The Long Island Music Hall of Fame (LIMHoF) is proud to announce the winners of its fifth annual High School Music Department Recognition Program. For the first time, video entries were accepted that showcased the amazing music that schools created under unbelievably difficult conditions and pandemic restrictions.
Both the LIMHoF Education committee and a panel of music educators reviewed the videos that were submitted from each school. As a result, 12 Long Island high school music programs were awarded recognition wins and celebrated via video format. For the first time in its history, music performance videos from each applicant have been posted to LIMHoF’s website. And some high schools submitted multiple videos to showcase their different music groups.
The schools receiving this prestigious recognition are Centereach HS, Farmingdale HS, Great Neck North HS, Great Neck South HS, Half Hollow Hills HS East, Harborfields HS, Hicksville HS, Kellenberg Memorial HS, Long Beach HS, Lynbrook HS, Southampton HS, Wheatley HS
During the pandemic, school music programs in particular were dealing with incredible restrictions due to social distancing and remote learning, which created major difficulty for students learning to play music. Music is a collaborative process and students need to be able to play music together. A lot of schools made it work, and we wanted to showcase their accomplishments under the circumstances. These schools found a way to do something great. The students overcame tremendous odds. This showcases, and is a tribute, to the students who adapted to a difficult situation.
-Tom Needham, Education Chairman of LIMHoF
For more information on the High School Music Department Recognition Program or Education scholarships and grants offered by LIMHoF, visit limusichalloffame.org/scholarshipsgrants.
Preble, located just north of the border of Cortland County with venues such as the Cortland Repertory Theatre, have announced a set of concerts held in Dwyer Memorial Park, located on the north end of Little York Lake.
Cortland Repertory Theatre is one of New York State’s longest running professional theatres, producing shows along with events year round
The park is 55 acres wide, with the main Pavilion operated by the Cortland Repertory Theatre. There are also three smaller pavilions throughout the park that can be reserved for events including family reunions and large cookouts.
Preble was originally a part of Tully in Onondaga County. On April 8, 1808, it separated from Tully and became the northern border of newly formed Cortland County. The population of Preble in 1825 was 1327. Todays population in Preble is 1314. The town was named for Commodore Edward Preble, a naval hero of The Barbary Wars. Preble consists of 28 miles of land which were given to soldiers of the Revolution in lieu of money for service during the war. Preble has always been famous for its rich soil and dairy farming.
The first congregational church in Preble opened way back in 1804. The The Cortland Repertory theatre is located within the Dwyer Memorial Park.
There are many events located in the park, along with a series of summer events and concerts for families and people who love live music.
Steve Leslie, a Grammy Award-winning songwriter and recording artist
Thursday, 15th July, 07:30 pm, The Honky Tonk Angels
Friday, 16th July, 10:00 am, Stories in the Park 2021 – “The Wizard of Oz”
Tuesday, Jul 20, 2021 8:00 PM – 11:00 PM, Drive-In Summer Concert Series feat. Asleep at the Wheel
Saturday, 24th July, 02:00 pm, The Adam Lee Decker Trio
Wednesday, July 28, The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged)
Thursday, August 5th, Goin’ to the Chapel by Valerie Fagan; Billboards hottest hits of the 50’s bubble over in this fun and funny teen-story, filled with the spirit of Happy Days and American Bandstand.
Saturday, August 14th, “How Sweet It Is” – Steve Leslie Sings the Music of James Taylor
Thursday, August 19th A Midsummer Night’s Dream; by William Shakespeare, adapted and directed by Bill Kincaid.
Saturday, August 21st, Broadway Brunch 11:00 am Join us on the last day of our outdoor season for our NEW FUNdraiser of mimosas, music and memories! Delicious brunch-style food, unique silent auction baskets, wine grab-bags and performances by our performing intern company.
The Adam Lee Decker Trio
For more information about Preble’s upcoming events and concerts visit here.
Wu-Tang Clan members Method Man, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck and Cappadonna, as well as Redman, Ashanti and Ja Rule played the first ever Peace and Unity Festival. The event took place at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden on Saturday July 10th. Dj performances included Funkmaster Flex, Dj Smoove and Dj Outkast.
The purpose of the Peace and Unity Festival was to bring people from all over the city together after the year and a half long pandemic. Community organizers The Waterteam, Uncle Chase Entertainment, Wakeem Entertainment, and 3J’s Creation Entertainment sponsored the event. It was originally scheduled to be a two-day event, but the organizers decided to cancel Sunday’s show.
