Welcome to The Good Coffeehouse Music Parlor, Brooklyn's home for acoustic roots music. This is our 34rd season, and we hope you come share it with us.
Artists who have performed at the Good Coffeehouse Music Parlor include
Bob Brozman, Crooked Jades, John Cohen, Reverend Gary Davis, Mike Dowling, Ari Eisinger, Mary Flower, Paul Geremia, Steve Gillette & Cindy Mangsen, Alice Gerrard, David Grier, Stefan Grossman, Corey Harris, John Hasbrouck, Ernie Hawkins, Ginny Hawker & Tracy Schwarz, Walter Hensley, Nick Katzman, Walt Koken, Alan Jabbour, Steve James, David Laibman, Brad Leftwich, Dale Miller, Clare Milliner, Bruce Molsky, The Orpheus Supertones, Tom Paley, Ken Perlman, James Reams & The Barnstormers, Del Rey, Tom Sauber, Bill Staines, Rafe Stefanini, The Sullivan Family, Tokio Uchida, Pat Wictor, among many others.
Music starts at 8:00 PM Doors open at: 7:30 PM
NOTE: NO VIDEO OR AUDIO RECORDING WITHOUT PERMISSION OF ARTIST AND VENUE
SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER 2008
September 12-13, 2008 11th Annual Park Slope Old-Time & Bluegrass Jamboree A day and a half of workshops, jamming and concerts of traditional American music.
September 12,2008-Adults: $10 | Kids: $6 James Reams & The Barnstormers – Bluegrass
After a summer of concerts and bluegrass festivals around the Northeast, James Reams & The Barnstormers (www.jamesreams.com) are back at theirhome venue, the Good Coffeehouse Music Parlor, to kick off the annual Jamboree, now in its 11th year. Sing Out magazine says the band offers “…tight instrumental excellence and hard-edged vocals…uncompromising, hard-core bluegrass.” Join us for an evening of bluegrass music theway it was meant to be played.
The only event of its kind in the Northeast, this is the place to playand hear the best in old-time and bluegrass music. Workshops (harmony singing, fiddle, guitar, banjo and more) start at 12:30, jamming goes on all day, showcase concerts start at 6pm – all for $4 (yup, four dollars). Bring your acoustic instrument (guitar, mandolin, fiddle, stand-up bass, banjo or Dobro) – or, if you don’t play aninstrument, bring your ears, bring your love of American traditional music, bring your kids, bring your friends. If you haven’t ever heard the ring of a banjo and the chop of a mandolin echoing through the hills and hollers of Park Slope, then you’ve missed one of this city’s delightful incongruities.
September 19, 2008 CLOSED
September 26, 2008 CLOSED
October 3, 2008-Adults: $10 | Kids: $6 Appalachian Traditional Singer/Musician Brett Ratliff Not since the haunting and powerful music of Kentucky balladeers such as Roscoe Holcomb and Pete Steele has there been an equal in beauty, force and command of the Kentucky ballad and banjo tradition – until now. Brett Ratliff (www.brettratliff.com) carries on this legacy in a way that only an east Kentucky native could. His new album, Cold Icy Mountain, brings chilling ballads that make the hair stand up on the back of your neck, while knock-down, footstomping banjo songs will haveyou up out of your chair.
October 10, 2008 -Special Performance-MARITRI Adults: $15 Few singers talk about stories of love, life, and loss the way Maritri can. Her poignant, bittersweet lyrics, tells “grown folks stories” in a poignant way that will break you down to the core. Maritri was destined to share her gift of music with the world. As a two-year-old in Southern California, Maritri developed her love of music when she began playing the piano under the loving and watchful eyes of her parents. Even then, it was clear that she was something special.
In 2002, Maritri made her classical piano debut at Steinway Hall in New York. She was subsequently commissioned, along with cellist Shana Tucker to compose music for two ballets at the Washington Ballet under the direction of Mary Day at the Kennedy Center and at the Witts Theatre in Johannesburg, South Africa. Maritri has opened for Gladys Knight, The Five Blind Boys of Alabama, Stanley Jordan, Toshi Reagon, Hiram Bullock, Muzz Skillings, Vinx and the Indigo Girls with her band Hue; appeared on BET on Jazz as a musician and host, performed at Nina Simone’s family memorial with Patti LaBelle, Nina Simone, Valerie Simpson, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis. Maritri was also chosen as one of the background singers for Barbara Streisand at the Clinton inaugural gala in 200x. She has shared the stage with with numerous other notables including: Me’shell N’degeo’cello,Vernon Reid, ani di Franco, Nona Hendryx, Ntsikelelo Cekwana, Andy Milne, Simone
October 17, 2008-Adults: $10 | Kids: $6Third Friday with the Park Slope Food Coop Jody Kruskal and Paul Friedman are two guys from Brooklyn who love to play old-time tunes and songs from North America and beyond. Singer-songwriter Anath musically fuses traditions, inherited and chosen.
