Jean-Michel Blais, Loren Allred, and More Are Coming to Joe's Pub
By: A.A. Cristi Jan. 09, 2020
Check out Joe's Pub lineup for the Under the Radar festival featuring new and experimental work from Rizo (fka Lady Rizo), Lucy McComick, Daniel J. Watts, and Ryan J. Haddad. Rounding out the week is Kittel & Co, Ethan Lipton & His Orchestra, Jean-Michel Blais, Rev Billy, a very fun showcase from DANCE NOW, Nellie McKay, Aditya Prakash, Damien Sneed, William Prince, Xenia França, Luis Enrique and, as always, a ton more.
RIZO: LOSING THE LADY
Part of The Public Theater's Under the Radar Festival
January 9, 11, 16 & 17 at Various Times
$30 Public Supporters / $35 Regular
New York's own downtown diva goddess Rizo (f.k.a. Lady Rizo) charges back onto the Joe's Pub stage after a year away, electrifying Spiegeltents around the world. A cult favorite, her stage shows bring her powerhouse vocals together with seductive storytelling and wild hilarious audience experiments. Seductively peeling back layers of alter-ego, Rizo explores the delight and trappings of our shadow selves through her own songs along with the tunes of Sasha Fierce (Beyoncé), the Thin White Duke (David Bowie), and Camille (Prince).
LUCY MCCORMICK: TRIPLE THREAT
Part of The Public Theater's Under the Radar Festival
January 9 & 10 at 9:30PM
$20 Public Supporters / $25 Regular
Post-popular prodigy Lucy McCormick and her Girl Squad present her U.K. smash-hit Triple Threat, a trash-step/dub-punk morality play for the modern world. Casting herself in all the main roles, McCormick will attempt to re-connect to her own moral conscience by re-enacting the New Testament via a Nu-wave holy trinity of dance, power ballads, and performance art. Directed by cabaret legend Ursula Martinez, McCormick puts her best foot forward in the face of existential deadlock.
Triple Threat is recommended for ages 18+ and contains nudity and graphic sexual content. As sensitivities vary from person to person, if you have specific questions regarding content, please call us at 212.967.7555.
KITTEL & CO / Gretchen Parlato FLOR
Friday, January 10 at 7:00PM
$20
Called "one of the most exceptional violinists and fiddlers of his generation" by WGBH, Grammy Award-nominated violinist and composer Jeremy Kittel's music and his band Kittel & Co. inhabit the space between classical and acoustic roots, Celtic and bluegrass aesthetics, and folk and jazz sensibilities. According to Bluegrass Situation, the group has "accomplished a feat of new acoustic, string band-rooted chamber music." The band is mandolin phenom Josh Pinkham (named "the future of the mandolin" by Mandolin Magazine), genre-bending guitarist Quinn Bachand (a presidential scholar at Berklee College of Music), transcendent cellist Nathaniel Smith (as heard with Sarah Jarosz and Kacey Musgraves), and hammer-dulcimer wizard Simon Chrisman (acclaimed for bringing a new tonal flexibility to the instrument).
In the 10 years since her arrival in New York, Gretchen Parlato has emerged as one of the most inventive and mesmerizing vocalists of her generation. In an artful communion of space, texture and a genre-bending repertoire, she has introduced a musical sea-change, making the power of subtlety front and center in jazz. Parlato´s new album and DVD set, Live in NYC, serves as both a gift of gratitude for those loyal fans and a window into her captivating concert performances. Style Weekly gives insight to her live performances, saying "in performance, jazz vocalist Gretchen Parlato is a revelation... her diaphanous voice expands into an instrument of impressive range, rhythmic sophistication and emotional power."
DANIEL J. WATTS' THE JAM: ONLY CHILD
Part of The Public Theater's Under the Radar Festival
January 10, 12 & 20 at Various Times
$30 Public Supporter / $35 Regular
A play-on-words, The Jam: Only Child pays homage to Daniel Watts's great-grandmother who, after making jam from scratch, would share with others what she was unable to consume herself. The Jam: Only Child is Watts' continuation of that legacy blending elements of stand-up comedy and compelling storytelling with his original spoken word, often set to music and/or dance. "The Jam: Only Child is the product of two years of therapy," says Watts. "I have an analogy about therapy suggesting that it's like inviting a stranger to the attic of your mind and having them help you clean it out. I realized that being an only child and a latchkey kid in a single parent home contributed to excess storage in my attic and therapy helped me sift through a lot of it and, ultimately, let some things go. By sharing my story, I hope to inspire others to go through their attics in an effort to both examine the cost of holding on and experience the healing power of letting go."
