Jody Redhage-Cellist, Composer, Vocalist

Alan and Jody share a bill with their bands for the first time ever! The Alan Ferber Nonet + Strings play a RARE performance at 8:00 pm, and at 9:30, Rose & the Nightingale are joined for the first time live with percussionist extraordinaire Ben Wittman, coproducer of their upcoming Sunnyside Records release, "Spirit of the Garden."

Rose & the Nightingale:
Jody Redhage, cello, voice, compositions
Sara Caswell, violin & mandolin
Leala Cyr, voice & trumpet
Laila Biali, voice & piano
Ben Wittman, percussion

Alan Ferber Nonet + Strings:
Alan Ferber, trombone & compositions
Dave Pietro, alto/soprano sax
John Ellis, tenor sax
Doug Yates, bass clarinet
Scott Wendholt, trumpet
Nate Radley, guitar
Bryn Roberts, piano
Matt Clohesy, bass
Rudy Royston, drums
Sara Caswell, Olivia DePrato, Leena Waite, Joseph Brent, violins
Corrina Albright, Victor Lowrie, violas
Jody Redhage & Maria Jeffers, cellos
JC Sanford, conductor

$10 cover.
www.shapeshifterlab.com
www.alanferber.com
www.roseandthenightingale.com
@RoseAndNight
www.facebook.com/roseandthenightingale

Rose & the Nightingale's online Kickstarter fundraising campaign is going from Oct. 24, our first birthday as a band, through Nov. 22, Thanksgiving day. For what could we be more thankful than a community of supporters?

Kickstarter funds go toward the release of our debut album, "The Spirit of the Garden," featuring 16 tracks inspired by Botanic Gardens, with a mix of pop, jazz, folk, and world influences. The lyrics are poetry celebrating the nexus of spirituality and nature. Funds go toward mixing, mastering, artwork, CD replication, publicity and marketing costs.

Thanks for considering supporting the release of our debut album! Here is the link:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/78297809/rose-and-the-nightingales-album-the-spirit-of-the

Rose & the Nightingale had a fabulous first tour playing performances of The SPIRIT OF THE GARDEN concert in CA at Botanical Gardens June 8-18! We played the first ever concert at the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers on June 9, premiering two new songs as part of the Spirit of the Garden song cycle with lyrics written by San Francisco poets Silvi Alcivar and Evan Karp, inspired by the Conservatory of Flowers! The Orchid Room, by Silvi, and Where the Fish are this Big, by Evan, were hits and highlights of the evening! The poets had a chance to discuss their creative process with the audience and Rose & the Nightingale was honored to be part of such a special collaboration.

We played at Descanso Gardens in Los Angeles on June 14 for a wonderful donors event. The earthen stage at Descanso, and the lovely nearby Japanese Garden were inspiring to us! But the best part of the night was when I was introducing our song "Dissolve," which is about Starlings.....and as I began to speak about the song, a huge flock of black birds flew directly above the stage, and that was the only time all night any birds flew overhead! It was one of those "chills!" moments!

We had a wonderful weekend in Santa Barbara June 15-17. On Friday the 15th we played the first concert at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden in 12 years, next to the amazing native wildflower meadow, overlooking the incredible mountain range behind. It was quite an inspiring setting for a concert...and the garden even had a real upright piano brought to the side of the meadow for us! And who could forget the amazing homemade truffles on hand for the reception, wow! We played Saturday, June 16 at the Center Stage Theater in downtown Santa Barbara, and really enjoyed the slide show of SBBG photos the garden staff put together for the show. It was a lovely, lovely weekend with wonderful host families.

We are gearing up for our next run of concerts, in Southern California, at the Water Conservation Garden in San Diego on Aug. 11 & the LA County Arboretum on Aug. 12. Please visit www.roseandthenightingale.com for more info, and check out www.roseandthenightingale.bandcamp.com if you haven't heard our first seven mastered tracks from the Spirit of the Garden EP!

Happy Summer-
Jody

Producer, mixing engineer & percussionist mastermind Ben Wittman has been hard at work on our tracks from our Feb. 21 & 22 recording sessions! We have six tracks done and posted to our bandcamp page....details on a release are soon to come! These tracks have turned out better than we ever could have imagines. We are certainly hoping you agree, and help us spread the word!

