Jason Robert Brown

In memory.

I saw Aretha Franklin perform live only once. In June 1997, probably as my birthday present, my Dad somehow got tickets to the opening night of the JVC Jazz Festival, which was called “Aretha’s Gospel Crusade for AIDS.” In the course of the evening, there was speeching, preaching, and performances by Joshua Nelson and Bobby Jones and The Canton Spirituals, and then, in the midst of all that, there was The Queen. True to the concert’s billing, there was no “Respect,” no “Freeway of Love,” no “Natural Woman”; this was full-on gospel, with the New Jersey Mass Choir supporting ArethaRead More »

So Cynthia texted me to ask if we could get together while she was in town to make some music. So I thought she just meant to, like, come over to my house and sing. So it turns out, no, she wanted to do a concert. So, thing is, I wasn’t going to do an August concert this year because I was a little burned out from the craziness of the last two months, but I did just happen to have a night free to do it in the same week that Cynthia was in NYC. So amazingly, SubCulture hasRead More »

What was the most memorable moment of this concert? Was it Rachel recounting how she once had to scream “Go to Hell!” at a lamprey eel on a television show? Was it the free jazz rendition of “Wind Beneath My Wings”? Or when Carol and Mark told us after “Fifty Years Long” that they loved the song so much because they’ve been married for 56 years?  Was it the room full of friends and family and fans new and old all singing along in perfect three-part harmony to “Caravan of Angels”? Rachel’s gonzo belting of the Irish girl song? Gary’sRead More »

There are always surprises at these concerts, but sometimes the person who is the most surprised is me. In this case, I was caught delightedly off-guard by the juxtaposition of three masterful performers: a resplendently gifted jazz singer/saxophonist – a fearlessly theatrical and relentlessly inquisitive chanteuse – and an endlessly versatile R&B singer and Broadway diva. I hadn’t met Camille Thurman before the afternoon rehearsal, but we immediately got into some serious music-making.  Months before, she’d been highly recommended to me as a saxophonist for a different concert, and when I went to her website, I fell head over heelsRead More »