Jake Shimabukuro

June 14, 2019 at 8PM at the Tarrytown Music Hall

We are thrilled to welcome arguably the best contemporary ukulele player in the world back to the Music Hall. Jake Shimabukuro combines classic ukulele styles with various other genres ranging from pop, rock, and jazz to metal and has become noted for his solo uke arrangements of such varied pieces as the George Harrison song “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Schubert’s “Ave Maria” and Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” Shimabukuro’s records have topped the Billboard World Music Charts on numerous occasions, and as a live performer he’s played with world-renowned orchestras and at prestigious venues such as the Hollywood Bowl, Lincoln Center and the Sydney Opera House. 

He has dazzled audiences at music festivals including Bonnaroo, SXSW, the Playboy Jazz Festival and Fuji Rock Festival. He even performed for that rarest of audiences: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Not too shabby for a humble young man from Hawaii and his trusty ukulele. Even with the constant demands on his time – Shimabukuro tours roughly half the year and makes frequent appearances on media outlets such as The Today Show, Good Morning America, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, A Prairie Home Companion and NPR’s Morning Edition – Shimabukuro’s album output hasn’t slowed. In 2016, he recorded the all-original Nashville Sessions at Music City’s famed Ronnie’s Place studio with producer R.S. Field (Steve Earle, Webb Wilder) and the ace rhythm section of bassist Nolan Verner and drummer Evan Hutchings. And now he’s returned to the same city and studio – and with the same gang, too (augmented by guitarist Dave Preston) – for his newest record, The Greatest Day.

John Pizzarelli

A Centennial Celebration of Nat King Cole

Friday, April 26, 2019 at 8PM at the Jay and Linda Grunin Center for the Arts

World-renowned guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli has been hailed by the Boston Globe for “reinvigorating the Great American Songbook and re-popularizing jazz.” The Toronto Star pegged him as “the genial genius of the guitar,” and the Seattle Times saluted him as “a rare entertainer of the old school.” For this show, he honors the music of the Nat King Cole Trio with a selection of their classics.

Established as one of the prime contemporary interpreters of the Great American Songbook, Pizzarelli has expanded that repertoire by including the music of Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Tom Waits, Antônio Carlos Jobim and The Beatles. His themed shows, often performed with his wife Jessica Molaskey, suggest there is no limit to Pizzarelli’s imagination or talent.

Having concentrated on the music of Paul McCartney, Johnny Mercer and Frank Sinatra over the last two years, Pizzarelli has returned to the bossa nova of Antonio Carlos Jobim with his July 28, 2017 Concord Jazz release Sinatra & Jobim @ 50. With co-vocalist Daniel Jobim, grandson of the legendary Brazilian composer, the two explore songs Sinatra and Jobim recorded in 1967 and 1969 as well as add new songs to the mix flavored with the spirit of the classic Francis Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim album.

Pizzarelli’s latest album for Concord is a follow-up to his wildly successful Midnight McCartney, an album The New Yorker said “may be the best collection of McCartney covers ever recorded.”

Since its release in 2015, Pizzarelli has toured North America, South America, Asia and Europe performing shows centered on Frank Sinatra’s centennial, the songs of Johnny Mercer and a McCartney program in which his quartet is joined by strings and a horn section. He also tours on a double bill with pianist Ramsey Lewis and is looking forward to touring a celebration of Nat King Cole’s music for his centennial, which will be in 2019.

While plenty of jazz greats influenced his work – Benny Goodman, Les Paul, Zoot Sims, Clark Terry and Slam Stewart, among others – Cole has been Pizzarelli’s hero and foundation over the last 25 years. He devoted two albums to his music, Dear Mr. Cole in 1994 and P.S. Mr. Cole, recorded and released five years later.

In addition to being a bandleader and solo performer, John has been a special guest on recordings for major pop names such as James Taylor, Natalie Cole, Kristin Chenoweth, Tom Wopat, Rickie Lee Jones and Dave Van Ronk, as well as leading jazz artists such as Rosemary Clooney, Ruby Braff, Johnny Frigo, Buddy DeFranco, Harry Allen and, of course, Bucky Pizzarelli. He was featured opposite Donna Summer, Jon Secada and Roberta Flack on the GRAMMY Award-winning CD, Songs from the Neighborhood: The Music of Mr. Rogers in 2005.

