Fountain Street Church’s Jazz in the Sanctuary concert series continues this week with special guest Ivan Akansiima, on piano and guitar, joining series host Robin Connell and bassist Chris Kjorness on Sunday, Feb. 11, at 3 p.m.
Connell is a pianist, vocalist and recently honored at the West Michigan Jazz Society’s 2017 Musician of the Year.
Akansiima — who lives in Holland, Mi., but is originally from Kampala, Uganda — studies music at Hope College and Western Michigan University, and has a growing reputation in the Western Michigan area and on the national music scene.
The final concert in the series will be Sunday, March 11, also at 3 p.m., when Connell is joined by special guest pianist Dave Proulx and bassist David Rosin.
General admission tickets are $10 ($5 for students) and available at the door or by visiting
Modern dance, some say, is the perfect medium to delicately explore topics of emotional and social importance due to its ability to mix human, often non-verbal movement with unique if not jarring music.
It can be beautiful and uncomfortable at the same time.
So Grand Rapids Ballet upcoming MOVEMEDIA: Diversity two-installment dance program, the next in its yearly MOVEMEDIA contemporary dance series and premiering this week, Feb. 9-11, seems a perfect vehicle to introduce diverse works by a diverse group of choreographers on the subject of diversity.
Grand Rapids Ballet artistic director Patricia Barker. (Supplied)
“The MOVEMEDIA series was created specifically with this idea in mind: The ability to use dance and mixed media as a vehicle to address topics that are germane in today’s world,” Patricia Barker, Grand Rapids Ballet’s soon-to-depart artistic director, said in supplied material. “It’s also important to provide minority choreographers an outlet to create new works and make a mark on the dance world, so we’re very excited to see what they bring to the stage.”
Both the Feb. 9-11 program and March 23-25 second program will be presented at the ballet’s Peter Martin Wege Theatre in Grand Rapids. Tickets are still available.
MOVEMEDIA: Diversity features six new world premiere works by young choreographers: Jennifer Archibald, Norbert De La Cruz III and Loughlan Prior in the first program, and Olivier Wevers, Uri Sands and Danielle Rowe in the second.
Their pieces, according to supplied material, will focus on issues including autism, gender inequality, individual non- conformity, bullying, mental health, medical ethics, the right to love, and more.
Jennifer Archibald (Supplied)
Archibald is the founder and artistic director of the Arch Dance Company and program director of ArchCore40 Dance Intensives and she is a graduate of the Alvin Ailey School. Her new work is titled “Vapor” and will explore the devaluation of individuality.
Norbert De La Cruz III (Supplied)
De La Cruz, who was born in the Phillippines, is a graduate of The Juilliard School and was named one of Dance Magazine‘s Top 25 to Watch for 2016. His work, “The Return of Balance” examines the roles in life we are expected to play and how that differs from our own personal reality.
Loughlan Prior (Supplied)
Prior, is an Australia/New Zealand native currently in residence at Royal New Zealand Ballet and the creative director of Prior Visual. He is also an award winning film maker whose work has been shown at the Cannes Film Festival. His work is titled “They/Them” and explores the “fluidity of gender in our new society.”
As part of the two-program MOVEMEDIA installment, Grand Rapids Ballet will partner with several local organizations in order to create “wrap-around” programming to help extend the messages to the public, according to supplied material. Those organizations include Spectrum Health, Grand Rapids Children’s Museum, Be Nice, Arbor Circle, and Out on the Lakeshore.
Tickets for MOVEMEDIA: Diversity can be purchased at the Grand Rapids Ballet box office at 341 Ellsworth Avenue SW, online at grballet.com or Ticketmaster.com, or by calling 616-454-4771 x10.
Railtown Brewing Company has announced it will be moving almost directly across 68th Street from its current location in Dutton, to the site of a now-torn down car wash. (Supplied)
Railtown Brewing Company has announced it will be moving almost directly across 68th Street from its current location in Dutton, to the site of a now-torn down car wash, and co-founder Gim Lee said the brewery hopes to be open by early summer.
Railtown’s Gim Lee
“The car wash is demolished and the footings are in,” Gim said Friday to WKTV. “In the next few weeks we hope to start seeing a structure form. … Some of the key gains from this new space is a kitchen, larger bar, more taps, more brewing capacity, reserved seating area availability, and patio. … The tap room will include a mezzanine with additional seating and space that can be reserved for parties and meetings.”
Gim and Justin Buiter opened the brewery in late 2014.
Railtown is located at 3555 68th St. SE, in Dutton but just across the border with Kentwood. Since it opened it has grown to be a 3,500-square-foot space at the east end of the Village Mall plaza. The brewery’s current tap room has 10 taps and usually 10 different brews available, and it distributes kegs to other restaurants.
For more information on Railtown Brewing Company, call the taproom at 616-881-2364 or visit railtownbrewing.com (leads to a Facebook page).
KD aLe plans two events in February
The Kent District Library’s adult KDaLe program — where educational talks goes down smooth with a little brew — has two programs planned for February.
First there will be a KDaLe Tap Takeover at Horrocks Market, 4455Breton Rd. SE, Kentwood, on Friday, Feb. 2, from 5-8 p.m. According to supplied information, area breweries from the Beer City Brewers Guild took KDL up on a challenge to create their own book-inspired beer. The program is for adults 21 and older.
Also, there will be a KDaLe Tour visit to Creston Brewery, 1504 Plainfield Ave NE, Grand Rapids, Wednesday, Feb. 21, from 6-9 p.m. The tour of Creston Brewery will also visitors to get a behind-the-scenes look at how beer is made. Discounts on food and beer will be available for all patrons who attend the tour. The program is for adults 21 and older.
The visit to St. Cecilia Music Centers folk series stage by Judy Collins — no adjectives or background needed — has been circled on the calendar by local folk/pop/classic rock fans since the concert was announced last year.
It is astounding, in fact, that there may still a few tickets available a week before Sweet Judy Blue Eyes comes to town Thursday, Feb. 1, for a 7:30 p.m. concert.
But then to make a good week even better, St. Cecilia announces the final Folk Series concert of the season will be the return to Royce Auditorium of Rhiannon Giddens — Grammy winning singer/songwriter, Carolina Chocolate Drop, part of the New Basement Tapes super(folk)group; in case you need adjectives and background.
Giddens will return to St. Cecilia on May 17. And, like her April 2015 first visit to the state, this show will likely be sold-out as well. Her return will likely focus on her newest album “Freedom Highway”, which was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2017 Americana Music Honors & Awards.
While Giddens is the co-founder of the Grammy-winning string band Carolina Chocolate Drops, she began work as a solo artist when she stole the show at the T Bone Burnett produced “Another Day, Another Time” concert in 2013, and followed that up in 2014 by stealing the show again on T-Bone’s “New Basement Tapes” project — sealing it from the likes of Elvis Costello and Marcus Mumford — with her version of Bob Dylan’s “Spanish Mary”. Oh, ya, she followed that up with her critically acclaimed solo debut, the Grammy nominated album “Tomorrow Is My Turn.”
But not to steal the show from Judy Collins …
Judy Collins (Supplied/Brad Trent)
Collins’ most recent recording, “Silver Skies Blue”, earned her another in a long list of Grammy honors, being nominated for Best Folk Album in 2017.
Collins’ musical history only started with her firm commitment to social activism in the 1960s. Five decades later her 50-album body of work includes, to only scratch the surface, her rendition of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” from her landmark 1967 album “Wildflowers”, her intimate version of “Send in the Clowns”, as well as several other top-ten hits from gold- and platinum-selling albums.
Tickets for Judy Collins are $45 and $55. Tickets and can be purchased by calling 616-459-2224, visiting the box office at 24 Ransom Ave. NE, or purchased online at scmc-online.org .
Four hands on the piano. (photo by Masataka Suemitsu)
By WKTV Staff
St. Cecilia Music Center’s next Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center concert, scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 18 will feature Society co-artistic director Wu Han and five internationally acclaimed chamber musicians performing the works of Brahms and Dvořák — including selections from both Brahms’ and Dvořák’s “Piano for Four Hands” compositions with pianists Wu Han and Michael Brown playing together on one piano.
At the 7:30 p.m. concert Wu Han and Brown will be joined by violinists Chad Hoopes and Paul Huang, violist Matthew Lipman and cellist Dmitri Atapine. Tickets are still available.
The musical and personal friendship between Brahms and Dvořák is the stuff of legend, according to supplied information. Their pairing brings to life the creative energy that reverberated between the German neo-classicist (Brahms) and the champion of Czech folk music (Dvořák), producing a glowing array of classical music’s most essential works.
Wu Hann (Supplied)
“Brahms and Dvořák were great friends. Brahms helped bring Dvořák’s music to the forefront in 1878. Brahms, who was seven years older than Dvořák, mentored him and helped him to realize financial gain for his artistic works including some of the selections to be performed at the January 18 SCMC concert,” Wu Han said in supplied material. “Michael Brown and I will play Dvořák’s ‘Selected Slavonic Dances for Piano, Four Hands’, the works that brought Dvořák his first significant sum of money through Brahms efforts in introducing him to the esteemed Berlin publisher Fritz Simrock. We will also perform Brahm’s ‘Selected Hungarian Dances for Piano, Four Hands’, which was inspired by Brahms’ special affection for Gypsy Fiddlers and their music.
“These selections, as well as the two others to be performed — ‘Trio in C minor for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 101’ by Brahms, and ‘Trio in C minor for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 101’ by Dvořák were incredibly popular during those times (1868 – 1891).”
The concert will also likely introduce Brown, a rising star in chamber music circles, to the grand Rapids audience.
Michael Brown (Photo by Jamie Beck)
“The January 18 concert at SCMC will bring some new faces, introducing us to the next generation of chamber music stars,” Cathy Holbrook, St. Cecilia executive director, said in supplied material. “I’m especially looking forward to the pieces for four-hand piano that Wu Han and newcomer Michael Brown will be performing. It’s not often that you can experience two artists performing on one piano simultaneously in a chamber music performance, which makes this concert very special.”
Concert tickets are $38 and $43, and can be purchased by calling St. Cecilia Music Center at 616-459-2224 or visiting the box office at 24 Ransom Ave. NE. Tickets can also be purchased online at scmc.org .
A pre-concert wine and hors d’oeuvres event for $15 is available and begins at 6:30 p.m. (reservations for the pre-concert reception need to be made by Monday, Jan. 15.)
There will also be a pre-concert talk with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center artists in the Royce Auditorium to discuss the music selection for the evening and any other questions that pertain to the artists themselves. A post-concert party is open to all ticket-holders giving the audience the opportunity to meet the artists and obtain signed CDs of their releases.
The final 2017-18 season performance by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center will take place April 19, with a performance including pianist Gilles Vonsattel, violinists Ida Kavafian and Erin Keefe, violist Yura Lee, cellist Nicholas Canellakis and clarinetist Tommaso Lonquich performing Mozart, Weber and Brahms.
The Grand Rapids Ballet has named James Sofranko, currently a featured solo dancer with the San Francisco Ballet and an advocate for contemporary dance and social causes, as its new artistic director.
Sofranko will officially join GRBallet on July 1, after his final production with the Bay Area dance company, and will replace Patricia Barker, who is leaving Grand Rapids to lead the Royal New Zealand Ballet.
James Sofranko. (by photo Andrew Weeks)
“I am very grateful for the opportunity to lead Grand Rapids Ballet into their next chapter,” Sogranko said in supplied material. “Upon my visits, I was impressed with the dancers, the board, the staff, and the city of Grand Rapids. The company works easily in both contemporary and classical styles, which makes them a natural fit for me. I’m excited to begin working to continue to bring great dance to the city of Grand Rapids, as well as to continue my growth as a choreographer.”