Ethan Lipton & HIS ORCHESTRA
Saturday, January 11 at 7:00PM
$20
Dubbed the city's 'Best Lounge Act' by New York Magazine, Ethan Lipton & His Orchestra have been playing an edgy brand of jazz/folk/alternative nosh with a chewy singer-songwriter center for 15 years. With melancholy wit and a cockeyed worldview, front man Lipton and bandmates Eben Levy (guitar), Ian Riggs (bass) and Vito Dieterle (sax) deliver original songs steeped in mixed-message sincerity and soul.
Along with Allen Toussaint, Angelique Kidjo, and Toshi Reagon, Lipton received one of the Pub's first New York Voices commissions. The band won an Obie Award for its show "No Place to Go" and was nominated for a Lortel for "The Outer Space," both produced by the Public and directed by Leigh Silverman. NPR called the act, "hilarious, twisted, sophisticated, schleppy and sad all at once...songs that take the mundane of life and twist it."
JEAN-MICHEL BLAIS
Saturday, January 11 at 9:30PM
$20 ADV / $25 Doors
Pianist Jean-Michel Blais's enchanting instrumental compositions pairs the melodic pop sensibilities of Amélie-era Yann Tiersen and Arts & Crafts alumni Chilly Gonzales with the breathtaking technical skill of classical minimalists like Philip Glass and Erik Satie. After a youth spent learning piano and composition everywhere from his family's home to the Trois-Rivieres Music Conservatory, Blais found himself unsatisfied with his classical training, leaving school to pursue his own forms of improvisation and experimentation. He moved to Europe in his mid-20s with stints living in Barcelona and Berlin. During that time, he intermittently composed music with long gaps of not even touching a piano. After a year in Guatemala, finally settling in Montreal, Blais rediscovered his love for composing and performing which caught the ear of Arts & Crafts. Written over many years improvising every morning Blais's debut album, Il, was released in 2016.
REVEREND BILLY & THE CHURCH OF STOP SHOPPING: EARTH RIOT
Sunday, January 12 at 12:00PM
$15
The Church of Stop Shopping is a New York City based radical performance community. The Stop Shopping Choir is an ecstatic group of 35 activists who sing harmoniously while trespassing inside corporations. Reverend Billy is a dangerous and hilarious preacher in a long tradition of Great American hustlers. The show is directed by Savitri D. with music direction by Nehemiah Luckett.
DANCE NOW: 2020 DANCE-MOPOLITAN ENCORE SERIES
Sunday, January 12 at 4:00PM
$25
DANCE NOW presents its 2020 Dance-mopolitan Encore Series, featuring ten top-tier artists featured in the 2019 DANCE NOW Festival Encore, selected by the DANCE NOW producers for having most successfully met the 2019 DANCE NOW Festival Challenge: to create a clear and complete artistic statement in five minutes or less for the specifics of the stage at Joe's Pub. Included in this showcase will be the 2019 Festival Challenge winner, Nicole Vaughan-Diaz and performances from Tsiambwom M. Akuchu, Sarah Chien, Mark Gindick, Orlando Hernández, Cleo Mack / Rock Dance Collective, Claire Porter / PORTABLES, Gus Solomons jr, Megan Williams Dance Projects and Nicole Wolcott. The Dance-mopolitan Encore performance will be hosted by Deborah Lohse (aka TruDee).
RYAN J. HADDAD: FALLING FOR MAKE BELIEVE
Part of The Public Theater's Under the Radar Festival
January 12, 16 & 17 at 7:00PM
$20 Public Supporters / $25 Regular
When Ryan J. Haddad was five, he founded an acting troupe called The Haddad Theater and forced his family to put on plays. Their living room antics drew such an audience that they eventually moved to the stage of the local community center, where hundreds of people paid a dollar to watch them read from notecards, sing to karaoke tracks, and execute excruciatingly long scene changes. Over eight years, Haddad would write (steal), direct (not tell anyone his vision), and star (star) in 10 "productions" alongside his relatives. In Falling For Make Believe, he tells tales of The Haddad Theater in a witty, whimsical memoir full of showtunes, exclusively showtunes. Directed by Julian Fleisher, with music direction by Billy Stritch and Henry Koperski, the show is a celebration of childhood dreams and a family learning to love the spotlight. Haddad will probably cry during this performance, which also features Kristen Krak and a magical guest.
