Michael Kaeshammer, Canada’s piano master, headlines the Palladium’s third annual Boogie Woogie Blues Piano Stomp

Kaeshammer

Hard to believe our annual Boogie Woogie piano show is now in its third year. Each year, the Boogie Woogie Blues Piano Stomp, gets bigger. Last year’s headliner, along with the legendary Bob Seeley, was the great New Orleans piano man, Joe Krown. People are still talking about his Professor Longhair chops.

This year, Seeley is back, along with the rising Canadian pianist and bandleader, Michael Kaeshammer, Michael is a handsome, young Canadian who is developing into a major star playing his own songs and interpreting others with a great band. But Kaeshammer started as a boogie woogie pianist and that’s how he met St. Pete’s Liz Pennock, who helps us organize the Stomp.

He heard how much fun our show was and wanted to be part of it – and getting out of Canada in January probably was also some incentive. Anyway, he’s coming down to close the show. He’ll also stay on stage for the jam with all four pianists, taking turns on two grand pianos.

You can check out more on Michael at his website: http://kaeshammer.com

Here’s the what the critics are saying about Kaeshammer’s playing:

“The boogie-woogie pianist best known as a must-see live act reaffirms his true colours here: he’s an R& B hound, particularly if there’s a New Orleans roll to the beat.”  -  Bernard Perusse – Montreal Gazette

“Kaeshammer has piano technique to burn, and has an acrobatic way with a grand piano. –  John Terauds, Toronto Star

Kaeshammer is being hailed as the next big jazz crossover star to come out of Canada.

“The hottest Canadian music export isn’t indie rockers, it’s jazz musicians. First there was Diana Krall, then Michael Bublé and Matt Dusk, and now Michael Kaeshammer has come along…The German-born pianist’s latest could easily be the next big jazz record” - NOW Magazine

Kaeshammer is sharing the Boogie Woogie Stomp bill with Seely and, Liz Pennock (along with guitarist, Dr. Blues), and Craig Brenner, a boogie woogie star out of Indianapolis. Seeley, of course, is the 83-year-old dean of boogie woogie players, who studied with the great Meade Lux Lewis. Brenner has played with Bo Diddley, Buckwheat Zydeco, Matt “Guitar” Murphy and Duke Robillard. 

As usual, along with the music, we’ll have a camera crew focusing on their hands moving eight to the bar. Those images will be projected on a big screen behind the players.

It’s my favorite show of the year. Tickets are going fast, so get yours today. At www.mypalladium.org.

Two incomparable artists in concert this week at the Palladium – HAHN-BIN, and Marc Kudisch

We’ve got two shows coming up in the course of a few days that should be on your “must see” list.

When we booked HAHN-BIN (he uses only capital letters) last summer as part of our Young Concert Artist Series, we thought he was a unique performer – a world-class violinist and performance artist. Since then, the world has taken notice of this 23-year-old protege of Itzhak Perlman.  He has signed with one of the biggest agencies in classical music, he’s appeared on the Today Show, played Carnegie Hall and MOMA in NYC and been featured in The New Yorker magazine.

To get an idea of what you’ll see, check out the review of HAHN-BIN’s recent show at Joe’s Pub in New York. Here’s the link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-luce/hahn-bin-performance_b_1139009.html?ref=email_share

HAHN-BIN

As he told Jenna Bush Hager on the Today Show – “I think the classical music world has been sort of taking a nap - and I’m here to wake them up.” Check out that clip at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo9KRUq2dW0&feature=related

Check out other videos on YouTube – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKSsL9s67Cs - or at his site: http://hahn-bin.com/

Better yet, see him live and later you can tell people “I saw him at the Palladium before he was such a big star…” His concert  is Wednesday, Jan. 18 at 7:30 p.m.

Then on Saturday, we kick off our Broadway Cabaret Series with The Great White Way’s top baritone – Marc Kudisch and his band.

