May Shows

When Delbert McClinton announces with his latest album that he has Room To Breathe, he sure ain't kidding. After more than four decades of making music, McClinton is breathing freely with the confidence and energy of an artist who knows that he has mastered his game. Still basking in the glow of a new Grammy® Award, he has followed up what The Wall Street Journal declared his “best recording ever” -- 2001's Nothing Personal -- with a set that displays even greater muscle, smarts, charm and soul. delbert.com/

KARRIN ALLYSON (pronounced 'CAR-in') has spent the last fifteen years carving out an impressive career as a singer, songwriter, pianist, composer and band leader.

The two-time GRAMMY Award-nominated artist has recorded a series of eleven CDs for Concord Records, each of which has showcased her astonishing breadth of repertoire, from standards by Gershwin and Porter to Brazilian bossa nova to samba and Thelonious Monk. She has also taken on French and Brazilian music (From Paris to RioL the genius of John Coltrane (Ballads: Remembering John Coltrane) and the blues (In Blue).

Karrin has performed not only in traditional jazz venues throughout the world, but also at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and with symphony orchestras around the country, including the new Carnegie Hall concert series at Zankel Hall.

What has generated this much esteem and success?  Notable jazz critic and historian Gary Giddins writes:  "Allyson coolly stakes her claim. She brings a timbre that is part ice and part grain ... incisive, original, and emotionally convincing."  The Houston Press agrees wholeheartedly, "If there's a choir in heaven, someday the exquisite vocalist Karrin Allyson will lead it. She's such an otherworldly talent that the creator probably already has her on heavy rotation."

JAY GEILS -  Namesake and leader of the world famous J. Geils Band that topped the charts and filled arenas around the world, J. Geils is a renowned blues and rock artist who has lately been pursuing his love of jazz and is creating and enduring an diverse catalog of acclaimed work in blues, rock and jazz.

JOHN “BUCKY” PIZZARELLI - The legendary Bucky Pizzarelli has been a preeminent jazz musician for six decades, playing and touring with the world’s leading big bands and vocalists, including Benny Goodman, Zoot Sims, Bud Freeman, George Van Eps and Carl Kress.

Bucky was a member of Doc Severinsen’s Tonight Show band and has performed at the White House on several occasions.

In 2005, Bucky was inducted into the ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame.  He has received two honorary Doctorates of Music for his contributions to jazz, including his pioneering work with the 7-string guitar.

HARRY ALLEN - Gene Lees writes, "Stan Getz was once asked his idea of the perfect tenor saxophone. His answer was, 'My technique, AI Cohn's ideas, and Zoot's time.' The fulfillment of that ideal may well be embodied in Harry Allen."

Harry has recorded with Tony Bennett, Johnny Mandel, Ray Brown, Tommy Flanagan, James Taylor, Sheryl Crow, Kenny Barron, Dave McKenna, Dori Caymmi, Larry Goldings, George Mraz, Jake Hanna, and AI Foster, among others.

Swing Bros. recording artist Harry Allen has over thirty recordings to his name.  The Harry Allen - Joe Cohn Quartet won the Nightlife Award for Outstanding Jazz Combo Performance of 2006 and was nominated for best Jazz Combo by the Jazz Journalists Association for the same year.

Harry has performed at jazz festivals and clubs worldwide, frequently touring the United States, Europe and Asia. He has performed with Rosemary Clooney, Ray Brown, Hank Jones, Frank Wess, Flip Phillips, Scott Hamilton, Harry 'Sweets' Edison, Kenny Burrell,  Bucky Pizzarelli, Gus Johnson, Jeff Hamilton, Terry Gibbs, Warren Vache and many others.

GERRY BEAUDOIN - Award winning jazz guitarist Gerry Beaudoin (1992 National Association Of Independent Record Distributors award for best jazz album, 1994 and 1996 Cadence Jazz Magazine Editors Choice Award and placement on the Academy of Arts and Sciences Grammy Awards ballot in 1998 and 2009) has had a career that has spanned almost thirty years. Gerry has appeared on almost fifty recordings and three DVD's. He has performed and recorded with a host of jazz and blues luminaries including jazz guitar legend Bucky Pizzarelli, John Pizzarelli, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, pianist Jay McShann, Grammy winning saxophophonist Fred Lipsius from Blood, Sweat and Tears, blues icon Duke Robillard, mandolin titan David Grisman and harmonica virtuoso Jerry Portnoy from the Muddy Waters and Eric Clapton bands. Gerry is the founder and leader of jazz guitar group the New Guitar Summit featuring Gerry, rock super star J.Geils and consummate jazz guitarist Howard Alden.

LES HARRIS JR. is an internationally acclaimed jazz drummer and has performed with many of the jazz greats, including Clark Terry, Milt Jackson, Art Farmer, Ray Brown, Buddy DeFranco and Diana Krall.

In addition to his performing schedule, Les is an active music faculty member at area universities and is frequently asked to perform on studio recordings with leading jazz artists.

JESSE WILLIAMS has played bass with top artists on tours all over the globe and has recorded with Duke Robillard, J Geils, Ronnie Earl, Jimmy McGriff, among many others.  Jesse has played with the Al Kooper band and has a new CD with Bruce Bears and Mark Teixeira.

With an unprecedented nod from the international superstar himself, Brann was granted permission to use Elton John's own orchestral scores to perform with the Augusta Symphony Orchestra.

