Performance Schedule
November 2006

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Wednesday, Nov. 1 @ 7 PM POETRY OPEN MIC
With Featured Reader Josh Mcintyre		 $3

Josh Mcintyre grew up in and all around the Capital District, and currently resides in Ballston Spa. He has been writing poetry for nearly a decade now. He writes poetry because he cannot. Also, he thought it would help him escape the rigors of grammar he associated with prose writing. He was wrong. But he still cannot sing, so he has worked to improve his craft, taken up reading poetry where he can, and sought out what publishing might be available to him. Josh's work has been published in Metroland, Screed and Modern Drunkard Magazine (sorry, Mom).   Featured Reader Tim Verhaegen had to cancel

POET BENEATH A MEMORY

Beaten, I find some reason
To work through these cold seasons
To speak of wind as the voice of treason
To forge in scribble for the time being,
While just the thought of her name is easing.
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Thursday, Nov. 2 @ 7 PM RICHARD SHINDELL   
With Special Guest Kelly Flint		 $22/20
Sold Out!
www.richardshindell.com
An expatriate New Yorker now living in Buenos Aires, Richard Shindell is a meticulous craftsman whose five studio albums and one live recording have been revered by critics and fans alike.
     Innovative, original and occasionally spiritual, Shindell is a true balladeer. He sings contemporary folk songs that champion the downtrodden, exalt the disaffected or wax empathetic to those lost to society's fringes. His repertoire is truly eclectic, ranging from lighthearted tales and adulterous love songs, to dirges and diatribes that skillfully skewer politics, prejudice, war and religion. And, as with so many artists, while his albums have become classics of modern folk his live performances never fail to take it up another notch. Not to be missed!
     Kelly Fint, the acclaimed chanteuse of NYC jazz trio Dave's True Story, will reveal a different side of her talents as she opens the show with a set of her own riveting, original songs."
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Fri., Sat., Sun.,  Nov. 3, 4 & 5
Fri./Sat. @ 8 PM; Sun. @ 7 PM		 BOB WARREN BAND $15/12
www.bob-warren.com
After more than 25 years of performing around the Northeast, Bob Warren has once again created a buzz of excitement. With his latest album, Joy, featuring the singing of Mallory O'Donnell, he has reinvented his perenially popular soft-rock sound.
     Now mixed in with all the old favorites are new, retro-sounding soul songs that capture listeners from teen to retiree. Blissful, sultry, grooving--there's nobody who doesn't leave smiling and lightened by Bob's music, warm stage presence, and first-rate band.
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Saturday, Nov 4 @ 3 PM
Mon. & Tues., Nov 6 & 7 @ 8 PM		 HISTORY OF THE WORLD FROM THE VERY BEGINNING
A Theatrical Production Featuring Will Bond		 $10
“Longtime SITI company member WILL BOND gives a tour de force performance ... that may not only change the way you look at the theatre, but even alter the way you look at the world.” - THE NEW YORKER

Will Bond
Christian Frederickson

A timeless, ageless storyteller weaves a patchwork of memory, music, song, and distortion into stories and observations of love, time, and transcendence.
     HISTORY OF THE WORLD FROM THE VERY BEGINNING is a story about storytelling. It is a story a father wants to tell his son. It is a story of a little boy who discovers a dinosaur bone, about a little girl who turns into an angel, about the creation of the universe, about a man who has suffered a trauma and believes that he is Homer, and it is about the human urge to tell stories in order to heal.
     This monologue, performed by Will Bond, is set to the music of acclaimed musician and composer Christian Frederickson who collaborated on the play and performs live.
Call 289-5076 for reservations

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Friday, Nov. 10 @ 8 PM THE LAWS WITH REBECCA HALL & KEN ANDERSON $12/10
www.thelaws.ca | www.rebeccaandken.com
This show will feature two husband-and-wife duos who light up the stage with warm comeraderie and wonderfully original music.
     The Laws are John and Michele Law from Ontario, Canada. In the words of Willie P. Bennett: "If Gram Parsons married Allison Kraus, their music would sound a lot like John and Michele." Finding the juncture of bluegrass, country, folk & blues, their songwriting and impeccable harmonizing has caught the ear of folk fans worldwide.
     Since 2000 they've become mainstage favorites at Kerrville and other prominent festivals, and perform 200 club dates a year from Australia to Montreal.

