LISTENING POST: Recommendations for February into March
Symphony, jazz, Latin big band, and more
Please check with the respective venues hosting events listed to ensure that they are, indeed, still occurring, and to get their latest updates on any health and safety precautions before purchasing a ticket, making a reservation, or heading out for the evening. All information subject to change.
Thu. Feb. 3 and Sat. Feb. 5
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra with Guest Conductor Carlos Kalmar — Born in Uruguay and raised in Vienna, Carlos Kalmar will lead the ASO in a program of dance-inspired music from around the world. Kalmar taps into his South American roots with Bandoneón Concerto, a sinuous tango by Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla featuring Ksenija Sidorova on the accordion. Drawing on his Viennese upbringing, Kalmar will also conduct Franz Schubert’s haunting “Unfinished” Symphony and Josef Strauss’ Music of the Spheres. The concert opens with Jessie Montgomery’s Records from a Vanishing City, a beguiling evocation of growing up in an artistic community on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
NOTE: Atlanta Symphony Hall will be implementing a mandatory vaccine policy for audiences. Proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours prior to performance, as well as matching photo ID, will be required upon arrival to Atlanta Symphony Hall. As of Nov. 1, those under 12 will not be required to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test. More details at the website’s Health & Safety page.
Ticket prices vary; check the ASO website. Atlanta Symphony Hall, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E., 404-733-4900.
Thu., Feb. 3-Sat., Feb. 5
Emory Jazz Festival 2022 — Singer-guitarist Raul Midón is the center of attention at this year’s 3-day mini-jazz festival at Emory University. Midón is a formidable artist whose resume includes multiple GRAMMY nominations, solo albums, collaborations with Herbie Hancock, Stevie Wonder, Bill Withers, Queen Latifah and Snoop Dogg, and playing on the soundtrack to Spike Lee’s She Hate Me. During Emory’s Jazz Fest, Midón will conduct master classes, demonstrations and lectures featuring a trio led by pianist-composer and Emory University Director of Jazz Studies Gary Motley, and the Emory Big Band led by Randy Hunter. The latter performance will be livestreamed on the Schwartz Center Virtual Stage at www.schwartz.emory.edu/virtual-stage.
• Thursday, Feb. 3 at 2:30 p.m., Lecture/Demonstration with Raul Midón | Free | No tickets required
• Friday, Feb. 4 at 8 p.m., Raul Midón with the Gary Motley Trio featuring Edwin Livingston and Clarence Penn | Tickets $30 | Emory Students $10
• Saturday, Feb. 5 at 11:30 a.m., Rhythm Section Jazz Clinic with Edwin Livingston and Clarence Penn | Tharp Rehearsal Hall | Free | No tickets required
• Saturday, Feb. 5 at 8 p.m., Emory Big Band with the Gary Motley Trio featuring Edwin Livingston and Clarence Penn | Free | Tickets required
Friday’s concert $30/$10 Emory students available here. Unless noted otherwise, all events take place in Emerson Concert Hall at the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts. 1700 North Decatur Road. 404-727-5050.
Sunday Feb. 6
The Trey Clegg Singers perform Without Regard to Sex, Race, or Color, Ferst Center for the Arts — The Trey Clegg Singers will perform their annual Black History concert celebrating the music of African American composers at the Ferst Center for the Arts at Georgia Tech on Sunday, Feb. 6. The program includes the premiere of Without Regard to Sex, Race, or Color by Atlanta composer and civic leader D. Randolph Hooker. Inspired by two works of photography by Atlanta-based photographer Andrew Feiler, the music speaks to the relationship of African Americans to education and the struggles of historically black colleges and universities.
Tickets: $35-$75. 6 p.m. Ferst Center for the Arts, 349 Ferst Drive, Atlanta. 404-894-2600.
Thu. Feb. 10, Sat. Feb. 12, Sun. Feb. 13
Triple Threat: Dmitry Sinkovsky with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Hall — Moving deftly from conducting and playing Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto (Il favorito) to singing operatic duets with Atlanta-based soprano Georgia Jarman to conducting Mozart’s majestic “Jupiter” Symphony, conductor-violinist-countertenor Dmitry Sinkovsky brings his prodigious talent to Symphony Hall for what promises to be a very special series of concerts.
Ticket prices vary; check the ASO website. Atlanta Symphony Hall, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E., 404-733-4900.
Fri., Feb. 11
Tuk Smith & the Restless Hearts / Amy Darling / Randy Michael & Nikki Speake, The EARL — If you’ve been running low on get down, stomp around, good ol’ 21st century style rock ‘n’ roll in your life, haul your butt down to The Earl for this multi-bill extravaganza featuring a posse of Atlanta-based talent, plus Nashville’s Amy Darling. If the names aren’t familiar, just surf around for samplings. My fave of the bunch is the Randy (InCrowd) Michael and Nikki Speake pairing, who debuted a kickin’ single, “Camaro,” over the summer on Now Dig This, which airs on People TV (Atlanta public access channel 24 Comcast).
$15. Doors 8, show 8:30 p.m. The Earl, 488 Flat Shoals Ave., Atlanta, 404-522-3950.
Sat. Feb. 12
Pat Metheny with James Francies & Joe Dyson, Variety Playhouse — Jazz guitar wizard, perennial Grammy Award winner, Downbeat Hall of Famer Pat Metheny brings his latest touring project, Side-Eye, to the Variety Playhouse for two separate shows on Friday, February 12. The trio, which features keyboardist James Francies and drummer Joe Dyson, provides an ideal platform for Metheny’s sharply honed mainstream jazz stylings and improvisational acumen.