Nellie McKay / NORA BROWN
Monday, January 13 at 6:30PM
$20
Sister Orchid is Nellie McKay's seventh album, starting with Get Away From Me ("a tour de force" - The New York Times), including Normal As Blueberry Pie: A Tribute to Doris Day ("among the killer overhauls of American standards" - The New York Times) and My Weekly Reader, music of the '60s ("...kicks serious butt. The results are beautiful." - PopMatters), her second collaboration with famed Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick. On Obligatory Villagers ("a brisk nine-song set that plays like the breathless first act of a stage musical decrying American fascism" - SPIN), local Poconos hometown jazz greats Bob Dorough, Phil Woods, and David Liebman contributed their exceptional talents.
She has won a Theatre World Award for her portrayal of Polly Peachum on Broadway in The Threepenny Opera, performed onscreen in the films PS I Love You and Downtown Express, and her music was used in Rumor Has It, Monster-in-Law, PS I Love You, Gasland, Last Holiday, and Private Life.
Nora Brown started learning ukelele at age 6 from the late Shlomo Pestcoe. With a focus on old time music, he laid a foundation of love of music and the community it creates. He instilled in her the lesson that music is meant to be shared. Now 14 years old, Nora plays banjo and sings ballads - She plays solo and also with many of her mentors including her friend, fiddler Stephanie Coleman, as a duet under name Little Leatherwood. Today Nora is being mentored by many of her favorite old time musicians including Alice Gerrard, Lee Sexton, Anna Roberts-Gevalt, Sammy Lind, Mark Simos, KC Groves, Courtney Hartman, Mac Traynham, John Haywood, and Brett Ratliff. One of her most important mentors is the late John Cohen.
Nora has played the Floyd Radio Show in Floyd, VA., the Washington Square Park Folk Festival, Brooklyn Folk Festival, Brooklyn Americana Festival, Oldtone Roots Music Festival, both Summer and Winter Hoots at the Ashokan Center, NYC Trad Fest, and has had multiple month long residencies at famed Barbès in Brooklyn. On Oct 25, Nora released her first record of 11 traditional songs and tunes called Cinnamon Tree produced by Alice Gerrard. The Tribeca Film Festival funded a short documentary by Josh Weinstein about Nora called "Little Nora (the Banjo Prodigy)."
KARSH KALE, SAN SALVADOR, AND ADITYA PRAKASH
Monday, January 13 at 9:30PM
$15
Described by Billboard Magazine as a "visionary composer and producer," Karsh Kale is one of global music's brightest stars. In the past 12 years as a solo recording artist, producer, composer, live performer, and DJ, Karsh has set the world of electronic fusion on fire and has helped to create a genre of new music and culture that continues to influence an entire generation. His body of work has been cause for fans and critics alike to claim Kale as a pioneer and a trail blazer, not only opening doors for his own career but for an entire scene to emerge in the world of electronica and fusion music. Karsh Kale has also developed a reputation as a genre bending collaborator and a world renowned tabla player and musician, exploring the worlds of electronica, Indian classical music, rock, jazz fusion, and hip hop which has led him to work with some of the most renowned artists from around the globe. Kale continues to reinvent his ever-evolving sound and has established himself as one of the world's most sought after fusion artists.
Occitan polyphony is the starting point for San Salvador, the six-voice and percussion collective, as they embark on their search for universal folklore, rooted in the region's deep troubadour traditions yet circulating between cultures and musical genres. Their compositions use the Occitan language as a rhythmic instrument, combining poetry with hypnotic vocal harmonies cascading over shifting patterns of compelling percussion.
Aditya Prakash is an award-winning, American-born Indian classical vocalist best known for his powerful and emotive voice. Although firmly rooted in South Indian classical (Carnatic) music, his style is heavily inspired by North Indian classical music, Sufi music, Western classical, jazz, flamenco, and hip hop, which he brings out in his collaborative projects. The depth of his Carnatic training allows for him to bridge the gap between the rich, sacred and ancient art form and today's interconnected, diverse environment.
