The South Bronx non profit Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corporation, has recently received a $2.5 million grant to finish construction of the Bronx Music Hall. The grant was awarded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
The state of the art facility is 14,000 sq. ft. and will be the first music venue built in the borough in more than half a century. It is located on 438 East 163rd Street within WHEDco’s newest affordable housing development, Bronx Commons. The venue is currently capable of 250 occupants, and also contains a green room, studio, classroom and a lobby to host additional events. The Bronx Music Hall is capable of serving 20,000 in person audience members, post pandemic.
Davon Russell, president of WHEDco, cites the new venue as a “community cultural asset” that will respond to historic inequities that the borough has experienced through the decades. It will also help to bring funds to the borough, and greater NYC area to assist in its economic recovery.
Historians documented each wave of immigrants who settled in the Bronx spanning more than a century. The traditions and rhythms they carried have endured and inspired new generations and new forms of music. Inside and out, the Bronx Music Hall was designed to reflect and showcase today’s diverse contemporary culture
Nancy Biberman, WHEDco Founder and President Emerita.
The Mellon Foundation funding will allow for completion of the main elements within the music hall, including back end lighting, rigging and audio control, as well as cosmetic additions and necessary audience seating.
The Bronx Music Hall is scheduled to open later this year. For more information, visit the Bronx Music website. More information about the WHEDco organization can be found here.
Brooklyn punk band SAVAK announce their new album Human Error / Human Delight, and a Spring tour, with multiple dates in the NY Metro area.
SAVAK, photo by Taylor Sesselman.
The band is led by Sohrab Habibion and Michael Jaworski, and Matt Shulz on drums. Jaworski and Habibion have both been doing singing and songwriting together since the band was created in 2015.
All the members played in bands in the 90s, which helps them reform their sound, as touches of the scene are heard in their music.
The album art for SAVAK’s Human Error/Human Delight.
SAVAK have released a number of singles ahead of the album’s release, which is set to come out April 15. The title of the album comes from the fascination of just existing as a human. The newest release, “No Blues No Jazz,” speaks of what life would be if genres didn’t exist. The album was written over Zoom, and grapples with the idea of creating an album during a pandemic, and if it is justified.
The group have also announced a Spring tour, with many NY metro dates, and tickets to that can be found here.
SAVAK LIVE 2022 Fri. Mar. 4 – Providence, RI – TBD
Sat. Mar. 5 – Northampton, MA – Bishop’s Lounge*
Wed. Mar. 16 – Austin, TX – SXSW*
Thu. Mar. 17 – Austin, TX – SXSW*
Fri. Mar. 18 – Austin, TX – SXSW*
Sat. Mar. 19 – Austin, TX – SXSW*
Thu. Apr. 7 – Brooklyn, NY – Littlefield #+
Fri. Apr. 8 – Kingston, NY – Tubby’s #
Sat. Apr. 9 – Lowell, MA – The Town and the City Festival (early show)
Sat. Apr. 9 – Boston, MA – Midway Cafe #
Fri. May 13 – Philadelphia, PA – TBD +
Sat. May 14 – Washington, DC – TBD +
Fri. Oct. 21 – New York, NY – Le Poisson Rouge !
* w/Pays P. # w/Chris Brokaw + w/Upper Wilds ! w/June of 44
Filled to the Brim, a rock band consisting of high schoolers from Utica, will be performing at The Stanley Theatre on Friday, February 25th.
The band consists of Victoria Haggerty on lead vocals, Alyssa Tomassi on drums, Owen Paz on bass, Jack Towns on keyboards and Johnny Mudge on lead guitar and was first formed in 2018, where the young talents met at Jim O’Mahony’s Rock Camp in Marcy, New York. During those two weeks, the band composed their first song, “Turn Back The Time,” and released a music video for the song less than a year later.
