Category: NYC Metro

Neighborhood Heroes: Stack Bundles

The trappings of inner-city life are evident in many of those who have had to experience it. To the end that growing up in or near a housing project can lead to many tumultuous situations. The terrain of public housing is a breeding ground for congregation. Factor in the extreme poverty, and public housing projects have become hubs for all kinds of illegal drug and gang activities.

Stack Bundles (left) and Max B (right)

It doesn’t take much to falter in those conditions and for some, making it out without succumbing to the influences of the streets can feel like walking in quicksand. With that in mind, when someone has a chance to escape the repetitive cycle of implodement, there are contrasting feelings and behaviors from peers. Some live vicariously through the impending defect-ee, while it breeds contempt within others.

Such was the case for up-and-coming rap star, Stack Bundles. Hailing from Redfern Houses in Far Rockaway, Queens, one of the most dangerous housing projects in New York, where death had become the norm, according to the New York Times.

Mourning the murdered has become a familiar routine at the Redfern Houses in Far Rockaway, Queens. First there are the makeshift memorials, with flowers and candles and a smattering of personal items. Then, the dead often get more permanent epitaphs scrawled on the walls of the apartment house they called home.

Who Was Stack Bundles?

Jim Jones (left) and Stack Bundled (right)

Born Rayquon Elliott, the slain rapper had made a name for himself with his “compelling raps, magnetic personality, and unique fashion sense.” Which gave him the attention of Dipset general, Jim Jones. Along came ByrdGang (Jones’ crew) affiliation and a prominent feature on Jim Jones’ “Weatherman,” with Lil Wayne.

The record’s success meant Stack Bundles had enough gravitas to go on tour with Lil Wayne, where he began to cultivate relationships with Wayne and other important figures in the music industry. Moreover, he already had strong ties with Jones, Wayne, DJ Clue, Lupe Fiasco and Funk Flex, amongst others. It seemed as though a record deal and a major-label debut was inevitable.

Unfortunately, not every rags-to-riches tale comes to fruition and on June 11, 2007, a 24-year-old Stack Bundles was fatally shot as he was heading into his apartment building in the morning’s wee hours. In detail, Stack spent the night out with friends at a Manhattan nightclub, he was approached by an unknown number of assailants and shot in his head and neck as he entered his building, according to relatives and acquaintances.

Per routine, Stack’s friends and family celebrated his life with a small memorial outside of his building, with candles, copies of his CD’s and a White Castle bag from the fatal night he killed.

All in all, Stack Bundles is a Far Rockaway legend. However, his legend serves as a harrowing reminder that no matter how close one is to making it out, the drawbacks of the inner-city wait for no one.

June 11, 2021
Multilingual Funk Collagists Khruangbin Announce Two Shows at Radio City Music Hall

Khruangbin just announced an exciting back-to-back night showing at New York City’s legendary Radio City Music Hall on March 9 and March 10 of 2022. Venue veteran Khruangbin has previously opened for Leon Bridges here in 2018, in addition to their previous showings. However, these upcoming concert dates will mark their first time ever headlining Radio City.

The Houston-based band is known for their hazy instrumentals that combine Persian Funk, Middle Eastern soul, Jamaican dub, and surf-rock. They recently sold out the first night of Red Rocks, and have added another performance upon high demand. Additionally, the trio has a three-date run at Atlanta’s Eastern and will play three shows live at Los Angeles’ iconic Greek Theatre this coming fall.

Before the pandemic, Khruangbin had a packed schedule. The band played at almost every major global festival in the world including Coachella, Glastonbury, Austin City Limits, SXSW, and more. Khruangbin had also been on the road non-stop prior to the pandemic, and are now taking advantage of the rising demand for in-person concert showings amid the lessening effects of COVID-19.