Rose & the Nightingale play our only NYC show of the summer on Wed., June 6 at the awesome new ShapeShifter Lab in Brooklyn. We'll play the East Coast Premiere of the full Spirit of the Garden Song Cycle. And concert is being filmed to becoming a live DVD, so come be in our studio audience! Details on the Calendar page....
www.roseandthenightingale.com

The Rose & the Nightingale recording sessions the past two days far exceeded my wildest expectations. Sara Caswell, Laila Biali, & Leala Cyr delivered stellar performances and I'm so lucky to have such artists playing my songs. We tracked with Paul Wickliffe engineering and Ben Wittman producing. It's one of life's most rewarding experiences to make an album of creative music with musicians you love playing with...

Hi Folks,

Sadly Rose & the Nightingale won't be playing the Monday Night Ramble Series at Sycamore this coming Monday, Feb. 20, due to a last minute event scheduled by the venue. Stay tuned for future shows! We're going into the recording studio Feb. 21 & 22 to make our first album, so send us good vibes!

-Jody

My band Rose & the Nightingale had a great time playing Jersey City's ART HOUSE on Friday night, Feb. 3. The Art House is a very funky & cool arts space, reusing & revitalizing the top floor of a converted hospital on Hamilton Square. We played Jersey City's Ladies on the Mic Series, and what a great and warm audience! Thank you to all who came out to make the hang! Next up: the Monday Night Ramble Series on Monday, Feb. 20 at Sycamore Bar & Flower Shop in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn...and THEN into the studio Feb. 21 & 22 to record our first album. Excited!

-J.

Jersey City's Ladies on the Mic Series features ROSE & THE NIGHTINGALE
in a special concert at the ART HOUSE, a cool loft art space on the converted top-floor of an old hospital on Hamilton Square in Jersey City, a short walk from the Grove St. Path Station. I love when old spaces are reused and revitalized....
Double-Breasted, a trio of harp, cello, percussion & voices, play the opening set.
ROSE & THE NIGHINGALE are going into the studio to make our first album on Feb. 21 & 22, so I hope you can come check us out as we're rolling--

My new solo album of electro-acoustic music for my voice & cello, Of Minutiae and Memory, is #8 on Textura's "Best 20 Albums of 2011." I'm honored!

Of Minutiae and Memory was released on Aug. 30, 2011 by New Amsterdam Records. It's available on iTunes and Amazon.com. www.newamsterdamrecords.com

"There's much to admire about this forty-seven-minute recording, but perhaps its greatest feat is the ease with which the classical and experimental are so seamlessly married. To her credit, Redhage makes it all sound effortless. She's clearly no dabbler testing the experimental waters, so to speak, during the off-hours beyond the safe confines of her day job, but rather a bold adventurer charting an intensely personalized course through her own ethereal sound-world. The album finds her breathing its electro-acoustic air as if born to it." -Textura Magazine

Our appearance on the Ditmas Acoustic Series this Sunday, Nov. 20 is a Critic's Pick in Time Out NY! Come check us out! ROSE & THE NIGHTINGALE plays the music of Jody Redhage, celebrating the sublimity of the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens through song.

Jody Redhage's ROSE & THE NIGHTINGALE
Ditmas Acoustic Series
Sunday, Nov. 20; Mivos Quartet 7:00; Botanica 8:00 pm
Temple Beth Emeth
83 Marlborough Rd.; Brooklyn, NY 11226
Q to Church Ave.

ROSE & THE NIGHTINGALE
Jody Redhage, cello, voice, compositions
Sara Caswell, violin, mandolin
Leala Cyr, voice, flugelhorn
Laila Biali, voice, keyboard

Check the calendar page for more info

My new band Rose & the Nightingale plays on Sunday, Nov. 20 at 8:00 pm on the Ditmas Acoustic Series in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn. I am so lucky to be playing with these stunningly talented ladies, and I really hope you can come check us out! We'll be playing a lot of new music I've been writing while on the road this year with Esperanza Spalding's Chamber Music Society. Please visit the calendar page for details!

ROSE & THE NIGHTINGALE
Jody Redhage, cello, voice & compositions
Sara Caswell, violin
Leala Cyr, voice & flugelhorn
Laila Biali, voice & keyboard

Sunday, Nov. 20, 2011
Ditmas Acoustic Series
Temple Beth Emeth
83 Marlborough Rd. @ Church Ave.
Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, NY
www.facebook.com/DitmasAcoustic

Mivos Quartet plays at 7:00 pm

My new chamber band Rose & the Nightingale played Monday night, and I can't believe how blessed I am to have such amazingly talented virtuosi women in my group. Sara Caswell on violin, Leala Cyr on voice & trumpet, and Laila Biali on voice and piano--the three completely threw down and offered their full-on goods to the audience. These ladies have such strength and ability to connect with the creative source! I kept getting emotional and had to remind myself to keep it together! It was a really moving experience to have these ladies playing my music, and I truly, fervently hope that we may have the opportunity to perform for many, many people. We played my Spirit of the Garden project--a song cycle featuring poetry celebrating the sublimity and sense of spirituality we feel in Gardens as the lyrics. Our next show is on Nov. 20 in Brooklyn as part of Temple Beth Emeth's Ditmas Acoustic series. More info on the calendar page...

