JAMES HUNTER SIX
September 21 at 9pm – click here for tickets
“James Hunter is one of the best voices, and best kept secrets, in British R&B and soul. Check him out.” – Van Morrison
In the early ‘90s, Van Morrison caught James’s gig in Wales and hired him as a backup singer for several years of touring and recording. James sang on Morrison’s A Night in San Francisco (1994), and Days Like This (1995). With its affectionate echoes of Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson, it became an airplay staple. LA Times praised his “extraordinary soul voice”; Rolling Stone called it “a treat not to miss.” It made the Top Ten Best Albums of 2006 on Mojo, USA Today and WFUV listeners’ poll, and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album; James was nominated as Best New Artist at the Americana Music Awards.
HUNTERTONES
October 16 at 7pm – click here for tickets
“purposeful, plotted melodies of a big band, but the flexibility of an ensemble…terrific solo sections and a real ability to tap into emotion and articulation” – Columbia Tribune
Huntertones is a high energy horn-driven group founded in Columbus, OH and currently based in Brooklyn, NY. Their signature sound is a marriage of inspired improvisation and adventurous compositions that meld jazz, funk, soul, hip-hop, R&B, and rock. The band met at The Ohio State University and got their start playing house shows at their Hunter Avenue apartment. In addition to covering a wide range of genres, they’re known for the ability to shift from a dynamic six-piece ensemble to an unconventional trio featuring saxophone, sousaphone, and beat-boxing.
LANDAU EUGENE MURPHY, JR.
October 28 at 7pm – click here for tickets
“he’s amazing. He’s being compared to greats like Sinatra and Nat King Cole, and he deserves it.” – Judith Hill
Over 100 sold out concerts across three continents, from Caesars Palace to the Apollo Theater and all points in between. A debut CD from a Grammy winning producer that hit the top of the Billboard charts. More than a million dollars raised for children’s and homeless charities via his holiday CD and personal appearances. Performing duets with childhood heroes Patti Labelle and Glenn Leonard, the former lead vocalist from The Temptations. An international television audience of over 100 million touched by his amazing life story. And it all started in a very small town with a man who possessed a big dream and an even bigger voice.
ATLANTA RHYTHM SECTION
November 13 at 7 & 9pm – click here for tickets
ARS was paired with contemporaries Lynyrd Skynyrd as the successors to the Allman Brothers, carrying the mantle of Southern Rock in the late 1970s. Performing songs that are more musically diverse and having hits that had more of a pop sound, many of their musical accomplishments never really fit into the Southern Rock genre tag. The group has enjoyed a fervent following, especially in the South. In the 1970s they charted a consistent string of hits: “Doraville,” “I’m Not Gonna Let It Bother Me Tonight,” “Champagne Jam,” “So Into You,” “Imaginary Lover,” and many more. The band also influenced a number of rock and country artists, notably Travis Tritt, who covered the ARS songs “Back Up Against the Wall” and “Homesick.”
C.J CHENIER
November 19 at 7 & 9pm – click here for tickets
“the crown prince of zydeco… contemporary, turbo-charged dance music.” – Boston Globe
C.J.’s father was the first Creole musician to win a Grammy Award. C.J. spent his childhood in the tough tenement housing projects of Port Arthur, Texas. His earliest musical influences were an eclectic mix of funk, soul, jazz and Motown, and his first musical instruments were piano, tenor saxophone and flute.When Paul Simon recorded his 1990 album Rhythm of the Saints, he handpicked C.J. Chenier to play accordion (alongside Ringo Starr on drums) then asked him to join his “Born at the Right Time Tour”. A few years later C.J. showed up as a guest on the Gin Blossom’s “New Miserable Experience” album.
RUDRESH MAHANTHAPPA – BIRD CALLS
October 23 at 7pm – click here for tickets
“#1 album of the year” – NPR
“2015’s album of the year” – DownBeat
This incredible performance will be held at our sister club in St. Paul, VIEUX CARRE.
Few musicians share the ability of Rudresh Mahanthappa to embody the expansive possibilities of his music with his culture. The saxophonist/composer hybridizes progressive jazz and South Indian classical music in a fluid and forward-looking form reflecting his own experience growing up a second-generation Indian-American. Hailed by the New York Times as possessing “a roving intellect and a bladelike articulation,” Mahanthappa has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, two New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowships, and numerous commissions. He has been named alto saxophonist of the year four of the past five years in Downbeat Magazine’s International Critics Polls and for five years running by the Jazz Journalists’ Association. In April 2013, he received a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, one of the most prominent arts awards in the world. In 2015, he was named a United States Artists Fellow.