The naming of Sofranko comes after a nationwide search by the Grand Rapids Ballet Artistic Director Search Committee, led by co-chairs Dana Baldwin and Leah Voigt.
“On behalf of the Board of Directors, staff, and dancers of Grand Rapids Ballet, we are excited to welcome James Sofranko to Grand Rapids,” Baldwin and Voight stated in supplied information. “He is a true star and brings a passion for dance along with the sophistication, grace, and knowledge required for this leadership position. We expect great things as we move forward in an incredible new era of the Company’s history.”
Sofranko is originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, received his dance training at The Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida, and The Juilliard School in New York City, where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance, according to supplied information. Upon graduation in 2000, he joined San Francisco Ballet and was promoted to soloist in 2007.
He comes to West Michigan with a glowing recommendation from the leadership of the San Francisco Ballet.
“James is an intelligent, thoughtful, and versatile dancer who has dedicated so much to the company over the last 18 seasons,” San Francisco Ballet Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer Helgi Tomasson. “He has also made a lasting impact on the Bay Area dance community through performances he has produced himself. With his vision, I have no doubt that he will bring Grand Rapids Ballet to new heights, and I wish him all the best on this exciting new chapter. We will miss him.”.
Sofranko’s last performance as a dancer with San Francisco Ballet will take place during the Company’s Unbound Festival in May. He will officially join Grand Rapids Ballet July 1.
Along with his duties to Grand Rapids Ballet, Sofranko will continue to develop SFDanceworks, currently presented in San Francisco each summer, and may continue his Dance For A Reason (DanceFAR) a dance event supporting cancer prevention, a cause Sofranko strongly believes in.
At GRBallet, Sofranko will be responsible for all artistic direction and artistic planning including programming and hiring of dancers and choreographers, production staff, touring, and outreach efforts.
He also plans to choreograph new works for Grand Rapids Ballet, as well as hire outside-the-company choreographers, so he will have an important role in development of 2018-2019 season programming, to be announced in early Spring 2018.
There is probably not a vantage point on the grounds of the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park where you cannot see Beverly Pepper’s monumental sculpture “Galileo’s Wedge”. Depending on one’s world view, it is either an authoritative metal finger pointing toward the heavens or an elongated monolith-like spike sinking deep into the Earth.
Either way, the 2009 acquisition by Meijer Gardens is a soaring steel object of visual beauty and, simultaneously, engineering mastery which rises nearly 40 feet into the sky and an undefined depth into the ground.
It is that imagination-bending blend of engineering mastery and visual beauty which will be the focus of the next featured exhibit at Meijer Gardens as “Drawn Into Form: Sixty Years of Drawings and Prints by Beverly Pepper” opens Feb. 2, 2018.
The exhibition is the first public showing ofthe gift of Pepper’s expansive print and drawing archives that was given to Meijer Gardens in 2016 and 2017. Spanning seven decades of work by the contemporary sculptor, the archives includes hundreds of drawings, prints, works on paper and notebooks, with many containing sketches of her major sculptural endeavors on display around the world.
Beverly Pepper at Meijer Gardens. (Undated photo taken by George Tatge)
“The 2018 retrospective surveying sixty-five years of work is a rare luxury, and an unbelievable opportunity,” Pepper said in supplied material. “Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park has clearly demonstrated a strong commitment to my sculpture and I am enthusiastic to now have this major body of my work there.” Pepper said in supplied material. “To have in one location a space to study, compare and sequence my drawings and prints is an exceptional opportunity.”
Pepper (born 1922 in Brooklyn, N.Y.) lives and works in Italy. Her works have been exhibited and collected by major arts institutions and galleries around the world, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., Les Jardins du Palais Royal in Paris, and The Museum of Modern Art in Sapporo, Japan.
Joseph Antenucci Becherer, chief curator and vice president of Meijer Gardens, sees the exhibit as a logical public extension of the artist’s gift.
“The importance of the gift and this exhibition simply cannot be overstated,” Becherer said in supplied material. “The opportunity to experience the sheer brilliance of Pepper’s work and trace the trajectory of her career from a realist aesthetic in the late 1940s and 50s, through her embrace of abstraction to become one of America’s leading abstract sculptors, is beyond compare.”
The exhibition will run through April 19, 2018.
Pepper is world-renowned for her work, which often incorporates industrial metals like iron, bronze, stainless steel and stone into sculpture of a monumental scale, but her vast drawing and print repertoire is lesser known.
Associated with the exhibit will be several special events including a March 18 discussion on “Five Great Women Sculptors” by Suzanne Eberle, Professor of Art History at Kendall College of Art & Design. The talk will focus on important female artists — including Pepper, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Louise Bourgeois, Barbara Hepworth, and Louise Nevelson — who have worked in large scale.
West Michigan Lutheran and West Michigan Aviation Academy, shown in a WKTV featured game from last year, are among the small high school teams featured in the Drive Winter Classic. (WKTV)
The WKTV sports broadcast team is in the midst of taking a holiday break, returning with basketball Friday, Jan. 5, 2018, and hockey the next day. But there is some local high school action this week and next including several local basketball tournaments highlighted by a special small-high-school basketball tournament at a big-time venue — The Drive Winter Classic at The Deltaplex Arena in Grand Rapids.
“The tournament was put together to feature the talent in small school basketball,” Eric Frohriep, President of the All-Star Officials Association, said to WKTV. “The Grand Rapids Drive have been working with me to put this on. … The officials are donating their game fees to raise travel expenses to work the National Dwarf Games in Orlando, Fl., this summer.”
The bracket for the tournament will begin at The Deltaplex on Thursday, Jan. 4 at noon with a boys game between Grand River Preparatory High School and Calhoun Christian High School. That game will be followed, at 4 and 6 p.m., by another boys game featuring West Michigan Academy of Environmental Science (WMAES) and Holt’s Martin Luther High School, and then by a girls game between WMAES and West Michigan Lutheran High School. (The Calhoun Christian girls team has a bye and will automatically advance to the tournament finals.)
The tournament will conclude Friday, Jan. 5, at The Deltaplex with the boys championship at 1:30 p.m. and the girls championship at 3:30 p.m.
All games are $5 to attend. and following the girls title game, fans can also Fans buy tickets for the Wisconsin Herd vs. Grand Rapids Drive game at 7 p.m.
The consolation game of the boys bracket will be played at West Michigan Lutheran, with the boys game at 6 p.m.
The girls team of Cedar Spring’s Creative Technologies Academy is also participating, but is not a MHSAA school so are not in the tournament portion of the Classic, Frohriep said. They are playing the Calhoun Christian girls at 2 p.m. at The Deltaplex on Jan. 4, and playing the loser of the girls opening round game at West Michigan Lutheran, also on Jan. 5.
For more information visit about The Deltaplex Arena visit deltaplex.com. For more information on the All-Star Officials Association visit their Facebook page.
Small high schools will also be the focus of the return of WKTV’s high school sports coverage in the new year.
WKTV’s sports crew will be on the road Jan. 5 with a doubleheader of boys and girls basketball, with Grand River Preparatory High School at Wyoming Potter’s House on the girls side, and Kelloggsville High School at The Potter’s House High School on the boys side. Then on Jan. 6, the crew will be at South Christian High School for a boys hockey game against Catholic Central High School.
Currently, each Tuesday game will be broadcast that night on WKTV Comcast Channel 25 at 11 p.m. and repeat on Wednesday at 5 p.m. Each Friday game will be aired that night on WKTV 25 at 11 p.m. and repeat Saturday at 11 a.m. The games can also be seen on AT&T U-verse 99.
For a complete schedule of all local high school sports action each week, any changes to the WKTV feature sports schedule, and features on local sports, visit wktvjournal.org/sports/
Local high school sports events this week are as follows:
Wednesday, Dec. 27
Boys/Girls Bowling
Godwin Heights @ Catholic Central – Baker Tourney
Wyoming @ Catholic Central – Baker Tourney
Kelloggsville @ Catholic Central – Baker Tourney
East Kentwood @ Catholic Central – Baker Tourney
Girls Basketball
Godwin Heights vs TBD @ Kelloggsville Holiday Tourney
Boys Basketball
TBD @ Wyoming Lee – Rebel Basketball Tourney
Thursday, Dec. 28
Girls Basketball
Godwin Heights vs TBD @ Kelloggsville Holiday Tourney
Boys Basketball
TBD @ Wyoming Lee – Rebel Basketball Tourney
East Kentwood @ Muskegon Reeths-Puffer
Friday, Dec. 29
Boys Basketball
Godwin Heights vs FH Central @ Cornerstone University
’ Tis the season, for brewery swag gifts for that special boy (or girl), and beer.
Rockford Brewing Company today begins five days of holiday fun — translate that as being beer and music — to celebrate five years of business, during which visitors can partake in limited release brews, free live music from local artists, and discounts on brewpub swag.
“We’ve had many triumphs and also learned many lessons the last five years,” Seth Rivard, co-owner of Rockford Brewing Company, said in supplied material. “We wanted to extend our anniversary celebration from one day to one week this year so we can thank everyone who has supported us.”
Today, Tuesday, Dec. 12, the party begins with 50 percent off pints all day and free live music from An Dro at 7 p.m. On Wednesday, Dec. 13, there will be 55.5 percent off howler and growler fills, and free live music from Patrick Nolan at 7 p.m.; Thursday, Dec. 14, there will be 23 percent off total bill and free live music from Eric Engblade at 7:30 p.m.; on Friday, Dec.15, there will be 50 percent off gift cards with any purchase and free live music from Roosevelt Diggs 8:30 p.m.; and finally on Saturday, Dec. 15, there will be 50 percent off merchandise and free live music from Hazy Past at 8:30 p.m.
Rockford Brewing Company will also be releasing two specialty brews: Shanty Warmer, a Russian Imperial Stout, and Complete Nutter Madness, a coffee, peanut butter and vanilla Imperial Porter.
Rockford Brewing Company has many reasons to celebrate this year, according to supplied information. Along with opening a kitchen last fall, bottling and distributing 6-packs for the first time, it won local awards from Revue Magazine and Best Wings in Grand Rapids by Mlive. On a national level, they were awarded Best Small Brewpub and Best Small Brewpub Brewer, along with a silver medal for their Sheehan’s Irish Stout and a bronze medal for their Rogue River Brown.
Gravity helps Founders celebrate 20 years with 20 pours
On Wednesday, Dec. 13, Gravity Taphouse and Grill will take part in Founders Brewing Company’s 20th anniversary celebration by offering 20 Founders beers either on tap or in bottle — and offering a free anniversary growler with most of the brewery’s pours.
There will be special brews available all day, including Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS), both 2016 and 2017, and its Canadian Breakfast Stout (CBS) will be tapped at 6 p.m. Alas, those three are not available in growler; but then most of us could not handle a growler of the magical stuff.
Grammy Award winning country-swing band Asleep at the Wheel. (Supplied)
WKTV Staff
St. Cecilia Music Center this week announced two additional shows to their Acoustic Café Folk Series — the banjo royalty of husband and wife duo Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn, and Grammy Award winning country-swing band Asleep at the Wheel — with both set to visit Grand Rapids in early 2018.
Fleck and Washburn will appear on Friday, Feb. 23, and Asleep at the Wheel will perform on Thursday, April 12, both at 7:30 p.m. There will also be additional Acoustic Café Folk concerts for 2018 announced after the new year.
“Over the years SCMC has expanded the genres of music we present with the creation of the jazz series 10 years ago and the Acoustic Café folk series a few years ago, in addition to our traditional chamber music offerings,” Cathy Holbrook, St. Cecilia executive director, said in supplied material. “With the appearance of Margo Price last season, we opened the door for country music artists. … We trust Asleep at the Wheel fans will be excited to hear them up close and personal, and that banjo lovers will unite for the power-house couple Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn.”
