For the 11th year at Brooklyn Bowl, The Friday Night Jam & FANS have announced a series of spiritually and musically inclined High Holidays services. Four services in late September and early October will be broadcast live for free via Fans.live, led by Rabbi Daniel Brenner and musical director Jeremiah Lockwood, featuring Antibalas’ Jordan McLean, Yuli Beeri, Lenny Kaye, saxophonist Stuart Bogie and a full live band.
The livestreamed shows will take place at Williamsburg’s Brooklyn Bowl (with a select number of tickets for sale) and Relix Studios.
The services will feature a mix of live music and remote video contributions from a mix of musicians. Confirmed remote guests include: Dave Harrington (Darkside), Alex Bleeker (Real Estate), Dan Lebowitz (ALO), Eric Krasno (Soulive and Lettuce), Karina Rykman, Ross James (Terrapin Family Band), Aron Magner (Disco Biscuits) and Josh Kaufman (Bonny Light Horseman), among others.
The house band consists of Jeremiah Lockwood, Antibalas’ Jordan McLean, Antibalas’ Timothy Allen, drummer John Bollinger, saxophonist Stuart Bogie and Yula Berri on vocals and bass. The services arrive at the end of a busy summer for Bogie and McLean, including appearances at the lauded Newport Jazz Festival. Internationally based teacher Aliza Rivka will also lead a guided meditation at each event. On the morning of September 26, Leslie Mendelson, Eric Slick (Dr. Dog), and Armo will also make special appearances at Brooklyn Bowl as part of the High Holidays festivities.
We have said for years that Brooklyn Bowl is our sanctuary, clubhouse, church and synagogue, so it only makes sense that it has grown into the spiritual home for our musically inclined Rosh Hashanah services over the years. Especially at a time when so many of us have been apart from our friends and family due to the pandemic, we hope that our suite of traditional-but-open-minded-and-inclusive services will allow us to connect with each other as we ‘begin again’ at the start of this new year.
Relix’s Editor-in-Chief Mike Greenhaus.
As part of the event’s anniversary celebration, as part of the Sunday, Sept 25 service, Lockwood’s The Sway Machinery will present Hidden Melodies Revealed 15 at Brooklyn Bowl. This new iteration of the concert-ritual will celebrate the widening circles of cantorial revival, and Yiddish experimental expressive culture that have emerged in the last decade.
Offering a counterpoint to The Sway Machinery’s futurist sound, a second stage will be set up in the middle of the venue that will host a “radical traditionalist” band performing new arrangements of Jewish ritual music on strings, led by virtuoso violinist Jake Shulman-Ment, and featuring vocal soloists Yoel Kohn, a leading voice in khazones emerging from the Brooklyn Chassidic community, and Shahanna McKinney-Baldon, Midwest Ska pioneer and thought leader on Jews of Color in the United States. For this performance, McKinney-Baldon will premiere a piece from her upcoming performance project inspired by the life and work of Goldye Steiner, a pioneering Black woman cantor of the 1920s. The resulting worlds of sound will cross boundaries of time, calling upon ritual, and invoking the power of ancestors to imagine radical futures.
In addition to musical guests, the event will also feature revered actor Debra Winger, in the role of the narrator of the animated films The Akeidah, by Shawn Atkins, and Scenes From the Life of Ben Zion Kapov Kagan, by Andrea Dezsö. The narration and score for these animated films will be performed live.
Schedule of High Holidays Events
Sunday September 25 – 7:30PM EST at Brooklyn Bowl. Tickets available here, stream live via Fans.live
Monday September 26 – 10AM EST at Brooklyn Bowl. Tickets available here, stream live via Fans.live
Tuesday, October 4 – 7PM from The Relix Studio, stream live via Fans.live
Wednesday, October 5 – 10AM from The Relix Studio, stream live via Fans.live
Iconic artists Jon Batiste, Pentatonix, and Diane Warren have just released the music video for the vibrant song “Sweet (Single Edit)” directed by Matt Earl (Doja Cat, Carlos Santana, G-Eazy, Cordae). The vibrant video features a cameo from Warren and shows each member of Pentatonix as animated characters throughout the clip as a crooning Batiste intermixes with them in an urban cityscape.
