So, how savvy were you?  Here are the answers to our season announcement quizz.

1. Loretta Lynn (Coal Miner’s Daughter)

2. Bela Fleck (it’s a holiday show!)

3. Bruce Hornsby

4. Los Lobos

5. Shawn Colvin

6. David Sedaris

7. Buddy Guy

8. Three Dog Night

9. The Wailers

How many did you answer correctly?

To see the rest of the super hot ASC roster, visit www.AlysStephens.org. Season packages are on sale now!

Some of my most memorable nights at the Alys Stephens Center have not been seated watching a big name performer.  Many have been spent outside in our courtyard listening to a local performer and socialing with friends, both old and new.  That’s why I’m so excited about our new series called AFTER WORK & OUTDOORS.  This series gives us a chance to showcase Birmingham’s great talent.

And, we encourage you to blog in your opinions and comments on these local musicians.  Let’s get a dialogue going – this is your performing arts center after all.

After Work & Outdoors
at the Alys Stephens Center

The perfect way to end your day or start your night!

Every Thursday April 30 – May 21

5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Rain or Shine

FREE, No Ticket Required

Experience a different sound every week with live music by Birmingham’s best up-and-coming bands and musicians.

april 30 – chill to the poetry & spoken word of asc artist-in-residence Sharrif Simmons, while enjoying manhattan drink specials and food for sale from Salt: Fine Catering.

may 7 –  get the party started with latin beats and dance lessons from DJ Carlos & Latinsoul Productions. plus, killer margarita specials and food for sale from Saturday Gourmet!

may 14 – grab a cocktail from the martini bar, food from Little Savannah, and groove to local favorites
The Martini Shakers.

may 21 –  enjoy southern mint juleps, food from Jim N Nicks Bar-B-Que, and original newgrass from
The Jason Bailey Band.

▪  Beverages from Good People Brewing Company, Johnnygreenseeds Wines, and Morgan Creek Winery

▪  Great local food for sale from Salt:Fine Catering, Little Savannah, Saturday Gourmet, Whole Foods, and Jim N’ Nicks Bar-B-Que

▪  Ticket Giveaways

▪  Eco-friendly vendors and recycling and composting of event materials

▪  Carpooling is encouraged

Become an ASC Junior Patron and enjoy the JP Lounge complete with complimentary beer & wine and delicious food.

Special thanks to the Emerging Arts Leaders Association, Slow Food – Birmingham, Jones Valley Urban Farm, 100.5 FM, the Southern Environmental Center, ASC’s Junior Patron Board, Alabama State Council on the Arts, Whole Foods, Birmingham Weekly, Good People Brewing, and the new Live 100.5.

Queen Latifah is one of those rare pop celebrities that doesn’t fuel her success by putting her personal life in the spotlight.  She’s always let her music take the stage. 

Here’s what’s being said about her new disc Trav’lin’ Light.

Amazon.com
With Trav’lin’ Light, singer/actress/rapper/Cover Girl Queen Latifah (née Dana Owens) continues her chameleonic pan-stardom. The latest musical chapter in Latifah’s success-studded career began with 2004’s The Dana Owens Album, on which she emerged as a nuanced crooner of jazz and R&B standards. She continues this mode on her Verve records debut, adding ample individuality to such well-loved classics as Johnny Mercer’s title track, Nina Simone’s “I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl,” and Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars” (with legendary harmonica pioneer Toots Thielemans). Steve Wonder’s own harmonica playing lends nostalgic ornament to an otherwise rather forced “Georgia Rose,” and much of the album languishes in similarly downbeat fare, though Latifah’s voice is never wholly unbecoming of her song choices. Toward the album’s end comes a welcome swerve for the energetic. Inspiring takes on the Pointer Sisters’ “How Long” and Curtis Mayfield’s “Gone Away” lead into the soaring choruses of “I Know Where I’ve Been.” Taken together, these three songs superbly straddle the spectrum from the former rapper to the still-newly minted singer with a long lease on success and a peerless sense of how to grow older gracefully. –Jason Kirk

The Boston Phoenix

Queen Latifah is never going to be Billie Holiday or even Macy Gray, but 2004’s surprise hit, The Dana Owens Album, proved she had a set of pipes. Trav’lin Light, her second set of standards and first recording for Verve, vindicates the rapper-turned-actress-turned-diva from any lingering charges of crossover pandering; she’s obviously as serious about this as any of her other pursuits. Abetted by a small army of producers and support players, Latifah croons her way through tunes by Antonio Carlos Jobim, Nina Simone, Peggy Lee, and the Pointer Sisters respectfully, enthusiastically, and competently, albeit not particularly distinctively. Stevie Wonder’s harmonica on “Georgia Rose” is so immediately identifiable that it threatens to steal the vocalist’s thunder, and Latifah’s foray into Motown territory, Smokey Robinson’s “What Love Has Joined Together,” would have been a buried Tammi Terrell B-side had Latifah been working for Berry Gordy. But her blues is formidable on Simone’s “I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl,” she swings like crazy on the Sarah Vaughan vehicle “I’m Gonna Live Till I Die,” and the über-production of the Impressions’ “Gone Away” justifies the Queen-sized vocal Latifah brings to it.

