Music

Local pianist Joanne Kong will present a lecture recital in Camp Concert Hall at the University of Richmond this Sunday at 3pm. The event will honor the 300th anniversary of Johann Sebastian Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier Book I. VPM's Mike Goldberg discussed the program with Joanne, who will perform on three different keyboard instruments.

Pianist George Li is returning to Richmond to present a solo recital that will open the 2022-23 Mary Anne Rennolds Chamber Concert Series presented by VCU Music. VPM's Mike Goldberg talks with George about the upcoming performance.

Henry Cook and I hope you will join us for Time For The Blues this Saturday night, September 10th, at 9:00 p.m., as we present several ladies with powerful voices and lots of new releases for your listening pleasure.

I hope you will join me on John’s Porch this Sunday, September 11, from 10:00 until noon, as we pay tribute to The River in music. There’s a primal force at work with the mighty rivers, and there is something magical about the smaller ones that has attracted artists of all types since the beginning of humankind.

Sammy Shelor is a proud native son of southwest Virginia still calling Meadows of Dan home. His granddad famously fashioned a banjo out of an old pressure cooker lid when Sammy was just four years old with the promise of a real one once he learned a couple of songs.

George Lowe has had a long time interest in global music of all stripes. As a former member of Richmond bands Ululating Mummies, Rattlemouth, and Hotel X, he took a particular shine to the music of Ethiopia’s club scene. He taught himself how to transpose the music he was hearing into charts his bandmates could play. Gathering musicians from some of the aforementioned groups, along with alumni of VCU’s celebrated jazz program, he formed the Afro-Zen Allstars in 2014.

We’ve got a busy Labor Day Weekend here on John’s Porch! We’ll be in our usual Sunday morning slot from 10:00 until noon, and we’ll also take over the airwaves on Monday evening from 7:00 until 9:00, in place of Annie Parnell’s Weekday Jazz Program! I certainly hope you can join me on one or both occasions as each show is unique.

Henry Cook and I hope you will join us for Time For The Blues this Saturday evening, September 3rd at 9:00 as we present a classic episode from the past. We’ll revisit the great Canadian Group Downchild as they unleash their 50th Anniversary Album that they recorded live at the Toronto Jazz Festival.

We first enjoyed the thoughtful story songs of North Carolina son of a preacher man and Gulf War veteran Jonathan Byrd when he played our concert series solo nearly a dozen years ago. He’s spent the last two decades sharing his gift of telling small, simple, human stories in an eloquent and elegant way.

This show spotlights the New England collective known as Crocodile River Music, a talented and diverse collaborative dedicated to preserving and celebrating traditional African culture.