His cabaret show, What Makes Me Tick, has played to rave reviews at Feinstein’s At the Regency and Signature Theater in NYC. Here’s an excerpt from one review:

” In his mind-blowing, entertaining and yet intimate new cabaret show, What Makes Me Tick, Marc Kudisch divulges, among other revelations, that as a young boy, he longed to be Harry Houdini. Well, Mr. Kudisch works magic of a different kind in his delightful show, which is part of Signature Theater’s Sizzin’ Summer Cabaret series. Fresh off a critically-acclaimed run at Feinstein’s at the Regency, Kudisch has fashioned a tribute to songs and artists that have made him “tick” as the Tony-nominated and Helen Hayes Award-winning Broadway and regional musical theater star he is today.

Marc Kudisch

“The title of his cabaret refers to a song cut from The Wild Party (the version composed by Michael LaChiusa), one of Kudisch’s numerous Broadway appearances. Kudisch starts the show teasing the audience with a variety of songs from his childhood that all start with the same downbeat (from Blood Sweat and Tears to Fiddler on the Roof to “Puff the Magic Dragon” to Cabaret).”

Follow this link to read the rest of the review: http://mdtheatreguide.com/2011/08/marc-kudisch-what-makes-me-tick-at-signature-theatres-sizzlin-summer-cabaret/

Or visit his website at http://marckudisch.freakymartian.com/new/

Please make plans to see one or both of these very special shows next week. Tickets are available at www.mypalladium.org.

Bill Burkette, The Vogues’ longtime lead singer, brings the band and those rich vocal harmonies to the Palladium

Bill Burkette and The Vogues

 For Bill Burkette, lead singer of the The Vogues, his musical career, like his life, has been a series of reinventions.

The Vogues started as high school kids doing R & B demos as the Val-Airs, with help from their high school principal in the Pittsburgh suburb called Turtle Creek. Vocal groups were still the rage and these kids could sing.

“They call it Doo Wop now but we called it Rhythm and Blues back then.  The inspiration was The Dells “Oh What a Night” That’s how the harmonies came about,’ says Burkette, during a phone call from his home in Pennsylvania.

The demos got some traction locally. The first reinvention was a name change, the first and last for the band, which turned them into The Vogues. Burkette says they weren’t named after the fashion magazine but after a local teen club called Vogue Terrace.

By 1966, Burkette and The Vogues were topping the charts with hits like “You’re The One” and “Five O’Clock World.”

Then, the boys from Pittsburgh discovered the hard facts of pop stardom.

“We had a cold spell and in those days if you didn’t have a hit, you died. We learned that the kids are fickle,” Burkette says.

That led to their next big reinvention, as a more adult contemporary group. Same name. Same great vocals but a different style.

And more hits followed. This time – “My Special Angel” and the big one that became a pop standard – “Turn Around, Look At Me.”

“We’re the only group – to my knowledge – that changed direction in mid-stream. We went from light rock in 1968 to contemporary and were successful both ways,” he says.

Those hits let them play major halls and clubs around the country and had staying power. The group has been doing shows – sometimes more, sometimes less – ever since.

Not wanting to rely on music entirely, Burkette reinvented himself personally, taking a “Five O’Clock World” job in sales. He married and raised a family.

And now, with his kids grown, he and Hugh Guyer, another of the original members, are on the road and playing to crowds of all-ages.

“We work these concerts throughout the country today, you’d be surprised the ages. There are people in their ‘20s and ‘30s and then you see people in their 70s and 80s. When I’m singing lead on “You’re The One” and “Five O’Clock World” they are singing along,” Burkette says. 

The traveling is still rough, but he brings his wife now, and when he’s on stage he’s having fun, just as he did when it all started back in high school.

Bill, Hugh Geyer and the rest of the band, will be on-stage at the Palladium, playing and singing their hits, on Saturday, Jan. 14 starting at 8 p.m. Amanda Nikka, the Fox News Bay Area finalist for The X Factor, will open the show with a tribute to American’s armed forces and veterans. Amanda attends St. Pete High.

For tickets and more information check out www.mypalladium.org or call the box office at 727 822-3590.