The Monday Night Ramble Series at the Branded Saloon in Brooklyn, NY has been cancelled. Jody's band Rose & the Nightingale will perform a private house concert event on Monday, Oct. 24 in its stead

Please email Jody for more information: jody.redhage@gmail.com.

The NJ Star Ledger ran a profile today, with details about my album Of Minutiae and Memory. Check it out!

Check out my album "Of Minutiae and Memory" featured in the electronic music journal textura:

http://www.textura.org/pages/reviews.htm

http://www.textura.org/reviews/redhage_minutiaememory.htm

http://www.textura.org/reviews/spotlight_ii.htm

Tonight is the CD release concert for my new album, "Of Minutiae and Memory," where I'll play the album live! It's at Drom in Manhattan on the Lower East Side, please visit the calendar page for all the details...I'll be playing electro-acoustic compositions by Joshua Penman, Anna Clyne, Paula Matthusen, Wil Smith, Missy Mazzoli, Ryan Brown, Stefan Weisman, and Derek Muro.

And I got a review in the New Jersey Star Ledger this morning:

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/music/index.ssf/2011/09/cd_reveiws_lil_wayne_cobra_sta.html


Of minutiae and memory
Jody Redhage; cellist (New Amsterdam)
Cellist-singer-composer Jody Redhage’s distinctive, discerning taste and her masterful command of her instrument make her new, electronics-heavy recording one of the most memorable of the year so far.

While immediately accessible, the works by various composers (not herself) compel full attention with optimal use of genre-defying instrumentation.

Ryan Brown’s “the light by which she may have ascended” exemplifies the unusual juxtapositions that fill the compilation as what sounds like playground noise is matched by a stately, meditative cello part featuring a simple motive repeated, layered and developed — elegant order amid chaos.

Anna Clyne’s anxious “Paintbox” uses amplified gasps within a fabric of fidgety beats and deep, slightly ominous cello and a brief choral interlude. In its urgency and sonic palette, it makes for a smooth transition into the title work by Paula Matthusen, which draws heavily on Medieval-style chant.

Redhage’s pure, girlish voice is at its best in Derek Muro’s “Did You See Me Walking,” a meandering, folk-inflected melody over light accompaniment mixing sustained tones with rippling plucked passages.

— Ronni Reich

My new album "of minutiae and memory," out now on New Amsterdam Records, is album of the week on NYC Classical station WQXR's new music station, Q2. Free download of Missy Mazzoli's "A Thousand Tongues." Check it out!

Here is Q2's review of the album:

Just in time for fall, Jody Redhage's sophomore album comes with a bracing autumnal burst tempered by a soulful warmth that is wholly seductive and charming.

It takes about a full minute before you first hear Redhage sear into her instrument on the opening track, I Dreamed I Was Floating, which starts with an atmospheric ambient sound that carries the listener into a seamless 47 minutes of tracks commissioned and curated by Redhage, representing a cavalcade of bright young composers including Anna Clyne (Paint Box), Missy Mazzoli (A Thousand Tongues), Wil Smith (Static Line) and Derek Muro (Did You See Me Walking?).

As such, there's a Babel-like quality to the sonic language in which Redhage expertly trades. Mazzoli's work curves her cello, like hot metal, around a foundation of pulsating electronics before introducing Redhage's choirboy-like soprano as an ethereal sheen to the earthy, wordless music being created below. Ryan Brown's subsequent, instrumental The Light By Which She May Have Ascended is more statically assertive, bringing the cello itself into Redhage's upper register. Clyne's Paint Box takes the human voice and explores its wordless potential while Muro's closing track is a surreal lullaby that sticks with your ribs much like oatmeal on the first rainy, wet morning of the season.

We're early on in the fall to be sure, but Of Minutiae and Memory is sure to be one of the season's standouts.

Hello Friends,

It is with much excitement that I announce the upcoming release of my new solo album on New Amsterdam Records, of minutiae and memory, featuring eight electro-acoustic works for cello, voice, and electronics by some of today's most talented young composers. It's the culmination of an ongoing commissioning project over the past six years, resulting in close to 30 new works for voice, cello, and electronics. The disc features works by Joshua Penman, Anna Clyne, Paula Matthusen, Wil Smith, Missy Mazzoli, Ryan Brown, Stefan Weisman, and Derek Muro. I'll play the album LIVE on Monday, September 12 at DROM on the Lower East Side at 7:30 pm. Corey Dargel and Cornelius Dufallo open with a set of art pop songs for voice & violin.

