JUST ADDED- THE HUMAN HEART: HELPING HAITI'S CHILDREN
Monday, March 1 at 7:00 PM
Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty and After The Storm present The Human Heart: Haiti's Children. Performers TBA. Directed by Randy Redd with Aaron Jodoin, Musical Director. $40
MARCH 3 - 5
JAMIE CULLUM - on sale Wednesday Feb 3 at 12noon
Wednesday, March 3 at 7:00 PM
English singer/songwriter/pianist/multi-instrumentalist Jamie Cullum, who has been dubbed "a one man British invasion" (Hollywood Reporter), has announced a series of US tour dates to coincide with the U.S. release of The Pursuit on March 2, 2010. The album is Cullum's third for Verve Records and his first in four years. It follows last year's Golden Globe nomination for Cullum and Clint Eastwood of "Gran Torino" as Best Original Song. Cullum's prior album releases Twentysomething and Catching Tales were international crossover smashes selling more than 4 million combined copies worldwide. Already released to great critical and commercial success in Europe and the U.K., The Pursuit has garnered Top 10 digital debuts on the iTunes Top Album Chart in the U.K., Germany, France, Spain and ten other countries. The album is currently #14 on the Billboard European Top 100 Album Chart.
Like the exploding piano on its cover, the long-awaited new album The Pursuit blows away audience preconceptions with 14 smoldering tracks that seamlessly run the gamut from swinging standards and yearning singer-songwriter confessionals to 125 BPM house dance tracks and resurrected Broadway ballads. The album features nine Cullum originals and five cover songs that showcase Cullum's unique voice and iconoclastic interpretive skills. The self-penned gems include the buoyant first single "I'm All Over It," the cheerfully apocalyptic "Wheels," the animated swing of "You and Me Are Gone," Cullum's love song to music "Mixtape" and his love song to love "Love Ain't Gonna Let You Down." Elsewhere on the album, Cullum reinvents 1930s jazz standards (Cole Porter's "Just One Of Those Things" and "Love For Sale"), brings the dance floor into the bedroom (Rihanna's "Don't Stop The Music") and cleans the pancake off the Great White Way (Leslie Bricusse's "If I Ruled the World" and Stephen Sondheim's "Not While I'm Around").
Since the release of Cullum's last album, he has seen an ever-growing courtship with Hollywood blossom: beginning with 2007's animated Disney feature Meet The Robinsons in which Jamie was the singing voice of Frankie The Frog, continuing with his vocal on the Golden Globe-nominated "Best Original Song" from the John Cusack film Grace Is Gone, and culminating in his co-writing and performing with Clint Eastwood the Golden Globe-nominated "Best Original Song" from 2008's Gran Torino. Cullum was also recently featured in the Clint Eastwood executive-produced documentary Johnny Mercer: The Dream's On Me celebrating the 100th anniversary of the great American songwriter's birth. $35
HOLMES BROTHERS: CD RELEASE
Thursday, March 4 at 7:00 PM
The spine-tingling harmonies, boundless energy and telepathic musicianship of The Holmes Brothers (bassist/vocalist Sherman Holmes, guitarist/pianist/vocalist Wendell Holmes, drummer/vocalist Popsy Dixon) mix Saturday night's roadhouse rock with the gospel fervor and harmonies of Sunday's church service. USA Today calls The Holmes Brothers vision of American roots music "masterful and convincing." Entertainment Weekly says, "The Holmes Brothers are juke-joint vets with a brazenly borderless view of American music." Their chilling harmonies resonate with a passion and conviction matched only by their inspired musicianship and their ability to perform sanctified gospel, low-down roadhouse blues, deep soul, Americana/country and pure pop--all in one set. On their latest CD State Of Grace, produced by Craig Street (Norah Jones, Chris Whitley, Cassandra Wilson) they expertly reinvented songs by writers as diverse as John Fogerty (Bad Moon Rising), Cheap Trick (I Want You To Want Me), Hank Williams, Sr. (I Can't Help It If I'm Still In Love With You), Nick Lowe (What's So Funny 'Bout Peace Love And Understanding?), George Jones (Ain't It Funny What A Fool Will Do), and Lyle Lovett (God Will, If I Had A Boat), delivering versions that need to be heard to be believed, alongside exceptional originals which showcase the same true-life stories, depth of feeling, heartbreak and humor found in the timeless songs they choose to cover. With one foot firmly planted in the secular world, The Holmes Brothers layer their songs with rich gospel harmonies and alternately rough-edged and tender vocals, producing what is undoubtedly their richest and most fully realized album. $20