John has performed on the country’s most popular national television shows such as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Conan, Great Performances and the talk shows of Jay Leno, David Letterman, Regis Philbin and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Also in New York are regular stands at Birdland with his combo where he premiered the Sinatra-Jobim collection in August 2017.

John Pizzarelli

Friday, April 12, 2019 at 8PM at Landmark on Main Street

World-renowned guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli has been hailed by the Boston Globe for "reinvigorating the Great American Songbook and re-popularizing jazz."

Established as one of the prime contemporary interpreters of the Great American Songbook, Pizzarelli has expanded that repertoire by including the music of Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Tom Waits, Antônio Carlos Jobim and The Beatles.

While plenty of jazz greats influenced his work - Benny Goodman, Les Paul, Zoot Sims, Clark Terry and Slam Stewart, among others - Nat King Cole has been Pizzarelli's hero and foundation over the last 25 years. He devoted two albums to Cole's music, Dear Mr. Cole in 1994 and P.S. Mr. Cole, recorded and released five years later.

In 2019, Pizzarelli will celebrate Nat King Cole's centennial with a national tour.

Cyrille Aimée: A Sondheim Adventure at SOPAC

Sunday, March 31, 2019 at 7:30PM at SOPAC

Winner of the 2012 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Competition, the native of France was captivated by Sondheim’s work when she was cast in a 2013 New York City Center production of A Bed and a Chair: A New York Love Story. She eventually recorded “Live Alone and Like It” and from there plunged into a full album of Sondheim.

Cyrille Aimée, has a wealth of experiences in her young life that have shaped her sound, and love of music.  She ventured from singing on street corners in Europe to dazzling audiences at the world’s most prestigious Jazz festivals; from sneaking out to sing in gypsy encampments in her native France to acting on Broadway; from singing Sondheim alongside Bernadette Peters to sharing her story in a TEDx talk; from braving the notoriously tough audiences at New York’s Apollo Theatre to being called a “rising star in the galaxy of Jazz singers” by The New York Times.

It was the idea and unlimited potential of improvisation that set Cyrille Aimée on her course, and the desire to pursue that in-the-moment creation inevitably led her to Jazz. She spent her teen years performing in the cafés and clubs of Paris, then attended the American School of Modern Music there. She garnered her first taste of fame – or, perhaps more accurately, notoriety – when she was selected as one of 16 semi-finalists for Star Academy, the French equivalent of “American Idol.” When she realized how restrictive the show’s contract would be, however, she opted to walk away, igniting a scandal in the French media.

Aimée escaped the spotlight but was soon drawn to the U.S., where she attended SUNY Purchase on scholarship – in large part due to its proximity to the Jazz hub of Manhattan. She honed her skills through weekly gigs at a Soho restaurant and at Birdland Jazz Club. She also became a regular at Smalls Jazz Club in Greenwich Village.

At the same time, no less an authority than Stephen Sondheim recognized that Cyrille Aimée’s captivating gift for storytelling through song would translate to the theatrical stage. The musical theater icon hand-picked her to star alongside the legendary Bernadette Peters in an Encores Special Presentation tribute to Sondheim at New York’s City Center in November 2013, backed by Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. One thing led to another, and the stage was set for A Sondheim Adventure, and a full immersion into the Sondheim canon.

 “Astonishingly creative….with a brilliant sound, fresh ideas, impeccable rhythm and an overall approach that honors tradition without being shackled to the past.” — Wall Street Journal

The Subdudes and Beausoleil avec Michael Doucet

Friday, March 8, 2019 at 8PM at Landmark on Main Street

It's our annual Mardi Gras party & dancing in the aisles is encouraged!

Over 25 years and ten albums, the Subdudes have quietly become one of America's national music treasures. The New Orleans-formed group is a vibrant cauldron of sounds that stirs together meaty grooves and jazzy dynamics, soulful R&B swagger, easy vocal harmonies, cheeky rock 'n' roll attitude and folky social consciousness -- not to mention some of the sharpest musicianship and ensemble playing you'll ever hear from any five musicians.

For more than four decades, BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet has been making some of the most potent and popular Cajun music on the planet. Born out of the rich Acadian ancestry of its members, and created and driven by bandleader Michael Doucet's spellbinding fiddle playing and soulful vocals, BeauSoleil regularly brings the audience to its feet. With 12 Grammy nominations, Garrison Keillor called them simply "The best cajun band in the world!"

If you like Clifton Chenier, Dr. John, Vassar Clements, this music is for you.

