savannahmusicfestival

Irish traditional music has been around for centuries and has always included an array of drinking songs, ballads and laments, as well as traditional dance tunes including reels, hornpipes and jigs. In this episode, we listen to one of the most revered Irish fiddlers on the planet, Martin Hayes, playing alongside his longtime musical partner, guitarist Dennis Cahill. This was the SMF debut of Mart...

With one hundred and forty-five collective years between them, Del McCoury and David Grisman have both become masters of Americana music. While each of these men have performed at SMF on numerous occasions, this was the first time they ever took the stage as the duo "Del & Dawg." In this episode, we listen to the 2016 performance given by McCoury and Grisman, which featured renditions of their fav...

Aaron Diehl is a 30-year-old jazz pianist whose broad aesthetic palette ranges from ragtime to stride piano to the works of George Gershwin and Phillip Glass. In responding to an interviewer about styles in jazz, Aaron Diehl once stated, "a lot of times we look at jazz in eras, but how can we not keep those eras separate and think of the language as one complete continuum? It's all interrelated an...

A griot is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet or musician. The griot, referred to as a djeli in some countries, is a repository of oral tradition. The griot is also a living archive of the people's traditions, and the virtuoso talents of the griots command universal admiration. In this episode, we listen a solo performance given by griot and kora master Ballake Sissoko at t...

The name DakhaBrakha means "give/take" in the old Ukranian language. Reflecting the fundamental elements of sound and soul, the Ukranian "ethnic chaos" band DakhaBrakha creates a world of unexpected new music, like nothing you've ever heard before. In this episode, we listen to their SMF debut, a closing night concert from the 2015 Savannah Music Festival.

The country of Brazil has a deep sense of culture and heritage comprised of an array of traditions, customs, languages, religious denominations, and of course, musical genres. Brazilian music developed many unique and original styles, most notably choro, forro, samba and bossa nova, each of which has its own distinct tradition, and collectively make up an important part of the Brazilian soul. In t...

Ellis and Delores Marsalis began to cultivate their youngest son's interest in music at age three, after buying him a toy drum set. They played a game with him and introduced him to an imaginary crowd by saying "ladies and gentlemen, introducing the fabulous Jason!" The young boy would come out and start banging away to his parents' delight, and young Jason enjoyed it to the point that he started...

While Franz Schubert is the only major composer of the 18th and 19th centuries who was actually born in Vienna, the First Viennese School is the name that commonly refers to the main composers of the Classical Period in western art music that resided there. Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, represent as the name says quite rightly, the Viennese classic that was rooted in Austria's capital. In...

While many fans of bluegrass music date the genre to 1939, when Bill Monroe first formed his blue grass boys band, most believe that the classic bluegrass sound came together in late 1945, shortly after North Carolina banjo player Earl Scruggs joined the band at age 21. Seven decades later, there are many excellent bluegrass bands, and one of the most talented is The Boxcars. In the Spring of 2015...

The vibraphone, also known as the vibraharp, or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family. Jazz is the only genre of music that uses the vibraphone as a lead or improvisational instrument, which has helped make it one of the most beautiful and versatile choices in the art form. Vibraphonist Warren Wolf has performed at the Savannah Music F...

Most singers begin their careers in childhood, developing their voice and style through training, practice and performance. It's unusual to hear a singer who didn't begin performing professionally until the age of 42, and even more rare when they are talented, unpretentious and original. In the Spring of 2013, jazz singer René Marie brought her trio to Savannah to perform an evening of standards a...

The great musician, bandleader, composer and arranger Benny Carter was a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s, and was recognized as such by other jazz musicians who simply called him "king." In the Spring of 2015, jazz cornetist Warren Vache brought an all-star quintet to Savannah to perform the music of Benny Carter of the course of two days, thrilling audiences with their original i...

SMF Live 833 - Dakhabrakha by savannahmusicfestival

SMF Live 828 - The Brazilian Soul by savannahmusicfestival

The Band Courtbouillon is a Cajun band featuring Wayne Toups, Steve Riley and Wilson Savoy. What began as a project by three of Southwest Louisiana's preeminent accordion players became a widely-praised traditional Cajun music album that won them a Grammy Award. At the 2015 Savannah Music Festival, The Band Courtbouillon played two spirited sets at the Charles H. Morris Center as the featured act...

Excerpts from four artists scheduled to perform at the 2017 Savannah Music Festival

Tony Trischka's "The Purple Trees of Colorado" featuring Trischka on banjo, Brittany Haas and Tashina Clarridge on fiddle, Mike Marshall on mandolin, Jordan Tice on guitar, and Paul Kowert on bass. Recorded live at the 2012 Stringband Spectacular at the Savannah Music Festival on April 6, 2012, part of SMF's Acoustic Music Seminar. For more information about Acoustic Music Seminar, visit savannahm...

An original tune written and arranged by harpist Mairi Chaimbeul. Featuring Chaimbeul on lever harp, joined by Wilhelmina FrankZerda and Chase Potter (violin), Sterling Abernathy (mandolin), and Royal Masat (bass). Recorded live on April 5, 2014 at the Stringband Spectacular at the Savannah Music Festival, part of SMF's Acoustic Music Seminar. For more information about Acoustic Music Seminar, vis...

David Benedict's "Boat Tune," recorded live at the 2014 Stringband Spectacular at the Savannah Music Festival, part of Acoustic Music Seminar. Benedict (mandolin) is joined by Jordan Alleman (banjo), Chase Potter (violin), Mike Robinson (guitar), and Brittany Karlson (bass). For more information about Acoustic Music Seminar, visit savannahmusicfestival.org/ams.

"You Didn't Call My Name" by Molly Tuttle, featuring Molly Tuttle (guitar and vocals), John Mailander (violin and vocals), Matt Witler (mandolin), Mila Phelps-Friedl (cello and vocals), and Xavier Foley (bass). Recorded live at Acoustic Music Seminar's 2013 Stringband Spectacular, part of the Savannah Music Festival. For more information about Acoustic Music Seminar, visit savannahmusicfestival.or...

"Fourteen Weeks" by Tatiana Hargreaves, written and arranged during the 2013 Acoustic Music Seminar at the Savannah Music Festival. Featuring Tatiana Hargreaves (fiddle), Matt Witler (mandolin), BB Bowness (banjo), Molly Tuttle (guitar), Gary Hultman (dobro), and Xavier Foley (bass). Recorded live at the Lucas Theatre in Savannah, Georgia on April 6, 2013. Find out more about Acoustic Music Semina...

For chamber music lovers, springtime in Savannah is a veritable feast of music for 17 days. Some of the world's finest classical musicians gather to rehearse and perform masterworks of the idiom in historic and intimate spaces. Tune in to hear performances by artists in the 2011 festival.

This episode is a preview of artists featured in the 2011 Savannah Music Festival.

As a singer whose live performances are a musical patchwork of contemporary Americana styles, Texas born Ruthie Foster is a unique artist in our time. She has created a repertoire that is seamlessly evocative of the life she lives, which comes out of the Baptist Church and the soul of southern Texas. Tune in to hear Ruthie Foster's SMF 2012 performance at the Charles H. Morris Center in Savannah.

The sound of the Hammond B-3 organ with a Leslie speaker evolved in mid-20th century America through a range of musical genres that included blues, rock, gospel, and most notably, jazz. Many of the finest players on the instrument were jazz musicians, and the trail they blazed on the instrument is still being traveled today. In this episode, we listen to B-3 maestro Ike Stubblefield, whose origina...