In March 2019, the band recorded a music video for their single, “Turn Back the Time” with Lisa Baron from Upstate Studios, now known as Baroness Films in Utica, NY. Over the course of 2019, they played shows and continued collaborating until they found that they had created enough songs for a full album. They headed back to the studio in December 2019 and recorded their 11 track self-titled with Andrew Greacen from MoreSounds Studios.
Since then, Filled To The Brim has continued writing songs and playing shows. In 2020, the band released their self-titled album and in 2021, the band released their single “Only U.” Both are available for streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube.
The Stanley Theatre will be hosting the band on Friday, February 25th. The theatre operates as a non-profit organization run by the Central New York Community Arts Council. Since 1928, the theatre has hosted movie screenings, plays, concerts, and more.
Tickets start at $10 can be purchased through Ticketmaster.
Club d’Elf will release their third studio full-length album, You Never Know, on April 1. They’ll team up with John Medeski that night at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock to celebrate the release of You Never Know, and perform with the band the next night at DROM in the East Village on April 2.
You Never Know is a double album with 10 tracks with the sound of musicians in full improvisational flight. For Mike Rivard, head Elf and sole constant member over the collective’s 24 year run, the meaning of You Never Know runs deeper than just the chase of an alchemic group-mind.
A few years back, while tracking spiritual insight in the deep-Amazon, Rivard began experiencing terrifying heart palpitations, breathing difficulties and paralyzing anxiety. Initially, he assumed the symptoms were part of his awakening process, but it quickly became clear something else was at work. Back home in Boston, Rivard was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism, likely caused by a blood clot which developed during one of his long flights to Peru. A lifelong devotee of Eastern and holistic medicine, Rivard found himself mired in the sterility and sluggishness of the American healthcare system, struggling with PTSD and cloaked in a severe depression. His life skidded to a halt.
A lot of people find out about having a pulmonary embolism by dying. After the trauma in the jungle as I slipped further and further into the darkness, one of the scariest parts was how things I loved lost all meaning, the pleasure just drained away. It was this sense of sliding into an alternate universe of shadow.
Mike Rivard
As the depression parted, Rivard (playing bass and sintir) gathered fellow Club d’Elf collaborators Dean Johnston (drums), DJ Mister Rourke (turntables), Paul Schultheis and John Medeski (vintage analog keyboards), Casablanca-native Brahim Fribgane (oud, vocals and percussion) and guitarists Duke Levine, David Fiuczynski and Kevin Barry, and began recording the album to analog tape with minimal overdubs.
Half of the album consists of originals inspired by Rivard’s experience and the sounds that saved him, and half covers of influences which have shaped the band’s musical universe: Miles Davis, Frank Zappa, Joe Zawinul, Nass El Ghiwane, as well as gnawa, a North African trance music known for causing time to melt as players and listeners enter into a liminal space of eternity and possibility, and Sufi folk songs.
It’s kind of like driving a tour bus and stopping at various interesting destinations, pulling the bus over and letting everyone off, and then it’s up to them, the musicians, to find their way into the experience, to create the music together, in the moment. Every voice is heard, is equally important, and can drive the music into places that I never would have envisioned of on my own. That’s what really excites me—when I let go of the reins and the collective energy of the ensemble reaches a sort of hive mind state, and the spirits guide us.
Mike Rivard
In the studio, Rivard ceded the spotlight to the collective, allowing for free-play and improvisational dexterity. Through it all rides the trance, pulsing, calming, poking open the mystic truths which may just offer us all the hope of brighter days ahead. A Sufi traditional “Dervish Dance” features pools of deep bass and psychedelic crackle beneath Fribgane’s oud soloing, and is the first single from the album, the video of which can be seen below.
Club d’Elf have tour dates this April with keyboardist John Medeski, in support of You Never Know, set for release on April 1 via Face Pelt Records. After two stops in New York State, the band makes stops in Maine, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, with a finale at Soundcheck Studios in Pembroke, Massachusetts on April 15.