Celebrate the opening of our NEW Side Door Cabaret, with Damon Fowler (2 nights!) and other Palladium favorites – plus some suprises – in January and February

The Palladium’s intimate Side Door Cabaret is already a favorite of audiences and artists. Musicians say it’s the best place to play in Tampa Bay – a room with great acoustics where fans come to LISTEN to the music. Audiences always tell me how much they love hearing their favorite bands and singers in a setting that reminds them of New York-style nightclub.  

Starting in January, we’re unveiling a renovated Side Door that people will love even better.

In the old Side Door, the thick columns – holding up the Hough Hall floor above  - blocked sight lines, forcing some folks to choose between watching the pianist on stage left or the singer on stage right. We’ve shrunk those columns – removing several inches on all sides, to open up more sight lines.

Our stage was always too small and on the wrong side of the room. We couldn’t fit a piano on stage – or a band with more than five players. Artists also had to walk through the club to get to the stage.

Now, we’ve moved the stage to the north wall, allowing artists to enter from doors opening onto our backstage hallway. We’ve expanded the size of the stage to accommodate larger groups and our grand piano. 

We’re finishing off the room with new carpet and an improved lighting grid. The sound system was updated and improved last year.  

 To celebrate the NEW Side Door Cabaret, we’re bringing in a couple of our favorite artists in January and February, plus some surprises. Damon Fowler,  Tampa Bay’s top blues guitarist, opens the room with two nights of house-rocking blues. His shows are Friday, Jan. 6 and Saturday, Jan. 7 at 8 p.m.

New Zealand singer-songwriter, Jackie Bristow, who opened for Tommy Emmanuel last year, arrives on Sunday, Jan. 8 for a 7  p.m. show.

For our jazz audiences we’re bringing in the Kym Purling Trio on Sunday, Jan. 15 at 3 p.m. and the Nate Najar Trio on Thursday, Feb. 2.

Roy Book Binder, the world-reknown acoustic bluesman, will be making his only Tampa Bay appearance on Friday, Feb. 3. He’s followed by Ennis, a touring Celtic folk duo, on Thursday, Feb. 9.

Pick one or more of these great shows and come check out the NEW Side Door Cabaret. And let me know what you think!

Nate Najar is back for the holidays with two of New York’s top jazz men, plus the Ellington Nutcracker!

If it’s getting close to Christmas, Palladium audiences know that Nate Najar is coming to town with another great evening of holiday jazz. This year’s show is Friday, Dec. 9, at 8 p.m.

The St. Pete jazz guitarist, who is building a big national reputation, has been doing holiday shows here since 2005. This year Nate is sharing our main stage with two of the New York’s top jazz men  – Harry Allen on tenor sax and Jon-Erik Kellso on trumpet, plus Palladium favorites John Lamb on bass and Stephen Buckholtz on drums. Lamb, of course, is a veteran of Duke Ellington’s band. Vocalist Jennifer Everett will add her big gospel and jazz voice to the show.

 ”We’ll be swingin’ all your holiday favorites and some new ones,” he said. “And we’ll do some pieces from (the Ellington) Nutcracker.”

Prime seats are selling fast for this show so get your tickets early for the Palladium’s holiday gift to jazz lovers.

For tickets and more information visit our website at: www.mypalladium.org.

Little Walter Tribute show brings top harp players and great blues bands to the Palladium this Saturday night

Last summer we had Doug Deming and the Jewel Tones, along with New Jersey harmonica star Dennis Gruenling, in the Side Door Cabaret. The music was so much fun we decided to expand the show. Working with Tom Carter at the Suncoast Blues Society, and the blues guitarist and singer Steve Arvey, we decided to produce night of blues harmonica and call it “A Tribute To Little Walter.” 

Little Walter, born Marion Walter Jacobs in 1930,  brought a revolutionary approach to his instrument has earned him comparisons to Charlie Parker and Jimi Hendrix. He is the harmonica player on the great Chess recordings of Muddy Waters.

Our Little Walter tribute arrives at the Palladium on Saturday night, Nov. 19 at 8. And our Hough Hall stage will be packed with blues musicians and top harp players.

Backtrack Blues Band opens the show, with Chuck Ross on harmonica.

