In Buffalo on Saturday, November 9, the Shakti Lounge’s 2024-25 monthly Concert Series kicksoff with a performance by the Walter Kemp 3.
The Shakti Lounge is a collaboration between Shakti Yoga (Michelle Gigante) and Lavender Haze Collective (Ellen Pieroni). The monthly concert series provides musicians with space to show their skills and art to the community, and a comfortable environment for the audience to hear innovative music. Shakti creates a salon-like setting offering guests the unique experience of reclining on its heated floor with cushions or taking a seat in a chair. All are welcome.
This year’s selection features a diverse group of artists performing across a wide variety of genres such as jazz, folk, classical, and world music. The musicians are mainly local to Buffalo, with the exception of Nicholas Mycio Trio (jazz guitar from New York City) and Haunted Continents from Connecticut, featuring Buffalo-based cellist Katie Weissman.
Bandleader Walter Kemp 3, (piano, Rhodes, and Viscount organ) grounded by the roots of swinging, soulful syncopation, will open the series with an existential, extraterrestrial, performance of meditative music. The group features Alec Dube on vibes, Dave Phillips on drums, and Ben Levitt on bass. The ensemble will deliver a one of a kind listening experience. Complimentary refreshments will be available.
Other acts featured in the 2024-25 lineup are alt-jazz guitarist Adam Bronstein & ABtrio, (Feb. 8) and talented string quartet fra/ctured (Mar. 8). Both of those groups are making a return from last year’s series. Family FUNKtion and the Sitar Jams: a world jam trio consisting of sitar, drums, and bass will also make an appearance on May 10. A special benefit concert on 1/11 for the Sara Rogers Foundation, will feature a talented crew of musicians who knew, loved, and shared the stage with Sara.
Indie folk artist and Queens native Brigid Hart explores every step of picking yourself back up after the unimaginable in her debut album A How to Guide: Living With the Shame.
Born and raised in Queens, Brigid Hart is an indie folk artist who has been weaving her emotions into sound since she was only 10 years old. Having consistently composed, recorded, and released songs since then, Brigid is now a part of the Studio Composition program at SUNY Purchase where she explores and develops her musical skill even further.
Released in 2023, her six track EP I’d Be Just Fine was born out of a partnership with Ben Cuomo and Shanne Garcia formed through her Studio Composition studies. Among her studies and professional ventures, Hart has been performing alongside her band in venues, clubs, backyards, gardens, colleges, and even camp festivals throughout New York State.
Her sophomore year’s work culminated in her second major collaboration with Ben Cuomo, her debut album A How to Guide: Living with the Shame. Formed among the spaces of the SUNY Purchase campus that caught their interest the most alongside a myriad of friends and peers on the harp, violin, mandolin, drums, and more, Brigid’s debut album captures the raw honesty and emotion nestled within her artistry.
A How to Guide: Living with the Shame is a deeply vulnerable piece that explores the effects an experience of sexual assault has on relationships afterwards. Hart’s expression of heartbreak and sadness through the album’s instrumentals is counterbalanced by her witty and self-aware lyrics, creating a balanced and personable listening experience.
“Brigid’s vocals float above the bed of sound created by her finger-picked guitar in open tunings. In both of these projects she managed to keep an intimate and lulling atmosphere while also having dense and unapologetic arrangements that maintain the illusion of Brigid sitting right in front of you.”
– Ben Cuomo
Accompanying the album’s release was the adjacent music video for the ninth track, “Before the Leaves Fall.” A recording of Brigid singing the track alone at a bar is interspersed with personal home-style moments of stillness and double-exposure clips of nature that capture the same gentle warmth felt in the track’s instrumental.
Returning once more to the SUNY Purchase campus, Brigid is working towards her second album to be released in the summer of 2025. The gentle folk sound Hart has developed thus far will be intertwined with a new indie rock approach as she once more expands her repertoire in exciting ways.
To keep up with the latest updates on her upcoming project and all other endeavors, follow Brigid Hart here.
NYC-based musician, producer and multimedia artist Stranger Cat has announced her sophomore album Slow Jam Love Letters To My Body In Pieces due out November 15 on North Street Records.
The resonant forthcoming album allowed the artist to feel it all. Putting the pieces of their body back together, both physically and emotionally, produced a collection of work that required careful reflection and complete surrender. Confined to a bed, the ten tracks that emerged was an accumulation of the pain, frustration and yearning for a brighter future. The result is a cornucopia of orchestral synth pop with layered vocals, sparkly synths and 808 beat driven dance parties.
