John Leventhal will explore his newfound solo career with his upcoming album Rumble Strip to be released on January 26. The six-time Grammy-winner’s debut album will showcase some of the most adventurous work of his career.
Born in New York City, Leventhal began his career in the late 1970’s playing guitar in dozens of NYC area bands including those led by Billy Vera, Steve Forbert and Levon Helm. His impulse to look for unexpected moments of beauty has served as a compass and survival tactic throughout his remarkable career. He’s produced albums for Rosanne Cash, Marc Cohn, Sarah Jarosz, Jim Lauderdale, William Bell, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Joan Osborne and many others. As a guitar player, he has recorded and performed with Jackson Browne, Bruce Hornsby, Willie Nelson, The Tedeschi Trucks Band, Ry Cooder, Elvis Costello, Donald Fagen, and recently, The National (Leventhal co-produced the song “Crumble” from Laugh Track).
Leventhal has been a Grammy winner in five consecutive decades, including as a co-writer and producer on Shawn Colvin’s 1998’s Song of the Year “Sunny Came Home,” Cash’s moody The River and the Thread, and Stax legend William Bell’s sublime 2016 album This Is Where I Live. Presently, he’s collaborating with Cash on a musical version of Norma Rae. His unique approach hasn’t always aligned Leventhal with whatever is reaping the biggest commercial rewards, but he figures that’s probably the only way he could’ve done it– and it worked.
Leventhal has shared two songs from Rumble Strip: “That’s All I Know About Arkansas,” featuring vocals and lyrics by Rosanne Cash, his wife and collaborator of 30 years. The other is the solo guitar piece, “JL’s Hymn No. 2,” written and recorded in the same evening.
“I’ve always had a catalog of ideas that have never found a home,” Leventhal says. “In the back of my mind, I thought that one of these days I should try to harvest some of those ideas and confront the personal gauntlet of making a solo record.” The COVID-19 pandemic made it inevitable.
That willingness to confront his past work pays off handsomely on Rumble Strip, which combines Leventhal’s distinctive, lyrical guitar work, full-band productions with and without vocals, solo guitar pieces that draw on Leventhal’s love for classical music and Anglican hymns, and humid blasts of Southern soul, country twang, and improvisation.
Rumble Strip will be out January 26 on RumbleStrip Records, the label co-founded by Leventhal and Rosanne Cash (distributed by Thirty Tigers).
The 2024 GRAMMY Awards announced the nominations for the 66th edition of the event, happening on Feb. 4. The nominees include a wide variety of talent from New York State, like Ice Spice, Lana Del Rey, Nas, and more.
Graphic courtesy of Recording Academy.
One of the fastest emerging artists of the 2020s, Bronx native and rapper Ice Spice is taking the world by storm with her infectious lyricism and danceable beats. This year she was nominated in four categories including Best New Artist, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for her collaboration on Taylor Swift’s “Karma” remix, Best Rap Song for her collaboration with Nicki Minaj for the Barbie movie with the track “Barbie World,” and Best Song Written for Visual Media, also for “Barbie World.”
Lana Del Rey, a Manhattan native, is nominated for five GRAMMYs this year. These include Best Alternative Music Album for her viral album Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, Best Alternative Music Performance for “A&W,” Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for her collaboration with Jon Batiste on “Candy Necklace,” Song of the Year for “A&W,” and Album of the Year.
Lana Del Rey, photo by Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images.
Daniel Nigro, who has written for artists like Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift, Conan Gray, and more, who is also from Long Island, is nominated for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical. Also nominated in that same category is Brooklyn native Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II. Brooklyn native and iconic musician Bebe Rexha is nominated in the Best Pop Dance Recording category (a brand new one this year) for her collaboration with David Guetta “One in a Million.”
Iconic Harlem-born rapper Diddy has gone through many names over the years including Puffy Daddy or P. Diddy, and is raking in a nomination for Best Progressive R&B Album for The Love Album: Off the Grid. Speaking of iconic rappers, Crown Heights’ own Nas was nominated for Best Rap Album for King’s Disease III alongside the likes of Drake and Travis Scott.
Nas and Hit-Boy. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage).
Iconic singer Mariah Carey, who is embarking on a Holiday tour this winter, coming to Madison Square Garden, was nominated for Best Remixed Recording for “Workin’ Hard (Terry Hunter Remix).” Another iconic NYC native Alicia Keys is nominated this year for Best Immersive Audio Album for The Diary of Alicia Keys.
