Critically acclaimed saxophonist James Casey has released the first single “New Bloom” of his forthcoming solo debut, The Kaua’i Project. With excited anticipation,accompanying the release is a music video dropping March 21stduring Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.
“New Bloom” and its video share a meaningful message of manifesting positivity to overcome obstacles. It’s a remarkable example of how music can be medicine, encapsulating how he refused to let a stark colon cancer diagnosis prevents him from making his mark on the world. Wrapped in inspiration from a year of self-discovery on a remote Hawaiian island, the song brings to light a mantra of soulful jazz, smooth beats and earnest emotion.
The music video for “New Bloom” tells a visual story of hope alongside fellow New York City creatives who are all living through, and beyond, cancer as a community. Each person featured in the video is persevering against cancer in their own intimate and personal ways.
James Casey is an outspoken advocate for colon cancer awareness, especially among his more vulnerable Black community. Casey first melded music and advocacy in 2022 when he released a holiday EP, A Little Something For Everyone, which garnered praise among NPR staff picks for the Best Songs of 2022.
Today, while undergoing regular chemotherapy treatments, Casey is preparing for the April-May 2023 roll out of his debut LP, The Kaua’i Project. This album was developed over the past two years following a somewhat serendipitous sequence of events. Releasing his own music was never a priority for Casey, but that perception changed abruptly when he was diagnosed with Stage III colon cancer at just 38 years of age.
This shocking news in August 2021 served as an awakening in so many ways. Casey decided to make the most of his time, for both for himself and his loved ones. He let go of all limits to his musical career and, for the first time, began writing and recording music under his own name.
To listen to “New Bloom” by James Casey, click the link here. For more information about James Casey, visit the link here.
The Syracuse Jazz Festival announced that for the 37th edition of the festival legendary keyboardist, NEA Jazz Master, and 14-time Grammy winner Herbie Hancock will join 7-time Grammy winner and 2022 Kennedy Center Honoree Gladys Knight to coheadline.
M&T Jazz Fest 2016 at Onondaga Community College, Saturday, July 2, 2016. Ellen M. Blalock
The very popular Syracuse Jazz Festival extends to five days at over 30 venues, featuring over 30 performers including ten national and international touring & recording artists. The festival kicks off on the evening of June 21, featuring 24 indoor and outdoor club performances at two dozen downtown clubs, bars, and restaurants with Syracuse region’s top jazz artists from 4:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. The Late Night New York Band features bassist Tom Brigandi, trumpeter Joe Magnarelli, and saxophonist Eric Alexander, performing Wednesday along with Hall Of Fame vocalist Ronnie Leigh. Shows for the festival run from either 4-6 p.m., 5-7 p.m., 6-8 p.m., 7-9 p.m., 8-10 p.m., or 9-11 p.m.
Other artists performing on June 21 include the Marissa Mulder Duo, Michael Houston / Sam Wynn Project, Vibe Check featuring Melissa Gardiner, Dayquan Bowens & Kenyatta King, Longwood Jazz Project, Bob Holz & A Vision Forward, Nancy Kelly, Joyce DiCamillo Trio, E.S.P. Jazz Group, Funky Jazz Band featuring Dave Hanlon, Ron France, Brian Scherer, Jim O’Mahoney & Ed Vivenzio, The Jazz Mafia, The Instigators, Mark Doyle & Guitar Noir, Julie Howard Quartet, Tamaralee Shutt & The Matthew Rockwell Band, The Hot Club of Syracuse, The Frank Grosso Quartet, Julie & Rick Montalbano Trio, John Rode Trio, Mark Hoffmann & Swing This!, Monk Rowe & The Five Families Band, Quatro, The Jeff Martin Trio, and Tom Witkowski & The JT Hall Jazz Consort.
On June 22, the Visit Syracuse Stage at Hanover Square will feature two performances from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. beginning with Harri Stojka & Acoustic Drive from Vienna Austria. They will be followed by an All-Star Soul-Jazz ensemble called Something Else! featuring jazz legends Vincent Herring, James Carter, Randy Brecker, Paul Bolleback Dave Kikoski, Jeff Tain Watts, and Essiet Essiet.
The next day from 5:30-6:45 p.m. sees Scott Bradlee’s Post Modern Jukebox, celebrating the greatest 20th-century musical genres, fused with the recognizable hits of our own modern era. From 7:15-8:45 p.m., the best in funk and soul music Tower of Power performs. For the last 50 years, the group has been traveling the world, enjoying hit singles on their own and backing legendary artists including Otis Redding, Elton John, Santana, the Grateful Dead, and more. Ending the night is the legendary Herbie Hancock from 9:15-10:30 p.m.
Herbie Hancock, photo by Douglas Kirkland
June 24 brings Tuba Skinny, performing from 5:30-6:45 p.m. For over a decade, the group has been gaining popularity, releasing 12 albums and touring all over the world, drawing inspiration from the early jazz, ragtime, and blues music of the 1920s and 1930s. At 7:15 p.m., American jazz fusion band Spyro Gyra performs. Formed in Buffalo in 1974, the band’s music combines jazz, R&B, funk, and pop genres. Finally, ending the night is Rock and Roll and R&B Hall of Famer Gladys Knight from 9:15-10:30 p.m.
The 2023 Syracuse Jazz festival will close out on Sunday, June 25 on the campus of Syracuse University at Hendricks Chapel with a Jazz Fest-Ending Gospel Concert and Celebration. In addition to the other performers, The Syracuse University Faculty Jazz Ensemble and The Syracuse University Student Jazz Ensemble will also be performing this year.
Caramoor, a cultural arts destination located on a unique 80-plus-acre estate in Northern Westchester County, has announced its events for the 2023 summer season.
Some of the many talents coming to Caramoor this summer.
