NYS Music 202​2

Category: Manhattan

  • Shania Twain Announces Global Tour, July Dates at Lakeview and MSG, and Second Leg in Buffalo

    Country music fixture Shania Twain has released dates for her 2023 Queen of Me Tour, a five month, 49-date run stretching across Canada, the US, and the UK.

    Starting April 28 in Spokane, WA and wrapping up September 26 in Birmingham, England, the tour includes stops in NY on July 8 at St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheater at Lakeview in Syracuse and on the 11th at Madison Square Garden. New Jersey singer-songwriter Breland will feature as a guest performer.

    Due to huge demand, she added a second leg of her tour, stopping in Buffalo on Oct. 20.

    shania twain tour
    Poster for the ‘Queen of Me’ Tour.

    Twain’s tour is in promotion of her upcoming album titled Queen of Me, slated for February 3 release. It’s the sixth studio record from the five-time Grammy Award winner, who owns the title of best-selling female country artist ever.

    Ticket sales for the run begin this Friday, November 4 at 10 a.m.

    SHANIA TWAIN ‘QUEEN OF ME’ 2023 TOUR DATES, LEG 1

    4/28     Spokane, WA             Spokane Arena

    4/29     Seattle, WA                Climate Pledge Arena

    5/02     Vancouver, BC           Rogers Arena

    5/03     Vancouver, BC           Rogers Arena

    5/05     Edmonton, AB            Rogers Place

    5/06     Edmonton, AB            Rogers Place

    5/09     Calgary, AB                Scotiabank Saddledome

    5/10     Calgary, AB                Scotiabank Saddledome

    5/12     Saskatoon, SK            SaskTel Centre

    5/14     Winnipeg, MB             Canada Life Centre

    5/16     Madison, WI               Kohl Center

    5/17     St Paul, MN                Xcel Energy Center

    5/19     Lincoln, NE                 Pinnacle Bank Arena

    5/21     Denver, CO                Ball Arena

    5/24     Salt Lake City, UT      USANA Amphitheatre

    5/26     Mountain View, CA     Shoreline Amphitheatre

    5/28     Los Angeles, CA         Hollywood Bowl

    5/30     Phoenix, AZ                Ak-Chin Pavilion

    5/31     Thousand Palms, CA Acrisure Arena

    6/03     Tulsa, OK                   BOK Center

    6/04     St. Louis, MO              Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre STL

    6/07     Nashville, TN              GEODIS Park

    6/09     Camden, NJ               Freedom Mortgage Pavilion

    6/12     Halifax, NS                 Scotiabank Centre

    6/14     Moncton, NB               Avenir Centre

    6/17     Quebec City, QC        Videotron Centre

    6/18     Montreal, QC              Bell Centre

    6/20     Hamilton, ON              FirstOntario Centre

    6/21     London, ON                Budweiser Gardens

    6/23     Toronto, ON                Budweiser Stage

    6/24     Toronto, ON                Budweiser Stage

    6/27     Columbia, MD             Merriweather Post Pavilion

    6/28     Charlotte, NC              PNC Music Pavilion

    6/30     Cuyahoga Falls, OH   Blossom Music Center

    7/01     Tinley Park, IL            Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre

    7/06     Ottawa, ON                 Ottawa Bluesfest

    7/08     Syracuse, NY             St Joseph’s Health Amphitheater at Lakeview

    7/09     Mansfield, MA             Xfinity Center

    7/11     New York, NY             Madison Square Garden

    7/13     Burgettstown, PA        The Pavilion at Star Lake

    7/15     Noblesville, IN            Ruoff Music Center

    7/19     Kansas City, MO        T-Mobile Center

    7/21     Dallas, TX                   Dos Equis Pavilion

    7/22     Houston, TX               Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

