The end of summer is in sight and it is time to share information about concerts and events happening at MIM in October.
First, effective Oct. 1, 2013, MIM will be open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m.–5 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m.–5 p.m. The museum will also be open the first Friday of each month from 9 a.m.–9 p.m. We will kick off the new Friday evening hours with a new monthly series, Friday Night Unwind, on October 4. This month’s theme is Oktoberfest and activities will include a performance by Bad Cactus Brass Band, a biergarten with local brews available for purchase, cocktails and a discussion of German music with Dr. Kathleen Wiens (MIM’s Europe curator) and a drop-in workshop on how to make an Edelweiss hat.
Second, we are bringing “Women Who Rock: Vision, Passion, Power” to Phoenix in October. Created by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, this is the world’s first museum exhibition to honor nearly a century of iconic female musicians, and MIM will be the only location in the southwest to host the exhibition. Highlighting more than 70 artists, the exhibition demonstrates how women have been engines of creation and change in popular music. Guests will see instruments, original handwritten lyrics, stage outfits, concert posters and videos from artists ranging from Wanda Jackson, Janis Joplin and Madonna to Cyndi Lauper, Lady Gaga, Carrie Underwood and more! “Women Who Rock: Vision, Passion, Power” will be on display in MIM’s Target Gallery from Oct. 19, 2013, through April 20, 2014. Admission is $10 for the exhibition only, or $7 when purchased with general museum admission.
And, of course, we have a variety of concerts available in October. Highlights include two concerts with Dave Holland’s newest project, PRISM, featuring keyboardist Craig Taborn, guitarist Kevin Eubanks and drummer Eric Harland (October 4); Rajeev Taranath, one of the world’s preeminent sarod players, treating audiences to Indian classical music (October 10); and Grammy winner Taj Mahal performing world blues with South African songwriter and master storyteller Vusi Mahlasela (October 11). MIM will also host a special concert series in conjunction with the “Women Who Rock” exhibition. The current lineup includes a tribute to Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Memphis Minnie featuring Maria Muldaur, Marcia Ball, Tracy Nelson and Del Rey on October 15 and 16; Wanda Jackson on October 19; and Ronnie Spector on October 30.
A full list of October concerts and events is below my signature and here is a link to download select artist images: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/40134654/October%20Concerts%20at%20MIM.zip I am happy to coordinate interviews with any of the artists performing at MIM. As always, please let me know if you are interested in experiencing or reviewing any of the concerts or events.
MIMkids: Mini Music Makers Series
Wednesdays, October 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
Thursdays, October 3, 10, 17, 24, 31
9:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. for children ages 0-18 months
10:15 a.m. to 10:50 a.m. for children 18 months to 3 years
11 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. for children ages 3 to 5
Tickets: $12 per class or $40 for all four
Explore music from around the globe with your child while singing, dancing and playing instruments. Motor, pre-language and musical skills are developed simultaneously, while children actively participate in the music making. Designed for children and caregivers, each four-week session explores a new musical culture in engaging ways. To register, visit http://mim.org/events/mini-music-makers-series-2-2013-09-04/. Please contact Katherine Palmer at programs@MIM.org or 480.245.6962 with any questions. Space is limited; reservations are required.
Booker T. Jones
Thursday, October 3 | 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $42.50-$47.50
Multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer and arranger who set the cast for modern soul music.
Dave Holland PRISM
Friday, October 4 | 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Tickets: $27.50-$42.50
Bassist, composer and bandleader Dave Holland brings together three of jazz’s finest talents—keyboardist Craig Taborn, guitarist Kevin Eubanks and drummer Eric Harland—to form this modern jazz ensemble.
Friday Night Unwind
Friday, October 4 | 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Tickets: Activities included with paid museum admission.
You made it to Friday! Why not take time to slow down and soak in the start of the weekend? Guests of all ages are invited to “unwind” during extended museum hours at MIM. Each month will feature activities and performances tied to a different theme. October’s theme is Oktoberfest! Activities will include a performance by Bad Cactus Brass Band, a biergarten with local brews available for purchase, cocktails and a discussion of German music with Dr. Kathleen Wiens (MIM’s Europe curator) and a drop-in workshop on how to make an Edelweiss hat.