Caramoor’s curated concert season presents performers representing a vast array of backgrounds and lived experiences, including classical live performances, American roots, jazz, and more. The estate sits on beautiful grounds, including the historic Rosen House, a stunning mansion listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Edward J. Lewis III, Caramoor’s President and Chief Executive Officer, elaborated on the experiences one can have at the venue.
True to the vision of our founders, Caramoor is the place where you can be transformed by the convergence of an exciting and diverse mix of remarkable live music performances, stunning gardens and grounds, and the beauty of an art-filled historic home. The Caramoor experience leaves both the artist and audience refreshed and renewed and compels all to return again and again.
Edward J. Lewis III
There are five venues for performances, for more large-scale ones, those can go beneath the open-sided tent of the Venetian Theater surrounded by woods (cap: 1,220), while casual concerts on Friends Field offer a more relaxed vibe (cap: 1,000). More intimate settings include the outdoor Spanish Courtyard (cap: 388) and the Sunken Garden, the venue for Caramoor’s Music & Meditation series, classical guitar performances, and more. This summer, guests can attend intimate classical recitals in the Music Room, which was once the living room of Caramoor’s founders, Walter and Lucie Rosen (cap: 192).
The summer season runs from June 17-Aug. 18. Tony, Emmy, and Grammy Award–winning singer and actor Audra McDonald opens with an Opening Night Gala featuring classics from the Great American Songbook, led by her longtime musical director Andy Einhorn conducting the Orchestra of St. Luke’s (OSL).
Described as “one of the most versatile and galvanic ensembles in the U.S,” by WQXR, OSL returns twice this summer, first with passionate pianist Hélène Grimaud and conductor Lina González-Granado for a program of Gabriela Lena Frank’s Elegía Andina, Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G and Brahms’s Second Symphony on July 16. The next performance on Aug. 6 features MacArthur “genius grant”-winning cellist Alisa Weilerstein, along with conductor Roderick Cox, joining OSL for Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1, as well as Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 and George Walker’s Lyric for Strings.
Audra McDonald
New Music
Brooklyn Rider performs its “Four Elements” program at Caramoor on June 23, exploring the elements (earth, air, water, and fire) as a metaphor for the complex inner world of the string quartet and the current health of planet Earth. The program also includes works by Shostakovich, Osvaldo Golijov, and a Suite of American Folk Songs, collected/transcribed by Ruth Crawford Seeger and arranged by Brooklyn Rider violinist Colin Jacobsen.
Caramoor’s 2022-23 Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence (ESSQIR) is the Ivalas Quartet – with a mission to champion diverse voices and spotlight Black and indigenous composers. Their yearlong residency concludes with a performance on June 29, including the world premiere of a Caramoor commission by Derrick Skye, a composer with Ghanian, Nigerian, Native American, and British/Irish ancestry who believes music is a doorway into the understanding of other cultures. Also on the program are works by Jessie Montgomery, Carlos Simon, and Eleanor Alberga.
Hailed by The New York Times as “a lush, brooding celebration of noise,” Andy Akiho’s Grammy-nominated Seven Pillars comes to Caramoor on June 30, his most ambitious project to date. Performed by Sandbox Percussion, the evening-length work is the largest-scale chamber music work that Akiho has written and that Sandbox has commissioned, their ongoing collaboration on the piece has spanned the past eight years. There will be a 7:00 p.m. pre-concert talk with members of the ensemble.
TheNew York Times declared that “America’s most astonishing choir…” The Crossing, led by Donald Nally, “combines an embrace of the new, a social conscience, and fearless technique.” They will perform the New York premiere of Ted Hearne’s FARMING for free on July 9 in the Sunken Garden. There will also be a pre-concert talk with Hearne, Nally, and director Ashley Tata.
Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto and celebrated American composer and pianist Nico Muhly collaborate on an intimate evening of unexpected musical connections on July 27. They reunite in a different format the following night, when The Knights perform the New York premiere of Muhly’s violin concerto titled Shrink, with Kuusisto as soloist. The Knights are dedicated to transforming the orchestral experience and eliminating barriers between audience and music.
The Knights
The rotating annual Sonic Innovations sound art exhibition is curated by Chicago-based sound artist and Northwestern University professor Stephan Moore. New this summer is Dyning in the Dovecote by Liz Phillips, an interactive sound installation where one can hear sounds of water, insects, dove calls and bird wings flicke, while underwater sound transducers create ripple patterns on the surface of the fountain. The official opening of Sonic Innovations and the grounds will take place at “Soundscapes” on June 4.
Baroque Music: Caccini’s Alcina, Handel’s Acis and Galatea, Ruckus
Caramoor welcomes the Boston Early Music Festival production of Francesca Caccini’s La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina, the first known opera by a female composer, to the Venetian Theater on June 25. Co-music directors Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs and director Gilbert Blin lead a stellar cast of Baroque soloists including mezzo-soprano Mireille Lebel, tenor Colin Balzer, and mezzo-soprano Virginia Warnken Kelsey. July 7 brings Baroque supergroup Ruckus, with soloists Rachell Ellen Wong– the only early music artist ever to win the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant – on violin and Emi Ferguson on flute.
On July 23, another Baroque opera graces the stage, the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, with the original 1718 version of Handel’s Acis and Galatea, one of the composer’s most popular dramatic works, led by Richard Egarr. There will be a pre-concert lecture with MIT professor emeritus and Handel scholar Ellen T. Harris.
Chamber music and recitals
July 13 has Davóne Tines at the intimate Spanish Courtyard with a program of spiritual and intellectual exploration titled Recital No 1: Mass, with pianist Adam Nielsen, featuring works by Caroline Shaw, J.S. Bach, Tyshawn Sorey, Margaret Bonds, and Julius Eastman. Austin-based, internationally celebrated Miró Quartet, formed in 1995 and one of Caramoor’s earliest quartets-in-residence, performs as well.
