Grammy and Academy Award-nominated rock band Counting Crows are scheduled to tour this summer with Dashboard Confessional, performing at five amphitheaters in New York.
Formed in San Francisco, Counting Crows’ career spans seven studio albums over nearly three decades. The band’s debut studio album, August and Everything After, was released in Sept. 1993 and peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 weekly chart. They found further success when their 1996 second studio album, Recovering the Satellites, peaked at number 1 on the Billboard 200 weekly chart. Their music has been prominently featured in pop culture, including “Colorblind”, from their 1999 third album This Dessert Life, being included in the soundtrack for the 1999 film Cruel Intentions. Their seventh studio album, Somewhere Under Wonderland, was released in 2014, and their newest EP, Butter Miracle, was released in 2021.
Dashboard Confessional
Rock band Dashboard Confessional originated in Boca Raton, Florida, and is led by singer Chris Carrabba. Their debut album, The Swiss Army Romance, was released in March 2000. They released their ninth album, All The Truth That I Can Tell, in 2022, touring with fellow rock band Jimmy Eat World in support of the album on the “Surviving the Truth” tour. The band has a long history with Counting Crows, first meeting in 2003 at the 17th annual Bridge School Benefit Concert. In the nearly 20 years since they have formed both a professional and personal relationship together.
Presale for Counting Crows’ tour with Dashboard confessional, which has five shows at New York amphitheatre venues, begins Tuesday, March 14 in select markets. General on-sale begins Friday, March 17 at 10 a.m. For additional information, follow Counting Crows on Facebook and Instagram.
Counting Crows with Dashboard Confessional ‘Banshee Season’ 2023 Tour Dates
June 13 Omaha, NE Steelhouse Omaha*
June 17 Indianapolis. IN TCU Amphitheater at Winter River State Park
June 18 Cincinnati, OH PNC Pavilion
June 21 Milwaukee, WI Miller High Life Theatre
June 23 Highland Park, IL Ravinia Festival (On-sale May 1)
June 24 Sterling Heights, MI Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill
June 26 Moon Twp, PA UPMC Events Center
June 28 Niagara Falls, ON OLG Stage at Fallsview Casino
June 29 Northfield, OH MGM Northfield Park
July 1 Syracuse, NY St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheater at Lakeview
July 2 Canandaigua, NY CMAC
July 5 Saratoga Springs, NY Saratoga Performing Arts Center
July 6 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
July 8 Wantagh, NY Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
July 9 Bethel, NY Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
July 12 Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion
July 14 Gilford, NH Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion
July 15 Boston, MA Leader Bank Pavilion
July 18 Providence, RI Providence Performing Arts Center
July 19 Bridgeport, CT Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater
July 21 Bethlehem, PA Wind Creek Event Center
July 22 Atlantic City, NJ Borgata Event Center
July 25 Selbyville, DE Freeman Arts Pavilion (On-Sale March 24)
July 26 Doswell, VA The Meadow Event Park
July 28 Virginia Beach, VA Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach
July 29 Raleigh, NC Red Hat Amphitheater
August 1 Charlotte, NC Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre
August 2 Charleston, SC Credit One Stadium
August 4 Fort Myers, FL Suncoast Credit Union Arena
August 5 Fort Lauderdale, FL Hard Rock Live
August 8 St Augustine, FL The St. Augustine Amphitheatre
August 9 Tampa, FL MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre
August 11 Alpharetta, GA Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
August 12 Albertville, AL Sand Mountain Amphitheater
August 14 Nashville, TN Grand Ole Opry
August 18 New Orleans, LA Saenger Theatre
August 19 Sugar Land, TX Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land
August 22 San Antonio, TX Majestic Theatre
August 23 Irving, TX The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
August 25 Norman, OK Riverwind Casino*
August 26 Tulsa, OK The Cove*
August 30 Highland, CA Yaamavaâ Theater** (On- Sale March 20)
August 31 Phoenix, AZ Arizona Financial Theatre**
September 2 Las Vegas, NV Pearl Theater**
September 3 San Diego, CA The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park** (On-Sale May 2)
September 6 Los Angeles, CA YouTube Theater
September 8 Lincoln, CA The Venue at Thunder Valley
September 10 Berkeley, CA The Greek Theatre
September 13 Airway Heights, WA BECU Live Outdoor Venue
September 14 Bend, OR Hayden Homes Amphitheater
September 16 Seattle, WA TBD (On-Sale TBD)
September 17 Seattle, WA TBD (On-Sale TBD)
September 19 Bonner, MT KettleHouse Amphitheater
September 21 Boise, ID Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater
September 22 Salt Lake City, UT USANA Amphitheatre
Multi-platinum headliners Avenged Sevenfold announce the release of their new single, their first since 2016, titled “Nobody,” as well as a show at Madison Square Garden on June 23.