MIMkids: Musical Adventures Series
Saturdays, October 5, 12, 19, 26 | 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Tickets: $12 per class or $40 for all four
Pick up your MIMkids Passport and embark on a musical journey with MIMkids: Musical Adventures Series, an educational program designed for kids ages 6–10. Participants will discover new cultures by actively participating in music making, creating musical instruments and exploring MIM’s exhibits—with a designated tour guide, of course! Each four-week session focuses on a different continent, giving participants a well-rounded overview of music from around the world and an opportunity to collect MIMkids passport stamps. This session focuses on jazz and American sounds. To register, visit http://mim.org/events/mimkids-musical-adventures-series-2013-09-07/. Please contact Katherine Palmer at programs@MIM.org or 480.245.6962 with any questions. Space is limited; reservations are required.
Curator’s Choice Lecture Series: The Development of MIM’s Global Collection of Instruments
Saturday, October 5 | 2:30‒3:30 p.m.
Tickets: Free with museum admission or $7 for lecture only; free for Circle of Friends donors
Discover the intricacies of building a global museum collection in record time with Katie Anderson, MIM’s head of collections. The bulk of MIM’s collection of nearly 15,000 instruments and related objects came together in just three years. Anderson will relate how five curators worked with 120 consultants and five registrars to acquire instruments and supporting objects to tell the musical stories visitors enjoy throughout the galleries.
Roger McGuinn – SOLD OUT
Saturday, October 5 | 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $37.50-$42.50
Founder of the Byrds and one of the most influential guitarists of the last century.
I Am AZ Music®: Arizona Electric Blues
Monday, October 7 | 7 p.m.
Tickets: $17.50
Featuring Big Pete Pearson, Big Nick and the Gila Monsters and the Mike Eldred Trio.
Idan Raichel Project
Tuesday, October 8 | 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Tickets: $42.50-$57.50
The Idan Raichel Project burst onto the global music scene in 2003, changing the face of Israeli popular music and offering “a fascinating window into the young, tolerant, multiethnic Israel taking shape away from the headlines.”(Boston Globe) Idan Raichel, the creator and leader of the Project, began his musical journey by inviting collaborations from artists of different generations and ethnicities and singing in languages as diverse as Hebrew, Spanish, Arabic, Amharic and Swahili. The resulting albums shattered sales records in Israel, made Raichel the country’s biggest musical breakthrough, and sold over half a million records worldwide. The Project was honored as the “Musical Group of the Decade” in Israel in 2010, and the song “Mima’amakim” was selected the “Best Song of the Decade.”
Rajeev Taranath
Thursday, October 10 | 7 p.m.
Tickets: $27.50-$32.50
Internationally acclaimed sarod player and disciple of Ali Akbar Khan.
World Blues: Taj Mahal and Vusi Mahlasela
Friday, October 11 | 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Tickets: $47.50-$67.50
A spectacular concert celebrating world music through the eyes of two of the genre’s greatest ambassadors.
Curator’s Choice Lecture Series: Ritual Musical Instruments – The Divination and Healing Arts of Central Africa
Saturday, October 12 | 2:30‒3:30 p.m.
Tickets: Included with paid museum admission or $7 for lecture only; free for Circle of Friends donors
Join Dr. Manuel Jordán as he highlights the use of a variety of musical instruments in the context of divination and healing among Central African peoples. Jordán will present specific cases to illustrate how music and musical instruments become strategic devices in the process of redressing illness and misfortune. Among different Central African groups, divination is viewed as a process through which individuals with extraordinary knowledge attempt to find solutions to the problems of others. Learn how a diviner and/or healer aims to create order out of disorder and, through the use of divination and musical instruments, has the ability to identify an agent of misfortune and recommend actions toward resolution of afflictions.
Under the Covers with Jim Brickman and Victoria Shaw
Saturday, October 12 | 7 p.m.
Tickets: $42.50-$47.50
Hosted by Victoria Shaw and with special guest Jim Brickman, “Under the Covers” offers intimate acoustic performances of hit songs, along with the little-known stories behind them.
Caravan of Thieves
Sunday, October 13 | 7 p.m.
Tickets: $22.50-$27.50
Driving gypsy-jazz rhythms, acoustic guitars, upright bass and violin lay the foundation for mesmerizing vocal harmonies and fantastic stories. It’s theatrical and humorous. It’s musical and intense. It entertains, dazzles and defies classification, while welcoming the audience to join the band throughout the performance in momentary fits of claps, snaps and sing-alongs. If Django Reinhardt, the cast of Stomp, and the Beatles all had a party at Tim Burton’s house, Caravan of Thieves would be the band they would hire.
Foremothers of Rock: A Tribute to Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Memphis Minnie with Maria Muldaur, Marcia Ball, Tracy Nelson and Del Rey
Tuesday, October 15 | 7 p.m.
Wednesday, October 16 | 7 p.m.
