Saxophonist and vocalist James Casey is set to make his solo recording debut with the release of a special holiday album, A Little Something For Everyone, that is scheduled to be released on December 5 via 12/23 Records.
Pressed on limited edition blue vinyl, the 7” EP offers a heartfelt Christmas collection from Casey that features two holiday staples, one funky original song and a beloved gospel hymn. Created in partnership with Nancy Langhorne Foundation, proceeds will benefit the Colorectal Cancer Alliance and Eastern Virginia Medical School’s HOPES Clinic to help provide free colon cancer screenings for the uninsured.
James Casey was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2021, which made this holiday EP project an extremely personal undertaking.
Although we had a lot of setbacks while recording due to chemotherapy, being able to make a fun, holiday record with my friends to help people get access to screening for something that I am currently battling was a no-brainer. The fact that it’s the first music released under my own name is definitely an added bonus!
~ James Casey
Vinyl production will be limited to 300 copies, with silk screened and numbered album jackets designed by Brooklyn-based artist Nate Cepis. The album will be available for pre-order on November 7 at 1223Records.com, with vinyl shipping in mid-December. The single “Christmafunk” will roll out on streaming services on November 14.
Prominent actor and screenwriter, John Cameron Mitchell, and 1972 Cabaret film lead actress, Amber Martin, will collaborate together in the premiere of their Cassette Roulette show performances at MassMOCA and BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn. A series of songs, stories and characters will be featured in their performance, which will be backed by Justin Craig and the Hedwig house band Tits of Clay, additionally featuring an introductory set from J. Hoard.
Songs covered will be from notable works directed by John Cameron Mitchell, such as the films Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Big River and The Secret Garden and his musical Anthem: Homunculus. Amber Martin is performing works derived from roles played and paying tribute to some characters part of her casted roles during her acting career.
Their vibrant stage acts are planned to be continued in 90-minute shows, designated for a smaller range of audiences, at Joe’s Pub on Jan. 21, Feb. 4, Feb. 11, Feb. 19, Feb. 26. Each will start at 6:30p.m., with tickets being on sale at The Public Theater, located at 425 Lafayette Street near Astor Place in Manhattan.
Tickets for the Cassette Roulette Residency at Joe’s Pub can be bought on the Public Theater website.
From Monday, October 24, to Friday, November 4, 2022, A Celebration of Hmong Culture Through the Arts is being presented through the collaboration of The UAlbany Performing Arts Center and New York State Writers Institute. The multi-series event is focusing on Hmong culture and history, with an emphasis on Kao Kalia Yang’s memoir, The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir.
Gaosung Heu in The Latehomecomer
Through the collaboration of the Hmong Museum in Minnesota with UAlbany, there will be a display of Hmong story/flower clothes, known as Paj ntaub, presented throughout the course of the entire event, from 11am to 4pm, during the weekdays. The material of these intricate textiles are a significant aspect of Hmong culture, particularly the variety and quality of the content integrated on the story clothes, which helps provide a broader understanding of Hmong tradition.
‘Crossing the Mekong River’ Story Clothe
The documentary Being Hmong Means Being Free that was screened on Thurs., Oct. 27, at 4:30pm, which frames a lens of modern-day Hmong life in America through the perspective of program host, Lia Vang, centers around a Hmong immigrant community in Wisconsin. The film further examines concepts rooted in ancient Hmong culture and provides a connection to how these traditions have progressively shaped the Hmong community, and also looks at the challenges in Hmong life during contemporary times.
Secondly, a duo-performance of the Literature to Life stage adaptation of The Latehomecomer is set to happen at the Performing Art Center. On Thurs., Nov. 3, a pre-talk show will be presented at 7pm, prior to the public performance starting at 7:30pm, following a second part of the performance on Fri., Nov. 4 at 10am, which is solely for high school students.
Directed by Elise Thoron, The Latehomecomer this theatre work starts as author Kao Kalia Yang is born in the Ban Vinai Refugee camp in Thailand and eventually arrives in the United States. The book and stage presentation follow her journey from a quiet, reticent student struggling to speak English while facing racial discrimination to a self-empowered young woman claiming her voice to tell the untold story of her people. They tell a universal story of immigration through the specific lens of this ancient culture inextricably bound to the history of the war in Vietnam.