Banjo royalty and husband and wife duo Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn. (Supplied)
Asleep at the Wheel, now based in Austin, Texas, holds 10 Grammy awards, 20 studio albums and 20 singles on the Billboard country charts. Most recently, the band shared a Grammy for “Still The King: Celebrating the Music of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys”, the band’s most recent release in 2015. The recording features 22 collaborations, including legends such as Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and George Strait and newcomers like The Avett Brothers, Amos Lee and Old Crow Medicine Show.
Fleck and Washburn, given the name of “the king and queen of the banjo” by Paste Magazine, have a unique musical partnership. Fleck is a fifteen-time Grammy Award winner who has taken the instrument across multiple genres, and Washburn is a singer-songwriter and clawhammer banjo player. Whether at home, on stage or on record, their bond, combined with the way their distinct musical personalities and banjo styles interact, makes theirs a picking partnership.
Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn tickets are $45 and $50. Asleep at the Wheel tickets are $35 and $40. Tickets and can be purchased by calling St. Cecilia Music Center at 616-459-2224, visiting the box office at 24 Ransom Ave. NE, or online at scmc-online.org. A post-concert party with a cash bar will be available to all ticket-holders after the concerts
Brad Mehldau, in trio format, visited St. Cecilia Music Center Nov. 30. (Supplied)
By K.D. Norris
ken@wktv.org
Brad Mehldau Trio, Nov. 30, at St. Cecilia Music Center, Grand Rapids, Mi.
60-second Review
Pianist Brad Mehldau is often referred to as a “lyrical” jazz pianist. But there may be a better adjective for what he and his piano render from a chart of music.
While St. Cecilia’s Royce Auditorium regularly offers classical, jazz and even folk music, and Thursday’s visit by the Brad Mehldau Trio technically fit into the jazz series, the music might well have been its own sub-genre: “experimental”.
Yes, jazz is, almost by definition, improvisational. But Mehldau, along with Larry Grenadier on bass and Jeff Ballard on drums, where in mostly charted — with sheet music in front of them — but still artistically uncharted territory. With the way Mehldau often closed his eyes and looked off to nowhere, and the way his piano often floated above Grenadier and Ballard’s foundational lines, I would guess that Mehldau’s charts are merely a suggestion.
The trio’s 7-song, roughly 75-minute set featured mostly original tunes, beginning with “Gentle John” — Mehldau’s ode to one-time musical partner John Scofield — and maybe only one jazz standard, Sidney Bechet’s “Si tu vois ma mère” (I think that was the name of the Bechet tune … and the bluesy encore was unidentified from the stage, and may or may not have been a cover.)
My favorite tunes were two originals: “Bel and the Dragon”, which Mehldau said was being debuted at the concert and which felt a little like jazzy space music with the pianist taking several interstellar detours off his charts, as well as “Green M & Ms”, a tune which allowed Ballard to prove that drums can, in fact, be a lead instrument without rattling the ice cubes in one’s drink. (We will not mention the urban legend that green M & Ms are an aphrodisiac, but the music was pretty attractive …)
The bottom line is that, when it comes to innovative musical charts, and uncharted music innovations, Mehldau has few equals in the current jazz scene. And, as the Los Angeles Times wrote in another review, Mehldau is “one of the most adventurous pianists to arrive on the jazz scene in years.”
Mehldau, who last performed in Grand Rapids at St. Cecilia in 2010, was the second offering of St. Cecilia’s annual jazz series, which will include singers Gregory Porter on Feb. 22, 2018, and Kurt Elling on March 22, 2018. For information on tickets and more information visit SCMC-online.org.
Mehldau’s jazz trio work is also on my short list of “must-have” jazz trio recordings. For those looking for a deeper dive into the format, an essential acquisition would be the Oscar Peterson Trio’s 1963 recording “Night Train”, the Ahmad Jamahl Trio’s 1958 recording “But Not For Me – At The Pershing” and/or Mehldau’s “The Art of the Trio” series, re-packaged and re-released as a 5-Disc box set by Nonesuch in 2011.
And you probably have to look no farther than Grandville’s The Corner Record Shop for any of them.
In the mood for a little somethin’ somethin’ to get you going on our upcoming frigid winter days?
Gray Skies Distillery will release its first rye whiskey — Breakfast Rye — on Sunday, Dec. 3, at their Grand Rapids tasting room, and retailers, bars and restaurants across the state.
Not that I am advocating it first thing in the morning, as the name implies, but a little touch of maple-flavored whiskey in your Sunday morning coffee doesn’t sound like a bad idea.
Breakfast Rye whiskey was initially aged in charred new, oak barrels then finished for six months in maple syrup casks, according to supplied information, “imparting a subtle, sweet finish to the otherwise spicy rye spirit.”
The Breakfast Rye is the fourth spirit released by Grey Skies, following their Utility Vodka, Barrel Finished Gin, and Spiced Rum — after a tasting a fall event at Fulton Street Market, I can vouch for the uniqueness of the gin.
According to the distillery, the rye was created in collaboration with Grand Rapids’ BLiS Gourmet, which provided the maple syrup casks used to finish the whiskey. BLiS Gourmet makes Bourbon Barrel Maple syrup by aging raw Michigan maple syrup in old, rustic Kentucky bourbon barrels. After BLiS emptied the maple syrup, Gray Skies Distillery filled the barrels with rye whiskey to impart the maple character responsible for name Breakfast Rye.
“Breakfast Rye was named after someone remarked ‘it smells like breakfast’ while trying a sample,” Steve Vander Pol, co-owner of Gray Skies Distillery, said in supplied material. “We distill our rye whiskey from a high rye mash-bill consisting of 85 percent rye grain and 15 percent malted barley. The abundance of rye produces a spicy whiskey and we were thrilled to taste how maple compliments the spice to provide a complex spirit with a velvety mouthfeel and long, smooth finish.”
Vander Pol said that additional whiskey releases are planned next year, including Michigan Straight Bourbon whiskey and Michigan Straight Rye whiskey.
The St. Cecilia Grand Band in rehearsal at the music center’s Royce Auditorium, from 2016. (WKTV)
By St. Cecilia Music Center
St. Cecilia Music Center’s Adult Grand Band and String Orchestra will kick off the holidays with an free concert on Sunday, Dec. 3, at 7 p.m. The two musical groups consist of adults between the ages of 13-94 who love to play and practice music throughout the year and who gather together to perform during the holidays.
“These are musicians comprised of community members who want to explore and develop their love of music and who enjoy playing their instrument with others who have the same passion,” Cathy Holbrook, executive director of St. Cecilia, said. “We provide high-quality music training and performance opportunities for adults in our community and this is their holiday concert where the public can see and experience joyful music making.”
The concert will include performed music as well as a holiday sing-along with the audience. Some of the pieces to be performed include Frank Ticheli’s “Joy”, John Phillip Sousa’s “Manhattan Beach March” and other selections. The two ensembles will join together to perform LeRoy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride”, followed by a Christmas carol performance and sing along with the audience.
“People who attend the event will love the lively, upbeat nature of this performance,” Paul Keen, conductor of the Adult Grand Band, said. “It’s a great way to kick off the holiday season.”
St. Cecilia Music Center is located at 24 Ransom Ave. NE in downtown Grand Rapids. For more information call 616-459-2224 or visit scmc-online.org .
For more information about the Adult Grand Band or the String Orchestra, contact Martha C. Bundra, Education Director, at martha@scmc-online.org or call 616-459-2224 x206.
From the time of Art Tatum, though the years Oscar Peterson led what some consider the perfect jazz trio (with Ray Brown on bass and Ed Thigpen on the sticks), into the modern jazz era with the likes of Brad Mehldau, there are many different instrumentations used in “a jazz trio” but when people think of “the jazz trio” you know what they are talking about.
The piano-bass-drum jazz trio is, with little argument, the quintessential jazz group.
Back in 1996, pianist Mehldau released the first of a series of recordings titled “The Art of the Trio” — a recognition of the historic and continuing perfection of the piano-bass-drums jazz combo by a multi-Grammy nominated performer who’s career has never strayed far from the format.
And while a Nov. 30 visit to St. Cecilia Music Center’s Jazz Series by Mehldau’s latest trio may well be a must-see concert this year — a concert where he will undoubtedly continue to prove the adage — there are local jazz performers bouncing around Grand Rapids music scene that also offer proof just about every night of the week.
Steve Talaga, on keyboards, in trio at a local venue. (Supplied).
“Most of the great jazz pianists going back to the mid-1940s have performed and recorded in this format, so each succeeding generation of young musicians has been exposed to, and influenced by, these artifacts,” said Steve Talaga, a pianist with a long history in the area jazz scene and currently an adjunct professor of music at Hope College.
“This trio format is also a situation which offers a perfect blend of interaction and freedom. You have multiple musicians contributing musical ideas to the ‘stew,’ but not so many that things get muddled,” he said. “Once drums are paired with piano, the bass range can sound a little weak, so adding a string bass reinforces the low register, creating a perfect musical scenario.”
Robin Connell, also a local pianist and music instructor, likens the musical range of the piano jazz trio as being a “group discussion.”
Robin Connell, with bassist Chris Kjorness’ River North Trio, at The Old Goat in Grand Rapids. (Supplied)
“In terms jazz as an art form, the best jazz trios musically interact continuously so that their performance can be likened to listening to a group discussion,” she said. “Just as in listening to three people talking together, conversation can flow easily and equally and be heard by listeners. Larger groups rely either on more written music — less improvisation, taking turns improvising, or music that is simple harmonically.”
But jazz people will tell you that not only is the piano jazz trio a jazz club mainstay for musical reasons, there are also logistical and economic reasons as well.
Robin Connell
Economics “enter the picture, although not as much for established artists of international stature,” Connell said. “Very few places anywhere in the U.S. pay a living wage for live music unless the venue is booking ‘name’ artists. This is true for jazz as it is for all other live music. I imagine the history of the jazz trio includes that reality and certain combinations, such as piano/bass/drums, became standard.”
Talaga agrees, but knows economics has never overshadowed the music.
“Economics do play a role, of course. More so all the time,” Talaga said. “With this combination, you have a complete ensemble capable of creating the most exciting music, but the paycheck only has to be split three ways.”
But “for me, the piano/bass/drums format is the dream band, both in terms of listening and performing. If you get the right combination of inventive, sensitive, and capable musicians, it’s pure magic.”
And most local jazz lovers are expecting magic with Mehldau’s return visit to St. Cecilia Music Center as part of the center’s Encore Jazz Season, celebrating over ten years of some of the finest jazz musicians in the world playing the venue.
“The jazz trio format is the classic format for a jazz combo — but what’s so interesting about all jazz programming is that, even if the instruments are the same in two groups, two shows are usually never alike in the hands of consummate musicians,” said Cathy Holbrook, executive director of St. Cecilia Music Center.
Brad Mehldau, in trio format, will be coming to St. Cecilia Music Center NOv. 30. (Supplied)
“We’ve had the piano/bass/drum trio at St. Cecilia Music Center many times over the past ten years, but the musician leading the group can take it in many different directions,” she said. “When Brad Mehldau brings his trio, we will hear a night of improvisation vs. jazz standards — they may start out with a standard but it goes into their imagination and comes back out again.”
For those with only a casual relationship with the jazz trio, but looking for a deeper dive, an essential acquisition would be the Oscar Peterson Trio’s 1963 recording “Night Train”, the Ahmad Jamahl Trio’s 1958 recording “But Not For Me – At The Pershing” and/or Mehldau’s “The Art of the Trio” series, re-packaged and re-released as a 5-Disc box set by Nonesuch in 2011. And you probably have to look no farther than Grandville’s The Corner Record Shop for any of them.
