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Friday, June 2 @ 8 PM &
Saturday, June 3 @ 8 PM |
MALLORY O'DONNELL WITH BOB WARREN
CD Release Celebration
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$15/12 |
 Mallory O'Donnell is a Greenwich, NY high school senior who has been thrilling audiences with a soulful and powerful voice that transcends her age.
Performances at The Turning Point, the Final Stretch Festival, and TV and radio appearances have earned her a rapidly growing following.
"JOY," Mallory's debut album, has been co-produced by Bob Warren and Tony Markellis, and features songs written and arranged by Warren.
Mallory will be joined by an impressive band of musical luminaries for this special concert: Tony Markellis on bass, Danny Whelchel on drums, Michael Roach on piano, Monica Roach on cello, Don Warren on guitar, and Bob Warren on guitar. Also joining in will be a two-piece horn section and background vocalists.
These concerts are selling out quickly so reserve your seats right away! |
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| Sunday, June 4 @ 7 PM |
JOHN GORKA
With Special Guest Pat Wictor
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$20/18 |
 "John's songs are timeless and people sense that, even hearing him for the first time. He's far more than just an entertainer; he's an entire generation's poet." -Gary Gackstatter, Conductor Winfield Regional Symphony
www.johngorka.com | www.patwictor.com
Singer, songwriter, guitarist, and pianist John Gorka is a sharp observer and distinctive singer. He plays original folk songs full of depth, beauty, and emotion.
Whether it's a tune brimming with love and loss, a sharp daily-life vignette, biting social or political commentary, or just plain down-home humor, John always displays an unerring grasp of words, melody, and the details that pose profoundly personal, yet universal themes.
NYC songwriter and lap-slide guitarist Pat Wictor won many new friends at Lena's performing and teaching in our Acoustic Blues Weekend in April. Steeped in American "roots" music, Pat draws on rural country, gospel, and blues traditions. With flowing red hair and zen-like calm, he brings a hush over an audience, weaving several parts on his guitar and reaching into each listener's heart. |
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| Wednesday, June 7 @ 7 PM |
POETRY OPEN MIC
With Featured Reader Marilyn McCabe |
$3 |
 Poetry Open Mic takes place on the first Wednesday of every month. Our host is poet Carol Graser. Each participant will read two short poems or one longer poem. The featured reader will perform for about twenty minutes.
Marilyn McCabe's work has appeared in Nimrod, Hunger Mountain, BlueLine, and upcoming in Natural Bridge. In 2004 she was awarded a New York State Council on the Arts grants to explore the idea of home and its creative implications. She works as a freelance editor and admissions advisor for Empire State College. |
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Friday, June 9 @ 8 PM &
Saturday, June 10 @ 8 PM |
SUSAN TRUMP
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$14/12 |
 www.susantrump.com
Susan Trump is a singer whose gentle voice and story songs have been crowd pleasers at Caffè Lena for years. Her song writing prowess and outstanding instrumental skill on mountain dulcimer, guitar, and banjo can be heard on four solo recordings, including "Live at Caffe Lena" which captures the excitement of one of her "sell-out" weekend performances.
Her newest CD, "Songs of Faith and Hope," a collection of inspirational, uplifting songs both original and traditional, is being touted as her best ever. |
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| Sunday, June 11 @ 7 PM |
DENISE MCDONALD
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$12/10 |
 Denise McDonald sings jazz, blues and spirituals. Her rich, resonant and soulfully earthy voice captivates and compells her audience to take notice. Hearing Denise reveal the emotional essence of a song is like witnessing a blossom open to release its perfume. No fragile flower though she is sheer power.
Accompanying her for the evening's performance are Elizabeth Woodbury on piano, Mike Del Prete on bass and Mike Flanagan on saxophone. |
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| Friday, June 16 @ 8 PM |
CINDY KALLET & EMMA'S REVOLUTION
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$12/10 |
  www.cindykallet.com | www.emmasrevolution.com
Cindy Kallet's music is well known to regional folk fans, know it or not, because her "Big Dark's Fancy" is the theme song for Hudson River Sampler.
Over the past twenty-five years she has brought her gentle songs, deep poetic sensibility, and quietly outrageous humor to stages and radio programs across America.
Her album Working On Wings to Fly was chosen as a one of the top 100 folk albums of the 20th century by Boston's WUMB radio. A children's album received a Parent's Choice Award.
Emma's Revolution features Pat Humphries, who has been called "the true spirit-child of Woody Guthrie" and her partner Sandy Opatow. Pat's political anthems have been favorites at peace and justice events worldwide for years. Since forming their duo they have been awarded grand prize, out of 24,000 contestants, in the John Lennon Songwriting Competition, and following an NPR appearance in 2002, their album became Amazon.com's best seller for three days running, beating out Eminem. Now that's great news! |
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| Saturday, June 17 @ 8 PM |
DAVE'S TRUE STORY
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$14//12 |
"New York hipsters Dave's True Story mix it up with smoldering grooves and
cheeky beatnik lyrics..." -Billboard
"Dave's True Story offers art songs for a new century, spiced with jazz and
neon details." -Playboy
www.davestruestory.com
This super-sultry, jazzy pop ensemble from NYC dims the lights and darkens the grooves, cleverly exploring the topics of love, global ennui, and host of odd-ball topics in between.