Driven to share her family’s history after her grandmother’s death, The Latehomecomer is an eloquent, firsthand account of a people who have worked hard to make their voices heard. In search of a place to call home, thousands of Hmong families made the journey from the war-torn jungles of Laos to the overcrowded refugee camps of Thailand, finally emigrating to America. Winner of a PEN USA Literary Award for Nonfiction and Readers Choice Award, The Latehomecomer is the first memoir written by a Hmong-American to be published with national distribution. A Hmong written language was not taught or used until the 1950s so the author plays a significant role in bringing the culture into the realm of literature.
The Latehomecomer is performed by Gaosong Heu, a performance artist, musician, vocalist, published writer, educator, arts administrator and entrepreneur based in Saint Paul, MN. She received her B.A. in Theater Arts from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and her Master of Arts in Arts Administration from Columbia University. Gaosong has over 15 years of training in Western Classical music, as well as training in traditional styles of Hmong folk music.
There will be a public performance at the UAlbany Performing Arts Center on Thursday, November 3, 2022 at 7:30pm, preceded by a pre-show talk beginning at 7pm. A second performance will take place on Friday, November 4, 2022 at 10am exclusively for high school student groups.
Advance tickets for the public performance are $15 for the general public and $10 for students, seniors and UAlbany faculty-staff. Tickets purchased on the day of the show (pending availability) are $20 for the general public and $15 for students, seniors and UAlbany faculty-staff. Individual tickets can be purchased on the UAlbany Performing Arts Center’s site at www.albany.edu/pac.
Admission to the morning matinee is free for high school student groups. Reservations are required. Educators wishing to bring groups can contact the UAlbany Performing Arts Center office at (518) 442-3995 or PAC@albany.edu. Home school students and parents are also welcome.
Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams announced their long-awaited album Live At Levon’s! will be released on Feb. 3. They have also announced a tour with stops in Tarrytown, Poughkeepsie, and Woodstock.
Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams returned to their Woodstock home in 2019 to create the record, after a long year of touring. They recorded it at Levon Helm Studios, a historic and dual-purposed recording studio and live music venue founded by the legendary Levon Helm. The duo played multiple shows there with the Midnight Ramble Band, fronted by Helm with whom Campbell served as a bandleader for over a decade.
The album was supposed to be released in 2020 after a live performance was recorded at the studio with their musician friends. Of course, the pandemic stopped that from happening, and Campbell ended up catching COVID in March 2020. With all that aside, they are ready to perform and get back into touring.
I’ll never forget the first time I experienced performing as a child and knew my lot in life was set. The only reason I am a singer is because of the indefinable spark that happens with the giving and receiving of your most intimate selves, back and forth, between the artist on stage and the audience there in the room. If I can’t see the audience because of lighting, it almost becomes even more spiritual, because it’s all just feeling them—us together in the moment. And each performance/audience has its own personality. If you can drop the thinking and just ‘be’ with them and this sharing of your most intimate selves, there’s no describing the transcendence.
Teresa Williams
The record Live At Levon’s! puts Campbell’s world-class guitar skills on display, and shows his songwriting capabilities. William’s vocals provide raw honesty and her trademark fragility and ferocity. Their new single “Angel of Darkness” is out today.
Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams are also going on tour, and are hitting Tarrytown on Nov. 18, Poughkeepsie on Nov. 19, and a special performance at the Levon Helm Studios where they recorded the album in Woodstock on April 22. Their brand-new album is available for preorder here and to purchase tickets to their tour go here.
Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams Tour Dates
2/2 – Easton, MD – Avalon Theatre – Stoltz Listening Room 2/3 – Richmond, VA – Richmond Music Hall 2/4 – Johnson City, TN – Down Home 2/5 – Decatur, GA – Eddie’s Attic 2/7 – Jacksonville Beach, FL – Blue Jay Listening Room 2/8 – Tampa, FL – The Attic 2/10-17 – Miami, FL – Cayamo Cruise on Norwegian “Pearl” 2/24 – Washington, DC – Mountain Stage @ The Kennedy Center 3/15 – Pittsburgh, PA – Thunderbird Cafe * 3/16 – Ann Arbor, MI – The Ark * 3/18 – Chicago, IL – Old Town School * 3/19 – Milwaukee, WI – Shank Hall * 3/21 – Madison, WI – Stoughton Opera House * 3/22 – Minneapolis, MN – The Parkway * 3/24 – Kansas City, MO – Knuckleheads * 3/25 – St. Louis, MO – Off Broadway * 3/26 – Nashville, TN – City Winery * 3/28 – Asheville, NC – Grey Eagle * 3/29 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle * 3/31 – Washington, DC – Miracle Theatre * 4/1 – Ardmore, PA – Ardmore Music Hall * 4/14 – Great Barrington, MA – The Mahaiwe PAC ^ 4/22 – Woodstock, NY – Levon Helm Studios
NYC’s Sub Lights have just released their newest EP Half-Life, an album that describes how if you only live in the past or for the future, you miss the present. Thus,marking the duo’s second release following last year’s MedicineEP and a pair of successful debut shows in Manhattan.