TICKETS ON SALE TUESDAY FEBRUARY 9th at 10 am 

JOHNNY A is widely regarded as one of America’s finest contemporary guitarists. Gibson even created a Johnny A Signature Edition guitar that placed him in an exclusive club that includes legends like BB King, Wes Montgomery, Joe Perry and Les Paul himself. Johnny’s latest DVD/CD “One November Night” will be released March 9th.

SAVOY BROWN has been described by music fans and critics as “legendary”  and  a “blues/rock institution” . One of the earliest British blues bands, SAVOY BROWN (with founder guitarist and longtime member Kim Simmonds at the helm) helped launch the UK blues/rock movement that paved the way for Led Zeppelin and many others.

“The music of SAVOY BROWN has never really got that far away from the blues” Simmonds says. “Today, I can still do a show that does straight traditional blues along with rock hits like “Tell Mama” and it all seems to fit.”  Listen at www.SavoyBrown.com

THIS IS AN 18 + PLUS EVENT

Get out your flannel shirts and old Doc Martens and step back in time to the 90s for Showcase Live's all-out grunge party celebrating the music of Seattle's best alternative rock bands--PEARL JAM, NIRVANA, and ALICE IN CHAINS.   Although there were many local Seattle post-punk bands performing the grunge sound in the late 1980s, only a few managed to receive national attention.  Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Alice in Chains are three of the giants who attracted the attention of mainstream labels in the early 1990s and took our nation's youth by storm.  The rawness of the grunge sound, as exemplified by Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, and Alice in Chains's Layne Staley brought a new punk-like energy to the national music scene.  Showcase Live honors the work of these legendary artists by bringing together--in one night--three premier tribute bands who recreate, with stunning accuracy, the sound and vibe of this great era in music.  Don't miss this fan-tastic musical event!
 
BACKSEAT LOVER is the Premier Pearl Jam Tribute Band of New England. No other band comes close to reproducing the Seattle sound, grunge vibe, and raw energy of Pearl Jam’s music. The frontman’s vocals have an uncanny resemblance to Eddie’s own voice; you simply won’t believe it until you hear it!  The rock-solid band ignites the stage with a note-for-note performance of each classic tune. Together, the music and vocals combine to form the ultimate Pearl Jam Tribute experience.  Based out of Boston, Backseat Lover brings all the popular hits, such as "Jeremy", "Evenflow" and "Alive".  They also performs songs spanning throughout Pearl Jam's career such as "I Am Mine", "Leash", and "Off He Goes".  For the die-hard fans, the band delivers prized rarities such as "Footsteps" and "Crazy Mary".  Backseat Lover gives the crowds of New England a nostalgic dose of Pearl Jam that keeps them coming back for more.  www.myspace.com/backseatlover
 
NEVERMIND is the world-renowned touring tribute to one of the most popular grunge bands of all time: NIRVANA. Formed in 1991, this power trio of siblings has the chemistry, stage presence, and sound to match Nirvana. The band has over 80 Nirvana songs in their catalogue plus also offers the entire MTV UNPLUGGED IN NEW YORK acoustic show (plus Cellist) which is now considered a classic amongst rock critics and Nirvana fans. Nevermind's International 2006-2009 tours have taken them to three North American countires (U.S., Canada, and Mexico) and four Carribean islands.  Nevermind made it's historic debut in SEATTLE, WASHINGTON on October 20th, 2008 thus making the band the first and only touring Nirvana Tribute to play in the meca of grunge and was well received by over 800 fans! The band returned on April 10th, 2009 to perform a fundraiser for the Kurt Cobain Memorial Committee at MOTOR (location that was used by Nirvana for rehearsals prior to the recording of the "In Utero" album)!  While in Washington, the band has also had the honor to meet with LELAND COBAIN (Kurt Cobain's grandfather).  Nirvana's music is relevant in today's media and is featured in video games (BASEBALL 2K7 and GUITAR HERO II), on T.V. shows (ABC's "LOST" and CBS's "COLD CASE").  In addition to capturing the sound of Nirvana, expect the band to be wearing clothes similar to Nirvana's and using the same guitars, basses, and stage props.  Professional and prompt, Nevermind has over 17 years of live stage/touring experience.   www.nirvanatributeband.net

 
NUTSHELL is Boston's Ultimate Alice in Chains Tribute Band.  If you're looking for the LIVE sound of Alice in Chains then Nutshell is the band you want to see.  Playing for over five years at every major venue in and around Boston, Western Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire, Nutshell delivers all your favorite Alice in Chains songs from Facelift, Dirt, Sap, Jar of Flies, Tripod and Unplugged AND Black Gives Way to Blue. You will not be dissapointed in this hardworking band that honors the work of Layne, Gerry, and the gang.  www.myspace.com/nutshellboston

By now, everyone knows the Yardbirds legend, if not their music; the band graduated three of the great Ph.D.s of rock guitar: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. They created hard rock out of standard twelve-bar blues, doubling the tempos and whacking the amps up to ten. On the British club scene, the Yardbirds, the Animals, and the Rolling Stones ruled the stages. The Yardbirds expanded the range of the electric guitar, experimenting with feedback, sustain, and fuzztone. They also coined and popularized the rave-up, a kind of free-for-all where you jam long and hard, not as soloists, but in a tandem, until you reach an epiphany about 10 or 20 or 30 minutes later, a shuddering climax of decibels and pure energy, and then—back into the song for one more boom-boom chorus. The Yardbirds were the bridge between the tributary white R&B of early-sixties London and the pastures of fuzz-toned psychedelia and power-chorded heavy metal plowed much later in the decade and throughout the seventies. Yes, the Yardbirds laid the groundwork for Rock Guitar As We Know It.