For the next month Portland Stage will be transformed into the Fats Waller Harlem Club where five performers and four musicians rock the stage each night recreating the sounds and sensations of the Harlem Renaissance era in music. The spectacular, soul-gripping show is AIN'T MISBEHAVIN', the musical dedicated to the work of the legendary Fats Waller, presented in a powerful co-production by Maine State Music Theatre and Portland Stage at the Portland venue. Directed by E. Faye Butler and choreographed by Kenny Ingram, this fourth collaboration between these two leading Maine theatres is an entertaining, moving, and enlightening theatrical experience.
Hailed as 'the best party in town,' by New York's Cabaret Scenes Magazine, The Nitz/ Howe Experience marks a major milestone on Saturday, September 7th.
New York Youth Symphony (NYYS), is proud to continue its mission of educating and inspiring young musicians through its Orchestra, Jazz, Chamber Music, Composition, Musical Theater Composition, Apprenticeship Conducting, and First Music commissioning programs. This season includes seven world premieres of new works commissioned through the First Music program, composed for the Orchestra, Jazz, and Chamber Music ensembles. The season also features renowned and up-and-coming soloists including prodigy pianist Harmony Zhu, 2019 Sphinx Competition winner cellist Sterling Elliott, and leading young pianist Michelle Cann in the Carnegie Hall premiere of Florence Price's recently re-discovered Piano Concerto in One Movement with NYYS Orchestra, as well as in-demand drummer Matt Wilson, celebrated saxophonist Steve Wilson, and trombone virtuoso Wycliffe Gordon with NYYS Jazz. The complete NYYS 2019-2020 concert calendar follows at the end of this press release.
The Grove Street Stompers were formed in 1959 by band leader and piano player Bill Dunham. This fabulous group's repertoire includes samples of Dixieland, New Orleans and swing styles with tunes made famous by such greats as Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton.
Dot Time Records is proud to announce the September 27th release of Armstrong in Europe. Part of Dot Time's Legacy Series, and the fourth Armstrong release, Armstrong in Europe features the audio from two recordings of quintessential European performances by the great Louis Armstrong which were recovered from the archives of the Louis Armstrong House Museum. Tracks 1-9 on the CD release of Armstrong in Europe feature the audio from a 1948 performance recorded from Louis Armstrong and His All Stars' run at the Nice Opera House in Paris. This historical concert marked Armstrong's performance at the first ever Nice International Jazz Festival. Tracks 10-16 feature the audio from a Titania Palast, Berlin recording of Louis and his All Stars which was initially broadcasted on RIAS (Radio in the American Sector). Accompanying this CD and digital release will be a stunning vinyl package of Armstrong in Germany released on the same date. The Nice Opera House performance features a 46 year old Louis Armstrong in his musical prime, with Jack Teagarden on trombone and vocals, Barney Bigardon clarinet, Earl “Fatha” Hines on piano, Arvell Shaw on bass, and Sid Catlett on drums. Armstrong's band in 1952, features Trummy Young on trombone, Bob McCracken on clarinet and vocals, Marty Napoleon on piano, Arvell Shaw on bass, Cozy Cole on drums and Velma Middleton on vocals. Both European performances demonstrate Armstrong's stunning musicality, expert showmanship and ferocious leadership.
On September 20, 2019, legendary and Grammy winning musician, producer, creator and artist Herb Alpert will release his newest album Over The Rainbow, a 12 song collection that includes one original track and a cadre of classic and well known interpreted tunes performed in a way that only Alpert can deliver.
Peter and Will Anderson - the identical twins and Juilliard graduates shine the spotlight on Duke Ellington & Louis Armstrong, featuring an engaging video presentation, entertaining narration, and performances from the all-star jazz sextet.
They have held the torch of New Orleans music aloft for over 50 years, playing music that is nothing less than a vibrant living history. Whether tapping into New Orleans' Afro-Cuban roots on their last recording, or providing a "joyous, wide-ranging account…crammed with fascinating facts and toe-tickling tunes" (New York Times) in the award winning award-winning documentary "A Tuba to Cuba," Dixieland jazz - a deeply American music - is deepened further in their capable hands. The Harris Center is proud to welcome them back to Folsom.
Dan Levinson's Hot Nights in Harlem, part of Summer JazzFest at the Bickford Theatre is a dazzling Musical Journey to the epicenter of Jazz in the 1920s and '30s with Dan Levinson's Gotham SophistiCats: Molly Ryan, Jeff Barnhart, Mike Davis, Jim Fryer, Rob Adkins, Kevin Dorn and special guest Dandy Wellington. Featuring the rompin', stompin' music of Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Ethel Waters, Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, and others. Take the "A" Train uptown, step into the Savoy Ballroom, cut a rug with the Lindy Hoppers, then head on over to a rent party and watch the dawn break through. Or you can just sit there, tap your toes and listen to all the good sounds.
Grammy-winning new-music choir, The Crossing, releases its latest album, THE ARC IN THE SKY, today, Friday, July 12, 2019, on Navona Records. Kile Smith's 2018 setting of journal entries and poems by Robert Lax (1915–2000), THE ARC IN THE SKY is an epic, hour-long tour de force of thought and feeling that traverses topics ranging from Louis Armstrong to Jack Kerouac, and from Jerusalem to the shores of the island of Patmos. THE ARC IN THE SKY marks Smith's sixth commission from The Crossing, which has also recorded his Where Flames a Word and Vespers
While New Orleans may be known as the 'birthplace of jazz,' Queens can proudly claim that it has been home to countless jazz legends, like Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald, and Louis Armstrong.
Grammy Award-winner and two-time Emmy nominee Steve Tyrell celebrates his 15th anniversary performing in the Cafe Carlyle's revered holiday slot with an all-new show, December 3-31. The performance will feature favorites from the Great American Songbook including songs he has performed in major motion pictures, and of course, holiday classics.
Triple-threat entertainer Ben Vereen's legendary performances transcend time and are woven into the fabric of this country's artistic legacy with his on stage, screen and television appearances continuing to inspire and influence artists of all ages. Vereen is currently continuing to tour the world with his one-man show STEPPIN' OUT WITH BEN VEREEN which has received rave reviews internationally. On July 19th and 20th, he is bringing the show to the Catalina Jazz Club and shared with me how much he is looking forward to entertaining his loyal fans in the Entertainment Capital of the World once again.