Oscar and multi-Grammy® Award-winning recording artist Jon Batiste developed a fluency in jazz and popular music of all stripes, collaborating with legends from Wynton Marsalis to Prince. In 2022, Batiste’s composing and songwriting will be featured in his large-scale, genre-melding symphonic work “American Symphony,” set to premiere at Carnegie Hall. Jon was even named bandleader and musical director of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
“Life is full of ups and downs. Music is a gift that helps put it all in perspective. This song will find those who need it most,”
Jon Batiste
Grammy winning and 13-time Oscar nominated songwriter Diane Warren’s newly released single joins a beyond-impressive songwriting resume that includes countless staples of modern music history including “Because You Loved Me” (Celine Dion), “Can’t Fight The Moonlight” (LeAnn Rimes), and “How Do I Live” (by both LeAnn Rimes and Trisha Yearwood). The release of “Sweet (Single Edit)” comes on the heels of the announcement that Warren has been selected to receive an Honorary Oscar as voted by the Academy’s Board of Governors. She is the first songwriter to receive an Honorary Oscar which will be presented at Academy’s 13th Governors Awards in November 2022.
‘Sweet’ is like a jolt of positivity right when we need it the most. And there is no one who exudes more positivity and joy than the amazing Jon Batiste. To have both Jon and the greatest a cappella group in the world, Pentatonix on my song is a dream come true. Just in time to make everyone’s Summer a little SWEETer.
~Diane Warren
Three-time Grammy® Award-winning and multi-platinum-selling artist Pentatonix has sold more than 10 million albums worldwide and performed for hundreds of thousands of fans at their sold out shows across the globe. Their YouTube channel boasts close to 20 million subscribers, yielding more than 5.5 billion video views.
“We were so honored to collaborate with such musical titans as Jon Batiste and Diane Warren. They’ve brought the world so much love and joy in their music. We hope the people feel like dancin’ and prancin’ when they listen to “Sweet”!”
Kevin Olusola of Pentatonix.
To stream this hit single, click the link here or listen below.
Flushing Town Hall’s ongoing concert series, Common Ground: Mini-Global Mashups, picks back up Sunday, September 18 with “Jazz Piano Meets Venezuela.”
Common Ground, which started last October, brings together musicians from different national/artistic backgrounds for never before performed collaborative works. It’s curated by trumpeter and composer Frank London of The Klezmatics, who played in the original, large scale version of the series.
Amina Claudine Myers (left) and María Fernanda González. (right)
The two artists on program for this upcoming show at Flushing Town Hall are American jazz artist Amina Claudine Myers and Venezuelan musician María Fernanda González, a player of the bandola llanera, a guitar-like instrument native to Venezuela and Colombia.
Myers, an Arkansas-born artist, composer, and educator, has had her musicianship recognized on an institutional level, having received multiple grants and awards from organizations such as the National Endowment for the Arts, Meet The Composer, and The New York Foundation for the Arts. She also was inducted as a member of the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Arkansas Jazz Hall of Fame in 2010.
González, a Northwest Venezuelan artist, composer, educator, and journalist, is one of the only female musicians in the world playing her instrument, becoming the world’s first female electric bandola llanera player in 2016. She’s also participated in and won competitions at Colombia’s Joropo Festival.
Information regarding tickets, schedule and more can be found on the Flushing Town Hall website.
On this day in 2007, the first ever Farm Aid was held in New York State, with the annual benefit concert for farmers held on Randalls Island.
The official announcement came on June 11 with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp making the official announcement in New York City alongside then-NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and farmers and food buyers at Union Square’s Greenmarket.
Mayor Bloomberg welcomed the Farm Aid co-founders, saying “The City strongly supports sustainable family farming through our Greenmarket program — which has nearly doubled its locations over the past five years — and it’s an honor to be hosting Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Farm Aid for their 2007 concert.”
