Les Davis News

This spring, American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) presents Robert Lepage's internationally acclaimed play, Needles and Opium, running now through April 23, 2017. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the stars onstage below, plus click here for highlights!

Jazz legend Miles Davis travels to Europe in 1949 to discover the pleasures of Paris, unlock his creativity, and find his heroine in Juliette Greco. At the same time, French filmmaker Jean Cocteau embarks on his own opium-fueled journey to New York. Individually, the stories are thrilling and heartbreaking, but what elevates this production is the extraordinary storytelling.

April offers an eclectic lineup at Blue Note Hawaii, the state's premier venue for the world's most celebrated artists, continuing the series with Blood Sweat & Tears, followed up by local favorite Jake Shimabukuro, the Devon Allman Band, and Roseanne Barr ushering in the new Blue Note Comedy Series April 8th and 9th.

Wayne Shorter Weekend kicks off with trumpet great Wallace Roney and his orchestra paying tribute to Newark jazz legend Wayne Shorter with this performance of Universe, a long-lost composition originally created for Miles Davis, featuring Buster Williams, Lenny White and Patrice Rushen on Friday, April 20, 2017 at New Jersey Performing Arts Center (1 Center Street, Newark NJ).

DALLAS, March 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ Showcased in the main gallery, Jack Whitten: Earlier Works will run from April 1 through May 6, 2017 at Bivins Gallery. Karen and Michael Bivins will host a reception to open the exhibition on Sat., April 1, 2017, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the gallery. Complimentary valet parking is provided for the opening as well as for all guests visiting Bivins Gallery anytime during its normal business hours.

BWW Interview: SINGER AND SONGWRITER NICK RANDALL

Tony Award Honoree Ben Davis (Violet, A Little Night Music, La Boheme), Lesli Margherita (Matilda, Dames at Sea), Kendrick Jones (Shuffle Along, The Scottsboro Boys) & Drama Desk Award-nominee Daniel Reichard (Original Cast of Jersey Boys) will join previously announced Tony Award winner Karen Ziemba (Bullets Over Broadway, Curtains, Contact), multi-award winning Nightclub star Klea Blackhurst & Steve 'The Whistler' Herbst at Town Hall's Broadway by the Year Series on Monday, March 27 at 8pm, 'The Broadway Musicals of the 1940s,' which will highlight the music of Rodgers & Hammerstein, Kurt Weill & Leonard Bernstein.

Birmingham's renowned pop and reggae band UB40, who have accrued 3 number 1's and a massive 17 top 10 hits in the UK top 40 including 'Red, Red wine', 'I got you babe' &' I can't help falling in love with you' announce 'Cities and Towns' a 13 date tour across the UK from 4 - 22 December 2017.

???????The legendary recordings of Tony Bennett and Bill Evans will be performed by the Joel Zelnik Trio with singer Annette Sanders at the Bickford Theatre on Monday, March 27, at 8:00 p.m.  Joining pianist Joel Zelnik will be Brian Glassman on bass and David Cox on drums.

Smurf in Wanderland is one man's insightful and hilarious examination of football, tribalism, belonging and identity. David Williams - acclaimed documentary theatre maker, writer and football fanatic - is the 'Smurf'.

Pianist Ben Rosenblum will present unique solo piano programs each Tuesday in April at The Kitano, (66 Park Ave, no cover, $15 min food/drink charge), including: selected standards and originals (April 4), selections from unusual inspirations/sources (April 11); special guests (April 18); and selections from his debut album (April 25).  Ben's music has earned numerous awards, including the ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Award and several Downbeat Student Music Awards (best original composition and best original arrangement), and has been described as "mature beyond his years." (John Neudorf)

Trumpeter Chris Botti is returning by popular demand with an intimate live concert at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall on Wednesday, April 12th at 8PM. He has had four number one albums on the Billboard's Jazz Albums listings and received a Grammy® for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for Impressions. Botti has firmly established himself as the world's largest selling jazz instrumentalist.  

Irvine Barclay Theatre has announced its lineup of April events. See the full schedule below:

Tony Award winner Karen Ziemba (Bullets Over Broadway, Curtains, Contact), multi-award winning Nightclub star Klea Blackhurst and Steve 'The Whistler' Herbst are set to star in Town Hall's Broadway by the Year Series on Monday, March 27 at 8pm, 'The Broadway Musicals of the 1940s,' which will highlight the music of Rodgers & Hammerstein, Kurt Weill & Leonard Bernstein.

In Rock 'N' Roll Lens Volume II, renowned photographer Jimmy Steinfeldt has included fifty of his best black and white photographs, as well as commentary attributed to the stories behind them from his celebrity friends. Contributors include Lou Gossett Jr., Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols, Clem Burke of Blondie, Slim Jim of the Stray Cats, Apollonia of Purple Rain, and more.

Thirteen year old world-class jazz artist Joey Alexander will have the audience at St. Cecilia Music Center in awe during his debut appearance in Grand Rapids on Thursday, March 23, 2017 at 7:30pm. Wynton Marsalis says of Joey, "There has never been anyone that you can think of who could play like that at his age. I love everything about his playing - his rhythm, his confidence, his understanding of the music."

Tempe Center for the Arts sponsored by Northern Trust brings the Grammy Award winning LA SANTA CECILIA  in concert on Friday April 14th at 7:30 pm.   

The award-winning Holt Festival has rapidly established itself as one of the East of England's most anticipated events. Festival organisers have just announced the first fourteen highlights for the July 2017 arts extravaganza, giving an intriguing sample of the full festival programme that will be revealed in May.

Pioneer of neo-Brazilian music in the 1990s and one of the most important figures of New York's Brazilian scene, Vinicius Cantuaria will perform the music of renowned composer Antonio Carlos Jobim onMarch 24 at 8 p.m. at the South Orange Performing Arts Center. 

Some of the biggest names on the jazz circuit-including Miller audience favorites Warren Wolf and Miguel Zenon-come together to form the inimitable collective SFJAZZ. This touring program celebrates one of the genre's greats: Miles Davis. The band's explorations of this rich repertoire make it feel fresh once more, as revelatory and innovative as it sounded when Miles issued his first records back in the 1940s and 50s.