Iconic producer Rick Rubin from Long Beach, who is the co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records, received a nomination in the Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording category for The Creative Act: A Way of Being.
Singer/songwriter Emily King, from NYC, is nominated for Best R&B Album for her record Special Occasion. Aja Monet, a contemporary poet, writer, lyricist, and activist from Brooklyn was nominated in the Best Spoken Word Poetry Album for When the Poems Do What They Do. Samara Joy, who won the 2023 GRAMMY for Best New Artist is nominated in two categories. One category is Best Jazz Performance for “Tight,” and the other is Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals for “Lush Life.”
Samara Joy.
More GRAMMY nominations include NYC-based jazz duo The Baylor Project for Best Jazz Performance, with Adam Blackstone and Russell Ferranté in “Vulnerable (Live).” Lakecia Benjamin from Washington Heights is also nominated in that category for “Basquiat,” as well as in Best Jazz Instrumental Album for Phoenix and Best Instrumental Composition with Angela Davis for “Amerikkan Skin.”
Pop artists from NYS secured multiple nominations this year. Madison Beer from Jericho has been steadily rising over the past couple of years, receiving her first GRAMMY nomination in the Best Immersive Audio Album category for Silence Between Songs. Caroline Polachek from NYC also received her first nomination in Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical for Desire, I Want to Turn Into You. Caroline Rose from Long Island was nominated in the Best Recording Package category for The Art of Forgetting.
The Best Jazz Vocal Album category saw a nomination for Harlem-based musician Patti Austin, featuring Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band. The NYC-based Mingus Big Band received a nomination for The Charles Mingus Centennial Sessions in the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album category. A new category for the 2024 GRAMMYs, Best Alternative Jazz Album, saw Brooklyn-based musician Cory Henry secure a nomination for Live at the Piano. Albany native Vijay Iver also secured a nomination in that category as well as in Best Global Music Performance.
Rochester native Elaine Martone secured a nomination in the Producer of the Year, Classical category. Several NYS orchestras received nominations, including the JoAnn Fealletta with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra for Best Orchestral Performance and The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and The Metropolitan Opera Chorus for Best Opera Recording.
NYC-based composer John Williams received three nominations. These include Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media (Includes Film and Television for The Fabelmans and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, and Best Instrumental Composition for Helena’s Theme.
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.
NYC native Béla Fleck, alongside Edgar Meyer, Zakir Hussain, and Rakesh Chaurasia, was nominated in three categories, including Best Instrumental Composition, Best Global Music Performance, and Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.
Best Traditional Blues Album saw NYC native Eric Bibb receive a nomination for Ridin’. Rufus Wainwright from Rhinebeck was nominated for Best Folk Album for his record Folkocracy. The final NYS-based 2024 GRAMMY nominations were for NYC-based musicians Flor de Toloache in Best Música Mexicana Album (Including Tejano), and Kirsten Agresta and Omar Akram in Best New Age, Ambient, or Chant Album.
For more information about the 66th annual GRAMMYs and the full list of nominees, visit here.
Moulin Rouge! The Musical will be welcoming GRAMMY award-winning singer, songwriter and trailblazer Boy George in his return to Broadway as he performs the the role of “Harold Zidler” at Broadway’s Al Hirschfeld Theatre, starting February 6, 2024.
Boy George rose to fame as the lead singer of the iconic band Culture Club, first appearing on Top of the Pops with Culture Club in 1982, he instantly had people talking. The pop sensation achieved seven UK Top 10 singles, nine Top 10 singles in the USA, and nine Top 20 singles in Australia including, “Karma Chameleon” and “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me”.
Boy George was last represented in the Broadway production Taboo in 2003, where he performed and wrote the music for the production. Taboo became well respected for highlighting the 80’s club scene, and focusing on George’s life before and after achieving fame.
Boy George attracted high praise and gained global recognition, creating a world-wide presence that transcends age, race, colour, creed, nationality and even religion. He began his solo career in 1987 and became part of the New Romantic movement which emerged in the late 1970s to early 1980s.