Willie Nelson shared “Farm Aid is coming to New York because your enthusiasm for family farm food is keeping family farmers on the land. We are thankful to Mayor Bloomberg, the City Council and the many activists here who are leading efforts so that every New Yorker has access to more food from family farms” while John Mellencamp said of the importance of the event, “Things change when we all take personal responsibility for our food and where it comes from. Farm Aid is a force for change that works hard to keep farmers on the land so that we’ll have good food on our tables.
Photo By Greg Allen/Shutterstock
Why did Farm Aid take so long to get to New York? Nearly the first two decades of Farm Aid (1985-2003) brought the festival to states whose economies are strongly based in agriculture – Texas, Indiana, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Virginia, and South Carolina. In 2004 the festival moved to Washington State and headed east for New Jersey in 2006. Given the quintessential urban setting of New York City, bringing a festival promoting support for local farms and farmers doesn’t seem like the right fit at first, but five boroughs of 8 million people need to eat.
It took being invited to The Big Apple, per executive director Carolyn Mugar, by environmentalists, politicians, Mayor Bloomberg’s office as well as chefs, that finally brought Farm Aid to the Empire State. “Farmers are never going to survive if they don’t have as allies the people who want this good food,” Ms. Mugar told the New York Times. “New York has a huge density of eaters and a density of people who are doing excellent things. There are restaurants, farmers’ markets, community-supported agriculture programs, even people who are growing food in the city and teaching people how to grow it.”
photo via @ceefar74
The lineup for the day included Farm Aid staples in New York, Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Dave Matthews, the latter of whom was joined by Merle Haggard. Also on the day long festival-style lineup were the Allman Brothers Band (along with Derek Trucks Band and Gregg Allman performing solo), Counting Crows, Matisyahu, Ray Price, Guster, Billy Joe Shaver, Tim Reynolds, Montgomery Gentry, Supersuckers, Pauline Reese, Danielle Evin, The Ditty Bops, Jimmy Sturr, Paula Nelson, 40 Points, and Jesse Lenat.
The day was hot and quite dusty, part of the unkept nature of Randalls Island (which was prone to flooding at the time) prior to more events being held on the grounds. Thus, there was straw/hay laid down to keep the dust to a minimum. Much has changed over the past 15 years, as Randalls Island has become a destination for concerts and music festivals, among them Governors Ball, Panorama and Electric Zoo.
photo via @ceefar74
Farm Aid 2007 was “A Homegrown Festival,” was the first major music event that served local, organic and family farm food at concessions stands around the venue. The Homegrown Village featured interactive exhibits to educate concert-goers on soil, water, energy, food and farmers. On the heels of the 2007 Farm Aid, the next year Homegrown.org was launched, creating an online community for those interested in growing, cooking, crafting, brewing, preserving, or making anything Homegrown.
The announcement for Farm Aid was momentus, being the first time the traveling single-day multi-band event would make its way to the Empire State.
Can you believe it?!?! Farm Aid in NYC! I have been working on a pun that references the movie “Babe: Pig in the City” but I haven’t quite figured it out yet. We are so pumped about Farm Aid 2007: A HOMEGROWN Festival at Randal’s Island. 100% delicious family farm food, good tunes and a summer of events in a huge urban food and farm hub. On the DL, this show has been in the works for a few years and we are just thrilled that the time has come to bring Farm Aid into the lives of New Yorkers, to work with upstate farmers and urban growers and to show all of our concert growers that even after 22 years we have a few surprises up our sleeves!
The idea for Farm Aid originally grew out of a remark that Bob Dylan made at Live Aid in 1985. The Bard said, “Wouldn’t it be great if we did something for our own farmers right here in America?” This inspired Willie Nelson to contact Neil Young and John Mellencamp, who was about to release Scarecrow, which includes a song about a farmer losing his land to a foreclosure.
Six weeks after those calls, the trio put together what became the first Farm Aid, on September 22, 1985 in Champaign, Ill. While they expected the event to be a one-off, the inspiration that came from raising money for family farmers to preserve their land and push for laws that support family farms over Big Ag.
Dave Matthews joined the Farm Aid Board of Directors in 2001, and Margo Price joined in 2021. To date, Farm Aid has raised more than $64 million to promote a strong and resilient family farm system of agriculture. A nonprofit organization, Farm Aid holds dear their mission to keep family farmers on their lands.