For more information and tickets for Brad Mehldau, visit scmc-online.org
The Steve Talaga Roots of Jazz Trio, among other gigs, will play at the 18th Amendment in Muskegon, Dec. 23 from 8-11 p.m. Visit his website at stevetalaga.com .
Robin Connell, among other gigs, will be playing in trio format at One Trick Pony in Grand Rapids, Jan, 11 from 8-11p.m. Visit her website at robinconnell.com .
For more information on local jazz available, visit wmichjazz.org .
After a hectic Black Friday, looking for something to do on Shop Local Saturday? The 3rd Annual Cedar Springs Pub Crawl will take place Saturday, Nov. 25, starting at 5 p.m.
Cedar Springs Brewing is the host of the event, with the two other venues in town being The Gun tavern and the American Legion Glen Hill Post 287 — Cedar Springs Brewing has great German beer and food — been there, done that; and I’m a member of the Cedar Springs’ American Legion, so I can vouch for the patriotic local color.
Oh, and by the way, speaking of Shop Local Saturday, CS Brewery’s home brew business next to the pub is have a sale on home brew supplied.
First, always have a designated driver when your pub crawling. But, second, if your more in the mood to get your Beer City Brewsader Passport book stamped, after a visit to Cedar Springs Brewing, there is also a couple of other north-of-Grand Rapids brew pubs worth a visit: the Rockford Brewing Company in … wait for it … Rockford; and the recently relocated and expanded Cellar Brewing Company in Sparta.
For more information on Cedar Spring Brewing and the pub crawl, visit csbrew.com . For more information on Rockford Brewing visit rockfordbrewing.com and for Cellar Brewing visit cellerbrewingco.com .
Pianist Steve Talaga, at right (shown with a jazz trip), will team with Grand Rapids Symphony strings to present two works written by Talaga in a Nov. 26 concert at the GRAM. (Supplied)
The Grand Rapids Art Museum’s Sunday Classical Concert Series, a series of 16 performances during the fall and winter each year, will present a special program featuring local pianist Steve Talaga on Thanksgiving weekend.
“String Fling: The Music of Steve Talaga”, will be presented Sunday, Nov. 26, at 2 p.m. at the museum.
“An ensemble of virtuoso string players from the Grand Rapids Symphony will perform my string quartet and a new quintet for piano and strings, “From Darkness into Light”, Talaga said to WKTV. “This will be the world premier (of the second work) and I’ll be joining them at the piano.”
Talaga wrote the string quartet when was written in 1990 when he was a graduate student at Western Michigan University.
The setting of the concerts is one of the GRAM’s beautiful, natural light filled spaces which showcase the buildings architecture and galleries as well as the music. The concert is open to the public with general admission, and free for all GRAM members. Seating is first come, first served.
The GRAM is located in downtown Grand Rapids. For more information visit artmuseum.org .
Unless you are a shop-a-holic, Black Friday is usually a time to stay away from public places, but on Friday, Nov. 24, the Grand Rapids Public Museum just might tempt you out with the offer of “Dark Beer, Dark Side”, an opportunity to get all spaced out with a beer in your hands.
The Public Museum, in partnership with Brewery Vivant, starting at 6:30 p.m. will present will host a brief presentation by Ryan Engemann, the Wandering Monk from Brewery Vivant, on the differences between various dark beers including Brewery Vivant’s Tart Side of the Moon. Then, after some time to tour the museum, at 7:45 p.m., visitors have the chance to grab a beer to enter the Chaffee Planetarium for the Museum’s original production “Dark Side: The Light Show”, set to the music of Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon”.
In the planetarium, visitors will experience the sounds of the iconic album “The Dark Side of the Moon” while getting blown away by stunning 4K visuals, brilliant LED sequences and Dolby 5.1 surround sound.
Tickets are $12 for mMuseum members, $22 for non-members, and your must be age 21+. Tickets include 3 beer samples, general admission to the museum and admission to the planetarium show. For more information visit GRPM.org .
Tours and tastes at local breweries, distilleries
Ever smelled the smell of beer in the making? It is either as a fruity summer ale or as pungent as a strong stout, depending on what’s in the making. And spirits being distilled? Don’t event try to explain it.
Several Grand Rapids area breweries and distilleries are open to “behind the scenes” tours, according to supplied information, including Founders Brewing Company, Long Road Distillery, and Grey Skies Distillery.
Grand Rapids’ Founders Brewing Company offers limited tours of their production facility on Saturdays at 11 a.m. and 11:45 a.m., and Sundays at 12:30 p.m. and Fridays at 5:30 p.m. Tours are $10 each and include a Founders logo pint glass. They also offer a combined tour and beer tasting — just don’t ask what will be on tap as it changes. For more information visit foundersbrewing.com .
Grand Rapids’ Long Road Distillery takes visitors through the distilling process and the principles behind it. As they like to say: “You’ll get the chance to know what’s in your glass and where it came from.” Each tour is conducted by a distilling expert who is friendly, knowledgeable, and eager to answer any question — and the, of course, you get to taste a little somethin’ somethin’. Tours are $10 per person and limited to 15 people. For more information visit longroaddistillers.com .
Grand Rapids’ Gray Skies Distillery, which began whiskey production in 2015, has an on-site tasting room and cocktail bar. In September, the distillery began offering weekend tours to guests looking to learn more about craft whiskey, and peek behind the scenes at the distillery. There are two tours available, both are led by a knowledgeable distiller who will walk the guests through the entire whiskey making process, including fermentation, distillation, and aging — all done on-site. The Craft Distilling Tours are free, but the “Sneak Peek Tours” are $10, and include a craft cocktail to enjoy while on your tour. For more information visit greyskiesdistillery.com .
And for all you light lager drinkers …
Comstock Park’s Perrin Brewing recently announced a new brew has been added to its “core beer line-up”, a American light lager appropriately called Perrin Light Lager. It is described in supplied material as “a refreshingly clean, crisp beer with a perfect balance of malt and hops.”
Perrin Light Lager is now available in 15-packs — available in stores, but why not use that as an excuse to stop by the Perrin Pub? — as well as on draft at your favorite tap across Michigan.
Unlike a lot of shopping malls and radio stations, the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park’s Christmas celebration will precede Thanksgiving by a couple of days as the 23rd annual Christmas and Holiday Traditions Around the World exhibition opens Tuesday, Nov. 21.
The exhibit, which runs through Jan. 7, 2018, will allow guests to experience 42 Christmas and holiday trees, and displays representing countries and cultures from around the world, according to supplied material.
And, for those really into traditions and the art of garden arrangement, the Railway Garden and holiday wonderland will once again wind its way through three indoor garden spaces, including the recently renovated Grace Jarecki Seasonal Display Greenhouse.
“This year we pause to reflect on the many unique and beautiful ways that holiday traditions are observed all over the world,” Steve LaWarre, director of horticulture, said in supplied material.
The annual Holiday Gala is a night to dress up and remember. (Supplied)
From the highly polished metal of the Hanukkah Menorahs, to the beautiful Eid ul-Fitr display — which celebrates the end of Ramadan — to the golden glass ornaments adorning many of the traditional Christmas trees, guests will come across a variety of reflective surfaces designed to reinforce the theme of reflection. The holiday season is also a time when many cultures share the custom of turning attention inwards, reflecting upon the past and making preparations for the New Year.
Meijer Gardens transforms into a botanic wonderland with poinsettias, orchids and amaryllis. The smell of evergreens as visitors enter the building and the sounds of carolers make it a perfect family place to enjoy the holiday season. Indoors and out, trees sparkle with over 300,000 white lights.
Hydrangea petals make up the iconic glass tower of the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital. (Supplied)
The unique horticultural artistry of the Railway Garden complements the model trolleys, trains and handcrafted buildings replicating 30 Grand Rapids landmarks, including the unique use of hydrangea petals that make up the iconic glass tower of the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital.
Meijer Gardens will also offer a series of family-friendly activities throughout the exhibition.
Exhibition Activities:
Extended Holiday Hours: Open until 9 p.m. Dec. 18-23, 26-30 (Meijer Gardens is closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day).
The Original Dickens Carolers: Tuesdays: Nov. 21 and 28, Dec. 5, 12, 19; 6-8 p.m.
And, of course, there will be visits by Santa for those holiday photos. (Supplied)
Santa Visits: Tuesdays: Nov. 21 and 28, Dec. 5, 12, 19; 5-8 p.m.
Winter-Time Walks: Nov. 21-Jan. 6, 2018; Tuesdays 10:15 and 11:15 a.m., Saturdays 11:15 a.m. (Included with admission). Winter in the Lena Meijer Children’s Garden can be chilly, but fun! Bundle up and join us on an outdoor interactive discovery walk to investigate the Children’s Garden in new ways. We’ll explore different winter themes and gather by the hearth in the log cabin to learn about winter with stories, kid-friendly conversation and finger plays.
Christmas and Holiday Themed Classes: Enjoy festive learning opportunities for adults and families. Fees apply.
Saying bassist Christian McBride is the new millennium’s baseline of jazz music might be laying it on a little thick, but he certainly is a favorite of the Grammy awards and of St. Cecilia Music Center, where his unique trio will be on stage next week.
McBride — with five Grammy wins since 2004, and a pairing of piano and guitar with him — will make an encore visit to St. Cecilia’s Royce Auditorium stage on Thursday, Nov. 16, for a 7:30 p.m. concert. Tickets are still available.
“We are lucky to have him here,” Cathy Holbrook, executive director of St. Cecilia, said in supplied material, pointing out McBride’s current trio tour includes just five cities: New York City, Newark, Chicago, Denton (part of the Dallas-Ft. Worth metropolitan area) … and Grand Rapids.
McBride’s “McBride’s Tip City” tour will have him accompanied by pianist Emmet Cohen and guitarist Dan Wilson.
McBride’s visit is the beginning of St. Cecilia’s annual jazz series, which will include the Brad Mehldau Trio on Nov. 30, and singers Gregory Porter on Feb. 22, 2018, and Kurt Elling on March 22, 2018.
“This is going to be a jazz series for the record books,” Holbrook said about St. Cecilia’s “encore” series. “We are bringing back some of our favorites from the first ten years of the series. (And) the excitement begins with Christian McBride, one of today’s most enjoyable entertainers and outstanding jazz performers of our time.”
That “outstanding” part?
McBride has eight Grammy nominations, and five wins four since 2009 including the 2015 Best Improvised Jazz Solo for “Cherokee”.
Now in his third decade of playing and recording, the one-time “young lion” and Philadelphia native is one of the most respected, and sought after, players in music — and not just in traditional jazz. And the reason is clear by hearing one of his stories.
“When you pull the people in, you can go anywhere as long as they feel like they’re a part of the ride,” McBride said in supplied information. “ That’s why Cannonball Adderley was always my hero — he always exemplified high artistry, but no matter how esoteric or abstract it could get, he still related to people.”
McBride not only leads his own bands but he has shared the stage with jazz legends such as Sonny Rollins, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock and Pat Metheny; he has accompanied pop music heavyweights such as James Brown, Sting and The Roots; he has collaborated with classical masters such as Kathleen Battle, Edgar Meyer and the Shanghai Quartet.
In addition to his live and recording musical efforts, McBride currently hosts and produces “The Lowdown: Conversations With Christian McBride” on SiriusXM satellite radio and National Public Radio’s “Jazz Night in America” — can you say “Stories to tell?”
McBride will come to Grand Rapids, according to supplied information, following a performance with Dianne Reeves and a celebration of the 100th birthdays of Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie with Gregory Porter and Regina Carter — can you say “More stories to tell?”
You know, maybe that “baseline of modern jazz” is not too far off.
