Indie-pop songstress Sami the Great celebrates the New Year with her new album at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 7 at the Mercury Lounge in New York City. Alongside Sami will be fellow New Yorkers, Tony Castles, Slowdance, The Sanctuaries and many more. The show is sold out. The anticipated, self-titled CD is Sami’s first full length project.
Sami Akbari, known musically as sami.the.great, is driven by her overwhelming desire to write and play music. She frequented open mic nights in college, often taking home cash prizes for her highly anticipated performances. She moved to New York City two weeks after receiving her degree in 2005, and quickly began landing gigs at local venues, including The Living Room, Joe’s Pub and Mercury Lounge as well as other venues around the country.
Her latest EP, “Nothing Left to See,” features five original songs written by Sami and a cover of Sting’s “Roxanne.” The disc not only reveals the trajectory of Sami’s songwriting career, but also her deft combination of emotion and wit, of melancholy and humor. Like her live show, the album reflects the notion that great things come in small packages and showcases a small-framed singer whose impassioned voice fills the spaces and lives around her.
For two decades, Darrell McFadden and the Disciples have been making down home traditional gospel music just like four part harmonizers make it in southern quartet hubs such as Canton, Miss. (home of the Canton Spirituals), Jackson, Miss. (birthplace of The Jackson Southernaires) or Tupelo, Miss. (the launching pad for Lee Williams & the Spiritual QCs). The only difference is these guys hail from Brooklyn, NY. Now the group has assembled a jam-packed live CD/DVD called “Alive! 20th Anniversary Concert” (Blacksmoke Music Worldwide).
“We’re honored and privileged to be used as instruments of God to deliver this project, 20 years in the making,” says the group’s founder, Bishop Darrell McFadden, who is pastor of the Galilean Deliverance Temple in Bronx, NY, in a news release. “We’ve had some hard times, but we count it all joy. We thank God for our Fans because they’ve had our backs throughout this entire journey, we thank and love them so much! And always remember, in all of thy getting, make sure you get an understanding.”
The 22 song, two-disc set (one audio CD and one video DVD) was recorded in April 2011 at the Christian Faith Center in Creedmoor, NC, and features the Disciples’ most-loved hits. Among them are the soul-stirring ballad “I Can’t Even Walk (Without You Holding My Hand),” the hand clappers “Shackles” and “Long as I Got Jesus (That’s Alright)” and the upbeat “Be Ready.” The set also features two studio performances, including the ’70s R&B throwback groove, “Wilderness.” Jazzing up quartet has been in the group’s lifeblood from the start.
“We want to take quartet music to a new stage of recognition and popularity,” says McFadden. “A lot of people have lost touch with it, or aren’t even familiar with it, or have an inaccurate impression about it. We want to show them that it can still be current and modern, and something they can latch onto and enjoy. But our greatest purpose is just to win souls.
Over the last two decades, veteran soul and gospel vocalist Shirley Murdock has dreamed up a new career as an actress in the new holiday musical entitled, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” Murdock co-stars with R&B veteran Freddie Jackson in the comedy that also features Lisa Page Brooks and Sam Logan. In it, Murdock portrays a feisty pastor’s wife who keeps order in her husband’s church and has her eye on her son being paroled from prison right before Christmas. The musical will be staged at the Newark Symphony Hall (Sarah Vaughan Concert Hall), 1020 Broad Street in Newark, NJ, at 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 16 and Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011. For more information, call (973) 643-8014. All tickets are $38.32. On Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011, at 3:30 p.m., the show will make its debut at the famed Apollo Theater, 253 West 125th Street in New York. Tickets range from $55 to $90. For more information, call (800) 745-3000 or go towww.homeforxmas.com. Meanwhile, Murdock’s current radio single “Dream” is in the Top 30 of Billboard’s Hot Gospel Songs chart. It’s one of a dozen musical chestnuts that Murdock either wrote or co-wrote for her first ever live concert CD “The Journey” (Tyscot Records) that features cameos by R&B divas Kelly Price, Regina Belle and gospel powerhouse Beverly Crawford. This will be Murdock’s second gospel project with Tyscot Records. Her 2007 label debut, Soul Food, included the chart hit “I Love Me Better Than That.” For more information on Murdock, go to www.tyscot.com or to her Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shirley-Murdock/138053567564.