Live at MLK! is closing up their summer concert season in Rochester with big-name performances by Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue and Gov’t Mule.
The show will be held on September 4 at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park at Manhattan Square. Along with the killer performances, there will be a craft beer garden complete with IPAs, ciders, and seltzers, a “bubbly bar” with prosecco and mimosas, and a VIP Ultra Lounge. The extensive VIP perks include access to a private lounge area, preferred entry, full cash bar, private A/C restrooms, front stage access, chair massage, complimentary chips and salsa (and private food vendor access) courtesy of Bay Vista Tacqueria, and a commemorative lanyard.
Photo Courtesy of RochesterFirst
Trombone Shorty (born Troy Andrews) is an American musician, producer, actor and philanthropist from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is best known as a trombone and trumpet player but also plays drums, organ, and tuba. He has worked with some of the biggest names in rock, pop, jazz, funk, and hip hop. Andrews began playing trombone at age four, and since 2009 has toured with his own band, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue.
Trombone Shorty
Gov’t Mule is an American Southern rock jam band, formed in 1994 as a side project of The Allman Brothers Band by guitarist Warren Haynes and bassist Allen Woody. The band released their debut album, Gov’t Mule, in 1995, and have since released an additional nine studio albums, plus numerous EPs and live releases. Gov’t Mule has become a staple act at music festivals across North America, with both its members and frequent guests boasting members from other notable bands, adding various funk and blues rock elements to the band’s sound.
Gov’t Mule
Organizers Rochester Events is thrilled to bring these beloved artists to the Live At MLK! series.
To get both of these groups on stage is going to be a night full of music magic. There is no better way to celebrate the return of live music than with rock legends and a jazz phenom!
Jeff Springut, CEO/Producer, Rochester Events
Presale starts 7/14 and tickets go on sale to the general public this Friday (7/16) at 12PM ET. Tickets must be purchased online in advance on RochesterEvents.com. Pricing is $99.50 for VIP, $59.50 for GA advance, and $66 day of show (if available, fees apply). Shows are rain or shine with no refunds.
Patrons may bring blankets and one sealed bottle of water into the park. Lawn chairs, bicycles, skateboards, in-line skates and pets will not be allowed in. Parking is available at nearby parking garages including the Midtown Parking Garage; 110 S. Clinton Avenue, Washington Square Garage, 111 Woodbury Blvd.; the Court Street Garage, 194 Court St. and at the East End Garage, 475 E. Main St. Parking will also be available at The Strong Museum, 1 Manhattan Square.
New York City’s American Classical Orchestra (ACO) has announced its 2021-2022 season of all-live performances, beginning with a full orchestra Reunion program of Baroque music in Damrosch Park on September 22.
Founded in 1984 as the Orchestra of the Old Fairfield Academy, the ensemble was renamed American Classical Orchestra in 1999. ACO settled in New York City as a permanent home in 2005. It is now the city’s only full-scale orchestra dedicated solely to performing 17th, 18th, and 19th-century music on true-to-period instruments.
Reunion is the title of the 2021 season’s opening event, marking the joyous reunion of the ACO’s musicians, audience, and patrons after over 17 months without concerts. The program presents a selection of popular Baroque music at the newly renovated bandshell of Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park. The rest of the season’s concerts follow suit with meaningful titles, “Restore,” “Revisit,” “Remember” and “Renew” to commemorate the challenges of the past two years as life returns to normalcy.
Our reuniting onstage should reveal artists who have further honed their craft and intensified their passion for music. We chose timeless masterpieces as a way to celebrate our return to live performance through much-loved works that continue to comfort even after difficult times, to showcase our talented members and soloists, and also to underscore the soothing balm that great music provides to musicians and audiences alike.
Thomas Crawford (ACO’s Artistic Director and Founder)
This season also includes the Orchestra’s new collaboration with public media producer WNET, featuring a filmed performance of Prokofiev’s symphonic children’s tale, Peter and the Wolf. As a part of ACO’s “Classical Music for Kids” program, the film aims to enrich the cultural life of children by introducing them to classical music history at a young age. American Classical Orchestra’s performance of Peter and the Wolf will be available to watch for free on the PBS LearningMedia platform beginning this fall.
American Classical Orchestra offers subscription packages for their upcoming season that are on sale now. Tickets for individual performances will go on sale later this summer. For more information, visit aconyc.org. Visit lincolncenter.org for ACO programs hosted by Lincoln Center.
Read the full 2021-2022 American Classical Orchestra schedule below:
Reunion –Wednesday, September 22 at 7 pm, Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center:
On a steamy Friday night, Lark Hall played host to two of the fastest rising jam bands in New York, Long Island’s Baked Shrimp, and Albany’s own Glass Pony, as a warm up to the former’s LonCon Fest.