For tickets and more information visit SCMC-online.org. There will also be a pre-concert reception available for an additional price, and a free post-concert party available to ticket holders when the artists routinely visit for talk and CD signing.
President Richard Nixon had his Elvis sighting; George W. Bush had his bond with Bono; Bill Clinton and Barak Obama had a ton of encounters with the politics of rock ’n’ roll music.
The constant is that since the 1960s, the songs and songwriters of rock have been a consistent voice on the political and social scene, and even presidents are not immune to the influence.
So, after opening at Cleveland’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2016, and then spending early this year at the prestigious Newseum in Washington, D.C., the exhibit, “Louder Than Words: Rock, Power & Politics” — which explores the power of rock music to change attitudes about patriotism, peace, equality and freedom — will open at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum next week.
The exhibit will open Tuesday, Nov. 7 and run through Feb. 11, 2018. (It will then travel to the William J. Clinton Presidential Library in 2018, and then the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum in 2020.)
Photo of exhibit with clothing related to war protest songs. (Supplied)
Using video, multimedia, photographs, periodicals and artifacts, “Louder Than Words” showcases the intersection between rock and politics. According to supplied information, the exhibit “explores how artists exercise their First Amendment rights, challenge assumptions and beliefs, stimulate thought and effect change.
“Beyond music’s influence on the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War and gender equality, the exhibit also features other significant moments and figures, such as Bob Dylan, who rallied people against social inequality, the hip-hop music of the 80s that discussed police brutality in poverty stricken neighborhoods, and Pussy Riot, who utilized their music as an outlet for social activism in Russia.”
A supplied description of the exhibit goes on to say: “Whether you identify as red or blue, we all bleed rock and roll. Voicing political beliefs mixes its way into conversation and lyrics all the same. Whether you’re a fan of Jimi Hendrix’s “Star Spangled Banner” reinvention or Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’ ” insightful ballad, many musical artists have broached the subject of politics or have reacted to the current political and cultural climate through note and song. Inside of a song or performance, artists feel safe expressing their opinions and inviting fans to connect with their message regardless of party affiliation.
“Do those same established boundaries exist today? The stage has recently come under fire for openly expressing political critique, which prompts the question — is free speech still protected inside of a performance or song? Regardless of recent and future criticisms, artists will continue to fold political sentiments into their work, and we will continue to support those rock and rollers, unafraid of controversy, letting their music play louder than words.”
Photo of exhibit with clothing related to war protest songs. (Supplied)
The original exhibit included exclusive video interviews with Bono, David Byrne, Dee Snider, Tom Morello, Lars Ulrich, Gloria Estefan, Gregg Allman, Jimmy Carter and others to examine how music has both shaped and reflected our culture norms on eight political topics: civil rights, LGBT issues, feminism, war and peace, censorship, political campaigns, political causes and international politics.
Artifacts in the original exhibit include Joe Strummer’s Fender Telecaster, correspondence between the FBI and Priority Records regarding N.W.A’s “F*** the Police” song, original handwritten lyrics from Neil Young’s “Ohio” and artifacts related to the Vietnam war and the May 4, 1970 shooting at Kent State.
As part of the exhibition run, the Ford Museum will also present several special events:
A lecture, “The Meaning of the Vietnam War”, will be presented by Fredrik Logevall on Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. at the museum. Logevall is the winner the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for his book, “Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America’s Vietnam.”
In his lecture, he will trace the path that led two Western nations to tragically lose their way in the jungles of Southeast Asia. Logevall is the Laurence D. Belfer Professor of International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and an author of numerous books on the Vietnam War.
A discussion, “Arlington and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier”, will be presented by Tom Tudor on Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. at the museum.
Tudor will actually give a two part talk in one event. The first part focuses on Mr. Tudor’s personal connection with the historic cemetery as he recalls his time standing watch over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The second part gives the history of Arlington National Cemetery and discusses some of America’s finest who are laid to rest within the gates.
(An aside: remember that the museum will present its annual Outdoor Tree Lighting Ceremony on Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. Always a grand kickoff to the holiday season.)
The Vietnam War Lecture Series will also continue on Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. with Dr. Edward J. Marolda presenting “Admirals Under Fire: U.S. Naval Leaders and the Vietnam War”.
Marolda, before his retirement in 2008, served as the Director of Naval History and Senior Historian of the Navy at the Naval Historical Center, Washington, D.C. He has authored and coauthored numerous books with an emphasis on the U.S. Navy in the Vietnam War.
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum is located at 303 Pearl St. NW, Grand Rapids. For more information visit fordlibrarymuseum.gov .
Ballet 5:8’s Antonio Rosario, front, was a focal point whenever he was on stage for the group’s “Compass” program. (Supplied/Lana Kozol)
By K.D. Norris
ken@wktv.org
Ballet 5:8’s “Compass”, Oct. 28, at The Devos Center for Arts and Worship, Grand Rapids Christian High School, Grand Rapids, Mi.
60-second Review
This weekend’s visit of the Chicago-based Ballet 5:8 dance company, and its original modern ballet/dance program “Compass”, choreographed by Julianna Rubio Slager, offered a welcome addition to what is a quality if not-so-plentiful spectrum of modern dance opportunities in the Grand Rapids area.
The program of four one-act ballets, inspired by the challenges of personal navigation in a world of cultural tension and personal quandary, was consistent in its imaginative choreography by Slager — the troupe’s artistic director — as well as being accompanied by mostly well matched music and well danced by Ballet 5:8’s dancers.
Special note should be given to the on-stage presence and prowess of solo dancers Stephanie Joe and especially Antonio Rosario — the pair were perfect together in the second movement/Culture 4 segment of “All God’s Children”, the opening of the four one-act ballets. But Rosario’s stage power and personality was a focal point whenever he was on stage.
The most memorable — and emotional — of the one-acts, however, was the sparse, incredibly emotional “The Mother”, and the dancing perfection of lead dancer Lorianne Barclay. Based on an interpretation of a poem by Pulitzer Prize author (and Chicagoian) Gwendolyn Brooks, the dance — where in Barclay’s channelling of Brooks’s lament of “the abortion of decades past” is both raw and sadly tender but also hints (to me) at the ultimate acceptance of one’s life decisions and the consequences of those decisions.
The dance company’s mission, according to the program, is to engage in a “conversation of life and faith” through dance. And “Compass” did that very well, and with out being too preachy.
For more information about Ballet 5:8 visit ballet58.org.
May I have more, please?
As I said, the visit by Ballet 5:8 was a beginning and a welcome addition to the area’s fall/winter modern dance offerings.
Next up is Grand Valley State University’s modern dance offering, part of its Fall Arts Celebration, as Aerial Dance Chicago presents a free program, “Celebrating Originality: Defying Gravity with Aerial Dance Chicago”, on Monday, Nov. 6, at 7:30 p.m., in Louis Armstrong Theatre on the Allendale Campus.
The annual visit by a professional dance company is always worth the time and the short drive west.
And also worth the effort is the GVSU Fall Senior Dance Concert, scheduled for Dec. 9, at 7 p.m., and Dec. 10, at 2 p.m., at the Dance Studio Theatre, also on the Allendale Campus. The dance program, all choreographed and danced by students, is free.
For more information GVSU’s entertainment programs visit gvsu.edu/mtd.
The high-point of the modern dance season, of course, the annual presentation of the Grand Rapid’s Ballet’s Movemedia program, this season offering a series titled “Movemedia: Diversity” and presented on Feb. 9-11, 2018 (Movemedia I) and on March 23-25, 2018 (Movemedia II), both at the ballet’s Peter Martin Wege Theatre.
The program, according to the Grand Rapid Ballet’s website, includes “world-premiere works by some of today’s most important and influential choreographers.”
If past performance(s) is any indication of future expectations, I can’t wait to see what hits the stage early next year.
For more information on the Grand Rapids Ballet visit grballet.org.
Beer and cocktails — and drinking responsibly — will be the center of attention in November as several special events come to West Michigan. (Courtesy New Holland Spirits)
Mitten Brewing Company — located in an old firehouse at 527 Leonard St. NW, in Grand Rapids — reportedly has ghosts with a taste for beer. But even spirits need to be 21 years of age to get a cold one, you know.
According to supplied information,, one night in 2012, during the second week of being open, brewery owner Chris Andrus was the last person to leave the Engine House after doing the final floor mop, at 2 a.m., and the first to open the next morning. The story goes, as he inspected the taproom, he noticed footprints left in the dried mop water on the floor.
“At first, Chris thought nothing of it,” we are told. “But after a few minutes of going about his business, he realized no one else had been in the building between his leaving and return, and that the prints were made by bare feet. He returned to the footprints and made a perplexing discovery: they were the footprints of a child.”
More footprints would show up over the years, as did shadows, silhouettes and — of course — noises.
The Mitten’s tap house is the Engine House No. 9 building: built in 1890, a former West Side Grand Rapids firehouse and one of the city’s few remaining Victorian landmarks. It remained an active firehouse until 1966. It was purchased and restored by The Mitten Brewing Company in 2012. So, it would not be the first haunted firehouse.
So, in case you are into such things, the next time you’re in for a beer, ask the bartenders about the ghosts, or just keep watch.
Kalamazoo Craft Beer Festival to have 250+ brews on pour
Talk about the ultimate tasting room …
More than 80 breweries will have more than 250 brews favorite and special up for sampling at the Wings Event Center Saturday, Nov. 4, as the Kalamazoo Craft Beer Festival — and while Michigan brews will, as always, be the focus of the event but there will also be brews and breweries from all over the United States in attendance.
Among the special brews of note, according to supplied information, are Imperial Voodoo Vator in celebrate of Atwater Brewery’s 20th anniversary, Roak Brewing’s Cucumber IPA, and Hazy Sunset, a New England IPA from Kalamazoo’s own Boatyard Brewing Co.
Since man (or woman) does not live on beer alone — despite what Guinness stout’s makers might say — there will be food trucks on-site at this year’s festival.
The Kalamazoo Craft Beer Festival also is offering ways to make sure everyone gets home safe and sound, so while designated drivers are encouraged, taxis, Ubers, and Lyft rides are also available to and from the event— and cars left at Wings Event Center over-night will not be ticketed. Mobile homes can park and stay in the Wings Event Center parking lot, but there are no hook ups to electrical or water.
Hemingway cocktail expert at GR ‘Wine, Beer & Food’ event
Drink what Hemingway drank …
The 10th Annual Grand Rapids International Wine, Beer & Food Festival at Downtown Grand Rapids’ DeVos Place will host Philip Greene, who has studied and written about the influence of cocktails on the Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winning author Ernest Hemingway (among countless others notables) as part of the festival.
The festival runs Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 16-18.
Greene is the author of “The Manhattan: The Story of the First Modern Cocktail” and will release “The Drinkable Feast: A 1920s Paris Cocktail Company” in 2018 — named in honor of Hemingway’s posthumously published work, “A Moveable Feast”.
Greene’s program, “To Have and Have Another” will be presented Friday at 9 p.m. and Saturday at 5 p.m. There is no charge for these demonstrations and cocktail samples will be provided to the audience. He’ll also present four workshops throughout the course of the using spirits from Holland-based Coppercraft Distillery.
The Grand Rapids International Wine, Beer & Food Festival will coincide with the final weekend of Cocktail Week GR, presented by Experience Grand Rapids.
For more information on the festival, visit devosplace.org . For more information on Cocktail Week GR, visit experienceGR.com .
Taste of Redwater event to benefit CASA child advocacy group
Party for a good cause …
West Michigan’s Redwater Restaurant Group will host an evening of “food, philanthropy and fun” — their words, not mine — with food, wine and beer samples available and a portion of the proceeds going to CASA, the Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children in Kent County program which “empowers everyday citizens to stand up for vulnerable children in the family court system.”