The band has also released a new video for another track from this project, titled “Hell’s Kitchen Sink.”
To the artists, the challenge of making music as a duo has inspired them to put together a small studio in their new home in New York City, an effort that went into overdrive during the 2020 lockdowns. Their new Half-Life EP marks the duo’s second release, following last year’s Medicine.
“Big and brash electropop from this NY duo that centers blazing hooks amidst spiraling guitars and sizzling synths.”
Bandcamp New and Notable
“Music should be fun, it’s entertainment after all,” states Stephen. “But it’s also art and part of the purpose of art is to allow listeners to explore different ways of being. That’s our goal: to offer the chance to explore a bit of social consciousness along with fun.”
“Sub lights has a distinct electronic sound . . . sure to get you in your feels. . . . an incredible atmosphere. . . . creative and fun. More music from Sub lights is on the way; be on the lookout.”
Road Trips & Playlists
“The idea was to transform traditionally-written songs, mostly played on piano or acoustic guitar, into our indie-electronic style,” says the Stephen. “Lyrically, we wanted to try to capture the kind of social melancholy coming out of the pandemic and the Trump years, but then express that in a hopeful way. Like, life is tough and can be really sad, but even then people are amazing and able to find joy by connecting with each other. We also wanted to take our music seriously without taking ourselves too seriously—it’s a fine line, but I admire artists who can pull that off. But also I’m a college history professor and fairly politically active, so there’s always an element of the big picture mixed in there too, grand themes of what it means to be human and all that.”
“Half-Life has multiple meanings as it relates to the album,” continues Meredith. “It is one of the key lines in ‘Strange New Breed,’ and it is a way to describe how if you only live in the past or for the future, you miss the present, so essentially it feels like you are only experiencing half of your life at any given moment… It’s also my word for what deep depression feels like. All these missed opportunities, just watching life go by from your bed. ‘Black & White’ and ‘Rockville’ are songs about the past. ‘Traffic’ and ‘Hell’s Kitchen Sink’ are about living in the moment which is the only time we can experience the full interconnectedness of life, that we are all the same.”
“I think some of our songs conceptually resemble protest music,” says Merideth. “Common themes are anti-religion, anti-patriarchy, anti-unfettered capitalism, anti-fascism. Think for yourself, question things, wake up, be kind.”
Following his collaborative album with the legendary Eric B. & Rakim, Jonathan Hay and company have decided to tackle another iconic artist from the golden era of New York hip-hop and reimagine it as jazz. This time around, the billboard charting Hay and co. will look to channel hip hop’s first superstar, LL Cool J, into a 14-track jazz album of quintessential LL songs. Slated for a January 13-14 release (LL’s birthday), LL Cool Jazz, will look to repeat the success of Follow the Leader (Reimagined As Jazz), which spent 11-consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard Jazz charts.
LL Cool Jazz will reimagine hip hop’s first superstar
Ladies Love Cool Jazz
Jazz music and hip hop have long been distant cousins, with both genres rooted in similar strife. Despite the generational gap, rap music’s edginess was built on the back of Jazz’s more controlled chaos. In light, hip hop’s rhythms could not exist without the Jazz Symphonies to inspire it.
Similarly, Jazz runs deep in LL Cool J’s blood. His grandfather was a saxophonist and helped jumpstart a young LL. “They embraced me, they built me up. They made me believe in myself,” LL said of his grandparents, with his trademark bravado leading him all the way to a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction.
Like all of our music, when Rakim and I first sat down to write and record Follow the Leader, we took inspiration from our Jazz icons in creating its signature sound,
– Eric B revealed in promotion for their collaboration with Hay.