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has announced via news release the recipients of the 2012 NEA Jazz Masters Award – the nation’s highest honor in jazz. The five recipients will receive a one-time award of $25,000 and be publicly honored at the annual awards ceremony and concert, produced by Jazz at Lincoln Center at its home, Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City.
With this class, the NEA is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the NEA Jazz Masters Awards, which recognizes outstanding musicians for their lifetime achievements and significant contributions to the development and performance of jazz.
*Jimmy Owens is the recipient of the 2012 A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Award for Jazz Advocacy.
“These artists represent the highest level of artistic mastery and we are proud to recognize their achievements,” said NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman in a news release. “Through their contributions, we have been challenged, enlightened, and charmed, and we thank them for devoting their careers to expanding and supporting their art forms.”
“Jazz is considered by many as one of America’s greatest cultural gifts to the world,” said Wayne S. Brown, NEA Director of Music and Opera. “These artists are being recognized for their extraordinary contribution to advancing the art form and for serving as mentors for a new generation of young aspiring jazz musicians.”
The NEA Jazz Masters awards were announced in conjunction with the announcement of the NEA National Heritage Fellowships and NEA Opera Honors recipients. Please go to arts.gov for the list of these recipients.
(From left to right: Angelique Kidjo, Dianne Reeves, Lizz Wright)
According to a recent news release, Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festivalat the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) in Saratoga Springs, New York, will present the U.S. debut of Sing The Truth!, a new production that honors the music and spirit of great women of jazz, folk, R&B, gospel and the blues. Featuring African-born songstress Angelique Kidjo, pre-eminent jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves, and genre-defying jazz singer Lizz Wright, this meeting of three critically-acclaimed, powerhouse vocalists will pay musical tribute to the legacies of three recently departed, iconic female artists: South African singer and civil rights activist Miriam Makeba, American jazz vocalist, actress, civil rights and political activist Abbey Lincoln, and “the Voice of the Civil Rights Movement,” American folk musician and human rights activist Odetta. Sing The Truth! will also feature songs by other great women of music, ranging from Billie Holiday to Aretha Franklin, Joan Armatrading and Lauryn Hill, along with original songs. The original Sing The Truth! premiered as a 2004 JVC Jazz Festival concert at Carnegie Hall, New York City, and celebrated the music of Nina Simone.
The all-star Sing The Truth! ensemble for the Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival performance will feature Geri Allen on piano and keyboards, music director Terri Lyne Carrington on drums, James Genus on bass, Munyungo Jackson on percussion, and Romero Lubambo on guitars. This remarkable group of musicians will go everywhere and anywhere that Angelique Kidjo, Dianne Reeves and Lizz Wright feel the music takes them. The audience will be along for a memorable ride. Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center runs from Saturday, June 25 to Sunday, June 26, 2011. Other artists scheduled to appear include Michael McDonald, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Dee Dee Bridgewater, George Wein & the Newport All Stars, Donald Harrison, Jr., The Bad Plus, Ben Allison, Marcus Strickland, and many more. For the complete lineup of artists and performances, go to www.spac.org. Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival is produced by SPAC and Absolutely Live Entertainment. Located in scenic Saratoga Springs, New York, Saratoga Performing Arts Center has been the site of the Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival since George Wein established it in 1978. With an inside seating capacity of 5,200, lawn seating of 20,000, world class talent and just three hours driving time from either Boston or New York City, SPAC’s Jazz Festival draws thousands of jazz lovers from across the Northeast and the United States.
According to a recent news release, pianist Randy Weston headlines the artist lineup, and tickets are now on sale at www.JJAJazzAwards.org for the 15th annual Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards gala, to be held on Saturday, June 11, 2011, from 1 to 5 p.m. EDT at City Winery, 155 Varick St. at Vandam in New York City.
