NYS Music 2024

Category: NYC Metro

  • 2024 Caramoor American Roots Festival 

    The 2024 Caramoor American Roots Festival was held on Saturday, June 29, 2024. The festival featured blues, Americana, folk, and bluegrass music with a stellar lineup featuring Lizzie No, Solomon Hicks, Fantastic Cat, Poor Monroe, Hopalong Andrew, and headliner Madison Cunningham.  Attendees were treated to a day of entertainment in a distinctive setting.

    Milton opening the festival
    Milton opening the festival

    Nestled in a secluded part of northern Westchester County, the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts welcomes its visitors as they pass through a gate which reveals the sprawling 90-acre property. This  welcoming gesture sets the tone for the immersive Caramoor experience.

    Hopalong Andrew entertaining children in the Sunken Garden

    The festival was divided into two sessions: daytime and nighttime.  During the day, performances were spread across multiple locations within the center, while the evening session culminated with Madison Cunningham’s performance in the Venetian Theater.

    Friends Field

    Daytime performers had the chance to showcase their talents twice by performing in two of the four distinct show spaces throughout the day.  This two-set format allowed attendees to catch every act without having to choose who to listen to.  A map is provided to guide you through the vast expanse of the Caramoor Center.  Each show location is sufficiently distant from the other and offers a unique listening experience.

    Lizzie No with a young fan enjoying her performance

    The Sunken Garden presented the most intimate setting, as it is nestled in a clearing among the trees.  This charming location allowed the music to resonate in its purest form.  Many at the festival brought their children.  The garden proved to be an ideal spot for Hopalong Andrew’s family-oriented set, which encouraged interaction with the children in a tranquil setting.  Poor Monroe, a bluegrass band that followed Andrew, equated the location to the origins of their musical genre and the natural materials of their instruments.

    Fantastic Cat performing in the Spanish Courtyard
    Fantastic Cat performing in the Spanish Courtyard

    The Spanish Courtyard is situated inside the Rosen House, a Mediterranean-style stucco villa built in the 1930s.  Originally the summer home of the Rosen family, the property was donated and converted into a center for the arts and music after the death of their son in World War II.

    The Spanish Courtyard is described by Caramoor as “Spanish under the influence of the Italian Renaissance.”  The picturesque courtyard with its arched walkways and central fountain, provided an unusual yet enchanting setting for a rock show.  Fantastic Cat embraced this unique space with, as they dubbed it, a “spayed and neutered” acoustic set, before delivering a full-on electric performance later in the day at the Venetian Theater.

    John Platt WFUV introducing performers
    WFUV’s John Platt introducing performers

    The third location, Friends Field, offered a spacious environment.  Visitors could relax on blankets or chairs and enjoy great sightlines to the large stage.  The grassy field also served as a soft dance floor for those so inclined.  Singer-songwriter Milton opened this stage, and was followed by Lizzie No and Poor Monroe, with Harlem blues aficionado Solomon Hicks closing out the daytime session.

    After the conclusion of the day session, Grammy Award winner Madison Cunningham and her band closed out the evening with a heartfelt performance in the open-air Venetian Theater, leaving the audience thoroughly appreciative. 

    Bluesman Solomon Hicks closing the day session

    Festivals bring to mind crowds, long lines, and tight spaces.  Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts started presenting music in 1945. They have learned the best use of the 90 acres offering space for the attendees, performances that do not compete against each other, as well as providing a special place for everyone to enjoy the arts.

    Headliner Madison Cunningham / Photo : Gabe Palacio

    The American Roots Music Festival is just one of the many curated musical events that take place at Caramoor.  Caramoor has a full lineup of musical happenings throughout the year.  Check their website for more details.

    Milton

    Hopalong Andrew

    Lizzie No

    Fantastic Cat

    Poor Monroe

    Solomon Hicks

    Madison Cunningham

  • BAM Announces New Artistic Director and Fall Season Events

    The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) has announced the program for the Fall 2024 season, along with their new musical director, Amy Cassello. Since 2013, Cassello has filled several roles for BAM, including programming, artistic director, and producer. During her decade-long run, Cassello produced and oversaw numerous concerts, plays, festivals, and series at BAM.