The project’s first single, out now, “Witness” is a raw, lush pop song that came together in a particularly painful period. The “Witness” lyric video captures the desire to be seen and the beauty of capturing one’s joy. While the track was created amidst deep pain, the video is a chance to display the artist on the other side. Recorded at the historic Guillaume Tell studio where everyone from Radiohead to Serge Gainsbourg recorded, the final vocals were done on vintage mics, and the musician played all the additional instruments heard on the track including: B3 organ, electric and grand piano, the echo effects and more.
Stranger Cat is Brooklyn-born, Miami-based vocalist, producer, composer, light artist, video maker, DJ, dancer, and sound healer Cat Martino. She has collaborated with the likes of Sufjan Stevens, Sharon Van Etten, Son Lux, Lucius, and The Shins and as well as supporting Empress Of, Marissa Nadler, and performing at iii Points Festival and Art Basel in Miami. Stranger Cat’s self-produced, vulnerable second album, Slow Jam Love Letters To My Body In Pieces, sees the artist surrender, only to find beauty in her own healing. Its first single, “Witness” is out now, and the full project is due out November 15.
In The Wilderness, the artist’s soulful electronic art-pop debut album, arrived in 2015. Earlier this year, Stranger Cat collaborated bringing captivating vocals to author and musician’s Scott Guild’s debut albumPlastic: The Album which now has over 250K streams across platforms. Despite such substantial setbacks in recent years, Stranger Cat is more than ready to bring her healing second album into the world, one that turns her isolation into hope and pain into power.
For more information on Stranger Cat and her upcoming album Slow Jam Love Letters To My Body In Pieces, click here.
Warren Haynes, legendary guitarist, songwriter, and Gov’t Mule frontman, has just released his highly anticipated solo album Million Voices Whisper via Fantasy Records. This album, his first solo effort in nearly a decade, captures Haynes’ blend of soulful blues-rock with a fresh perspective and messages of resilience, self-discovery, and hope.
The lead single, “This Life As We Know It,” encapsulates Haynes’ theme of embracing change and finding positivity. Accompanied by an in-studio video from Power Station New England, the track serves as an uplifting introduction to the album’s 11-track journey. Produced by Haynes, Million Voices Whisper features powerhouse collaborations, including Derek Trucks, Lukas Nelson, and Jamey Johnson, alongside Haynes’ core band members John Medeski, Terence Higgins, and Kevin Scott.
Haynes celebrated the release with a special in-store appearance at Looney Tunes Records in West Babylon on November 2nd, performing five solo electric songs including “Back Where I Started,” “This Life As We Know It,” and “To The Sun Comes Shining Through.” The intimate set offered fans a unique, close-up experience of Haynes’ exceptional guitar work and vocal intensity, leaving the crowd with a taste of the album’s soulful energy.
Supporting Million Voices Whisper, Haynes and his band have embarked on a 16-date fall tour along the East Coast, followed by his Now Is The Time Tour, a symphonic experience featuring reimagined selections from his career.
Million Voices Whisper is available on all digital platforms and for pre-order on vinyl, with the deluxe CD version featuring four bonus tracks. For more details, visit Warren Haynes’ official website.
Track Listing for Million Voices Whisper:
These Changes (ft. Derek Trucks) Go Down Swinging You Ain’t Above Me This Life As We Know It Day of Reckoning (ft. Lukas Nelson and Jamey Johnson) Real, Real Love (ft. Derek Trucks) Lies, Lies, Lies > Monkey Dance > Lies, Lies, Lies From Here On Out Till The Sun Comes Shining Through Terrified Hall of Future Saints (ft. Derek Trucks) Deluxe Edition (CD only)
Bonus Tracks: Baby’s On The Move Smooth Sailing Find The Cost of Freedom > Day of Reckoning [extended version] (ft. Lukas Nelson and Jamey Johnson) Back Where I Started (ft. Derek Trucks)
On Sunday, Oct. 27, at Broadway’s Shubert Theatre, the annual Arthur Miller Foundation Honors celebrated the tenth anniversary of the Theater Education Programs. Honorees included Alicia Keys, Kristoffer Diaz, and Linda Aziza Miller.
The Arthur Miller Foundation (AMF) is an independent, nonprofit organization, created to honor the legacy of Arthur Miller and his New York City public school education by increasing equitable access to quality theater education for public school students. The benefit paid tribute to the power of theater education by honoring artists, educators, and advocates who have made significant contributions to the arts and arts education.