While the Randalls Island Farm Aid was the first held in New York State, it was only six years later that the event headed Upstate to Saratoga Springs with a performance at Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC). The day was highlighted with the unexpected arrival of Pete Seeger, who sang “This Land is Your Land” with the audience, in addition to some new lyrics referencing fracking. The 2022 edition of Farm Aid will take place on September 24 in Raleigh, NC at Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek.
While there was no live broadcast of Farm Aid, video from the concert was available on-demand on September 19, 2007, via Farmaid.org. A good deal of video from the day exists, as seen below. Setlists via ConcertArchives.org
Montgomery Gentry setlist: Hillbilly Shoes, Daddy Won’t Sell the Farm, What Do Ya Think About That
photo via @ceefar74
Supersuckers setlist: Paid, Breaking Honey’s Heart, Roadworn and Weary
Warren Haynes setlist: Indian Sunset, Fallen Down, One, Soulshine
The Derek Trucks Band setlist: Soul Serenade, Sailing On, Key to the Highway
Guster setlist: The Captain, Manifest Destiny, Satellite, Amsterdam, Airport Song
Counting Crows setlist: Rain King, Thunder Road, Recovering the Satellites, Washington Square, A Murder of One, A Long December
Gregg Allman setlist: Midnight Rider, Melissa
Allman Brothers Band setlist: Trouble No More, Revival, Who’s Been Talking, Black Hearted Woman, Statesboro Blues, One Way Out
Billy Joe Shaver setlist: I Been to Georgia on a Fast Train, Live Forever, Try and Try Again
Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds setlist: Lie in Our Graves, Gravedigger, Crush, The Maker, The Dreaming Tree, Ants Marching
Neil Young setlist: Human Highway, Silver and Gold, Beautiful Bluebird, Too Far Gone, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Heart of Gold, Homegrown, Four Strong Winds
John Mellencamp setlist: Troubled Land, Rain on the Scarecrow, If I Die Sudden, Paper in Fire, Our Country, To Washington, Small Town, Pink Houses
Willie Nelson setlist: One Day at a Time, Jackson, A Peaceful Solution, Whiskey River, Stormy Weather, I Saw the Light, Superman, You Don’t Think I’m Funny Anymore, I’ll Fly Away, On the Road Again
Rammstein brought their long-anticipated U.S. Stadium Tour to MetLife Stadium on Tuesday, September 6th. This performance was initially scheduled for September 10, 2020 but had been postponed two years in a row due to COVID-19.
The evening was an absolute downpour as tens of thousands of fans filled into one of the largest NFL stadiums in the country. While not overly cold, it was definitely a wet experience that fortunately slowed down as it got closer to showtime.
One cannot talk about Rammstein without mentioning their stage presence. Over the years the band has had it fair share of controversy with the different “acts” they have performed on stage, and of course the sheer amount of fire and pyrotechnics they bring. This stadium show Rammstein has now magnifies anything they have previously done ten-fold. The stage itself cost over 6 million dollars and takes four days to assemble. With massive towers to accompany the stage that fill the inside of the stadium resemble fire coming off an oil rig, walking into the stadium to this was truly a sight to behold.
At approximately 8pm the lights went dark, and the crowd erupted in anticipation as a massive explosion on stage began Rammstein’s epic performance. Opening up the set with “Armee der Tristen” the band members make their way on stage from an elevator platform underneath that brought them up.
Rammstein performed a massive 21 song set that included a good mix of their new material as well as fan favorites. During the performance of “Puppe” a large baby carriage is brought onto the stage and burned while video shows a demonic baby doll spewing insects from its mouth. This is all capped off by confetti cannons shooting black confetti all over the crowd which really brought this scene to life.
For the acoustic performance of “Engel”, the band jumped into inflatable pontoon boats and surfed their way to a smaller stage in the middle of the crowd. Returning the main stage, the band went right back into their industrial-heavy “Auslander” which had the audience singing along.