Khruangbin Making Their Capitol Theatre Debut (Pre-pandemic)

Tickets for the New York City shows will go on sale this Friday, June 11th at 10:00 AM ET. The show will also feature English jazz musician and saxophonist Nubya Garcia. Interested in learning more about what Khruangbin has in store for 2021? For more information regarding price and ticket availability, visit their website HERE

Listen to some of Khruangbin’s top hits below:

June 11, 2021
Lincoln Center’s Wynton Marsalis Releases New Symphony
Wynton Marsalis, the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, recently released a recording of “Blues Symphony (Symphony No. 2)” for The Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Cristian Macelaru. This is the second symphony from Marsalis, who is a Pulitzer Prize-winning director.

The symphony has seven beautiful movements, taking the listener through American history and folklore. There is a movement reflecting the beginnings of jazz in New Orleans as well as one that portrays the big city soundscape of the Great Migration. It is a celebration of American blues and is a kaleidoscopic history of music in our country.

Marsalis is the genius behind the symphony, and his imagination shines through in his work for The Philadelphia Orchestra. On the recording, Marsalis says, “The blues helps you remember back before the troubles on hand and in mind…and they carry you on the wings of angels to a timeless higher ground.” His music is powerful and is an exquisite ode to the blues and America’s musical roots.

This recording was from a live performance in 2019 in Verizon Hall at Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. It builds upon the legacies of Scott Joplin, James P. Johnson, George Gershwin, and other American masters.

“Blues Symphony (Symphony No. 2)” is available globally on all digital platforms from Blue Engine Records.

Blues Symphony (Symphony No. 2) movements:
1. Born in Hope
2. Swimming in Sorrow
3. Reconstruction Bag
4. Southwestern Shakedown
5. Big City Breaks
6. Danzón y Mambo, Choro y Samba
7. Dialog in Democracy
About Blue Engine Records

Blue Engine Records, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s platform that makes its vast archive of recorded concerts available to jazz audiences everywhere, launched on June 30, 2015. Blue Engine Records releases new studio and live recordings as well as archival recordings from Jazz at Lincoln Center’s performance history that date back to 1987 and are part of the R. Theodore Ammon Archives and Music Library. Since the institution’s founding in 1987, each year’s programming is conceived and developed by Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis with a vision toward building a comprehensive library of iconic and wide-ranging compositions that, taken together, make up a canon of music. These archives include accurate, complete charts for the compositions – both old and new – performed each season. Coupled with consistently well-executed and recorded music performed by Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, this archive has grown to include thousands of songs from hundreds of concert dates. The launch of Blue Engine is aligned with Jazz at Lincoln Center’s efforts to cultivate existing jazz fans worldwide and turn new audiences onto jazz. For more information on Blue Engine Records, visit blueenginerecords.org.
June 11, 2021
Bad Business Club Releases “Flip Me Over” off Upcoming Album

Bad Business Club is prepping for a groovy Summer by releasing a new single, “Flip Me Over.” It’s the first single from their upcoming album, Naked Neighbor, out August 13, 2021. The Brooklyn collective’s daytime disco stomper marks the beginning of a new pulsating direction for the band.

Single Artwork by Blake Wilton

“Flip Me Over” aims to be a theme song for moments like those. Written in Puerto Rico during a week-long writing session shortly before COVID-19, the band gathered to write disco music inspired by the smooth daytime dance sounds of poolside and leisure.

Listen Here on Youtube

With their instruments in hand, they talked about their ups, downs, successes, and mistakes all while living in New York City. What came out of the week-long writing escape turned out to be a lot more than a set of smooth grooves.

Away from the band’s home base in Brooklyn, Bad Business Club started collaborating on the theme of leaving old baggage behind. “Flip Me Over” revels in nighttime excitement and morning confusion, but ending with a sense of no regrets, and pride in our experiences – all wrapped around a dreamy synth to intensify the almost beach-like psychedelic vibe.

Produced by Morgan Wiley of Midnight Magic, with remixes to follow by Woofly and Tsutro, this daytime disco stomper marks the beginning of a new direction for Bad Business Club.

