W. C. Handy News

Veteran blues guitarist Robert Cray and his band perform at Mayo Performing Arts Center on Thursday, September 6 at 8 pm.  Tickets are $29-$59.

The new classical series Only at Merkin with Terrance McKnight, featuring, among others, the world-renowned pianists Andre Watts and Ursula Oppens; the world premiere of a piano quintet by acclaimed new music composer Laura Kaminsky; and presentations by Academy and Grammy Awards winner Kristen Anderson-Lopez (Frozen); Emmy, Tony, Grammy and Academy Awards winner Bobby Lopez (Frozen); Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winners Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey (Next to Normal); and 10-time Tony winner Maury Yeston (Titanic, Nine) are among the numerous highlights of the Kaufman Music Center's diverse 2018-19 season at Merkin Hall.

Emerging rock band Bishop Gunn are adding new tour dates throughout the summer, including select shows with Lynyrd Skynyrd, as well as various festival plays and the Outlaw Music Festival Tour supporting Willie Nelson & Family, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, The Head and The Heart and Old Crow Medicine Show. See below for details.

Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts is proud to present one of the world's greatest living blues guitarists Robert Cray and his rocking band on Tuesday, June 26 at 8 p.m. Cray is a member of the Blues Hall of Fame and has won five Grammy Awards.

The Sylvan Winds announce the opening concert of the 2018 Spring Season celebrating music, art, and history. Performing in important cultural and historic New York City buildings, the ensemble creates imaginative and informative programs that reflect the environs of each space.

One of the most significant pieces of Elvis Presley's musical history has returned to Graceland, 60 years after it was first purchased by Elvis for the home in 1957 a white, baby grand piano with gold accents and a custom-made, gold, metal bench designed by Elvis with a white, leather cushion. For the first time since Graceland opened to the public in 1982, visitors to Graceland are now able to see this original piano, which was returned to the Music Room at Graceland this past weekend during Graceland's holiday concert events. Additional 1960s-era artifacts which are now on display in the Music Room include the original drapes and original gold couch, which was part of the room's d cor in 1964.

Elvis Presley's Graceland has announced the acquisition of one of the most significant pieces of Elvis' musical history, which will be returned to Graceland 60 years after it was first purchased by Elvis for the home in 1957 – a white, baby grand piano with gold accents and a custom-made, gold, metal bench designed by Elvis with a white, leather cushion.

The Mabel Mercer Foundation announced this week that Adela and Larry Elow have established a $50,000 endowment fund, created specifically to 'encourage teenagers to learn and perform The Great American Songbook, as composed between the years 1900-1970.'

On Tuesday, November 14, 2017 at the historic Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, The National Jazz Museum in Harlem (NJMH) hosted its Third Annual Fall Benefit Concert, Uptown in Autumn which was attended by nearly 400 guests, and successfully met its goal of raising over $50,000 for the organization's year-round free jazz concerts and education program offerings. Scroll down for photos!

Take Me to the River LIVE, the Memphis Soul and Rhythm & Blues Revue starring Grammy Award-winners William Bell, Charlie Musselwhite and Bobby Rush comes to the McAninch Arts Center (MAC) Sunday, Nov. 5 at 6 p.m. Media sponsor for this event is WDCB, 90.9 FM, Public Radio from College of DuPage.

Bettye LaVette is no mere singer. She is an interpreter of the highest order. Whether the song originated as country, rock, pop, or blues, when she gets through with it, it is pure R&B. She gets inside a song and shapes and twists it to convey all of the emotion that can be wrought from the lyric.

Elvis Presley's Graceland has announced the acquisition of one of the most significant pieces of Elvis' musical history, which will be returned to Graceland 60 years after it was first purchased by Elvis for the home in 1957 – a white, baby grand piano with gold accents and a custom-made, gold, metal bench designed by Elvis with a white, leather cushion.

Forty years after Elvis Presley's death, his famous white grand piano is up for auction on eBay from August 10-20. The piano, which stood in the Graceland music room for more than a decade, is expected to sell for millions. Ten percent of the proceeds from the Elvis White Piano, as the auction is listed on eBay, will go to Starkey Hearing Foundation which supports hearing health initiatives around the world.

This live concert journey through the soul of American music with artists featured in the documentary film Take Me to the River comes to Pepperdine University's Smothers Theatre in Malibu on Sunday, October 8 at 7 p.m.

Featured performances for the month of July at City Winery Chicago, include political satirists The Capitol Steps on July 2, Dweezil Zappa, son of the late Frank Zappa, on July 7, R&B Grammy-nominated duo Les Nubians on July 10, British rockers The Graham Parker Duo on July 12, Country Music Association Musician of the Year Mac McAnally on July 19, stand-up comedian Sandra Bernhard (July 20-21) and more.

The biggest stars of the Big Easy will cap The Town Hall's most extensive and wide-ranging spring season to date. On Thursday, June 15th, pianists and singers Dr. John and Henry Butler, accompanied by Dr. John's legendary backing band, The Nitetrippers, bring the heat, the songs and the swing of New Orleans to Manhattan for a one-of-a-kind musical summit.

The Town Hall presents DR. JOHN AND HENRY BUTLER on Thursday June 15th   Legends of New Orleans Music Together for the First Time, and featuring Dr. John's famed backup band The Nitetrippers    One-of-a-Kind Piano Summit Brings the Big Easy to Blue Note Jazz Festival    

Big Bill Morganfield, son of legendary blues songwriter and guitarist  Muddy Waters and an award-winning bluesman himself, will be the star performer at The West Coast Muddy Waters Blues Festival on June 17 in a stage built on Vision Parking Lot in Leimert Park.

Two exciting shows will cap The Town Hall's Spring 2017 presenting season, already the venue's most extensive and wide-ranging season to date. The incomparable David Byrne curates a music-related variety show to illustrate the updated edition of his book How Music Works on Thursday, June 1st titled This is How Music Works. Two weeks later, on June 15th, Dr. John and Henry Butler, two legends of New Orleans music, join forces for a steamy R&B piano summit featuring Dr. John's legendary backing band, The Nitetrippers.  

City Winery Chicago, 1200 W. Randolph Street, announces back-to-back shows with Rachelle Ferrell, 6-time CMA Musician of The Year award-winner Mac McAnally returns to City Winery, NY Blues Hall of Famer Garland Jeffreys and more. The following shows go on sale to the public on Thursday, March 23 at noon at citywinery.com/chicago.