The Dover Quartet returns with classical saxophonist, composer, and 2022 Avery Fisher Career Grant winner Steven Banks, performing Banks’s recent quintet Cries, Sighs, and Dreams. July 20 brings pianist-composer Conrad Tao, performing a collaborative event with choreographer-dancer Caleb Teicher titled “Counterpoint.” It is a dynamic interplay of piano and tap dance that includes works by J.S. Bach, Brahms, Mozart, Gershwin, Ravel, Schoenberg, and more.
Pianist Garrick Ohlsson, who 53 years later remains the only American to have ever won the Chopin International Piano Competition, performs an all-Chopin recital in the Venetian Theater on July 30. This summer, Tengyue Zhang – who received First Prize in the 2017 Guitar Foundation of America (GFA) International Concert Artists Competition, plays music by J.S. Bach, Domenico Scarlatti, Albéniz, Rameau, and more at the Sunken Garden on Aug. 3.
A new series debuting this summer, Recitals in the Music Room comprises hour-long programs on Saturdays in the late afternoon. Alexander Hersh is joined by pianist Christopher Goodpasture for the first concert on July 8, including works by Debussy, Paul Wiancko, Webern, Mendelssohn, and Sollima. Chinese pianist Zhu Wang, winner of the 2020 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, will perform the music of Schumann, Beethoven, Stravinsky, William Grant Still, and Zhang Zhao on Aug. 5.
Jazz Festival and Events
Caramoor’s annual Jazz Festival returns on July 22, presented in collaboration with Jazz at Lincoln Center and headlined by six-time Grammy-winning vocalist and MacArthur Grant recipient Cécile McLorin Salvant. Caramoor’s second Hot Jazz Age Frolic, featuring the 17-piece Eyal Vilner Big Band, takes place in the Friends Field tent on June 18. Two-time Grammy winner Samara Joy performs on Aug. 4.
Samara Joy.
Broadway/Pops: Over the Rainbow: The Music of Harold Arlen
Stage, jazz, and television artist Aisha de Haas, celebrated vocalist Mikaela Bennett, and Broadway actors and singers Nicholas Ward and Julie Benko join multi-faceted, Tony Award-winning orchestrator and musical director Ted Sperling for “Over the Rainbow,” an all-Harold Arlen evening in the Venetian Theater. Composer of over 500 songs, Arlen collaborated with some of the 20th century’s most notable lyricists on songs including “Over the Rainbow,” “Stormy Weather,” “Get Happy,” and more. The event takes place on July 8.
To celebrate Independence Day, Curt Ebersole and the Westchester Symphonic Winds return to Caramoor on July 2 for their annual Pops & Patriots concert. There will be guest vocalists and more performing patriotic tunes.
American Roots: Brandy Clark, Mary Chapin Carpenter & more
Caramoor’s American Roots Music Festival, an all-day celebration of the best in Americana, blues, folk, and bluegrass, returns on June 24. Headlining the festival this summer is acclaimed singer/songwriter and ten-time Grammy nominee Brandy Clark. Her songs have been recorded by the likes of George Strait, Carly Pearce with Patty Loveless, Toby Keith, Reba McEntire, Sheryl Crow, and many others, and she co-wrote the score for the new Broadway musical Shucked. Daytime artists for the American Roots Music Festival include Sunny War, Miko Marks, and the Mike Block Trio, with more artists to be announced soon.
On Aug. 5, Mary Chapin Carpenter performs her most recent album The Diry and the Stars. She is the winner of five Grammy Awards, two CMA Awards and is one of only 15 women inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Mary Chapin Carpenter
This summer, six Roots and world music concerts are held for the Concerts on the Lawn series, happening at Friends Field. The series opens on June 22 with a nod to Juneteenth featuring the Harlem Gospel Travelers. Closing out the Caramoor season and Concerts on the Lawn on Aug. 18 is Chicago-based singer/songwriter Neal Francis, whose new album In Plain Sight is a “must hear” according to Rolling Stone.
Global Music: Oumou Sangaré, Arooj Aftab, DakhaBrakha & more
Plena Libre are multi-Grammy-nominated masters of the traditional Puerto Rican plena and bomba styles, fusing well-loved traditions with modern Afro-Caribbean influences. On July 1, they will be performing at Caramoor. With roots in Ukrainian folklore and music filtered through punk, cabaret, rock, and hip-hop, DakhaBrakha is an award-winning quartet from Kyiv. On July 14 they will combine various instruments from multiple countries and powerful vocals to create an evening of “ethnic chaos” and national pride.
Grammy Award-winner Oumou Sangaré mixes traditional African percussion, distinctive vocals, and progressive social criticism, returning to the Venetian Theater at Caramoor after 12 years on July 15. She will perform a program that ranges from traditional Wassoulou music to contemporary African sounds, as well as songs from her recent critically acclaimed album, Timbuktu.
Brooklyn-based singer and composer Arooj Aftab, the first Pakistani woman to win a Grammy, brings her new project “Love in Exile” to Friends Field on July 29 with two of her most trusted collaborators, pianist Vijay Iyer and multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily. The New York Times said: “Her voice is contemplative, breathy and relaxed, with the intimacy of indie-pop and jazz though she occasionally uses the microtonal embellishments of classical South Asian singing.”
Brooklyn-based electronic indie band Balún fuses Caribbean rhythms, Dembow (old-school reggaeton), intelligent dance music (IDM), and dreamy dance-pop tunes with the traditional sounds of their Puerto Rican homeland. On Aug. 11, they will be performing “music that you can sleep to while dancing.” Aug. 16 brings what NPR describes as “a sonic experience of epic proportions” in the form of composer, bandleader, and bassist Michael Olatuja, blending the sounds of Lagos, Nigeria (his hometown), London (his birthplace), and New York (his current home).
Music and Meditation in the Garden
Promoting mindful listening, the Music & Meditation in the Garden series on three Saturday mornings in July in the Sunken Garden comprises a meditation led by Jennifer Llewelyn followed by a performance. The first event on July 1 features the duo of violinist and ERS alum Tessa Larkand bassist Michael Thurber, member of Stephen Colbert’s house band.