The band is set to debut a full year’s worth work in this summer’s Naked Neighbor album, due out in August.

Bad Business Club is a Nu-Disco collective with some old-school Yacht Rock touches, producing a “style that will take some back to the late 70’s, with harmonies larger than life.”

The group is primarily influenced by classic Giorgio Moroder-style Disco, and Modern Daytime disco al la Poolside and Holy Ghost!, while combining the harmonic influences of Yacht Rock. Their smooth sound transports listeners to another place, to summer breezes and early morning champagne.

Listen to their Spotify playlist here

They’ve been also known to collaborate with electronic artists such as Midnight Magic, Woolfy, and James Curd to help get the dance floor by the pool. They are also the hosts of the Imbibe the Vibe podcast, where they combine classic cocktails with a different music genre every month.

June 11, 2021
Pons New Single “Leland (Club Mix)”

The electronic music with an angular post-punk edge band called Pons has just come out with their new single. The single, Leland (Club Mix), comes along with a music video on youtube with a spooky and intense overtone.

Pons was started by multi-instrumentalists Sam Cameron, Jack Parker, and Sebastien Carnot. While the studio process is fairly fluid in terms of who plays what, you hear Sam Cameron on lead vocals and guitar, Jack Parker on drums, bass, and occasionally synth, and Sebastien Carnot on auxiliary percussion.

Formed by Sam Cameron and Jack Parker in North Carolina in the summer of 2018, they decided to relocate to Vermont shortly after. They then added Sebastien Carnot to the lineup on the second drum to push their sound in a more angular and percussive direction.

Their performances live are a lot more minimal and primitive with Sam singing and playing guitar and then Jack and Sebastian on drums. They have recently re-located to Brooklyn, NY they thought it was the next step up from their start in Vermont to grow their group.

The “Leland (Club Mix)” music video was shot and edited by Lazy Eye, an LA-based film collective. In total, it took about three months from the conception of the idea until the music video was finished.

June 10, 2021
Z2 Comics Announces Anthrax-inspired Graphic Novel “Among the Living”

Z2 Comics announced that the graphic novel, Among the Living which was inspired by Anthrax, and the titans of thrash metal’s landmark 1987 album of the same name, to be released in stores on July 6. In an effort to support the comic book specialty market, which had been hardest hit by the COVID-19 health crisis of the past year, Anthrax and Z2 shipped a surprise limited number of copies early that stores could make available for sale this week.

L-R: Jon Donias, Frank Bello, Charlie Benante, Scott Ian, Joey Belladonna
Photo Credit: Jimmy Hubbard

2021 marks Anthrax’s 40th anniversary, during which time the band has released 11 studio albums, been awarded multiple Gold and Platinum certifications, six Grammy nominations, and a host of other accolades from the media, the music industry, and fans. In 1991, the band helped break down race and genre barriers when they collaborated with Public Enemy on the track “Bring The Noise,” and was the first metal band to have its music heard on Mars when NASA played “Got The Time” to wake up the Mars Rover in 2012.

I grew up with Marvel and DC, and they were part of my life from the time I was four or five years old. My mom worked at Primrose Bakery on Tremont Avenue in New York, and when I’d go to work with her, I’d sit in the back with the bakers. I’d read and draw the superheroes from the comics she would buy for me from this little shop just a couple of doors down. I’ve loved everything about comic books and the neighborhood comic book stores ever since.
-Anthrax’s Charlie Benante

Anthrax and their landmark 1987 album Among the Living influenced an entire generation of metalheads, cementing the New York band’s place in the Big 4 of Thrash alongside Metallica, Megadeth, and Slayer. The book pulls together a “who’s who” of names from the worlds of comics and music who created “bubble dialogue” and original artwork to express what the songs meant to them. Taking advantage of COVID-19’s prohibition of concert touring, the band has been hard at work writing the next Anthrax album. Check with your local comic shop for the availability of the standard TPB edition, with all editions available to order directly from Z2’s website now, with Charlie Benante’s Judge Dredd variant exclusive to preorders.

