MasterVoices is an interracial, interfaith chorus based in New York City.
The musical tells the story of a corrupt, small-town mayor in 1960s America. Vanessa Williams stars as the aforementioned mayor who fabricates a miracle to attract tourists. The cast also features Tony Award winner, Santino Fontana, as J. Bowden Hapgood, a stranger who comes to town during the mayor’s scam and may or may not help uncover it.
The show is directed by Ted Sperling the Artistic Director of MasterVoices. Prior to his role at MasterVoices Sperling directed the New York Philharmonic, New York City Opera, and was Principal Conductor of the Westchester Orchestra.
View of American composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim onstage during an event at the Fairchild Theater, East Lansing, Michigan, February 12, 1997. (Photo by Douglas Elbinger/Getty Images)
“Steve was a friend, a great colleague and a mentor,” Sperling said. “He was delighted we were revisiting Anyone Can Whistle, which has one of his favorite songs, ‘With So Little to Be Sure Of,’ and he had agreed to help us with the project. The month ahead will be a labor of love, and we know his spirit will be with us.”
The rarely performed musical’s notable songs include “There Won’t Be Trumpets,” “Anyone Can Whistle,” “Everybody Says Don’t” and “With So Little to be Sure Of”.
Sondheim, and his long-time creative partner, Arthur Laurents, who wrote the book, conceived the story as a treatise on the importance individuality in 1960s America. In particular, when faced with the inherent contradiction of attempting to remain sane in an increasingly insane society.
While a product of the 1960s the show has been lauded for its timelessness. Specifically for its portrayal of an unscrupulous leader and the consequences that occur should a community decide to follow one. The musical also satirizes religion and science, examining their ties to political power.
This is the first performance of Anyone Can Whistle in New York City since the Encore! series at City Center in 2010.
Tickets
Anyone Can Whistle will play at Carnegie Hall for one night only on March 10. Tickets can be purchased online, by calling 212.247.7800, or in person at the box office. Guests must show proof of vaccination to attend the performance.
Jazz at Lincoln Center will head out on a “Songs We Love” tour featuring rising stars in New York City jazz.The tourfeatures Riley Mulherkar as Musical Director, with Vuyo Sotashe, Brianna Thomas and Shenel Johns on vocals with Julian Lee, Mariel Bildsten, Mathis Picard, Barry Stephenson and TJ Reddick.
Jazz at Lincoln Center Presents “Songs We Love”
Today’s rising stars in jazz music are to preform “Songs We Love,” from March 3-19. The tour will feature a journey through the first 50 years of jazz music under the musical direction of Riley Mulherkar, along with three guest vocalists who will join the band of New York’s rising stars. By combining their unique talents, the group will perform their way through decades of music, beginning with the early blues, the jazz of the 1920s, and then ending in the early 1950s. With this, Iconic singers included such as Ma Rainey, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland.
Riley Mulherkar “Songs We Love” Musical Director
The “Songs We Love” tour will kick off in March with nine shows throughout the north, east and south coasts. The tour was first presented as the 2016 Season opener at Lincoln Center in New York City. For over three decades, Jazz at Lincoln Center has been a huge advocate for genres such as jazz, culture, and arts education globally. With the help of Wynton Marsalis, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and many guest artists throughout the generations, this venue produces thousands of performances, education, and broadcast events for people around the world.
By providing new opportunities to present great jazz programming, the Jazz at Lincon Center can feature up and coming musicians who are rising in fame. This allows for their mission ““to entertain, enrich and expand a global community for jazz through performance, education, and advocacy.”
Riley Mulherkar “Songs We Love” Musical Director
Musician Riley Mulherkar has been recognized as a “smart young trumpet player” by The New York Times, along with being praised by The Wall Street Journal as a “youngster to keep an eye on.” By being a founding member of the band, The Westerlies, Riley helps create a hybrid genre of music that can be both “folk-like, lovely and intellectually rigorous” (NPR Music). Riley works with many leading and up-and-coming artists today, he was born and raised in Seattle, but later moved to New York to study at The Juilliard School, later receiving the Knowles Prize for Jazz and the Peter Mennin Prize for “outstanding achievement and leadership in music.”
In 2011, Riley was named a “rising jazz artist” by Wynton Marsalis in JET magazine, and in 2014 was the first recipient of the Laurie Frink Career Grant at the Festival of New Trumpet Music. He is serving as an ambassador for Jazz at Lincoln Center’s “Jazz for Young People” program in both New York and St. Louis. All of this experience and accolades position him as the perfect musical director for Songs We Love.
Riley Mulherkar Musical Director
Vocalists on tour include South African jazz vocalist Vuyo Sotashe, who moved to NYC in 2013 after being awarded the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship to pursue Master of Music at William Paterson University. Since then, he has gone to win numerous awards including first prize at the very first Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival Vocal Competition in 2014, and more recently, he won the Audience prize award and placed second over-all at the Shure Montreux Jazz Voice Competition in 2015.
