Massry Center for the Arts Announces 2016-17 Concert Schedule

Jazz. Rock. Classical. Stand-up comedy. Modern dance. Funk…

The Massry Center for the Arts at the College of Saint Rose has expanded the range of offerings for their 2016-2017 Premiere Performances concert series. Big time…

Tickets for all of the performances are on sale now.

And here’s the schedule of upcoming concerts and other events for the 2016-2017 season of Premiere Performances at the Massry Center for the Arts in Albany:

THE BUMPER JACKSONS
Friday, September 23, 7:30pm
$20; $10 students
The Bumper Jacksons are hot and sweet, painting America’s story from New Orleans’ brothels to Appalachian hollers. Unafraid to scrape together new sounds from forgotten 78s, the band boldly and elegantly balances paying homage to the traditions while fashioning their own unique, do-it-yourself style. Honored at the Washington Area Music Awards as the 2015 Artist of the Year and Best Folk Band from 2013 to 2015, the Bumper Jacksons are playfully creative with their originals and re-imagining roots music with both power and tenderness.

THE SAINT ROSE CAMERATA
Friday, September 30, 7:30pm
FREE
The Saint Rose Camerata, the college’s acclaimed faculty chamber ensemble, launches its 14th year of providing a center of classical chamber music for the Saint Rose community and Greater Nippertown. This Family Weekend concert is appropriate for all ages and will include chamber music with violin, violoncello, voice and piano.

LIVINGSTON TAYLOR & THE SAINT ROSE ORCHESTRA
Saturday, October 1, 8pm
$25
Boston born and North Carolina raised, Livingston Taylor is the fourth child in the very musical family that includes Alex, James, Kate and Hugh. Taylor recorded his first record at 18 and has continued to create well-crafted, introspective and original songs that have earned him listeners worldwide.

HARRY WHITE: AROUND THE WORLD IN 90 MINUTES
Saturday, October 22, 7:30pm
FREE
The classical saxophonist is joined by pianist Todd Sisley. Since 2001, White has been active as a saxophone soloist and freelance musician. Critics consistently praise White for the unique, gentle tone quality he produces on his historical saxophone and for his dynamic interpretations of old and new works.

COMEDY NIGHT WITH ANDY PITZ, DAN GEURIN & ERIN HARKES
Friday, November 11, 7:30pm
$20; $10 students
Andy Pitz (even his name is funny) has been a mainstay in comedy venues of all kinds for more than 20 years, landing appearances on “The Late Show with David Letterman” and “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” to name a few. During the day, Dan Guerin is the typical guy next door: husband, father, your neighbor; at night, Guerin’s life becomes anything but typical when he hits comedy clubs throughout the Northeast. Erin Harkes has been on the comedy circuit for just four years, but her dry wit and sarcasm coupled with audience rapport has made her very successful in a short time.

THE SAINT ROSE CAMERATA
Saturday, November 12, 7:30pm
FREE
The Saint Rose Camerata presents an evening of 19th and 20th-century chamber music including works for flute and guitar, a sonata for violoncello and piano and chamber music with voice.

TIM REYNOLDS
Friday, December 2, 7:30pm
$25; $15 students
With a musical career spanning more than 35 years, guitarist and sonic innovator Tim Reynolds is known for his masterful command of melody and timing and for his uncanny ability to improvise on any instrument he touches. Having explored most musical styles, from rock, jazz and blues to classical and reggae, Reynolds’ wide-ranging musical versatility is evident each time he picks up his guitar. Reynolds brings his musical versatility back to Saint Rose in this evening of acoustic guitar music.

THE STEVE WILSON/GEORGE CABLES/IRA COLEMAN TRIO
Friday, December 9, 7:30pm
$20; $10 students
Steve Wilson has attained ubiquitous status in the studio and on the stage with the greatest names in jazz, as well as critical acclaim as a bandleader in his own right. George Cables has contributed to recordings by Dexter Gordon, Art Pepper, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw, Bobby Hutcherson and many others, in addition to composing and arranging for his own albums. Ira Coleman has worked with such well-known figures as Cab Calloway, Freddie Hubbard, Betty Carter, Branford Marsalis, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Jessye Norman, Plácido Domingo and Sting and was musical director for vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater.

ELLEN SINOPOLI DANCE COMPANY
Friday, January 27, 7:30pm
$20; $10 students
Celebrating its 25th season as the resident company of The Egg, the Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company works with diverse audiences through concerts, showcases, residencies, workshops and educational and community outreach. Artistic Director Ellen Sinopoli has created more than 75 dances since forming the company.

THE WOOD BROTHERS
Friday, February 3, 7:30pm
$30; $20 students
Dubbed masters of soulful folk by Paste, the Wood Brothers released their debut studio album, Ways Not to Lose, on Blue Note in 2006. Chris Wood already had legions of devoted fans for his incomparable work as one-third of Medeski Martin & Wood, while his brother Oliver Wood toured with Tinsley Ellis before releasing a half-dozen albums with his band King Johnson. Almost a decade later (and with drummer Jano Rix added as a permanent third member), it is clear that the Wood Brothers is indeed the main act.

THE SAINT ROSE CAMERATA
Saturday, February 11, 7:30pm
FREE
The Saint Rose Camerata explores chamber music by Giovanni “Nino” Rota, who composed scores for the first two films of “The Godfather” trilogy and for Franco Zeffirelli’s “Romeo and Juliet,” plus 18th and 19th-century works for winds, strings and voice.

THE BRIDGE JAZZ FESTIVAL
Friday, February 24, 7pm at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall
Saturday, February 25, 7pm
Per night: $40; $30 students
Both nights: $60; $40 students
Back for a third year: two nights of music as two of the Local 518’s best music venues team up once again for one great event for Greater Nippertown jazz lovers. The Dirty Dozen Brass Band will headline the February 24 concert at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. The action heads west across the Hudson on February 25 to the Massry Center for the Arts, where Maceo Parker, Cyrille Aimee and the Local 518’s own Chronicles will take the stage.

RELEASE THE HOUNDS: AN EVENING WITH JULIAN LAGE & CHRIS ELDRIDGE
With Aoife O’Donovan
Friday, March 24, 7:30pm
$30; $20 students
A night of intrepid songwriting and acoustic innovation, beginning with Aoife O’Donovan at center stage playing songs as she wrote them – with just her acoustic guitar and voice. The Washington Post describes her singing as “almost too gorgeous for its own good.” Julian Lage & Chris Eldridge follow with their masterly acoustic guitar performance typical of the virtuosic duo, known for pushing the envelope of folk, bluegrass, and jazz.

THE SAINT ROSE CAMERATA
Saturday, March 25, 7:30pm
FREE
The Saint Rose Camerata closes its 14th season with the famous masterpiece Wind Quintet by Danish composer Carl Nielsen and a work for guitar by Saint Rose faculty composer-guitarist Andrew McKenna Lee.

THIBAUT GARCIA
Sunday, April 2, 3pm
$20; $10 students
By the age of 21, Thibaut Garcia had already won several international competitions in the U.S., Spain, Romania and Germany. This Guitar Foundation of America concert is being presented with the Classical Guitar Society of Upstate New York.

THE JOHN PIZZARELLI QUARTET
Friday, April 21, 7:30pm
$30; $20 students
John Pizzarelli, the world-renowned jazz guitarist and singer, has been called “the genial genius of the guitar” by The Toronto Star. After a recent smash success with the Boston Pops, he was hailed by The Boston Globe for “reinvigorating the Great American Songbook and re-popularizing jazz.”