June 10, 2021
Joe Bonamassa Announces Fall 2021 Tour

Acclaimed Utica-based guitarist and songwriter Joe Bonamassa has announced an extensive 33 tour dates for fall 2021. Bonamassa’s latest project, a live album entitled Now Serving: Royal Tea Live From The Ryman, comes out Friday, June 11.

Photo by Robert Sutton

Bonamassa will stop in New York twice on his fall tour. He is set to play the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester on November 22 and the Rochester Auditorium Theatre in Rochester on November 24. The full list of tour dates is listed below.

Bonamassa is one of the biggest modern names in blues-rock and was even named “the world’s biggest blues guitarist” by Guitar World Magazine. He, like other live musicians, is marking his return to the stage in over a year. The fall tour kicks off October 8 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, where Bonamassa recorded his latest live album.

Throughout the pandemic and during the pause of live music, Bonamassa focused on raising money for his non-profit Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation through the Fueling Musicians Program. The nonprofit centers on providing financial assistance to touring musicians who had their income streams cut off in this tumultuous time.

Now Serving: Royal Tea Live From The Ryman comes out Friday and tickets for the fall tour will be available on the same day. Links for purchase can be found here.

TOUR DATES

October 8-9: Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium

October 11: Little Rock, AR – Robinson Performance Hall

October 13: Shreveport, LA – Shreveport Municipal Auditorium

October 15: San Antonio, TX – Majestic Theatre

October 16: Sugar Land, TX – Smart Financial Centre

October 17: Grand Prairie, TX – Texas Trust CU Theatre

October 19: Fayetteville, AR – Walton Arts Center

October 21: Tulsa, OK – Tulsa Theater

October 22: Memphis, TN – Cannon Center for the Performing Arts

October 23: Louisville, KY – The Louisville Palace

October 25: Evansville, IN – Old National Events Center

October 27: Fort Wayne, IN – Embassy Theatre

October 29: Indianapolis, IN – Murat Theatre at Old National Centre

October 30: St. Louis, MO – Stifel Theatre

October 31: Cincinatti, OH – Taft Theatre

November 19: Springfield, MA – Symphony Hall

November 20: Providence, RI – Providence Performing Arts Center

November 22: Port Chester, NY – The Capitol Theatre

November 24: Rochester, NY – Rochester Auditorium Theatre

November 26: Detroit, MI – Fox Theatre

November 27: Youngstown, OH – Covelli Centre

November 28: Columbus, OH – Palace Theatre

November 30: Easton, PA – State Theatre

December 1: Reading, PA – Santander Performing Arts Center

December 3: Roanoke, VA – Berglund Performing Arts Theatre

December 4: Baltimore, MD – The Lyric

December 5: Richmond, VA – Dominion Energy Center

December 7: Savannah, GA – Johnny Mercer Theater

December 8: Sarasota, FL – Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall

December 10: St. Augustine, FL – The St. Augustine Ampitheatre

December 11: Estero, FL – Hertz Arena

December 12: Hollywood, FL – Hard Rock Live

June 10, 2021
“Springsteen On Broadway” Returns For Limited Summer Run At The St. James Theatre

Bruce Springsteen will return to Broadway this summer for a limited run of “Springsteen on Broadway” performances at Jujamcyn’s St. James Theatre (246 W 44th Street). Shows begin Saturday June 26, with additional performances taking place through September 4.

Credit: Rob DeMartin

Based on his worldwide best-selling autobiography ‘Born to Run,’ “Springsteen on Broadway” is a unique evening with Bruce, his guitar, a piano, and his very personal stories. The show’s original run included 236 sold-out performances at Jujamcyn’s Walter Kerr Theatre, beginning in October 2017 and concluding in December 2018. Springsteen earned a Special Tony Award for the performances, which were later adapted into a film and a soundtrack album.

