Greetings Friends,
Here in New York it's getting warmer every day, and there's lots goin on. Let's get right to it...
[This newsletter is for your enjoyment, so please feel free to reply and let me know what you want to hear more/less about.]
In my world as Arranger, Composer, Music Director, and/or Bandleader:
Kumara will be at Westside Community Gardens Sunday the 18th at 6p, opening up a portal to the Heavens. https://www.kumaramusic.com/
The Daniel Glass Trio will be at the Gotham Music Festival Sunday the 18th at 10:30p and the Fairfield Theater Company's Stage One on June 20
And we're adding more and more dates to our annual trip to Germany in October [not Octoberfest related].
2x Grammy winner Nicole Zuraitis and I have broken ground on a holiday recording, among other things. Look for shows near you this Season...
If you haven't opened it up yet, Two Dogs has 35 dazzling original tracks now to their name ['they' are Mike Wilkie and myself], a full playlist in itself. Mikey's production credits include Disney, the BBC, and is currently Chief Cook and Bottle Washer at THE PIKEY PROJECT.
My favoritest Direktress, Ms. Lina Koutrakos and I recently did yet another installment of our recording workshop at Spin Studios, creating arrangements and working towards a good take so everyone goes home with a mixed and mastered single. Hard to describe how much I LOVE doing these.
The video we made for Dawn Derow of my arrangement of On The Street Where You Live is doing really well on YouTube:
Organically grown, the project with Deborah Stone, Daryl Kojak, and Tom Hubbard is off to a good start with shows at Green Room 42. Look for more as the year unfolds.
An unvarnished, yet super satisfying pursuit is the series of duo brunches with great bassists, made possible by the good folks at Birdland Jazz. I'm developing my own 'book' of arrangements and originals, and it's a delicious format for exploring possibilities. So far I've been joined multiple times each by Conrad Korsch, Mimi Jones, Craig Akin, and John Lenis. Who's next?
I somehow managed to manifest a situation where my favorite Scotch Whisky brand [Laphroaig] paid me to sit and play solo guitar at a very fancy tasting hosted by James Walton of PureMalts, where I also interspersed some classic Scottish melodies, and even backed up legendary host Simon Brooking of Suntory Global. Next is a private event for Johnson & Johnson...what could be the perks there?
Later this year will see the release of a recording with rising star Ella Mae Dixon. We created a very cool sound for her with a guitar-driven trio featuring Dmitry Ishenko on bass and Rob Mitzner on drums (again courtesy of Gianni Valenti at Birdland Jazz).
On the side, my friend Richard Goldstein at OldGuysRuleMusic.com has me creating tracks for placement in advertising, TV series, and film. We've created some good ones so far, from [NON-theatreish] Sondheim remakes to Gene Austin imitations on ukulele, this one stretches my creative boundaries. I love it. We'll keep you posted as they appear in the market.
Guy In Band
Then there's the less creative, but just as satisfying situations, where I get to play with many of my musical heroes on their projects.
Monday Michiru had a solid rhythm section with her at Joe's Pub and Hanami Nights [Adrian Harpham, Fima Ephron, and Asuka Koto].
10x Grammy winner Janis Siegel and I team up again for a Podcast this coming Thursday, May 29.
La Tanya Hall [Steely Dan, etc] and I perform again 12:30p Sunday, June 8th at North Square, in duet.
Rock icon Sophia Ramos will take a break from Broadway's Buena Vista Social Club for a night to do her own thing on Monday, July 28 at Pangea with Yours Truly as the whole band on Baritone acoustic. Hold onto your hats for this one. She takes no prisoners.
I'll be hitting the stage again 7p next Tuesday the 20 with Ben Jones at 54 Below.
Coming up later in the Fall will be five nights with John Lloyd Young, also at 54 Below.
The latest LINEUP with Susie Mosher was a very special one for me as I shared my feature spot with the breathtaking talent of violinist Marissa Licata, and she shared hers with me. Two duets! We played Piazzola's Libertango and rocked a Bulgarian folk dance called Graovsko. Explosively good.
Klea Blackhurst and the great music director Michael Rice entrusted me with their arrangements of Vernon Duke's music for the very ambitious “Autumn in New York: Vernon Duke's Broadway” at Chelsea Table & Stage. Pure love.
Audrey Appleby reprised her gorgeous original work Life, a Seduction Tour at Pangea. Being in Daryl Kojak's band is always joyous.
Tycoon Dog opened the season of outdoor parks concerts on weekends until October. Check the schedule for dates - this band is Dialed In...[Scott Bailey, Matt King, Kip Sophos, Joe Piteo, Jen Miller, Suzanne Fiore, soundman Jonathan Duckett]
Jillian Laurain knocked it out of the park this time at Pangea with her Sondheim program. I was a featured guest on four songs, all of them duets, including the formidable art piece I Wish I could Forget You from Passion. It doesn't always have to be piano!
Krista Bruschini hired the Daniel Glass Trio to come into Gennaro Tedesco's yummy boutique studio in Midtown to record six songs composed and sung by her 8-11-year-old students. These were good songs! Rainbow Bracelet, Blueberry Island...
Suzanna Ross hired the trio of Steve Doyle, Daryl Kojak, and me to record her beautiful original songs.
Dorian Woodruff has me on a gorgeous show coming up at Chelsea Table & Stage on Thursday, June 5th.
In development are ongoing projects with opera legend Leona Mitchell [Lincoln Center], and multi-Grammy winning songwriter Brian Camelio [Bitter End].
News from the Bench:
I've been doing more and more guitar repair, setups, and modifications these days. Mostly just for friends who know I do that, I also get lots of referrals... Just did the annual setup/restring for Brian Keane's stable of guitars up at his Connecticut studio, got two gorgeous vintage instruments [1958 Martin D18 and 1972 Gibson ES355] out for sale for Ron Panvini, and there's the usual lineup of Walden Guitars that come through for video content. Huge thanks to master luthier Chip Wilson for the basic training all those years ago!
Lessons:
There are new videos on my YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/SeanHarknessGuitar,
and I am doing more and more remote teaching via Zoom, Messenger, LINE, WhatsApp, etc. for those from afar. Clinics, workshops, and masterclasses are always coming up so do reply if any of that is of interest to you.
Fingerstyle guitar playing
Ensemble playing and arrangement approaches for all instruments
Music theory
Reading and interpretation
Accompanying vocalists...
all sorts of things available there.
On a final note, there is whispering in the winds about some Windham Hill Winter Solstice activity this year...shows? Recordings? Both? Video? We shall see...
Your replies help me to refine what shows up here and what does not. I always love to hear from you about anything.
As they say in the motorcycle world, “shiny side up!”,
~s