Brianna Thomas is another vocalist who has described by The NY Times stating, “Ms. Thomas has a strong voice and a big range, descended from Sarah Vaughan and Betty Carter and routed through Dianne Reeves, with clarity and confidence and a little dirt.”
Paring with these vocalists with a voice that embodies passion and a personal style that sways effortlessly from jazz, to R&B, to gospel is Shenel Johns, who has emerged as one of the shining stars of her generation.
Accompanying Riley Mulherkar and the three guest vocalists is Julian Lee, who quickly established himself as one of the most versatile saxophonists of his generation. Lee is the beneficiary of the 2017 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award from Jazz at Lincoln Center and has performed both internationally and nationally with a wide array of critically acclaimed artists.
Along with these well-astounded artists, Mariel bildsten will also join on the trombone. She is known as the lead trombonist in Arturo O’Farrill’s Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra and tours internationally with the rock band, Brass Against. Mariel has performed at Carnegie Hall, Radio City, O2 Arena, Birdland Jazz Club, the Apollo Theater, the Chicago Jazz Festival, Perth International Arts Festival, Caramoor Jazz Festival, Smalls Jazz Club, and Smoke Jazz Club, and many more.
On piano is French-Malagasy pianist Mathis Picard, who has recently released his new album Live at the Museum, showcasing his diverse talent. Considered one of the most sought-after bassists on the scene today, Barry Stephenson also joins the tour with his raw talent. On drums is TJ Reddick, already a world traveler, who has performed in many countries including France, Brazil and Belize. TJ is an energetic musician ready to light up any stage.
Together, these musicians are bringing a young dynamic vibe to each performance that you won’t want to miss.
The Jazz at Lincoln Center Tour dates, tickets and showtimes can be found on their website.
On Saturday, February 19 at 8 PM, Flushing Town Hall is hosting Alicia Olatuja, an amazing singer who came into the national spotlight as the featured soloist of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir at President Barack Obama’s Second Inauguration in 2013.
“We are overjoyed to welcome Alicia Olatuja to Flushing Town Hall and excited to hear her lush vocals,” says Executive & Artistic Director Ellen Kodadek. “Audiences are in for a real treat, be they fans of jazz, folk, rock, or pop. Olatuja crosses genres seamlessly and is known for her regal presence and stunning voice.”
Photo By Harrison Weinstein
Olatuja’s show, Intuition: From the Minds of Women, will celebrate esteemed, female composers and draws from her 2019 sophomore album. Along with this, includes her interpretations of the music of Sade, Tracy Chapman, Kate Bush, Linda Creed, Angela Bofill, and Brenda Russell. This event is an in-person event but is also streaming for free on Flushing Town Hall’s YouTube channel.
Along with Olatuja’s performance, Flushing Town Hall hosts a Black History Trilogy for the celebration of Black History month. The trilogy will feature award-winning performers paying tribute to influential African-American artists, entertainers, and musical traditions.
Though she is originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Olatuja grew up immersed in a wide range of musical styles, including gospel, soul, jazz and classical. Shortly after, she assembled her own jazz-based ensemble and recorded her first solo album, Timeless (2014).
Praised by DownBeat for her “full-bodied tone, precise pitch, and personal engagement at the lowest whisper or highest wail,” Olatuja’s first came into the national spotlight in 2013 when performing as the featured soloist with the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir at President Barack Obama’s Second Inauguration.
This in-person performance will take place on Saturday, February 19 at 8 PM. Tickets can be purchased here ($15/$12 members). Lastly, all visitors, performers and staff are required to show proof of vaccination, masks will be required at all times as well.
This concert will stream live for FREE on Flushing Town Hall’s YouTube Channel
NYC-based artist Rachael Sage is coming out with her new single “Revelation Ground” and tour, with nine shows across New York State.
Rachael Sage. photo by Blue Roses.
Sage has been touring for decades among the likes of Judy Collins, Eric Burdon, and Ani DiFranco and a six-time Independent Music Awards winner who founded her record label, MPress Records two decades ago. She has been described as “The Carole King of her generation…” by Blurt Magazine, and by artist Judy Collins herself as “A great gift…of incredible talent and beauty.”
Rachael Sage is going on tour and will have support from Howard Jones at the select show. She will perform songs from her recent Billboard Charting album Character, along with select pieces across her discography of 14 albums and her new collaborative side-project, Poetica. Tickets to the tour can be found here.
Rachel Sage Tour Dates 2/10/22 – Beacon, NY – The Dogwood (Winter Residency) 2/11/22 – Ithaca, NY – Hangar Theatre* 2/12/22 – Saratoga, NY – Universal Preservation Hall* 2/14/22 – Boston, MA – City Winery* 2/15/22 – Norwalk, CT – Wall Street Theater* 2/17/22 – Pawling, NY – Daryl’s House* 2/18/22 – Huntington, NY – The Paramount* 2/19/22 – New York, NY – Sony Hall* 2/20/22 – Sellersville, PA – Sellersville Theater* 2/21/22 – Alexandria, VA – The Birchmere* 2/22/22 – Richmond, VA – The Tin Pan* 3/1/22 – New York, NY – Joe’s Pub (Single Release Show) 3/4/22 – Beacon, NY – The Dogwood (Winter Residency) 4/9/22 – Binghamton, NY – Atomic Tom’s * appearing with Howard Jones
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.