Next on July 15 is Celtic harpist Maeve Gilchrist, whose music has been described by the Irish Times as “buoyant, sprightly, and utterly beguiling” performing with guitarist Kyle Sanna. The series concludes with a string quartet performance from the Harlem Chamber Players on July 29.
Children’s Programming
Caramoor also mentors young professional musicians and provides music-centered educational programs for young children. One of Caramoor’s new ventures this summer is devoted to its youngest demographic: children ages 2–6 and their guardians. On Friday mornings at 11 a.m., the series Concerts for Little Ones, featuring world-class artists, will invite children to sing and dance to diverse styles of music. On July 7, the Musiquita program is presented by husband-and-wife team Blanca Cecilia González and Jesse Elder, who playfully explore Spanish and English music and song.
On June 18, a family concert with the Eyal Vilner Swing Band called “Gotta Swing!” will explore the history of jazz with dancers Nathan Bugh, Gaby Cook, Jennifer Jones, and Ray Davis.
Bassoonist Alexander Davis, one of Caramoor’s teaching artists, brings along some friends on July 14 to give a guided tour of his unique woodwind instrument. Finally, on July 21 two-time Grammy-nominated trumpeter Alphonso Horne brings the series to a close with the irresistible rhythms and energy of New Orleans jazz.
For more information on Caramoor’s 2023 summer season events and to purchase tickets, go here.
Brooklyn-based ensemble Sammy Rae and The Friends have announced they will embark on a fall headline tour, which includes a stop in Ithaca.
On Sept. 24, the band will perform at the State Theatre of Ithaca, five days after beginning their tour on Sept. 19. After the fall headline tour ends, the band will head back to the UK, where they will have a headline show in London.
More than a band, Sammy and The Friends are a family. The diverse group of performers flourishes in any environment with a combination of all-for-one and one-for-all camaraderie, palpable chemistry, deft virtuosity, and vocal fireworks. Their most recent singles include the soul-infused “Closer To You,” and last summer’s jazzy retro pop single “If It All Goes South.” The latter was accompanied by a music video starring Barbara Lochiatto, who appeared in Netflix’s 2020 documentary Some Kind of Heaven as a widow looking for love. Inspired by Lochiatto’s story, Sammy reached out to her to join the music video.
Prior to the fall tour, Sammy and The Friends are scheduled to perform at Carnegie Hall on March 15, for the 18th annual Music Of fundraising performance, The Music of Paul McCartney. Other musicians scheduled to perform include Nancy Wilson, Lake Street Dive, Natalie Merchant, and more. The upcoming performance marks only the beginning of a jam-packed 2023 for the band.
Summer will keep the group busy, as well. On June 15, they will make their debut appearance at Central Park Summer Stage, shortly followed by another debut at the Bonnaroo on June 18. At the Green River Festival on June 24, the band is scheduled to headline.
If you’re interested in seeing Sammy Rae and Friends perform in Ithaca, tickets go on sale starting March 10.
Sammy Rae & The Friends Confirmed Tour Dates
Wed, Mar 15 New York, NY @ Carnegie Hall (The Music of Paul McCartney) Thur, June 15 New York, NY @ Central Park Summerstage Sat, Jun 24 Franklin County Fairgrounds (Northampton, MA) @ Green River Festival Sun, Jun 18 Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival Tue, Sept 19 South Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Wed, Sept 20 Portland, ME @ State Theatre Thur, Sept 21 Boston, MA @ Roadrunner Sun, Sept 24 Ithaca, NY@ State Theatre of Ithaca Tue, Sept 26 Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues Wed, Sept 27 Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre Thur, Sept 28 Toronto, ON @ HISTORY Sat, Sept 30 Bridgeport, CT @ Sound on Sound Sun, Oct 1 Millavale, PA @ Mr. Small’s Theatre Mon, Oct 2 Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall Wed, Oct 4 Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre Thur, Oct 5 St Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre Fri, Oct 6 Kansas City, MO @ Madrid Theatre Sun, Oct 8 Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre Tue, Oct 10 Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot Wed, Oct 11 Jackson, WY @ Center for the Arts Fri, Oct 13 Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom Sat, Oct 14 Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo Sun, Oct 15 Portland, OR @ McMenamins Crystal Ballroom Tue, Oct 17 San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield Wed, Oct 18 Los Angeles, CA @ The Novo Thur, Oct 19 San Diego, CA @ House of Blues Sat, Oct 21 Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre Thur, Nov 16 London, UK @ Eventim Apollo Fri, Nov 17 Bristol, UK @ SWX Sat, Nov 18 Manchester, UK @ New Century Hall Sun, Nov 19 Glasgow, UK @ Queen Margaret Union
Watch Sammy and The Friends perform live at Brooklyn Steel.
Twenty artists, six days, one city: the 2023 Geneva Jazz Festival announces performers and schedule, happening March 23-28, featuring regional, national, and international jazz artists performing in venues across the city.
The 2023 Geneva Jazz Festival is held in the city of Geneva, known for innovation and forward-thinking businesses. It is the gateway to the Finger Lakes, providing access to historical landmarks, natural beauties, wineries, breweries, food, shopping, and more. The festival is in cooperation with the 6th annual Scott Lafaro Celebration concert presented by Smith Center for the Arts.
Scott LaFaro grew up in Geneva, and at age 18 he started learning to play the double bass. In 1961 he was killed in a car accident at age 25. He became the most influential jazz bassist ever after his performance with Stan Getz at the Newport Jazz festival and subsequent recordings with the Bill Evans Trio, which still impacts jazz today. For this year’s Lafaro celebration, The Smith Center for the Arts presents Christian McBride’s New Jawn. He has appeared on more than 300 recordings as a sideman and is an eight-time Grammy Award winner and the Artistic Director for the Newport Jazz Festival.
