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November 4 at 7 p.m.
Scullers Jazz Club, Boston
The guitarist John Stein spent part of the pandemic incapacitated by a rare autoimmune disease but somehow managed to put together a 26-track double CD retrospective of his distinguished career. Spanning more than two decades and 15 CDs as a leader, Life Line shows his mastery of mainstream swing, Brazilian samba and bossa, tango, and funk, with an uncommon touch, ear for harmony, and detailed fingerwork. Now recovered, Stein comes to Scullers with pianist Jesse Taitt, bass guitarist Ed Lucie, and drummer Mike Connors, with special featured guest Cindy Scott on vocals and flute.
On Nov. 4, Stein will celebrate the release of “Lifeline” with bassist Lucie, pianist Jesse Taitt, drummer Mike Connors, and special guest Cindy Scott on flute and vocals, at Scullers Jazz Club. When I talked to Stein at his home in Jamaica Plain, he sounded eager to play again. After all he’s been through, it should be as easy as breathing.
Facebook: Judith Lynn Stillman
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. Oct.12, 2020 — Pianist and composer Judith Lynn Stillman, won first prize in OperaVision’s #OperaHarmony contest, for her groundbreaking short opera, Essential Business, produced remotely while in COVID-19 lockdown.
The competition was a global initiative to join creatives from around the world to rethink opera in the pandemic era, highlighting themes of connection and community. OperaVision is the online platform for Opera Europa, representing major opera companies including La Scala and The Bolshoi.
Essential Business is a powerful commentary on spirituality and the need for connection during isolation. Set during the 2020 coronavirus quarantine, Essential Business tells the story of a young pastor, as he wrestles with his faith, family, and the loss of his ministry amid the pandemic. In a moment of crisis, he reaches out to God via a Zoom call, for a modern-day confessional.
Stillman composed and performed the score and served as filmmaker/producer. The music incorporates operatic, gospel, blues, and musical theatre influences, around the story themes of religion, race and culture, the social impact of the virus, and creating music in isolation.
“For me, Essential Business captures a microcosm of the societal lockdown dilemma,” said Stillman. “Humans crave connection. Being in isolation can be devastating. To what extent do we take risks to mitigate these challenges? Is there a way to reconcile both faith and science when there can be life and death consequences?”
Stillman teamed up with Metropolitan Opera baritone, Will Liverman, who performed the role of the pastor, and U.K. artists Anna Pool and Elayce Ismail, to write the libretto and produce the 10-minute piece.
Earlier this year, Liverman was the first Black artist to play the role of Papageno in The Magic Flute at the Metropolitan Opera. He will be a lead in the premiere of the first opera by a Black composer to be produced at the Met in 2021.
The award continues a streak of accolades for Stillman, a Juilliard trained performer, composer, filmmaker, and Rhode Island College’s artist-in-residence, whose compositions – even during COVID quarantine – have received awards from Hollywood to Cannes.
10/30: Music Without Borders Preview at #RhodeIslandCollege at 1PM & 11/2: Show at #RhodeIslandPhilharmonicOrchestraAndMusicSchool at 8PM. Details below!
East Providence, RI–The Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra & Music School hosts April in Paris with Poulenc: Judith Lynn Stillman and Friends from the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra with a special appearance by Trinity Repertory Company’s Curt Columbus. Pianist Stillman and Columbus perform with Orchestra members Rachel Braude, flute, Denise Plaza-Martin, oboe, Ian Greitzer, clarinet, Kevin Owen, French horn, Ronald Haroutunian, bassoon.
Together they present the premiere of Stillman’s play-within-a-concert, April in Paris with Poulenc, in which Curt Columbus is featured in the role of French composer and pianist Francis Poulenc (1899–1963). His portrayal is interlaced with the performance of three of Poulenc’s masterworks. The event is at 8 p.m. on Saturday (April 27) at the Carter Center for Music Education & Performance, 667 Waterman Ave., East Providence. (On Monday, April 22, at 1 p.m., an abridged version will be performed at Sapinsley Hall, Rhode Island College.)
