Certain musical gigs that were once frequent have become rare in South Florida. The area nightclub scene is now mostly dominated by open mics, jam nights, karaoke, trivia, stand-up comedy, and singing guitarists who are sometimes accompanied by pre-recorded backing tracks. In essence, anything that club owners and managers can think of where they only have to pay one host or … [Read more...]
Dead tribute band Crazy Fingers teams with Boca Symphonia for free concert
As the year 1970 approached, an up-and-coming British hard rock band called Deep Purple had a crazy idea. With a soaring new vocalist in Ian Gillan and a bassist/producer in Roger Glover replacing Rod Evans and Nick Simper, respectively, even fans forget that the new lineup’s first release wasn’t its 1970 breakthrough studio album Deep Purple in Rock. Rather, it was the … [Read more...]
Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival plans farewell weekend of concerts this month
After 32 years, the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival, long a beloved staple of South Florida summers, will come to an end this month. Battered by the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated loss of funds, as well as tiring of the grind of putting together four weekends of concerts, the founders of the festival — flutist Karen Fuller, clarinetist Michael Forte and bassoonist … [Read more...]
Versatility pays off for South Florida musician Greenberg
When it comes to South Florida’s current music scene, area musicians know it’s a jungle out there. Gone are the 20th-century days when one could earn a living locally by exclusively performing within the realm of popular music. So modern success stories usually involve versatility — as in original songwriting plus cover-song acumen, multiple instruments played within … [Read more...]
Russian trios get star treatment from SFSO chamber players
By Robert Croan Once again, the South Florida Symphony has brightened up an otherwise arid musical summer with its superb and valuable chamber music series. The second of three seasonal concerts this year [heard 6/21 at Fort Lauderdale’s Center for Spiritual Development] was devoted to piano trios by Russian composers. The composers were Mikhail Glinka, Sergei Rachmaninov … [Read more...]
WPB’s Positively Africa Experience to salute Juneteenth at Arts Garage
With tributes to famous bands and artists seemingly taking over the South Florida music scene, it’s refreshing to note that Lake Worth-launched group Julius Sanna & the Positively Africa Experience (www.positivelyafrica.com) has paid tribute to an entire continent’s culture — through uplifting original compositions rather than mimicry — since 2007. And its founders are … [Read more...]
Fifty-three years later, blues-rock stalwarts Foghat still on their slow ride
Even though he plays while seated, 78-year-old drummer Roger Earl is literally the last man standing in Foghat. And if he has his way, his 53-year-old British act will be the last band standing. Foghat comes to the Sunshine State not to retire, you see, but to work. Which includes performing at Wells Hall at the Parker Playhouse in Fort Lauderdale on June 15 in support of … [Read more...]
Loxahatchee’s Mount Sinai proves a welcome progressive surprise
Going to see South Florida acts in a festival setting can lack the element of surprise. Those events are usually themed, and even expected top area blues, jazz, or alt-rock artists will usually give listeners only exactly what they came to expect. So it came as a jolt — even among the folk-to-punk stylistic swath presented at the latest all-purpose 561 Music Fest — when … [Read more...]
Lake Worth Beach’s Bamboo Room returns, and gets back to its musical roots
As anyone 25 years or older knows, a lot changes during that span of time. Such has been the case upstairs at 25 S. J St., in the 101-year-old Paradise Building in Lake Worth Beach, where Rudy’s at Bamboo opened Feb. 14. It marked the sixth grand opening at the club since it originally launched as the Bamboo Room in 1999. MaryBeth Sisoian, whose Rudy’s Pub has been a … [Read more...]
Brilliant Fauré, Brahms performances at SFSO chamber opener
By Robert Croan The first-desk players of South Florida Symphony Orchestra are not an official ensemble, like, say, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center or the Beaux Arts Trio. They get together each summer for a series of three modest monthly concerts — each performed in two South Florida venues — which provide some of the best classical music to be heard in this … [Read more...]