Photo by Rebecca Sapp/WireImage for the Recording Academy
To date, Avenged Sevenfold has sold over 10 million albums worldwide and earned two consecutive No. 1 albums on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums chart as well as multiple No. 1 singles on rock radio. They have garnered over a billion video views and a billion-plus Spotify streams. Their new track “Nobody” is the band’s first official music release since their 2016 album, The Stage, delivering nearly six minutes of twists and turns, leaning in on the sense of discomfort before letting go.
The official video for the track, directed by Chris Hopewell, is beautifully crafted in stop-motion style, unfolding like a short film. It takes the viewer through the exploration of life and death, love and war, and follows the main character through an existential crisis. The band teased the single through an elaborate and mysterious digital scavenger hunt with puzzles, ciphers, images, and blog posts all written by Chat GPT, DALL-E 2, and AI voice modifiers, leading fans to a website for more challenges, eventually “unlocking” the single on release day.
Their new record Life Is But a Dream was recorded over the last four years, drawing inspiration from Albert Camus’ classic 1942 novella, The Stranger, due June 2. Avenged Sevenfold is supporting the release with two shows this summer- one at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, CA,on June 9 and the other at Madison Square Garden on June 23. Tickets go on sale this Friday, March 17, with more information available here.
On top of that, they have a number of festival dates scheduled, including a headline run Welcome to Rockville 2023 in Daytona Beach, Florida on May 19, and performances at the Sonic Temple Art and Music festival in Columbus, Ohio on May 26 and Aftershock 2023 in Sacramento, California on Oct. 5.
Brooklyn-based melodic punks Warn The Duke are back with a new album titled All That’s Solid, out on Friday, March 17th. The band will celebrate that night with a show at Brooklyn’s Our Wicked Lady.
The new LP All That’s Solid is a window into the ebbs and flows of recovery. Songwriter and lead singer Dan McCool (former River City Rebels) leads us through cycles of despair, renewal, and self-forgiveness that emerge after trauma and loss.
This is Warn The Duke’s first album in eight years, being written on the heels of lockdowns, divorce, and addiction. By layering harmonies and the combo of male/female vocals, the band emphasizes the record’s bittersweet atmosphere.
There are some far-ranging influences bringing the listeners through All That’s Solid. For instance, the warmth of Mike Ness’s vocals, the wry defiance of Against Me!, the dense, dark guitar tone of Nothing. Also, the earworms and hooks of The Replacements, early 2000s math rock-inspired lead guitar lines, and the hard-hitting punk grit of Hot Water Music.
“These guys play that brand of punk rock and post-hardcore that bands like Hot Water Music perfected.”
-Nerdist
Joining McCool on the album are drummer Derek Davis (former Big D and The Kids Table/The Toasters), bassist/vocalist Chris Marciniak, lead guitarist Chris Ferreria, and guitarist/vocalist Dori Cameron.
The album features the songs “Sometimes,” “The Middle” and the single “Anniversaries” (the latter of which is now streaming). Watch the music video for “Anniversaries” below and pre-save the album on Spotify. “All That’s Solid” arrives on 12” LP vinyl and digital on Friday, March 17th. The band will celebrate that night with a show at Brooklyn’s Our Wicked Lady.
All songs on All That’s Solid were written, performed, and produced by Dan McCool and Warn The Duke. Furthermore, some were recorded and mixed by Jeff Berner at Studio G (Brooklyn). Additional record recording and co-production was done by Chris Duggan at Blue Banshee Studio (Brewster, MA), and mastered by Jon Markson.
As part of Vevo’s footnotes series, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop, Queens group Salt-N-Pepa have revisited their iconic “Shoop” video, The rap icons shared insights into their creative process, the inspiration behind the song and their fight to make “Shoop” the lead single on the group’s fourth album, 1993’s Very Necessary.
During the episode, Pepa delves into the story behind the song and her verse, as well as the challenges the group faced in convincing their label to release “Shoop” as the lead single from their album ‘Very Necessary.’ She also recounts the excitement they felt when the song became a massive hit and solidified the group’s position in hip-hop.
