Apollo Music Cafe
Apollo Music Cafe
Apollo Music Cafe
Apollo Music Café features performances by groundbreaking artists in the intimate, lounge-like setting of the Theater’s third floor Soundstage. The series, which continues the Apollo’s longstanding commitment to presenting diverse and innovative artistic voices, has become a favorite destination for music lovers of all kinds—from Harlem tastemakers to tourists to the downtown hipster set. Apollo Music Café audiences will experience a mix of unique and creative programs, including live music, and powerful performances by vocalists, spoken word artists, and masterful DJs.
Apollo Music Café Line-Up March - May 2012
Black Magic- A Broadway Cabaret
Monday March 19, 2012
An evening of classic show stoppers and soon-to-be classic cabaret numbers are presented by the entertainers of past and present Broadway shows. In the intimate and comfortable atmosphere of the Apollo Sound Stage, be ready to hear this music in a new light and fall in love with musical theater all over again.
Featuring Tony-award winner Lilias White (Fela and Chicago) and Broadway star Chester Gregory (Dreamgirls and Sister Act), with Andrea Jones-Sojola and Phumzile Sojola (the husband and wife team of Porgy and Bess), Ernestine Jackson (Raisin and the 1976 revival of Guys and Dolls), Janice Lorraine (Ragtime and Jelly’s Last Jam), and the off-Broadway cast of SISTAHS: the Musical, hosted by Larry Marshall (The Color Purple).
The Billie Holiday Project
Friday, April 13 & Saturday April 14, 2012
Featuring Queen Esther
with
Francesca Harper
Keith L. Thomas
Charles Wallace
Directed by Talvin Wilkes
Billie Holiday’s rarer sides and two of Zora Neale Hurston’s newly discovered short stories, Monkey Junk and The Country in the Woman, combine to reveal a true glimpse of The Harlem Renaissance and black urban life in the 1920s. With the relatively unknown yet timeless songs of the iconic siren Billie Holiday as an aural backdrop for newly unearthed Zora Neale Hurston “fables” of uptown life, vocalist/librettist Queen Esther -- along with dancer/choreographer Francesca Harper, actor Charles Wallace and actor/dancer Keith L. Thomas -- explore new ground by giving this unexplored material a fresh perspective.
Accompaniment provided by Queen Esther's jazz quintet The Hot Five, under the musical direction of pianist Matt Ray.
Harlem Jazz Shrines Festival
Music Cafe Events
Kellylee Evans
Friday, May 11, 2012
Vocalist Kellylee Evans continues to evolve her distinctive sound with her 2011 Juno Award winning release Nina, a beautiful tribute to Nina Simone. Evans received accolades for The Good Girl, the alternative-soul pop follow up to the 2006 critically acclaimed urban-jazz debut, fight or flight?, which garnered Juno Award and Gemini Award nominations in 2007 and a win at the Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards. Evans even took second place in the prestigious Theolonius Monk Competition, whose judges included Quincy Jones and Al Jarreau. Her energy-charged live shows have led to opening spots for George Benson and Tony Bennett.
Marc Cary – Cosmic Indigenous
Friday, May 12, 2012
Marc Cary’s group Cosmic Indigenous captures the elements and energies of cultural sounds infused with the essence of Africa, India, Native America and beyond. Marc Cary was hailed by Down Beat magazine as one of the most, “multi-dimensional keyboard players on the scene today,” whose music reveals those multi-dimensions in sensual living color.
*Enjoy the mood altering sounds of DJ Hard Hittin’ Harry at our pre and post show spin party!
9 PM Bar/10 PM Show
Tickets for Apollo Music Café are available at The Apollo Theater Box Office: (212) 531-5305, 253 West 125th Street and Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets are $20 and $15 in advance for the Apollo’s A-List (Sign up at www.apollotheater.org).
Apollo Music Café is made possible by support from the Ford Foundation and public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.