Tickets: $42.50-$47.50
Part of the Women Who Rock concert series. More details coming soon!
Ginger Baker’s Jazz Confusion – SOLD OUT
Friday, October 18 | 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $42.50-$47.50
Cream’s former drummer Ginger Baker, saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis, bassist Alec Dankworth and percussionist Abass Dodoo interpret the music of Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins and Wayne Shorter.
Women Who Rock Opening Day
Saturday, October 19 | 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Tickets: All activities included with paid museum admission. Admission to the “Women Who Rock” exhibition may be purchased separately.
Join us as we open the doors to “Women Who Rock!” Be among the first in Arizona to experience this exciting and groundbreaking exhibition. MIM will be celebrating all day long with hands-on activities, rock-star makeovers and performances in MIM Music Theater by some of Phoenix’s fiercest female musicians.
Wanda Jackson: Queen of Rock
Saturday, October 19 | 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $37.50-$44.50
Part of the Women Who Rock concert series. Widely known and respected as “The Queen of Rockabilly,” Jackson is credited with being the first woman to ever record a rock and roll song—“Let’s Have a Party” in 1958. In 2009, Jackson was inducted into the “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”
Stephane Wrembel
Friday, October 25 | 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $29.50-$32.50
French jazz guitarist best known for his gypsy-jazz performances and compositions.
Curator’s Choice Lecture Series: The Banjo Story
Saturday, October 26 | 2:30‒3:30 p.m.
Tickets: Included with paid museum admission or $7 for lecture only; free for Circle of Friends donors
Played mainly by African Americans until the 19th century, the banjo became a favorite of minstrel performers and soon spread to other musical contexts, crossing lines of race, class, gender, generation and genre. Curator Dr. Cullen Strawn offers a glimpse into the colorful and sometimes surprising history of this iconic American instrument, which continues to flourish in contemporary music in the US and beyond.
Karrin Allyson
Saturday, October 26 | 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $42.50-$47.50
Grammy-nominated singer and pianist Karrin Allyson is one of jazz’s finest talents. Her unmistakable sound is characterized by her warmth, depth and ability to move with ease and authority from the Great American Songbook of Gershwin and Porter to the Great Jazz Songbook of Duke, Thelonious, Miles and Dizzy. The release of her thirteenth album, Round Midnight, marks 21 years under the Concord Jazz record label.
Arizona Opera presents “VoiceLab”: David Portillo en Español with Allen Perriello
Sunday, October 27 | 2 p.m.
Tickets: $15-$30
Portillo performs an exuberant program of entirely Spanish-language tunes with Allen Perriello, Arizona Opera’s head of music staff at the piano. Portillo is an accomplished tenor from San Antonio, Texas, and has recently appeared with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Theatre of St. Louis and the Seito-Kinen Festival in Japan. Mr. Portillo appears courtesy of the CALA Alliance and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona.
An Evening with Michael Nesmith
Sunday, October 27 | 7 p.m.
Tickets: $42.50-$62.50
Singer-songwriter Michael Nesmith kicks off his solo U.S. fall tour starting with a concert at the MIM Music Theater. In a career that has endured for almost 50 years, Nesmith has made his mark on popular culture as a songwriter, performer, author, film producer and actor. In the 1960s, Nesmith found fame as one-quarter of the Monkees. As a songwriter, he has written music for such performers as Linda Rondstadt and had his songs covered by artists ranging from Run DMC to Andy Williams. As a successful film producer, his name has appeared on the credits of such pictures as the cult classic Repo Man and the Tim Robbins movie Tapeheads.
Apollo’s Fire – The Cleveland Baroque Orchestra
Monday, October 28 | 7 p.m.
Tickets: $29.50-$37.50
Critically acclaimed period-instrument ensemble specializing in renaissance, baroque and early classical music.
MIM Musical Interludes Series Featuring: ASU Jazz Trio
Wednesday, October 30 | 10:30 a.m.
Tickets: Included with paid museum admission or $7 for concert only
Description: The ASU Jazz Trio will present a program of musical explorations through the American Songbook, jazz classics and original compositions. The trio is Michael Kocour (piano), Ben Hequist (bass) and Dom Moio (drums).
Ronnie Spector: Beyond the Beehive
Wednesday, October 30 | 7 p.m.
Tickets: $57.50-$77.50
Part of the Women Who Rock concert series. This two-hour show chronicles Ronnie’s fascinating 50-year journey through Rock and Roll with upwards of 15 live performances with her full band, stories from every stage of her career and many unseen, personal images and home videos.