For the opening set of the night, Glass Pony tore in with “Maximus” that segued incredibly into Oasis’ “Morning Glory,” but so smooth you wondered ‘is this a new song inspired by the 90s, or are they deep in a 90s cover?’ Sure enough, as guitarist/singer Eddie Hotaling belted out the lyrics, you knew the story. After the high energy and upbeat lyrics of “Something Good,” bassist Jeff Picarazzi sang lead on Leo Sayer’s “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing.” With a new album coming down the road, and a crowd that was getting down from start to finish, Glass Pony has a lot more music in store.
Setlist: Maximus > Morning Glory, North Bound (unfinished) -> Something Good, Check it Again, You Make Me Feel Like Dancing -> Daydream (unfinished) > House on the Hill, Doppler, Bottom of the Ocean
Baked Shrimp, a jam power trio from Long Island put on a prog/funk clinic. For their entire 90 minute set the band moved seamlessly through complicated chord progressions and never lost a beat or the attention of the crowd. The young trio has great potential in their three members, bassist Scott Reill, guitarist/singer Jared Cowen, and drummer Jager Soss, a doppelganger for Andy Frasco. Their festival LonCon will be held in Parksville, NY over August 27-28. Find out more details on the festival here.
Setlist: The Manatee, Numpty, Synth, The Method -> Now’s Your Moment -> The Method, Four Corners to Every Side, Orpheus, Down the Drain
The Sackets Harbor Historical Society has released their schedule for the 2021 summer concert series. Located near Lake Ontario, Sackets Harbor’s theme represents anticipation for live concerts to come back.
The name of the concert series for 2021 is “Happy To Be Together Again.” This concert series is held every summer Sunday, 3:00 to 5:00 in the Grove at the Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site. There will be bands and musicians from musical genres of country, Latin, pop and dance, jazz, Broadway, blues and bluegrass.
Sackets Harbor Summer concert series
7/11 – Bryan Brundige and His Piggly Wigglies (Swing) 7/18 – Atlas (80’s Party) 7/25 – Jess Novak Band (Country Rock) 8/1 Son BoriKua (Caribbean) 8/8 – The Bad Husband’s Band (Vintage Rock) 8/15 – The Gibson Brothers (Bluegrass) 8/22 – Ruby Shooz (50’s – 60’s) 8/29 – Double Barrel Blues Band (Rock) 9/5 – Maria DeSantis Orchestra (Big Band)
Cassandra Jenkins is gearing up for an eventful year. Last week she released a KEXP At Home session. In September she’ll play at Pitchfork Music Festival, The Warhol’s Soundseries Block Party, Woodsist Festival, and accompany Andy Shauf on his tour in the US. In February 2020, Cassandra Jenkins will hit the road for a tour with The Weather Station.
Now she has announced a headline tour of Europe and the UK all November long, in clubs and at festivals like Pitchfork Paris and London. Jenkins begins her tour in Brooklyn, and returns the to US in February to finish up her US dates.
An Overview on Phenomenal Nature, Jenkins latest album released on Feb. 19 from Ba Da Bing Records, she worked with Josh Kaufman on the album and finished it within a week. It comes after her last album, Play Till You Win, which came out in 2017. Her previous work showcased her talent but the forthcoming work shows her adaptability. It has a theme of being optimistic and being open to change.
Responsible for one of the best albums of 2021, @CassFreshUSA plays live @yes_mcr on 14th Nov.
Cassandra Jenkins United Kingdom & Europe tour dates 2021
05/11/21 – The Hague, NL – Crossing Border Festival – tickets 09/11/21 – Brighton, UK – Green Door Store – tickets 10/11/21 – Bristol, UK – Louisiana – tickets 11/11/21 – London, UK – Pitchfork Festival 13/11/21 – Glasgow, UK – Great Western Festival – tickets 14/11/21 – Manchester, UK – YES – tickets 15/11/21 – Leeds, UK – Brudenell Social Club – tickets 16/11/21 – Birmingham, UK – Hare & Hounds – tickets 18/11/21 – Brussels, BE – Botanique Rotonde – tickets 19/11/21 – Paris, FR – Pitchfork Festival – tickets 25/11/21 – Copenhagen, DK – Hotel Cecil – tickets 26/11/21 – Stockholm, SE – Kristallen at Södra Teatern 27/11/21 – Oslo, NO – Ingensteds – tickets
American rapper, songwriter, actress, model, and reality TV personality Lil’ Kim (Kimberly Denise Jones) celebrates her 47th birthday today. Happy birthday to an icon who changed the female rap game!
