Vanessa Collier, the 2022 Blues Music Awards winner for Contemporary Female Artist of the Year, will head north to Plattsburgh for a show at Retro Live on Saturday, November 12. She’ll bring her winning heart and soul style of blues, funk, songs and R&B to The Lake City.
Vanessa just released her fifth album, Live at the Power Station, which is up for GRAMMY consideration. Joining Collier is one of the greatest guitar masters is Laura Chavez, who has multiple BMA noms for Guitarist of the Year.
Retro Live is a two-story dance hall and concert space with plenty of room to get down, and is located at 14 Margaret Street in Plattsburgh.
Doors will open at 7pm with the show from 7:30 to 9:40 pm. Tickets for Vanessa Collier at Retro Live are $20 in advance, $25 at the door, and only $10 with student ID. Get tickets at Alpha Stereo and online here.
The Rock n Roll/Doo Wop Spectacular, featuring four great acts – Trish Anderson, The Duprees, The DooWop Project and Chubby Checker – will perform at Proctors Theatre in Schenectady on Saturday, November 19.
Headlining the show is the legendary, ageless Chubby Checker. Chubby looks like he is fifty and sings and dances like he’s 50 too. In 1959, “The Class” was his first hit record. “The Twist” was originally a “B” side, but Chubby tirelessly promoted it on tv, in interviews and in performances. By the summer of 1960, “The Twist” became a #1 hit, introducing the concept of couples “dancing apart to the beat” and leading to a revolution in dancing with one dance craze leading to another (the Jerk, the Hully Gully, the Boogaloo, etc.), and Chubby was at the forefront with “The Fly,” “The Pony” and “The Hucklebuck.”
In 1962, “Pony Time” was a #1 hit that was on the charts for 16 weeks, and Chubby starred in two movies: “Don’t Knock the Twist” and “Twist Around the Clock.” For the first time in record history, “The Twist” re-entered the charts and, by January of 1962, it was #1 again on the Billboard charts. Chubby Checker merchandise was everywhere: t-shirts, shoes, ties, dolls, even chewing gum! More huge hits followed: “The Fly,” “Let’s Twist Again,” “The Limbo Rock, “ and he won the Grammy for Best Rock Performance. He was the only act to have 5 albums in the top 12 at the same time. In 1964, Chubby married Catharina Lodders, Miss World of 1962.
Chubby continues to push musical boundaries while performing all over the world. In 1988, “Yo Twist,” performed with the Fat Boys, was a #14 hit and in 2007 “Knock Down the Wall” went to #1 on the Billboard Dance charts, introducing Chubby Checker to a new generation of fans. Chubby looks and sounds young and continues to display his historic dance moves. You’ll see why Chubby Checker was recently voted “Casino Performer of the Year” and why “The Twist” was the most frequently played song on the radio in the history of rock music.
Co-headlining the show is The Doo Wop Project. The Doo Wop Project consists of five Broadway stars from smash hit shows like JERSEY BOYS and MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL. This supergroup of Broadway stars transforms hits from the classic and modern American pop songbook into unforgettable renditions of your favorite songs. The Doo Wop Project traces the evolution of the classic American Doo Wop sound with five guys singing tight street-corner harmonies (including songs by The Crests, The Belmonts, the Flamingos and more). This musical journey includes the hit-sounds of Motown (including The Temptations and Smokey Robinson) and of classic East-Coast Pop royalty like Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and Dion. Finally, we will experience “DooWopified” versions of hit songs by more recent stars such as Michael Jackson, Jason Mraz, Garth Brooks, Maroon 5 and more. Audiences will be moved to reminisce, and newer generations will marvel at classic golden Doo Wop sounds… as well as versions of more recent hit songs.
Additionally, WMHT (PBS) will televise THE DOO WOP PROJECT’s brand new tv concert-special in June, giving the capital district audience an exclusive first look. Like their live show, this concert special gives a taste of the unparalleled authenticity of sound and vocal excellence in the group’s recreations of some of the greatest American hits in Pop and Rock history.
