BAM announces two exciting April events featuring Nonesuch recording artists
Carolina Chocolate Drops with Twyla Tharp (April 10);
Emmylou Harris Wrecking Ball Tour with Daniel Lanois, Steven Nistor, and Jim Wilson (April 12)
Bloomberg is the BAM 2014 Winter/Spring Season sponsor Viacom is the BAM 2014 Music Sponsor
Carolina Chocolate Drops World Premiere Featuring the dance ―Cornbread Duet‖ Choreographed by Twyla Tharp Danced by Tiler Peck and Robert Fairchild Dancer costumes designed by Norma Kamali Tickets: $20, $40, $45
Emmylou Harris Wrecking Ball Tour With Daniel Lanois, Steven Nistor, and Jim Wilson Featuring An Opening Set by Daniel Lanois Tickets: $35, $60, $75, $85
BAM Howard Gilman Opera House (30 Lafayette Ave) Apr 10 & 12, 8pm
Brooklyn, NY/Feb 11, 2014—BAM announces two one-night-only April concert events featuring Nonesuch recording artists Carolina Chocolate Drops with Twyla Tharp (April 10) and Emmylou Harris’s Wrecking Ball Tour with Steven Nistor, Jim Wilson, and an opening set by Daniel Lanois (April 12). These two shows celebrate the renowned record label’s broad musical mission and serve as precursors to BAM’s larger celebration of Nonesuch’s 50th anniversary this fall (the full slate of fall shows will be announced shortly). BAM has fostered a longtime artistic connection with Nonesuch and its dedication to cultivating outstanding talent in a wide variety of musical genres including classical, contemporary, jazz, Americana, world music, pop, alternative, musical theater, and dance.
On April 10, Carolina Chocolate Drops perform music from their two Nonesuch releases: Genuine Negro Jig (2010) and Leaving Eden (2012), among others. Fronted by vocalist and banjo player Rhiannon Giddens, Carolina Chocolate Drops ―dip into styles of Southern black music from the 1920s and 30s—string-band music, jug-band music, fife and drum, early jazz— and beam their curiosity outward‖ (The New York Times). The current quartet features multi- instrumentalists Hubby Jenkins and Malcom Parson, and cellist Rowan Corbett.
The evening will also feature the world premiere of ―Cornbread Duet,‖ an elegant and breathtaking dance work by the iconic choreographer Twyla Tharp, set to Carolina Chocolate Drops music and featuring New York City Ballet principals Tiler Peck and Robert Fairchild.
Coinciding with Nonesuch’s reissue of Emmylou Harris’s groundbreaking Wrecking Ball, produced by Daniel Lanois (U2, Bob Dylan, Neil Young Willie Nelson), BAM presents a live celebration on April 12. Following Lanois’ opening set, Harris, Jim Wilson (guitar) and Steve Nistor (drums) will vibrantly resurrect a body of work that earned the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. The engagement is part of a seven-city national tour.
Originally released in 1995 to widespread critical praise, Wrecking Ball was called ―the most daring, inventive album of Harris’s career,‖ by Uncut while Rolling Stone said, ―…the album features unvarnished, otherworldly renditions of songs written by Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Steve Earle, and other lesser-known artists.‖ The album marked a departure for Harris artistically, turning more towards rock and honing a harder edge musically than her earlier more traditional country albums. The reissue follows a very successful year for Harris, whose new collaborative album with longtime friend and colleague Rodney Crowell, Old Yellow Moon, recently won the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Americana Album.
About the artists In early 2012, Grammy award-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops released their studio album Leaving Eden (Nonesuch Records) produced by Buddy Miller. The traditional African-American string band's album was recorded in Nashville and featured founding members Rhiannon Giddens and Dom Flemons, along with multi-instrumentalist Hubby Jenkins and cellist Leyla McCalla. With Flemons and McCalla now concentrating on solo work, the group's 2014 lineup features two equally virtuosic players alongside Giddens and Jenkins—cellist Malcolm Parson and multi-instrumentalist Rowan Corbett—illustrating the expansive, continually exploratory nature of the Chocolate Drops' music. Expect a new disc from this quartet in 2015.
Chocolate Drops began in 2005. The Durham, North Carolina-based group traveled weekly to the home of old-time fiddler and songster Joe Thompson—a black fiddler in his 80s—to learn tunes, listen to stories and, most importantly, to jam. Joe’s technique rooted in a short bowing style inherited from generations of family musicians was passed on to his students, who eventually decided to form a band as a tribute to him.
