woods Center for the Arts. Max Yasgur’s former homestead is now dedicated to the music festival industry, offering quality entertainment and camping in a natural wooded setting.
The New Motif, an ever-evolving eclectic jam funk band originally formed on Cape Cod, MA perform music infused with deep psychedelic grooves and dynamic improvisation. Joining them as headliners are PEAK, a Brooklyn-based group full of psychedelic Indie fun with a mix of poetic, melodic songwriting, moody electrofunk, riffed-out blues-rock, and exploratory danceable improvisations.
For more information regarding May Meltdown, or any of Yasgur Road’s festivals and events, visit Yasgurroadreunion.com or their Facebook page. Order tickets here and stay up to date with the Facebook event.
Yasgur’s May Meltdown 2021 Lineup
The New Motif, Peak, Spunday Mourning, Dee Maple Band, Mysterytrain, Hanna’s Field, Lunch Trucks, Gypsy Funk Squad, Moon Matrix of the Lizard People, Jerry Duty, Mutt Farm, The Hobo Style, Jason Gisser Band, PoW WoW, Robert Tellefsen, Alec Philips, Crispy Crunch, Buffy & the Boys, and many more!
The Windy City will see the return of Pitchfork Music Festival and Lollapalooza for engagements this summer. Grant Park will host Lollapalooza July 29-August 1, while Pitchfork Music Festival will return to the friendly confines of Union Park over September 10-12.
CHICAGO, IL – JULY 31: Recording artist Flume performs on the Samsung Stage at Lollapalooza 2016 – Day 4 at Grant Park on July 31, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Samsung)
Lollapalooza celebrates its 30th year as a world-class festival in 2021, and has been known since inception for its multi-genre, diverse lineups. More than 165 bands will perform on eight stages over four full days of music July 29-August 1 in Chicago’s crown jewel, Grant Park. 4-Day Tickets are on sale now at lollapalooza.com.
The all-star lineup for Lollapalooza includes Foo Fighters, Post Malone, Tyler, The Creator, Miley Cyrus, DaBaby, Marshmello, Illenium, Journey, Megan Thee Stallion, Roddy Ricch, Young Thug, Alison Wonderland, Brittany Howard, LAUV, Kim Petras, Omar Apollo, Ashe, LP, Jacob Banks, Olivia O’Brien, Princess Nokia, Trevor Daniel, and more.
Launched by founder Perry Farrell in 1991 as a touring festival, Lollapalooza remains an innovator in festival culture over 25 years later. Lollapalooza was the first festival to bring together artists from a wide range of musical genres on one bill, it was also the first to travel, the first to expand to multiple days, the first to introduce a second stage, the first to blend art and activism, the first to offset its carbon emissions, the first to put electronic music artists on the main stage, the first to create family friendly programming, the first to make its home in an urban city center and the first to expand internationally.
In accordance with current local public health guidance, full COVID-19 vaccination or negative COVID-19 test results will be required to attend Lollapalooza 2021. For patrons who are not fully vaccinated, a negative COVID-19 test result must be obtained within 24 hours of attending Lollapalooza each day. Details on the festival entry process will be available in early July. Lollapalooza is excited to partner with the City of Chicago to encourage vaccination in Chicago in the weeks prior to the festival. If you have questions about COVID-19 vaccines or to find a vaccination location near you, please visit www.vaccinefinder.org.
For 15 years, the Pitchfork Music Festival has delivered an eclectic musical lineup, singular in its ability to place contemporary, cutting-edge acts alongside some of the most revered artists of our time. It’s this unique blend of discovery and tradition that makes the Pitchfork Music Festival stand out as one of the most celebrated weekends of the year.
Pitchfork Music Festival opens on Friday, September 10 with Phoebe Bridgers, Big Thief, Animal Collective, Yaeji, The Fiery Furnaces (their first show in over a decade), black midi, Hop Along, Kelly Lee Owens, Ela Minus, DEHD, The Soft Pink Truth, DJ Nate, Dogleg, and Armand Hammer.