Fantastic audience favorite, The Duprees, will also grace the Proctors stage.The Duprees are known worldwide for their romantic interpretations of some of the most beautiful love songs ever written. They possess a smooth yet powerful vocal quality and heavenly harmonies, evidenced in the huge hit “You Belong to Me.” Other hits include: “My Own True Love,”“Gone with the Wind,” “Why Don’t You Believe Me,” “Have you Heard” and “Theme from Exodus.” Although their romantic harmonies are second to none, The Duprees also present a dynamic stage show that will bring the house down.
Opening the show is long-time regional fav Trish Anderson, singing female hits of the era. In her fifth decade of performing, Trish is most widely recognized as the lead singer of the Bluz House Rockers (26th year with them). Trish was inducted into the New York State Blues Hall of Fame and has shared the stage in concert with Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone, Pat Benatar, Joan Jett, Eddie Money, Marshall Tucker, and Little Feat, A singer-songwriter, her “Three Dollar Bill’ went to #2 on the pop 100 charts in Denmark. She and her band also perform every January on the Delbert McClinton Sandy Beaches cruise into the Caribbean. Her friend Trez Gregory, who backed up Brooks and Dunn in concert for 7 years, will travel from Ohio to back up Trish at Proctors.
Tickets are on sale now at Proctors Box Office, by phone at (518) 346-6204 and on line at proctors.org.
The Avett Brothers have announced shows in 2023, with a lone pair of shows in May taking them to Beak & Skiff Apple Orchard in Lafayette on May 20 and at Artpark in Lewiston on May 21. They’ll be closing out 2022 with a three-night run in Brooklyn and ring in the year at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Avett Brothers, featuring siblings Scott and Seth, is a Grammy-nominated folk-rock band from North Carolina known for songs like “Kick Drum Heart,” “I and Love and You,” and “Ain’t No Man.”
The three-time GRAMMY Award nominees made mainstream waves with their 2009 major label debut, I And Love And You, which landed at #16 on the Billboard Top 200 & garnered critical acclaim. In 2012, The Carpenter hit #4 on the Billboard Top 200, followed by Magpie And The Dandelion in 2013, which debuted at #5 on Billboard’s Top 200. In 2016, the band was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame. The group most recently released the 2020 EP The Third Gleam.
Tickets for The Avett Brothers at Beak and Skiff and Artpark go on sale Friday, October 28, at 10AM on ticketmaster.com and at venue box offices.
Avett Brothers Tour Dates
Saturday, May 20 – Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards, Lafayette, NY
Branford Marsalis continues to thrill audiences around the world while racking up achievements across diverse musical platforms, even after four decades in the international spotlight. From his initial recognition as a young jazz lion, he has expanded his vision as an instrumentalist, composer, bandleader and educator, crossing stylistic boundaries while maintaining an unwavering creative integrity.
In the process, he has become an avatar of contemporary artistic excellence winning three Grammy Awards, a Tony nomination for his work as a composer on Broadway, a citation by the National Endowment for the Arts as Jazz Master, and a 2021 Primetime EMMY nomination for the score he composed for the Tulsa Burning documentary.
Wynton Marsalis preview 0115
Tickets for Music Hall Members are now on-sale, while single tickets go on sale to the general public Friday, October 28th, at 10am via phone, (518) 273-0038, in person, or online at www.troymusichall.org. Tickets for Branford Marsalis are available at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall Box Office, 30 Second Street, Troy, Monday through Friday 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. More information on the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall and upcoming programs is available on the website at TroyMusicHall.org.
Blue Note New York has partnered with The Basie Presents for the Pat Metheny Side-Eye Show at the Beacon Theatre on Saturday, June 24.
The 20-time GRAMMY Award winning guitarist and composer will perform during the 2023 Blue Note Jazz Festival, marking the first time Metheny has played in New York since his Sony Hall run in 2019.