With their 2010 Nonesuch debut, Genuine Negro Jig—which garnered a Best Traditional Folk Album Grammy—Carolina Chocolate Drops proved that the old-time, fiddle and banjo-based music they’d so scrupulously researched and passionately performed could be a living, breathing, ever- evolving sound. Starting with material culled from the Piedmont region of the Carolinas, they sought to freshly interpret this work, not merely recreate it, highlighting the central role African- Americans played in shaping our nation’s popular music from its beginnings more than a century ago.
Since graduating from Barnard College in 1963, Twyla Tharp has choreographed more than 160 works: 129 dances, 12 television specials, six Hollywood movies, four full-length ballets, four Broadway shows, and two figure skating routines. She has received one Tony Award, two Emmy Awards, 19 honorary doctorates, the Vietnam Veterans of America President's Award, the 2004 National Medal of the Arts, the 2008 Jerome Robbins Prize, and a 2008 Kennedy Center Honor. Her many grants include the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and an Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
In 1965, Ms. Tharp founded her dance company, Twyla Tharp Dance. Her dances are known for creativity, wit and technical precision coupled with a streetwise nonchalance. By combining different forms of movement – such as jazz, ballet, boxing, and inventions of her own making – Ms. Tharp’s work expands the boundaries of ballet and modern dance.
In addition to choreographing for her own company, she has created dances for The Joffrey Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, The Paris Opera Ballet, The Royal Ballet, New York City Ballet, The Boston Ballet, The Australian Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, The Martha Graham Dance Company, Miami City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, and Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Today, ballet and dance companies around the world continue to perform Ms. Tharp’s works.
In 1992, Ms. Tharp published her autobiography Push Comes to Shove. She went on to write The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life, followed by The Collaborative Habit: Life Lessons for Working Together. Today, Ms. Tharp continues to create.
Tiler Peck studied with former New York City Ballet (NYCB) Principal Yvonne Mounsey at Westside School of Ballet in Santa Monica. At the age of 12, Ms. Peck entered the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of NYCB, for most of the 2000-2001 winter term. She returned to SAB during the summers of 2002 and 2003, and that fall began as a full-time student. In September 2004, Ms. Peck became an apprentice with NYCB. In February 2005 she joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet and was promoted to soloist in December 2006 and principal dancer in October 2009.
Robert Fairchild attended the 2002 and 2003 summer courses at (SAB), the official school of NYCB and enrolled as a full-time student in the fall of 2003. In June 2005, Mr. Fairchild became an apprentice with NYCB, and the following June, he joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet. He was promoted to soloist in May 2007, and in October 2009 was promoted to principal dancer.
A 13-time Grammy winner and Billboard Century Award recipient, Emmylou Harris’s career as a singer and songwriter spans 40 years and includes work as a solo artist, bandleader, and duet partner. She has worked with numerous acclaimed artists including Beck, Johnny Cash, Guy Clark, Elvis Costello, Rodney Crowell, John Denver, Bob Dylan, Steve Earle, Lyle Lovett, Mark Knopfler, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, Gram Parsons, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, The Band, Lucinda Williams, and Neil Young, to name a few.
Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Harris grew up near Washington, D.C. As a college student in the late 60's, she sang with a local folk duo and eventually moved to Greenwich Village. She played the clubs on the local folk scene occasionally sharing the stage with Jerry Jeff Walker and David Bromberg. She was discovered in 1971 by Chris Hillman who brought Gram Parsons to hear her sing in a small Washington D.C. club. In 1972, she answered the call from Gram to join him in Los Angeles to work on his first solo album, GP. After Gram died in 1973, Emmylou went back to the D.C. area and formed a country band, playing with them until her 1975 major label debut, Pieces of the Sky, when she formed the first version of the legendary Hot Band. Over the years the Hot Band included world class players such as Albert Lee, Rodney Crowell, and Hank DeVito. She has recorded more than 25 albums and has lent her talents to countless fellow artists’ recordings. In recognition of her remarkable career, Harris was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008.
Musician, artist, innovator, and award-winning producer Daniel Lanois’ eclectic artistic background includes working with some of the world’s most renowned musicians, including U2, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, The Killers’ Brandon Flowers, and Neil Young. Through his own five albums, as well as with new band Black Dub, Lanois balances technical prowess with simple beauty, technical wizardry, and emotional honesty, while creating a rich experience full of personal expression.