I really hope you can join me!

The album is officially released Aug. 30 by New Amsterdam Records, and distributed nation-wide by Naxos. You will be able to find physical copies or downloads at all the usual online sources. Physical copies will be sold at the CD release event on Sept. 12.

Please visit:
www.newamsterdamrecords.com

CD RELEASE SHOW
JODY REDHAGE'S of minutiae and memory
Monday, September 12, 2011
doors 6:30, show 7:30 pm
DROM
85 Avenue A (@ E. 6th St.)
New York, NY 10009
www.dromnyc.com
$10 cover

See you there!
Much Love,

Jody

My new solo album for cello & voice, of minutiae and memory, is released Aug. 30 on the New Amsterdam Records label (www.newamsterdamrecords.com). The album featuring eight electro-acoustic compositions by talented young composers including Joshua Penman, Anna Clyne, Paula Matthusen, Wil Smith, Missy Mazzoli, Ryan Brown, Stefan Weisman, and Derek Muro, six of which I commissioned as part of an ongoing project since 2005. Join us for a CD release celebration at DROM in NYC's lower east side on Monday, Sept. 12, doors 6:30 and music at 7:30. Art pop composer Corey Dargel and violinist Cornelius Dufallo will also play a set of new songs. See you there! More info on my calendar page...

Esperanza Spalding's Chamber Music Society just finished a successful tour of Europe--we were out and about for three weeks of wonderful concerts. Summer is a fun time to be traveling around Europe and playing the summer jazz festivals...we ran into so many friends and acquaintances along the way! In the lobby of the Hilton in Rotterdam, site of the North Sea Jazz Festival, I ran into my friend Akiko Sasaki and her husband Jesse Stacken, friends of mine from Manhattan School of Music Days. It was a crazy coincidence because neither Akiko nor I knew the other would be at North Sea, and two weeks later we were teaching together in central VT at the Lyra Summer Music chamber festival! Small small world! THEN, a few hours later, as I was packing up my mic and music on stage after Chamber Music Society finished our 5:30 concert at the festival, I heard a "hey, Jody!" from the edge of stage--and lo and behold--there is my dear friend Benny Peled whom I hadn't seen in about four years! We are old pals from playing chamber music together at ages 15 and 13, have been friends ever since, and now Benny is playing violin in the Royal Concertgebouw orchestra in Amsterdam--I had no idea he would be attending North Sea! We had a wonderful evening catching up, and headed over to the Paul Simon concert, on the other side of the complex, to enjoy the gorgeous music. Afterwards we headed backstage to chat with my friend Mark Stewart, musician extraordinaire, who is music directing the Paul Simon tour. Mark plays many, many instruments beautifully. Mark was a cello major in college but now plays guitar, saxophone, sings, clarinet, and makes a billion and one instruments of his own out of found objects--in general, he is one of the most exuberant and fun musicians (and souls) I know! In short, North Sea was a real highlight of the tour, although the whole tour was great.

After our last concert in Lisbon, Portugal, I took an epic 27 hours of travel to fly from Lisbon to Milan, Milan to Shanghai, and Shanghai to Taipei, where I met my beloved in Taiwan. Alan was teaching at a jazz festival in Taipei and it was great to see him and meet all the wonderful folks in Taipei! The students were eager to learn and so much fun. I also had the great opportunity to catch up with my best friend Shaw Pong Liu's parents who live an hour south or Taipei in Hsinchu. i took the AMAZING bullet train down to Hsinchu, which cut the travel time down to 35 minutes! Can I please join the lobby for bullet trains in America?! Bullet train from Boston to NY, PLEASE? Bullet train from San Francisco to LA, PLEASE?!? I had a great time experiencing Taiwan from Mr. & Mrs. Liu's view: they were both born in mainland China, but had come to Taiwan as toddlers & were raised there. Thank you, Mr. & Mrs. Liu, for the amazing hospitality, and stellar food!

I'm now teaching in VT, enjoying the vast, rolling vistas of central VT here in Randolph. Visiting Neighborly Farms this afternoon for a tour! I've had their cheeses many a time, and love them, so I'm glad we have access to a fridge here, I'll be stocking up!

My next trip is to St. Louis to visit Mom, Dad, and Papa (Grandpa), and then on to San Francisco to see Jill (sis), Ben (soon to be bro-in-law), Kathy & Stan (parents-in-law) and then to LA to see Alan play a concert of his KICKIN' big band music with an LA band. And BTW, I would definitely have bought a bullet train ticket to travel from SF to LA, had there been one to buy...