While the Allman Betts Band tour has been postponed amid a hiatus, there is now a co-headlining tour with The Devon Allman Project and Samantha Fish Band in its place, with stops in Utica, Albany, Buffalo, Chester, New York City and Westhampton Beach.
Devon Allman.
The Devon Allman Project is a six-piece world-class band that has previously toured almost 20 countries. The band is led by Devon Allman, son of The Allman Brothers guitarist Gregg Allman. The band is known for gracefully blending genres and jam in the same way that the Allman family is known for.
photo by Brian Cornish
Samantha Fish is one of the most inventive artists in the blues scene, with her being placed in Guitar World Magazine’s list of “Top 10 Best Blues Guitarists in the World.”
Speaking of the tour, Devon Allman had this to say:
I can’t wait to get back out and spread some music around with my friends. I’ve known Samantha forever now and she’s such a phenomenal talent, her voice and guitar playing are smokin’ and her new band are world class…we’re gonna have some fun out there
The Devon Allman Project tour with Samantha Fish will be heading to multiple NY cities, and tickets can be found here.
THE DEVON ALLMAN PROJECT + THE SAMANTHA FISH BAND ON TOUR
Mar 3 @ The Kent Stage | Kent, OH Mar 4 @ Riverfront Live | Cincinnati, OH Mar 5 @ Robins Theatre | Warren, OH Mar 6 @ Kemba Live | Columbus, OH Mar 8 @ Jergel’s | Warrendale, PA Mar 9 @ Town Ballroom | Buffalo, NY Mar 10 @ Stanley Theater | Utica, NY Mar 11 @ HMAC | Harrisburg, PA Mar 12 @ Palladium | New York, NY Mar 13 @ Sugar Loaf Performing Arts Center | Chester, NY Mar 16 @ Musikfest Cafe | Bethleham, PA Mar 17 @ Palace Theater | Manchester, NH Mar 18 @ Loos Center for the Arts | Woodstock, CT Mar 19 @ Cabot Theater | Beverly, MA Mar 20 @ Westhampton Beach PAC | Westhampton Beach, NY Mar 23 @ Academy of Music | Northampton, MA Mar 24 @ The Egg | Albany, NY Mar 25 @ Mayo Performing Arts Center | Morristown, NJ Mar 26 @ The Beacon Theatre | Hopewell, VA
THE DEVON ALLMAN PROJECT
Apr 1 @ Hawaii Theatre Center | Honolulu, HI Apr 2 @ Castle Theater | Maui, HA
In honor of Black History Month, Bardavon Presents in Poughkeepsie has announced several events. Two of these events are announced as a way to educate and promote conversation surrounding race for kids and teens K-12, with other events celebrating Black history also scheduled.
The first of these events is Virtual Step Afrika! The event is a 5-part series designed to educate the youth on stepping and its history. Stepping is a form of dancing that originated in African American colleges in the early 20th century. Steppers use their bodies as an instrument and often follow polyrhythmic time signatures. By doing so, the dance form created a way for people to musically express themselves through their bodies. Schools and teachers can register for Virtual Step Afrika! from now until Friday, February 18th.
Step Afrika!
Bardavon Presents will also host Virtual Rhapsody in Black. The event is a one-man show written and performed by LeLand Gantt and developed at NYC’s Actors Studio by Estelle Parsons. The show follows Gantt’s personal journey to understand and eventually transcend racism in America. Teachers It seeks to stimulate deep and uncomfortable, yet necessary conversations about race. A free stream of the performance will be available starting Monday, February 7th til Friday, February 18th.
Rhapsody in Black
On Friday, February 25th, a dual screening of Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing, will be shown at both the Bardavon and Ulster Performing Arts Center. The classic 1989 film featuring Spike Lee, Martin Lawrence, Samuel L. Jackson, and Giancarlo Esposito, explores the racial tension in a Brooklyn neighborhood between African Americans and Italian-Americans. The movie has received unanimous positive reception in the way that it explores its themes, so much so that it has been admitted to the National Film Registry. Tickets for the screening start at just $6.
Do the Right Thing
On February 18th at 8 PM, BardavonPresents will host a free stream on their YouTube page. This stream will be a part of their HVP: Behind the Music series. The episode will focus on the Hudson Valley Philharmonic’s March 5th concert, which shines a spotlight on female composers. Notably, Composer Nkeiru Okoye will discuss her piece “Songs of Harriet Tubman,” dedicated to the abolitionist woman who helped free an estimated 70 slaves. The steam will also explore the broader title theme, Underground Figures. More information is available here.
