Drop everything! Shawn Mendes, Cécile McLorin Salvant & Sullivan Fortner will appear as special guest artists this Thursday, January 16 for the second performance of The Energy Curfew Music Hour Season 2. Featuring the band Punch Brothers, fronted by singer-mandolinist Chris Thile, the musical variety show at Audible’s Minetta Lane Theatre will be recorded live and released as an Audible Original. For tickets (just a few left), visit Audible/Minetta Lane.
I’ve seen jazz vocalist and song interpreter extraordinaire Cécile McLorin Salvant live five times now, cementing my opinion that this is the most exciting thing in all music — not just jazz — to come along in decades. She is this generation’s most mesmerizing, fascinating, and supreme songstress. Yes, she has that remarkably distinctive voice, but it’s supported by a personality which is an amalgam of combinations: old soul/young upstart; waggish/serious; and controlled/improvisational.
And Sullivan Fortner is hands-down the most exciting jazz pianist on the scene. I was lucky enough to catch him at Monterey Jazz Festival and at Small’s in NYC last year, and just seeing him alone is worth the price of admission. And both of them along with Shawn Mendes in this intimate space? Do not, do not, do not miss this show.
Created by Chris Thile and Claire Coffee and hosted by Thile and his fellow Punch Brothers — Brittany Haas, Noam Pikelny, Chris Eldridge, and Paul Kowert — this musical variety show invites audiences to join them in a near future when diminishing resources and extreme weather have ushered in a worldwide effort to ration electricity. America has instituted a weekly “energy curfew” where the power grid goes down completely and we all live electricity-free for 24 hours. The Energy Curfew Music Hour hits the airwaves an hour before the lights go out while the nation tunes in and turns off together before the Dark Day.
The first season of The Energy Curfew Music Hour was recorded live in front of sold-out audiences at the Minetta Lane Theatre, featuring musical luminaries including Kacey Musgraves, Jason Isbell, Jon Batiste, Norah Jones, James Taylor, and many more. All eight episodes are available for free listening on Audible and wherever podcasts are found.
Episode 1: Madison Cunningham & Louis Cato
Episode 2: Vulfmon & Haley Heynderickx
Episode 3: James Taylor & Gaby Moreno
Episode 4: Jason Isbell & Emily King
Episode 5: Sylvan Esso & The A’s
Episode 6: Norah Jones & YMusic
Episode 7: Jon Batiste & Lake Street Dive
Episode 8: Kacey Musgraves & Tiny Habits