Meanwhile, Salt discusses how the song helped her to step away from her boyfriend and manager, Hurby [Luv Bug] and how “Shoop” empowered not only her but other women. She also shares her favorite moment from the music video shoot and reveals that she recorded her verse while holding her daughter Corin.
Below is a complete outline of “Shoop”” I Vevo Footnotes:
00:15 – The concept for “Shoop” started with me chillin’ in Queens, riding around in the car and I’m telling the story of how “I saw a brother, I had to kick it to, I’m not shy so I asked for the digits and that does not make me a hoe.” This story became the song and the inspiration for the first verse. – Pepa
00:35 – My favorite moment in the video is when Salt, Spin and I step out of the car and my niece is with me. Also, the guys on the corner shooting dice are playing Silo 456…it’s a New York thing. – Pepa
01:02 – When shooting “Shoop” I was a bit self conscious. It was hard being in a bathing suit and my booty kept falling out of my shorts when we were dancing on stage. – Salt
01:28 – The objective was to turn the tables on men – make them the objects. When writing my verses, I was thinking of tongue in cheek ways to objectify men. When you really like a song, it’s easy to record. Fun fact: I had my daughter Corin in my arms while recording “Shoop.” – Salt
02:04 – I was going through producer Mark Spark’s crates of records and there was the sound I was looking for “I’m Blue (The Gong-Gong Song)” by the Ikettes. Once I wrote the second verse I knew I wanted to add Captain Sky’s “Super Sperm.” Which was one of the best breakbeat songs out! I added it right after the line “not falling in love but I’m falling for your…” – Pepa
02:33 – My favorite detail was being in Coney Island, such an important part of my childhood. I used to go there with my family then my friends as a teen, so shooting my own video in Coney Island was a full circle moment for me. – Salt
02:55 – I had to jump through hoops for “Shoop” to be the first single off the ‘Very Necessary’ album. The label gave me a lot of push back since Hurby [Luv Bug] didn’t produce or write the song. Ultimately, it was an undeniable hit that took Salt-N-Pepa to the next level, and solidified our worth to hip-hop. Such a dope feeling. – Pepa
03:23 – I was ready to be emancipated from Hurby not only as my boyfriend and manager, but also as a creative. We wanted to be free to express ourselves on our own. “Shoop” was empowering for women. Fans always tell us it’s their go-to karaoke song. – Salt
03:40 – When we were planning the video, I wasn’t in the best shape. Luckily, we ended up being scheduled to shoot after our trip to Russia. I was a little culture shocked and couldn’t get used to the white nights and food, by the time we got back I had lost a lot of weight and I was ready to Shoop! – Pepa
Mike Gordon has announced a new solo album, Flying Games, along with June and July tour dates, bringing him to Webster Hall in Manhattan and Town Ballroom in Buffalo.
Photo Credit: Rene Huemer
Flying Games (ATO Records/Megaplum) will be released on Friday, May 12 and is produced by Gordon, recorded by longtime collaborator Jared Slomoff, and mixed by GRAMMY-winning engineer Shawn Everett (Alabama Shakes, The War on Drugs).
For me Tilting is about being in a situation or a relationship where you don’t know if your footing is solid, but then accepting that and realizing you enjoy the feeling of disorientation. Whether it’s playing music or driving or experiencing something new, I’ve always felt more present when I don’t know where I’m going next.
The eclectic sixth solo LP from Mike Gordon, Flying Games is an album of constant and wildly hypnotic movement, each moment animated by unexpected sounds that morph and expand and spin off into their own strange orbits. Flying Games follows Gordon’s most recent solo works, 2020’s Noon and 2017’s OGOGO. The LP imbues elements of everything from disco and dancehall to psych-folk and funk into Gordon’s unfettered and expansive breed of rock music.
To create Flying Games, the Vermont-based Gordon spent much of 2020’s lockdown and – writing and recording in his makeshift Megaplum home studio, immersing himself in sonic experiments ranging from the playfully spontaneous (constructing beats by banging wrenches against various pieces of farming equipment) to the hyper-specific and technical (programming a keyboard with chords sampled from’50s-era Hawaiian guitar records).
As the songs became more fully formed, Gordon brought in contributions from his bandmates, drummer John Kimock, keyboardist Robert Walter, percussionist Craig Myers, and guitarist/pedal-steel player Scott Murawski, all of whom submitted parts from afar which were then woven by Gordon and Slomoff into the initial tracks. Revealing entirely new dimensions of the kaleidoscopic musicianship Gordon has displayed as Phish’s bassist for the last four decades, the result is a work of both extraordinary vision and daring execution.