Side-Eye is Metheny’s trio project that features the guitarist performing alongside a rotating cast of young, envelope-pushing players. This edition of Side-Eye features Chris Fishman (keyboards, piano) and drummer Joe Dyson.
Pat Metheny’s Side Eye project embodies the very best in jazz, so it’s fitting that this show at the Beacon Theatre next June will be part of the storied Blue Note Jazz Festival. By virtue of its namesake, the Count Basie Center for the Arts and its off site promotion arm, The Basie Presents, is honored to be working with the Blue Note team and Mr. Metheny himself in bringing this concert to another one of our region’s storied performance venues.
Izzy Sackowitz, COO, Count Basie Center for the Arts
Pat Metheny’s versatility is almost without peer on any instrument. Over the years, he has performed with artists as diverse as Steve Reich to Ornette Coleman to Herbie Hancock to Jim Hall to Milton Nascimento to David Bowie. Metheny’s body of work includes compositions for solo guitar, small ensembles, electric and acoustic instruments, large orchestras, and ballet pieces, with settings ranging from modern jazz to rock to classical. As well as being an accomplished musician, Metheny has also participated in the academic arena as a music educator. He has also been a true musical pioneer in the realm of electronic music, and was one of the very first jazz musicians to treat the synthesizer as a serious musical instrument. It is one thing to attain popularity as a musician, but it is another to receive the kind of acclaim Metheny has garnered from critics and peers.
Blue Note New York will announce their annual New York City jazz festival in Spring 2023. Tickets for Pat Metheny at the Beacon Theatre are now on sale.
Mihali blessing the crowd at LonCon – photo by Zak Radick
The Wheel – Friday, October 21
Unlock the door, buckle up, put it in gear and enjoy the ride with the The Capital Region’s authentic Grateful Dead Tribute Band, “The Wheel”. Founded in 2010 by Andy Morse looking to play to his roots of years of chasing the Grateful Dead and current incarnations around he formed The Wheel. It’s been said the medicine wheel is a “peaceful interaction among all living beings on Mother Earth-it represents harmony, balance and connections.”
Mihali (of Twiddle) w/ Mike Powell, Luke Mitrani – October 22
Mihali returns to Putnam Place for a full band performance, featuring Adrian Tramontano, Scott Hannay and Dave DiCristo. For Mihali, music behaves much like a living being. It grows, matures, and changes with a sentient consciousness and whims of its own. The Vermont-based solo singer, songwriter, guitarist, artist, and Twiddle co-founder follows reggae’s evolutionary ebb and flow, existing in a perpetual state of inspiration and creation, and remaining committed to sonic evolution. Exuding a balanced mix of rich influence, Mihali’s music entwines reggae spirit, fluid soundscape architecture, and invigorating mantras meant to be chanted aloud in a packed venue.
Ticket: $20 Advance / $25 Day of Show available at putnamplace.comAges: 18+
Opening the night are Cazenovia-based singer-songwriter Mike Powell, and Luke Mitriani’s electro pop-rock.
Freekbass & The Bump Assembly (ft: Sammi Garett) – October 27
Freekbass, to the core, is an accomplished bass player with a particular passion for Funk. “Freekbass & The Bump Assembly” tour relentlessly, expanding his circles and reaching cities, coast to coast. His high-energy live-shows led him to the festival scene, and he simultaneously did dates with the supergroup, Headtronics.
The current touring line-up for Freekbass & The Bump Assembly is a 7-piece wonder-team which includes Freekbass on bass and vocals, drummer Rico Lewis (previously with George Clinton/P-Funk), Sky White on keys (Foxy Shazam), Sammi Garett (previouly Turkuaz) and Reilly Comisar on vocals, Nate Lewis on guitar and Greg Sanderson (previouly Turkuaz) on sax. The friendships and wealth of collaborative musicianship in this group is apparent on stage, where infectious grooves meet nonstop-energetic performances.