Randy Weston/African Rhythms Photo credit Ariane Smolderen
Besides Weston, trumpeter Wallace Roney’s sextet, Canadian flutist/soprano saxophonist Jane Bunnett with Cuban-born pianist Hilario Duran and special guest Candido on congas, singer Gregory Porter (a nominee for the JJA’s Male Vocalist of the Year Award) and the Hammer Klavier Trio from Hamburg will perform at the event. The JJA gala, a fundraiser for the non-profit professional organization that promotes coverage of jazz in all media, will also feature announcements and presentations of the Awards to winners, and introductions of “Jazz Heroes” honored for extra-musical jazz activism in locales across the U.S. (in order to highlight the decentralized aspect of jazz activism, the JJA is not inducting “A Team” jazz activists this year).
The Jazz Awards is being produced as live streaming video, viewable online (and later archived) at JJAJazzAwards.org. Free satellite parties have been convened to watch the Awards in Berkeley, Boston, Nashville, Phoenix, Portland OR, Seattle and Washington, D.C, among other sites.
The general public may purchase tickets to the Awards gala in New York for $150. Ticket reservations, the list of all nominees for 2011 JJA Jazz Awards, details about the satellite parties and videos of the performers are also available at JJAJazzAwards.org.
According to a news release, to give a boost to New York City arts organizations hard hit by the financial crisis, the Open Society Foundations announced $11 million in grants to support community and educational arts initiatives.
“The arts – and arts education – are a vital part of the fabric of New York City,” said George Soros, chairman of the Open Society Foundations. “This funding will help organizations that have been under severe strain because of the economic crisis.”
The $11 million investment is made through the Performing Arts Recovery Initiative, a special one-time grant program sponsored by the Open Society Foundations and managed by the Fund for the City of New York. The program is focused on supporting nonprofit music, dance, and theater groups that are recognized for the quality of their artistic work, their strong educational programs for young people, their employment of artists and their other contributions to the vibrancy of New York City’s cultural life.
In addition to JazzReach, seventy-eight other organizations will receive two-year operating-support grants ranging from $65,000 to $250,000. The groups, located in all five boroughs of New York City, vary in budget size from $75,000 to $7 million and are primarily small and less visible than larger mainstream organizations; consequently, they are most impacted by the economic crisis and most in need of assistance. Some of the other organization’s selected to receive funding include the New York Youth Symphony, Bronx Arts Ensemble, Ballet Hispanico, Mark Morris Dance Group, Epic Theatre Ensemble and Dance Theater of Harlem.
Israeli guitarist-composer Yotam (full name Yotam Silberstein) swings hard with an all-star cast for his debut compact disc, “Resonance” (to be released on Jazz Legacy Productions). The New York-based guitarist is joined by the stellar rhythm section of Christian McBride on bass, Aaron Goldberg on piano and Greg Hutchinson on drums. Special guest trumpeter Roy Hargrove also appears on faithful recreations of Clifford Brown’s “Daahoud” and Joe Henderson’s “Mamacita.” “Aaron, Christian, Greg and Roy, in my opinion, are a few of the giants of their generation,” Yotam says in a news release. “I was very honored to have them on the record. We have have forged a special chemistry together. And I think you can hear that on the album.” Yotam is known for his unusual musical blend of bebop, Brazilian music, American blues, Jamaican reggae and Israeli folk songs. According to his bio, he was born and raised in Tel-Aviv, Israel, and started playing guitar at the age of 10, focusing mostly on rock and blues. In August 2005, Yotam received a scholarship to further his jazz studies at the New School in New York City. Less than a month later, he was selected as one of 10 top guitar players to participate in the semi-finals of the distinguished 2005 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Guitar Competition. In 2009, in addition to releasing his second release, he toured with the Sam Yahel Trio, opening for Steely Dan in major concert halls. Since then, he has played in many of the city’s great venues with great jazz artists like James Moody, Benny Golson, Curtis Fuller, Louis Hayes, Jimmy Heath, Frank Wess, Junior Mance, James Spaulding, Pat Martino, Antonio Hart, Slide Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Stars to name a few.
