Emmylou, in honor of Kate McGarrigle Town Hall NYC May 12/13

[russ]

A Celebration of the Music of Kate McGarrigle


Town Hall May 12 and 13, 2011

Featuring Anna McGarrigle, Rufus and Martha Wainwright and Guests

NEW YORK, Feb. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Two shows will be held in honor of the late Kate McGarrigle at Town Hall on May 12 and 13. A tribute to the iconic and influential singer/songwriter, the shows, curated by Joe Boyd, will showcase performances by Kate’s children, Martha and Rufus Wainwright, Kate’s sister, Anna McGarrigle, Jimmy Fallon, Emmylou Harris, Antony (of Antony and the Johnsons), Krystle Warren, Teddy Thompson, Justin Bond, and more. In conjunction with the shows, Nonesuch Records will release a new edition of the first two Kate & Anna McGarrigle albums.

From the release of that eponymous album in 1976, Kate and Anna McGarrigle defined a sophisticated yet traditional branch of North American song. Their rich harmonies, rooted in the Irish and Quebecois music of their upbringing, drew listeners into a personal world of songs about romance, heartbreak, chemistry, solitude, ageing and adventure. This concert will reveal an artist who possessed an extraordinary gift for the craft of composition, showcased in such songs as Go Leave, (Talk to Me of) Mendocino, Kiss and Say Goodbye, and Tell My Sister, to name a few.

Kate McGarrigle was diagnosed in 2006 with a rare form of cancer known as Sarcoma, which affects connective tissue such as bone, muscle, nerves and cartilage. She lost her battle in January of 2010, age 63, surrounded by a singing group of family and friends at her home in Montreal. All profits from these shows will go toward the creation of the Kate McGarrigle Sarcoma Research Fund in association with the Sarcoma Foundation of America (SFA).

The performers will be accompanied by a band very familiar with Kate’s catalog, including Thomas Bartlett on piano, Jane McGarrigle on piano, Calum MacColl on guitar, Anna McGarrigle on piano and accordion, Brad Albetta on bass, Bryan Devendorf on drums, Michel Pepin on guitar, Chaim Tannenbaum on mandolin and banjo and Joel Zifkin on violin (the last three regular members of Kate & Anna’s touring group).

Last June the first Kate McGarrigle celebration was staged at the Royal Festival Hall in London and sold out within hours. Six national British publications reviewed the show with all awarding it an unprecedented 5 stars. The evening was perhaps best summed up by one journalist calling it “…a heartfelt and fitting tribute to a remarkable woman.”

Tickets go on sale Monday, February 7 at noon by calling Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000 or online at Ticketmaster.com.


Box Office sales begin on April 21 at the Town Hall box office; $40, $60, $75
All profits from these shows will go toward the creation of the Kate McGarrigle Sarcoma Research Fund
in association with the Sarcoma Foundation of America (SFA).


This concert is presented by Absolutely Live Entertainment in association with Joe Boyd and Catherine Steinmann.




Thursday and Friday, May 12 and 13
8:00 pm


TOWN HALL
123 West 43rd Street
New York, NY


http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases ... 74029.html

http://the-townhall-nyc.org/events/5/may

[Arlene]

Jenn-

I'm going to try to attend at least one of these shows. I'm not sure about your teaching schedule
but any chance you'll be free and want to take in a long weekend in NYC? (The concerts are on
Thursday and Friday nights.) And Greta..... NYC is quite nice in the Spring....

And if anyone is planning a trip across the pond....

[London Carole]

I was fortunate to attend the show in London last June. It was a deeply moving occasion and fully deserved the rave reviews it received. Anyone even thinking about going to the New York shows, I can only say don't think twice!

[silkbandanas]

It's taken 3 weeks but I managed to register eventually!

I can only concur with London Carole that it is a show not to be missed. It was a major highlight of last year, particularly for the fact that Richard & Linda Thompson performed together as a duo for the first time since their separation nearly 30 years ago. I suspect the NYC shows might not be so emotionally charged and they may even have time to rehearse! Sadly though, not a time of year I can get there.