Schedule
The festival kicks off on Thursday, March 23 with a kickoff reception at Finger Lakes Live starting at 4 p.m. The Geneva All-stars Sextet will play at the venue at 6 p.m. and at 9 p.m. there will be a FLIMA Open Jazz Jam with Gonzo. The next day, March 24, has many acts throughout the day at various venues. From 2-5 p.m., a TBA act will perform at Empire Coffee & Donuts, and happening from 3-6 p.m. is the Matrix Duo at Brewery Ardennes. They are the premier flute and guitar duo performing throughout the southern tier of New York State and surrounding areas, consisting of Michele Gordon (flute) and Dennis Winge (guitar).
Friday also brings the Rick Hoyt Trio to Lake Drum Brewing from 4-7 p.m. DeWayne Perry & Friends will perform at The Linden Social Club from 5-8 p.m, and from 7-10 p.m. at Finger Lakes Live, the Bobby Henrie Quartet feat. Mike Kaupa makes an appearance. Henrie is from Middlesex, NY, and is a guitarist, singer, and multi-instrumentalist, steeped in a wide variety of roots music. He has been involved in many projects in the finger lakes/upstate region including the Henrie Brothers, Bobby Henrie & the Goners, The Djangoners, and more. Ending the day of jazz at 10 p.m. is the FLIMA Open Jazz Jam at The Linden Social Club.
Just as jam-packed as the day before it, Saturday starts with Greg Wachala at Beef & Brew from 1-4 p.m. and a matinée show at 2 p.m. by dynamic trio Pickle Mafia. The group has garnered nationwide attention through their groundbreaking, unique brand of Arena Jazz Fusion, has racked up 10,000+ viewing hours on YouTube, and has developed an extremely loyal fan base. The Ben Miller Trio will be at Lake Drum Brewing from 4-7 p.m. Miller is a jazz pianist, composer, and producer, born in the Philippines, and raised in Peru and upstate New York. He is also a member of the Orbiting Human Circus Quartet, Jesse Collins Quartet, Taru Alexander Quartet, and several other bands.
Continuing on Saturday is the Hanna PK Trio at The Linden Social Club from 5-8 p.m. Hanna PK is a pianist, soulful vocalist, and vibrant performer, born and raised in South Korea, currently residing in Rochester, playing in a variety of genres. In Nov. 2021, she released her debut album Blues All Over My Shoes on the VizzTone Label with Booga Music of internationally-known bluesman, Kenny Neal, debuting at #13 on Billboard’s US Blues chart.
From 7-10 p.m., Jimmie Highsmith Jr. with a five-piece band will be performing at Finger Lakes Live. A native of Rochester, he is a critically acclaimed, Grammy Nominated, and award-winning saxophonist, sharing the stage and opening for artists like Najee, Alicia Keys, Wynton Marsalis, and more. The Spring Benefit Concert is GMF’s largest fundraiser, featuring Anna Petrova, piano; Geoffrey Herd, violin; Eric Wong, viola; and Peter Eom, cello, performing Schubert’s B-Flat String Trio, D. 471, Café Music by Schoenfield, and Brahms’ Piano Quartet in G Minor, Op. 25. Tickets are available for purchase here. Ending the day is an Open Jazz Jam at The Linden Social Club, starting at 10 p.m.
Sunday brings many notable people across the city, starting with a jazz brunch at The Linden Social Club from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. with Paradigm Shift. The group formed in the early 90s in Rochester with the goal to bring spirit back to neo-jazz with organic, funky grooves and street-level ambiance. The band is comprised of bandleader Melvin Henderson, co-founder Gerry Youngman, and drummer-composer Sean Jefferson. The rest of the day takes place at Finger Lakes Live Events, starting with award-winning jazz artist Nancy Kelly at 2 p.m., the Craig Snyder Trio from 6-9 p.m., and a FLIMA Open Jazz Jam at 9 p.m.
On Monday at 4:30 p.m., there will be a meet and greet with Steve Davis at Ventosa Vineyards, and a dinner show with his quintet at 6 p.m. Davis was raised in Binghamton and graduated in 1989 from Hartt School’s Jackie McLean Institute, landing his first major gig with Art Blakey in NYC. In 1998 he won the TDWR (Rising Star) Trombone Category and was later named consecutively as Trombonist of the Year by The JJA. He has released 20 albums and is widely regarded as one of today’s leading voices on the trombone. The final day features FLIMA Tuesdays: Gonztet Jazz + Jam at Twisted Rail Brewin from 5-9 p.m.
To purchase tickets for the many performances at the 2023 Geneva Jazz Festival, visit here.
Brooklyn’s Jake Pinto announces the release of his upcoming album Sad Songs for Happy People, on March 31st. The album was set for release right when the pandemic hit, and then further delayed when Jake’s talents were sought out by Miami psych-funksters Magic City Hippies and Brooklyn’s afrobeat Antibalas, leading to months of global touring.
Pinto’s eclectic musical story has shaped a charmingly honest solo debut rich in instinctive melodicism and cultured arrangements. Being a jazz musician since his early teens, Jake attended NYU for jazz piano and was soon booking gigs and festivals worldwide, including the Blue Note in New York City and Milan.
While still in college, Jake Pinto found himself already playing alongside genre luminaries like François Mouton, Ralph Lalama, and the late Lew Soloff. He went on to play prestigious engagements, including the Montreal and Rochester International jazz festivals.
Getting back to writing on piano, Jake found fresh excitement and energy. He began working with a diverse variety of artists at Silverman’s Future Sounds studio in Brooklyn, and on off days, he would bring in his own band and record what would become Sad Songs for Happy People, much of it tracked live on vintage, analog equipment.
“The Beatles are still my favorite band, but I was also obsessed with D’Angelo for so long,” Pinto says. “And I love the crooners like Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra; the directness of how they sing and tell stories. It’s a hard thing to do, to tell show-tune stories in a way that doesn’t feel corny.”