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Lyle Lovett & John Hiatt

Sunday, March 3, 2019 at 7PM at Garde Arts Center

The dynamic duo of Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt re-unite on the Garde stage for an evening of great music and conversation. 

Since his self-titled debut in 1986, Lyle Lovett has evolved into one of music's most vibrant and celebrated performers. A Grammy Award-winning singer, composer and actor, he has broadened the definition of American music, fusing elements of country, swing, jazz, folk, gospel and blues in a manner that defies convention and breaks down barriers.

John Hiatt is a talented singer and guitarist best known for his prolific songwriting. His songs have been successfully covered by musicians from Bonnie Raitt and the Neville Brothers to Iggy Pop and Three Dog Night. With 11 Grammy nominations and 24 albums to his name, he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008.

An Intimate Evening with Rickie Lee Jones

Friday, February 22, 2019 at 8PM at the Jay and Linda Grunin Center

Two-time Grammy winner Rickie Lee Jones exploded onto the pop scene in 1978 and has made a career of fearlessly experimenting with her sound and persona over 15 critically acclaimed albums. A cultural phenomenon, Rolling Stone magazine put her on its cover twice in two years, and Saturday Night Live gave her an unprecedented three songs for her second appearance. Rickie is both a character in the songs and the songwriter singing, defying convention with her sometimes brazen sexuality and the mixed bag of jazz, rock and what has come to be known as ‘confessional’ songwriter performances.

Her latest album The Other Side of Desire was written, recorded and rooted in the city of New Orleans, where Jones lives on the opposite side of the street made famous by Tennesse Williams. Produced by John Porter (of Roxy Music) and Mark Howard, this is the first new music Jones has written in over a decade.

“This work is inspired by many years of sitting with all the events of my life until I had something to paint with,” says Rickie. “I came to New Orleans to write and to live a different way than what I have known in on the west coast…. Here is another record then, made of my imagination, and whatever else that has no words, using the clay of this place and the shapes of my eyes to form some kind of picture of my life, or my heart, that I alone can understand, and hopefully that others can enjoy.”

An Acoustic Evening with Lyle Lovett & John Hiatt

Friday, February 22, 2019 at 8PM at Tarrytown Music Hall

A Music Hall/Music Without Borders Co-presentation, supported by WFUV
The celebrated singer/songwriters return to the Music Hall! The concert will feature both artists performing side by side, alternating songs from their respective careers. Utilizing their dynamic chemistry to swap stories and songs, fans can expect a rare “unplugged” evening of entertainment.  Lyle Lovett, singer, songwriter, actor and four-time Grammy Award-winner, has broadened the definition of American music in a career that spans 14 albums over three decades. Coupled with his unique gift for storytelling, the Texas-based musician fuses elements of Americana, swing, jazz, folk, gospel and blues in a convention-defying manner. John Hiatt, a master lyricist and satirical storyteller, weaves hidden plot twists into fictional tales ranging in topics including redemption, relationships, growing older and surrendering, on his terms. Hiatt's songs have been recorded by artists as diverse as Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt ("Thing Called Love"), Emmylou Harris, Iggy Pop, Rosanne Cash (#1 country hit, "The Way We Make A Broken Heart"), the Jeff Healey Band ("Angel Eyes") and even the cartoon bear band of Disney's film, The Country Bears.

The World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra

Friday, December 21, 2018 at 8PM at the Jay and Linda Grunin Center for the Arts

The World Famous, Glenn Miller Orchestra, the most popular and sought after big band in the world today for both concert and swing dance engagements. With its unique jazz sound, the Glenn Miller Orchestra is considered to be one of the greatest bands of all time. The present Glenn Miller Orchestra was formed in 1956 and has been touring consistently since, playing an average of 300 live dates a year all around the world. Nick Hilscher is the orchestra’s present music director.

The Hot Sardines

Saturday, November 3, 2018 at 7:30PM at Landmark on Main Street

"Simply phenomenal." - The Times of London

"One of the best vocal albums of 2014." - JazzTimes

"One of the best jazz bands in NY today." - Forbes

Quality is timeless. Just ask The Hot Sardines.

In the talented hands of the New York-based ensemble, music first made famous decades ago comes alive through their brassy horn arrangements, rollicking piano melodies, and vocals from a chanteuse who transports listeners to a different era with the mere lilt of her voice. On French Fries & Champagne, The Hot Sardines' new album for Universal Music Classics, the jazz collective broadens its already impressive palette, combining covers and originals as they effortlessly channel New York speakeasies, Parisian cabarets and New Orleans jazz halls.

