Frank’s Picks: April
Recommendations of where to go and what to hear in Westchester (or nearby) in April 2019:
Chamber
Sunday, April 7, 2019 at 3pm
Westchester Philharmonic: All-Beethoven Season Finale
The Performing Arts Center at Purchase College, Purchase, New York
Carnegie Hall is not far from here, but for some people, it might as well be a million miles away. Rejoice. You can get equal quality nearby for an amazing daytime concert. The Westchester Philharmonic will roll out the red carpets for a performance of two of Beethoven’s most exquisite concertos: Violin Concerto and the seminal Symphony No. 5. World-renowned violinist Pamela Frank will be featured by Jaime Laredo and the Westchester Philharmonic. The sheer beauty of this concert should not be underestimated as we will be treated to Beethoven’s masterpieces by a world-class orchestra, and a virtuosic violinist who has been featured in by New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, Academy of St. Martinin-the-Fields, the Berlin Philharmonic and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic. Pamela Frank performed regularly with the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra. Her accomplishments were recognized in 1999 with the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize. She is a professor of violin at the Curtis Institute of Music and teaches and coaches annually at the Tanglewood, Ravinia and Verbier Festivals. Since 2008, she has been the artistic director of the Evnin Rising Stars, a mentoring program for young artists at Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts. It simply does not get better than this. This symphony closes their 36th season!
Rock-n-Roll/Americana/Singer-Songwriter
Nick Lowe’s Quality Rock & Roll Revue starring Los Straitjackets (4/12/19)
Friday, April 12, 2019 at 8pm
Tarrytown Music Hall, Tarrytown, New York
Special Guest: Dawn Landes
The English balladeer rocker was Johnny Cash’s son-in-law (He was married to Carlene Carter) and he played in a band with Ry Cooder. He started out in the punk scene but has long ago moved to a sharp-witted singer/songwriting and as a producer (Elvis Costello-Graham Parker-Pretenders-The Damned). You probably know his graceful, sometimes wistful songs, even if you don’t know him per se: “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding,” “Cruel to be Kind” and “The Beast in Me” will ring a bell if you listen to WFUV. One of the great songwriters of the baby-boomer generation, the silver-haired Lowe delivers his finely crafted songs with poignant, incisive clarity, a beautiful edge. In this show, he teams up with the wild Los Straightjackets, always with facial masks, a boisterous instrumental rock band that throws it back to 1950s and ‘60s rockabilly, surf guitar and early roots rock. They combine a lethal concoction of true-grit rock-n-roll with Lowe’s engaging songs. This should be a remarkable evening. The opening act, the deep roots Americana singer/songwriter Dawn Landes, will be a special treat in her own right.
Jazz
John Pizzarelli
Saturday, April 27, 2019 at 9:30pm
The Emelin Theater, Mamaroneck, New York
Jazz fans will be delighted as John Pizzarelli will perform at the Emelin with his trio a very special tribute, “A Centennial Celebration of Nat King Cole.” The Boston Globe said that John Pizzarelli is “…reinvigorating the Great American Songbook and re-popularizing jazz.” That’s a tall order, but true. He learned from his father, the great jazz guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, and has now become one of the most important mainstream jazz purveyors on his own right. In this evening’s show, he will pay tribute to the songs of the popular singer and jazz musician Nat King Cole, combining Cole’s wonderful songs with Pizzarelli’s smooth, refined jazz guitar stylings. Pizzarelli stated, “I’ve always said we’re an extension, a 21st-century version, of what that group was.” He’s recorded two albums of Cole’s music “Dear Mr. Cole” in 1994 and “P.S. Mr. Cole”, 1999. Some will look at this as “music for old people,” which it is, and in a good way, but any young, burgeoning and serious guitarist of any genre would be wise to flock over to see this masterful guitar virtuoso and delightful singer. This will be a beautiful night to remember.
Blues
Hubbie Jenkins
Saturday, April 27 at 7:30pm
729 Peekskill Hollow Road, Putnam Valley, New York
Tompkins Cultural Center
The prismatic, talented young band from Brooklyn plays guitar, banjo, mandolin, claps the bones and sings in a rich tenor. Jenkins masters all these instruments and seamlessly slides from black Appalachian, North Carolina banjo to deep roots blues. Hearing this young guy perform Blind Willie Johnson or Fred McDowell will astonish even the most seasoned blues aficionado, impressing that this fierce slide guitarist and fingerpicker, and a superb singer, is the joyous embodiment of the future of acoustic blues. He brilliantly exemplifies the commonality of the new generation of African American songsters, in spirit and music: intelligent, articulate, well-educated in the history of the music, energetic and exciting, with something important to say lyrically – all with virtuosic instrumental skills. Yes, all that! The Tompkins Cultural Center is right across from Westchester, a small community center located in a church. They do a great job bringing out American roots music, and this is a show not to miss
Frank Matheis is an award-winning music journalist, author and radio producer with an eclectic musical taste that covers the gamut of music from Americana to Zydeco, from Jazz to World Music. He is a regular contributor to Living Blues magazine and other music publications, and the publisher of www.thecountryblues.com. His radio documentaries have been heard on three continents in three languages.