As someone who comes from a world of telepathic improvisation, the idea of one person layering sounds alone in a room might seem a bit against the mythos. But with this record I didn’t want to work in that traditional way of going into a studio with a band and recording for two weeks; I wanted to take my time and explore, and really go deep into the fabric of the music to see what we could find.
Mike Gordon
Gordon, bassist for Phish, will celebrate the release of Flying Games with a tour that includes headline shows and performances at Peach, Northlands and Blue Ox festivals. Tickets for all newly announced headline dates go on sale Friday, March 17 with pre-sales underway.
Grammy-nominated music group Wild Up is scheduled to perform The Music of Julius Eastman in New York this spring, April 21 and 22, at Eastman 92NY. The group will be joined by musicians Dev Hynes and Adam Tendler. These dates come alongside Wild Up’s Endless Season, their first-ever season in Los Angeles, their hometown.
Adam Tendler and Dev Hayes. Credit: Glen Hahn
Wild Up is a large ensemble committed to creating visceral, thought-provoking music. They strongly believe in the power of music to unite society over shared experiences, and that Eastman 92NYvenue is the perfect place for that. The group is currently working on the third volume of their seven part anthology concert series honoring the late Julius Eastman. The first two volumes of the anthalogy series were met with critical acclaim, with Volume One: Femenine being called “a masterpiece” by the New York Times, and NPR and The Wall Street Journal calling Volume Two: Joy Boy, “Glorious.” “Stay On It” from Joy Boy was nominated for a 2023 Grammy for Best Orchestral Performance.
At the end of last year, Elizabeth Cine was hired as the new Executive Director of Wild Up. Significantly, Cine got the ensemble their first gig, a paid residency at the Hammer Museum. She has a long history with Wild Up, having collaborated with Christopher Rountree, the group’s artistic director. Outside of Wild Up, Cine has worked for a number of music organizations in Los Angeles. Wild Up, with Rountree conducting, also served as the band for Cline’s opera The Edge Of Forever.
Information about Wild Up in New York and more:
03.25.2023: HOCKET / Rountree Los Angeles, CA
03.30.23: Boston Celebrity Series, Boston, MA
04.16.2023: Julius Eastman: Femenine, University Musical Society, Ann Arbor, MI
04.21.2023: The Music of Julius Eastman: Femenine, 92NY, New York, NY
04.22.2023: The Music of Julius Eastman: Buddha, 92NY, New York, NY
04.22.2023: The Music of Julius Eastman: Chamber Music, 92NY, New York, NY
04.29.2023: Darian Donovan Thomas / Jiji, Los Angeles, CA
05.07.2023: Scelsi / Shiroishi, Los Angeles, CA
05.27.2023 – 05.28.2023: Xenakis, a ritualist at 101, Los Angeles, CA
06.16.2023: Julius Eastman Vol. 3 Release Party, Los Angeles, CA
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.
In celebration of 36 years, industrial-dance trailblazers My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult have announced additional dates for their ‘Evil Eye Tour,’ featuring the band’s classic hits from 1987-1997.
With fans clamoring for dates throughout the East and North Central states, the band released 16 additional dates, once again alongside support acts Adult and Kanga, including Halloween night in New York City.
Hailing from Chicago’s renowned Wax Trax! Records stable of artists, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult have been conjuring up sonic tales of sex, blasphemy and kitschy horror since 1987. The band helped develop the industrial music genre, yet have continued to expand their style, creating one of the most diverse repertoires in modern music. Electronic rock, heavily influenced by both disco and funk can best describe their sound, while spoken-word samples lifted from B-movies gives the band their signature mark. They have released 14 studio albums, a slew of remix compilations, and have contributed to a variety of soundtracks and film scores, including a cameo performance in the 1994 cult movie classic The Crow.
Artist Franke Nardiello and musician Marston Daley, two Chicago neighbors who enjoyed late night binges watching trashy exploitation films and horror flicks, wanted to make their own movie to be called “My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult”. While the project never came to fruition, they wrote some music to be the accompanying soundtrack. Both worked at the Wax Trax record store, and when label founders Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher heard the songs, they were intrigued. Using the film title as the name of the band, they released a 3-song EP in early 1988. The response was overwhelming, and it was clear fans wanted to hear more.