    This fall, BAM will host a multidisciplinary variety of programs, including plays, poetry readings, multimedia demonstrations, dance shows, holiday concert series, and a new set of in-house resident musicians. Among the events is this year’s rendition of Next Wave, an arts showcase contextualizing the artistic visions projected for the near future. Also featured this year is the return of BAMboo!, The Best of BAMkids Film Festival, and a film program featuring repertory screenings alongside new releases.

    brooklyn academy of music
    Amy Cassello, Artistic Director, BAM Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, New York, June 7, 2024. Photograph © Beowulf Sheehan

    Each year, the Next Wave 2024 & Emerging Visions events represent dynamic elements integral to BAM’s path into the future. With a renewed focus on works-in-process, increased presentations from the Global South, and greater investment in presenting partnerships, Next Wave and Emerging Visions support musicians and artists from all over the country. These events provide artists with the space and resources necessary to showcase their hard work and serve as a reminder to all that BAM will always welcome creative visionaries, no matter where they are from or where they trained.

    This is an exciting moment for BAM as we bridge our past with our future. Amy is a deep thinker who considers the needs of artists and arts workers at every turn. As a longstanding BAM programmer and creative producer, she intimately understands our role in the arts ecosystem. I could not have a better partner in leading BAM’s artistic programming at this pivotal moment.

    Gina Duncan, BAM President

    This year’s Next Wave presents well-known creators who bring their groundbreaking theater, music, poetry, multi-media, and dance to the BAM stage. Works being presented at Next Wave include Bill T. Jones’s Still/Here, Hanif Abdurraqib’s election week poetry program honoring the legacy of June Jordan, Dana Gingras’ Frontera, Guillermo Cacace’s Gaviota, Tiago Rodrigues’ Catarina and the Beauty of Killing Fascists, Silkroad Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens’ American Railroad, Liquid Music’s Sun Dogs, Modesto Flako Jimenez’s Mercedes, Part 1, Journey LIVE with American Composers Orchestra, and ONX Studio’s TECHNE. 

    Among the new works being presented at BAM, the theatre has also announced its resident artists for the 2024 season. This year’s BAM residents include Baba Oludaré, Hope Boykin, Mayfield Brooks, Delano Burrowes, Kayla Hamilton, Soomi Kim, and Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre. 

    brooklyn academy of music

    Below are the dates for Emerging Visions and Next Wave. For more information and tickets, visit BAM’s website here.

    Emerging Visions

    Sep 17—Oct 20: Safety Not Guaranteed, directed by Lee Sunday Evans, with music by Guster’s Ryan Miller 

    Oct 24—27: Preview performances of a new play, Reconstructing (Still Working but the Devil Might Be Inside), directed by Rachel Chavkin and Zhailon Levingston 

    Next Wave 2024 – BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, 30 Lafayette Ave Brooklyn

    Oct 25—27 Music engagement (to be announced June 26)
    Oct 30—Nov 2 Bill T. Jones’s Still/Here
    Nov 5—9 Hanif Abdurraqib’s I Guess It Was My Destiny To Live So Long poetry series
    Nov 8 & 9 Dana Gingras’ Frontera
    Nov 13—23 Guillermo Cacace’s Gaviota
    Nov 13—17 Tiago Rodrigues’ Catarina and the Beauty of Killing Fascists
    Nov 18 & 19 Liquid Music’s Sun Dogs with Alarm Will Sound
    Nov 23 Silkroad Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens’ American Railroad
    Dec 3—8 Modesto Jimenez’s Mercedes, Part 1
    Dec 6 & 7 Journey LIVE with American Composers Orchestra
    Jan 4—19 ONX Studio’s TECHNE

    Holiday Offerings 

    Dec 12—22: Mark Morris Dance Group’s The Hard Nut 
    TBD: Music engagement 

  • American Symphony Orchestra Shares 2024-25 Season Lineup

    The American Symphony Orchestra is presenting four full orchestra concerts as a part of their upcoming 63rd season. The lineup consists of free shows at Bryant Park and Kupferberg Center for the Arts on September 6 and 7 as well as ticketed shows at St. Bartholomew’s Church on January 24, Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall on March 23, and Carnegie Hall on June 6, 2025.

    American Symphony Orchestra

    The exciting upcoming season of the American Symphony Orchestra will have rich offerings for fans of a vast variety of music styles. The series of shows will start with a free concert as a part of the Bryant Park Picnic Series and will bring more exposure to the artists, classical music fans, and curious listeners.

    Highlights that concert attendees have to look forward to include the U.S. premiere of C.P.E. Bach’s oratorio Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu, the ASO’s David Geffen Hall of Lincoln Center debut, and the first New York City performance this century of Richard Strauss’ first opera Guntram.

    In 1962 Leopold Stokowski created the American Symphony Orchestra with the intention of playing music fit to everyone’s liking. The ASO consistently upholds that sentiment and will continue to do so throughout their upcoming 63rd season. Audiences are sure to get a unique experience at any of the four shows.