    9/16​     London, UK                 The O2

    9/19     ​Dublin, IRE                 3Arena

    9/22 ​    Glasgow, UK               OVO Hydro

    9/25 ​    Manchester, UK          AO Arena

    9/26 ​    Birmingham, UK         ​ Utilita Arena Birmingham

    SHANIA TWAIN ‘QUEEN OF ME’ 2023 TOUR DATES, LEG 2

    10/12   San Antonio, TX         AT&T Center

    10/13   Fort Worth, TX            Dickies Arena

    10/16   Knoxville, TN              Thompson Boling Arena

    10/18   Raleigh, NC                PNC Arena

    10/20   Buffalo, NY                  KeyBank Center

    10/22   Toronto, ON                Scotiabank Arena

    10/24   Quebec City, QC        Videotron Centre

    10/25   Montreal, QC              Bell Centre

    10/27   Columbus, OH            Schottenstein Center

    10/28   Louisville, KY              KFC Yum! Center

    10/31   Milwaukee, WI            Fiserv Forum

    11/02   Omaha, NE                 CHI Health Center

    11/03   Des Moines, IA           Wells Fargo Arena

    11/05   Fargo, ND                   FARGODOME

    11/07   Winnipeg, MB             Canada Life Centre

    11/09   Saskatoon, SK            Sasktel Centre

    11/11   Calgary, AB                 Scotiabank Saddledome

    11/12   Edmonton, AB             Rogers Place

    11/14   Vancouver, BC           Rogers Arena

  • Sub Lights Release New EP ‘Half-Life’

    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 Medicine EP and a pair of successful debut shows in Manhattan.

    Sub Lights Announce New EP Half-Life

    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.”  

    Sub Lights Announce New EP Half-Life


    “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.”                            

    Sub Lights Announce New EP Half-Life

    “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.” 

  • Ladies Love Cool Jazz: LL Cool J Reimagined

    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 J
    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.

    – Jonathan Hay

  • World Music Institute Presents Habib Koité at City Winery on November 13

    Considered by Rolling Stone to be the biggest pop star from Mali, guitarist and composer Habib Koité has been called the biggest pop star in West Africa. He’ll perform at City Winery in Manhattan on Sunday, November 13, presented by World Music Institute.

    Habib Koité

    Hailing from the musically prolific West African nation of Mali, Habib Koité is a modern-day troubadour descended from a noble line of griots, from whom he inherited his passion for music. His grandfather played the kamele n’goni – a traditional string instrument associated with the legendary hunters from the Wassoulou region of Mali.

    Koité is perhaps best known for his danssa doso, a unique blend of local rhythms with traditional hunter’s music, and often plays his guitar on open strings in the style of a n’goni. His latest studio album Kharifa, released in 2019, was recorded in Bamako and is rich with the musical traditions and instruments of his country.

    Founded in 1985 as a not-for-profit, World Music Institute (WMI) has served as one of the leading presenters of world music and dance within the United States. WMI is committed to presenting the best in traditional and contemporary music and dance from around the world with the goal of inspiring wonder for the world’s rich cultural traditions, promoting awareness and appreciation and encouraging cross-cultural dialog and exchange. WMI presents at venues throughout the city and depends on both public and private funding to accomplish its mission. 

    The show on November 13 starts at 8pm, with doors at 6pm. Tickets are $30-45, available here.

  • Pat Metheny to go Side-Eye at The Beacon in 2023

    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.

    pat metheny beacon

    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.

  • The Django Festival Allstars Fly into Birdland this November

    Over November 1-6, Birdland will be alive with “Hot Gypsy Jazz,” featuring the Django Festival Allstars. True virtuosos of Django’s style, The Allstars swing like crazy and will break your heart with a ballad, while carrying on Django’s legacy.

    Django Festival allstars birdland

    Called the “Hardest swinging band at The Newport Jazz Festival” by Downbeat Magazine, the lineup for the upcoming tour is a true family affair. Samson Schmitt (lead guitar) and part of the famous Schmitt French ‘gypsy’ Manouche musical family brings his 2 daughters Stefi (vocals), and Stenli (guitar/vocals). They’ll be joind by Ludovic Beier (accordion), Pierre Blanchard (violin), Antonio Licusati (bass), and Michael Harris (guitar).

    The Django Reinhardt Festival carries on the legacy of gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt with top players from Europe combined with America’s great jazz stars to bring joy to the public with its swinging sound, virtuosity, romantic melodies, and camaraderie amongst the musicians.

    The Django Reinhardt NY Festival was launched in 2000 and was the first-ever festival of its kind in America and established a home at the legendary club, Birdland, in New York City. 2022 will mark its 22nd anniversary, and it’s still going strong. The Festival is produced by Pat Philips, and founded by Pat Philips & Ettore Stratta.