FRENCH QUARTER: JAZZ IN NYC featuring Naissam Jalal, Géraldine Laurent, and Thomas De Pourquery
Tuesday, January 14 at 6:30PM
$15
Naissam Jalal: "Quest of the Invisible"
In this new creation, flutist Naïssam Jalal brings together pianist Leonardo Montana and contrabassist Claude Tchamitchian in search of the Invisible. This new repertoire is at the crossroads of Western music and traditional modal jazz. The silence has a central place, the rhythm always leads to the trance in a repetitive and hypnotic form, sometimes the voice comes into contact with the Invisible by naming it. A creation that oscillates between contemplation and trance, silence, and music.
Géraldine Laurent: "Cooking"
Geraldine wanted to call this record Cooking because in music, it is a team affair to add each ingredient for the ephemeral perfection of the final result. The album is conceived as a meal and it is possible to have taste buds in your ears. We always like to hear the passing musician feeling this pleasure as they come through the door of the club.
Thomas de Pourquery & Supersonic: "Sons of Love"
Thomas de Pourquery, artist of the Year at the 2017 Victories of Jazz created the Supersonic band in 2011 to record the album Play Sun Ra. After a night in which he meets the instruments and music in a new way, he realizes that beyond his own identity, Supersonic is above all a sensory experience. This dream was the founder of "Sons of Love" and opened the door of freedom: to write for his five brothers of music, and write for what they are and make dance the six dimensions of the Supersonic in zero gravity.
DAMIEN SNEED: WE SHALL OVERCOME - A CELEBRATION OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
Tuesday, January 14 at 9:30PM
$20
Inspired by the words and action of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "We Shall Overcome" showcases repertoire from across the African American music traditions that electrified generations of civil rights activists and defenders with interwoven spoken word from Dr. King's recorded speeches.
Producer and Musical Director Damien Sneed's career covers an incredible breadth of genres. He has conducted and collaborated major original works for Wynton Marsalis, regularly accompanies Jessye Norman, collaborated with Lawrence Brownlee, and has toured extensively with Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, and the Clark Sisters.
This production ties together a living lineage of music and culture that includes traditional gospel, modern gospel, classical, jazz, Broadway, and spirituals. From Aretha Franklin, to Wynton Marsalis; Duke Ellington to Stevie Wonder; Nina Simone to Donny Hathaway; and traditional spirituals and music from "the Wiz," Damien's unique understanding of each genre allows him to fluidly cover so much musical ground in a single performance.
William Prince
Wednesday, January 15 at 7:00PM
$15
For his eagerly-awaited sophomore album, songwriter William Prince begins with single word, Reliever, which informs a collection of exceptionally rendered explorations of what, who and how peace is found. Relievers come in all forms; for Prince, it is song. With its emphasis on words and confidently unfussed accompaniment, Reliever puts Prince's gift for sparking powerful emotions of both personal and communal relevance at the fore. A masterclass in skillful simplicity, Reliever works a generous and profound kind of magic.
Prince's influences and references, from the gospel of his childhood to Christopher Wallace's sermons of a different sort, the pantheon of classic outlaw country singers, baseball and the great beyond, shape Reliever into a collection that approaches the big questions with humility and curiosity. At the edge of the ocean, between father and son, from stranger to lover, the album flows through the places and moments where real connections and healing happen.
To make Reliever, Prince reconvened with producers Dave Cobb in Nashville and Scott Nolan in Winnipeg, the team behind his JUNO Award winning debut and subsequent Glassnote Records reissue, Earthly Days. With the song "Breathless," Earthly Days introduced Prince's poignant philosophy and rich baritone to the world. Prince's trajectory from Peguis First National in Manitoba, Canada, to opening for Neil Young, has seen the relative newcomer find esteem and career-changing opportunity wherever he performs.
XENIA FRANÇA / Luis Enrique & C4 TRÍO
Wednesday, January 15 at 9:30PM
$15
Xenia França hails from Bahia, the birthplace of Brazil's most iconic musicians - Gal Costa, Caetano Veloso, and Gilberto Gil to name a few. França continues in that distinguished lineage, building a career that's captivated audiences at home and abroad. Her sound honors the roots of African diaspora in Brazil, blending traditional percussion with electronica, jazz, and R&B. She was nominated for a Latin Grammy in 2018 both for her debut album Xenia and for the single "Pra Que Me Chamas?"