    I’m delighted that ASO’s two previous outdoor season-opening concerts with free performances in Bryant Park have attracted so many new concertgoers, and I am looking forward to repeating this success again in September. It’s a wonderful start to our exciting 2024-25 programs and a perfect introduction for these ever-widening audiences to ASO’s mission of presenting surprising premieres and music rarely heard onstage today in a way that’s accessible and affordable for everyone

    Leon Botstein, Music Director and Principal Conductor

    ASO 2024-25 Program

    Friday, September 6 (Bryant Park at 7 PM) and 7 (Kupferberg Center for the Arts at 3 PM)– Beyond the Hall: Free Opening Concerts

    Featuring: American Symphony Orchestra, Leon Botstein, conductor, Scott Joplin: Treemonisha: Overture (1911), Florence Price: Suite of Dances (1933), Bernard Herrmann: Psycho: A Narrative for String Orchestra in Three Parts (1960), Kurt Weill: Kleine Dreigroschenmusik (Little Threepenny Music) (1928), Leonard Bernstein: Three Dance Episodes from On the Town (1945)

    The pieces being played in Beyond the Hall come from different backgrounds and forms of musical entertainment. Ranging from opera and theatre to movies and dance halls, the music played will provide audiences with an authentic and diverse preview of the upcoming season.

    For Bryant Park on Sept. 6, no tickets or RSVP required; For Sept. 7 at Kupferberg Center for the Arts, attendance is free with online RSVP at americansymphony.org (starting on Aug. 7)

    Friday, January 24, 2025 (St. Bartholomew’s Church at 7 PM)- Bach at St. Bart’s

    Featuring: American Symphony Orchestra, Leon Botstein, conductor, Bard Festival Chorale, James Bagwell, music director of the Bard Festival Chorale, C.P.E. Bach: Heilig ist Gott, H.778 (1776), C.P.E. Bach: Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu, H.777 (1787) (U.S. premiere)

    Dipping into the Baroque and Classical periods with vocal compositions from Carl Phillipp Emanuel Bach. The ASO in collaboration with the Bard Festival Chorale will explore changes in mood, harmonic writing, and Romanticism. This performance marks the U.S. premiere of Bach’s Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu (The Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus).

    Tickets, priced at $25–$45, are available on Sept. 9 at americansymphony.org.

    Sunday, March 23, 2025 (David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center at 2 PM)- Tapping into the Twenties

    Featuring: American Symphony Orchestra, Leon Botstein, conductor, Orion Weiss, piano, John Alden Carpenter: Skyscrapers (1924), Erwin Schulhoff: Concerto for Piano and Small Orchestra, Op. 43 (1923), William Grant Still: Symphony No. 1, Afro-American Symphony (1929-30), Edgard Varèse: Amériques (1922)

    Signifying the ASO’s David Geffen Hall debut, Tapping into the Twenties will honor composers whose careers flourished in the 1920s. This list of composers includes Edgar Varèse whose work portrays imagery, and Erwin Schulhoff who brings jazz and piano pieces to the mix. In the March 23 show, Orion Weiss will perform as the piano soloist.

    Tickets, priced at $25–$65, are available on Jan. 3 at lincolncenter.org, by calling CarnegieCharge at 212.721.6500, or by visiting the box office at 10 Lincoln Center Plaza.

    Friday, June 6, 2025 (Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at 7 PM)- Strauss’ Guntram

    Featuring: American Symphony Orchestra, Leon Botstein, conductor, Bard Festival Chorale, James Bagwell, music director of the Bard Festival Chorale (Soloists to be announced at a later date), Richard Strauss: Guntram (1887-93, rev.1939)

    ASO will perform Richard Strauss’ rarely performed first opera, Guntram, in New York City, for the first time this century. Themes of love, guilt, and renunciation tell the story of Strauss in his youth. With exemplary orchestral work and vocal techniques, this execution of Guntram is not to be missed.

    Tickets, priced at $25–$65, are available on Sept. 9 at carnegiehall.org, by calling CarnegieCharge at 212.247.7800, or by visiting the box office at 57th St. & 7th Ave.

    More information about the ASO’s 2024-25 season is available at americansymphony.org

  • Flushing Town Hall Welcomes Jazz Lineup For All-Star Concert

    On Wednesday, July 10 at 7 PM, Flushing Town Hall in Flushing, Queens will hold their fourth annual Jazz Jam All-Stars Concert. The concert celebrates FTH’s community of musicians who regularly participate in their monthly Louis Armstrong Legacy Jazz Jams.