    Django Festival Allstars shows at Birdland will be held on November 1-3 at 7 pm and 9:30 pm, while on November 4- 6, shows will start at 8:30pm and 10:30pm. More info on the Birdland shows can be found here.

    Django Festival Allstars Tour Dates

    October 30: Rosen Performing Arts Center, Wayne, NJ

    November 1-6: Birdland, NYC

    November 8: Boca Black Box, Boca Raton, Florida

    November 9: Faena Theatre, Miami, Florida

    November 12: Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild , Pittsburgh, PA

    November 13: Bach Dynamite & Dancing, Half Moon Bay, CA

    November 15: Lobero Theatre, Santa Barbara, CA

    November 18: Vitellos, Los Angeles, CA

    November 19: The 222, Healdsburg, CA

  • Alan Robert ‘Arrested’ in Brooklyn

    Spoiler NYC frontman, Life of Agony bassist, and graphic artist Alan Robert was recently caught on video being arrested with his bandmates from Spoiler at Brooklyn’s Lucky 13 Saloon.

    Well, not really. The group’s music video for “Banned in 38 States,” released this past Thursday, October 18, showed the band being carried out of the heavy metal-themed bar in handcuffs and performing from behind bars in a skit-like approach.

    Produced by Ken Lewis, a producer whose repertoire includes work with the Wu-Tang Clan, Eminem, and countless other hip-hop icons, it’s a quick, pounding punk rock track which just crosses the two minute mark. Robert proclaims the band’s infamy as inciters of punk-infused chaos, yelling on the first verse, “no where left to play, lots of hell to raise, pour me another bourbon, whiskey or wine.”

    “Banned in 38 States” is one of two new tracks from their August-released album of the same name. It’s a 15th anniversary edition of their debut album Grease Fire in Hell’s Kitchen, featuring remastered versions of the record’s original 12 songs.

    Spoiler NYC band members from left to right: Chris “Junkyard” Silletti (guitar), Alan Robert (lead vocals/bass), Tommy “The Kid” Clayton (drums).

    The other new addition is the slower, more melodic “Damaged Goods,” an ode to Robert’s tumultuous upbringing with an abusive father. “People say I will never amount to nothing, and then they’ll wait ’till I kill myself or something, then they’ll say ‘oh what a shame, he was damaged goods,” he sings on the chorus.

    The song received a Taxi Driver-themed music video back in August when the remastered album dropped.

    Spoiler NYC is also promoting Banned in 38 States with three upcoming shows: one in November in a return to the Lucky 13 Saloon, and two in December, with appearances at Coney Island USA and Bowery Electric.

    Information regarding tickets, Banned in 38 States’ limited vinyl release on Halloween, and more can be found on the Spoiler NYC website.

    Dates:

    Friday, 11/18/22: Lucky 13 Saloon, Brooklyn, NY. Spoiler NYC ‘Record Release Show’

    Sunday, 12/11/22: Coney Island USA, 1208 Surf Ave. Brooklyn, NY. Matinee.

    Sunday, 12/18/22: The Bowery Electric, NYC. All ages matinee.

  • ‘High Line’ from Kids That Fly is Dedicated to NYC

    For a college band from University of Connecticut, making it to the point where you can finally move to NYC is cause for celebration — and what better way to celebrate than with a new single dedicated to the whole experience. “High Line,” released today, October 21, is Kids That Fly doing just that. “High Line” is a song for the proud transplant: listen to it on your first couple Subway rides, blast it with windows open when you first drive over the Brooklyn Bridge. “You made it,” the song promises, “you’re really here.” 

    Kids That Fly is a pop band bridging on indie, composed of four friends from college: Nick Smeriglio on vocals and guitar, Blake Henry on guitar and synth, Braden Frandino on bass and Ryan Hendry on drums. The four started out just playing live shows in and around their school in Connecticut, but soon started commuting in and out of New York for gigs. Finally, the band’s front man, Smeriglio, moved into the city, prompting their optimistic new single. 

    Kids That Fly, High Life

    The song evokes a more technical The 1975, a less sad Backseat Lovers. It’s pop with enticing guitar chords and a synth that fits right in. 