Chris Botti

Friday, October 5, 2018 at 8PM at the Garde Arts Center in New London, CT

Since the release of his 2004 critically acclaimed CD When I Fall In Love, Chris Botti has become the largest-selling American instrumental artist.  His success has crossed over to audiences usually reserved for pop music and his ongoing association with PBS has led to four #1 jazz albums, as well as multiple Gold, Platinum, and Grammy Awards.

Over the past three decades, Botti has recorded and performed with Sting, Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga, Josh Groban, Yo-Yo Ma, Michael Bublé, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, John Mayer, Andrea Bocelli, Joshua Bell, Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, Frank Sinatra and others, as well as with many of the finest symphonies and at some of the world's most prestigious venues. 

Lyle Lovett & Shawn Colvin

Garde Arts Center | March 3rd | 8 PM

Paco Pea | Legendary Flamenco Guitarist

Troy Music Hall | 10.22 | 3 PM

Paco Peña embodies both authenticity and innovation in flamenco. As guitarist, composer, dramatist, producer and artistic mentor he has transformed perceptions of this archetypal Spanish art form.

Born in the Andalucian city of Córdoba, Paco Peña began learning guitar from his brother at the age of six and made his first professional appearance at the age of 12. In the late 1960s, he left Spain for London, where his recitals of flamenco music captured the public imagination.

Venues for his solo performances have included the intimate Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club and the monumental Royal Albert Hall in London, New York’s Carnegie Hall and the Concertgebouw, in Amsterdam. He has shared the stage with fellow guitarists, singers, and instrumental groups, bridging diverse musical genres, including classical, jazz, blues, country and Latin American.

In 1995 The New York Times declared that: “Mr. Peña is a virtuoso, capable of dazzling an audience beyond the frets of mortal man. He combines rapid-fire flourishes with a colorist’s sense of shading; this listener cannot recall hearing any guitarist with a more assured mastery of his instrument.” It should come as no surprise that readers of America’s Guitar magazine judged Paco Peña as best flamenco guitarist of the year for five consecutive years.

The Hot Sardines | SOPAC | Friday 10.13 | 8 PM

In the talented hands of the New York-based ensemble, music first made famous decades ago comes alive through their brassy horn arrangements, rollicking piano melodies, and vocals from a chanteuse who transports listeners to a different era with the mere lilt of her voice.
On French Fries & Champagne, The Hot Sardines’ new album for Universal Music Classics, the jazz collective broadens its already impressive palette, combining covers and originals as they effortlessly channel New York speakeasies, Parisian cabarets and New Orleans jazz halls. Bandleader Evan “Bibs” Palazzo and lead singer “Miz Elizabeth” Bougerol met in 2007 after they both answered a Craigslist ad about a jazz jam session above a Manhattan noodle shop. The unlikely pair— she was a London School of Economics-educated travel writer who grew up in France, Canada and the Ivory Coast, he was a New York City born and raised actor who studied theater at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia—bonded over their love for Fats Waller. Influenced also by such greats as Dinah Washington, Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday, they began playing open mic nights and small gigs and by 2011, they headlined Midsummer Night Swing at New York’s Lincoln Center.

The Hot Sardines’ self-titled debut album, named by iTunes as one of the best jazz albums of 2014, spent more than a year on the Billboard Jazz Chart, debuting in the top 10 alongside Michael Bublé, and Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga. The accolades began pouring in for the band: Downbeat called The Hot Sardines “one of the most delightfully energetic bands on New York’s ‘hot’ music scene,” while The London Times praised their “crisp musicianship” and “immaculate and witty showmanship,” declaring them “simply phenomenal.”

Boz Scaggs | 9.14.17 | 8 PM | Tarrytown Music Hall

Fans who have followed Boz Scaggs’ remarkable career dating back to the late Sixties with the Steve Miller Band; his solo triumphs with such classic albums as Silk Degrees (1976) and Middle Man (1980); and the splendid assurance of late-period high points like Some Change (1994) and Dig (2001), will instantly recognize Scaggs’ characteristically deft touch as a singer. He brings a sly drawl to a funky workout like Li’l Millet and the Creoles’ “Rich Woman,” a conversational intimacy to Bobby Charles’s “Small Town Talk,” and an elegant delicacy to the Impressions’ “I’m So Proud.” He easily negotiates the Latin flavoring of “Last Tango on 16th Street” and “I Want to See You,” both written by San Francisco bluesman (and longtime Scaggs compatriot) Jack Walroth. His soul is effortless and deeply felt, never making a show of itself, but unmistakably evident in every lyric he delivers. “I’m at a point where I’m having a lot of fun with music, more than ever,” the Grammy winner says about his spellbinding new album, A Fool to Care. “It’s like I’m just going wherever I want to go with it.”