To be held Saturday, Nov. 11, from 6-9 p.m., at Redwater’s Work Wine & Grille, located at 500 Cascade Road SE, Grand Rapids, the event costs $40 per person with $5 per person going to CASA.
According to supplied information, attendees will taste appetizers, entrees and desserts prepared onsite by the Chefs from Reds at Thousand Oaks, FireRock Grille, Rush Creek Bistro, Cork Wine & Grille, Vintage Prime & Seafood, and Gravity Taphouse, as well as RedWater’s pastry chef. Live music will be prepared by the band Oxymorons.
For more information visit corkwineandgrille.com/specials/
East Kentwood High School will host its annual marching band competition this weekend. (Photo by Jim Swoboda)
By Kelly Arganbright
Kentwood Band and Orchestra Boosters
The competition will be intense down on the football field, with a stadium full of cheering fans, at East Kentwood High School Saturday, Oct. 21. Uniformed players will be suited up in their school colors, every movement planned, with the sole focus of trying for the best performance of the season. It’ll be a lot like the games you see in every stadium across America, except for one thing, there will be no football.
In fact, this is no game at all. This event is the East Kentwood High School Falcon Marching Band Invitational, a marching band competition, and it’s happening from 2:30-10 p.m.
It is a musical extravaganza and one of the biggest marching band shows in West Michigan, with 20 high school bands from around West Michigan slated to compete for top honors.
People who have never been to a marching band competition, can liken the experience to watching twenty, football game, halftime shows. Bands are classified according to school size and compete in their respective classes. Each band’s performance has its own chosen theme with related music that they perform with synchronized, choreographed movements. This is no small task, when you consider some of these bands are in excess of 200 members. That’s a lot of moving parts and instruments! The result is a performance that is impressive to hear and watch.
And, the view should be spectacular. East Kentwood boasts the highest vantage point of any high school stadium in West Michigan. A very important detail, considering when it comes to marching bands, the higher a person is in the stadium, the better the view of the performance they will have.
People should plan to come out and spend the day. There will be a plenty of food and drinks available at the concession stand, so spectators will not have to miss a single performance.
Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for students and seniors and age 5 and under are free. All proceeds benefit the EKHS instrumental music programs.
Here is the performance line up:
Class D
2:30 PM Brandywine High School
2:45 PM Bridgman High School
3:00 PM Pewamo-Westphalia High School
3:15 PM Gobles High School
3:30 PM Break
Class C
3:45 PM Freemont High School
4:00 PM Oakridge High School
4:15 PM Parchment High School
4:30 PM Whitehall High School
4:45 PM Dowagiac High School
5:00 PM Lakewood High School
5:15 PM Break
Class B
5:45 PM Kenowa Hills High School
6:00 PM Ionia High School
6:15 PM Charlotte High School
6:30 PM Vicksburg High School
6:45 PM Spring Lake High School
7:00 PM Break
Class A
7:30 PM Wyoming High School
7:45 PM Kalamazoo Central High School
8:00 PM Olivet High School A
8:15 PM Portage Central High School
Exhibition
8:30 PM East Kentwood High School
9:00 PM Awards Ceremony
(Photos attached to file. Photo credit to Jim Swoboda.)
A sure sign of fall, in addition to those changing colors and chilly mornings, is the beginning of the musical seasons at the St. Cecilia Music Center — a season each of chamber music masters, acoustic singer/songwriter folkies, and jazz lions young and older.
Judy Collins (Supplied)
First up on the 2017-18 calendar is the center’s Acoustic Café Series and a visit from acoustic guitar legend Leo Kottke on Thursday, Oct. 26 — with a Café visit by the incomparable Judy Collins already set for early next year and more of the series to be announced.
The opening acts of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center series, and the Jazz Series for the 2017-18 season begins in November.
David Finckel, left, will be one of the featured performers at the St. Cecilia Music Center concert. (Supplied)
First up next month is a chamber music program on Nov. 2, Essential String Trios, with CMS co-artistic director and cellist David Finckel performing with violinist Arnaud Sussman and violist Paul Neubauer. The program will include the works of Beethoven and Mozart, but also a less well known modern work by Krzysztof Penderecki — Trio for Violin, Viola and Cello (composed in 1990-91).
The Jazz Series — titled the “Encore Series” as all performers will be making their return visit to St. Cecilia — begins Nov. 16 with Grammy-winning bassist Christian McBride and his trio, and continues Nov. 30 with pianist Brad Mehldau and his trio.
McBride’s visit may well be “the concert” of the St. Cecilia season, for any of the series; okay, maybe just behind Collins. But back to the opener, and Kottke.
“To see Leo Kottke perform is one of the most memorable music experiences of my life,” Cathy Holbrook, St. Cecilia executive director said in supplied material. “He is truly one of the best folk performers we have seen at St. Cecilia Music Center. His sold-out performance with us in April 2016 was so good that we wanted to bring him back for an encore.
“In addition to Leo Kottke, we are excited to bring the renowned and beloved singer Judy Collins to the intimate Royce Auditorium stage,” Holbrook added.
Kottke has gained Grammy nominations, a Doctorate in Music Performance by the Peck School of Music at the University of Wisconsin, and — in typical Kottke humor, a Certificate of Significant Achievement in Not Playing the Trombone from the University of Texas at Brownsville with Texas Southmost College (according to supplied material!).
More than 25 years after the release of his debut recording, in 1968, Kottke collaborated with jam band Phish bassist Mike Gordon for an album titled “Sixty Six Steps”, and he continues to reinvent himself while always being true to his guitar.
The Acoustic Café Series is a now-5-years-old partnership between St. Cecilia and the syndicated Ann Arbor based radio show Acoustic Café and its host Rob Reinhart.
The Acoustic Café radio show is syndicated to more 100 commercial and non-commercial stations throughout the country and airs locally in Grand Rapids on WYCE on Friday mornings. The Acoustic Café series at SCMC presents the opportunity for a live taping with the artists and Reinhart while they are visiting St. Cecilia.
St. Cecilia Music Center is located at 24 Ransom Ave. NE, Grand Rapids. For tickets and more information on all the series’ concerts, call 616-459-2224 or visit scmc-online.org.
Firefighters from the Grand Rapids Fire Department’s Bridge Street station and New Holland Brewing head pub brewer Jon Boer (front, in the grey shirt), in the production area in The Knickerbocker where a special beer was brewed. (Supplied)
By K.D. Norris
ken@wktv.org
New Holland Brewing’s Westside Grand Rapids location, The Knickerbocker, and the city fire department’s Bridge Street fire station have joined together to produce a locally crafted beer — aptly named “Hose ‘er Down” — of which partial sales proceeds will benefit the Great Lakes Burn Camp.
Beer lovers, fire department supporters and those who wish to help raise funds for the burn camp can get “hosed down” this week.
According to supplied information, the Great Lakes Burn Camp exists to provide a unique experience that promotes healing, self-esteem, confidence, and general well-being for burn injured children. The camp operates entirely on donations and fundraisers. These donations allow the campers to come for a week of summer camp and a four-day winter camp with no out-of-pocket expense to their parents.
The collaboration between The Knickerbocker and the Bridge Street fire station will raise funds to allow Great Lakes Burn Camp to operate and continue to support as many burn injured children as possible.
The beer itself, named by the Bridge St. Fire Station, is a red pale ale which is described by the brewery as “an easy-drinking pale ale with balanced, hop-forward flavor and a fiery red hue.”
On Wednesday, Oct. 11, at The Knickerbocker, there will be a launch party for the beer. $1 from every Hose ‘er Down sold (as long as the beer is on tap), plus 10 percent of food sales the day of the launch party, will go toward Great Lakes Burn Camp. Those who come to the release also have the opportunity to meet and mingle with local firefighters and learn more about the burn camp.
Rockford Brewing Company announced Oct. 7 that the brewery and two of its beers had been honored recently at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colo. According to its Facebook page, the brewery won the 2017 Small Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewer awards.
In addition, the brewery won a silver medal for its Sheehan’s Stout and a bronze for its Rogue River Brown — my usual choice when sitting on the downtown Rockford brewpubs deck while watching the parade of people on the White Pine Trail bike and walking/running path.
Brewery Vivant to release new brew, host Halloween party
East Grand Rapids’ Brewery Vivant, this month, will have something special for beer lovers and Halloween fans alike as the brewery will “hop” up to a new brew and lay down its plans for a Halloween party later in October.
The brewery announced this week the release of “Hop Field”, described in supplied information as “an IPA following the brewery’s farmhouse roots while honoring Michigan’s love of hops.”
Later in the month, on Sunday, Oct. 29, the pub will host a “Stranger Things” themed Halloween party featuring the release of an exclusive small batch beer, which will only available for one night. Details on the party and brew will be coming soon, but you may as well mark your beer calendar.
As part of the Garden’s ArtPrize exhibit, “Rodin and the Contemporary Figurative Tradition”, Anders Krisár’s work — Untitled, from 2014-15 — both fits in and stands out among the works of 17 contemporary figurative artists. (Supplied)
One of the grand things about Grand Rapids’ annual ArtPrize explosion of often-comfortable, and occasionally controversial, art is listening to people-on-the-street talk about what attracted — or befuddled — them.
Waiting in line at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum — traditionally a focal point of artistic entities eying public support by offering very accessible, if not very exploratory, art — my wife and I overheard a man talking about a modern figurative sculpture included as part of the current Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park exhibit.
The man, wearing a military service hat of some branch and looking very much like a visitor from Indianapolis so some other heartland city, was trying to convince the other man in his foursome of the absolute necessity that he see Swede Anders Krisár’s startling, almost surreal split body sculpture.
Not exactly the kind of art you’d expect to attract conservative artistic appreciation, but such is the world of ArtPrize dialogue.
As part of the Garden’s ArtPrize exhibit, “Rodin and the Contemporary Figurative Tradition”, Krisár’s work — Untitled, from 2014-15 — both fits in and stands out among the works of 17 contemporary figurative sculptors and video artists in an exhibition “influenced” by Rodin.
Anders Krisár by Phil Poynter
The work is in keeping with the now Stockholm-based artist most recent works, which show people intentionally left incomplete or disassociated from themselves in various ways. Intentional or not, that vision of a lack of wholeness is something which runs through his art.
“I think not many people are whole,” Krisár said in an interview with WKTV. “We try to find ourselves through other people, find completeness through other people. And also, (other people) can help you become more whole and heal yourself.”
But that idea of creating art which offers what is sometimes called “empty space” for the viewer to fill in, that intentional invitation for interaction with the viewer, is not something the artist says flows consciously.
“It is not really a (part of his) thought process, emotional feeling process,” he said. “The thoughts come afterword, when I start to work more with my hands on, and after, when the work is done, I start to think about it more.”
Krisár, who has spent time in New York and has a foundation in photography to compliment his 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional installation art, described his artistic process this way: “First it is a human model, and then we cast the model, then we make a resin out of that cast and rework that cast. It is kind of a mixture of cast and sculpturing.”
In the case of the Meijer Garden’s exhibit, his final product is polyester, but he has worked in several mediums.
His work came to the attention of Joseph Becherer, Meijer Gardens vice president and chief curator, in a completely different form, however.
Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park chief curator Joseph Becherer. (Courtesy Ohio Today)
“I actually saw some of his works in print form first and I thought they were so interesting and so, sort of, singular, that they really merited being part of this exhibition,” Becherer said. “… I thought what he was doing, in terms of both technology and form, on one side. But also in terms of the content was pretty special.”
They also, apparently, deserve special discussion to even the most casual observer of ArtPrize offerings.
“Rodin and the Contemporary Figurative Tradition” is free to the public through the run of this year’s ArtPrize, through Oct. 8, and then will continue on display through Jan. 7, 2018.