October 24, 2008-Adults: $15 | Kids: $6 Singer/Blues Guitarist Paul Geremia – Traveling Troubadour Concert Series
Paul Geremia (www.paulgeremia.org.) hails from Rhode Island, but for the past 38 years he has been on the road full-time, thrilling audiences with his virtuoso acoustic blues guitar playing and passionate singing. He is equally impressive on six- and twelve-string guitar and is one of the world’s great rack harmonica players. Come see why he’s been called a “national treasure.”
October 31, 2008-Closed
November 7, 2008-Adults: $10 | Kids: $6 Singer-Songwriter Jud Caswell Jud Caswell (www.judcaswell.com) lives where the two Maines meet: where ex-hippies play cribbage with fishermen and a kind of rural poetry is salted with Yankee gumption. Heralded by Sing Out magazine as “one of the leading singer-songwriters on the current scene,” Jud has won eight nationally recognized songwriting contests, including the legendary Kerrville New Folk contest. His song “Blackberry Time” is being taught in the songwriting curriculum at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.
November 14, 2008-Adults: $10 | Kids: $6 Bob Jones & Jon Sholle – Early Country Music
Two guitars and a microphone is the format of choice for Bob Jones and Jon Sholle (jonsholle.com), who bring to the stage a potent mix of skill, feeling, wit and a reverence and love for all things Jimmy Rogers, Delmore Brothers, Bill Monroe, Doc Watson and more. Jon Sholle has been a performing and recording musician for more than 30 years and won the "World’s Champion Guitar" competition at the Union Grove, NC, Fiddler’s Convention in 1967 and 1968. His wide range of expertise keeps his guitar equally in demand as a jazz, rock or bluegrass performer. Bob Jones, also known as “Dr. Frets,” has played with the Andy Statman Klezmer Orchestra, local blues legend Danny Kalb, the Wretched Refuse String Band, among others.
November 21, 2008-Adults: $10 | Kids: $6 Third Friday with the Park Slope Food Coop The Village Voice calls singer/songwriter Anne Keating “a wise mix of Lucinda Williams songwriting, Gillian Welch guitar and a vocal all her own.” Rufus Cappadocia (5-string electric cello) is one of the leading voices on the cello today.
November 28, 2008 – Closed
December 5, 2008- Adults: $10 | Kids: $6 Bev Grant & the Dissident Daughters / Friction Farm Bev Grant & the Dissident Daughters (Angela Lockhart & Carolynn Murphy) offers an eclectic mix of Bev Grant originals and other contemporary songs of social justice with a distinct and sometimes sassy woman’s point of view. Friction Farm (frictionfarm.com) is guitarist/vocalist Aidan Quinn and bassist/vocalist Christine Stay. They are the 2008 songwriter competition winners at the South Florida Folk Festival and the Susquehanna Music Fest. Their latest release 34 Degrees, 32 Minutes, is musically and lyrically varied, finding hope and inspiration in ordinary places and ordinary people.
December 12, 2008- Adults: $10 | Kids: $6 Pat Wictor with Cheryl Prashker – Roots Music Brooklyn’s own Pat Wictor (patwictor.com) took a convoluted path to roots music, working his way through rock, heavy metal and jazz on a variety of instruments and living abroad for much of his youth. When he settled on fingerstyle and slide guitar, he brought all these elements to his craft while drawing on the country, gospel and blues heritage of our nation. Accompanying Pat is percussionist extraordinaire Cheryl Prashker, who also traveled a winding path through classical music, Middle Eastern music and rock 'n' roll.
December 19, 2008-Adults: $10 | Kids: $6Third Friday with the Park Slope Food Coop Singer/songwriter David Roach recently released his second album after 15 years: "Harp Trouble in Heaven"Jen Chapin's music is urban folk: story songs that search for community and shared meaning, powered by the funk, soul and improvisation of the city.
December 26, 2008 – closed for Christmas
JANUARY-JUNE 2009
January 2, 2009 – closed for New Year
January 9, 2009-Adults: $15 | Kids: $6 Ernie Hawkins– Traveling Troubadour Concert Series Ernie Hawkins (erniehawkins.com), from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a master of Piedmont and Texas style acoustic blues and ragtime guitar. He studied extensively with legendary bluesman Rev. Gary Davis and is one of the few people in the world who can play Davis’s complex compositions with an authority that rivals Davis himself.