Moulin Rouge! The Musical is the winner of ten 2021 Tony Awards, directed by Alex Timbers and choreography by Sonya Tayeh and music supervision, orchestrations and arrangements by Justin Levine. Moulin Rouge! The Musical enters a world of splendor and romance, eye-popping excess, glitz, grandeur, glory and a world where bohemians and aristocrats rub elbows to revel in electrifying enchantment. Pop the champagne and prepare for the spectacular Baz Luhrmann’s iconic film come to life onstage, remixed in a musical mash-up extravaganza celebrating truth, beauty and freedom.
For more information on Boy George in Moulin Rouge! The Musical, please visit here.
The Bushwick Film Festival celebrates it’s 16th edition this year screening over 125 films from Brooklyn and around the world from October 25th through 29th.
Over the past 16 years,BFF has showcased the works of nearly 1000 independent filmmakers from Brooklyn and more than 50 different countries. The BFF has evolved into one of Brooklyn’s most highly anticipated cinematic events and is celebrated for its significant contributions to the borough’s artistic, cultural, and economic development.
The festival culminated with an award ceremony on Sunday, October 29th where over 10 films and filmmakers received awards featuring categories including Best Feature Narrative, Best Short Narrative, Feature Documentary, and Short Series. The award winners told bold stories that embody an independent spirit and featured extraordinary characters revealing tales of change, self-discovery, transitions and new phases of life.
This year’s jurors included Theo Rigby, Danelle Eliav, Melody C Roscher, Amenya Makuku, Courtney Andrialis-Vincent, Niki Williams, and BFF Founder Kweighbaye Kotee. During opening night, Oviation TV awarded The Bushwick Film Festival with a $10,000 check through the Stand For The Arts Awards a partnership with Spectrum that recognizes local arts, cultural, and educational organizations and programs. These contributions support artists that are community driven, advocating for equality with the access of arts and providing accessible spaces for creative expression.
The Park Theater in Glens Falls has compiled an exciting November 2023 lineup for the region’s music-goers, as well as announced the second installment of their education initiative, involving local schools to expand music and technology education programs.
November 10 will see the TAKE3 trio at The Park Theater, combining rock and classical music. The group brings their rigorous classical music background, combined with an energetic rock show to music fans.
The Park Theater Foundation will present the Live & Local series, a run of intimate performances by some of the Capital Region’s most beloved singer-songwriters. The Theater will host The North & South Dakotas, an alternative bluegrass band, on November 9, and folk-acoustic Troy group Hold On Honeys on November 30.
In addition, the Park Theater will host the Rochmon Record Club in a series of listening parties. On November 29, the club will focus on Bruce Springsteen’s 1978 record, Darkness on the Edge of Town.
The Third Thursday Jazz series will continue with the Matt Niedbalski Trio on November 16, featuring Matt Niedbalski, Matt Knoegel, and Steven Kirsty playing some of the region’s best jazz programs.
Finally, the Park Theater will welcome Katie Boyle, a NYC-based Irish comedian as part of the Comedy After Dark series. She is the host of The Shift Podcast, and will present her new show, “Terapy,” on her upcoming tour.
In addition to their upcoming shows, the Park Theater Foundation is launching the second installment of their involvement with the Lake George Central School District, beginning on November 7. The program will complement Lake George High School’s existing music program, and bring comprehensive instruction, demonstration, and teaching of audio technology and instruments. The program will involve local musicians, including Matt Niedbalski, Tyler Giroux, Dylan Perillo, and Chris Reed Jr.
For more information and tickets to the upcoming performances, visit parktheatergf.com.
Resilient and powerful are just two words one could use to describe the Cortland-based artist Cloey Tierno. For the past few years she has been battling a rare cancer, Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, spending the summer in treatment facilities. Despite these setbacks, she is powering through, holding that same fiery passion for music.
Recently, she has asked for support, launching a Kickstarter to create her sophomore album.
At just 18 years of age, Cloey Tierno has been singing and creating music for as long as she can remember, singing and coming up with lyrics inside countless notebooks. Recording professionally for the first time at the age of 15 with the talented Chris Merkley and Gabe Cummins, her first record i fell in love with the rain brings 14 pop-oriented songs to the table, all written in her bedroom on an acoustic guitar. About the album, Cloey Tierno says “Those songs quickly developed into a fuller potential, musically, than I could’ve given them on my own, and yet simultaneously preserved the organic elements that they possessed when I first wrote them.”