The entire performance was nonstop fire, explosions and mayhem. The climax of all of this was during the band’s second encore performance of “Rammstein” in which Lindermann wears a pyro backpack that shoots out a barrage of fireballs around him while singing, as well as the stage erupting in flames, as well as the towers throughout the stadium.
This Rammstein show is one of their greatest live shows to date, with nonstop fire, explosions, fireworks and flamethrowers. There was even a cannon that came out which Lindermann mounted and sprayed the crowd in foam. It’s easy to make the comparison that you could be smack dab in the middle of Mordor while all of this is happening, and truly a show where words just can’t do it justice.
Setlist: Armee der Tristen > Zick Zack > Links 2-3-4 > Sehnsucht > Zeig dich > Mein Herz brennt > Puppe > Heirate mich >Zeit > Deutschland > Radio > Mein Teil > Du hast > Sonne> Engel > Auslander > Du riechst so gut > Pussy > Rammstein >Ich will > Adieu
The sixth annual Sugar Hill Music Festival is set to take place Saturday, September 10 in Harlem with a program of concerts and other festivities beginning at 3pm.
Taking place at Harlem’s Sugar Hill Luminaries Lawn, the performers include Camille Thurman, a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, performing with the Darrell Green Quartet, Clifton Anderson, a Harlem trombonist who’s been on stage with renowned names such as Stevie Wonder and Dizzy Gillespie who will be playing with his signature sextet, the Steven Oquendo Latin Jazz Orchestra, a nineteen-piece led by the Washington Heights composer and trumpeter, and the Sugar Hill Quartet, the longest running house band in New York City.
The festival is run by While We Are Still Here, a Harlem non-profit which aims to “educate, enshrine and preserve the extraordinary legacy of Harlem as an influential incubator that was vital to the intellectual, cultural, social, and political advancements of the Harlem community as well as the African Diaspora.”
The festival follows a “pay what you will” model, with admissions of any price up to $100 towards While We Are Still Here being accepted. Information about the performing acts and more can be found here.
One of several educational shorts on the While We Are Still Here YouTube channel.
Bryant Park’s Picnic Performances, a summer series of free-to-the-public concerts will continue Thursday, September 8 with a duo performance by jazz pianists Aaron Diehl and Orrin Evans.
Both having claim to the famed title of “Steinway Artist,” the two will play a mixture of standards and originals on their signature instruments made by the Steinway & Sons piano company.
Aaron Diehl.
Diehl’s career highlights include winning the American Pianist Assocation’s Cole Porter Fellow of 2011 and performances at historic venues such as the Lincoln Center and the Village Vanguard. As for influences, he gives credit to prior pianists Ahmad Jamal, Erroll Garner, and Jelly Roy Morton.
Orrin Evans.
Evans has supported a career of nearly thirty years without support from a major label, with his last six projects being released with Smoke Sessions, an independent record company based in New York City. Achievements to Evans’ name include placing #1 in the 2018 Downbeat Critics Poll for “Rising Star Pianist” in addition to Grammy nominations for two albums made with his Captain Black Big Band.
Orrin Evans and members of the Captain Black Big Band talk about the group’s 2020 album “The Intangible Between.”
Food and beverages will be available from on-site vendors near the lawn. Information about the Manhattan park’s final three concerts of the summer following Diehl & Evans’ performance can be found on the Bryant Park website.
Method Man responded to his conspicuous absence from Wu Tang Clan, Nas and Busta Rhymes’, NY State of Mind Tour. The legendary acts announced back in April they’d be joining forces an end of summer tour. However, fans who attended the tour’s first few shows were disappointed to learn that Meth wouldn’t be joining the rest of the Clan on tour.
The Power Book II: Ghost actor gave reply to unhappy fans in a video, going on to say:
I’ma clear this shit up once and for all, I’ma say this one last time. One of the nicest muthafuckas in the world, but I am not a pushover. I have sacrificed so much over the years to satisfy the fans, and I’m pretty sure that’s vice versa and that’s why I love y’all, that’s why I don’t hesitate to go all-out for y’all.
