Aretha Franklin News

As adept as he is on the drums - and make no mistake about it, Danny Young is headbangingly assertive and confident on the aforementioned drum kit - it might surprise you to know that at the ripe old age of eight, he actually started out as a singer in his family's quartet. And, to top it all off, he got his start in the business of show as a boy soprano.

Women of the World unite for Milwaukee Rep's poetic, powerful world premiere titled Sirens of Song featuring the musical history through a women's perspective sung through familiar melodies of the 20th century. While the music begins in December 1901 with the Daughters of Freedom, the Stackner Cabaret provides the ultimate setting for Scenic Designer Scott Davis' abandoned clothing shop filled with manikins dressed in period costumes-all surrounded by a grand, gilt broken picture frame where these three actors make their Rep debuts. A revue written by Kevin Ramsey and his niece Pearl Ramsey, the two collaborators weave world events through a century worth of popular music. Woo a women's heart at Milwaukee Rep's poetic, powerful world premiere titled Sirens of Song featuring  history tuned to a women's perspective and sung through familiar melodies of the 20th century. While the music begins in December 1901 with the 'Daughters of Freedom', the Stackner Cabaret provides the ultimate setting for Scenic Designer Scott Davis' abandoned clothing shop filled with manikins dressed in period costumes-all surrounded by a grand, gilt fragmented picture frame where these three actresses open their Rep debuts. A  world premiere revue written by Kevin Ramsey and his niece Pearl Ramsey, the two collaborators weave world events through a century worth of popular music.

Jennifer Saran is a North American alt-pop/adult contemporary artist, songwriter and vocalist based in Hong Kong. Her new full-length album Walk With Me was recorded and produced entirely at Tarpan Studios in San Rafael, California

While the title of the show is A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN, other divas take the stage in the latest production at the Ordway, too, Imagine getting to see Aretha Franklin on stage. Or Nina Simone. These queens of music may not be in this show, but Q. Smith will portray them and other characters who were part of the life of Janis Joplin.

The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts will present the Midwest premiere of A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN to the St. Paul stage March 29-April 3 as part of a 34-city North American tour.

The 5th Avenue Theatre presents the critically-acclaimed Broadway musical, A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN, beginning tonight, March 25, in Seattle.

I was pretty excited to see this show, I do not usually look anything up about a show if I do not know a whole lot about it; I like to go in completely blind. But a minute into this show I started to panic, I knew nothing about Janis Joplin. I guess I should have known from the title what I was in for, but I expected it to be a play where I would learn about her (a la Jersey Boys style), but this was a rock concert, so I started to feel like I would not be able to do a good job reviewing this show. I mean I'm a 90's baby. The first album I ever bought was a two-disc compilation of Britney Spears and 'N SYNC songs, followed by Spiceworld. So what would I know about a 60's rock and roll singer with a love for the blues?

The story and music of America's Composer come to life on stage when The Town Hall presents HERSHEY FELDER AS IRVING BERLIN, a new play with music written and performed by award-winning actor and musician Hershey Felder (Broadway's George Gershwin Alone, Maestro Bernstein). Directed by Trevor Hay, HERSHEY FELDER AS IRVING BERLIN plays one night only, Monday, June 6 at 8PM at The Town Hall (123 West 43rd Street).

Dance Theatre of Harlem (Virginia Johnson, Artistic Director; Anna Glass, Executive Director), one of the world's leading dance institutions, currently in its 47th year, will honor the “Empress of Soul,” Grammy-winning music legend Gladys Knight, the 106th First Lady of New York City Joyce Dinkins and the multinational law firm Latham & Watkins LLP at its 5th Annual Vision Gala, held immediately following the Wednesday, April 6 opening night performance of the company's triumphant return to New York City Center (131 West 55th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues). The four-performance engagement will culminate on Saturday, April 9 with Black Ballerina Magic: A Tribute, a special program celebrating and paying tribute to black ballerinas.

Television personality, author and Food Network star Alton Brown, who created a new form of live entertainment with his first live culinary variety show, today announced details for the all new Alton Brown Live: Eat Your Science tour.

“I'd like to think I'm trying to keep that (blues) tradition going. Everything else came from it, whether that's blues or gospel. I'd like to see that reflecting everything I do and how I live, I think it's important to do that as a musician, and that's become more and more important to me, and more respectful when it comes to music.”

After four decades of performing with icons like Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones, Tina Turner, Chaka Khan, and Nine Inch Nails, Lisa Fischer is finally offering her own humble, heartfelt song, accompanied by her inventive new band Grand Baton.

SONGBOOK is an album featuring ten live performances by Joseph Lorenzo Wise. It also features a bonus track 'Papaparazzi,' the new hit single featuring the Beethoven Fifth. The inspirational songs range from spirituals, to pop hits, to Sibelius. The CD also features one original song -- 'Dreams' -- written in New York City in the '80s by Joseph Lorenzo Wise.

Aretha Franklin has canceled her March concert dates in Florida which includes the City of Miami Gardens' 11 th Annual Jazz in the Gardens (JITG) music festival and Sarasota's Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall due to lack of band personnel. Charlie Wilson will now headline Jazz in the Gardens on Saturday, March 19, 2016.

Continuing to break all box office records during its National Tour, the smash hit Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin is returning to Chicago for a limited, four-week engagement starting Thursday, April 7, 2016 in Felder's Chicago theatrical home, the Royal George Theatre, 1641 N. Halsted Street, Chicago. The show will run through Sunday, May 8, 2016 with a press opening on Sunday, April 10 at 2:00 p.m. The Chicago presentation will immediately be followed by a special One-Night-Only New York Presentation at The Town Hall on June 6, 2016, broadcast internationally by the WFMT Radio Network with the entire Berlin family in attendance.

The extraordinary diversity of music, information, play and entertainment can be quite overwhelming.

On Wednesday, April 13 at 8:00 p.m. at the fashion-forward Soho shoe boutique Fiorentini + Baker, Soldier Kane will play live (Soldier on violin and banjo, Kane on guitar and drums) in front of projections of Art Kane's groundbreaking photographs to celebrate the release of their new CD Soldier Kane on Mulatta Records as well as the success of the recently released Art Kane book from Reel Art Press.

If you love getting down to classic Soul, Motown and Disco artists like the Jackson 5, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, and more, don't miss the opportunity to see their greatest works performed live by the Queensland Performing Art Centre (QPAC) Choir on 17 May 2016.

Hailed by critics and fans alike as the "Guitar event of the year," the multi-artist celebration known as the Experience Hendrix Tour is set to appear at The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts on March 23 at 7:30 PM.

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College concludes its 2015-16 Jazz Series on Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 3pm with three-time Grammy Award-winning pianist Ramsey Lewis and singer/guitarist John Pizzarelli, joining forces in a tribute to the titan of fifties vocal pop, Nat King Cole.