January 16, 2009-Adults: $10 | Kids: $6 Third Friday with the Park Slope Food Coop Swing Street with Barry Brysen returns for an evening of great swing music and dancing.
January 23, 2009 Closed
January 30, 2009-Adults & Kids: $15 (advance purchase is available) Night of Magic New faces, old favorites and a few surprises will all be a part of the astonishing 8th annual Good Coffeehouse Night of Magic. Produced by Richard Steven Cohn and hosted again by Brooklyn’s own Magical Melodions, don’t miss the show that Time Out New York magazine recommended as the “don’t miss” number-one pick in New York City. Fantasy, Foolery and Fun! Advance tickets for this show can be purchased around January 15th prior to January 30 at Park Slope Copy on 7th Av.
February 6, 2009-Adults: $10 | Kids: $6 Beaucoup Blue – Americana music Beaucoup Blue (beaucoupblue.com) and is the father and son duo of David and Adrian Mowry. Their music is steeped in Americana and influenced by blues, folk, soul, R&B, jazz, country and bluegrass. A range of instruments and two soulful voices blend together like only family members can.
February 13, 2009- Closed (BSEC event)
February 20, 2009- Adults: $10 | Kids: $6Third Friday with the Park Slope Food Coop The repertoire of Harmonic Insurgence, an a cappella vocal ensemble, comes from many cultures and includes songs of work, love, peace, comradeship and struggle. Dayna Kurtz, a producer, singer, guitarist and songwriter, has been touring the world for more than a decade, fromgrand concert halls in Europe to house concerts in the American south. She's toured with Richard Thompson, Rufus Wainwright, Richie Havens, Keren Ann and Antony & the Johnsons.
February 27, 2009 – Adults: $10 | Kids: $6Frank & Nancy Moccaldi & Friends – Roots music Frank and Nancy Moccaldi have always provided their audiences with a unique and surprising experience. Their music usually ranges from old timey to blues, but you never know what, or who, to expect in between. Sing along with beautiful voices and harmonies, heartwarming and footstomping music, guitars, banjos, harmonicas and fiddles. (Meet the Musician starts @ 7pm)
March 6, 2009- Closed (BSEC event)
March 13, 2009 - Adults: $10 | Kids: $6 Bruce Markow, Spook Handy, Emily Pickrell, Glen Roethel –Roots / Singer-Songwriters Bruce Markow (brucemarkow.com) is a quirky but solid neo-folk'n'roller with lyrical melodies, a poetic, uplifting message and a garden of smart and evocative songs. Influenced by gypsy swing, Afro-Brazilia and J.S. Bach as much as traditional folk, Bruce's music inspired singer Vance Gilbert to enthuse, "Hot! Amazingly tasty!" and filmmaker Mitch Teplitsky, “infectious, irresistible, memorable and tons of fun." Plus: "Bruce Markow Presents Three Singer-Songwriters You Should Hear": Spook Handy (spookhandy.com) offers a contemporary sound honoring the great traditions of American roots music; Emily Pickrell's (emilypickrell.com) songs blend tin pan alley, blues and country with a story-telling instinct and an expressive alto voice. Glen Roethel (glenroethel.com) brims with new music, positive vibes, colorful acoustic guitar finessing and folky pop rock musical magic.
March 20, 2009- Adults: $10 | Kids: $6 Third Friday with the Park Slope Food Coop Join Jezra Kaye and her trio for a night of sultry standards and swinging blues. For over 20 years, rhythm tap soloist Margaret Morrison has presented her tap dance artistry across the United States. Reviewers have called her “feather-footed and musically astute” and a “consummateartist who breaks the mold.”
March 27, 2009- Adults: $10 | Kids: $6Blue Harvest – Traditional American music Based in New York City with members whose roots extend to Nashville, the Ozarks, and Appalachia, Blue Harvest (blueharvestband.com) explores the rich heritage of traditional American music. Drawing from sources ranging from bluegrass, Texas swing, old-time fiddle tunes, Cajun and country blues, Blue Harvest tells the story of American music, while adding their own chapter to the story. (Meet the Musician starts @ 7pm)
April 3, 2009- Adults: $15 | Kids: $6Del Rey & Craig Flory – Blues – Traveling Troubadour Concert Series Seattle’s Del Rey (hobemianrecords.com) is one of the best blues fingerstyle guitarists in the world. Her hot picking style on metal resonator guitar and resonator ukulele combines techniques of blues and jazz guitar and boogie-woogie piano. Her always-entertaining shows are full of great toe-tapping music and witty banter. