Hugh Masekela, Storm Large, Yardbirds, Joseph Leo Bwarie & more at AMP in November

Storm Large visits AMP by Strathmore, November 13th

From our friends at AMP by Strathmore...

November Concerts at AMP

Opening the Lessans Family Annual Book Festival with a rock ‘n’ roll reading and performance; back-to-back shows with jazz trumpet legend; Pink Martini chanteuse solo; Jersey Boys leading man

AMP begins November by opening the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington’s Lessans Family Annual Book Festival, with the venue’s first literary event and performance with Steve Katz of Blood, Sweat & Tears and author Liel Leibovitz. AMP also presents its second comedy show with Teachers Lounge funnyman Ted Alexandro, PhD Jono Zalay, and Rahmein Mostafavi. Crammed into one weekend are four concerts from musicians at the top of their game: legendary jazz trumpeter Hugh Masekela with Larry Willis, a brassy cabaret with Storm Large of Pink Martini, and booming tenor Joseph Leo Bwarie, star of Broadway’s Jersey Boys. From artists at the apex of their career, AMP shifts its lens to notable up-and-comers with the Bernard/Ebb Songwriters Showcase. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.AMPbyStrathmore.com.

Upcoming concerts at AMP in November 2015 include:

STEVE KATZ OF BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS, AND LIEL LEIBOVITZ
Thursday, November 5, 2015
6:30 PM
Tickets $36

Co-presented with the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington as part of its Lessans Family Annual Book Festival

Two authors take the AMP stage for an evening of story and song. The OG of Grammy-winning group Blood, Sweat & Tears and the legendary Blues Project, Steve Katz, speaks about his memoir Blood, Sweat and My Rock and Roll Years: Is Steve Katz a Rock Star? His talk is paired with an intimate acoustic performance. He gives an honest and personal account of a life at the edge of the spotlight - an unlikely story of a nice Jewish boy who got to sit at the cool kid’s table during the Greenwich Village folk/rock scene.

Author Liel Leibovitz speaks on his book, A Broken Hallelujah: Rock and Roll, Redemption, and the Life of Leonard Cohen. Leibovitz explores the life and influences of Cohen, the man who was too folky for the hard rock set and too acerbic for folk, but whose genius overshadowed any passing musical fad.

THE WEIGHT
SONGS OF THE BAND FEATURING MEMBERS OF THE BAND,
LEVON HELM BAND & RICK DANKO GROUP
Friday, November 6, 2015   
8 PM
Tickets $35-$45

The Weight features Jim Weider and Randy Ciarlante from The Band, Brian Mitchell and Byron Isaacs of the Levon Helm Band, and Marty Grebb, who worked with Rick Danko and Richard Manuel. They’ll perform songs of The Band that’ve reverberated across history for decades including “Up On Cripple Creek,” “Chest Fever,” “Don’t Do It,” Life Is A Carnival,” “Ophelia,” “Rag Mama Rag,” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.”

HUGH MASEKELA & LARRY WILLIS: FRIENDS
Thursday, November 12, 2015
7 & 9:30 PM
Tickets $35-$50

This evening is a reunion of old friends, as South African trumpet innovator Hugh Masekela and master jazz pianist Larry Willis perform in a rare duet setting. Masekela and Willis met in the 1960s as students of the Manhattan School of Music. Encouraged by Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, and Harry Belafonte, Masekela combined his homeland’s music with hard bop and R&B, creating a hugely popular sound exemplified by his 1968 chart-topping hit “Grazing In the Grass.” The Independent heralds Masekela as, “a musician of phenomenal grace and power… still blessed with a voice that can strip the leaves from the trees.” Willis was studying theory and classical voice until Masekela encouraged him to focus on jazz. Willis became a first-call accompanist, recording with everyone from Jackie McLean and Lee Morgan to Branford Marsalis and Roy Hargrove, while recording numerous albums of his own. With the four disc duo project, Friends, the pair interprets 40 American jazz standards.

STORM LARGE
Friday, November 13, 2015
8 PM
Tickets $30-$45

Ironic. Witty. Brassy. Flirtatious. Enigmatic musician, actor, playwright, and author Storm Large first captivated national audiences as a contestant on the 2006 CBS show Rock Star: Supernova. With a long history in rock, Storm branched out into theater and cabaret, filling concert halls around the world with Pink Martini, with whom she debuted at the Kennedy Center in 2011, and with her band Le Bonheur throughout North America. Large has also lent her visceral talent and beautiful voice to k.d. lang, Kiril Gerstein, Rufus Wainwright, and George Clinton, among others.