Proceeds from Opening Night of the show at the St. James Theatre will be donated to a group of local New York and New Jersey charities including the Boys and Girls Club of Monmouth County, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids, Community FoodBank of New Jersey, Food Bank for New York City, Fulfill (Monmouth & Ocean Counties Foodbank), Long Island Cares, NJ Pandemic Relief Fund and The Actor’s Fund.

Anyone planning on seeing this show will be required to provide proof of full COVID-19 vaccination in order to enter the theater. Tickets for “Springsteen on Broadway” will go on sale Thursday, June 10 at 12 pm ET through the show’s official ticketing provider SeatGeek.

June 10, 2021
Diana Bidea Releases Soulful R&B Single “Would You Still”

New York City-native and emerging R&B artist Diana Bidea is set to drop her newest single titled, “Would You Still” on Friday, June 11.

“Would You Still” is Bidea’s seventh overall single and third release this year, behind her January single “Forbidden Fruit” and March single “The Game.” She also has one EP album so far, Artemis in 2019, with five songs on the tracklist.

With a background in classical opera, Bidea’s music displays her full vocals, cushioned with bluesy melodies. Her passionate musical tone and meaningful, talented lyricism gives off the full contemporary R&B experience.

Bidea’s original songs seem to have similar themes, discussing self-worth, love, and devotion. Her most recent release, “The Game,” more specifically brings a sultry vibe with guitar riffs and raspy vocals. This single blurs the line between sexual references and casual relationship description with lyrics like “sweet pleasure is the game… my favorite pleasure is pain.”

“Would You Still” is more focused on the self, reconciling with carrying the burden of being the person everyone turns to for advice.

I think some people naturally fall into the role of being the person that everyone comes to for answers, empathy and a safe space to keep their secrets. But when it feels like you don’t have that safe space in return, it leaves you feeling heavy with responsibility and emotionally exhausted. (‘Would You Still’) is about searching for someone who can give you that safe space and they will still love you after they know you at your most vulnerable.
Diana Bidéa

“Would You Still” tells the story of a sensitive girl who wears the mask of a bold, put-together person. Described as a “hero complex,” Bidea highlights the importance of checking up on your friends, no matter how happy they seem on the surface.

Though her lyrics’ meanings are deep-rooted, they are anything but mournful. Bidea takes on an optimistic spirit, not questioning her personal worth; simply asking the question, “will you treat me at my true worth?”

The new single is also chock full of vocal riffs and runs, staying true to her soulful style.

On her Youtube channel, Bidea often posts original freestyles as well as freestyles based off of other songs like Cardi B’s WAP that show off her lyricism and creativity.

The track will be available to stream on all major platforms, including Apple Music, Soundcloud, and Spotify on June 11.

June 9, 2021
Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jimmy Fallon anticipate Broadway’s return with ‘Hamilton’ parody

On Tuesday’s The Tonight Show, Lin-Manuel Miranda joined Jimmy Fallon for a musical tribute to all the Broadway shows they’ve missed in the last 16 months, and were joined by stage veterans during their song.

Filmed before a fully vaccinated audience in Studio 6B,”Broadway’s Back” paid homage to more than a dozen musicals, including Aladdin, Book of Mormon, Chicago, A Chorus Line, Come From Away, Company, Dear Evan Hansen, Hadestown, The Lion King, Moulin Rouge, Phantom of the Opera, Six, West Side Story and Wicked.

Fallon and Miranda were joined by Kristin Chenoweth, Christopher Jackson, Phylicia Rashad, and Laura Benanti were on hand to join in for a reinterpretation of Hamilton‘s “You’ll Be Back.” Also joining the performance were Jimmy Smits and Olga Merediz who star in the film adaptation of Miranda’s Tony Award-winning musical In the Heights, which releases in theaters and on HBO Max on Thursday, June 10.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x54643iF-Ts

June 9, 2021

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