Ticket: $15 Advance / $17 Day of Show available at putnamplace.comAges: 18+
Kitchen Dwellers + Daniel Donato – October 29
Kitchen Dwellers twist bluegrass, folk, and rock through a kaleidoscope of homegrown stories, rich mythology, American west wanderlust, and psychedelic hues. The Montana quartet broke up 2020 with an EP of Pink Floyd covers entitled Reheated, Vol. 2. It was heralded by a two-night livestream concert, Live From The Cabin, beamed out to audiences from the Bridger Mountains. Additionally, they appeared at the Live From Out There virtual festival and even took over a drive-in movie theater for an in-person gig in between regular writing sessions together throughout the year. The group recently released Wise River to bring fans back to Big Sky Country on their third full-length album, working with Cory Wong of Vulfpeck as producer.
Opening the night is cosmic country and Americana artist Daniel Donato, a walking tornado of creative energy. “They think there’s something that tips the scale in ways they don’t understand,” says Donato about his over-the-top, slightly manic vibe. “But what actual-ly tips the scale is the amount of thought and analysis I put into my work and art, all of which is taken from the lessons of my life.” Donato, a 27-year-old Nashville native, has distilled those life lessons into his debut album, A Young Man’s Country, his proper introduction to the general musical audience. Recorded at Nashville’s Sound Emporium in a mere two days and produced by guitar-ace Robben Ford, the record weaves outlaw country, Grateful Dead-style Americana, and first-rate songwriting into a singular form Donato calls “21st-century cosmic country.”
Ticket: $20 Advance $25 Day of Show available at putnamplace.comAges: 18+
Weekly Events at Putnam Place
Monday: Family Tree featuring Steve Candlen, Kenny Hohman, Lori Friday, Chris Carey and Chad Ploss perform every Monday at Putnam Place from 7pm – 10pm. Each week they will be joined by various special guests form the regional music scene.
Monday: Sly Fox’s Open Mic Jam – Every Monday from 10pm – Midnight.
Thursdays (thru October 20): Country Night featuring free beginner line dancing lessons by Kevin Richards (6:30pm – 8:30pm) followed by country DJ.
Sundays: Latin Night (7:00pm – 12:00am) featuring Latin dance lessons by Tango Fusion Dance Company from 7:00pm – 8:00pm.
Upcoming November Shows at Putnam Place
11/3 – Bearly Dead
11/4 – Dean Ford & The Beautiful Ones: A Tribute to Prince
The Blues Project, formed in Greenwich Village in the mid-’60s, has postponed their October 30 show in Saratoga Springs at Caffe Lena.
The band will announce a rescheduled date soon, when they will celebrate their first new album in 42 years, Evolution, which finds the band from a well of various musical styles and influences throughout the album’s 12 tracks.
One of the first album-oriented, “underground” groups in the United States, the Blues Project offered an eclectic brew of rock, blues, folk, pop, and even some jazz, classical, and psychedelia during their heyday in the mid-’60s.
The original group featured guitarist Danny Kalb (who had played sessions for various Elektra folk and folk-rock albums), Steve Katz (a guitarist with Elektra’s Even Dozen Jug Band), flutist/bassist Andy Kulberg, drummer Roy Blumenfeld, and singer Tommy Flanders. Al Kooper, in his early twenties a seasoned vet of rock sessions, joined after sitting in on the band’s Columbia Records audition, although they ended up signing to Verve, an MGM subsidiary.
The current lineup for The Blues Project performing at Caffe Lena later this month features Katz and Blumenfeld leading a powerful new lineup that includes young and talented members Chris Morrison on lead guitar, Scott Petito on bass, and Ken Clark on keyboards and vocals.
After the release of their debut live album, the band recorded their second album Projections in the fall of 1966, receiving rave reviews and containing an eclectic set of songs that ran the gamut from blues, R&B, jazz, psychedelia, and folk-rock. The centerpieces of the album were an 11-and-a-half minute version of Muddy Waters’ blues standard “Two Trains Running” featuring Kalb on vocals and lead guitar, and Kooper’s instrumental “Flute Thing” featuring Kulberg on flute.