Coming up in September: Brazil and another US tour. More news soon!

Esperanza Spalding's CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY plays The Town Hall this Saturday night, May 21, for our only as-of-now scheduled New York City show. 8:30 pm and it will be a fun one! With Esperanza on bass & voice, Leonardo Genovese on piano, Terri Lyne Carrington, drums, Sara Caswell, violin, Lois Martin, viola, yours truly on cello & voice, and Leala Cyr, voice. I really do feel like this band gets the opportunity to create something special every time we play together, and it's a real blessing. I hope you can come hear us!

We are so thrilled that Esperanza won the Best New Artist Grammy! She couldn't be more deserving. We've played eleven shows so far since the Grammy awards on Feb. 13, eight in Japan and three in the states: Portland, USC & UCSB. The audiences have been warm & engaged. And we've been having fun! We're about to tape the Jimmy Kimmel Live show in a few minutes...we're watching it on the screen in the green room right now. Jimmy Kimmel tapes in a studio on Hollywood Blvd. and it's still blocked off from the Oscar's last night. Catch us on you tube....actually, check out our performance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno from Jan. 31, it was a blast, and the hairdresser went to town on the band...my hair looks like a flower arrangement! More US touring in March coming up and then to South Africa (Capetown Jazz Festival), Europe for two weeks (including Barbicon in London), and then the Casablanca Jazz Festival in Morocco. More soon!

We're in Paris for--count them--FOUR NIGHTS! I've been noticing that most of my news up here is about the food we're eating on tour....so be it! Tonight we had Moroccan. It was a beautiful, cozy place called Restaurant 404 (called such because of the inexpensive Peugeot model "404" from the 1980s that the Moroccan immigrants in Paris often drove) with ornate iron windows, doors, lanterns, and plenty of candlelight. I had the Lamb Tagine (a conical terracotta pot in which meats, vegetables, fruits and spices are aromatically steamed together), with prunes, golden raisins, and nuts. Wow! So tender and fragrant! Earlier today I walked around the gray city in the misting November weather. It was really enjoyable--Paris is equally beautiful in the damp and chilly fall as in the summer and now there were less tourists. Too bad the line for the Louvre was off the hook--free on Sundays--so I skipped it, but I still enjoyed my day. We play tomorrow here in the Pigalle neighborhood, where we're also staying. We're a block from the Moulin Rouge and next to a bar with a 24-hour blinking sign that says "Lucky Bar-GIRLS!" But even when surrounded by sex shops Paris is still the most charming and beautiful city I've ever visited...we're here two more days, then Geneve...

Esperanza's Chamber Music Society is in Scandivania for about a week. We played two nights in Stockholm, in the same building where the Nobel Prizes are awarded...our second show was a complete blast! So much fun to play with everyone! Now we're in Goteborg...which seems like a rather industrial town on the west coast of Sweden--it's Sweden's 2nd largest city. They are famous for their ship building here (and for making Volvos!) The sun is peeking through the clouds finally, which is nice after the foggy night yesterday and gray skies this morning. But it's not very cold...it's been warmer in Sweden the past four days than it had been in Germany or Amsterdam. That's a relief because I was worried that I wasn't equipped for this leg of the trip in the northern-lands! We go to Denmark tomorrow, followed by Norway. Norway is one of the places I've been wanting to go most for years...I'm going to try to sneak a peek of some fjords in Oslo. Apparently if you climb up to the observation platform of their newest ski jump, you can see some fjords in the distance. And the salmon and herring I had this morning were delicious! Copenhagen tomorrow...more soon!

I'm in Amsterdam. We played a radio show for Holland's NPR earlier this evening, followed by more unbelievable food. I haven't tasted a bad thing since I stepped food on the European continent last Wednesday. Tonight was Chinese...and was tasty and fresh, and on a cute & cozy street (Zeedijk? Man, Dutch is difficult for me to even attempt to pronounce!) Today I went to the Van Gogh museum. The paintings that spoke to me the most were both from his San Remy time...when he was in the asylum. Reaper in a Wheatfield and Almond Blossoms brought tears. Absolutely transcendent in their beauty and ability to community complex emotions...through oil paint! What an incredible person. Tomorrow, the Bimhuis. Our hotel is attached to the venue, and the architecture of the venue is pretty remarkable. Then Thursday we're off to Zurich. More soon!