    Flushing Town Hall Jazz Jam All-Stars Concert in Queens

    The talented slate of musicians scheduled to play were all carefully chosen based on their musicianship and care for the craft, their cooperation, as well as their contributions to the monthly Louis Armstrong Legacy Jazz Jams. The artists bring a diverse roster of styles, instruments, and perspectives with their ages ranging from 22 to 80+.

    Backing up the performers is the Flushing Town Hall house band led by Master of Ceremonies as well as saxophonist and flutist, Carol Sudhalter. The band also includes Joe Vincent Tranchina on piano, Scott Neumann on drums, and Eric Lemon on bass. The house band will kick off the night of Jazz with a Louis Armstrong piece.

    Our Louis Armstrong Legacy Monthly Jazz Jams have been building community for more than 10 years now. The annual All-Stars concert is one of my favorite jazz events every year, as we get to celebrate the next generation of passionate and highly talented jazz musicians in a borough that the great Louis Armstrong himself called home.

    Gabrielle M. Hamilton,  FTH Director of Education & Public Programs

    For the past three All-Star Concerts, musicians Sarah Turkiew, Keith Jordan, Sharif Kales, and Glen Lowe have graced the FTH stage. However this year, for the first time they are stepping aside and allowing a new group of musicians to showcase their talents in the concert. Nonetheless, their contributions to will not go unnoticed, as all four of them will receive a plaque of acknowledgment for their collaboration, musicianship, and enthusiasm. The group will then play a song together towards the end of the night.

    I love our annual Jazz Jam All-Stars concert. It’s a great way to celebrate participants who return month after month and year after year and have demonstrated their incredible talent and dedication. This year, it was a particularly difficult decision to narrow it down to only 10 All-Stars…out of at least 20 faithful and eligible musicians. I am especially excited as we have, for the first time, a group of ‘alumni’ and honorees: four outstanding musicians who have graduated from the All-Stars Concert! Congrats, Sarah, Keith, Sharif and Glen!

    Carol Sudhalter

    The Flushing Town Hall All-Star concert on July 10 is honoring not just the musicians in the show, but the larger significance of the Louis Armstrong Legacy Monthly Jazz Jam. The jam has occurred for the last 10+ years and serves as an educational program and a community. Jazz musicians of any caliber have the opportunity to play together, grow their platforms, and learn from one another. Amateur, professional musicians, and public audiences through Queens Jazz OverGround are welcome.

    Flushing Town Hall’s carefully curated list of All-Star musicians set to play represents the product of what mutual respect for musicianship and collaboration can provide for a community.

    In-person tickets for the concert on July 10 at 7 PM are $25, $20 for FTH members, and $15 for students with ID. To purchase tickets online visit www.flushingtownhall.org.

    Lineup

    Naomi Okai (vocals)

    Mimi Block (vocals/violin)

    Rich Braithwaite (tenor sax)

    Keeley Mitchell (vocals)

    Frank Bergamini (soprano sax/vocals)

    Victor Acosta (alto sax)

    Jose Luis Armengot (trumpet)

    Frank Robinson (vocals)

    Gerald Thomas (bass/piano/sax)

    Tony Campo (piano)

  • Tracey Yarad Brings Her Musical Memoir of Heartbreak to NYC Stage in July

    What do you do when your husband and musical partner of many years runs off with your teenage goddaughter? You write a boatload of wonderful songs, dye your wedding dress black and make it into a dynamic, emotional rollercoaster of a musical stage show. That’s how the soulful Australian-born, New York-based singer-songwriter-pianist Tracey Yarad coped with heartbreak by crafting an emotionally raw and sometimes even humorous blend of memoir and song entitled All These Pretty Things. 

    New Yorkers will get a chance to experience this unique fusion of song and monologue when it comes to the 59E59 Theater in New York City, July 13, 14 and 16.  Yarad’s Big Apple run is a part of 59E59’s East to Edinburgh 2024, a showcase of 16 shows, including Yarad’s, which will be heading to the famed Edinburgh Fringe Fest in August 2024.

    This confessional and cathartic one-woman show is a classic illustration of when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.  A phoenix rising from the ashes story, it takes the audience from the fallout of a devastating divorce in Australia, following her husband’s affair with their goddaughter, to an inspiring new life and musical career in New York City. Tracey Yarad plays both the damsel in distress and the heroine who saves the day in this dramatic sound play.

    “I started writing these songs to keep myself from going insane,” explains Yarad. “I didn’t realize that it would ever be recorded or performed. It was just my healing process. But the audience reactions so far have shown me it’s something that touches and helps other people to move through their struggles and challenges too.”

