Ray Charles News

Broadway Stars Bradley Dean (A Little Night Music, Spamalot) Derrick Baskin (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Little Mermaid) and Ron Bohmer (Ragtime, Sunset Boulevard) will be appearing with Maestro Aram Demirjian and the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, Missouri in OH WHAT A NIGHT! Friday April 18th at 8:00pm and Saturday April 19th at 8:00pm.

The Pedrito Martinez Group featuring Ariacne Trujillo will take the stage at Miller Outdoor Theatre for FREE concert, Saturday, May 3, at sundown, presented by Society for the Performing Arts.

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its May 2014 schedule, featuring Steve Kuhn Trio, Joey DeFrancesco Organ Quartet, Karrin Allyson, BOSSABRASIL Festival, and more.

Layering traditional Hindu kirtan with instantly accessible melodies and modern instrumentation, Grammy Nominee Krishna Das has been called yoga's “rock star.”

The album arrives in stores and at all online retailers on May 19th; while the film opens in theaters nationwide on June 6th.

Peter Landgren, Dean of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), has announced the appointment of saxophonist and composer Craig Bailey to the faculty of CCM's Department of Jazz Studies.

The house will be rockin' tonight, April 11 when the Dancing Wheels Company ignites the stage at Public Hall with an unforgettable evening of music and dance by America's most notable Rock Hall inductees: Madonna, R.E.M., Ray Charles, The Temptations and Alice Cooper.

Celebrating the arrival of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, the Angela King Gallery will present "The Jazz Fest Show" an exhibit by award-winning New Orleans photographer Steven Forster. Forster will show 15 archival black and white photos from his vault, including iconic images of:

Debbie Davies Band at Bridge Street Live is set for Friday, April 25th, 2014 at 8:00 PM. Tickets are $15 GA, $25 VIP, and available at http://41bridgestreet.inticketing.com/evinfo.php?eventid=363537.

The Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts has announced BRENDA LEE: THE LADY, THE LEGEND with Country Artist Josie Waverly on Sunday, May 4 at 7:00 PM. Singer Brenda Lee, known as 'Little Miss Dynamite,' has enjoyed success as a child performer, teen idol, easy-listening chanteuse, and Country Music Queen. She has sustained through each of these career transformations by a powerful voice that belies her diminutive stature (four feet, nine inches tall). An important pioneer of early Rock and Roll, she achieved unprecedented international popularity during the 1960s. She is a member of both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame, the only female to be so honored. In 2009 she was honored with a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement. Lee has sold more than 100 million records, and she continues to perform. Brenda Lee: The Lady, The Legend with Country Artist Josie Waverly Sunday, May 4 at 7:00 PM The Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts, 71 E. Main St., Patchogue, NY 11772 Tickets: $36-$76 plus fee; available at patchoguetheatre.com, the box office, or by phone 631-207-1313 Brenda Lee was born Brenda Me Tarpley on December 11, 1944 in Lithonia, Georgia. After winning a talent show at the age of five, she began to appear regularly on local Atlanta radio and television. Her big break came in 1956 when she joined country star Red Foley. Millions of viewers were charmed by her precocious talent, and Lee became one of the first singers whose career was launched by television.

On Monday, April 28 at 8:00 PM, Martinis Above Fourth Table + Stage and Sher Krieger Events are presenting Phil Johnson in 'Juke Joint: A Night of Jazz and R&B'.

Broadway Stars Derrick Baskin (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Little Mermaid) Ron Bohmer (Ragtime, Sunset Boulevard) and Andrew Samonsky (South Pacific, Merrily We Roll Along) will be appearing with Maestro Neal Gittleman and the Dayton Philharmonic at the Schuster Center in Dayton, Ohio in OH WHAT A NIGHT! Friday April 4th at 8:00pm and Saturday April 5th at 8:00pm.

For more than a decade, CMT has been pairing together country and non-country artists for episodes of the flagship music series CMT CROSSROADS

Layering traditional Hindu kirtan with instantly accessible melodies and modern instrumentation, Grammy Nominee Krishna Das has been called yoga's “rock star.”

Face the Music Benefit with Jeff Pitchell & Texas Flood, Roomful of Blues, Eight to the Bar at Bridge Street Live is set for Thursday, April 10th, 2014 at 7:30 PM. Tickets are $35 GA, $45 VIP, and available at http://41bridgestreet.inticketing.com/events/FACEtheMUSIC.

James Montgomery Blues Band is set to play Bridge Street Live tonight, March 22nd, 2014 at 8:00 PM. Cost: $15 GA, $25 VIP.

Rock & Roll and Songwriter Hall of Fame inductee Felix Cavaliere brings his Rascals to the Suncoast Showroom, this weekend, March 22 and 23.

Looking ahead at Joe's Pub at The Public, performances running today, March 18, through March 30 include: A WINGED VICTORY FOR THE SULLEN - JOHN CAMERON MITCHELL & HOLLY HUNTER - PAUL LOREN - FIRST ANNUAL FEMINIST BALL - FLAMENCO FESTIVAL 2014: SONIA OLLA's TIEMPO AL AIRE - MOBY DICK, PART III: THE BALLAD OF PIP - ARBOREA W/ CASSANDRA JENKINS - THE HOT SARDINES - BENJI HUGHES - FLAMENCO FESTIVAL 2014: SILVIA PEREZ CRUZ & RAUL FERNANDEZ REFREE's CRUZ MIRO - FUEL FANDANGO - OUR LADY J - VINCENT D'ONOFRIO & DANA LYN - TRANS FORMATIVE: AN EVENING OF SONGS THAT PROPEL US - PT WALKLEY - UBU SINGS UBU - CHARLES YANG - COMPANY FREAK - JUSTIN VIVIAN BOND - BRIDGET EVERETT - NEVER SLEEP ALONE - MATES OF STATE - JESUS ON THE MAINLINE / NATALIE CRESSMAN - CARMEN SOUZA. Details below!

THE RINGERS, featuring Jimmy Herring, Wayne Krantz, Michael Landau, Gary Novak and Etienne Mbappe, are ready to hit the road again,

Today we are talking to the founder and Vice President of Yamaha Entertainment Group who single-handedly spearheaded the incentive to create a one-of-a-kind work of pianistic art for iconic Tony Award-winning rock legend Elton John to utilize in a spectacular new concert experience called THE MILLION DOLLAR PIANO - the passionate and dedicated Chris Gero. Discussing all aspects of the impetus, development, design and actual building and subsequent employment of the technology created to craft the Million Dollar Piano itself, Gero sheds a light on the half-decade-spanning process of bringing the technological and artistic achievement to the stage and outlines Elton John's own participation in the project. Furthermore, Gero opens up about the new software developed for the project and how that has established a whole new avenue of live entertainment via the Yamaha Disklavier. On that note, Gero shares stories detailing his participation with various Disklavier showcase events and the possibilities afforded by the revolutionary new piano tech that will be spotlighted in his new documentary 88 - featuring performances by Elton John, Michael McDonald, Sara Bareilles, Jamie Collum and more. Additionally, Gero offers the 411 on Yamaha's participation in a wide range of specialty events, ranging from the silver piano Alicia Keys played on the Super Bowl to provided keys for Paul McCartney and more, as well as various Elton John charity benefits he has helmed over the years. All of that and much, much more in this behind the scenes look at the modern technical marvel that is Elton John's Million Dollar Piano and the man behind it!