Featuring lyricist and guitarist Dave Cantor, jazzy chanteuse Kelly Flint, and bassist Jeff Eyrich, DTS has been delivering intelligent jazz-pop since 1994.
They've been celebrated by CNN, The New York Times, Playboy and many thousands of fans worldwide. Their latest project is a collection of Bob Dylan covers called Simple Twist of Fate: DTS Does Dylan. |
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Sunday, June 18 @ 7 PM |
ACTIVE TRANSPORT
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$10/8 for members & dads |
Sorry, this show has been cancelled
www.albanyjazz.com/musicians/activetransport.html
Available these days exclusively during school vacations, this quintet began carving its niche in the Capital District jazz scene when they formed in 2000 when still in high school.
Fronted by trumpeter Bryson Barnes, who was hailed as a "teen wunderkind" by the Gazette, Active Transport brings a melodic and innovative approach to jazz standards and originals. Backing Barnes will be Dominic Fallacaro on piano, Jeff Nania on tenor saxophone, Nathaniel Coyne on drums, and Mike Lawrence on bass. |
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| Friday, June 23 @ 8 PM |
HAYSEED
With Special Guests Rebecca Hall & Ken Anderson
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$12/10 |
"Hayseed is, in my mind, on the same level as Bob Dylan and Neil Young and
Van Morrison." -Lucinda Williams
"This is GREAT stuff! Well thought out spiritual philosophy, very organic. " - John Prine
www.hayseedsings.com | www.rebeccaandken.com
Now living in Albany, Hayseed grew up in Western Kentucky where his father was a Pentacostal minister who shunned every kind of music but gospel. "From the time I was a little kid, I was encouraged to sing at the top of my lungs..."
 Hayseed's melodies are close kin to countless old-time tunes, yet the lyrics carry sharp contemporary accents, preoccupied with guilt, sin, salvation and eternity. His first two albums feature duets from Lucinda, Joy Lynn White and Emmylou Harris.
This is foot-stomping country music like you don't often get this far north, but full of existential wisdom. Truly one-of-a-kind!
Conjuring the ancient, often haunting, ballads of the British Isles and their Appalachian counterparts, opening guest Rebecca Hall's compositions don't so much ignore modern songcraft as transcend it. Combined with husband Ken Anderson's old-school musical arrangements and '60s-era pop harmonies, the result is an altogether new, yet curiously familiar, style they call "retro folk." |
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| Saturday, June 24 @ 8 PM |
CLIFF EBERHARDT
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$15/12 |
 "He is the missing link between Paul McCartney and Cole Porter." -Seth
Rogovoy
www.cliffeberhardt.com
A seasoned veteran of festival and club stages coast to coast, songwriter Cliff Eberhardt has earned acclaim from the New York Times, People Magazine, and a legion of radio hosts and fans.
He is credited as a founding member of the "new folk" revival, a movement which grew out of Greenwich Village in the 1980s and includes compatriots Suzanne Vega, John Gorka, and Richard Shindell. His lyrics, set to guitar and piano melodies ranging from pop to folk to old-style jazz, find fresh, incisive ways to address the familiar themes of life gone good and bad.
In his live shows, Cliff binds his deep songs together with riotous stories and one-liners worthy of a professional stand-up comedian. It's an emotional roller coaster ride that will leave you purified and eager to try it again. |
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| Sunday, June 25 @ 7 PM |
PADDY KEENAN
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$18/15 |
 www.paddykeenan.com
The indisputable king of the Irish uilleann pipes, and recipient of Ireland's prestigious "National Musician of the Year" award in 2002, Paddy Keenan makes music of astounding perfection, bringing traditional and original tunes into a tapestry of soul and reverie.
Founding member of the Bothy Band in 1973, Paddy's playing has remained at the top for thirty years. He has been described as "the Jimi Hendrix of the pipes" and, due to his genius for improvisation and counter-melody, he has been compared to Coltrane.
Always innovative and diverse, he has played in recent years with Steve Morse of Deep Purple, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, and Mary Chapin Carpenter, as well as experimental jazz-Celtic fusion with such greats as Regina Carter, Steve Kroon, and David O'Rourke. He has worked on film scores for documentaries that focus on cultures on the edge of extinction including Native Americans and Travellers in both Ireland and America.
Throughout the year, Paddy delights audiences all around the world. As we go to press he is out of reach in Thailand, but has pledged to bring with him a surprise guest to add singing and guitar to the concert. |
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| Friday, June 30 @ 8 PM |
GORAN IVANOVIC GROUP
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$12/10 |
 www.goranivanovicgroup.com
This extraordinary pan-cultural ensemble from Chicago effortlessly blends classical and jazz music with the rich folkloric traditions of Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Serbia.
The result is as alluring as it is complex. Exotic Middle Eastern motifs merge gracefully with the evocative sounds of Eastern European Klezmer music. The passion and urgency with which they play can be heard in every note.
Songs written by Ivanovic are mixed with arrangements of traditional folk songs commonly played at weddings and other celebrations. Celebrated guitarist Ivanovic is joined in this ensemble by Doug Rosenberg on saxophone, Matthew Ulery on bass, and Michael Caskey on drums. |
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