It's Monday, Sept. 20, and we are in Big Blue, our tour bus, with our friendly driver Dave at the helm, heading from Madison, WI to Minneapolis, MN. These are two states I have previously never visited. Last night we played in Stoughton, WI at their charming little opera house. It's a beautiful space, from 1900, all renovated in turquoise and gold, and it was a real pleasure to play there. Really nice sound, and the audience was warm. On Saturday night we had a show in Des Moines, IA, and Friday we (inadvertently) had the day off in Des Moines as well (Esperanza, Lois, Sara, and Leo all got trapped in NYC thanks to a Delta plane that took off and 45 min. later had to turn around bc of mechanical failure). So we were supposed to play Friday night but instead we rescheduled that date til Dec. 8, when we'll be in IA again. I spent the day Friday exploring downtown Des Moines, which I really enjoyed. We stayed in a place that was on the National Register of History Places (Savery Hotel) and I ran up to the IA capitol, and over to the Asian Gardens and Botanical Gardens. There is a new pedestrian bridge over the river, and two really cute & hip neighborhoods of boutiques, coffee shops, restaurants, etc. walking distance from the capitol. I ate a delicious snack at a place called "The Continental" and would recommend the place Leala (backup singer) and I had dinner as well: Open Sesame, with delicious Lebanese food. But the crowning glory of the Des Moines stay was the farmers market, every Saturday from 7:00 am to noon. It was HUGE! And fun. Too bad I won't be near a stove/oven any time soon, b/c the produce looked amazing. I had a breakfast burrito from a stand and then a "Dutch Letter:" a puff pastry filled with almond paste. YUM! It was a way-above-average pastry, really flaky and tasty. Makes me want to try to make them at Christmas time. We're headed to Minneapolis now, where we'll play at the Dakota Tu & Wed. More soon!

A trio version of Fire in July played at Baltimore's An Die Musik last night, a great sounding recital hall downtown near Peabody conservatory. We had a blast! It was Alan Ferber on trombone, Tim Collins on vibraphone (visiting from Austria, hooray!), and it was a great night of very fun music making and an audience of wonderful folks with whom we really enjoyed chatting. We also had a delicious dinner at Maisy's down the street from the venue. We enjoyed the acoustics at An Die Musik, it was a great place to play. Our next show is at Kaji Aso Studio in Boston on Friday, July 23. Please help us spread the world about our upcoming show! Thanks! -Jody

My husband Alan Ferber's fifth CD as a bandleader was released this past week on Sunnyside Records: "Chamber Songs" for Nonet and Strings. It's gorgeous music that defies categorization, blending influences from the classical orchestral idiom and jazz large ensemble. It's available at www.sunnysiderecords.com. I'm on it, too. :) Happy Listening!

Fire in July is honored to perform the third concert on the new creative music series 'Music at First,' curated by composer Wil Smith and held at the acoustically and visually beautiful First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn in Brooklyn Heights. We're excited to play a full concert of new compositions for the whole band and hope you can join us for a fun night of new chamber music/art song! It's Friday, April 16 at 7:30 pm. The First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn is located at 124 Henry Street near Clark Street, on a lovely block near many delicious Brooklyn Heights restaurants.

On Sunday, Feb. 7, I will perform on professor & composer Christian Carey's faculty recital at Westminster Choir College. I'm performing three pieces by Carey for my voice & cello using Jane Kenyon poems as the texts. I'll also perform three of my own compositions, and a lovely piece by Daniel Felsenfeld titled "From Sleepless Nights" with text by Elizabeth Hardwick. Please visit the calendar page for more detailed information.

I've had a blast playing out here in the bay area this week! Molly Thompson and I played a wonderful concert at the acoustically fabulous Old First Church on Sunday, Oct. 25. I was grateful for a warm and supportive audience, and the church itself resonated like an instrument! It was a real pleasure to sing and play in such a space: I really felt I could do anything with my voice and it would all carry its expressive intent. We play tonight at A'Roma Roasters in Santa Rosa. It's been glorious weather out here...not a cloud for the whole week I've been here. The big blue sky is vast and very calming. Thank you California...