She was nominated for a SAMMY (Syracuse Area Music Award) the following year for Best Pop Recording of 2023, winning at the end of the night. “It gave me such validation for what I’d created and encouragement to continue finding success in what I loved doing more than anything else,” she said. Finding inspiration in arts like Taylor Swift, Gracie Abrams, and Maisie Peters, Cloey Tierno says that these artists integrate writing, the foundations of it, production, and vocal delivery in a beautiful manner, a manner that she finds herself repeatedly connecting with.
The music I write is just a poetically honest reflection of where my head or my heart is at as I’m writing it, or sometimes it’s just me trying to more deeply understand an experience that, at the time, I couldn’t fully grasp. It’s also important to me to create a final product that exudes relatability and something raw and authentic. Ultimately, I strive to share lyrics and storytelling that I put a piece of myself into and am truly proud of, and that somebody listening to those results also happens to find a piece of themselves in it, too.
Cloey Tierno.
Dealing with chemotherapy treatments hasn’t been easy, but she has concluded the majority of the treatments. About the diagnosis, she said, “What I can tell you is that when I chose to navigate it with intention and openness, it grew to be one of the loudest voices in my songwriting and a guiding factor to both my attitude and my creativity. That integration between the world of art and the world of spirituality is something that I believe has strengthened all the music I have created since and will continue to create, for the better.”
Looking to the future, she is running a Kickstarter campaign to be able to financially support the making of her second studio album. It’s an all-or-nothing approach, meaning she must make the full amount she is pledging or else she won’t be able to produce the album. She wants to demonstrate how she has grown as both a human and as an artist since her first album release and has more important things to say.
You can support Cloey by donating to her Kickstarter, and streaming her music on Spotify or Apple Music.
New York-based Canadian musicians Joenne Dumitrascu and Jelena Cingara have teamed up to create the new recital series Connecting Through Sound. Now in its third installment, the duo will be coming to St. John’s in the Village on Dec. 15 at 1:30 p.m.
Joenne Dumitrascu trained formally as a violinist, pianist, and composer, performing professionally as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Koerner Hall, La Scala, and more. She was a guest artist on WFMT’s Relevant Tones with Seth Boustead: Discovery Series and has collaborated with members of the Emerson String Quartet (ESQ) on several chamber music projects, including the New Music for Strings Festival in Denmark.
Her recording career ranges from contemporary music to film and TV soundtracks, including Atom Egoyan’s 2009 film Chloe and TV show Nikita, as well as recording work with the Screen Composers Guild of Canada and WGBH in Boston. As a music coach, she trains young artists in the highly acclaimed JSE ensemble in New York City.
Jelena Cingara is an active performer and teaching artist in the United States, Canada, and Europe. Her career includes a series of solo, chamber, and collaborative international recitals, two decades of piano pedagogy, and a wide range of chamber music performances. She has performed in concert venues such as Carnegie Hall, Libby Gardner, Dumke, Abravanel Hall, and many more.
During her training years, she was a prizewinner of numerous piano competitions as well as a recipient of several scholarships. She has performed at the Off-Broadway/Broadway production The Last Boy in the summer of 2021 and April 2022 respectively, as well as in The Kiss of the Spider Woman (Scarborough Players Theatre), Carrie (Utah Rep Theatre), and Charlie Brown (Toledo Theatre).
Connecting Through Sound is now in its third installment, featuring Beethoven, the French classics of Debussy and Saint-Saens, and the works of modern composers. Its goal is to bring people together who share a passion for music and culture. The event features a one-hour concert and wine reception to follow where the audience is invited to the beautiful St. Benedict’s Courtyard.
Music gives us the ability to connect to people from diverse backgrounds, both in the physical form of meeting audiences at concerts but also perhaps on a more psychological level. In many ways, it not only writes history through sound, but it taps into every human emotion. So it’s a way for all of us to also connect to the past, to connect through these works to other cultures. I have a very diverse background, so being able to connect through music to people who are complete strangers is a beautiful thing. It was actually the basis of starting the series of shows for me. We live in a very divided world in 2023 and the need for human connection is more important than ever.
Joenne Dumitrascu
For more information about Connecting Through Sound and to purchase tickets, visit here.
