Michael Mwenso and Shaina Taub Set for Joe's Pub Residencies in 2017

Throughout 2017, Joe's Pub at The Public will present artists Michael Mwenso and Shaina Taub in respective yearlong residencies, both occurring on a monthly basis.

Jazz showman Mwenso steps out of the spotlight in his residency, called Melting Pot, to showcase a new generation of artists - February 19 features BONOMO while March 5 has Chris Pattishall. In Taub's residency, each show - February 17, March 13, April 28, May 19 and more - will be a creative laboratory as she and her band debut new songs, play old favorites and more.

Tickets are available online by phone, 212-967-7555, and in-person at The Public Theater's Taub Box Office (425 Lafayette St @ Astor Place).

Alex Knowlton, Associate Director of Joe's Pub said, "We love to sense of artistic collaboration and community that are central to both Michael and Shaina's work. Besides being a protean vocalist, Michael's spirit and dedication as a bandleader are an inspiration on and off the stage in the ever-collaborative and evolving network of musicians radiating around him."

Combining his talents as performer, fronting his band Michael Mwenso & The Shakes, and a curator, booking Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Mwenso builds this genre-defying series one artist at a time. BONOMO is a new band playing dreamy, lyrically driven jazz. Chris Pattishall, an emerging presence in the jazz world, combines technique and sensitivity, making music that is at once intelligent, soulful and joyous.

Mwenso said, "You're getting a generation of holistic musicians who love Louis Armstrong just as much as Woody Shaw, Sidney Bechet as much as Ornette Coleman. They want to be free in all styles of music-free in themselves. We're figuring out ways to play this music as art, but as entertainment, too."

Knowlton continues, "Shaina's songwriting prowess is without match, as is her ability to create stories and melodies both that are deceptively simple in their plain-spoken complexity, and to hear her perform these songs, you can feel how present she is in the room and moment while she is on stage."

Taub's residency will be an opportunity for the composer and performer to try new things, reimagining existing songs and experimenting with new ones. The eventual goal being a new album. Taub said, "For the first several shows, I'm keeping things really intimate and unplugged - just me, bass and drums, building and rebuilding songs from the ground up." Some of her special guests include Nikki James (Tony Award winner for Book of Mormon, Viola in Twelfth Night, Public Works at the Delacorte Theater) on February 17 and Ato Blankson-Wood (star of Stew's The Total Bent) on April 28.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Whether fulfilling the role of vocalist, emcee, showman or impresario, Michael Mwenso conveys both the sophistication and spontaneity of hardcore jazz and the music's folkloric roots with impeccable craft, creativity, and communicative flair. Most frequently, Mwenso performs as leader of Michael Mwenso and The Shakes, a retinue comprising between three to five vocalists and a rotating ensemble. Mwenso has spent his entire life immersed in the jazz scene and has developed his unique skill set through the course of eventful life journeys.

A a Vermont-raised, New York-based songwriter and performer and a Jonathan Larson Grant winner and previous composer-in-residence at Ars Nova, Taub made her Lincoln Center solo debut in their 2015 American Songbook series, and her concerts have been featured on NPR/WNYC's Year's Best Gigs list. She played Feste in her original musical adaptation of Twelfth Night, commissioned by The Public Theater, at the Delacorte Theater as part of their Public Works initiative. She wrote songs for and starred in Bill Irwin and David Shiner's Old Hats, directed by Tina Landau at the Signature Theatre. Her songs have been performed by Audra McDonald and Sutton Foster, and she writes tunes for Sesame Street. She's currently writing a new musical about Alice Paul and the American women's suffrage movement. Her latest album Visitors is available at www.shainataub.com.

Named for Public Theater founder Joe Papp, Joe's Pub at The Public opened in 1998 and plays a vital role in The Public's mission of supporting young artists while providing established artists with an intimate space to perform and develop new work. Joe's Pub presents the best in live music and performance nightly, continuing its commitment to diversity, production values, community and artistic freedom. The organization also offers unique opportunities like New York Voices, an artist commissioning program that provides musicians the resources and tools needed to develop original theater works. Commissioned artists have included Ethan Lipton, Toshi Reagon, Bridget Everett, Allen Toussaint and more. In 2011, the Pub received a top-to-bottom renovation, leading to improved sightlines, expanded seating capacity and a new menu from acclaimed Chef Andrew Carmellini. With its intimate atmosphere and superior acoustics, Joe's Pub presents talent from all over the world as part of The Public's programming downtown at its Astor Place home, hosting approximately 800 shows and serving over 100,000 audience members annually.

The Public Theater, under the leadership of Oskar Eustis and Executive Director Patrick Willingham, is the only theater in New York that produces Shakespeare, the classics, musicals, contemporary and experimental pieces in equal measure. Celebrating his 10th anniversary season at The Public, Eustis has created new community-based initiatives designed to engage audiences like Public Lab, Public Studio, Public Forum, Public Works, and a remount of the Mobile Unit. The Public continues the work of its visionary founder, Joe Papp, by acting as an advocate for the theater as an essential cultural force, and leading and framing dialogue on some of the most important issues of our day. Creating theater for one of the largest and most diverse audience bases in New York City for nearly 60 years, today the Company engages audiences in a variety of venues-including its landmark downtown home at Astor Place, which houses five theaters and Joe's Pub; the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, home to free Shakespeare in the Park; and the Mobile Unit, which tours Shakespearean productions for underserved audiences throughout New York City's five boroughs. The Public's wide range of programming includes free Shakespeare in the Park, the bedrock of the Company's dedication to making theater accessible to all; Public Works, an expanding initiative that is designed to cultivate new connections and new models of engagement with artists, audiences and the community each year; and audience and artist development initiatives that range from Emerging Writers Group and to the Public Forum series. The Public is located on property owned by the City of New York and receives annual support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; and in October 2012 the landmark building downtown at Astor Place was revitalized to physically manifest the Company's core mission of sparking new dialogues and increasing accessibility for artists and audiences, by dramatically opening up the building to the street and community, and transforming the lobby into a public piazza for artists, students, and audiences. The Public is currently represented on Broadway by the Tony Award-winning Fun Home and Lin-Manuel Miranda's acclaimed American musical Hamilton, and Danai Gurira's Eclipsed featuring Lupita Nyong'o. The Public has received 47 Tony Awards, 168 Obie Awards, 52 Drama Desk Awards, 54 Lortel Awards, 32 Outer Critics Circle Awards, 13 New York Drama Critics Awards, and five Pulitzer Prizes.