Taking the stage names Groovie Mann (Nardiello) and Buzz McCoy (Daley), the duo began to focus on music full time. They created an occult meets leather biker image to compliment the band’s name which included enlisting a bevy of voluptuous back-up singers / dancers known as the BOMB GANG GIRLZ. In June of ’88, they flew to label mate Luc Van Acker’s studio in Belgium to record their first album, I See Good Spirits and I See Bad Spirits. It was recorded in just ten days, and mixed in another ten days at Southern Studios in London. The fans ate it up! They followed up with two hard-hitting dance floor 12” tracks – Kooler Than Jesus (1989) and Cuz It’s Hot (1990), which features no-wave chanteuse Lydia Lunch on vocals. The New York Times wrote, “Sex, blasphemy, big beats and go-go dancing; they’re all in a day’s work for My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult”. This attracted the attention of indie fans, as well as the ire of the PMRC and conservative religious groups in practically equal measure. By the time of their sophomore release, Confessions Of A Knife (1990), they were far and away one of the biggest selling acts on the label.
1991 saw the release of their third album, Sexplosion!, a calculated sonic and visual departure from their previous work. 1950’s pin-up models replaced the demonic imagery, while sleazy stripper horns, disco beats and house diva vocals (provided by artist Shawn Christopher) took prominence over the more abrasive musical elaments.They put together a provocative stage show, complete with spinning police lights, mirror balls and a stocked bar with bartender to serve the scantily clad musicians and dancers while they performed. It was a huge success, and the group signed a deal with Interscope Records shortly afterwards and released two more albums – 13 Above the Night (1993), and Hit & Run Holiday (1995).
Hollywood also embraced the KULT, recognizing the unique cinematic aspect in their sound. Most notably, the band scored five songs for animator Ralph Bakshi’s Cool World (1992) and wrote the lap dance song for director Paul Verhoven’s saucy Showgirls (1993). Comedies BASEketball and The Flintstones Movie prominently feature songs from the Hit & Run Holiday album. They have been roasted by MTV’s Beavis & Butthead, and were written into the story line of the film Sexy Evil Genius which also features the song “A Daisy Chain 4 Satan”. Most recently the club hit “Kooler Than Jesus” can be heard blasting in Season 3 of the Netflix series Narcos.
Today SLEAZEBOX.com boasts the complete THRILL KILL KULT catalog, in addition to related works and McCoy’s self titled projects. They continue to work with Wax Trax! Records for the purpose of re-issuing special limited edition vinyl. Buzz and Groovie still record and perform live along with veteran band mates Mimi Star (bass) and Justin Thyme (drums), all the while making a reputation for themselves as one of the most notorious and controversial cult bands of their generation.
For Mor Information, and to purchase tickets, please visit the bands website.
Manhattan’s Nai’a has just released a very vulnerable and passionate single titled “Newman Beauty,” on February 16th. This heartfelt single is part of Nai’a’s craft; with head turning, shocking visuals, and raw, emotional compositions, Nai’a isn’t just making music, but art.
Being a pensive and exploring artist in the space of adventures circling through his life, Nai’a’s creative mind comes to life as he creates music. By intertwining the melodies and wordplays appealingly, he knits his song flawlessly.
There’s a dichotomy of thoughts and escapades he powders his songs with. Nai’a meanders by his beliefs finding the meaning of life through the songs that he writes. “Newman Beauty”, Nai’a’s latest record, is an intimate closure of thoughts with simply him and a guitar. The yearning guitar riffs & his voice overflowing with a thousand stories culminate into an emotionally strong tune.
“I was in love, now you’re just a memory”
– Nai’a
The song acts as a journal of his emotional journey when dreaming to be in love. His encumbered voice carries the weight of ardor. The single is a straightforward, easy, unadorned yet brilliantly crafted song that Nai’a has released.
While talking about the song Nai’a stated, “Writing Newman Beauty has been the biggest risk I’ve taken as a songwriter. I had to tell my story in the most honest way, with no sugar coating,” and he’s given it justice by keeping both his lyricism and the music minimal and honest.
The song feels like he’s floating on a sea of vulnerability, as he sings the words. He paints the picture of him longing for something that isn’t his.
The ambiguity of his mind preoccupies the thoughts that flow, as he communicates through the music. It’s like Nai’a is fixated on a person he can’t let go of, from a place of love and affection. You can hear the tenderness and pain along his dreamy melodies. “Newman Beauty” is a way of healing himself.