Soon after Projections was released, Kooper and Katz left the band and in 1968 joined forces to form jazz-rock icons Blood, Sweat & Tears. While Kooper led the band on its first album, Child Is Father to the Man, he did not take part in any subsequent releases. Soon after, Kooper, then a producer for Columbia Records, recorded with Bloomfield, Stephen Stills and Harvey Brooks for the album entitled Super Session, before doing several solo albums. Katz, who was instrumental in the band’s phenomenal success, remained with B,S & T, into the 1970s. Katz went on to produce Lou Reed’s best-selling and still-influential live LP Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal (as well as its follow-up Sally Can’t Dance, Reed’s only top-10 album).
The Blues Project, with a modified line-up, reformed briefly in the early 1970s, releasing three further albums: 1971’s Lazarus, 1972’s Blues Project, and 1973’s The Original Blues Project Reunion in Central Park. After disbanding again, Blumenfeld formed Seatrain and in the 2000s performed with former Country Joe & the Fish member Barry Melton.
The original Blues Project disbanded for good in the 90s (although Katz, Blumenfeld and Kalb performed a successful reunion tour in 2012) but realizing they still had a passionate fan base who cared about the band and its music, Katz and Blumenfeld decided to give it another try in 2021.
One of the best Grateful Dead tribute/cover bands out there today, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead (JRAD) has announced they’ll celebrate 10 years with a performance where it all began, at Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on January 26. They’ll follow up that intimate show with a three-night weekend at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester January 27-29.
The band first performed on January 26, 2013, with a lineup of drummer Joe Russo, Ween’s bassist Dave Dreiwitz, keyboardist Marco Benevento, guitarist and vocalist Scott Metzger, and guitarist and vocalist Tom Hamilton. Part of Freaks Ball XIII, JRAD was pulled together after the Dean Ween Group pulled out, leading to Russo bringing together four musicians he had played with over the years, leading to the formation of Joe Russo’s Almost Dead. Later that year, they played The Capitol Theatre on December 27, 2013, their second ever show.
JRAD have made their presence known from coast-to-coast, with shows at Red Rocks, festivals across the country, and regular appearances throughout New York State.
Tickets for JRAD’s 10th anniversary shows go on sale to the general public this Friday, October 7 at 10 a.m. ET. Presales takes place on Thursday with details available here.
This fall, Secret Machines heads out their first US tour in 12 years, starting on September 24th in Asheville, NC and wrapping up with two nights at Brooklyn Steel over October 27-28. They’ll be joined by Metric for all 24 shows of the tour.
In 2007, co-founding guitarist Benjamin Curtis (who passed away from a rare form of lymphoma in 2013) left his brother Brandon and Secret Machines’ stellar drummer Josh Garza behind to focus on his new project School of Seven Bells. The saving grace of Benjamin’s departure from Secret Machines despite two buzz-worthy albums and years of electrifying live shows together, however, was guitarist Phil Karnats. A fellow Dallas native who played alongside Brandon and Benjamin in the psych-pop band Tripping Daisy, he wasted no time falling into place alongside Josh’s lead-footed rhythms and Brandon’s sinewy, rip-roaring hooks.
Secret Machines’ original label (the Frank Sinatra-founded Reprise Records) never quite got the group. Warner Brothers’ way of supporting the trio’s powerful sound in the four years between their breakout debut (2004’s Now Here is Nowhere) and the Secret Machines sessions wasn’t to try and wrap their heads around it. They’d rather boost the band’s studio budget until it burst and hope a hit would emerge from the ether.