Doug Deming and the Jeweltones follow, with some guitar help from Arvey. They’ll back up a cadre of Florida harp stars, including Ernie Locke, formerly of Nervous Turkey, along with Tony Smith, Kevin McInerney and Steve Scott.

The band returns for a second set –  this time with two of the best harp players on the national blues circuit – Gruenling and Philadelphia harmonica legend – Steve Guyger.

Deming is a recent arrival in Florida and he and the band are impressive. They earned a standing ovation in our Side door cabaret. As Deming says - ”We have no gimmicks. We play pure traditional music from the heart, with an image that conveys a deep respect for the genre.”

The style is swinging jump blues, built around Deming’s stinging guitar licks. The band tours regularly and has backed up a who’s who of todays top blues performers, including Chicago’s A.C. Reed, Louisiana Red, Chicago Pete, Cannonball vocalist Alberta Adams, Black Tops Johnnie Dyer, WC Handy Award winner Johnny Yard Dog Jones and the legendary Lazy Lester.

I’ll be in New Orleans this weekend for my niece’s wedding – her rehearsal dinner is at the House of Blues so I should be having fun too – but please come check out this show and let me know if you liked it. I’m sure you will!

Tickets are available on-line at www.mypalladium.org or by calling the box office at 727 822-3590, or by visiting the box office the night of the show.

Caroline Goulding appears tonight in the debut concert of the Palladium’s Young Concert Artist Series

St. Petersburg Times Fine Arts Writer John Fleming talked last week with Caroline Goulding, who is performing tonight at the Palladium.  The 19-year-old violinist is kicking off our Young Concert Artist Series. The show has generated a lot of excitement among classical music lovers and music students.  Caroline appeared Tuesday at Gibbs High School in St. Pete, doing a performance and a master class for students.

Here is an excerpt from John’s article that run last Sunday:

Grammy nominee on priceless Stradivarius

Violinist Caroline Goulding inaugurates another series, the Young Concert Artist Series at the Palladium. On Wednesday, Goulding and pianist Dina Vainshtein will play sonatas by Mozart, Schumann and Enescu as well as a pair of French pieces by Faure and Saint-Saens/Ysaye.

Goulding was 17 when her first CD, a recital on the Telarc label, was nominated for a Grammy Award. Now, two years later, she has a full performance schedule, while still attending the New England Conservatory of Music. There she studies with Donald Weilerstein (who also taught Stefan Jackiw, soloist in the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the Florida Orchestra this weekend), mostly on the pieces she plays in recitals and with orchestras.

“This year my big piece is the Sibelius concerto,” she said recently from a Panera Bread in Boston. “I’m going to be playing that a lot. Also the Mendelssohn concerto and the Bruch Scottish Fantasy.”

Goulding, who grew up in Port Huron, a small city on the shore of Lake Huron in Michigan, started playing violin, learning under the Suzuki method, when she was 3 1/2. With her parents, special-education teachers, she moved to Cleveland at age 12 to study at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Her older brothers played sax and trumpet in middle and high school. “I just wanted to do what my brothers were doing,” she said. “Without such a supportive family, I wouldn’t have any of this so-called success or whatnot.”

Today, she plays a priceless violin, the “General Kyd” Stradivarius from 1720. It’s on loan to her from a violin collector in London, Jonathan Moulds, president of Bank of America in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

“I’ve had it since February 2010,” she said. “I’m still getting to know it. It’s still getting to know me. It’s a process. I think with greater opportunities come greater responsibilities. Playing this wonderful instrument, I feel I have a responsibility to play it well, to dig as deep as I can and get as much as I can from it in terms of color and sound.”

On Tuesday, Goulding will spend the afternoon at the Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School, where she will perform and give a master class. “Whenever I play for students, they all seem fascinated by classical music,” she said. “You want to start with the most accessible, so keeping that in mind, I’ll probably include some Beethoven in what I play for them.”

Others on the Palladium’s new series are violinist Hahn-Bin (Jan. 18) and pianist Charlie Albright (April 18).

John Fleming can be reached at fleming@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8716.

