B.B. King News

CHELSEA TABLE + STAGE will present vocalist and songwriter Loren Smith on Saturday, November 19 at 7:00 PM. The international touring artist will make his New York debut with “The Love Show” after sold-out West Coast performances.

Black Ensemble Theater's Founder and CEO Jackie Taylor concludes the 2022 Season of Excellence: The Season of Healing and Joy with the world premiere musical Blue Heaven, written and directed by Producing Managing Director Daryl D. Brooks. 

NEA Jazz Master Ron Carter is celebrating the month of October at Birdland Jazz Club. Carter returns to the classic venue for his annual month-long residency, with ten shows weekly through October 29. On Thursday evenings, second sets (9:30 PM EST) will be live-streamed via Flymachine.

Folsom's Harris Center for the Arts presents the iconic blues-rock band Big Head Todd and the Monsters performing for one night only on Thursday, November 3, at 8:00pm.

CHELSEA TABLE + STAGE will present a special show from Grammy Award-winning soul and gospel artist Victory Boyd on Tuesday, October 11 at 7:00 PM.

Arum Rae is the rare artist capable of conveying entire worlds of feeling with the subtlest movement of her voice. On her new album Loose Ends, mainly produced by Wesley Schultz of The Lumineers, the Wisconsin-based singer/songwriter shares a batch of songs rooted in stories of loss and hope and transformation, each delivered with exquisite nuance.

 Legendary performers Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt have teamed up again to present a delightful evening of genre-bending delight, fusing the sounds of country, swing, jazz, folk and gospel in An Acoustic Evening with Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt, a sold-out performance on Friday, Oct. 14 at 8 p.m. in Capitol Theater.

There may be a chill in the air, but the Anchorage Symphony is heating things up with a night of R-E-S-P-E-C-T and hot hits made famous by Aretha Franklin! On Saturday, October 29th, the ASO is joined by vocal powerhouses Capathia Jenkins and three-time Grammy award nominee Ryan Shaw for Aretha: A Tribute.

Liberty Stand-Up Comedy keeps the laughs coming this winter with the addition of two more shows to make a series of 3 stand-up nights Spruce Peak Arts. Join us for the additional shows: Saturday, January 28th at 7PM featuring Andy Pitz and Liz Miele, and Saturday, February, 25th at 7PM featuring Tom Ryan, and Wali Collins. Both shows will also feature MC Shaun Eli.

Don't miss the final world tour for The Manhattan Transfer, the most award-winning jazz vocal group in the history of recorded music. Since their first Grammy wins in 1981, this legendary vocal quartet has racked up numerous awards including 10 Grammy Awards out of 20 nominations. They were the first group ever to win Grammys in both Pop and Jazz categories in the same year, and the dozen Grammy nominations they received for their Vocalese album were second to Michael Jackson's Thriller as the most nominated album in one year.

Returning for its sixth annual Free Shout-Out Shakespeare Series, Tennessee Shakespeare Company (TSC) stages a mystical, modern-dress Macbeth in nine different outdoor venues throughout the Shelby County area from October 6-23.  

The McCrary Sisters, Lizz Wright and Mumu Fresh have been added to the lineup of A Tribute to Bob Dylan, in partnership with the Bob Dylan Center®, on September 30, 2022 at 8pm.

It's 1959. Chris, a local DJ, gets word that legendary jazz and blues musician Lonnie Johnson is working a low-wage job at a Philly hotel, forgotten. Once found, Lonnie, an early guitar hero who influenced the likes of Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, T-Bone Walker, Django Reinhardt, Charlie Christian, B.B. King, and Eric Clapton, is reluctant to return to an industry that exploited and segregated his work before casting him aside.

Millennium Stage will offer free live community performances, streamed live, plus online programs and film screenings, Wednesday–Saturday each week throughout their campus.

Guitarist/vocalist Shemekia Copeland was literally born into blues royalty and founded her own kingdom of artistic expression. Composer/vocalist/ keyboardist Ruthie Foster established her own sonic citizenship by combining a melting pot of musical genres into her own distinctive sound.

Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center for the Arts will welcome Dr. K's Motown Revue back to its stage on Saturday, October 15 at 8 PM. Channeling the magic of Motown with the iconic sound, full costume, and dance, the 12 performers will transport audiences back to the heights of the era.

Every so often, a few blues child prodigies like Lucky Peterson, Derek Trucks, and Johnny Lang, arrive on the scene and deliver much-needed excitement into the idiom, with the promise of their coming greatness. At only 23 years old, guitarist/vocalist Christone “Kingfish” Ingram has already fulfilled his potential and is one of the most impactful blues artists of his generation. 

2023 marks a golden milestone for Beef & Boards – 50 years of keeping audiences well-fed and exceptionally entertained, and keeping them coming back for more. It's a celebration that includes three new shows to the Beef & Boards stage, fan and family favorites, and a return of the most successful show ever presented at the theatre.

As the soundtrack of struggle, the narrative of collective experience and the backbeat of community, the blues in all its different forms is a tradition that lives on with the Highmark Blues & Heritage Festival. Produced by the August Wilson African American Cultural Center (AWAACC) and Presented by Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, the fifth annual festival takes place September 14-15 at Highmark Stadium (510 W. Station Square Drive).

Chicago will continue to produce some of the most exciting work in the country this Fall. Offerings from the city’s more than 250 producing theatres include a wide variety of plays and musicals, as well as comedy, dance, festivals, and more.