    Yarad’s sprawling All These Pretty Things began life as an album. It features contributions from some of New York’s finest jazz musicians including guitarist Luca Benedetti (Jim Campilongo), bassist Tony Scherr (Norah Jones, Bill Frisell), violinist Zach Brock (Snarky Puppy, Stanley Clarke), drummer Josh Dion (Chuck Loeb, Bob James) and organist Jon Cowherd (Brian Blade Fellowship, Joni Mitchell). An accompanying illustrated book will be available for purchase at the show and online at her Yarad’s website. Acclaimed jazz singer Madeleine Peyroux has called All These Pretty Things “an emotional roller coaster ride from thoughtful resignation to heartbreak, rage, acceptance and back again. I like it when I hear her roar!” BroadwayWorld.com labels it “a beautiful alchemy, breathtakingly honest and gorgeously sung songs on the themes of loss and abandonment and the restorative power of music and love.”

    Tracey developed this evocative portrayal of one woman’s capacity to come back stronger than ever with the help of her co-writer and director, the acclaimed jazz songstress Tessa Souter.  The work also serves as Souter’s directorial debut. Yarad names “heart-on-sleeve” songwriters like Laura Nyro, Rickie Lee Jones, Joni Mitchell and Bonnie Raitt as some of her primary influences for the piece. Her music reflects her diverse experience as a performer – from classical pianist to singing German lieder, from leading a jazz fusion trio to fronting funk bands. All these stylistic variants blend to create Yarad’s singular style.

    All These Pretty Things showcases Yarad’s strength as an instrumentalist and vocalist.  With only a piano and her powerful voice, she communicates a wide range of human emotions, ones that come with the burgeoning of new love through to its inevitable and uniquely tragic unraveling to her rebirth as both a woman and an artist.  Her musical and lyrical acumen are showcased in the spoken word passages which are the connective tissue to the musical pieces.  They are a testament to another of her unique talent as a dramatist.

    Yarad’s musical life has been varied and globe-trotting. A pianist and singer-songwriter with jazz sensibilities, her career has taken her from touring her native Australia with her original music and having a Top 40 single in the 1990s, to a seven-year residency singing in 5-star hotels in Japan, to running her own music school for 18 years in the Blue Mountains of Australia and, finally, to New York City.

    Since relocating to the Big Apple in 2017, she has added jazz photographer to her list of professional accomplishments, specializing in portraits of leading names in jazz. Her work has appeared in Downbeat, Guitar Player and Drum Scene magazines to name a few.

    New York serves as an inspiring backdrop that has greatly fueled Tracey’s creative musical spirit. In the relatively short time since moving here, Tracey has produced two original music projects—one with her all-female group featuring Claudia Acuña, Jennifer Vincent, Elsa Nilsson and Rosa Avila and this one-woman version of All These Pretty Things.  Another musical memoir, Lost in Translation, featured stories and songs from her days as a hotel singer in Japan and was performed with virtuoso jazz pianist Jim Ridl.

  • Jazz Icon Max Redko Offers Piano Master Class at Kaufman Center

    On Tuesday, July 2, jazz piano visionary Max Redko will offer a master class on new developments in jazz theory. Attendees will learn and discuss new techniques and theories from an incredibly gifted and highly acclaimed professional. For all those who wish to attend, the master class is located in Manhattan’s own Kaufman Center at 7 pm.

    max redko

    The basis of Max Redko’s master class is the art of improvisation. Redko believes that the musical structures, especially for jazz, are incredibly antiquated. For decades, musicians learned that jazz is composed according to a specific standard. Rules about chord progressions, rhythm, and meter created a “norm” for the genre. Deviation from this standard was actively discouraged.

    While musicians obviously hold these practices in high regard, these old-fashioned techniques prevented them from being able to create newer, fresher music. Musicians have stuck to what is reliable, instead of taking the risks essential to the art of jazz. Reliance on the “correct” theory forced jazz musicians to play pre-composed music learned by heart, which steered away from the core meaning of the genre—improvisation.

    Redko’s master class plans on changing these ideas entirely. As the author of the Theory of Harmony of Music, Max Redko made a name for himself through his revolutionary theories in the world of jazz. Redko was the first who explain how to harmonize any note using all existing methods. His theory challenges ideas of the past and offers musicians an opportunity to embrace the spontaneity of jazz while giving the player complete autonomy.

    Every time you listen to a pianist, you hear music that
    characterizes past times, mainly retro style, while art must reflect modernity. The world
    needs new quality!