    For the older crowd, the synth keyboard conjures 80’s nostalgia, to neon-soaked teenage years. But for the younger generation, Kids That Fly’s newest feels nostalgic, too, for different reasons. Because it’s so much like The 1975, the synth-y beat and fast drums brought me back immediately to the yearning that defined being a teenage girl between 2013-2016. I remembered how I spent hours on my computer scrolling Pinterest and Tumblr, daydreaming about NYC, imagining my apartment, the parties I’d go to, the friends I’d make, even romanticizing my morning commute. It’s a universal phase for the American teen, the day dream about moving to the city, the bright days, the long nights. “High Line,” captures all that fantasy and its long-awaited fruition in one clean sweep. 

    Though the song calls out the High Line, a revamped New York Central Railroad track that was turned into an elevated park to overlook the westside of Manhattan, the “High Line” music video is filmed deep in the ground, in Subway stations and even on the train. Complete with vintage filter overlays the video sees the foursome walk into the station, set up their drums, guitars, mics and bass and play the single, while tourists watch from the MTA machines; you can almost hear them thinking: “Only in New York.” Listen to the song here, and see the video below.

  • The Town Hall to Host Kaminsky/Reed Opera “Hometown to the World”

    On Saturday, November 5, Town Hall will present the New York premiere of Laura Kaminsky and Kimberly Reed’s new chamber opera, “Hometown to the World.”

    Conducted by Tania León, directed by Kristine McIntyre, and presented in association with Santa Fe Opera, the opera focuses on the impact of the largest workplace ICE raid in U.S. history that took place in Postville, IA in 2008.

    Postville greeting sign with the slogan Kaminsky/Reed’s opera was named after.

    It highlights the multiculturalism of the small Iowa city before the raid of the town’s world-largest kosher meatpacking plant, and looks at the raid’s impact on Postville and families living in the town after the plant’s subsequent closure.

    “Hometown to the World” brings together three characters from different communities affected by the raid: Linda Morales, a Guatemalan woman whose undocumented husband and son were deported but who remained to care for her U.S.-born baby; Abraham Fleischman, a gay Hasidic Jew, who, banished from his family, seeks refuge in Morales’ home; and County Commissioner Larsen, an American of Scandinavian descent, who despairs at the town’s downfall.

    Performers include Cecilia Duarte, Blythe Gaissert, and Michael Kelly, the ensemble Sybarite5, and a chorus comprised of 100+ public high school students from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts and Repertory Company High School for Theatre Arts.

    Tickets can be found online.

  • Broken Social Scene Wrap Up Tour at Webster Hall with Surprise Guests Tracey Ullman and Meryl Streep

    Canadian indie rock collective Broken Social Scene closed out their 2022 North American tour with two sold out nights at Webster Hall in New York City. Near the end of the final show, the band surprised fans by inviting Tracey Ullman and Meryl Streep on stage to sing “Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl.” The show was a huge hit with fans both nights, and the last-minute addition was the cherry on top.

    Broken Social Scene tracey ullman meryl streep webster hall
    photograph by David Reichmann

    Jasmyn opened both nights with soothing yet passionate beats and vocals.

    Jasmyn Performing at Webster Hall, photograph by David Reichmann

    From the moment Broken Social Scene walked onstage until the last moment of the show, the floor was shaking and fans were gleefully sweating and screaming through to the end. The band’s fan interactions are always a treat, and bandmate Kevin Drew took some time to snap a few selfies on a fan’s phone each night.

    Broken Social Scene tracey ullman meryl streep webster hall
    photograph by David Reichmann

    Their US tour has concluded, but you can listen to Broken Social Scene here and Jasmyn here.

    Kevin Drew Takes a Selfie on Fan’s Phone, photograph by David Reichmann

    View our photo gallery below.

    Broken Social Scene tracey ullman meryl streep webster hall
    Broken Social Scene tracey ullman meryl streep webster hall
    Broken Social Scene tracey ullman meryl streep webster hall
    Broken Social Scene tracey ullman meryl streep webster hall
    Broken Social Scene tracey ullman meryl streep webster hall
    Broken Social Scene tracey ullman meryl streep webster hall
    Photography by David Reichmann
    Tracy Ullman and Meryl Streep join Broken Social Scene on stage, video courtesy of user High for This on Youtube.