This year’s honorees include 16-time Grammy Award winner, Alicia Keys, who received the AMF Arts & Culture Award. Keys, a former NYC public school student, has remained committed throughout her career to creating opportunities for young artists and putting access to education at the forefront of much of her philanthropic work. Tony nominated playwright and Pulitzer Prize finalist Kristoffer Diaz, also an alumnus of NYC Public Schools, was awarded the AMF Legacy Award, for carving a meaningful impact in the American theater. Former Professional Performing Arts High School educator, and Keys’ former educator, Linda Aziza Miller received the AMF Excellence in Arts Education Award for her dedication to public school students and access to quality, comprehensive arts instruction.
AMF’s Theater Education Programs provide theater teachers with certification, training, and critical resources to build and sustain quality in-school theater programs impacting over 60,000 public school students in all 5 boroughs of NYC and in Bridgeport and Norwalk Public Schools in Connecticut. The Arthur Miller Foundation Honors celebrates the power of public school theater education and is produced by AMF Executive Director Jaime Hastings.
For all the live performances at the expanding multitude of Hudson Valley venues, none may match the bold sensibility championed by the edge-pushing curators at Elysium Furnace Works. Led by James Keepnews and Mike Faloon, EFW’s mission is, in its founders’ words, “to present the work of vanguard artists in settings as dedicated and uncompromising as the art itself.” The final event of their momentous 2024 season will surely deliver on this promise when the electric, eclectic, and deliriously intense power trio, Harriet Tubman, cuts loose at Poughkeepsie’s VBI Theater at Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center on December 7 at 8 pm.
Harriet Tubman was formed in 1998 by guitarist/vocalist Brandon Ross, bassist Melvin Gibbs, and drummer JT Lewis. They take their moniker from Harriet Tubman, an African-American woman born into slavery who was renowned as a liberator of other slaves who, like she, chose to seek freedom by escaping to the North. She accomplished this with the help of a secret network of safe houses, or “stations,” on what was known as “The Underground Railroad.”
Before joining forces, Gibbs built an eclectic discography collaborating with artists including Ronald Shannon Jackson, Arto Lindsay, George Clinton, and Henry Rollins. Ross has done the same in his work with Cassandra Wilson, Don Byron, Henry Threadgill, Tony Williams, The Lounge Lizards, Jewel and more. JT Lewis has divided his time between studio and live work with an a-list of leading names in jazz, R&B and pop, including Whitney Houston, Sting, Bill Laswell, Sonny Sharrock, and William Parker. Together, the trio has waxed five critically acclaimed albums, including I Am A Man (1998), Ascension (2011), and their latest, The Terror End of Beauty (2018)
The music of Harriet Tubman is both familiar and fresh, a unique blend that allows the listener to experience the music free from distracting labels of style or genre.
Several critics have likened their style to a free jazzy, future-forward extension of the musical terra firma first laid down by Hendrix’s Band of Gypsys. There are also elements of Delta Blues, King Tubby-style dub, electronica, 70s-styled jazz fusion, metal, ambient, noise- and progressive-rock.
While Ross may be best known for his mannered acoustic guitar work with vocalist Cassandra Wilson, he is genuinely liberated in this trio, like Harriet Tubman herself. Ross conjures spacious textures and loops as the backdrops to melodies and solos that often impart a white-hot fire, as captured on “Farther Unknown,” the opener of their latest album. Gibbs was once called “the egg in the meatloaf” by his former boss, the late great drummer/bandleader Ronald Shannon Jackson of the Decoding Society.
In this band, he provides the sub-harmonic foundation for their wildly wonderful and unpredictable sonic excursions, alternating between deep, steady grooves punctuated with thunderous chords and rapid-fire melodies of his own. Drummer Lewis provides the beats, which are polyrhythmic, funky, tribal, and swinging. Lewis functions at the conductor, creating the pulses and crescendos that propel the surprisingly dense sound produced by the trio. Harriet Tubman has a bit of everything for anyone with open ears, – free jazz, metal, blues, electronica, noise, swing, funk and dub – often co-existing happily in a single bar of music.
Elysium Furnace Works’ 2024 season has brought Hudson Valley music lovers some of greatest names in jazz with an experimental edge. Past concerts have featured local guitar hero David Torn, The Matthew Shipp Trio, legendary Ornette Coleman collaborator bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma and trumpeter Peter Evans. Fans of experimentally-minded guitarist should also consider checking out EFW’s November 16 event at VBI with AM/FM. This power duo of guitarist Ava Mendoza and violinist Gabby Fluke-Mogul synthesize a heady brew of avant-jazz, blues, and noise – radically upending experimental music(s) past, present, and future.