Ian - Glasgow - Scotland

[London Carole]

You know, Ian, I'd almost forgotten about the lack of rehearsal at the London show! However, I think that probably added to the occasion. It was definitely highly-charged emotionally and the lack of rehearsal didn't matter one bit. The re-starts, forgetting words etc. were all forgiven as we willed them on whilst we watched the magic through our tears. I know I was exhausted, but thrilled, at the end.

[Arlene]

FYI. On the McGarrigle's web site, in response to a question, Anna responded that there are plans to "record and possibly film" the NYC Town Hall tribute concerts in Kate McGarrigle's memory. (I'm really glad I splurged and scored seats to both shows-- in the balcony, but the tickets for both shows sold out incredibly quickly.)

[Arlene]

FYI. There are several news reports that Rufus Wainwright is making a documentary about his mother, Kate, and the Town Hall shows will be filmed to be included in the documentary.

[clintonct]

"In January 2010, Rufus' mother, beloved singer/songwriter Kate McGarrigle, died of clear-cell sarcoma. On May 12th and 13th in memory of Kate's life, Rufus, Martha Wainwright, Anna McGarrigle, Norah Jones, Emmylou Harris and other special guests, will sing a tribute concert at Town Hall in New York City. The concert will be filmed by Lian Lunson, renowned for the Leonard Cohen documentary, I'm Your Man. The concert footage will be combined with decades worth of material, to be cut into a feature-length documentary about the life and legacy of Kate McGarrigle.

Making a movie isn't cheap, and Rufus is asking for your help. No amount is too small."

http://www.rufuswainwright.com/HelpRufusMakeAMovie.aspx

I heard today that there are still balcony seats available for Kate's Tribute Concert. The VIP looks grand, but this fan would rather be in the audience both nights for the music.

[russ]

By Simon Vozick-Levinson
Rolling Stone
May 13, 2011 2:40 PM ET

The performers at the Kate McGarrigle tribute held at New York’s Town Hall last night were a family in more ways than one. The late Montreal singer-songwriter’s literal relatives were there, of course – her sister Anna McGarrigle, her children Rufus and Martha Wainwright, and assorted nephews, nieces and in-laws. But there was also a heavy contingent of artists she mentored, collaborated with or otherwise inspired before her too-soon death at age 63 last January – people like Emmylou Harris, Norah Jones, Antony Hegarty, Teddy Thompson, Justin Vivian Bond, Krystle Warren, the novelist Michael Ondaatje and even Jimmy Fallon. Bond seemed to speak for almost everyone on stage when describing McGarrigle as "like a mother to me."

Although the three-hour concert was billed as "A Celebration of Kate McGarrigle," the prevailing mood was naturally somber. McGarrigle wrote and sang heartrendingly personal songs throughout most of her life; hearing them now that she’s gone was emotional, to say the least. Performers and audience members alike could be seen tearing up during highlights like "I Eat Dinner (When The Hunger’s Gone)" (a sweet duet between Harris and Thompson), "Go Leave" (a deeply felt rendition by Hegarty), "(Talk to Me Of) Mendocino" (sung by both Wainwright siblings with Jones), "Tell My Sister" (a wonderfully torchy performance by Martha Wainwright) and most of all "Proserpina" – the last song Kate McGarrigle wrote before her death, a sad, lovely, honest tune that brought nearly everyone back on stage to close the night’s first set.

But the show also made room for the warmth, humor and life that are equally characteristic of her work. There were bittersweet smiles to be seen during "First Born" (wryly crooned by the Wainwright siblings) and "Work Song" (enthusiastically interpreted by Bond). And Fallon drew unexpected laughs with a short stand-up bit, comparing the McGarrigle-Wainwright clan to "a very talented Brady Bunch" or perhaps the Von Trapps.