 

To read the entire article click on this link: http://www.tampabay.com/features/performingarts/alexander-string-quartet-violinist-caroline-goulding-and-pianist-dina/1200637

Palladium a finalist for a 2011 Arts Impact Award from the Biz Committee for the Arts

Here’s the press release for the awards. Read down a graph or two for the Palladium’s nomination. Hopefully, I’ll see some of you at the awards gala tonight at The Coliseum in St. Pete. The press release follows:

TAMPA, Fla. (Oct. 25, 2011) – Tampa Bay Businesses for Culture and the Arts (TBBCA) announces the finalists for its annual Impact Awards that will be presented at the 17th Annual Awards Gala and Save the Arts Benefit on Nov. 9, at The Coliseum in St. Petersburg.

The Impact Award recipients will be selected based on involvement or support of the arts, impact of contribution, originality, quality, level and depth of service. Event host, Lissette Campos from ABC Action News will award six local businesses and individuals with an original TBBCA Impact Award in honor of those making a significant impact on Tampa Bay’s arts and cultural community.

The 2011 business Impact Awards finalists include: Brimmer, Burek & Keelan, LLP, nominated by Moving Current Dance Collective for providing valuable pro bono accounting services to the organization for the past 14 years. Dimmitt Automotive Group nominated by Ruth Eckerd Hall for contributing nearly $1.3 million in contributions to the arts and cultural community since 1979.  Mercury Advisors nominated by Stageworks Theatre for donating an 8,000-square-foot space valued at $2.5 million in the Channel District property development as a permanent home for the theatre company. Morean Arts Center nominated by Charles A. Hounchell, P.A., Attorneys & Counselors at Law for its new Chihuly Collection and its economic impact on the Tampa Bay region.  Office Dynamics nominated by Masque of Temple Terrace for providing cash and in-kind donations as well as fundraising assistance to the Masque Theatre.  The Palladium Theater at St. Petersburg College nominated by Charles A. Hounchell, P.A., Attorneys & Counselors at Law for providing affordable, discounted rental space to Tampa Bay’s nonprofit cultural organizations.   Tampa Bay Lightning nominated by St. Petersburg Times for their support of arts and culture in the Tampa Bay area and partnership with the City of Tampa’s Art in Public Places program, The Florida Orchestra and the Tampa Bay History Center. University of South Florida School of Theatre and Dance nominated by Florida Dance Association for hosting the Florida Dance Festival at a reduced rate and generously donating studio space and creating a safe, accessible environment to young, aspiring dance students throughout the southeastern United States and Caribbean for an intense study and exchange in a noncompetitive atmosphere.

The 2011 individual Impact Awards finalists include: T. Hampton Dohrman nominated by Ybor City Chamber of Commerce for his establishment of Hampton Arts Management and several innovative programs that support the arts and artists in unique ways.  Gladys Douglas Hackworth nominated by Ruth Eckerd Hall for her longstanding gifts of time, talent and financial contributions to numerous arts organizations in the Tampa Bay community. As a founding member of Ruth Eckerd Hall, Hackworth helped ensure that the world-class performing arts center was built in Clearwater, and her contributions to the organization have totaled more than six figures since 1980.  Dr. Harold William Heller nominated by Great Explorations Children’s Museum for his long history of community involvement with multiple nonprofit arts organizations, including Great Explorations Children’s Museum, the Dunedin Fine Art Center, Mahaffey Theatre Foundation and The Palladium Theater at St. Petersburg College.  Kurt Klotz of the Tampa Bay Symphony nominated by the Tampa Bay Symphony for his tireless efforts to keep the organization alive and performing amid difficult leadership transitions and funding losses. Sonny LaRosa of America’s Youngest Jazz Band nominated by Gabrielle Lewis for his attentive devotion as a jazz musician and music teacher. LaRosa’s influence as an arts educator has positively impacted the lives of hundreds of young students in the Tampa Bay area for the past 30 years.  Roger Robson of the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts nominated by the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts for his support of the organization over the last several years, and for his visionary leadership that has raised the profile of the organization, led to increased outreach and accessibility, new partnerships and a new facility. Larry Wilder of Wilder Architecture Inc., nominated by City of Tampa Art Programs for his design, fabrication and installation of a 9/11 memorial sculpture for the City of Tampa. Wilder reached out and coordinated the efforts of 11 other companies to donate, services, labor and time to the project, which was dedicated by mayor Bob Buckhorn on Sept. 9, at its permanent location, the median of Bayshore Boulevard at Bay to Bay Boulevard, also known as Patriot’s Corner.

