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JONQUIL CITY SESSIONS is concert series sponsored by the Smyrna Arts & Cultural Council. The concerts feature a panoply of nationally-touring artists in a coffee house-comfortable, table-and-chairs setting, with full food and cash bar service. Top local performers are also featured, Ticket purchases directly support live music, local arts initiatives and the Smyrna Arts & Cultural Council.
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Balalaika Fantasie
Holiday Season Concert & Cultural Experience Saturday, December 17, 2016 |
The musicians of Balalaika Fantasie draw their inspiration from their life-long passion for Russian folk music and their diverse cultural backgrounds. Performing on authentic Russian folk instruments, the group’s repertoire includes Russian, Ukrainian, Gypsy and Jewish folk music.
The members are: David C. Cooper - Balalaika, Domra, Vocals Angelina Galashenkova-Reed - Domra Alla Melnik - Bayan, Vocals Gregory Carageorge - Balalaika Irene Perloff McCullough - Alto Domra David McCullough - Alto Balalaika All musicians of Balalaika Fantasie are members of the Atlanta Balalaika Society Orchestra. The Atlanta Balalaika Society is one of the most highly-regarded orchestras of Russian folk instruments outside of Russia, and is the primary promoter of Russian folk culture in the Southeast. It is celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2016. Don't miss this great cultural experience! |
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Matt Lemmler Jazz Combo
Saturday, November 12, 2016 |
Recently elected Governor for the GRAMMY Recording Academy, Matt Lemmler is considered to be one of the most original musicians to recently emerge from the birthplace of jazz. Influenced by the music he heard growing up in New Orleans, Matt Lemmler is a noted and accomplished jazz pianist, vocalist, producer, arranger and educator. He is among an elite group of musicians recognized and officially designated as a “Steinway Artist”.
Raised just blocks away from the home of legendary New Orleans pianist/vocalist Fats Domino, Matt remembers a childhood in the Lower 9th Ward where music constantly filled the house. Matt, his brothers Richard, Jr. and Michael (also a great New Orleans pianist-bandleader) and his father, Richard, Sr., (a retired professional musician); played jazz and classical piano around the clock. After earning a Bachelor of Music from Loyola University and a Master degree from Manhattan School of Music in NYC, Matt toured four years with Andrew Lloyd Weber’s The Phantom of the Opera. After touring, he came back to the Big Easy and sharpened his skills with some of New Orleans finest bandleaders: Bob French and the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band (over 100 years old); Herb Tassin and the Blue Room Orchestra, and master clarinetist Pete Fountain. |
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The Slocan Ramblers
Saturday, September 24, 2016 |
The Slocan Ramblers are Canada’s young bluegrass band to watch. Rooted in the tradition, fearlessly creative, and possessing a bold, dynamic sound, The Slocans (2015 Edmonton Folk Fest Emerging Artist Award recipients), have quickly become a leading light of Canada’s roots music scene, built on their reputation for energetic live shows, impeccable musicianship and their uncanny ability to convert anyone within earshot into a lifelong fan. Instrument masters individually, their combined vocals and harmonies join in a tight, rolling, foot-tapping experience you won’t be able to resist or forget!
On their new album, Coffee Creek (2015) The Slocan Ramblers blend lightning fast and devilishly intricate instrumentals with the sawdust-thick vocals of singer Frank Evans, who takes lead on songs ranging from rowdy old-time numbers like “Groundhog,” to a Dustbowl classic like Woody Guthrie’s “Pastures of Plenty.” “Toronto audiences don’t respond to a clean, polished Nashville sound,” tune composer and mandolinist Adrian Gross explains. “They dig a lot of energy in their music, a rowdy bar vibe. They’re hard to win over.” But The Slocan Ramblers have won them over, moving from a young ensemble of bluegrass pickers to one of the best known Canadian roots bands. They’ve done this by staying true to the roots of the music, not seeking to revive anything but rather to tap the rough and rowdy heart of the music. |
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Don White and Christine Lavin
Saturday, May 14, 2016 |
If you laugh and cry within the same ten minutes, you either need a vacation or you are sitting in the audience at a Don White show. This working class family man from Lynn, Massachusetts has emerged as the thoughtful songwriter of the decade whose relevance to our lives is evidenced by the powerful reaction he evokes at every concert. Radio audiences, too, are not safe from the Don White experience. Valerie Adams of WNCS Radio, Vermont said, "I've never seen anything like it. Every time I play I Know What Love Is the phones light up like a Christmas tree. Stereo Review Magazine called it "...A candidate for song of the year." Truth is, it is nearly impossible to sum up Christine Lavin is a few sentences. She is an iconic singer/songwriter who has earned her legendary status through years of tireless performing, doing shows at once quirky, hilarious and touching. Her songs have a wordsmith’s eye for detail, with a comic’s vision for the absurd, and a huge and fearless heart that will go anywhere … and who else baton twirls, knits with her audience before a show, and does their nails?? |
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Montana Skies
Saturday, April 9, 2016 |
Their name, Montana Skies, is a metaphor for musical freedom, and they continue to follow their creative instincts far beyond traditional boundaries. In concert, these award winning musicians delve into music from Pink Floyd and Rush to Vivaldi, and House of the Rising Sun, as well as their own originals that have been featured everywhere from NPR to the Travel Channel. Montana Skies seemingly non-stop tour schedule has taken them all across the US as well as to Canada, Asia, and Russia.
Combining elements of classical technique, jazz improv and the power and energy of rock n' roll; Jonathan's guitar wizardry and Jenn's blazing electric cello combine to create a sound that is truly remarkable. While the music defies simple categorization, it is a fusion in the truest sense of the word. It's been called everything from chamber rock to psychedelic strings. Whatever you want to call it, rest assured, this ain't your grannies chamber music. Montana Skies' name is taken from one of the first songs Jonathan composed for the group titled "Montana Skies." At the time of its composition, he and Jennifer were completing their individual studies of music (he in Montana and she in Italy) and they realized that they wanted to meld their musical vision. Inspired by the fact there were really no great compositions for cello and guitar, what resulted from this new musical freedom of expression between the two was the formation of Montana Skies, and a unique style of music that would garner instant recognition and praise. |
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