    Max Redko

    For more information on Max Redko, his classes, and private lesson information, visit his website here. Sign up for the master class using this link.

  • 38 Spesh & Grafh Tab Talib Kweli ‘Right Now’ With Collab Album On The Way

    Upstate meets the boroughs in this latest track between New York mainstays. 38 Spesh and Grafh team-up with Talib Kweli and Halie Supreme on “Right Now.” The first single from the duo’s upcoming collaborative album, God’s Timing.

    38 Spesh and Grafh "Right Now" cover art
    Grafh and Talib Kweli go back-and-forth on “Right Now.”

    “Right Now” is an ode to hip hop‘s backpack era with the drums as laidback and soothing as the lyrics are ferocious. Grafh and Kweli take turns attacking the track as their verses sees them have a career full-circle moment and acknowledge their place in hip hop while giving haters and doubters a piece of their mind. Additionally, Halie Supreme’s bridge and background vocals aide in the record’s ambience and add to the record’s intellect, providing a soothing backdrop to the hard-hitting lyrics and flow.

    Set for release on July 26, God’s Timing features production in its entirety by 38 Spesh. With the Rochester native also providing several verses. The project also includes appearances from Jim Jones, Talib Kweli, Method Man, Vado, Freeway, Memphis Bleek and Peedi Crakk.

    Moreover, “Right Now” showcases 38 Spesh’s versatility as a producer. After all on this latest track his slower, sample-heavy production gives way to a more upbeat, minimalist style. With Spesh curating his sound to mesh with Kweli, the possibilities are endless with the remaining features.

  • Paris Paloma Explores Mystical Femininity at Bowery Ballroom

    If there was a music style I had to describe as ethereally tender and mystical, yet perfectly encapsulates the feeling of standing in the middle of a swarm of men while eternally wanting to scream your guts out – I would instantly push you towards Paris Paloma’s music.

    Infused with Greek and biblical references, the 24-year-old UK artist somehow manages to incorporate serene vivid storytelling in her music while simultaneously arousing the most primal and aggressive feminine urges in her audience. Folk-music with a bit of a dark gothic twist, Paris Paloma dominated the stage on Jun. 26 at Bowery Ballroom and left the crowd screaming in utter awe at her evocative stage presence.

    Paris Paloma
    Photo by Alisha Goel

    The concert started with a uniquely soothing and harmonic performance by The Army, The Navy. The American duo, consisting of Maia Ciambriello and Sasha Goldberg, serenaded the crowd with some fan favorites like “Alexandra,” and prepared the audience for a hypnotic evening at Bowery. Much like Paris’ music, the duo’s lyrics are jam-packed with intimate and poignant stories, and their music comes across as earnestly confessional. Their calming and intricate harmonies were done on their acoustic guitar, and their chord progressions felt fresh and extremely delicate.

    Paris Paloma
    Photo by Alisha Goel

    When 24-year-old Giorgia Merolli was asked to describe her connection to Paloma’s music, she said: “I discovered Paris when Labor went viral, and I think one reason why that song went viral is because it’s the most descriptive universal way that we women can relate to us being women. I’ve never heard an artist depict so simply, yet impactfully, the female experience of oppression and shielding our real emotions just to conform to some sort of societal norm.”

    Opening her set with the first song in her upcoming debut album “Cacophony,” Paloma desperately repeated the line “What did I do wrong /Will you tell me what I did wrong, what did I,” heartbreakingly resonating with her audience on the pains of feverously scrambling to figure out and reason the abhorrent behavior of past loves in aching toxic relationships. 

    Paris Paloma
    Photo by Alisha Goel

    With her vulnerability and absolute openness in songwriting, Paloma transported everyone from the vast hall at Bowery to what felt like an intimate private gathering. Candidly expressing her grief and struggles surviving in a patriarchal society, Paloma gathered something so uniquely personal to her and used it to forge an iron-clad bond of fury and understanding between every woman present in the room attentively listening to her potent voice.  

    Paloma also sang “as good a reason,” a lyrical concoction providing a refreshing perspective on ageism and self-love in a society that thrives on manufacturing insecurities. One of the most personally impactful songs for me from the night was titled “the fruits,” a discomforting but visceral exploration of uneven power dynamics and submissiveness.

    Paris Paloma
    Photo by Alisha Goel

    Paloma surprised the crowd with some of her unreleased songs from her new upcoming debut album. My personal favorite was “the warmth,” which started with what felt like the most beautifully disassociating siren call, and continued with incredulously haunting symphonies and drum beats, making it remarkably distinctive from anything I’ve heard from her before.