That is until they heard Secret Machines’ third album. Reprise was so perplexed by the bold LP they immediately hit the brakes and refused to promote it. “One particular guy epitomized the vibe,” explains Brandon. “He was obviously unhappy with the record, but the way he communicated his feelings was so convoluted. He asked us to make changes, and as I expressed our willingness to discuss any ideas he may have, he just kept saying ‘no.’ I’m not sure what he was even saying ‘no’ to!”
“At that point,” adds Josh, “the writing was on the wall. They felt like they’d given us a chance and were really upfront. So we asked them to give us the album and they were like, ‘Sure, take the album; no harm, no foul.’”
Reprise’s eagerness to cut their ties from Secret Machines led to a rushed, ill-fated deal with World’s Fair Label Group. While it had already worked with such reputable artists and imprints as Rough Trade, Jarvis Cocker, and Daptone, the part-time PR company shuttered its own label right in the middle of a Canadian tour that was supposed to support the band’s self-titled record. A record it hadn’t bothered to officially release, mind you.
People didn’t even know the album was out. Things got really bad from there and started leaving a bad taste in our mouth. Our problem was never with the music, though; it was with the business itself.
Josh Garza
The good news about Secret Machines’ DOA status is that it’s finally being released as it was originally intended. Much like a long overdue director’s cut, it now features a dynamic sequence that makes far more sense in the long run than the original and boasts the added benefit of hindsight and a renewed sense of purpose within the group’s widescreen back catalog.
Rather than spark the record’s proceedings with the candy-laced chords and immediate hooks of “Atomic Heels,” the power trio now knocks our jowls back like a Maxwell ad with the jarring opening of “The Fire is Waiting.” It’s as if they’re daring us to step one foot closer, only to reward our patience with a subtle recorder pattern from glam-rock demigod Tony Visconti and a windswept, 11-minute sequence Phil rightfully describes as “like being swallowed up by an indomitable, mountainous wave, bated breath and an inevitable end.”
Bringing the record into full relief are crisp remastered recordings by Slowdive drummer Simon Scott, and tracks that have taken on a new life in 2022 — from the torn space-time continuum of “The Walls are Starting to Crack” to the simmering intro and gleaming, rigid groove of “Have I Run Out.”
Tickets are on sale on now and can be purchased here.
Reggae Under The Bridge, part of the Coney Island Reggae Soundsystem Series, will take place on Sunday, September 25 from 12-7 p.m. at K Bridge Park (under the Kosciuszko Bridge) at 470 Scott Avenue in Brooklyn.
This year’s edition features the return of Downbeat The Ruler, selector Tony Screw, one of the most beloved and celebrated selectors in global soundclash culture. Downbeat earned his name as the legacy selector for Coxson Dodd’s iconic Sir Coxson’s Downbeat Soundsystem in the 1970s. As a result of this relationship, Downbeat boasts the largest collection of Studio One exclusives of any selector worldwide.
Other featured selectors at the event will be Lee Major from Earth Ruler, Digital English, and other guests from the Brooklyn and greater NYC community.
Founded in 2010 by DJ Carter Van Pelt, Coney Island Reggae On The Boardwalk has earned an international grassroots following as a showcase for reggae vinyl and soundsystem culture. The series is an anticipated part of summer culture in New York City, with Reggae Under The Bridge as one of the spinoff events in the series, which also inaugurated the opening of K Bridge Park in June 2021.
The series has featured more than 80 selectors from New York and beyond, including King Jammy, Jack Scorpio, Downbeat The Ruler, Tipper Tone, Jah Life, LP International, Sir Tommy’s, Earth Ruler, Digital English, and Federation Sound. Emcees and singers have included Luciano, Willi Williams, Al Campbell, Ranking Joe, Sister Carol, Mikey Jarrett, Screechy Dan, and Johnny Osbourne, among others. Brooklyn’s Chanter, The Timeless Sound has provided the soundsystem for the event since 2012. The events, which are free to the public, are supported by donations from individuals and in part by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by the Brooklyn Arts Council.
Check out Downbeat with Carter Van Pelt in a Dennis Brown tribute at Coney Island in 2019.