Moreover, LL is no stranger to hip hop and jazz working synonymously. The Rick Rubin produced single “Going Back to Cali” — released over 34 years ago on Def Jam Records — showed the versatility of a young LL. The song opens with a memorable jazz and horn intro, along with a saxophone solo, something completely different for hip-hop at the time.
Recording sessions for LL Cool Jazz will take place in Brooklyn, with some of the final step mixing at Quad Studios in Manhattan. Additionally, the album will be distributed through Fat Beats Records.
LL Cool J is a true pioneer who changed the sound of modern music as we know it. I can’t wait for the world to hear LL Cool Jazz. Now that the pandemic is in our rearview, our team is back on the road with its aggressive mission of bringing back jazz music to pop cultural relevance. What I’ve learned so far on this journey is that ladies love cool jazz, so it’s appropriate that we are reimagiing hip-hop’s first sex symbol.
Caffe Lena will present the third annual TrueSongs concert on Sunday, November 12th at 8pm, highlighting local lives changed for the better by Capital Region non-profits. The concert features previously untold redemption stories involving a local non-profit organization, each will be told in words and songs at Caffe Lena.
A young woman builds her life back after a stroke, two friends start a music shop in Haiti. A daughter finds peace and fulfillment in her final days with her mother, and a woman moves forward after homelessness. Each of these previously untold redemption stories involves a local non-profit organization, and each will be told in words and songs at Caffe Lena.
TrueSongs was created in 2019 by the Saratoga Springs music venue Caffe Lena to show how arts and social service organizations can work together to create a healthy, whole community. Now in its third year, TrueSongs will give five community members the chance to share their personal story with a live audience.
Each storyteller has been working with a songwriter who will follow the story with a compelling new song meant to bring out the emotional heart of the experience.
“We proudly partner with schools, churches and community centers throughout Haiti,” said Bill Cole, owner of Cole’s Woodwind Shop and founder of the non-profit Horns for Haiti. “The resilience of the Haitian people and their love of music has made it possible to implement projects during a very difficult time in this third world country. We’re providing musical instruments and supplies to hundreds of school children and also mentoring young entrepreneurs in starting their own sustainable businesses in the music industry.”
The TrueSongs Lyrics of Life concert will take place on Sunday, November 12th at 8p.m. at Caffe Lena. Tickets bought in advance are $20 to the general public and $10 for students. Tickets bought at the door are $22 for the general public. Likewise, $5 student rush tickets will be sold at the door with valid ID. The concert will also be available to live stream for free on Caffe Lena’s YouTube channel. For more information and to purchase advance tickets, click the link here.
Mariah Carey has announced a three-date-only special holiday concert run called “Merry Christmas To All!” It will be coming to Madison Square Garden on Dec. 13 to celebrate Carey’s repertoire of classic holiday songs.
The “Merry Christmas To All!” shows are sure to sell out fast as they are the only holiday shows from Mariah Carey this year. Carey is an author, entrepreneur, philanthropist, producer, and multiple award-winning artist and songwriter. She is the best-selling female artist of all time with more than 200 million albums sold to date and 19 Billboard Hot 100 #1 singles.
She is an inductee to the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and has been recognized with multiple Grammy Awards, numerous American Music Awards, three Guinness World Record titles, both Billboard’s “Artist of the Decade” and “Icon” awards, just to name a few. She has left a lasting impact on the music industry
Besides being a musician, Mariah Carey has also donated her time and energy to a range of philanthropic causes including Save the Music, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, World Hunger Relief, and the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Carey founded Camp Mariah in partnership with the Fresh Air Fund, a retreat for inner-city children to explore career development.
Mariah Carey’s special three-date event called “Merry Christmas To All!” will be going to the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada on Dec. 11, and Madison Square Garden in NYC on Dec. 13 and 16. Tickets will be available to the general public starting on Oct. 28 at 10 a.m. During ticket checkout, fans will also be able to purchase an exclusive t-shirt, as well as a copy of Mariah’s illustrated holiday fairytale, The Christmas Princess, which is set to release on Nov. 1.
All in-person activities have resumed for the Celebrate Mexico Now festival in New York City for the first time in three years. The inclusive and groundbreaking festival features Mexican and Mexican American innovators and will happen from Nov. 14-22.