Club d’Elf Spring 2022 Tour Dates
4/1 – Woodstock, NY – Levon Helm Studios 4/2 – New York, NY – Drom 4/8 – Portland, ME – Bayside Bowl 4/9 – Providence, RI – Columbus Theater 4/10 – Portsmouth, NH – The Music Hall 4/14 – Northampton, MA – Bombyx 4/15 – Pembroke, MA – Soundcheck Studios
Tony and Grammy award-winning creator of the Broadway musical Hadestown, Anaïs Mitchell will head back on stage with folklore music group Bonny Light Horseman, on February 20th at Old Dutch Church in Kingston.
Bonny Light Horseman is a trio group consisting of singer and songwriter, Anaïs Mitchell; Eric D. Johnson who is best known for his project Fruit Bats and stints with The Shins, and Josh Kaufman an instrumentalist and producer known for his work with Hiss Golden Messenger, Bob Weir, The National. This trio centers their focus on blending traditional folklore music with more contemporary melodies. Their two time Grammy nominated album Bonny Light Horseman, is suitable for a vast audience.
When the three met and decided to sketch musical ideas together, they formed an instant artistic bond. While they experimented for the upcoming 2018 Eaux Claires festival at the time, the trio seized the opportunity to form a band.
“The conversation about starting the group and figuring out the type of music we’d play happened very quickly. It’s like a love story: a really big fire, and the shared ideas of what we wanted the music to feel like. We wanted openness and for it to feel emotional and personal.”
Josh Kaufman
During their live performance later this month, the trio will perform songs from Bonny Light Horseman. Subsequently, Mitchell will take to the stage to share her new 10 track solo album named after herself, in addition to some more fan favorites. This album represents her resilience to music after producing her previous solo album almost a decade ago, to focus on other music related commitments on Broadway and within her band. NPR, supports Mitchell as “one of the greatest songwriters of her generation.”
Anaïs Mitchell is a personal album from real life events, in which she exposes a variety of emotions of hers, not daring to hold back using metaphors, but is rather blunt about her feelings. Ultimately, this album is intimate, real and relatable.
For Anaïs Mitchell’s & Bonny Light Horseman’s upcoming performance, general admission seats are $34 and for Gold Circle seats, within the first 5 rows, tickets are $48. To buy tickets for February’s show visit ticketmaster.
Garcia Family Provisions has declared GarciaLive Volume 16 as its album of the month for February. This three-CD album features a three set show from Jerry Garcia Band’s inaugural show at Madison Square Garden from November 15,1991, a show that takes place right in the middle of one Garcia’s most heralded solo tours.
The Grateful Dead had recently finished a nine-show residency at The Garden just two months, but this show marks the first ever JGB at the World’s Most Famous Arena. The show opens with a buoyant cover of How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) and features a host of other memorable covers like Van Morrison’s “He Ain’t Give You None” and “Bright Side Of The Road,” Smokey Robinson’s “The Way You Do The Things You Do” and Bob Dylan’s “Simple Twist of Fate.”
And there’s also other Jerry Garcia Band staples like “Ain’t No Bread In The Breadbox” and an extended take of “Don’t Let Go” included on this release, as well as a sterling rendition of “Shining Star” included as well. And the show ends on an emotional high with a cover of “(What A) Wonderful World.”
The JGB lineup at this time includes Melvin Seals on keys, John Kahn on bass, David Kemper on drums and Jaclyn LaBranch and Gloria Jones handling backup vocals. In Glide Magazine Doug Collette wrote, “Garcia Live Volume 16 may be the ideal entry in this ongoing archive series to provide the curious music lover eager to comprehend the virtues of the Jerry Garcia Band…. [Garcia] is equally expressive through the selection of tunes by his favorite composers plus an eclectic range of other song choices, consistently vigorous vocals… and, last but not least, versatile and inventive guitar work.”
This GarciaLive album was officially released in June of last year and is available for purchase directly from Garcia Family Provisions here.
