This week feels like homecoming at Caffe Lena after last Saturday’s off-site success at SPAC in those venues’ now-annual collaboration. Favorite son Don Armstrong personifies this performers’ pilgrimage in his 54th (!!) Caffe show Friday, with other returning stars before and after.
Beth Nielsen Chapman starts this run of singer-songwriters (plus two jazz crews) Thursday – yeah, tomorrow!
Beth Nielsen Chapman. Photo provided
Info the Caffe supplied about her launches from her observation: “Flickering between the known and the unknown is a mystical state of being where time is suspended, and creative flow actualizes into form.” Yet, her work feels down to earth in translating feeling into words and melody so effectively that her tunes have yielded hits for stars from Willie Nelson to Elton John.
For example, Faith Hill’s version of Chapman’s “This Kiss” was ASCAP’S 1999 Song Of The Year and earned a Grammy nomination; as did Chapman’s own “The Mighty Sky” album. She won Nashville NAMMY’S 1999 Songwriter of the Year award and was inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall Of Fame in 2016.
She said of her latest album “CrazyTown” (produced by Ray Kennedy), “We captured 17 songs in six days with a live band at blazing speed.”
Fellow Nashville cat (and my brother) Jim Hoke – a notably tough crowd – played on an earlier Chapman album, one of her 15 to date. As musical director of an all-star tribute to their mutual friend Duane Eddy, he said, “I made her songs happen with the band we had and she was very easy to work with. She’s an old pro and not a diva.” Hoke added, “Her songs are nice and her delivery and manner are pleasing.” Having played Caffe Lena himself as a teenager, he predicted she’ll do well here. “Her style is acoustic guitar-driven and folksy, with that literate ‘accomplished’ yet emotional kind of lyric writing that everybody strives for in Nashville. I expect the Lena’s crowd will dig her.”
Beth Nielsen Chapman sings at Caffe Lena Thursday. 7 p.m. doors 6:30. $36.87 members, general $41.21, $15.18 students and children. 518-583-0022 www.caffelena.org
Don Armstrong follows on Friday– as noted, his 54th Caffe show. Since he first visited at 15, it became his music school as “professors” Bob Dylan, Utah Phillips, Hedy West, Dave Van Ronk, Rev. Gary Davis, Paul Clayton, John Herald, Gil Robbins, Ian and Sylvia and other folk giants inspired him from its stage.
Most of his own shows here were alongside wife/musical partner Victoria, who died in 2014 after they’d moved to Arizona; or with Tom Mitchell, now in Nashville. In Arizona, Armstrong found himself surrounded by musical Ronstadts, just as the Caffe immersed him in national heroes. He plays Friday with his Whiskeypalians, singing and playing banjo and guitar with Peter Dalton Ronstadt, guitar and Pennsylvania stomp box; Michael Gilbert Ronstadt singing and playing cello; and singer Liz Cerepanya.
Don Armstrong, the banjoist in blue, with his Whiskeypalians. Photo from his Facebook post
Don Armstrong and his Whiskeypalians play Caffe Lena Friday. 8 p.m., doors 7:30. $23.86 members, $27.11 general, $13.56 students and children.
On Saturday, jazz singer Stacey Kent brings to the Caffe stage a unique understated style that draws listeners very directly to the songs through her intimate way with a lyric. Her trust and investment in her material communicates in a quietly effective transfer of emotional energy.
She sings classics by Johnny Mandel, Serge Gainsbourg, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Brian Wilson and Stevie Wonder on her “A Time For Love” album – made in the bare bones simplicity of voice with pianist Art Hirahara. Originals by husband, saxophonist/musical partner Jim Tomlinson and lyricist Cliff Goldmacher express today’s concerns. Kent has also collaborated with the Brazilian masters including Marcos Valle, Roberto Menescal and Danilo Caymmi. Her shows I saw years ago at WAMC’s The Linda were models of quiet brilliance.
Stacey Kent sings two shows Saturday, at 5 and 8 p.m.; doors 4:30 and 7:30, respectively. $70.49 members, $75.92 general, $37.96 students and children.
A star since Joan Baez recorded three of his songs for her “Gone from Danger” album (1997) and invited him on tour, Richard Shindell has returned often from his adopted home of Buenos Aires. He co-starred with Dar Williams and Lucy Kaplansky in the trio Cry Cry Cry, the year after touring with Baez. But he sings solo Sunday, showing the empathy and insight that make his songs connect, sometimes unexpectedly. His songs of Covid in Argentina portray the plague as universal, for example.
Richard Shindell, onstage at Caffe Lena in March 2024
Shindell brings the whole package: engaging, personal songs; a deeply authoritative but relaxed voice – put him and John Gorka on the same stage, and they’d rattle the walls – and strong, simple guitar.
His show Sunday is part of the Caffe’s Folk Heritage Series, sponsored by the Charlie Pickett & Kathleen Rehl Endowment Fund. 7 p.m., doors 6:30. $37.96 members, $41.21 general, $20.61 students and children.
Chuck Lamb. Photo provided
The Caffe’s late, great sound/video stalwart Joel Moss beefed up its JAZZ at Caffe Lena series, starring and hosted by pianist Chuck Lamb whose trio accompanies distinguished guests. On Tuesday, Lamb showcases the superbly versatile guitarist Peter Bernstein whose new album “Better Angels” (his 14th) co-stars Brad Mehldau, Vicente Archer and Al Foster.
Lamb’s new “After Hours on Phila Street” finds the veteran of the Brubeck Brothers and other groups playing close to home. You know Caffe Lena is on Phila Street in Saratoga Springs, right? The Chuck Lamb Trio with guest guitarist Peter Bernstein plays the Caffe next Tuesday, October 13. 7 p.m., doors 6:30. $27.11 members, $30.37 general, $15.18 students and children.