Rebecca Hall and Ken Anderson of Vermont take a "deep roots" approach to folk music. Conjuring the ancient, haunting ballads of the British Isles and Appalachia, Rebecca has been hailed as "a true rarity: a new folk classicist" by the Boston Herald.
     Combined with Ken'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, Nov. 11 @ 7 PM SKIDMORE SMALL JAZZ ENSEMBLES $5
Come enjoy a night of diverse jazz styles and inspiring talent as the music students of Skidmore College take the stage with their guitars, brass, reeds, keyboards, drums and vocals.
     They never fail to put on truly engaging show. This is a great one to bring your aspiring young music student to!
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Sunday, Nov. 12 @ 7 PM AZZAAM HAMEED & JUDY WYLE $10/8
www.smoothkeys.com | www.hiddenriver.net/main.htm
Judy Joy Wyle and Azzaam Hameed express their love of musical interpretation and composition in their recently formed duo. Their mix of jazz standards, originals and favorite cover tunes has a strong and warm-hearted flavor, laced with improvisational surprise.
     Azzaam is a distinguished pianist, vocalist and composer with a background in gospel, soul, R & B and jazz. Judy has a rich and colorful history as a singer-songwriter whose styles encompass folk, R & B and jazz. Both are well-known to regional audiences.
Photo: Terri-Lynn Pellegri
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Monday, Nov. 13 @ 7 PM STORYTELLING OPEN MIC $3
Storytellers throughout the Capital District gather at Caffe Lena once a month to try their voices for the first time, hone their skills in front of a live audience, work on their presentation, or try out new ideas in a supportive atmosphere. For others it just an inexpensive night of fine entertainment.
     No advance reservations are necessary or taken. Tellers sign up by 7:15, performances begin at 7:30. No reading, just telling, please. The hosts are Marni Gillard, Christie Keegan and Jeannine Laverty.
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Friday, Nov. 17 @ 8 PM ROY BOOK BINDER $15/14
www.roybookbinder.com
For more than 30 years Roy Book Binder has traveled the world as a "keeper of the flame" and ambassador of the blues. One of the finest fingerpickers working today, Roy has an eclectic repertoire that includes blues, country tunes, bluegrass and folk. Roy learned his craft from the great Reverend Gary Davis and has performed with bluesmen and women like Homesick James, Pink Anderson, and Bonnie Raitt. He played regularly on the Nashville Network and has appeared as featured storyteller at the the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN. His most recent CD is Polk City Ramble (Rounder).
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Saturday, Nov. 18 @ 8 PM JEFF WARNER, DAN BERGGREN & ED LOWMAN $12/10
www.jeffwarner.com | www.berggrenfolk.com
Jeff Warner of New Hampshire is well known to folklorists and traditional music lovers across the Northeast and beyond. With the skills and passion of a scholar he rediscovers the songs of America's past, and with the engaging skill of a modern folksinger he performs them for audiences in clubs, festivals and schools across the country.
     His favorite themes are fishing songs from North Carolina's Outer Banks, lumber camp songs from the Adirondacks, and whaling songs from New England. Providing more than just rich entertainment, Jeff will leave you with a deeper appreciation the land you live in.