JOSEPH LEO BWARIE
Sunday, November 15, 2015
8 PM
Tickets $35-$45

Accompanied by his “little” Big Band, Joseph Leo Bwarie performs like never before. Star of award-winning Broadway smash Jersey Boys, playing the role of Frankie Valli, Bwarie brings together multiple decades and genres of American songwriting with lush arrangements to create an unforgettable evening that redefines the American Standard. His accolades from more than 1,700 performances say everything about this soaring tenor: “Joseph Leo Bwarie is sheer perfection” (Metro Boston), “… he soars, without seeming effort, into the upper reaches of the human voice” (Boston Globe), “… the fab Joseph Leo Bwarie sings like an Earth Angel” (Washington Post).

THE YARDBIRDS
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
8 PM
Tickets $45-$60

The Yardbirds, the pioneering band that boasted three of the greatest guitarists of all time - Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page - are an integral part of rock history. Co-founded by Jim McCarty in London in 1963, the band melded heavy rock, wild jams, and an improvisatory feel that influenced generations of musicians. Their strict allegiance to the American blues and R&B standards struck a chord with American audiences that were missing out on this sound. Electrifying, eclectic, and way ahead of their time, The Yardbirds continue their unbreakable legacy.

TED ALEXANDRO
WITH JONO ZALAY AND HOST, RAHMEIN MOSTAFAVI
Friday, November 20, 2015
8 PM
Tickets $20-$30

Co-presented with Cool Cow Comedy

Host and co-producer Rahmein Mostafavi wrangles Teachers Lounge funnyman Ted Alexandro and Jono Zalay of the scientifically funny podcast, Universe City.

Alexandro has performed on The Late Show with David Letterman, Conan, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and opened for Louis C.K. at Carnegie Hall, but most probably know him from his hilarious Web series Teachers Lounge. The series stars Ted and Hollis James as a music teacher and janitor, with a rotating cast of comedians including Lewis Black, Jim Gaffigan, Dave Attell, Judah Friedlander, Judy Gold, and Rachel Feinstein. A comedy veteran of more than 20 years, Time Out New York called Ted, “One of the funniest comedians working today.”

He’s joined by Jono Zalay, a PhD outsmarting other standup comics across the country. has been featured in Time Out New York and Comedy Central’s Up Next talent search.

BERNARD/EBB SONGWRITERS SHOWCASE
WITH OWEN DANOFF, LEXI PETO, & TRINA COLEMAN WITH SOJOURNE
Saturday, November 21, 2015
8 PM
Tickets $15-$25

The Bernard/Ebb Songwriting Awards presents three of the best singer-songwriters from its inaugural year. Competition winner and alum of Strathmore’s Artist in Residence program Owen Danoff headlines this showcase, blending pop sensibilities with the lyrical emphasis of folk and the energy of rock ’n’ roll on his debut album Twelve Stories.

Danoff performs with talented multi-instrumentalist Lexi Peto, 2015 Bernard/Ebb Songwriting Awards Youth Winner, and competition finalist Trina Coleman. A native Virginian, Peto pours her heart into country music and plays guitar, ukulele, banjo, mandolin, and piano. Soul singer Coleman turned to songwriting to cope with a wave of unexpected personal tribulations, weaving her classical training and biracial background to create a fresh sound with her band, Sojourne.

TONY DESARE
Sunday, November 22, 2015
8 PM
Tickets $30-$40

Jazzy singer-songwriter-pianist Tony DeSare has a postmodern style that’s all his own - and his enthusiasm for music is infectious. From Sinatra to Prince, from Mercer to McCartney, DeSare mixes it up, handling every genre with jaunty grace and unleashing just enough surprises (like hilarious impersonations of iconic performers) to keep his audience on their toes.

About AMP, powered by Strathmore:

AMP is great music and food at Pike & Rose, an urban-minded, Metro-accessible neighborhood along Rockville Pike that puts a premium on authentic live music experiences, bringing new energy beyond the Beltway. The live music and dining concept is a collaborative venture of Strathmore, Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT), and 550 Events & Provisions, a division of the Neighborhood Restaurant Group. Located in the thriving and rapidly changing North Bethesda District in Montgomery County, AMP is the nexus of live entertainment in the growing Pike & Rose neighborhood, and together with iPic Theaters, Pinstripes bocce and bowling concept, and a roster of restaurants will foster a vibrant nighttime economy in Montgomery County.