The visibly frustrated Method Man specified that his issues were not with his real fans and “not the ones that’d jump in your DMs and curse you the fuck out all call you all kinds of bitches.” The Grammy-winner went on to explain his absence from the tour,
I fucking love Wu-Tang, wish I could have been on that tour with them. The booking came at a bad time, I was already booked to do a movie.
While still showing respect to his brothers, Meth emphasized his displeasure at the backlash he’s received from some fans. Noting that the show was billed irregardless of his presence.
And you know, these things happen and dudes do have to feed their families. Albums don’t sell the way they used to, I’m pretty sure you guys know that. So in order to preserve my lifestyle and to feed my family, I had to have alternative means of doing that. And I’m glad to say at 50 years old, I have options. Not everybody can say that. Everyone cannot say that they have options.
https://youtu.be/rnHDCO_SClk
Always the clan’s most marketable member, Method Man has branched out to a successful acting career. The How High actor will star in Paramount+’s feature, On the Come Up, from director Sanaa Lathan. He serves as the narrator for DC Comics’ Milestone Generations and will also lend his voice to Disney Channel’s upcoming animated series, Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. He currently stars in Power Book II: Ghost, for which he won consecutive NAACP Image Awards in 2021 and 2022.
The NY State of Mind tour kicked off August 30 and includes a stop at the Prudential Center on September 13. The tour wraps up on Oct. 4 with a performance at Los Angeles’ historic Hollywood Bowl.
The Dave Matthews Band has announced a Fall 2022 North American tour, with stops all over the country, wrapping up with two dates at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 18 and 19.
Photo Credit: Danny Clinch.
The Dave Matthews Band has sold more than 25 million tickets since its creation and a collective 38 million CDs and DVDs combined. With the release of 2018’s Come Tomorrow, the band became the first group in history to have seven consecutive studio albums debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
The band just wrapped up their annual Labor Day weekend celebration at the Gorge Amphitheatre in George, WA, and are finishing off summer tour dates before heading into the Fall tour, starting Nov. 2 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC. DMB will partner with The Nature Conservancy’s Plant a Billion Trees program and have funded the planting of three million trees through touring.
If you are a member of the DMB Warehouse Fan Association you can get tickets now, with public on-sale happening on Sept. 23 at 10 A.M. local time.
Dave Matthews Band Tour Dates
Summer 2022
9/9 Greenwood Village, CO Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
9/10 Greenwood Village, CO Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
9/14 Phoenix, AZ Ak-Chin Pavilion
9/16 Chula Vista, CA North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
Manhattan-born pop/r&b singer, Austin Jay, brings the heat with his latest single, “Loving on You.” Released in anticipation of his debut EP, “Loving You” follows the release of “All I Wanna Do,” his debut single. In a short period of time the passionate wailer has amassed over 50 thousand streams on each of his singles.
After graduating from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Austin Jay embarked on his musical career. Classically trained in piano and voice, he earned his promising newcomer status in 2019 with covers of Khalid’s “Location” and Billie Eilish’s “Ocean Eyes” gaining a significant following on Instagram for his soulful and imaginative Gen- Z reinterpretations of popular songs.
Stylistically, Austin Jay can fill a void within the r&b realm. While the too-cool-for-school crooners have their place, they don’t fully encapsulate the love and vulnerability that r&b is rooted in. A proper love ballad requires a certain kind of indifference to public perception. A generational trend that Austin Jay is aware of, yet embraces.
Loving on You is about the infatuation of new love. It’s about finding someone that you really care about and telling them, and not being ashamed of love. A lot of people think dramatic declarations of love are corny/cheesy, but really it’s healthy and needed more in life.
– Austin Jay
On “Loving On You” Austin Jay reverts to the impassioned, romance-laden croons of r&b’s heyday. In fact, the music video itself is a nod to r&b hits of the past, as Jay shirtless-ly serenades his love interest on a secluded California beach.
Despite his r&b talents, Austin sees himself growing into the likes of Dominic Fike, Khalid, and Bruno Mars, an aggressive, all-genre artist with strong vocals. He performed as the lead singer of the nationally touring band ‘Earth to Mars’, growing his fanbase and earning his performance chops. Now a more complete artist, Austin Jay looks to cement himself as a player in the r&b world.
