Frank’s Picks: June
Recommendations of where to go and what to hear in Westchester (or nearby) in June 2019:
Americana/Singer-Songwriter
Arlo Guthrie
“Alice’s Restaurant” Back by Popular Demand Tour (6/9/19)
Sunday, June 9, 2019, 7pm
Tarrytown Music Hall, Tarrytown, New York
OK, it’s not Thanksgiving, but it’s the 50th Anniversary of his song “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree” and all of us old hippies can celebrate together once more. Most of us old baby-boomer hippies turned into respectable, responsible citizens, despite what our parents might have thought in 1970. That does not mean we can’t go back for some nostalgia to the love & peace days, which the world needs now more than ever. This show will draw our generation, with nobody requiring an introduction to Arlo or Alice. Most people will happily recall the lyrics to every song of this famed story. Our own New York folk music icon Arlo Guthrie took this show to the road again, coinciding with the 50th Anniversary of the feature film “Alice’s Restaurant,” originally released in 1969, starring Arlo as himself, directed by famed director Arthur Penn. It was filmed in the Berkshires, Arlo’s own backyard, recreating some of the events that launched the Massacree, while adding a good dose of fiction. Arlo also has a Westchester connection, as his sister Nora lives in Mount Kisco. When Woody Guthrie was hospitalized with Huntington’s disease, he created a company to administer his catalog and handle his business affairs, which is now located on Main Street in Mount Kisco. Initially, the administrators included Harold Leventhal and Pete and Toshi Seeger. Presently, Woody Guthrie Publications is administered by Woody Guthrie’s daughter Nora Guthrie and his granddaughter, Anna Canoni. The concert will feature Arlo along with his son Abe Arlo’s daughter Sarah Lee Guthrie, a wonderful singer-songwriter, will open the shows.
Blues
Doug “Dubb” MacLeod
Friday, June 14, 2019, 8:30pm
The Towne Crier Cafe, Beacon, NY
Serious Westchester music fans will occasionally make the short excursion to the Town Crier Café in Beacon, and for this guy, the trip is worth it. A well-known former blues DJ in Long Beach, California; writer for Blues Revue and one of the foremost singer/songwriters in the traditional blues genre, “Dubb” is a gem who makes only rare appearances in New York. This artist thrills and titillates blues lovers of the acoustic genre with his well-crafted originals, and his deep roots funky style. MacLeod, a multiple W.C Handy award nominee, was once the young apprentice and guitarist for blues masters like Piedmont player Ernest Banks, George “Harmonica” Smith and Shakey Jake Harris. He is a sizzling guitarist and an exceptional songwriter whose songs have been recorded by blues giants like Albert King, Son Seals, Albert Collins, Joe Louis Walker, Coco Montoya and many others. He also backed up legends like Big Mama Thornton, Big Joe Turner, Lowell Fulson and Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson. Wherever he plays, he mesmerizes the audience with his good nature and awesome rhythmic fingerstyle guitar and heartfelt, soulful singing. As a performer and singer, he is simply unmatched. He interacts with the audience with plain talk, humor and natural “we’re all neighbors and friends” dialogue. MacLeod plays a pounding, percussive heartbeat on the guitar, singing with his rich and vibrant voice. Another thing he learned from Ernest Banks is to play his metal-bodied National tri-cone resonator guitar with such rhythmic force that his audience can’t keep their feet still for wanting to dance. MacLeod remembers. “Ernest said ‘You have got to make them dance. Because he said if they weren’t dancing they weren’t drinking, and if they weren’t dancing and drinking he wasn’t going to get paid. So, you got to make them dance.’ The old bluesmen like Ernest Banks and Son House used to do that. Ernest said, “You ain’t shit unless you can make them dance.” He closes his shows with a standard line, “Remember, tonight you were moved by the acoustic blues,” and few would disagree.
Instrumental
Jake Shimabukuro
Friday, June 14, 2019, 8:30pm
Tarrytown Music Hall, Tarrytown, New York
Don’t sneer when I recommend that you go see a solo ukulele concert! This ain’t no Tiny Tim. The young Hawaiian Jake Shimabukuro is a supreme virtuoso of this small instrument, which has always been an integral part of Hawaiian music. If you look down at the little ukulele, remember that the violin is also small with only four strings. Think of what happens to the ignoble little harmonica when played by Phil Wiggins. It all depends on what you do with it, how well you play it, and Jake Shimabukuro will amaze you with his string interpretations of jazz, blues, funk, rock, bluegrass, classical, folk, and flamenco. Yes, he is among the best contemporary ukulele players in the world. Expect solo uke arrangements of such varied pieces as the George Harrison song “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Schubert’s “Ave Maria” and Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” Shimabukuro’s has played with world-renowned orchestras and at prestigious venues such as the Hollywood Bowl, Lincoln Center and the Sydney Opera House. He will amaze you.
Singer-Songwriter/Folk/Americana
The Milk Carton Kids, Amythyst Kiah (7:30pm) and more!
Saturday, June 22, 2019, All Day
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, Katonah, New York
This will be an amazing music event. The Milk Carton Kids and Amythyst Kiah are the evening acts. The daytime shows, beginning at noon, will feature Deva Mahal, Bumper Jacksons, Rainbow Girls, Youth In A Roman Field, Oliver the Crow, Damn Tall Buildings, Porch Stomp Revue, Our Band, Bethlehem and Sad Patrick, Square Dance! and With Porch Stomp Revue, too many to describe in a short concert preview. The roots duo Milk Carton Kids is by now famous, with singers and acoustic guitarists Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan engaging in wonderful instrumental interplay and harmonies. At times, they remind us of the Everly Brothers, with Appalachian inspired acoustic guitar instrumentation (a la David Rawlings of the Gillian Welch duo) and yet other times hints of Simon & Garfunkel. Amythyst Kiah, multi-instrumentalist and singer, is one of the powerful women rising. She recently joined Rhiannon Giddens and Leyla McCalla in the supergroup Our Native Daughters. Eyes and ears are upon her as one of the new generations of young women who are reviving African American roots music traditions. The daytime performers promise to showcase the amazing talent of up and coming roots musicians whose styles range from bluegrass to folk. Check out their YouTube clips because there will be eye-opening surprises. Look for Oliver the Crow and Damn Tall Buildings to make a big statement. My unabashed favorite is the Rainbow Girls, a fun, eclectic trio comprised of three unique musical talents -Vanessa May, Erin Chapin, and Caitlin Gowdey, from the golden countryside just north of California’s Bay Area. Another artist that promises to be sensational is soul/R&B chanteuse Deva Mahal. This will be a great day and evening for musical discovery and adventure.
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.
