NYS Music 2023

Tag: The Egg

  • Dance In Albany Series Continues with Trailblazing Contemporary Company

    The vibrant dance scene in Albany is set to be illuminated once again as The Egg and the University at Albany join forces to present the groundbreaking Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company on Saturday, December 2 at 8 pm, part of the Dance in Albany series.

    The performance promises to captivate audiences at The Egg at the Empire State Plaza in downtown Albany, marking a return to the Capital Region since their last appearance in 2015.

    Founded in 1982, the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company emerged from an extraordinary 11-year collaboration between Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane (1948–1988). This partnership not only redefined the duet form but also foreshadowed themes of identity, form, and social commentary that have left an indelible mark on American dance. With a global footprint encompassing over 200 cities across 40 countries, the company stands as a beacon of innovation and power in the dance-theater world.

    The company’s repertoire is a testament to its diversity, exploring various subject matters, visual imagery, and stylistic approaches to movement, voice, and stagecraft. Collaborating with an eclectic array of artists, including Keith Haring, Cassandra Wilson, and Jenny Holzer, the company’s intensely collaborative creation process has yielded a rich tapestry of performances.

    The upcoming program by the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company will showcase “Love Redefined” from 1996 and “Story/” from 2013.

    “Love Redefined,” inspired by the 1992 commission for the Lyon Opera Ballet titled “Love Defined,” is a powerful ensemble work that embodies Jones’ distinct and poetic style. Set to Daniel Johnston’s whimsical music and featuring décor by Donald Baechler, the performance is an energetic reflection on love and human relationships.

    “Story/” is a reworking of “Story/Time” (2012), where chance plays a central role in choreography, music, lighting, set elements, and costumes. Set to Schubert’s String Quartet #14, Death and the Maiden, “Story/” draws from a trove of choreographic material spanning 35 years. The piece explores the dynamic interplay between movement and music, showcasing Jones’ exploration of the dramaturgical possibilities that arise from this interaction.

    The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company has garnered numerous accolades, including New York Dance and Performance Awards (“Bessie”) for various productions. Noteworthy mentions include awards for “Chapel/Chapter” at Harlem Stage (2006) and “Deep Blue Sea” (2021). The company was also nominated for the 1999 Laurence Olivier Award for “Outstanding Achievement in Dance and Best New Dance Production.”

    Before the performance, a Prelude talk sponsored by the Dance Alliance will take place at 7:15 pm at The Egg. Mary DiSanto-Rose, former Dance Department chair at Skidmore College, will engage in a conversation with Janet Wong, Associate Artistic Director of the company and New York Live Arts.

    Tickets for the performance are priced at $36 and can be purchased at The Egg Box Office on the Concourse Level of the Empire State Plaza in Albany, by phone at 518-473-1845, and online at theegg.org.

    Remaining performances in the Dance in Albany series promise a diverse and exciting lineup, including Mark Morris Dance Group (January 25), Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company with Capital Trio (January 27), Monica Bill Barnes & Company in “The Running Show” (February 3), NoGravity Theatre (February 9), Savion Glover (April 13), and Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company (May 18).

  • The Bacon Brothers Cook at The Egg

    On a Friday evening in Albany, The Egg was cooking with bacon inside. Not your typical menu item, but when Kevin Bacon and his brother Michael came to The Egg, things definitely got cooked up during an all-too-brief concert.

    bacon brothers egg
    photo by Karen Squires

    The duo – one, an actor (Kevin), the other an Associate Professor at CUNY Lehman College (Michael) – share a deep love for American roots music, as well as DNA. For a quarter-century the pair have performed around the country playing what they call “Forosoco,” or a blend of folk, rock, soul, and country influences.

    The show was short – 80 minutes including the encore – but worth it. Fans seemed content settling in for the show, which didn’t feel scripted, but definitely felt like the same show you’d catch anywhere else this tour. Kevin couldn’t resist making a comment about “a couple of Bacons in The Egg,” joining years of Egg jokes on stage that have even led to live album releases.

    Michael and Kevin Bacon

    Kevin took turns playing on a conga drum, tambourine and guitar, while Michael played guitar, cello, and autoharp at different points of the evening.

    Highlights from the set include the moving “Tom Petty T-shirt,” the countrified rock of “Erato,” an angsty “Take off this Tattoo,” a cover of The Lovin Spoonful‘s “Do You Believe in Magic?,” “Ukulele Lady” with all on ukulele, making this stripped down song was the most soulful of the evening, and “She-Zee-Zee (Easy On My Eyes)”

    For the encore, a cheesy “Hands Up” audience interaction song started things off. (Bands, take note: always get the audience involving songs going earlier in the set so they’re engaged early!) And just when you thought it was over, and maybe thought they weren’t gonna play it, the opening notes to “Footloose” began, and the front rows of the audience were up out of their seats grooving along, feet from the actor who made the song famous (apologies to Kenny Loggins). The fans and the band were dancing around, footloose as could be, transported back to 1984, for a moment, if not the evening.