The result of this album is 11 ultra-accomplished tracks of eclectic, Americana, and blues-flecked indie rock delivered straight from the source. These are songs emotional and quality rather than adherence to genre or style.
“There’s something beautiful about taking a sad song and putting it to a bright beat and bright instrumental,” Jake continued. “Just an interesting combination of melancholy, nostalgia, love, and happiness.”
To pre-save Sad Songs for Happy People, click the link here.
For more music by Jack Pinto, click the link here.
Glens Falls’ The Park Theater Foundation has announced the launch of their first education initiative, Music & Technology Program, through regional high schools this year, beginning with Glens Falls City School District, part of Music In Our Schools Month. (March 2023).
The program will offer middle and high school students of Glens Falls City School District and Lake George Central School District who are enrolled in general music, band or orchestra classes, to work alongside artists and audio-visual engineers.
Rob Lindquist (piano), Steven Kirsty (bass), Matt Niedbalski (drums) – Erin Reid Coker (Gallery Nine North)
Included in the program are performances, workshops and collaboration with various jazz artists that are regularly featured in the Foundation’s ‘Third Thursday Jazz’ series. The Park Theater Foundation’s Executive Director, Chris Ristau, shared his thoughts on the Music and Technology Program:
The Music & Technology Program is the latest foray for the Foundation, and one that is near and dear to my heart. In an effort to support arts education in our community, this program is only the beginning of what we hope will become a much more regular, robust offering that expands to various local school districts. I would have never found myself in the position I am today if not for the opportunities I had throughout my educational career. I hope this program, and future outreach initiatives, inspire more students to get involved in the arts in our community, and to develop their skills and self-confidence.
Chris Ristau, The Park Theater Foundation’s Executive Director
Students taking part will engage in workshops that focus on music appreciation and cultural education, in addition to audio and visual technology comprehension. Guest artists will explain the history of their genre, as well as provide a demonstration of their instrument(s) to further showcase their musical style. Guest audio-visual engineers will demonstrate various audio and lighting effects, and how they influence and affect both the artists and show experiences.
Through this program, we want to introduce students to a genre of music they might not have otherwise been exposed to, and hopefully spark further interest in those who are familiar with it or who already perform. There isn’t much opportunity available for students to learn general knowledge and gain hands-on experience about how a show comes together. We want them to experience running a venue behind the scenes – from the audio-visual component to booking the artists. There’s so much that happens off the stage before the performer takes the stage!
Chris Ristau, The Park Theater Foundation’s Executive Director
A Lake George High School graduate himself (2004), Ristau saw the potential to introduce gear that was professional so that anyone looking to go down that career path was using the best tools of the trade possible.
Ristau had previously worked at the Glens Falls Music Academy (GFMA) for five years, before heading to the nonprofit world, and finally The Park Theater. Getting to know music teachers from Bolton, North Creek and other regional schools, Ristau saw GFMA as a perfect spot for him to land out of college, where he could work within a recording studio as a studio manager, befriending teachers in the process. Ristau’s experience in working with schools and supplying music programs with items via the storefront aspect of GFMA made it possible for him to identify needs throughout the region.
Thus, when Ristau came to work for The Park Theater, he looked to develop educational programming, in addition to the jazz series each Thursday.
Part of the mission of the Foundation is to bring performing arts opportunities to the community. The Foundation itself runs primarily out of The Park Theater building, a state-of-the-art entertainment facility, which has become part of its identity. When it came time to develop the program, we wanted to find a way for students to experience the space – an operating venue with a full stage and high end sound production equipment.
Chris Ristau, The Park Theater Foundation’s Executive Director
Utilizing The Park Theater venue space allows the Foundation to connect the performance and technical side of things. Ristau notes “The Music and Technology Program was developed considering what we do here and how that, presented to the student body, will be useful to them.” This program will showcase the venue to the students and introduce them to some of the ‘Third Thursday Jazz’ series musicians – many who are educators themselves. The goal is to have the musicians on the stage, performing and talking about how they got into playing music.
Funding was made possible to get a pilot program off the ground and develop it with other schools in the area, to determine the size and scope of the program. A grant from the Glens Falls Foundation was received for Glens Falls High School programming taking place this March. In Fall 2022, they received additional funding for the Lake George High School programming taking place later this year.
Working with Krislynn Dengler, superintendent at Glens Falls City School District, and John Luthringer, superintendent at Lake George, who both started their respective positions in July 2022, led to Ristau’s initial outreach. Said Ristau, “From there we sat down with teachers in the music program who helped shape the program into something that will complement the music and general curriculum already in place.”
Jazz music history will also be learned throughout the program. We will give insight on how to book a show, the technical aspects behind the scenes, how to run sound and lights well to complement what is on the stage, and demonstrate the effects on the board, highlighting the capabilities that lead to a good night of tech, as opposed to a bad one.
Chris Ristau, The Park Theater Foundation’s Executive Director
Drummer Matt Niedbalski, who met Ristau at Parkway Music in Clifton Park, learned of his vision to bring more jazz to Downtown Glens Falls, and has become a key part of the once-a-month series, Third Thursday Jazz. Getting additional musicians from around the area on board was easy for the jazz drummer, given his proximity to The Park Theater, and his background teaching drumming made for a great role in developing the series and onstage portion of the educational program.
Erin Reid Coker (Gallery Nine North)
Chris Reed Jr, a Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam graduate opened the Glens Falls Music Academy with his wife, Meredith, a teacher at Glens Falls. Reed now handles sound tech at most of the Foundation’s performances, and was previously Chris’ supervisor at GFMA.
Ristau further explained how the educational portion of the Music & Technology Program comes together: “The initial performance will be for the full student body in the arts wing, then they break it down for a more hands on, in depth portion for the older kids who may be looking into this as a career. They then reconstruct things back so they have a full performance with students who are able to play with the gear to experience it first hand.”
For more information on the Park Theater and the Park Theater Foundation, please visit their website.