Lil’ Kim went through many hardships in her early life. She grew up in Brooklyn, NY, and during high school, she was kicked out of her father’s home and had to live on the streets. When she bet Biggie Smalls as a teenager, her life changed forever. He quickly became her mentor as well as her lover, and he got her into the Brooklyn-based rap group, Junior M.A.F.I.A. which jumpstarted her musical career. Lil’ Kim’s popularity heightened as a member of Junior M.A.F.I.A., and after their first album was released, she began working on her solo material.
A year before Biggie Small’s tragic death, she released her debut studio album, Hard Core, in 1996. Hard Core was certified double platinum and sold more than six million copies worldwide. The album’s debut was the most successful for a female rapper at that time. “No Time” was the leading single on the album, reaching the number one spot on the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart.
Her second and third albums, The Notorious K.I.M. (2000) and La Bella Mafia (2003) were also certified platinum. Soon after The Notorious K.I.M. was released, she worked with Christina Aguilera, Pink, and Mya to create the hit single, “Lady Marmalade” for the Moulin Rouge! film soundtrack. The track was number one on the Billboard charts for five weeks straight. This song was out of Lil’ Kim’s comfort zone, and it led her to gain admiration from other fanbases, excelling her rap/R&B career even further. “Lady Marmalade” also won Lil’ Kim her first Grammy award.
La Bella Mafia included collaborations with Missy Elliott and 50 Cent, and was produced with help from Timbaland and Kanye West. At the time of its release, Missy Elliott was the only other female rapper with three platinum albums.
In 2005, Lil’ Kim was sentenced to a year and a day in jail, along with a $50,000 fine for perjury and conspiracy for lying to a federal grand jury after getting herself into a sticky situation involving her rival, Foxy Brown. Her time in jail was spent writing new music, and her fourth studio album, The Naked Truth, was released when she was still behind bars. Since she had no way of promoting her album, it did not sell quite as well as her first three albums, however critics know this vulnerable and hard-hitting album as the best female rap album to exist. It was also the first female rap album to receive a 5 mic rating from The Source.
After serving her time, Lil’ Kim decided to break off from Atlantic Records to release her music independently. She made appearances on Dancing With the Stars and produced two mixtapes, Ms. G.O.A.T. (2008) and Black Friday (2011). More recently, in 2019, Lil’ Kim released 9, a full-length studio album. During the first week of its release, it charted on the hip hop/R&B and rap album sales. It features artists such as City Girls, Rick Ross, O.T. Genesis, and Rich the Kid.
Lil’ Kim has earned her title of the Queen of Rap. Her aggressive lyrics have been transformative for the rap world as well as for inspiring all females to empower themselves and one another. Although she is now 47 years old, her career is far from over. She has said recently that she is continuing collaboration with artists such as Missy Elliott, City Girls, and Paris Hilton. The public can only imagine what epic content will come from her as she ages and gains knowledge and wisdom. Happy birthday to an incredibly important musician, Lil’ Kim!
It’s been almost two years since the last free Thursday concert of the NBT Bank Summer Concert Series was held at East Park in Norwich, but the long wait has come to an end. On Thursday, July 15th Asleep at the Wheel will throw the door open on what promises to be the best free summer concert series anywhere in upstate New York. With COVID-19, restrictions eased everyone can come to enjoy world-class musicians every Thursday until August 26th.
All the shows start at 7:00 P.M. The shows are rain or shine, so come prepared to enjoy yourself no matter the weather. If conditions make it unsafe for the artists to perform we will post an announcement on social media by noon on the day of the show about an alternate location.
Every week will be a summer highlight with the likes of Texas swing legends Asleep at the Wheel, New Orleans jazz ensemble Tuba Skinny and Blues Music Award Artist of the Year winner Shemekia Copeland among those on the bill.
The return of the popular concerts means the return of the equally popular vendors who sell food at the shows. Ray Brothers BBQ, Hubcaps Munchies, Nina’s Pizza, and Gilligan’s Ice Cream will all be on-site so come down early and make it a great summer’s evening. If you need a beverage or some table service food Park Place restaurant will have its popular beer garden open again this year also.
Directions to the Norwich Summer Concert series can be found here. The lineup for events include the following for the summer series
Thursday, July 15, 2021 Asleep at the Wheel
Thursday, July 22, 2021 The Garcia Project
Thursday, July 29, 2021 Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience
