Bessie Smith News

Pompano Beach Arts has announced an extraordinary new concert series produced by “Generation” Venetian Arts Society (GENVAS) specifically for the Pompano Beach Cultural Center. The Bell'Arte Concert Series, in its inaugural season, will consist of four fine arts salon-style concerts, each unique in topic and genre.

Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center is offering a stellar series of jazz performances with more than two dozen musicians, vocalists, and dancers appearing in West Chester this September through December, hosted by local jazz and blues artist, Sara Michaels.

Musicians from around the globe will gather in Sydney for SIMA’s annual celebration of women in jazz. Now in its 11th year, the Sydney International Women’s Jazz Festival continues to showcase some of the most talented, inspiring and creative musicians from home and abroad. 

A Chicago homestyle tribute to the blues, Wendy and DB's fifth album, Into the Little Blue House, is set for release on August 22, 2022. Though rooted in a blues vocabulary, Into the Little Blue House employs an up-to-date expansion to touch the soul of our time.

Subscriptions and single tickets are now on sale for freeFall's 2022/2023 season. Two world premieres, the return of a holiday favorite, A Sherlock Holmes adventure, A Neil Simon romantic comedy and an exciting co-production with our friends at Ebony Rep in Los Angeles makes up just some of the exciting programming Tampa Bay audiences can experience for as low as $29 a month.

Proctors is adding new shows to their already dynamic fall programming for 2022. See Misty Blues – Queens of the Blues, and more!

Led by a visionary, risk-taking director, Erica Sutherlin, this important work will rattle you to your core.

The album was started in Stockholm, Sweden with revered session drummer and producer Brady Blade, with the rest completed at Chastity’s own home studio with her longtime drummer Greg Schutte. Additional production and mixing was done by Chris Bell in Austin, Texas.

Today, OSF announced its 2023 season, celebrating groundbreaking artists shaping the future of American theatre and welcoming audiences in Ashland and worldwide to take part in the future of storytelling.

In the third week of Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival 2022, audiences in the Ted Shawn Theatre will be treated to live music and the best of the swing dance world in SW!NG OUT. Also in Week 3, JazzAntiqua Dance & Music Ensemble, Prakriti Dance, Bill Shannon, and The New York Korean Performing Arts Center will take to the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage.

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has announced the 2022-2023 TRUST Cabaret Series.  Now in its 10th season, the Series continues to offer patrons a rare opportunity to see Broadway’s stars and today’s world-class leading vocalist on stage in Pittsburgh’s Cultural District.

Burning Coal Theatre Company will present its production of What If If Only (US premiere) and Air (world premiere) by Caryl Churchill, directed by Ana Radulescu, June 9 - 26, 2022.  This production, directed by Burning Coal’s Associate Artistic Director, will be performed at Burning Coal’s home, the Murphey School, 224 Polk Street, Raleigh, NC 27604. 

Scenic City Shakespeare has announced Greenway Farms in Hixson, TN as the inaugural location for their early summer outdoor Shakespeare series.

The album was started in Stockholm, Sweden with revered session drummer and producer Brady Blade, with the rest completed at Chastity’s own home studio with her longtime drummer Greg Schutte. Additional production and mixing was done by Chris Bell in Austin, Texas.

Kansas City Jazz Orchestra Executive Director Lea Petrie and Artistic Director Clint Ashlock today announced the 2022-2023 20th Anniversary Season which includes the much-anticipated performances of The Horn featuring Sean Jones and The Family featuring Lonnie and Chloe McFadden.

Penguin Rep Theatre announced today the Off-Broadway premiere of Mr. Parker, a new play written by Michael McKeever and directed by Joe Brancato. Performances will begin Wednesday, June 1, 2022, for a limited engagement through June 25, 2022, at Theatre Row – Theatre 1 (410 West 42nd Street). Opening Night is Monday, June 6, 2022, at 7:00PM.

American roots music fans can rekindle the spirit of Perth's popular Southern Fried Festival at two special gigs on Saturday 30 July. The award-winning festival hasn't taken place since summer 2018, but organisers are set to delight Southern Fried's loyal following with this exclusive one-night edition of the event.

Yale Repertory Theatre has announced its 2022–23 season of four plays. The season will begin with Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, running October 6–29. James Bundy, who directed Albee’s A Delicate Balance at Yale Rep in 2010, will stage this new production of the explosively comedic and harrowingly profound masterpiece. 

Custom Made Theatre Co. (Brian Katz, Executive Artistic Director) continues its 23rd season with the Bay Area Premiere of “Blood at the Root” by trailblazing playwright Dominique Morisseau, directed and choreographed by Darryl V. Jones. 

Chastity Brown was born with an innate ability to channel complex circumstances into beautiful, uplifting songs. But after surviving the isolation of the early pandemic and witnessing the global racial reckoning that manifested itself in the riots mere blocks from her South Minneapolis home, even she is surprised how her new album turned out.