Upcoming Events in March
March 1: The Park Theater Foundation hosts Rochmon Record Club for a series of listening parties. Hosted by Chuck Vosganian, this listening party will focus on Paul & Linda McCartney’s “Ram” (1971). Tickets: $12.00. Doors: 6:30pm | Showtime: 7:00pm.
March 9: The Park Theater Foundation presents ‘Live & Local’ featuring indie-folk group, Cricket Blue. Dubbed one of the “10 Vermont Bands You Should Listen To Now,” Cricket Blue have taken their music and storytelling to stages and folk festivals across the United States and Canada. Tickets:Early Bird – $15.00 | Day Of Show – $20.00. Doors:6:30pm | Showtime: 7:00pm.
March 16: The Park Theater Foundation presents ‘Third Thursday Jazz’ with The Matt Niedbalski Trio featuring The Dylan Canterbury Quintet. Experience some of the best jazz music in the Capital Region! Tickets: $10.00. Doors:7:00pm | Showtime: 7:30pm.
March 17: ‘The Park Presents:’ St. Patrick’s Day Dinner & Show ft. Cassie & Maggie: In partnership with Park Street Hospitality, The Park Theater Foundation presents St. Patrick’s Day Dinner & Show on March 17th, 2023! This event features a special ‘The Park Presents’ performance by award-winning Celtic duo, Cassie & Maggie, and includes a delicious Irish-inspired 3-course prix fixe menu curated by Park Street Hospitality’s executive chef, Matthew J. Delos. Nova Scotian sisters, Cassie and Maggie, have been lighting up the world with their unique blend of traditional and contemporary Celtic instrumentals and vocals. Appearing on stages across North America, the UK, and Europe the sisters have enchanted audiences far and wide with lively fiddle, piano and guitar arrangements, stunning sibling vocal harmonies in both English and Gaelic, all complemented by their intricate and percussive stepdancing style. View the full menu at parktheatergf.com. Tickets:$65.00 (includes tax and service fee). Doors: 5:30pm | Dinner: 6:00pm | Showtime:7:30pm.
March 23: The Park Theater Foundation presents ‘Live & Local’ featuring world music band, HEARD. Heard is a collective of musicians that bring their skills and passion for world music, jazz and improvising together to create irresistible grooves set in a unique sonic tapestry. Energetic and upbeat, HEARD will open your ears and hearts! Tickets:Early Bird – $15.00 | Day Of Show – $20.00. Doors:7:00pm | Showtime: 7:30pm.
March 29: The Park Theater Foundation hosts Rochmon Record Club for a series of listening parties. Hosted by Chuck Vosganian, this listening party will focus on Rod Stewart’s “Every Picture Tells A Story” (1971). Tickets: $12.00. Doors: 6:30pm | Showtime: 7:00pm.
March 31: The Park Theater Foundation presents ‘Comedy After Dark’ featuring highly-acclaimed New York City stand-up comedian, Adam Mamawala. He has appeared on Comedy Central, MTV, BET, and SiriusXM. Adam has been a freelance contributor to Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update and Someecards and currently co-hosts podcasts Away Games and HORSE, as recently featured in the New York Times. Enjoy an evening of laughter and fun with family and friends! Tickets:Early Bird – $22.00 | Day Of Show – $25.00.Doors: 7:30pm | Showtime:8:00pm.
Lincoln Center has announced the schedule for its annual American Songbook: A Place You Belong performances, giving today’s brightest vocal talents the chance to shine in styles ranging from country to rock, from bluegrass to jazz, and more.
Lincoln Center at The Allen Room.
New York City isn’t just one place, it has five boroughs, thousands of distinctive communities with unique cultures, and hundreds of neighborhoods. Within these areas are dance clubs and music halls where we can sing, laugh, and dream about the future of life together. American Songbook: A Place You Belong presents American singers, songwriters, and composers in intimate concerts at The Allen Room and others in Lincoln Center, resurrecting old NYC long-lost performance spaces and dance clubs. Co-conceived by George C. Wolfe, this year’s theme explores themes of belonging and discovery, embodying the spirit of iconic New York City venues which paved the way for legendary artists.
Venues like the Palladium Ballroom, Paradise Garage, the Savoy Ballroom, and Café Society all have historical significance to the city and are showcased during these performances. The Palladium Ballroom was home to the mambo craze in the 1940s and ’50s and created a welcoming oasis where New Yorkers of all races, ethnicities and social classes could dance the night away. Paradise Garage was Soho’s gay underground dance haven in the 1970s and ‘80s, creating a safe space for the queer community. It was the place to connect with others through dance, to lose yourself in the music, and to find yourself along the way.
Portrait of Dizzy Gillespie, New York, N.Y., between 1946 and 1948, from Lincoln Center.
The Savoy Ballroom was one of the first integrated ballrooms in the country, operating from the 1920s to the ‘50s in Harlem. It was home to the Lindy Hop, and those who went danced to the best swinging big bands of the era and swayed to the vocals of Ella Fitzgerald, Chick Webb, Dizzy Gillespie, and more. Café Society was one of the first racially integrated nightclubs in North America, tucked away in Greenwich Village. It was where Billie Holiday first sang the protest song “Strange Fruit,” and many soon-to-be stars sang there, including Lena Horne, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, and more.
Events
American Songbook: A Place You Belong kicks off April 1 in David Geffen Hall, NYC’s newest cultural hub, with singer-songwriter Nathaniel Rateliff, performing along with his orchestra Harry Nilsson’s 1973 LP A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night from start to finish on its 50th anniversary. Next in David Geffen Hall on April 8, Academy Award winner and Tony-nominated actress, singer, and dancer Ariana DeBose debuts an original solo concert, Authenticity. It will showcase her musical influences, including Judy Garland, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ray Charles, and ABBA, and her dynamic voice.