    And while the venue staff was a bit overzealous this evening with limiting any video recording (a first at The Egg), here’s a video from The Bacon Brothers at Daryl’s House a few years back.

  • Maria Muldaur, Taj Mahal And Sona Jobarteh To Perform At The Egg

    The Empire State Plaza’s Center for the Performing Arts, or The Egg, recently announced that Maria Muldaur, Taj Mahal and Sona Jobarteh would all be joining the Albany venue’s 2023-24 programming. Muldaur is scheduled to perform on Sept. 15 with Taj Mahal and Jobarteh stopping by on March 7, 2024. 

    The Egg is a state-owned entity created to bring quality artists and performances to New Yorkers. Besides music, the venue showcases several forms of art including dance, comedy, film, and theater. Originally constructed in 1978, The Egg features two theaters and can comfortably house over 1,400 visitors. 

    Since its inception, the venue has attracted some of the biggest names in arts and entertainment. Past performers include Roger McGuinn, Chaka Khan, Dave Chappelle, Eric Burdon, Margaret Cho, and Buddy Guy. 

    Maria Muldaur- September 15, 7:30 PM 

    Making music for over 55 years, American folk/roots artist Maria Muldaur became a household name thanks to her 1973 hit song “Midnight at the Oasis”.  Released as a single, the track received a Grammy nomination and has since become one of the quintessential songs in the genre. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the bubbly and infectious tune, she will perform the song along with the help of the Red Hot Bluesiana Band. Together, the two will showcase some of Muldaur’s classic blues, country, folk, swing, and pop offerings. The performance will also include some of the artist’s collaborative work with the Grateful Dead, Bonnie Raitt, Tuba Skinny, and Taj Mahal. Here for tickets and information about the performance at The Egg.

    Taj Mahal & Sona Jobarteh- March 7, 7:30 PM 

    Taj Mahal has established himself as one of the world’s premier blues musicians throughout his extensive career. The Harlem-born artist is known for melding together the sounds of traditional American blues with elements from the Caribbean, Africa, South Asia, and the Pacific Islands. Originally rising to prominence in the 1960s, Taj has earned three Grammy awards and ten nominations. In 2014 he was awarded the Americana Music Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. 

    Sona Jobarteh is a Gambian singer, composer, and instrumentalist credited for being a master of the Kora stringed instrument. With her diverse and ethereal sound Jobarteh has been hailed as one of the biggest upcoming stars in world music. Blending traditional West African, blues, pop, and even afro beats, Jobarteh has amassed fans from all over the globe. Here for tickets and information about the performance.

    To check out The Egg’s full schedule of performances click here.

  • In Focus: Drive-By Truckers Rock Out at The Egg

    On a delightful Monday evening in Albany, the Drive-By Truckers played The Egg Performing Arts Center. The show was their fourth-straight stop in the state of New York on their spring tour. The band hit Levon Helm Studios and played Bowery Ballroom twice last week. And it wasn’t the first time the band played The Egg, having played the venue in 2014 and 2017.

    While nearly all of the shows on this leg of the tour featured Lydia Loveless as the opener, she was not on the bill for this one. That made it an evening with the Truckers, who took the stage shortly after 7:30 PM and wasted no time getting into their set. Over the course of two hours, the band played eighteen originals and impressively drew upon songs from ten of their albums—plus a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “State Trooper.” The entire set was great, and the band sounded best on the songs it jammed out, especially the final few minutes of “Pauline Hawkins.”

    If you missed this leg of the tour and want to catch the Drive-By Truckers in New York, fear not. They’re set to play at Water Street Music Hall in Rochester and the Paramount in Huntington in September.

    Setlist: Carl Perkins’ Cadillac, The New OK, Surrender Under Protest, The Opening Act, Women Without Whiskey, The Driver, A Ghost To Most, Pauline Hawkins, Sounds Better In The Song, Wilder Days, Every Single Storied Flameout, Puttin’ People On The Moon, Gravity’s Gone, Heathens, Marry Me, Buttholeville, State Trooper (Bruce Springsteen cover), Made Up English Oceans, Angels And Fuselage

  • The Wallflowers Tour Drives by The Egg and Bardavon in May

    The Wallflowers 2023 tour has been announced and the 90s MTV darlings will wind through New York with stops in Albany at The Egg on Wednesday, May 3 and in Poughkeepsie at Bardavon on Friday, May 12.

    wallflowers

    For the past 30 years, the Jakob Dylan-led Wallflowers has stood as one of rock’s most dynamic and purposeful bands, a unit dedicated to and continually honing a sound that meshes timeless songwriting and storytelling with a hard-hitting and decidedly modern musical attack. That signature style has been present through the decades, baked into the grooves of smash hits like 1996’s Bringing Down the Horse as well as more recent and exploratory fare like 2012’s Glad All Over. 