Pink Talking Fish, who perform the music of Pink Floyd, Talking Heads, and Phish, have announced new tour dates for Spring 2022, the most notable of which will be in New York at the Gramercy Theater on April 20.
The New York concert is part of the NYC Phish AfterParty series hosted by the NYC promoter CEG Presents. After major Phish concerts at Madison Square Garden several venues around the city host after parties for those who are still awake, as Phish fans keep the party going.
And what better way to do that than by adding some Talking Heads and Pink Floyd to the mix.
With the new Pink Talking Fish tour stop in New York, what is already a huge show as Phish returns to the Garden on rescheduled New Years dates, the dancing doesn’t have to end just because the concert did. Doors open at 11:30pm and tickets are now available online.
Other than the Gramercy Theater show the new Pink Talking Fish tour will only have one other show in New York state proper, in Saratoga Springs on April 16. There are, still, several other shows in neighboring states: Hartford, CT on Feb. 18, Jay, VT on Feb. 19, and Burlington, VT on March 19.
Other notable stops include a three day stint in Denver, Colo. for a special David Bowie and Prince show. Where they’ll cover songs of the two rock legends alongside guests Chuck Morris from Lotus and The Horn Section, made up of former members of Turkuaz.
Tour Dates
2/18: Hartford CT at Infinity Hall
2/19: Jay VT at Jay Peak Resort
2/26: Ardmore PA at Ardmore Music Hall w/s/g Qway
3/11-12: Denver CO at So Many Roads Brewery
3/13: Denver CO at So Many Roads Brewery – Prince/Bowie featuring PTF, The Horn Section, Chuck from Lotus + more
3/19: Burlington VT at Higher Ground w/s/g Swimmer
4/08: Ventura CA at Ventura County Fairgrounds – Skull And Roses Festival
4/09: Seattle WA at Nectar Lounge
4/16: Saratoga Springs NY at Putnam Place
4/20: New York NY at Gramercy Theater – Phish AfterParty
The Who, one of the greatest rock bands in music history, will embark on a 2022 North American Tour this spring and fall. The two final tour stops in May will be at Madison Square Garden and Bethel Woods, while the October leg of the tour brings Townshend and Daltry to UBS Arena in Belmont.
The music of The Who spans generations, with Roger Daltrey’s soaring vocal prowess building off the sparks of Pete Townshend’s songwriting. These two remaining members of the original lineup join together in a shared legacy while time is passing, one found in the pages of their recent autobiographies -Townshend’s Who I Am (2012) and Daltrey’s Thanks A Lot Mr. Kibblewhite; My Story (2018) – and among their regular touring schedule.
Some shows on The Who’s 2022 tour were originally planned for 2019 but delayed due to a vocal ailment Daltrey was suffering from, while some others on the tour are a substitute for those canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Commenting on The Who Hits Back! 2022 tour, Roger Daltrey said:
Pete and I said we’d be back, but we didn’t think we’d have to wait for two years for the privilege. This is making the chance to perform feel even more special this time around. So many livelihoods have been impacted due to Covid, so we are thrilled to get everyone back together – the band, the crew and the fans. We’re gearing up for a great show that hits back in the only way The Who know how. By giving it everything we got.
Roger Daltrey
The Who Hits Back! Tour features a pure and easy lineup including guitarist and backup singer Simon Townshend (Pete’s brother), keyboardist Loren Gold, second keyboardist Emily Marshall, bassist Jon Button, drummer Zak Starkey and backing vocals by Billy Nicholls. Lead violinist Katie Jacoby and lead cellist Audrey Snyder will be getting in tune with orchestra conductor Keith Levenson, delivering many of The Who’s classics, as well as songs from their most recent album, WHO.