Physical copies and digital downloads of Jody Redhage & Fire in July's new album "Ancient Star" are available on CD Baby:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/redhageandfinjuly

We've gotten some nice feedback on our new album, "Ancient Star:"

“Ancient Star” is a real accomplishment, refreshing and enjoyable, music that is exploring and pioneering a new style and doing so with real thought and skill.”
--George Grella, The Big City

“Really interesting stuff that encompasses everything from art song to jazz. It’s not easily pegged in terms of style or genre, but all for the better…because it takes us to unexpected places. Quite an ensemble…quite a sound.” -David Garland, WNYC’s Spinning on Air

“Start playing the album and a door into a very different musical universe opens up… A little bit jazz, a little bit minimalism, a little bit early music and a little bit something else that transcends all these eclectic parts, Jody Redhage’s music is a snapshot of the whirling experimental new music center that is Brooklyn. In addition to playing the cello, Redhage also performs all the vocals on Ancient Star. Her minimal-vibrato voice, celestial in “Ancient Star,” Elizabethan in “This November, “ or playful in “As the Cat,” almost makes the listener forget she plays another instrument at all. But to ignore her cello performances would be a mistake, as the opening bars to “Greenport Slide” showcase a deep emotional resonance and rich tone on that instrument.” –Sarah Funke, How to Disappear Completely

Singer, composer, and accordionist Molly Thompson and I head out on Thursday for CA to play concerts in San Francisco & Santa Rosa. We'll be performing our own original art songs on Sunday, Oct. 25 at Old First Church in SF at 4:00 pm (www.oldfirstconcerts.org), and on Thurs., Oct. 29 at A'Roma Roasters in Santa Rosa (www.aromaroasters.com) at 8:00 pm. Please help us spread the word if you know any folks out on the left coast!!

Jody & Fire in July celebrate the official release of their debut album "Ancient Star" on Sunday, Sept. 20 at 8:00 pm at the unique performance space MonkeyTown in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Come hear the band perform the tracks from the album live with surround visuals, and enjoy MonkeyTown's delicious dinner menu. Jody is excited to play live with Ken Thomson (clarinets), Alan Ferber (trombone), Tom Beckham (vibraphone), and Fred Kennedy (drums/percussion). Albums will be at a discounted price of $10. RESERVATIONS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED: www.monkeytownhq.com/reservations/html.

THEY HAVE COME! The first CD all of my own compositions now exists, and I have 8 beautiful boxes stacked in our cozy Brooklyn apartment, waiting to be disseminated to the world....I can't wait for folks to hear this CD. It's 14 of my original compositions for my ensemble, Fire in July, and the process of making this CD has been the most rewarding thing I've ever done for myself. I am so grateful to the guys in the group and to producer Ben Wittman for his tireless energy & generosity of spirit. Now I can't wait to make another! I've already started writing for my next project: titled "The Spirit in the Garden." It will be an hour long song cycle setting poems that celebrate the nexus of nature and spirituality. Now I just have to convince the Brooklyn Botanic Garden to host the premiere next spring/summer...is anyone friends with folks over there? :) I want the premiere to be in the little outdoor amphitheater near the Japanese Garden. But I get ahead of myself....FIRST we celebrate the release of "Ancient Star," this beautiful thing, with shows at Barbes on July 5, Kaji Aso Studio in Boston on July 25, Kinhaven Music Festival on July 26, and another BIG bash in September after the official street release date of September 15. Give me a shout if you want an advance physical copy sent to you: jody.redhage@gmail.com. $15. i-tunes and all the digital stuff will be up and running Sept. 15. Woo-hoo!

Jody Redhage & Fire in July
FIRE IN JULY BBQ & CD RELEASE PREVIEW SHOW
ALBUM "ANCIENT STAR"
4:00 pm BBQ in Propsect Park!
7:00-8:30 pm CD Release Preview Show at Barbes!
We're officially releasing the album in September, but one of our band members is moving to Europe on August 1, so we will play a live show celebrating the release with advance copies IN JULY, of course! We'll have a limited number of physical copies for sale, so come hear us play a live set of the complete album and pick up a copy.

What better way to celebrate our first album than with a real Fire in July? Don't worry...this fire is legal and contained in a grill in Prospect Park, and will produce an abundance of tasty burgers, dogs, and boca burgers!!

Come celebrate summer with us and come on down for a fun day over the holiday weekend. Bring your frisbees!

SUNDAY JULY 5
4:00 pm BBQ in Prospect Park--on blankets right inside the park near the 9th street and Propsect Park West entrance (just up the block from Barbes)
7:00-8:30 pm Fire in July CD Release Show
BARBES
376 9th Street at 6th ave.
Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY
www.barbesbrooklyn.com
$10 suggested donation
F train to 7th ave.

Hope you can come party with us!

I'm ECSTATIC to announce that my first album with my ensemble Fire in July will be officially released in September 2009. "Ancient Star" features fourteen original tracks composed & arranged by yours truly, produced by the mastermind Ben Wittman, with stellar performances from Ken Thomson, Alan Ferber, Tim Collins, Dan Tepfer, and Fred Kennedy. I'm self-releasing the album, and we'll play all the tracks live at our CD release preview party at Barbes in Brooklyn on Sunday, July 5 from 7:00 to 8:30 pm. We had our first gig on July 3, 2007, and it was fiery! The ensemble's name captures the spirit of that first live gig, and I'm so excited that exactly two years later, I'm releasing our first recording. Hope you can come celebrate with us on Sunday, July 5!