Harriet Tubman will perform on Saturday, December 7 at 8 PM at the VBI Theatre of Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center at 12 Vassar Street in Poughkeepsie. Tickets are $30 in advance and $40 at the door — advance tickets are on sale here.
The Sembrich in Bolton Landing has announced they have given the Marcella Sembrich Memorial Performance Prize to American tenor Michael Butler. The venue has also received an award from the Greater Hudson Heritage Network.
Michael Butler
The Sembrich features museum exhibitions and an annual summer festival with an exciting mix of world-class musicians, noted musical scholars, a free film series, and the opportunity to enjoy it all on the beautiful shores of Lake George. Listed on the National Historic Register, The Sembrich was once the teaching studio of Polish soprano Marcella Sembrich, one of the most famous musicians at the turn of the 20th century.
Visitors can discover her storied legacy, which includes over 400 performances at the Metropolitan Opera and faculty positions at both the Juilliard Graduate School and the Curtis Institute of Music. With a treasured museum, performance series, and over four wooded acres of nature paths to explore, The Sembrich is truly a unique cultural experience.
The Marcella Sembrich Memorial Performance Prize awarded to Michael Butler exemplifies the artistic legacy of Polish soprano Marcella Sembrich. The prize guarantees the selected singer a solo performance at The Sembrich, the famed singer’s former lakeside teaching studio in Bolton Landing on Lake George, during an upcoming season. The auditions were held on the weekend of October 12-13 at the Kosciuszko Foundation’s house in NYC.
Michael Butler hails from Washington, D.C. and is American lyric tenor. Of nearly 120 applicants, 34 singers were admitted to participate. Butler placed second in the overall competition and won the award for the best performance of a Polish work by a non-Polish entrant. The grand prize was awarded to Polish-American soprano Magdalena Kuźma, and third prize was awarded to Canadian contralto Rose Naggar-Tremblay.
Along with awarding a prize, The Sembrich has also received an award of their own. The 2024 Award for Excellence was given by The Greater Hudson Heritage Network (GHHN) for The Sembrich’s recent efforts to preserve Marcella Sembrich’s “Queen of the Night” costume. The museum staff attended the annual GHHN conference on Tuesday, October 15 to accept the award and present at an awardee poster session. The conference “Embracing Innovation,” was held at Manhattanville College in Purchase New York and was attended by museum professionals from across New York State.
GHHN is New York State’s ‘go-to’ service organization focusing on interpretation, collections care programming, and the conservation and preservation of objects in collecting institutions statewide. Its programming and professional development training programs, webinars, hands-on workshops, web-based resources, responsive technical assistance, and grant opportunities provide the tools so that historical societies, historic house museums, heritage centers, historic sites, archives, and libraries may better care for their own collections.
Greater Hudson Heritage Network’s Awards for Excellence program seeks to recognize and commend exceptional efforts among GHHN members. Awards are made to projects that exemplify creativity and professional vision resulting in a contribution to the preservation and interpretation of the historic scene, material culture, and diversity of the region.
The Sembrich Staff at the Awardee Poster Session
For more information on The Sembrich, Marcella Sembrich Memorial Performance Prize, and the GHHN, click here.
Chris Dave and Marcus King, joined by MonoNeon and Isaiah Sharkey, have announced a weeklong residency at the legendary Blue Note Jazz Club from Jan. 14-19.
Drummer and composer Chris Dave and American singer/songwriter Marcus King are set for a special, one-of-a-kind six-night run at Blue Note Jazz Club. The pair will be joined by MonoNeon on bass January 14-16 and virtuoso guitarist Isaiah Sharkey making a rare appearance on bass January 17-19. Shows at 8:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. each night.
These special performances come on the heels of Marcus King’s new album Mood Swings, produced by Rick Rubin. In discussing the new record, GQ hails King as “a modern-day blues-rock god” while Rolling Stone notes that Rubin “helps him switch things up and bring out the soulful side of his sound.”
Houston native Chris Dave is a critically acclaimed drummer and veteran performer who has appeared with Robert Glasper, Adele, D’Angelo, The Winans, Kenny Garrett and many more. Dave most recently appeared on Keyond Harold’s Foreverland, out now via Concord Jazz.
Bassist MonoNeon has established a cult following, serving as Prince’s last bassist before his passing in 2016. MonoNeon’s new record Quilted Stereo is out now, with Bass Magazine noting that it “will captivate listeners with its dynamic blend of genres, ranging from jazz and funk to hip-hop and beyond.”