    Paris Paloma
    Photo by Alisha Goel

    Paloma ended the night with her viral TikTok song “labour,” the song which rapidly made her way to the Top 30 on the UK singles chart, and became an anthem for womanhood and the queer community. Screaming “labour” breathlessly on the top of my lungs was an utterly transcending religious experience. It was like we were all bound by one beautiful string – a string harboring chaos and feminine rage and fostering a phenomenon I can only describe as pure and raw human connection. All our collective tears and frustrations binded together, and I found solace and comfort in our universal aches. It was cathartic. I felt liberated.

    Paris Paloma
    Photo by Alisha Goel

    Paris Paloma – Bowery Ballroom – June 26, 2024

    Setlist: my mind (now), drywall, boys, bugs & men, notre dame, as good a reason, knitting song (unreleased), the warmth (unreleased), the last woman on earth (unreleased), bones on the beach (unreleased), the fruits, yeti

    Encore: labour

    Paris Paloma’s debut album “Cacophony” will be released on August 30.

    Photo by Alisha Goel
    Photo by Alisha Goel
    Photo by Alisha Goel
    Photo by Alisha Goel
    Paris Paloma
    Photo by Alisha Goel

  • The Bon Scott Estate Celebrates Late AC/DC Singer/Lyricist’s 78th Birthday With NYC Show

    Marking what would have been the late singer’s 78th birthday, The Bon Scott Estate is embarking on a number of high-profile activations to celebrate the icon’s life and music.

    On July 9, the actual birthday of Scott, a tribute concert will be held at Arlene’s Grocery on New York City’s Lower East Side. The infamous rock club has hosted some of the most raucous nights of rock and roll in the 21st century, and the show will harken back to the secret set that AC/DC performed at CBGB in 1977. 16 singers will each tackle one classic AC/DC song with a stellar backing band. 

    Bon Scott

    44 years after his untimely passing, the music Bon Scott helped create with AC/DC continues to resonate with fans and fellow artists.

    Few rock singers were as unforgettable—and have proved as enduring—as Bon Scott. As the frontman of AC/DC from 1974 until his tragic passing in 1980, his “rock n’ roll pirate persona,” street poet lyrics, and striking image have made him an absolute legend. Additionally, Bon’s vocals were featured in several pre-AC/DC bands, including Fraternity, the Valentines, and the Spektors.

    But really, it is the quality of the songs of the “Bon-era” of AC/DC that serve as his greatest legacy: “Highway to Hell,” “Sin City,” “Whole Lotta Rosie,” “Let There Be Rock,” “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap,” “T.N.T.,” and “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll)”—the list is seemingly endless.

    How does Bon measure up to rock’s all-time great frontmen? Classic Rock Magazine declared him “The Greatest Rock n’ Roll Front Man of All Time” in 2004, beating out the lofty likes of Freddie Mercury, Robert Plant, and Axl Rose in the process.

    In addition to the tribute concert, The Bon Scott Estate will be releasing a variety of merchandise and collectibles.

    Two new online stores are launching in time for the birthday, one at Amazon in the U.S. and the other at Merch Jungle in Australia, making it easier and more cost-effective for fans to get their hands on their favorite singer’s merchandise. Further Amazon stores will continue to roll out throughout the world. Bon Scott’s e-commerce and merchandising program is handled by Perryscope Productions, LLC.

    A brand-new merch design will be launching to commemorate the birthday by renowned Australian graphic artist Dave Homer.

    Information and tickets for the NYC show can be found here. Visit here for official Bon Scott merchandise.

  • Queens College and NYC Parks Launch Borough-Wide Free Cultural Events

    Queens College and NYC Parks have announced the launch of their borough-wide free cultural events initiative, running now through October. The collaborative effort will be kicked off with a launch event on June 27 at Archie Spigner Park, which will also be a part of Queens Rising, a month-long, multi-disciplinary arts celebration created to highlight the borough’s culture and creative diversity.

    Queens Cultural Events

    Queens College School of Arts offers the most comprehensive, multidisciplinary arts education within the City University of New York (CUNY) system. Founded in 2022, it houses renowned programs in theatre, dance, fashion, studio art, and design as well as the Aaron Copland School of Music, Media Studies, and the MFA in Creative Writing and Literary Translation.