Tickets: $59.50-$89.50. Doors 6 p.m., show 7 p.m. Doors 9:30 p.m., show 10:30 p.m. Variety Playhouse, 1099 Euclid Avenue, Atlanta. 404-524-7354.
Punk Rock Party with The Vaginas, Seagulls, Spray Tan, Triangle Fire, Star Community Bar — When it’s best to let the band speak for themselves: “The Vaginas make our triumphant return to the venue that made us the doo doo rock gods you know and love. Our friends Seagulls, Spray Tan, and Triangle Fire will be coming to party. Expect the monitors to be covered with plastic wrap. It’s gonna get wet!”
’’$12. 8 p.m. Star Community Bar, 437 Moreland Avenue, Atlanta, 404-390-3062.
Tue., Feb. 15
The Staves, Terminal West — These three UK based sisters harmonize like, well, sisters, combining folksy influences with pop that’s more brooding than fizzy. That’s especially the case on their new Good Woman disc, a somber and pensive yet tuneful set imbued with melancholy due in part to the death of their mother. They’re talented enough to have caught the ear of Paul Weller, who featured them on his recent album, and First Aid Kit, another band of sisters they opened for. They’re on their way to bigger things. — Hal Horowitz
$20-22. 8:00 p.m. Terminal West, 887 West Marietta St. NW C, Atlanta, 30318. terminalwestatl.com/
Thu., Feb. 17
Symphonic Wind Ensemble featuring Ellie Anderson, Rialto Center for the Arts — Part of the Rialto Center for the Arts Signature Series, Wind Band Conducting Artist Certificate student Ellie Anderson conducts the Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Georgia State University Master Singers in a program featuring works by Donizetti, Stravinsky, Brahms, Maslanka, and Grainger.
Free, 8 p.m. Rialto Center for the Arts, 80 Forsyth Street, 404-413-9849.
Fri. Feb. 18
Zuill Bailey, Cello: Three Bach Suites for Solo Cello — As part of its Bach’s Lunch Series (see what they did there?), the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta (ECMSA) presents internationally renowned cellist Zuill Bailey in a free public concert featuring three suites for solo cello by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Free without registration, noon, First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta, 1328 Peachtree St NE, Atlanta, 30309.
An Evening with Branford Marsalis, Schwartz Center for Performing Arts — Saxophonist Branford Marsalis returns to Emerson Concert Hall at the Emory University Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts with his famed quartet for an evening of swinging communion. The current lineup, which includes Joey Calderazzo (piano), Eric Revis (bass) and Justin Faulkner (drums), has been solid since 2009 and represents one of the finest groups of its kind ever assembled.
$80, Fri., Feb. 18, 8 p.m. Schwartz Center for Performing Arts: Emerson Concert Hall, 1700 North Decatur Rd., 404-727-5050.
Sat., Feb. 19
Zuill Bailey Master Class and Three Artistic Directors, Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts — Bailey will share his expertise with Emory’s cello class in a free Master Class open to the public in the Tharp Rehearsal Hall at the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts. At 8 p.m., also at the Schwartz Center, Bailey will be joined by two esteemed fellow artistic directors, violinist Linda Rosenthal and pianist William Ransom (Director of the ECMSA), in a concert featuring works by Bach, Beethoven and Shostakovich. The concert is free but requires ticket registration.
Master Class free with registration, 10 a.m. Three Artistic Directors performance, free with registration8 p.m. Schwartz Center for Performing Arts: Emerson Concert Hall, 1700 North Decatur Rd., 404-727-5050.
Pacific Mambo Orchestra — Founded in 2010, the San Francisco based Pacific Mambo Orchestra brings the big, bright, brassy sound of Latin big band jazz to the Rialto Center for the Arts. The 20-piece ensemble draws upon the tradition of classic mambo orchestras of the 1950s to create original music and modern arrangements of hit songs.
$39.10-$81, 8 p.m. Rialto Center for the Arts, 80 Forsyth Street, 404-413-9849.
Feb. 25-27
Atlanta Baroque Orchestra: Reverberate — Under the artistic direction of Julie Andrijeski, the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra presents a three-day series of concerts at three different venues featuring music by Henry Purcell performed by two pairings of guest vocalists and instrumentalists. Countertenor Reginald Mobley reunites with ABO favorite Nathan Medley and recorder player Daphna Mor makes her ABO debut with returning guest artist Sian Ricketts.
$25-$50. Fri., Feb. 25, 7:30 p.m. Cathedral of St. Philip, 2744 Peachtree Road NW. For more info: 404-390-0657.
$25-$50. Sat., Feb. 26, 4 p.m. St. David’s Episcopal, 1015 Old Roswell Road, Roswell. For more info: 404-390-0657.
$15-$50. Sun., Feb. 27, 3 p.m., Lassiter Concert Hall, 2601 Shallowford Rd., Marietta. For more info: 404-390-0657.
Sat., March 5
Rick Maguire (of Pile) & KC Wren (of Thou) at Eyedrum — Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, now based in Nashville, TN, indie rocker Rick Maguire re-contextualizes the music usually performed by his band, Pile, to create something remarkably compelling in its own right. In 2021, Maguire chronicled this aspect of his output on Songs Known Together, Alone, which will be showcased at Eyedrum. Sharing the bill is KC Wren (Karenia Brevis), a singer songwriter from New Orleans also known for performing in the NOLA-based sludge metal band Thou.
$10. 7:30 p.m. Eyedrum, 515 Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard S.W.
—CL—