The Ditmas Park Concert Series, of which I am founder and director, launches its second season tonight, Friday, May 1, with a fabulous double-bill of the Erica von Kleist Trio and the John Ellis Trio at Sycamore Bar & Flower Shop. Sponsored by the Brooklyn Arts Council, the NY State Council for the Arts, the NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs, and 20 local businesses, the DPCS connects the world-class musicians living in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn with the students and residents of the community. Featuring bandleaders who live walking distance from the venues, the DPCS highlights the diversity of genres being created right here in the neighborhood, and strengthens the community through live creative performance.

Scarlet Tree Performances is presenting 'Songstresses from the Edge.' Composers, singers, and multi-instrumentalists Molly Thompson, Kamala Sankaram, and Jody Redhage sing and play their original art songs from the NY Underground. The Songstresses will be appearing in Brooklyn, NY at 8:00 pm on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2009 at the First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, and on tour of the west coast from Oct. 19-Nov. 1, 2009. The Songstresses are available for concerts and workshops; please visit www.scarlettree.org for more information.

Scarlet Tree Performances is born. Scarlet Tree is an organization that partners creative performing artists with community organizations, venues, business sponsors, and educational institutions who might not otherwise have access to live creative performance. Scarlet Tree's mission is to increase various communities' awareness and experience of high-level performing artistry, while encouraging these communities to personally invest toward the realization of the workshops and performances, right in their own neighborhoods. From presenting concerts and workshops in transitional neighborhoods to presenting performances in non-traditional venues, Scarlet Tree is helping communities far and wide connect and experience the joy of great creative performance.

Fire in July went into the recording studio in Feb. 6, 7, & 8 to record our first album. It's 14 original tracks composed by me for voice, cello, clarinet/bass clarinet, trombone, piano, vibraphone, and drums & percussion. Our great producer is Ben Wittman and now we're busy recording overdubs and mixing. We're looking toward a July 11 release date...and the record will be released on Scarlet Tree Records. Stay tuned for more information!

Jody Redhage will appear as one of the guest artists at the 2009 New Directions Cello Festival, held annually at Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY. The New Directions Cello Festival provides a forum for the exchange of music and ideas in the world of nonclassical and alternative cello performance. Redhage will present workshops during the weekend and will perform with her band, Fire in July, on Friday, June 5.

Fire in July heads to the recording studio on Feb. 6, 7, & 8, 2009 to record their first studio album. Fantastic producer and engineer Ben Wittman will be at the bridge (www.benwittman.com). The band features the original indie art song compositions of singing cellist Jody Redhage, and some of the most versatile and talented improvisers and chamber musicians in New York. Ken Thomson (of Gutbucket) plays clarinet and bass clarinet; Alan Ferber (of the Alan Ferber Nonet) plays trombone; Tim Collins (of "Fade" with Charlie Hunter) plays vibraphone; Dan Tepfer (of the Duo & Trio with Lee Konitz) plays piano; and Fred Kennedy (Gray Code, Suite Unraveling) plays drums & percussion.

On Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2008, art song band Fire in July will appear on the Music on MacDougal Series. Featuring the original compositions of "adventurous cello songstress Jody Redhage" (Time Out NY) and some of the most talented and versatile improvisers in New York, Fire in July melds the detail and finesse of art song with the energy and drive of pop, rock, and jazz improvisation. Fire in July includes an instrument from each instrument family: voice, cello, clarinet, trombone, piano, and percussion. With Ken Thomson, Alan Ferber, Fred Kennedy, and special guest on Nov. 12, vibraphonist Tim Collins.

Composer and journalist Christian Carey profiles singing cellist Jody Redhage for Toronto-based Musicworks magazine's Fall 2008 issue. Carey and Redhage discuss her musical journey to becoming a cellist, composer, and vocalist, and her myriad creative projects in New York City's underground new music scene.

As winner of the 2005 Hertz Grant, Redhage commissioned a repertoire for her voice, cello, and electronics from a dozen of New York's most talented emerging composers. The CD culmination of this commissioning project, All Summer in Day, has been released by New Amsterdam Records, and is available at www.newamsterdamrecords.com; and itunes. Composers include: Anna Clyne, Ted Hearne, Paula Matthusen, Judd Greenstein, Jacob Cooper, David Hanlon, Wil Smith, Derek Muro, and Jody Redhage.