Winners of this year’s TBBCA Impact Awards will receive a commissioned work of art from a series based on “The Generosity Gene,” by Tampa Bay featured artist, Tracy Midulla Reller (www.tracymidullareller.com), whose work can be seen throughout the United States and in parts of Canada.  Reller has been published in a number of art publications and has been commissioned for apparel design.  She is also a founding member of the Tampa artist collective [5]art, and in late 2009, Reller opened an alternative space venue, Tempus Projects, in South Seminole Heights. Tempus Projects is an artist-run project space, dedicated to supporting artists through local exhibitions and community events promoting artists working in all visual arts media.   

The TBBCA 17th Annual Awards Gala and Save the Arts Benefit is open to the public. Tickets are available at the door.

About the TBBCA:
Founded in 1989, Tampa Bay Businesses for Culture and the Arts (TBBCA) is a nonprofit organization of businesses committed to supporting the arts.  The TBBCA is an affiliate of the national Business Committee for the Arts, which in 2008 became a part of Americans for the Arts. The mission of the TBBCA is to help build a stronger arts and cultural community with the support of area businesses.

St. Pete Times’ John Fleming gives a rave review to ‘August: Osage County’ – now on stage at the Palladium

St. Petersburg Times Fine Arts Writer John Fleming was knocked out by the  American Stage production of “August: Osage County” at the Palladium. This show runs only through Sunday, so if you love theater, you don’t want to miss this production.

Here’s an excerpt from Fleming’s review:

ST. PETERSBURG — It’s got the kind of dramatic twist you don’t often experience in American Stage productions: A play about alcoholism, drug addiction, incest, divorce, pedophilia, suicide and cancer. But this unrelenting tale of woe does not come across as a tragedy. Instead, it had the audience howling with laughter at Sunday’s matinee.

And in a further twist, the performance isn’t even in the theater’s own downtown building, but in the Palladium a few blocks up the street.

Combined, these elements make for one of the most satisfying theater experiences in recent memory.

Just about every hot-button topic you can think of is part of August: Osage County, except for perhaps homosexuality (and there are a couple lesbian wisecracks). Yet Tracy Letts’ celebrated play kept the audience in stitches during its almost four-hour performance. Never has the dysfunction of the American family been so hilarious.

Do you believe that an absurd, graphically vulgar account of a drug-addicted old woman smuggling Darvocet into a psych ward could be roll-in-the-aisles funny? Don’t ask me why or how — the genius of plain-spoken American vernacular is the only explanation I’ve got, and I realize that sounds pedantic for such a scene — but it brings down the house.

At the center of Letts’ black comedy is Violet Weston, the sharp-tongued, pill-popping matriarch of an Oklahoma clan, brought to monstrous life by Lisa McMillan in the sprawling production, directed by Todd Olson, artistic producing director of American Stage. In McMillan’s ferocious performance, Violet is a Medea of the plains, psychically destroying her three grown daughters, who have gathered for the funeral of their father, Beverly (Michael Edwards), an alcoholic and failed poet. Not for nothing does Beverly mention John Berryman and Hart Crane, a pair of American poet-suicides, in his opening soliloquy before he vanishes from the play.

What makes McMillan’s performance so compelling is that along with the vehement venom of Violet’s truth telling, the actor also communicates her warmth, though it surfaces only in fleeting, quicksilver moments: a line from Emily Dickinson dredged up from a drugged stupor; a bizarre, heartbreaking childhood story about some boots, told to her daughters.

To read the full review  visit: http://www.tampabay.com/features/performingarts/review-august-osage-county-is-comedic-masterpiece/1198369