Saturday features St. Vincent, Angel Olsen, Kim Gordon, Ty Segall & Freedom Band, Waxahatchee, Jay Electronica, Jamila Woods, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Faye Webster, Amaarae, Maxo Kream, Divino Niño, Bartees Strange, and Horsegirl.
On Sunday, the festival hosts Erykah Badu, Flying Lotus, Thundercat, Danny Brown, Cat Power, Andy Shauf, Caroline Polachek, Yves Tumor, The Weather Station, Mariah the Scientist, oso oso, KeiyaA, Special Interest, and Cassandra Jenkins.
Pitchfork Music Festival tickets are now on sale here. Three-day passes are $195 and single-day passes are $90. The Pitchfork PLUS upgrade, including a range of exclusive amenities, is $385 for a three-day pass and $185 for a single-day pass. If the festival is postponed or rescheduled due to COVID-19, ticket buyers can keep their passes for the new dates or request a refund. More details are available here.
To ensure the health and safety of guests, artists, and staff, the Pitchfork Music Festival will adhere to the city of Chicago’s COVID-19 protocol, and will keep attendees updated as federal, state, and local regulations evolve.
Closing out Season 46 of Saturday Night Light, musical guest Lil Nas X worked through a wardrobe malfunction as The Queen’s Gambit star Anya Taylor-Joy hosted flawlessly on an emotional finale.
The episode began with a full cast cold open looking back on the ups and downs of the past year, including an appearance by the host of the first episode of the season, Chris Rock. This also marked the first time all season that SNL had full (and vaccinated) in-studio audience.
Just over a week before the start of Pride month, Nas appeared in a pre-recorded take on Madonna’s “Holiday” with Kate McKinnon, Bowen Yang and Punkie Johnson all looking forward to all things Pride – parades, brunch, clubs, drama – that were missed due to COVID-19 in 2020.
For his first song, Lil Nas X performed “Montero (Call me by your Name),” the music video for which he received criticism from the religious right for twerking with Satan. On the stage in Studio 8H, Lil Nas X used a stripper pole while flanked by dancers, and with 30 seconds left in the song, split his pants. Seamlessly, Lil Nas X continued to perform with his hand covering his crotch, ending with a striking image of himself with giant wings projected behind him. He didn’t let on about the malfunction until a Tweet a few minutes later.
The second performance of the night featured the just released track “Sun Goes Down.” The more vulnerable turn finds Lil Nas X wearing a white suit and reflecting on the suicidal thoughts he had while growing up gay and in the closet. With lyrics “Since ten, I’ve been feelin’ lonely / Had friends but they was pickin’ on me / these gay thoughts would always haunt me / I prayed God would take it from me,” “Sun Goes Down” elaborates on why he was so bold about trolling conservatives with more vulnerability than we’ve seen yet.
That’s all for Season 46 of Saturday Night Live. Stay tuned for Season 47 starting in September/October 2021. What was your favorite musical guest of the season? Share in the comments below.
Vision Festival 25: Breaking Free, Coming Home will display hundreds of artists of various disciplines—free jazz, poetry, visual arts, conversations— as one of the first in-person music festivals to return to New York City.
The Arts for Art sponsored event will take place over seven nights, July 22-23 and 29-30 at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn, and July 24-25 and 31 at The Clemente in the Lower East Side, and all events will be in-person, outdoors and livestreamed.
In 1996 the First Annual Vision Festival took place to bring together luminaries from different avant-garde music scenes and to celebrate the important African American leaders of the music. That first Vision Festival was unique in its multi-arts focus featuring poets in collaboration with the music. Each year since the Vision Festival has brought attention to issues of social justice by curating panel discussions, such as “Decolonizing the Music: Reclaiming the Power of Creative Music in Communities of Color” and “How Funding Affects Creative Choices.”
In-person, outdoors and livestream performances will feature William Parker, Amina Claudine Myers Lifetime Achievement, Elder Ones, Jaimie Branch, Fay Victor, Nicole Mitchell, James Blood Ulmer, David Murray, Cooper-moore, James Brandon Lewis, A Tribute To Milford Graves W/ John Zorn, Andrew Cyrille, and many more. Additional programming will be announced in the coming weeks.
