Questlove at Brooklyn Bowl (more by Eric M. Townsend)

The lineup for BAM's Questlove-curated Shuffle Culture Fest has been announced and includes Reggie Watts, Deerhoof, Sasha Grey, Willis Earl Beal, Metropolis Ensemble and others. The full list is posted below. Tickets for the two-night affair (Apr 19th & 20th) are already on sale.

In addition to that, the lineup to the Roots Picnic in Philly on June 2nd and 3rd was recently announced.

Also coming up at BAM (and on sale) are Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, the Bryce and Aaron Dessner-curated shows, and several nights with Dr. John (whose guests include the Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, Rickie Lee Jones, Blind Boys of Alabama).

* "A Louis Armstrong Tribute" (March 29-31), an homage to the great Louis Armstrong by Dr. John and his collaborators.
* "Locked Down" (April 5-7), the first time Dr. John, Auerbach, and their handpicked band will perform songs from the new album of the same name.
* "Funky But It's Nu Awlins" (April 12-14), an all-out funk-infused night of New Orleans music featuring key players from the Crescent City including The Blind Boys of Alabama.

Lineups for both BAM fests are below...

Continue reading "Questlove & Dr. John BAM lineups announced (Deerhoof, Reggie Watts, Sasha Grey, Willis Earl Beal)"

My Morning Jacket at Lollapalooza in August (more by Grant MacAllister)

My Morning Jacket are currently on a tour that will conclude in NYC at Madison Square Garden on December 14 with Band of Horses. Tickets are still on sale and we're also giving away a pair. Details on how to enter to win are below.

My Morning Jacket will also be special guests at the 50th Anniversary of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band at Carnegie Hall on January 7 along with Mos Def, GIVERS, Tao Seeger, Allen Toussaint, Blind Boys of Alabama, Del McCoury Band, and Trombone Shorty. Tickets go on sale Friday (12/2) at 11 AM.

MMJ were just nominated for a Grammy for "Best Alternative Music Album" and performed too songs off that album on Jimmy Kimmel last night. Check out videos of their performance below.

All dates, contest details and videos below...

Continue reading "win tix see My Morning Jacket @ MSG, see them play Carnegie Hall w/ Preservation Hall Jazz Band, watch them on Kimmel..."

The Blind Boys of Alabama [released] a traditional country-gospel album for the first time in their 70-year career on May 3rd, 2011. One of country music's most acclaimed and compelling artists, Jamey Johnson, co-produced the album and performs on it along with Vince Gill, Willie Nelson, Hank Williams Jr., Lee Ann Womack, and The Oak Ridge Boys.

The Oak Ridge Boys join The Blind Boys of Alabama for an intimate show at City Winery in NYC TONIGHT (5/10). It's not cheap, but tickets are amazingly still on sale. All Blind Boys dates, and a video of them performing with Jamey Johnson & the Oak Ridge Boys on "Fox & Friends" this morning, below...

Continue reading "Blind Boys of Alabama released a guest-filled country-gospel album, The Oak Ridge Boys play with them in NYC tonight"

The Blind Boys of Alabama will curate a three-night series at Lincoln Center on July 12, 14 & 16. The events start with an opening night concert featuring rock artists Yo La Tengo, Lambchop, Exene Cervenka of X and Yim Yames of My Morning Jacket [plus Marshall Allen and the Sun Ra Horns]. On July 14 the focus shifts to country music, with performances by Yonder Mountain String Band, Ralph Stanley, Alison Moorer and Randy Travis, plus Ray Benson and Jason Roberts of Asleep at the Wheel. The final evening, The Blind Boys' Family Revival, will feature songs from all of the group's Grammy Award-winning albums and includes collaborations with Aaron Neville, Joan Osborne, Hot 8 Brass Band, Dan Zanes, John Hammond, and Charlie Musselwhite, among others.

Tickets for all three are on sale now.

More details on the gospel group's Lincoln Center shows, their full upcoming schedule, a video of their performance on Letterman earlier this year with Lou Reed (they also visited Daytrotter in March) and more are below...

Continue reading "Blind Boys of Alabama touring, curated 3 shows @ Lincoln Center w/ many guests (Yo La Tengo, Jim James, more)"

by Andrew Frisicano

Preservation Hall Jazz Band...

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, a rotating group of some of the most esteemed musicians in New Orleans, are all kinds of big easy - the mindset, not the proper noun. They are consummate professionals, but it doesn't lend itself to a stuffy or by the numbers brand of jazz music. It's a style that waltzes, lurches and whistles Dixie. It is dripping with the bourbon flairs that might be transcendent there in the streets and the waters, living there amongst a proud group of people who regularly show their elasticity and that pride in the way New Orleans is pulled off, the way that it's perpetrated and seasoned. [Daytrotter]

The band, formed in 1961 under the direction of the late Allan Jaffe, has worked to promote New Orleans-style jazz through the county and world. Now, under the direction of Jaffe's son, Preservation Hall creative director Ben, the collective and its rotating lineup continue to flourish, with concerts booked through 2010. This week, from March 31st to April 5th, the Preservation Hall Jazz band holds court for six-nights at NYC's Blue Note. Each night has an early show and a late show; table reservations for each set are currently available.

Also this week, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band is releasing a live CD titled New Orleans Preservation, Vol. 1. The disc was recorded earlier this year at the group's home venue, New Orleans' Preservation Hall, "located in the French Quarter, just three blocks from the Mississippi River" (says the band's history).

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band will also return to NYC to the perform on the already-huge-and-growing bill of Pete Seeger's 90th birthday celebration at MSG on May 3rd (sold out).

In other New Orleans-to-New York news, we previously reported that NOLA Fest Ponderosa Stomp is presenting a special three-night program of music at Lincoln Center, the first of which takes place on July 17th. A set of pictures from the Ponderosa Stomp event at SXSW was also recently posted.

All tour dates, New Orleans Preservation Vol. 1 track list and art, and clips of Preservation Hall Jazz Band + the Blind Boys of Alabama (PHJB tourmates for part of 2009) below...

Continue reading "Preservation Hall Jazz Band tour dates, NYC this week, MSG "