“Francis Poulenc epitomizes French culture and the Parisian arts scene, from the literary café to the music hall. With Curt Columbus brilliantly inhabiting the persona of Poulenc, the composer’s extraordinary and oftentimes divergent qualities are brought to life. An eccentric, erudite, witty and colorful character, he was paradoxically both religious and risqué, saucy and serious, sublime and silly,” Stillman noted. “It’s been said that there’s a little bit of Poulenc in each of us.”
About Judith Lynn Stillman, pianist, composer and filmmaker: Judith Lynn Stillman has been hailed as an “artistic visionary,” is the Artist-in-Residence and a Professor of Music at Rhode Island College. She has performed throughout the world, at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Marlboro, Tanglewood, Grand Teton Festival and at the Grammy’s celebration in honor of Rostropovich. She has appeared with Wynton Marsalis, Borromeo, Shanghai, Muir, Cassatt and Lydian string quartets, the Beach Boys, in a BOSE commercial with Herbie Hancock, as visiting guest artist at major conservatories in China, Russia and the Czech Republic, and as music director in Rome and Verona, Italy. Winner of 18 piano competitions, the first Pell Award in the Arts, and the Christiana Carteaux Bannister Award for Civil Service in the Arts, Stillman holds bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from The Juilliard School, where she won the Juilliard concerto competition and the Dethier Prize for Outstanding Pianist. Stillman, as filmmaker-composer-pianist, has garnered awards including Grand Jury Prize: Best Music Video, Best Multimedia Film, Best Music Score and Audience Choice in international film festivals in Los Angeles, Montréal, New York and the United Kingdom. Her iconic duo recording with Wynton Marsalis on Sony Classical was on the Top Ten of the Billboard charts: “Stillman and Marsalis make an impeccable duo. The playing consistently dazzles.”
About Curt Columbus, Artistic Director, Trinity Repertory Company. In January 2006, Curt Columbus became Trinity Repertory Company’s fifth artistic director. He is also the artistic director of the Brown/Trinity MFA programs in acting and directing.
Friday, January 26, 2018 8p
Vance Gilbert
With Kerri Powers
Infinity Music Hall
20 W. Greenwoods Road (Rt. 44), Norfolk, CT
phone: 860-542-5531
Price: $24.00
The Art of Storytelling
Vance Gilbert Works His Magic at the Historic Infinity Hall
His reputation precedes him. But that’s no reason to let an opportunity to see Vance Gilbert pass you by! Fresh off a tour of Australia, Vance has for some time now been a major mover of the singer-songwriter scene. His penchant for storytelling, mingled with his terrific sense of humor makes a Gilbert gig a lively event indeed. And, oh by the way, if you’ve heard the man’s latest album, Nearness of You—or any of his albums for that matter—you know he can sing.
Gilbert was born and raised in the Philly area and he started his career in Boston aspiring to be a jazz singer. But things happened, and he soon found himself in the warm embrace of the singer-songwriter world, opening for folks like Shawn Colvin and later comedians George Carlin and Paul Reiser. One of those shows, in Dallas, earned him some good press from the local paper: “With the voice of an angel, the wit of a devil, and the guitar playing of a god, it was enough to earn him that rarity: an encore for an opener.” Of course, that was ages ago. But the fact is, Gilbert has only gotten to be a more engaging performer, with beautiful, worldly stories, finely honed guitar technique, and a voice that delivers.
Over two decades-plus in the music business, Vance has produced a healthy helping of great recordings, including the widely raved about BaD Dog Buffet. Old White Men hit the Top 10 on the Folk DJ chart on its release and Unfamiliar Moon landed in the Boston Globe’s Top 10 Records of the Year upon its release in 2005. Perhaps most importantly for the purposes of this particular press release is the fact that Vance’s live album, Somerville Live, issued in 2000, was described by the Boston Globe as a work “young songwriters should study the way law students cram for bar exams.” And we haven’t even talked about Nearness of You, which features Vance singing stripped down versions of 14 of his jazz faves.
Vance’s upcoming gig at Infinity Hall will be reliably memorable. His show is entertaining, his stories are by turns funny and poignant, and his music, above all, is well worth hearing.
Music industry consultant and publicist Ginny Shea has garnered international exposure for her clients through radio and video promotion, print media, and her vast industry network.
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