Virtuosic guitarist, singer/songwriter and producer Isaiah Sharkey started out as a child prodigy, playing local gigs in his hometown of Chicago at the age of 14. By age 16 he was touring with gospel singer Smokie Norful and soon after became one of D’Angelo’s core collaborators. Sharkey returns to the Blue Note taking a rare turn on the bass having performed alongside a long list of superstars including John Mayer, Paul Simon, Corrinne Bailey Rae and many more.
Learn more and purchase tickets to the Marcus King residency here.
Hank Azaria has announced an upcoming Bruce Springsteen tribute tour. Ahead of the upcoming national tour, Azaria will play the Brooklyn Bowl on Nov. 8, as well as Springsteen’s original stomping grounds, The Stone Pony Nov. 15 in Asbury Park.
As a lifelong Springsteen fan the project is a labor of love for Azaria. Perhaps best known for his decades of work on The Simpsons, Azaria has began a new and different undertaking as a voice actor. Azaria spent months creating an impression of Bruce’s distinctive speaking cadence and singing ‘voice’ to conceive the tribute show. As Azaria told Rolling Stone,“I think of it as a theatrical performance,” he says. “I’m staying in character as Bruce even though I’m telling stories about myself. It’s a performance piece, but I’m not a Bruce impersonator.”
At the debut public performance of Hank Azaria and the EZ Street Band, at Le Poisson Rouge, the sold out celebration of The Boss’ music was such a joyful experiance Azaria decided to take the show cross-country. Full details and routing for the tour will be announced soon. Azaria doesn’t simply sing Springsteen’s music, but also speaks on the impact it has had on Azaria’s personal life. “I’ve never worked harder preparing for any role than I did in perfecting a singing vocal impression of Bruce,” said Azaria.
The tribute performance itself is a joyful, full-tilt rock ’n roll event, and Azaria’s physicality and flair are a true homage to Bruce. Azaria channels many familiar components of Bruce Springsteen’s iconography: intimate, irreverent storytelling, connection to family, preternatural stamina, camaraderie with the band, and a palpable love for performing. Azaria has delivered a show we want to root for – invigorating, upbeat and ambitious.
NY-based indie/alternative artists Amy Zou, Looi, and T. Shan are set to perform at The Sultan Room in Brooklyn on November 17.
All three featured artists create indie/alternative music and are based out of New York. Amy Zou is a singer-songwriter, musician, and producer based in Brooklyn. She spent her formative years playing classical piano and flute, before channeling her love for singing, reading, & writing into songwriting. Now, she crafts genre-bending songs, layering in sonic complexity with sometimes cerebral metaphors & fictional worlds into her lyrics. Her upcoming EP I’ve Been Looking For You captures an ambient, avant-pop-leaning sound sieved through an experiential lens of self-discovery. It is a classic hero’s journey turned inward – a search for adventure within the confines of your bedroom, half-remembered dreams, and in the place between decisions.
Raised between China and both coasts of the US, T. Shan’s music blends increasingly wide genre influences united by his biting, confessional lyrics. His music reflects the highs and lows of modern love, yet never loses sight of where he and his family came from.On his latest EP “Flowers & Spice,” released in 2023, T. Shan sought to explore a host of new sonic terrains, from indie rock ballads to house rap dance tracks, all while telling a love story from its blossoming to its post-mortem. Intimate and hectic, saccharine yet bitter, the record braids together reflections of diving headfirst into love while hesitant from the aches of past scars, numbing yourself amidst strobe lights and D&B, and coming to peace with the good and bad of a bygone affection.
Amy Zou
A singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer, and seasoned performer, Looi is working to release her debut EP — an intergenerational exploration of her Chinese-Malaysian heritage, which exists within the soundscapes of neo-soul, alt-indie, and r&b pop. Her cult following of listeners keeps up with her journey through enchanting performances of unreleased music, private demos, and select public releases. The November 17 show follows the release of her latest single, “Cherries.”
The show begins at 7:00 PM on Sunday November 17. The event is 21+ and tickets are currently at $22. The Sultan Room in Brooklyn is standing room only, with very limited seating available on a first come, first served basis. It is highly recommended arriving early to secure one of the few seats. Each of these artists plan to rock the house in their own unique ways, and the performances are ones you’ll not want to miss.
Looi
For more information on the upcoming show at The Sultan Room on Nov 17 featuring Amy Zou, Looi, and T.Shan, click here.