    Their initiative, partnered with NYC Parks, will provide access to the Inaugural Kupferberg Center for the arts-sponsored Queens Jazz Trail Concert Series and feature emerging and professional artists from the Queens College School of Arts

    Among the initiative highlights are the Beach Opening Ceremony at Rockaway Beach and Saturday music concerts at Dinkins’ Circle in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. Art and nature walks will be offered in collaboration with the college’s Godwin-Ternbach Museum, the only museum in the borough with a collection that spans antiquity to the present day. Events will also take place in Alley Pond Park, Crocheron Park, Forest Park, Highland Park, and parks in southeast Queens and the Rockaways.

    To kick off the initiative, a free and open-to-the-public launch event will be held on June 27 at Archie Spigner Park, Jamaica, Queens.

    The Queens College Aaron Copland School of Music Jazz Trio and the Antonio Hart Quartet will perform. Emmy-nominated saxophonist Hart is a professor of jazz studies in the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College. Invited speakers include Jacqueline Langsam, Queens Borough commissioner, NYC Parks; Frank H. Wu, president, Queens College; Ellen Kodadek, executive director, Flushing Town Hall; Simone Yearwood, interim dean of Arts and Humanities, Queens College; and local elected officials.

    The launch event will also be a collaboration with Queens Rising, an annual month-long beacon of cultural celebration, dedicated to illuminating the vibrant tapestry of Queens, New York.

    Since its inception in 2022, Queens Rising has served as a catalyst for unity, bringing together artists, performers, and organizations to showcase the borough’s rich artistic heritage. It acts as a catalyst for collaboration, connecting artists, venues, and businesses to maximize opportunities for arts and culture to flourish in Queens. At Queens Rising, the belief in the transformative power of art and culture to inspire, connect, and uplift communities is steadfast. Individuals are invited to join in celebrating the diverse cultural landscape of Queens and shaping a brighter future through creativity and collaboration.

    See a current full list of events for the initiative below. An updates list can be found here.

    Current Full List of Events

    Rockaway Parks Events:

    Beach Opening Ceremony

    Date: Tuesday, May 21 at 11:00 am   

    Location: Beach 97th Street 

    City of Water Day/Jamaica Bay Festival

    Date: July 13th at 1:00 pm

    Location: Beach 43 Street End Park (592 Beach 43 Street) 

    Arts Trail Nature Walks, in collaboration with Godwin-Ternbach Museum

    Date: July 13th at 10:00 am, August 8th at 6:00 pm

    Location: Arverne East Nature Preserve (190 Beach 44th Street)

    School of Arts Music & Dance Performances

    Date: August 13th, August 20th, August 27th at 6:30 pm

    Location: O’Donohue Park Amphitheater at Beach 17 Street (16-27 Seagirt Blvd)

    Forest Park and Highland Park Events:

    School of Arts World Music Concerts

    Dates: July 9th, July 16th, July 23rd, July 30th, August 6th, August 13th, August 20th, August 27th at 7:00 pm
    Location: Oak Ridge

    Arts Trail Nature Walks, in collaboration with Godwin-Ternbach Museum

    Dates: July 14th, July 21st, July 28th at 10:00 am
    Location: Highland Park by Reservoir, Head of Orange Trail at Parklane South, Forest Park Strack Pond

    Southeast Queens Parks Events:

    School of Arts Adult Dance Workshops

    Dates: July 11th, July 18th, July 25th, August 1st at 10:00 am
    Location: Roy Wilkins Park

    Teens Arts Trail Nature Walks, in collaboration with Godwin-Ternbach Museum

    Dates: August 7th, August 14th at 10:00 am
    Location: Roy Wilkins Park

    School of Arts Teens Dance Workshops

    Dates: August 21st, August 28th at 10:00 am
    Location: Roy Wilkins Park

    Arts Trail Nature Walks, in collaboration with Godwin-Ternbach Museum

    Dates: July 29th, August 5th at 11:00 am
    Location: Roy Wilkins Park

    District 7A Events:

    School of Arts Adult Dance Workshops

    Dates: July 8th, July 15th at 4:00 pm
    Location: Crocheron Park

    Arts Trail Nature Walks, in collaboration with Godwin-Ternbach Museum

    Dates: July 23rd, July 30th at 4:00 pm
    Location: Alley Pond Park

    School of Arts Music Workshops

    Date: August 6th, August 13th at 4:00 pm
    Location: Crocheron Park

    School of Arts: Art Workshops

    Date: August 20th, August 27th at 4:00 pm
    Location: Little Bay Park

    Flushing Meadows Corona Park Events:

    School of Arts Music Concerts

    Dates: June 1st, June 6, June 16th, June 22nd, June 29th, July 6th, July 13th, July 20th at 2:00 pm
    Location: Dinkins’ Circle