In honor of Café Society’s impact, The Appel Room plays host to three nights of cabaret from April 5-7 led by house band the Matt Ray Trio, featuring performances from Rizo and comedian Ikechukwu Ufomadu, Grammy-nominated R&B artist and Broadway star Mykal Kilgore and comedian Aminah Imani, and singer-songwriter Raye Zaragoza and comedian Jordan Carlos, each night ending with a special guest performing Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit.” You can choose what you pay for the evening.
In honor of the Paradise Garage, on April 14, queer-owned Brooklyn venue C’mon Everybody reimagines the venue in a free one-night dance party blowout at the David Rubenstein Atrium with a set from DJ Samuella, hip hop drag provocateurs The Dragon Sisters and disco, funk duo The Illustrious Blacks. On April 20, the spirit of the Savoy Ballroom comes to the Atrium with jazz vocalist Charles Turner & Uptown Swing and The Eyal Vilner Swing Band. The audience is welcomed to the dance floor by professional Savoy swing Lindy Hoppers from choreographer Caleb Teicher’s SW!NG OUT, all for free.
Closing out the American Songbook series is a free event on April 21, a tribute to The Palladium Ballroom and the mambo craze that started there with Tito Rodríguez, Jr., one of the leading timbaleros and bandleaders of salsa and Latin Jazz.
The events on April 1 and April 8 at the American Songbook: A Place You Belong require tickets to view the performances, for more information and to purchase tickets, go here.
Saxophonist Ricky Ford, one of the last of a generation of influential jazz artists to make their home in Europe, is scheduled to appear in downtown Syracuse’s Jazz Central Theater on March 3rd at 7:30 with his current U.S. touring combo for a full-length concert.
This marks the second trip to Syracuse for the 68 year-old tenorman now living in Paris, who is midway through a tour of the Northeast. His current touring group includes John Kordalewski on piano, Tony Marino on bass, and Thurman Barker on drums.
Ricky Ford came up on the heels of the greatest icons of the art form as a young Bostonian making his mark on the national jazz landscape. At age 20, he was picked to succeed the legendary Paul Gonsalves in Duke Ellington’s band. He worked on the international scene with such legends of jazz history as Sonny Stitt, McCoy Tyner, Yusef Lateef, Freddie Hubbard, Charles Mingus, and Lionel Hampton, before settling in France in the 1990s.
“We’re pleased that Ricky Ford had such a good time in Syracuse last time and made us a stop again on his current schedule,” said Larry Luttinger, leader of CNY Jazz. “His first gig here in 2021, during the early days of the pandemic recovery, was well attended. We’re predicting a sell out crowd for this one. Those who got shut out of our sold out Black History Month Cabaret will get a second chance to experience some world class music at this one.”
Seating is limited in the cozy 63-seat Jazz Central. Advance sale ticket purchase is recommended. Advance sale tickets for Ricky Ford are on sale now at CNY Jazz’s website.
A recent import to New York’s forever evolving jazz scene, 25-year-old guitarist-composer Tomer Cohen notches a notable debut with his album, Not the Same River (Hypnote Records). It’s a collection that showcases not only an originality of compositional approach, but a distinctive, fingerstyle and folk shaded playing technique that could one day launch him into the upper reaches of the jazz guitar strata.
The album title, Cohen explains in the press release, relates to an expression by the Greek philosopher Heraclitus: No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man. “That’s the sentence that encompasses all the compositions on the album,” Cohen said. “We are constantly in motion, we’re always changing, and we just need to accept that.”
Cohen demonstrates his unique fingerstyle-and-pick technique on eight thoughtful compositions reflecting his pastoral upbringing, from age 4 to 21, on a kibbutz in Israel. “The kibbutz is located in the countryside and has a strong sense of community,” he recalled. “I used to play outside with my guitar, watching the fields and the blue sky. I believe some of that vibe is reflected in some of the tunes on this record.” The guitarist is expertly accompanied on this varied collection by the fluid drumming of Obed Calvaire (a current member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis) and the rootsy grooves and frequent soloing of bassist Matt Penman (formerly with the SFJAZZ Collective).
Critics have made smart comparisons of Cohen to players like Pat Metheny and Bill Frisell, influences acknowledged by the guitarist, but I may hear even more of the late, great Mick Goodrick in his style.
For those not in the know, though Goodrick recorded with the likes of Gary Burton, Jim Hall, Charlie Haden and many more, he may be better known as the Berklee School of Music educator who nurtured Frisell, John Scofield, Mike Stern, Julian Lage and many more of today’s leading jazz guitarists. Goodrick also authored a key educational primer for practicing guitarists, jazz and otherwise, The Advancing Guitarist. Like Goodrick, young Cohen is quickly becoming a master of subtly weaving chords and melody, and in serving up expected harmonic turns in his solos and compositions. Collectively, his trio are musicians who are doing some serious listening as they play, err more appropriately interplay. There’s nothing rote or cliched to be found in these grooves, which are expertly recorded and mastered. It’s a music of the mind that never sacrifices the passion and soulfulness.
Cohen’s unique technique is apparent right from the album opener, the title track, “Not the Same River.” There’s a boatload of Metheny’s “As Wichita Falls” to be found in this pastoral composition and in the appropriately titled “Pastures.” The latter is a more energetic number fueled by some knotty single note soloing from the guitarist and one of bassist Penman’s many solos of the album. Penman also stands out on “First Lap.” He kicks this off with an unaccompanied solo before its moves into a chill melody and chordal workout from Cohen. Drummer Calvaire steals the show with a thundering solo on both the opening and the outro of “Connecting the Dots.” Calvaire again gets the chance to show his range and power, and Cohen his remarkable chops as a technician and composer, on my favorite track on the album, the time-shifting, melodically tricky “Probably More Than Two.”
With his fingerpicked chord and melody stylings, it would be interesting to hear Cohen record an unaccompanied solo disc. We get a taste of what that might sound like when his rhythm section drops out for a time in the middle of “Empty?”