Teaming up with Jeff will be local folksinger Dan Berggren who has contributed many new songs to the folk songbook over the past decades. Deeply rooted in tradition, especially that of the Adirondack's, Dan's bouncy, foot-tapping songs gently point the way toward a better future and a better present. They are, in Dan's words, "protests in the streets, ghosts in the woods, feeling at home wherever you are, finding truth in the wilderness, wisdom from our elders, and salvation in the 'power from above.' "
     His latest album, Fresh Territory, has just been released on Dan's own label, Sleeping Giant Records.
     The skillful and versatile Ed Lowman will round out the sound with his fiddle throughout the evening.
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Sunday, Nov. 19 @ 7 PM SHTREIML $14/12
www.shtreiml.com
This is a show for jam band aficionados, klezmer enthusiasts, jazz fans looking for new horizons, and for all who hunger for an edge-of-the-seat musical experience. One of the most dazzling and fun ensembles we've encountered in recent years, Montreal-based Shtreiml is led by harmonica innovator Jason Rosenblatt, one of only a handful of musicians who can play the blues harmonica chromatically. On it he leads the band through a delightful program of klezmer, gypsy music and jazz with a unique spin that is at once Eastern European folk music and down-home blues. Jason is joined by his wife, trombonist Rachel Lemisch, one of the leading figures in klezmer brass revival, plus Thierry Arsenault on drums and Montreal jam band mainstay Adam Stotland on bass. A frequent guest is Jason's mother, Abigail Rosenblatt, whose stellar voice and incomparable stage presence just about steal the show--not an easy feat with this band!
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Friday, Nov. 24 @ 8 PM GANDALF MURPHY & THE SLAMBOVIAN CIRCUS OF DREAMS $16/14
www.slambovia.com
This band draws perhaps the most diverse audience ever seen at Caffè Lena--everyone from little kids to oldsters, metal-heads to contra dancers, with everyone being swept up as one by the nearly spiritual experience of a Slambovian concert.
     We're not sure how this one-of-a-kind rock band ended up in folk clubs, but whatever force steered them in that direction did a mighty kind thing. Their songs have been described as "Hillbilly-Floyd, folk-pop", "alt-country roots-rock, and "surreal Americana."
     Dancing freely between religious and philosophical mythologies, their music is not only uplifting and empowering but fun--a lot of fun.
     The band rocks out with Joziah Longo on guitar, harmonica and lead vocals; his wife Tink Lloyd on accordion, cello and flute; Sharkey McEwen on guitars, mandolin and backing vocals; and Tony Zuzulo on drums. Important hint: nobody who has seen them once fails to come back to see them again, often with a gang in tow--so reserve early!
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Saturday, Nov. 25 @ 8 PM PAUL GEREMIA $15/12
www.paulgeremia.org
Paul Geremia puts on the kind of show that Caffè Lena's reputation was built on.
     He's your classic bluesman, storyteller and road warrior. Traveling the globe since 1966 he has a rock solid reputation as a fingerpicker, songwriter, and scholar of early jazz and blues. Playing six and twelve-string guitars, harmonica, piano and singing in a husky, soulful voice, Paul has an innate sense of the humor and drama of his songs.
     He mixes classics by Blind Lemon Jefferson, Robert Johnson, Blind Willie McTell, Scrapper Blackwell and Blind Blake with his original compositions to create a show that has received endless accolades in the U.S.A. and Europe.
     His ten superb albums have made him a critical favorite and place him firmly among the very legends who inspired and influenced him over the past four decades.
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Sunday, Nov. 26 LES BARKER $14/12
Sorry, cancelled

www.mrsackroyd.com
In the words of Tom Nelligan of Dirty Linen, Les Barker "may be the best writer of parodies and wordplays that the English-speaking world has ever heard."
     This soft-spoken native of Manchester, England, now calling himself Welsh, gives poetry readings like none you've heard before. Brilliantly exploiting the idiosyncracies of the English language, Les Barker can reduce any group of listeners, whether at a large open-air festival or an intimate coffeehouse, to helpless, side-splitting laughter.
     His seventy-six books sell in large numbers at his gigs because people don't quite believe what they've just heard. His poems have spawned a number of folk heroes: Jason and the Arguments, Cosmo the Fairly Accurate Knife Thrower, Captain Indecisive and Spot of the Antarctic.
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