The exhibit, after ArtPrize closes, will include an outdoor guided sketching event on Oct. 20 focused on Rodin’s “Eve”, one of the cornerstones of the Garden’s permanent collection, and a discussion by Becherer on Nov. 5 titled “The Rodin Revolution, In and Out of Context”.
For more information on Meijer Gardens and its ArtPrize exhibit, visit meijergardens.org.
The Public Museum’s Beer Explorers program will again team with Brewery Vivant to offer a class on how and why beer tastes so darn good. (Supplied)
By K.D. Norris
ken@wktv.org
The Muskegon Oktoberfest 2-day fundraiser for Muskegon Winter Sports Complex is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, Oct. 6-7, will include a “beer trail” event Saturday from 5-9 p.m. and features specially brewed beers from Pigeon Hill Brewing Company, Unruly Brewing Co., Fetch Brewing Co., and Grand Armory Brewing Company.
Beers from several other craft breweries, hard ciders and wine will be available. (Domestic beer will also be available, but not sure why.) Five biergartens throughout the trail will feature live musical acts, with the Oktoberfest main stage featuring headlining act Westside Soul Surfers from 7-1 p.m.
The fun begins Friday with a “tapping of the kegs” ceremony and a 5K Fun Trail Run under the lights at Muskegon State Park. Saturday, from 3-9 p.m., family events are planned with kid’s activities including a wheel luge track, archery, a pumpkin roll down the luge track and more. Music from traditional German band Ein Prosit will begins at 3:30 p.m.
Free shuttle service will be available to transport guests due to limited parking at the Winter Sports Complex. Shuttle service will run Friday, 6-11:30 p.m., and Saturday, 5-11:30 p.m., with pick up at the state park beach parking lot and the Block House. Guests are encouraged to use the shuttle system to alleviate parking and traffic congestion around the sports complex.
KDL Uncorked program continues with tours, ‘Ladies Night’
The Kent District Library’s Uncorked program will continue with three programs this month, starting Wednesday, Oct. 4, at 7 p.m. with a tour and talk at Gray Skies Distillery, and including later in the month a mead tour at Arktos Meadery, a ladies night wine tasting, and “Geeks Who Drink” quiz night.
The tour at Grey Skies, located at 700 Ottawa NW, Grand Rapids, includes a tasting and behind the scenes look at the process of creating spirits.
The tour of Arktos Meadery, 251 Center Ave. SW, Grand Rapids, will be Wednesday, Oct. 11, at 5 p.m. This tour — which requires pre-registration — will look at how mead is made and have a tasting event.
Also on Wednesday, Oct. 11, from 6-8 p.m., KDL will continue its “KDL Uncorked: Ladies Night”, this time at the East Grand Rapids branch, 746 Lakeside Dr. SE. Wine tasting will be provided by The Crushed Grape, and chocolate and cheese tastings will be provided by The Cheese Lady. During the program, participants will learn about wine pairings and how to create their own.
Finally, on Thursday, Oct. 26, from 7-9 p.m., a special event “Geeks Who Drink” quiz night will be held at the Atwater Brewery, 201 Michigan St. NW, in Grand Rapids. According to supplied material: “If you possess encyclopedic knowledge about “Seinfeld,” can recite Sonic Youth’s entire discography in chronological order, or you want to impress your friend by showing off your otherwise useless knowledge, then this event is for you.”
All programs are for adults, age 21 and older. For more information on any of the events visit kdl.org .
GRAM’s Beer Explorers teams with Brewery Vivant, GRCC
The Grand Rapids Public Museum, in partnership with Brewery Vivant and Grand Rapids Community College, will present a Beer Explorers class examining the science of tasting, on Thursday, Oct. 12.
Brewery Vivant’s Ryan Engeman and GRCC brewery students will host three interactive beer stations, each related to a different sense. According to supplied information, participants will learn how our brains process flavor profiles, and learn about aroma, color, feel and taste of beer.
The Class begins at 6:30 p.m. and will be held on the first floor of GRPM. Admission to class includes three beer samples, as well as access to the Museum’s first two floors to explore, and a cash bar will be available. Participants must be 21 and older. Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets are $20 for non-members and can be purchased at grpm.org/calendar.
You can easily call turn-of-the-20th Century French artist Auguste Rodin the “father” of modern figurative sculpture — Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park chief curator Joseph Becherer, no casual commentator on the subject, certainly does. But it would be a mistake classify Rodin as a “realistic” figurative artist.
And it would be disappointing to the viewer to assume the Garden’s ArtPrize exhibit, “Rodin and the Contemporary Figurative Tradition”, is filled with realistic artwork glorifying the human body in the styles of the classic Greco-Roman, neoclassical and Renaissance traditions.
Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park chief curator Joseph Becherer. (Courtesy Ohio Today)
With both several works by Rodin and the works of 17 contemporary figurative sculptors and video artists in an exhibition, the Gardens and Becherer brings to town a show ranging from absolute reality of the human form, to the abstract, to the nearly absurd.
“Rodin was a figurative artist — he did not do landscapes, he did not enter into abstraction, he didn’t do still life or some of the other objects that one could have done,” Becherer said to WKTV. His work “helped to set a parameter, set the definition, of what is ‘figurative” and one of the reasons it is so broad (today) is because it is based on what Rodin did. … it is of the figure.”
Anders Krisar’s work in Meijer Gardens’ “Rodin and the Contemporary Figurative Tradition” exhibit.
That “broadness” of figurative art Becherer is on full display at the Meijer Gardens show through — to scratch the surface — the startling yet somehow soothing split-image bodies of Anders Krisár, the eerily familiar disembodied faces of Natalia Arbelaez (“Game of Thrones” fan, anyone?), and a simple-yet-complex work by Rolf Jacobsen that forces the viewer to look closer, to think deeper.
“Rodin and the Contemporary Figurative Tradition” is free to the public through the run of this year’s ArtPrize, Sept. 20 to Oct. 8, and then will continue on display through Jan. 7, 2018.
Natalia Arbelaez’ work in Meijer Gardens’ “Rodin and the Contemporary Figurative Tradition” exhibit.
While each of the modern artists, and their works can be taken in a modern context — and can be voted upon by the public and judges for ArtPrize awards — the show offers evidence of how each artist was impacted by Rodin either directly or indirectly.
“This year marks Rodin’s centenary and Meijer Gardens celebrates the remarkable impact of his legacy through the work of (these) seventeen contemporary artists,” Becherer, who is also vice president of exhibitions and collections at the Gardens, said in supplied material.
“This exhibition allows us to explore the boldly impactful way he has inspired major aesthetic trends even today. From representations of figure to use of materials, these selected works allow us to understand both an historic icon and the vitality of the figurative tradition today,” Becherer said.
Rodin — full name François Auguste René Rodin (1840–1917) — was born in Paris to a working-class family, applied unsuccessfully to the city’s prestigious École des Beaux Arts three times, in no small part due to his movement away from a Neoclassical style of sculpture.
But from almost the moment of the unveiling of his first major piece, “Age of Bronze”, the sculptural art form was never the same.
And a miniature cast that work, in fact, is not only part of the current show but is the curator’s favorite of the several Rodin works on loan from the Grand Rapids Art Museum, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Snite Museum of Art and the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
“The Age of Bronze” is not only one of Rodin’s major works, it sets the tone of breaking the definition of “figurative” sculpture.
“The one that I really had my heart set on was the ‘Age of Bronze’, at the introduction, because, you know, for me, it really sets this whole exhibition up because it sets up Rodin as this innovator. The one who broke the rules,” Becherer said to WKTV.
“When you approach it, it looks very classical, it looks Greco-Roman or something like that. But when you really study it, when you really see it in a scale model, you realize it is sort of awkward, it is sort of tripping into space. It has a kind of rough, but realistic animation to it. … I really wanted this sort of revolution to be here and to welcome people. And it was great opportunity to partner with the DIA (Detroit Institute of Art).”
“Rodin and the Contemporary Figurative Tradition” is recognized as one of the official centenary events of 2017 by the Musée Rodin, Paris and the international Rodin Centenary Commission, Centenaire: Rodin 100 — putting the Grand Rapids museum in the same select group as Paris’ Grand Palais and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The exhibit, after ArtPrize closes, will include an outdoor guided sketching event on Oct. 20 focused on Rodin’s “Eve”, one of the cornerstones of the Garden’s permanent collection, and a discussion by Becherer on Nov. 5 titled “The Rodin Revolution, In and Out of Context”.
For more information on Meijer Gardens and its ArtPrize exhibit, visit meijergardens.org.
Beer is not the only game in town at local establishments, even at ones who are famous for their craft beers, such as New Holland Brewing and Spirits. (Courtesy New Holland Spirits)
Everybody who enjoys a good pint of pale ale, and many who wouldn’t know a lager from a stout, knows West Michigan has some of the best craft beer brewing in the country — they do not call Grand Rapids a “Beer City” for no reason.
But you probably have to be a pretty connected cocktail drinker to know that the state’s craft distilleries are also rapidly becoming known as a source for some of the best distilled liquors anywhere.
A toast and tasting at New Holland Spirits — don’t worry there is plenty more where that came from. (Courtesy New Holland Spirits)
“Michigan distilleries are absolutely becoming recognized as one of the country’s best regions for distilled spirits,” said Brad Kamphuis, director of distillery operations at New Holland Spirits, a sister company to New Holland Brewing. “We have a great customer base in Michigan that wants to know what they are drinking and who made it. It has really driven creativity and authenticity into the distilling process.”
Anybody familiar with the taste of West Michigan small-batch gin in their summer gin and tonics knows exactly what Kamphuis is talking about when he says “authenticity” in the process.
Anybody who is not familiar will get a chance this Friday, Sept. 15, when the Michigan Craft Distillers Association hosts the inaugural Michigan Distilled festival, featuring craft spirits and cocktails made around the state — alongs with food and music.
The event will run from 6-10 p.m., under the pavilion at Fulton Street Farmers Market, 1145 Fulton St E, Grand Rapids.
Among the nearly two dozen distilleries from across the state expected to be present include local Grand Rapids area companies Bier Distillery, Grey Skies Distilling Co., and Long Road Distillers. Food will be provided by Slows Bar BQ, New Holland’s The Knickerbocker, Journeyman Distillery and Long Road Distillers.
Music to be provided include local favorites Megan Dooley, The Bootstrap Boys, Cønrad Shøck + the Nøise.
The possibilities are not endless for craft distilled liquor at local distillers, but close. (Courtesy Long Road Distillers)
And Kyle Van Strien of Long Road also sees the “local focus” of West Michigan distillers as being more than just where the distilling takes place.
While “our spirits are gaining national and international attention,” Van Strien said. “We have an abundance of high quality, local agriculture that we can use to create world-class spirits right at home.”
General admission tickets are $40 and include five 3-ounce batch cocktails or ¼-ounce samples of spirits available from each distillery.
A special VIP Hour will be offered from 5-6 p.m. when guests will be offered “an enhanced experience with handcrafted cocktails and a chance to meet with local bartenders and mixologists,” according to supplied material. VIP tickets are $75 — and include a swag bag and commemorative logo cup to prove your are “experienced”.
Designated driver tickets will be sold at the gate for $5 each. Attendees must be 21 and valid photo ID is required for entry.
Ben Sollee, on his Facebook page (@bensollee), calls himself a “cellist, composer and storyteller” who band’s interests include “community-oriented touring and performances that have some type of lasting impact, whether through support of local organizations or educational opportunities.”
He had me interested then and their, so his stated “artists he likes to listen to” being Andrew Bird, Amos Lee and Paul Simon is just icing on the proverbial musical cake.