    Even so, in recent years, Dylan – the Wallflowers’ founding singer, songwriter and guitarist – has repeatedly stepped outside of his band, first with a pair of more acoustic and rootsy records, 2008’s Seeing Things and 2010’s Women + Country, and then with the 2018 film Echo in the Canyon and the accompanying soundtrack, which saw him collaborate with a host of artists classic and contemporary, from Neil Young and Eric Clapton to Beck and Fiona Apple. 

    Dylan’s vision has always been the core of the Wallflower’s music. How he chooses to express that vision, however, is what makes a song a Wallflowers song. “I usually just let the songs tell me what kind of arrangements they need,” he says. “And if they’re asking for full-band electric arrangements, then that’s what the Wallflowers provide. And I knew I wanted to make a full-band electric record this time out.” 

    So that’s always been my vision with the Wallflowers – to be a great rock ‘n’ roll band. And I’ve worked on it for 30 years now and I still have a lot to say. It’s something I started a long time ago, and it’s far from finished.

    Jakob Dylan

    And made one he has, with one special guest on board – Shelby Lynne, who lends her voice to three of the album’s tracks. “I hadn’t met Shelby before, but like most people, I’ve been a fan of hers for quite some time,” Dylan says. “She has one of those voices that’s very uncommon, very unique, very rare.” 

    But there was more to their duet than just a mutual appreciation. “You can have your favorite singer come in, but it doesn’t mean you’ll have any connection – there has to be more than that,” Dylan continues. “And as soon as I heard Shelby sing, I knew we had something.” 

    Dylan acknowledges that the tracks on the new Exit Wounds reflect the tumultuous times in which they were written. “The climate affects how you feel, which affects how you’re writing songs, even if you’re not writing specifically about current events.” He turns to the late John Prine to illustrate his point. “If we still had John Prine, I don’t think he’d be writing songs specifically about current affairs, but he’d probably be writing songs about characters affected by current affairs. I think that’s mostly what I do.” 

    When it came to realizing these new songs on record, Dylan assembled a backing band of musical associates – “people that I’ve wanted to play with or that I have played with through the years” – and headed into the studio under the watchful eye of producer Butch Walker. 

    That joyful experience extended to Dylan’s interplay with his fellow musicians. “This was not the type of thing where it’s a rotating cast and you call a different drummer for each song, or you pull out the Rolodex and ring the local sessions guys,” Dylan says. “The record was made as a band – the five Wallflowers.” 

    And to Dylan, a band, even one with a constantly shifting lineup, is a sacred thing. “I’ve always been a believer in collaboration,” he says, “and no matter who I’m playing with I’ve always tried to include them very heavily. Otherwise, why would they be around? Because I do think bands, whether it’s a long standing group or just five people who are working together for that one stretch of time, make better rock ‘n’ roll records than solo artists.” 

    The Wallflowers 2023 Tour Dates

    APR 13 THU CLUB LA – Destin, FL
    APR 14 FRI Ponte Vedra Concert Hall – Ponte Vedra, FL
    APR 15 SAT Tortuga Music Festival 2023 – Fort Lauderdale, FL
    APR 17 MON Charleston Music Hall – Charleston, SC
    APR 18 TUE Neighborhood Theatre – Charlotte, NC
    APR 19 WED The Ramkat – Winston-salem, NC
    APR 21 FRI Robert Kirk Walker Theatre – Chattanooga, TN
    APR 23 SUN Clyde Theatre – Fort Wayne, IN
    APR 25 TUE The Fillmore Detroit – Detroit, MI
    APR 26 WED The Palladium at the Center for the Performing Arts – Carmel, IN
    APR 29 SAT Appell Center for the Performing Arts – York, PA
    APR 30 SUN Paramount Theater – Charlottesville, VA
    MAY 1 MON Birchmere – Alexandria, VA
    MAY 3 WED Hart Theatre at the Egg – Albany, NY
    MAY 6 SAT The Flying Monkey Movie House & Performance Center – Plymouth, NH
    MAY 7 SUN Greenwich Odeum – East Greenwich, RI
    MAY 9 TUE The Ridgefield Playhouse – Ridgefield, CT
    MAY 11 THU Stone Pony = Asbury Park, NJ
    MAY 12 FRI BARDAVON – Poughkeepsie, NY

    Tickets go on sale Friday, January 20 at 10am. Tickets will be available online at theegg.org and bardavon.org