Boz Scaggs | Sept 12th | 7:30 PM | Troy Music Hall

“I’m at a point where I’m having a lot of fun with music, more than ever,” Boz Scaggs says about his spellbinding new album, A Fool to Care.. “It’s like I’m just going wherever I want to go with it.”

You can hear that sense of fun, as well as that ability and willingness to wander in any musical direction throughout the album’s twelve tracks. The inspirational heart of those songs lies in the sounds of Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma that played such a vital role in shaping Scaggs’ musical sensibility, but they venture forth boldly from there, ranging from the seductive New Orleans rumble of the title track to the wry social commentary of “Hell to Pay” and a heartbreakingly wistful interpretation of The Band’s “Whispering Pines.” As he did on his most recent previous album, Memphis (2013), Scaggs worked with producer Steve Jordan and a telepathic core band consisting of Jordan on drums, Willie Weeks on bass, Ray Parker, Jr. on rhythm guitar and Jim Cox on keyboards. “Steve works on a high energy level,” Scaggs says of his prized collaborator. “It’s relaxed and easy, but also very highly charged. His direction is laser-focused, and his playing is intense. It’s a whirlwind and he’s a strong leader, but it’s also lovely and loose and cool. That’s all a comfort to me. I’ve produced myself and I feel pretty solid in the studio, but it’s really nice for me not to have to do anything but help select the material and be free to be a singer and a guitar player.”

Fans who have followed Scaggs’ remarkable career dating back to the late Sixties with the Steve Miller Band; his solo triumphs with such classic albums as Silk Degrees (1976) and Middle Man (1980); and the splendid assurance of late-period high points like Some Change (1994) and Dig (2001), will instantly recognize Scaggs’ characteristically deft touch as a singer. He brings a sly drawl to a funky workout like Li’l Millet and the Creoles’ “Rich Woman,” a conversational intimacy to Bobby Charles’s “Small Town Talk,” and an elegant delicacy to the Impressions’ “I’m So Proud.” He easily negotiates the Latin flavoring of “Last Tango on 16th Street” and “I Want to See You,” both written by San Francisco bluesman (and longtime Scaggs compatriot) Jack Walroth. His soul is effortless and deeply felt, never making a show of itself, but unmistakably evident in every lyric he delivers.

Two guests, in particular, make definitive contributions to A Fool to Care. Bonnie Raitt duets sassily with Scaggs on vocals, and adds her characteristically sizzling slide guitar to “Hell to Pay,” a knowing indictment of corruption on both the personal and political level that Scaggs wrote himself.  Lucinda Williams closes out the album with Scaggs on “Whispering Pines.” The two perform the song as a kind of prayer for deliverance, each of their voices yearning for a redemption that alternately seems barely within reach or drifting just out of reach.

What ultimately communicates about A Fool to Care is how fully Boz Scaggs inhabits these songs. They seem less like interpretations than realizations, proofs that when you truly make someone else’s song your own, you paradoxically restore something essential to it. Scaggs believes that this album and Memphis, its immediate predecessor, might turn out to be the first two parts of a trilogy, a three-album collaboration with producer Steve Jordan and the band of extraordinarily empathetic musicians they love to work with. Let’s hope so, but let’s also not get ahead of ourselves. A Fool to Care is here right now, and to overlook its many great pleasures by thinking about more that might come in the future would be foolish and uncaring indeed. – Anthony DeCurtis

Boz Scaggs | Sept 10th | 7 PM

Singer, songwriter, and Grammy Award®-winner Boz Scaggs began his career as the lead singer and guitarist of the Steve Miller Band in the late 60s before the success of his 1976 solo album, Silk Degrees, which produced hit singles such as “Lowdown,” “Lido Shuffle,” and “We’re All Alone.” He blurs the lines between genres, often mixing rock, soul, country, blues, and jazz to create a truly unique sound. Most recently, Scaggs released his album A Fool to Care, which rose to number one on the Billboard Blues Album chart.