And get ready to SALSA! To really enjoy the pulsating and addictive rhythm of SALSA, you have to dance to it! You’ll get a chance to learn how to dance SALSA this Saturday, March 21 at the Alys Stephens Center before Spanish Harlem Orchestra hits the stage at 8 p.m. I’m excited to teach you the basic SALSA step and a simple combination that you and a partner could enjoy. There is nothing like dancing to a great SALSA band like SHO. After Saturday you too might become a “salsa addict” like me. The lessons start at 7 p.m. in the lobby. We shall see you on Saturday!

John “salseroblanko” Morey
SALSA SPECIALIST

John Morey is a Salsa Specialist from Huntsville, AL. To learn more about salsa lessons, please contact him at salseroblanko@yahoo.com or go to his website at www.salseroblanko.net. John taught the first Beginner Salsa boot camp in Huntsville and in Birmingham. John will have a Beginner Salsa boot camp on the same day as SHO at Magic City Ballroom. The boot camp starts at noon. For more info about registration for the Beginner Salsa boot camp, contact Magic City Ballroom at (205) 238-9008, website is www.magiccityballroom.com/index2.html.

I love to see an artist evolve and show me what they can do. You really don’t see it often, but the ones that can do everything, usually try it. Some succeed and some do not. Have you seen anything from Vanilla Ice since he did the movie “Cool as Ice?” I didn’t think so. Britney Spears, although she’s had some success on the small screen, hasn’t done anything on the big screen since “Crossroads” and for good reason, because that movie was really a stinker . What about stars crossing over from the screen into the music world? Sometimes I want to say…. “Oh, no you didn’t.”

There are those stars that can do everything and succeed. Queen Latifah anyone? If you haven’t heard her early rap work, you should, because it is ground breaking. If you haven’t seen “Chicago” or “The Secret Life of Bees,” you should, because they are both astounding performances. If you haven’t heard her jazz albums, they will amaze you. Queen can do it all. Not many artists can do it all, but she can. I’m happy that I get to hear that jazz soon and very soon. When they announced the ASC gala artist for 2009…. I said to myself… “What better? A Queen!”

Check out Queen Latifah’s version of “Poetry Man” here.

Don’t miss her live performance at the Alys Stephens Center on April 4, 2009! Great seats are still remaining! Tickets are $125 each and include a posh pre-show reception with complimentary wine, beer, and hors d’oeuvres and reserved seats for Queen Latifah’s performance. This is the Alys Stephens Center’s only fundraiser of the year and the funds raised benefit the Center’s educational and programming offerings. For tickets, call (205) 975-2787.

Granted we’re a pretty enthusiastic bunch, but that’s probably why we work in the arts.  But the level of excitement surrounding the ASC’s first “On Stage w/the Band” event has been off the charts.  We developed this concept to meet our pressing desire to present artists in a smaller setting.  And there could have been no better band to join us in this experiement than Cowboy Junkies. 

Check out these cool images!

The audience up close & personal with cowboy junkies

like seeing a show in a really large living room

our lighting guy rocks

The ASC is thrilled to welcome legendary bassist Jerry Jemmott to the ASC for a half-day workshop on February 21 at 1 p.m. Workshop is open to all musicians! For more information contact Kimberly Kirklin at kkirklin@uab.edu.

I can’t say enough about Jerry Jemmott…both on a personal and professional level….Jerry Jemmot is one of the most influential session bassists of all time…not only because of the landmark recordings he was a part of (B.B. King’s The Thrill is Gone, Aretha Franklin’s Think….to name a couple) but because of the way he raised the bar for every rhythm section that came after him. The best of the best refer to him as “The Groove Master”….for good reason. Listen to King Curtis Live at the Fillmore for a small sample of what Jerry is capable of….truly amazing. Jerry is just as relevant today as he was 40 years ago. He is currently touring with the Gregg Allman Band.

Jerry has a heart for his students. His depth of musical knowledge and his real world practical experience is unmatched…..best of all….he loves to share it. He has a very generous sprit and a teachers heart. I have the privilege of calling Jerry a good friend….every time we hang up the phone, I feel the need to write down some pearl of wisdom he accidentally dropped on me….He has had a huge impact on the way I listen and play music.

Ted Pewitt

We’re thrilled to showcase local mandolinist Jason Bailey and his band as the headliner for the Punch Brothers after-party this weekend. A word from Jason…

I am very excited to be playing the official after-party for the Punch Brothers concert. Being a full time mandolinist, this opportunity to share in the same evening with perhaps the best mandolin player alive is exhilarating, inspiring, and even a little bit frightening. I can’t wait!! Thanks for having me, Jason Bailey

Here are the links for purchase of the new release “September in the South.” Just copy and paste one into your web browser for access.

For Digital Download of “September in the South” via Apple itunes:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=267439310

For purchase of a physical copy of “September in the South”
http://cdbaby.com/cd/jasonbailey2

If you would like the first CD “Southwood” as an itunes download:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=44100507

Or, purchase of a physical copy of “Southwood.” http://cdbaby.com/cd/jasonbailey

Check out my website www.baileyjason.com

Come be my friend on myspace http://www.myspace.com/jasonbaileymandolin

Need Music for your wedding, Office party, any party, or whatever, contact me.

Jason Bailey
Joots Music LLC
205-612-2723
jootsmusic@netzero.net
www.baileyjason.com