Pianist, vocalist, poet, and actor Amina Claudine Myers will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award on July 23. Arts For Art will acknowledge Myers work including her achievements as a pianist, organist, composer, and singer. Her mentoring of many young musicians around the globe, especially women, for which she has been a shining and all too rare example. She is an extraordinary artist who has added so much to the important tradition of African American extended musical forms.
Myers is a founding member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (A.A.C.M.). She has recorded 11 albums under her leadership. Her recording career combines her gospel and blues inspirations with an improviser’s freedom and includes classic albums like The Circle of Time, Amina Claudine Myers Salutes Bessie Smith and her latest solo piano and voice effort Sama Rou (Songs From My Soul).
As live shows become safer, we’ll gather and share our creative visions to make space for a more compassionate world. Vision’s message this year is about coming home to our strong self. Our home is within. The past year gave us time to listen to ourselves and now we are home.
Arts for Art founder, Patricia Nicholson Parker
ARTS FOR ART PRESENTS
VISION FESTIVAL 25: BREAKING FREE, COMING HOME
JULY 22-31 in NYC
JULY 22-23, 29-30 @ PIONEER WORKS, BROOKLYN
JULY 24-25 & 31 @ THE CLEMENTE, LOWER EAST SIDE
VISION FESTIVAL 25 PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
THURS, JULY 22 @ PIONEER WORKS
159 Pioneer Street, Brooklyn
6:00pm Opening Healing Ceremony: William Parker – bass / Patricia Nicholson Parker – text, movement / Jean Carla Rodea – voice / Michael T.A. Thompson – drums
7:00pm Music for a Free World Septet: Dave Sewelson – baritone sax / Aquiles Navarro – trumpet / Steve Swell – trombone / Dave Hofstra – tuba / Ava Mendoza – guitar / William Parker – bass / Marvin “Bugalu” Smith – drums
8:00pm Cooper-Moore Solo: Cooper-Moore – piano
8:45pm Dave Burrell & Darius Jones Duo: Dave Burrell – piano / Darius Jones – alto saxophone
9:45pm Matthew Shipp String Trio: Matthew Shipp – piano / Mat Maneri – viola / William Parker – bass
FRI, JULY 23 @ PIONEER WORKS
Amina Claudine Myers Lifetime of Achievement Celebration
6:00pm Composers Workshop Ensemble: Warren Smith – drums, percussion / Rod Williams – piano / Larry Roland – bass, poetry / James Zollar – trumpet / Patience Higgins – tenor sax / Don Slatoff – baritone sax / Lloyd Haber – drums, percussion
7:00pm Ingrid Laubrock’s Monochromes: Jon Irabagon – saxophones / Ingrid Laubrock – saxophones / Zeena Parkins – harp / Tom Rainey – drums / performing with pre-recorded tapes
8:00pm fly or die: jaimie branch – trumpet, voice, percussion / Lester St. Louis – cello, voice, percussion / Jason Ajemian- bass / Chad Taylor – drums, mbira, voice
9:30pm David Murray Octet Revival: David Murray – tenor sax, compositions / Lakecia Benjamin – alto sax / Terry Greene II – trombone / Josh Evans – trumpet / Mingus Murray – guitar / David Bryant – piano / Dezron Douglas – bass / Russell Carter – drums
SAT, JULY 31 @ THE CLEMENTE, LA PLAZA OUTDOORS
Tribute to Milford Graves
6:00pm Andrew Cyrille: Andrew Cyrille – drum set
7:00pm Joe McPhee Octet Tribute to Milford Graves: Warren Smith – vibes / Jay Rosen – drums/ Brandon Lopez, Michael Bisio– bass / James Keepnews – guitar / Jason Kao Hwang, Rosie Hertlein – violin / Joseph McPhee – reeds, brass
8:30pm Tribute to Milford Graves: William Parker – bass / Lee Mixashawn Rozie – woodwinds / D.D. Jackson – piano / William Hooker – drums / Francisco Mela – drums9:30pm Drum, Horn, and Dance Tribute to Milford Graves
In Person Tickets: Daily $65 | Full Pass $300 | VIP Pass $750