Drummer Steven Nistor has been recording in Los Angeles, New York, Portland, and Detroit with producers Tucker Martine, Scott Litt, Steve Albini, Warren Defever, Andy Smith, Daniel Lanois, and Danger Mouse. He has toured the world with Sparks, and is a member of the bands Brian Blade's Mama Rosa and WL.
A Delaware native, Jim Wilson is a guitarist in the band Mother Superior, and was previously in the Rollins Band. His style is trademarked by powerful blues-rock guitar work accompanied by soulful vocals. He has worked with Lemmy, Queens of the Stone Age, Alice Cooper, Meat Loaf, Anthrax, Wayne Kramer, George Clinton, and Iggy Pop and currently resides in Los Angeles, California.
Nonesuch Records was founded as a budget classical label in 1964 by Jac Holzman, head of the then-independent Elektra Records, and it has grown over the last five decades to pursue a broad mission, including classical music, contemporary music, jazz, traditional American and world music, popular and alternative music, music theater, and dance.
For press information on Carolina Chocolate Drops with Twyla Tharp contact Lauren Morrow, [email protected], 718-636-4129x1. For press information on Emmylou Harris performing Wrecking Ball contact Sarah Garvey, [email protected], 718-724-8025.
Credits Bloomberg is the BAM 2014 Winter/Spring Season sponsor.
Viacom is the BAM 2014 Music Sponsor
Programming in the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House is supported and endowed by The Howard Gilman Foundation.
BAM 2014 Winter/Spring Season supporters: Bank of America; Con Edison; The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation; Aashish & Dinyar Devitre; The Irene Diamond Fund; Ford Foundation; The Howard Gilman Foundation; Frederick Iseman; Suzie & Bruce Kovner; Leon Levy Foundation; Toby Devan Lewis; McKinsey & Company, Inc.; The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; Stavros Niarchos Foundation; The Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation; Martha A. & Robert S. Rubin; The Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc.; The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation; The SHS Foundation; The Shubert Foundation, Inc.; The Skirball Foundation; Robert L. Turner; Time Warner Inc.; Viacom; The Wall Street Journal; The Winston Foundation, Inc.
In The Raw is the Zero Calorie Sweetener of BAM. Pepsi is the official beverage of BAM. Yamaha is the official piano for BAM.
Your tax dollars make BAM programs possible through funding from the City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts. The BAM facilities are owned by the City of New York and benefit from public funds provided through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; the New York City Council, including the Brooklyn Delegation of the Council; and the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President.
BAM would like to thank the Brooklyn Delegations of the New York State Assembly, Joseph R. Lentol, Delegation Leader; and New York Senate, Senator Velmanette Montgomery, Delegation Leader.
General Information BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, BAM Rose Cinemas, and BAMcafé are located in the Peter Jay Sharp building at 30 Lafayette Avenue (between St Felix Street and Ashland Place) in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn. BAM Harvey Theater is located two blocks from the main building at 651 Fulton Street (between Ashland and Rockwell Places). Both locations house Greenlight Bookstore at BAM kiosks. BAM Fisher, located at 321 Ashland Place, is the newest addition to the BAM campus and houses the Judith and Alan Fishman Space and Rita K. Hillman Studio. BAM Rose Cinemas is Brooklyn’s only movie house dedicated to first-run independent and foreign film and repertory programming. BAMcafé, operated by Great Performances, offers a bar menu and dinner entrées prior to BAM Howard Gilman Opera House evening performances. BAMcafé also features an eclectic mix of spoken word and live music for BAMcafé Live on Friday and Saturday nights with a drink and small plate menu available starting at 6pm.
Subway: 2, 3, 4, 5, Q, B to Atlantic Avenue – Barclays Center (2, 3, 4, 5 to Nevins St for Harvey Theater) D, N, R to Pacific Street; G to Fulton Street; C to Lafayette Avenue Train: Long Island Railroad to Atlantic Terminal – Barclays Center Bus: B25, B26, B41, B45, B52, B63, B67 all stop within three blocks of BAM Car: Commercial parking lots are located adjacent to BAM
For ticket information, call BAM Ticket Services at 718.636.4100, or visit BAM.org.
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