The tears inevitably returned when, toward the end of the evening, Anna McGarrigle led the rest of the family on "Kitty Come Home" – originally written after the breakup of her sister’s marriage, now taking on a newly mournful meaning. The show drew to a close a few minutes later with a group singalong of the folk standard "Dink’s Song," whose refrain of "Fare thee well" felt especially sorrowful.

A Celebration of Kate McGarrigle" returned to Town Hall for a second sold-out performance tonight; all profits from both performances will benefit the Kate McGarrigle Sarcoma Research Fund. Those lucky enough to have tickets were in for an extraordinarily moving night of music.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ ... e-20110513

[Arlene]

I attended Thursday's tribute to Kate McGarrigle at Town Hall in NYC. It was a remarkable concert, alternately and simultaneously bittersweet, joyous, heartbreaking, raucous and life affirming, but never sentimental. In short, it was a fitting celebration of an extraordinary woman who left us far too soon. Emmylou appeared singing onstage in many of the ensemble numbers but was featured on (1) Darlin' Kate, with Anna McGarrigle and her daughter Lily Lanken on backing vocals, (2) a duet with Teddy Thompson on I Eat Dinner, (3) a duet with Nora Jones on Fast as My Feet Will Carry Me, (4) Entre La Jeuresse et law Sagesse, in which she sang a verse in French, and (5) Heart Like A Wheel, in which she sang the first verse with other verses being taken by Anna, then Martha Wainwright, and finally, together, Lily and Krystle Warren.

The love and affection almost all of the performers seemed to share was evident though-out; for example, one tender moment I caught occurred as the five women who sang Heart Like a Wheel were leaving the stage and Martha, who was walking behind Emmylou, put her hands on Emmy's shoulders and then gave her a hug from behind, with Emmylou reaching behind to put her hand on Martha's arm. Another took place just before the final number, Love Over and Over, when Martha came out and tenderly held her very young son, who's not even a toddler yet, as he gazed out facing the audience with eyes wide while everyone on stage and in the audience widely grinned through tears at the only grandchild Kate lived to see; many must have been thinking as I was--he's our reminder that this family will go on and Kate's music and spirit will be passed to another generation.

Some of the performers who moved me the most were artists I've never seen or heard sing before such as Krystle Warren, who was stunning performing I Don't Know, Anthony of Anthony and the Johnsons who did an astonishingly moving rendition of Go Leave, and Sloan Wainwright (Loudon's younger sister) who, when performing Blues in D, revealed a voice that was as full and expressive as anyone who appeared on stage.

I took down the full set list of almost 30 songs, which I can post if anyone wants, but highlights, in addition to the ones I listed above, included Nora Jones singing Talk To Me of Mendocino with Rufus and Martha on harmony vocals; Teddy Thompson soloing on Saratoga Summer Song; Jenni Muldaur channeling her mother, Maria, on Come Back Baby; Martha performing Tell My Sister; and Rufus, exhibiting deeply passionate yet controlled emotion on Walking Song. However, for me, the single most memorable and bittersweet moment was when Anna described coming to New York just after Kate and Loudon broke-up, when Rufus and Martha were both very young -- she brought a devastated and resisting Kate with her children back to Montreal to be surrounded and supported by the family. Anna then explained that she hadn't sung the next song since she was in the studio to record it 35 years ago, and proceeded to sing Kitty Come Home with Rufus and Martha accompanying her-- both seeming to fight back tears.

I don't want to convey the impression that sadness and melancholy pervaded the evening-- there was Chaim Tannenbaum's joyfully spirited rendition, backed by all, of Travellin' on for Jesus; Rufus's friend, performance artist and transvestite Justin V. Bonds' humorous yet impassioned delivery of The Work Song, Jimmy Fallon's terrific take on The Swimming Song, and the final group encore of Love Over and Over-- I swear at the end, with everyone dancing, it included Emmylou and Justin V. Bond doing the bump.

Anyway, it was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of performance (and I can't believe it but they repeated it the next night). I wish that anyone who loves music could have been there, and that the documentary of Kate's life, for which this concert was filmed, can capture the spirit and range of emotions shared the evening.