Sollee, with his band Kentucky Native, will bring their music and stories to The Wealthy Theatre in Grand Rapids for a show Thursday, Sept. 14, for a 7 p.m. show with a yet-to-be named opening act. Tickets are still available.
In August, Ben Sollee and Kentucky Native released their self-titled album, described in supplied material as a “collection is a thought-provoking conversation about the practice and art of an ever-evolving American genre … This album is Sollee’s most personally revealing work and a reflection of his native Kentucky.”
For a YouTube video of the song “Pieces of You”, from the album, visit here.
And the origin of the name of the band, “Ben Sollee and Kentucky Native”? Also from his Facebook page, he was “Born and raised in Kentucky. Learned to play cello in Kentucky. Learned to sing in Kentucky. Still lives in Kentucky… will likely always live in Kentucky.”
’Nuff said.
The Wealthy Theater is located at 1130 Wealthy St. SE, Grand Rapids. For more informations and ticket, call 616-459-4788 x131 or visit grcmc.org.
The 6th annual GrandJazzFestis Aug. 19 & 20, 2017, at Rosa Parks Circle, in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids. On stage, notable jazz performers as well as up-and-coming artists will please a diverse audience. The festival showcases a jazz headliner and features a wide and encompassing range of jazz artists and acts.
The event is family friendly. Bring folding chairs, blankets and snacks, and get ready to relax for a couple of hours or for the whole weekend! Try out some of the local restaurants and pubs, and be sure to visit other Grand Rapids attractions.
Think you can solve the puzzle at Mindbender Mansion? Maybe beer will help. (Supplied)
By K.D. Norris
ken@wktv.org
Mindbending beer and Polish beer are both on tap for August — and, no, they are not the same thing.
The Grand Rapids Public Museum will offer a special Beer Explorers experience on Aug. 15 titled “Puzzles & Pints!”, when adults, 21 and older, can enjoy craft beer while trying to solve puzzles, games and brainteasers in the museum’s “Mindbender Mansion” exhibit.
According to supplied information, “Mindbender Mansion” includes more than 45 individual and group brain teasers, puzzles and tricky problems to solve all in a unique exhibit setting. Visitors to this fun and quirky mansion are invited to join the Mindbender Society by gathering hidden clues and secret passwords scattered throughout the various thematic rooms of the house.
“Puzzles & Pints” will take place on Tuesday, Aug. 15 from 5 to 8 p.m., with the bar available until 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $4 for Museum members, $11 for Kent County residents and $14 for non-members. Tickets include one craft beer, and admission to “Mindbender Mansion” and all three floors of the Museum to explore. A cash bar will be available for additional drinks.
Grand Rapids’ Rosa Park Circle will host the 2017 Polish Festival Friday to Sunday, Aug. 25-27, with Polish fun, and beer; Polish food, and beer; Polish music, and beer; and Polish beer — did I mention there will be beer?
According to the hosts, the Polish Heritage Society of Grand Rapids, the festival will include cooking demonstrations, a Polish dance group, non-stop music (primarily polkas), children’s activities on Saturday, a Busia contest on Sunday, famously delicious Polish food and a beer tent featuring Polish beer. There will be Polish merchandise available for purchase including beautiful Polish pottery, amber jewelry, Polish glass, Polish baked goods, and a variety of T-shirts.
Part of the proceeds from the festival award students of Polish descent scholarships to Grand Valley State and Aquinas colleges, Grand Rapids Community College and Davenport University.
The festival is free and open to the public. For more information visit polishheritagesociety.com
Elvis Costello’s appearance at Meijer Gardens this week dug deep into his late 1970s and early ’80s New Wave/Power Pop years. (WKTV/K.D. Norris)
By K.D. Norris
ken@wktv.org
Elvis Costello and the Imposters, July 17, at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, Mi.
60-second Review
It is not unusual for musical artists with the long history of Elvis Costello to always trudge out a select few of their radio hits from bygone days, to play just enough of the “oldies but goodies” expected — demanded — by an audience paying dearly for the opportunity to “remember when.”
What is unusual, in the case of Costello’s appearance at Meijer Gardens this week, was that with the tight backing of his lean, mean band of Imposters, especially pianist Steve Nieve and vocalists Kitten Kuroi and Brianna Lee, Elvis dug deep into his late 1970s and early ’80s New Wave/Power Pop years, his “… and the Attractions” band years.
He embraced that place and time in his past, and that music. But that also meant he offered up songs known and relatively unknown to the audience during a 2-hour 30-minute, 31-song set.
Drawing heavily from his 1982 classic Imperial Bedroom release, such an approach to his past made the first half of the concert a little slow for an often nonchalant audience. The second half — after what seemed more a planned set break than a pause before encore — had an much different feel, leading off with a sparse, memorable version of “Alison” with Kuroi and Lee sharing his single mic proved Costello’s aim is still true.
Prior to the set break, my favorites songs were the slow, soulful “Tears Before Bedtime” and Elvis’ fine lead guitar work on “Shabby Doll” (both from Imperial Bedroom), and a surreal version of “Watching the Detectives” complete with pulp fiction video stills and vocals through a bullhorn. After the break, with the audience fully engaged, my highlights were the new “Blood and Hot Sauce”, a politically/socially-charged song written for planned staged musical “A Face in the Crowd”; my all-time favorite Costello song, “Man Out of Time”; and a rousing, set-closing run including “Radio Radio”, “Pump it Up”, and a cover of “(What’s so Funny ’bout) Peace, Love and Understanding”.
In the end, we all know Elvis has moved on from his “… Attractions” years. He mostly makes his home in New York City with wife/singer Diana Krall and family; he has explored Americana music with collaborations with Bill Frisell, Allen Toussaint and T Bone Burnett; and has recently worked with new artists the likes of Marcus Mumford (Mumford and Sons), Jim James (My Morning Jacket) and Rhiannon Giddens.
But in the end, a flashback to the Imperial Bedroom and other remembered rooms is probably good for him and certainly good for the Meijer Gardens audience.
May I have more, please?
Talking about revisiting the past, I could not help but revisit the urban legend of Elvis and his famous/infamous December 1977 visit to Saturday Night Life (as a late replacement for the Sex Pistols, no less). Still in his punk rock early years, Costello was reportedly forbidden by NBC and SNL’s Loren Michael from performing “Radio Radio” — which basically trashed the commercialism of music of which SNL played its part in. But after starting to play “Less Than Zero”, Costello reportedly stopped the band and kicked into “Radio Radio”.
Legend has it that he was banned from NBC and SNL for years afterword — and more than one wiki refuses to debunk the legend — and it also established his British bad-boy status in America.
And, having been born with the name Declan Patrick MacManus, and hailing from a still emerging British punk rock scene, a geekish-looking, skinny young man who renamed himself “Elvis” needed something to, as they say now, establish his “street cred”.
Elvis Costello & the Imposters will be one of a dynamite run of four great shows in five days, July 16-20. (Supplied)
By K.D. Norris
ken@wktv.org
July is the peak of summer and often the high-point of Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park summer concert series — and there are three takeaways from those facts: a ton of top-notch talent is coming to town; they are mostly sold out but available for a price; and you better make some party plans before fall rolls in.
There will be 10 shows in 19 days this month starting with Sheryl Crow on Wednesday, July 12, and ending with Lifehouse and Switchfoot on Monday, July 31. In between is dynamite run of four great shows in five days, July 16-20 — Huey Lewis & the News, Elvis Costello & the Imposters, Barenaked Ladies, and Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers with the Wood Brothers.
The Shins (a great alt-pop project of James Mercer) may well be the show of the season. (Supplied)
All four shows are sold out, as are all but one of the July shows, including the highly anticipated July 27 visit by The Shins (a great alt-pop project of James Mercer) — at least it is my most anticipated show. But still not sold out, so at regular Meijer Gardens price, is what should be a great show of relatively new-to-the-scene talents of Andrew Bird with Esperanza Spaulding on July 24.
And, of course, Lyle Lovett will be in town. (Supplied)
And speaking of not being sold out … of the remaining 11 shows in August, seven of them still have tickets available, including Lyle Lovett’s annual visit, Garrison Keillor’s latest Prairie Home tour, the Punch Brothers, Tegan and Sara, John Butler Trio, and the improv/jam-band sounds of moe. with Railroad Earth.
Don’t know much about Railroad Earth but like a lot what mandolin/bouzouki player John Skehan said, in supplied material, about the band’s live performances.
“Our M.O. has always been that we can improvise all day long, but we only do it in service to the song,” Skehan said. “There are a lot of songs that, when we play them live, we adhere to the arrangement from the record. And other songs, in the nature and the spirit of the song, everyone knows we can kind of take flight on them.”
After a busy July and August, the Meijer Gardens Summer Concert season will come to an end on Sept. 1 with the season-closing concert by English reggae and pop band UB40 — also not sold out.
Also this month, Meijer Gardens’ amphitheater will host its Tuesday Evening Concert Series, with general admission to the Gardens getting people in for some great local and regional musical acts. The diverse two-month program features live bands with music ranging from jazz to indie rock to folk, all starting at 7 p.m. Two of the more interesting musical explorations will be the mid August visits of Kalamazoo’s Michigander on Aug. 8 and Slim Gypsy Baggage on Aug. 15.
For complete information on the concert series tickets and admission prices, visit meijergardens.org .
Paul Janeway, lead singer of St. Paul and the Broken Bones, put on a show at Meijer Gardens. (WKTV/K.D. Norris)
By K.D. Norris
ken@wktv.org
60-second Review
St. Paul and the Broken Bones, with Durand Jones & the Indications opening, June 9, at Meijer Gardens, Grand Rapids, Mi.
Having only briefly touched on the music of St. Paul and the Broken Bones, via the song “Call Me” while cruising through my SiriusXM spectrum, I had little knowledge and less expectations when vocalist Paul Janeway and his band hit the stage.
What I got was a tight, often spectacular, set of modern soul — new soul? — during a 19-song, 1-hour and 45-minute set cut a little short, Janeway pointed out, by the Garden’s usual concert curfew.
The band may only have two albums to choose its set from, but the Broken Bones seemed like they had plenty of great songs to offer up: my favorites were “Waves” and “Sanctify”, both off their most recent release, Sea of Noise, while “Call Me” is from their 2014 release Half the City. But the attractiveness of songs such as “Is it Me?”, “Tears in the Diamond” and the encore-closing “Burning Rome” cannot be denied.
To be perfectly honest, however, it is Janeway that makes the Broken Bones unique and may make them a really big band. With all due respects to stellar guitarist Browan Lollar and keyboardist Al Gamble, and the rest of the high-energy band, the night was all about Janeway.
Paul Janeway, of St. Paul and the Broken Bones, waded into the audience at one point the show. (WKTV/K.D. Norris)
He pranced around the stage like the love-child of Elton John and Tina Turner. He dove in the audience with the longest mic cord I’ve ever seen — and nobody got strangled. With his deep south accent giving it color, his voice is as soft and soulful, or as rip-it-up soulful, as needed.
After the concert, I can’t wait to see what the band’s third album bring us.
The soulfulness of the night was set up perfectly with Durand Jones & the Indications’ 9-song set, with “Make a Change” being my favorite but maybe the best part of the set being watching Jones channelling James Brown.
May I have more, please?
Short and sweet here: How did the band get their name?
In a 2014 interview with the University of North Carolina Charlotte News, Janeway was asked.
“The ‘St. Paul’ part is kind of a joke on me, I don’t drink or smoke,” he answered. “The ‘Broken Bones’ is a lyric from probably the first song me and Jess (Jess Phillips, bassist with the band) wrote. ‘…broken bones and pocket change is all she left me with.’ So all she left me with was no money and this band.”
Know nothing about the break-up he’s talking about, but she got the short end of that split.