Legendary Nicaraguan singer-songwriter Luis Enrique and the critically acclaimed Venezuelan group, C4 Trío, were awarded two Latin Grammys for their album Tiempo Al Tiempo for Best Folk Album and Best Arrangement ("Sirena," arranger: Rodner Padilla) at the 20th Annual Latin GRAMMY® Awards and no doubt they will continue nabbing nominations. The artists were also nominated for Best Tropical Album at the 62nd annual GRAMMY® Awards. The new album includes original music except for "Date a chance" and "Tonada en Melancolía." The rest of the album includes songs that have just been recorded for the first time with Luis Enrique + C4 Trío in collaboration with renowned composers such as Fernando Osorio, Jorge Luis Chacin, and Omar Alfanno.
Loren Allred
Saturday, January 18 & Sunday, January 19 at 7:00PM
$30
Loren Allred is best known for her jaw-dropping vocal performance of "Never Enough" on the Oscar nominated and Grammy award winning "The Greatest Showman" soundtrack and film. "Never Enough" debuted at #88 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was ranked #3 by Entertainment Weekly as one of the "Best Songs from Movies of the 2010s". The song has amassed more than 500 million worldwide streams and the soundtrack has gone on to sell more than 1.8 million copies in the United States. In early 2019, Loren joined Michael Bublé's Love album for a duet of "Help Me Make it Through the Night." She will appear alongside chart-topping songwriter, producer, and maestro to the stars, David Foster, as part of his An Intimate Evening PBS Concert Special and album in November 2019. With her debut single set for release, written by Oscar, Grammy, and Tony winning songwriting duo Pasek & Paul, her star will only continue to rise.
CHEEYANG & KHIYON: EASTBOUND
Saturday, January 18 at 9:30PM
$25
"I don't want to just survive. I want to live." Told through the soundscape of a contemporary score amalgamated with traditional Chinese folk music and Mandopop, EASTBOUND is a new bilingual musical about the unexpected meeting of two brothers from opposite sides of the world, their quests for survival, and the power of choice.
Performed by Zachary Noah Piser (B'way: Dear Evan Hansen, Wicked), Jessica Tyler Wright (B'way: War Horse, Sweeney Todd, Company), Ya Han Chang, Xiaoqing Zhang, Zachary Infante (Off-B'way: Alice by Heart; Regional: Kiss My Aztec) and Cheeyang Ng (Tour: Vocalosity).
Born and raised in Singapore, Cheeyang Ng is an award-winning singer-songwriter who has performed around the world, including Lincoln Center with Carole King and Carnegie Hall with a cappella group Vocalosity. They are the first Singaporean to headline a concert at Joe's Pub and Millennium Stage at Kennedy Center showcasing their original music and their songs have been performed around New York, including The Duplex and Feinstein's/54 Below. They are a graduate of Berklee College of Music (BMus) and NYU (MFA). Musicals in development include EASTBOUND (Village Theatre Festival of New Musicals, NAMT Writers Grant, NYTB IMPACT Award) with Khiyon Hursey, ONLY US (Drama League Residency) and THE GOLDEN THRESHOLD (Live & In Color) with Eric Sorrels. Select credits include: 2019 ASCAP Foundation Lucille & Jack Yellen Award, 2019 Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project, 2019 Prospect Musical Theatre Lab and 2018 Front and Center with Tom Kitt.
Khiyon Hursey is a writer and composer based in Los Angeles and New York. A 2014 graduate of Berklee College of Music with a degree in Songwriting, he recently finished a stint as a staff writer for Netflix's romantic musical drama, SOUNDTRACK. He is the recipient of the ASCAP Foundation's Irving Burgie Scholarship, Bart Howard Songwriting Scholarship, a 2016 NAMT Writers Grant, a 2016 - 2017 Dramatists Guild Musical Theater Fellow, 2017 Space on Ryder Farm Residency, 2018 Johnny Mercer Songwriter's Project residency, 2019 ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop with Stephen Schwartz, and the 2019 Rhinebeck Writer's Retreat.
Joey Taranto: DUDE SINGS LIKE A LADY
Sunday, January 19 at 9:30PM
$25
What happens when you grow up in New Orleans, you're a Pastor's son who's gayer than Christmas, and you love Rock N' Roll? It makes for an electric night of hilarious stories and some deep south soul singing.
Joey Taranto got his break starring in Rock of Ages on Broadway. Since then he has appeared in the original casts of both Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark and Kinky Boots. He also appeared in the Emmy Award winning cast of Jesus Christ Superstar live on NBC and most recently Bat Out of Hell at City Center.
Directed by Nathan Peck
Music direction and arrangements by Brian Usifer
For more information visit joespub.com or call 212-967-7555.
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