Regarding the inclusion of local orchestras and strings for each show, Townshend spoke to Rolling Stone, saying:
It gives me a chance to make sure what I play, what I do, where I look, how I behave on the stage, is more connected with the people around me, and with the audience, and with, to get prosaic about it, an inner sense. In other words, I don’t lose myself the way I did when I used to jump around, have a big adrenaline rush, and then come off the stage and someone would say, ‘Great show,’ or someone would say, ‘Terrible show,’ and I wouldn’t really know what I had done, to be honest, since I was like someone running a marathon. So the orchestra gives me space.
Pete Townshend
The Who’s show at Bethel Woods also marks their return to the site of the original Woodstock Festival, where the group performed a memorable set that began at 5 AM on Sunday, August 17, 1969.
American Express® Card Members can purchase tickets in select markets before the general public beginning today, Monday, February 7 at 10 am through Thursday, February 10 at 10 pm. The Who’s fan club presale starts Wednesday, February 9 at 10 am and runs through Thursday, February 10 at 10 pm.
Professor Louie’s Century will present Blues legends like Joe Louis Walker, Guy Davis, Professor Louie & The Crowmatix, and more. Music will be accompanied by a photographic retrospective Keeping the Blues Alive by JosephA. Rosen. Hudson Valley Blues Society has partnered with these amazing artists to put on a show that will be the first of its kind.
Professor Louie and The CrowMatix
Joe Louis Walker is a Blues Hall of Fame member and four-time Blues Music Award winner. Throughout his life, he has toured all around the world, preforming at mist renowned music festivals throughout the United States, Canada, Glastonbury, Notodden and Montreux. Along with this, he has toured for festivals in Japan, Australia, Taiwan, Ireland, Turkey, European festivals including The North Sea Jazz Festival, and Brazil.
Guy Davis has spent his musical life carrying his message of the blues around the world. He even holds the title of, “An Ambassador of the Blues,” because of his extensive travels from the Equator to the Arctic Circle. His work as an actor, author, and music teacher earmark him as a renaissance man of the blues. Davis often talks about how music and acting have similarities by saying, “…I don’t like people to see the challenging work and the sweat that goes in what I do. I want them to hear me and be uplifted.”
Professor Louie and The CrowMatix emerged from the music industry as the torchbearer of the true spirit of American Roots Music. As a live performer, prolific recording artist and versatile multi-instrumentalist, Professor Louie has the award-winning recording Producer and Engineer, capturing the talents of some of the world’s most highly acclaimed musicians.
The Concert will take place on March 26th, 2022, at 8:00 PM. All adult guests must be fully vaccinated or show proof of a negative COVID-19 test to enter the theatre. Tickets will range from $25 to $40 dollars. To purchase tickets or for more information visit paramounthudsonvalley.com.
Black history month can be a frustrating time of the year. The opportunity to celebrate the numerous Black vanguards is a great honor. Yet, having to encapsulate so much greatness in only 28 short days is a task in itself. How do you prioritize one Black success story over another? The truth is you can’t, but that doesn’t mean you don’t try.
While limiting the importance of Black people to just entertainment can be negligent to the immense contributions made to math, science, architecture and communication that laid the foundation for the modern world… this is a music website.
And while the likes of Malcolm X and Marcus Garvey’s roles as revolutionaries are to be studied and admired, it is the arts that continues to push pop culture forward. There is no greater form of pop culture now than hip hop, having overtaken rock & roll as the world’s most popular genre. Yet, hip hop would not exist without those that paved the way during the Harlem Renaissance.
Black history is everywhere, and New York State occupies some of the most important landmarks, where countless fabled musicians have inhabited. From The Cotton Club — where entertainers during the Harlem renaissance helped bring Black music to the mainstream — to the Marcy Projects that once housed Jay – Z.
Cab Calloway.
Our Black History Maps give readers a chance to view the boroughs, neighborhoods and exact addresses where many a Black history that has shaped the world originated from within New York State, and the accompanying stories deriving from such landmarks. A fun interactive feature, the BHM will also serve music aficionados who may want to see just how close they are to where their favorite artist once frequented.