Mcguire has served as an associate artist and has frequently been on stage at Capital Repertory Theatre, which is also a part of Proctors Collaborative. As the new director of theatrical programming, McGuire will continue to direct the Broadway Camp productions as well as the High School Musical Theatre Awards, which recognizes outstanding local musical theatre productions and students. McGuire will also help support the development of student training classes and be a consultant on theatrical training classes across Proctors Collaborative.
“When looking for someone to fill this important position, we didn’t have to look further than Kevin. He has proven through his time as the director of Broadway Camp and his experience on and off Broadway that he is the perfect person for this role. We’re honored that our students will constantly have the opportunity to learn from one of theatre’s greats.”
– Christine Sheehan
McGuire will also be using his skilled experience from Broadway productions such as “Les Miserables,” “Phantom of the Opera,” “The Secret Garden” and many more productions as theREP such as “Man of La Mancha,” “The Full Monty,” “The Irish and How They Got That Way” and “The Wizard of Oz” to teach and direct the students at CSOA, allowing them to explore and reach their full potential in theatrical arts.
“It has always been my contention that the most important thing I can do is pass on to a new generation the incredible training I had in my youth. I love to teach. I love watching talent emerge.”
Indie country-rocker band Divining Rod released the first single “King of The Night” on Friday, October 20, from their upcoming EP entitled The House Will Always Win, due for release in January 2024.
Originally, Divining Rod was the solo project of Hawaiian native Miyuki Furtado of the former TooPure recording artists, The Rogers Sisters. The band includes lead Miyuki Furtado, guitarist/vocalist Patrick Harmon, bassist Matt Svigals, and drummer John Malone.
“King of The Night” combines a vocal performance that’s full of confidence and force with dynamic chords and soulful production to create a blues rock gem. The song explores themes of nightlife and the excitement of hitting the town on the weekend, with the monotony of misbehaving with the same folks, listening to the same tunes and ordering the same rounds of drinks. The song uses prominent and smooth country driven vocals, fused with the rhythm of rock and blues. The backbeat sets the tone and emphasizes the vocal-centric structure to make up the story of two gamblers who are headed for romance and heartbreak.
The new single will accompany four other songs to be released on their upcoming EP The House Will Always Win due for release in January. The EP was crafted during the same sessions as their previous EP, Santa Monica And Other Golden Classics. Divining Rod headed into the studio after a month-long residency on New York’s famed Circle Line. The House Will Always Win speaks of the affordability and accessibility of the city. Despite being a fun town, Miyuki sees a sense of sadness and desperation in the city.
Metropolis, a brand new restaurant by Marcus Samuelsson opened inside the Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC) in Lower Manhattan. A vibrant mix of contemporary American cuisine, the restaurant takes inspiration from the culture and traditions of New York City’s five boroughs.
Flushing Style Oysters – Photo Credit: Andy Thomas Lee
Restauranteur Marcus Samuelsson teamed up with Executive Chef Ed Tinoco, Chef de Cuisine Marcelo Malta Andrade and Pastry Chef Onika Ayana Brown to craft a menu featuring locally inspired dishes and cuisines. Entrées include the Aged Long Island Duck rubbed with a 4-year mole, foie gras and peaches, Arctic Char with uni beurre blanc, agrodolce cucumbers, and citrus, and the Whole Grilled Dover Sole to Share with pomme souffléand braised leeks.
New York is a city of constant change and evolution where generations of immigrants have made their mark building its future. At Metropolis, we’re tapping into that cultural flow and sharing how a restaurant contributes to that dialogue. Through food and drink, we want to capture what makes New York the most delicious place to be.
Marcus Samuelsson
Metropolis Beverage Director Alexis Belton joined the team, creating a cocktail menu focusing on both classic and modern style martinis. The restaurant offers tableside cart service, with house cocktails including the Catskills Old Fashioned, made with Overproof whiskey, New York malt and red bean caramel, and the “Appletini,” made with green apple, sauternes, and baking spices.
Metropolis Interior – Photo Credit: Adrian Gaut
Designed by PAC NYC’s Lobby and Restaurant Interior Architect, David Rockwell and Rockwell Group, Metropolis features an upscale chic design, with wood ribbons lining the ceiling and lighting the dining area. The restaurant boasts a 135-seat main dining room, 16-seat private dining room, and 70-seat seasonal terrace, in addition to the 30-seat lounge area fronting the lobby stage.
To make a reservation at Metropolis, visit metropolisbymarcus.com. Stay up to date at by following @metropolisbymarcus.