Celebrate Mexico Now was founded in 2004 by award-winning curator and producer Claudia Norman of CN Management. It is NYC’s first and only independent arts festival spotlighting contemporary Mexican culture. Norman has brought hundreds of native Mexican artists – sculptors, musicians, poets, chefs, filmmakers, actors, dancers, painters, and directors – to perform and show at venues across the city.
The festival will start on Nov. 14, with a book presentation by American-Mexican writer Jennifer Clement on her book Prayers for the Stolen. She writes about some of the most dangerous states in Mexico, where adolescent girls and young women are abducted from bus stops and schoolyards. This is the horrific truth, and her books talk about these things through the lens of fiction. The event will be on Nov. 14 at 6 p.m. at the Center for Fiction.
On Nov. 15 at 6 p.m. there will be an art gallery showcase of Contemporary Mexican Photography with Mexican photographer and visual artist Martha Naranjo Sandova. She will talk about Mexican photography and its impact of it on the art circuit of New York City and the world.
The Celebrate Mexico Now festival will have performance art on Nov. 19 at 9:30 p.m. for $20 a ticket. NYC-based artist Carlos A. Cruz Velazquez will be performing with the group Psychedelic Spectacular. The performance invites the audience into a journey of self-acceptance through music, dance, costume reveals, and dramatic stupidity.
There will be storytelling and musical performances as well. Storyteller Valentina Ortiz will share stories of Quetzalcoatl and the essence of life and wisdom. Storytelling will be followed by Mariachi Angeles de New York, music from the hearts of young people, who from childhood gathered in the community to learn the musical traditions of their ancestors and preserve the art form for future generations. These will happen on Nov. 19 at 3 p.m. and Nov. 20 at 3 p.m.
To celebrate Mexican Revolution Day on Nov. 20 at 8 p.m., there will be a special event at Sobre Masa Tortilleria & Restaurant. Mexican chef Zack Wangeman and his wife Diana Wangerman created a special three-course menu for the occasion.
Celebrate Mexico Now presents a special musical performance by the chamber group Mexamorphosis. Led by Guadalupe Peraza, the group performs cross-cultural concerts with different musical elements with traditional African, Turkish, and Mexican instrumentation. They will perform on Nov. 21 from 7-8 p.m.
On the final day of the festival, there will be a closing cocktail reception and screening of Los Guardianes del Maíz (The Keepers of Corn), directed by Gustavo Vazquez and produced by Jonathan Barbieri. The film tells the story of native corn by the indigenous farmers, artisans, and cooks in Mexico whose ancestors brought life to the seeds since the agricultural revolution. This will take place on Nov. 22 at 6 p.m.
For more information about the Celebrate Mexico Now 2022 festival in NYC, and to buy tickets to select events, go here.
Kansas City progressive metal trio Hammerhedd is playing at The Chance in Poughkeepsie as the opener for Swedish juggernauts, In Flames, on Thursday, October 27th. The heavy metal band from Brighton, Michigan, has also just released their first full-length LP, Grand Currents, in July of 2020.
The band, which first started playing together about a decade ago, is comprised of 19-year-old Henry (vocals, guitar), 16-year-old Eli (drums), and 14-year-old Abe (bass). The boys were 4, 7, and 9 years old when the band was formed.
Together, the Ismert brothers have amazed fans with their high-level, technical playing, which has drawn comparisons to modern metal icons similar to artists Gojira, Meshuggah, and Mastodon. Especially for their age, the band is much more than the sum of their influences, They rock the house every time they have played.
In Flames is a Swedish heavy metal band, formed by guitarist Jesper Strömblad in Gothenburg in 1990. Alongside At the Gates and Dark Tranquillity, In Flames pioneered the genres known as Swedish death metal and melodic death metal. In Flames tickets for the upcoming concert tour are on sale at StubHub. Likewise, for Hammerhedd’s tour information can be accessed by clicking the link here.
You can check these fantastic metal bands at The Chance Theater, which is an old concert and theater complex located in downtown Poughkeepsie. The venue has featured big-name and up-and-coming rock acts throughout it’s lifetime since being built in 1912. The vibes at this venue are unforgettable, and it has a long history of now-famous musicians that have played there.
To watch Hammerhedd’s song “Tunnel,” click here. For more information on the event at The Chance Theater and to purchase tickets for this upcoming event, click here.
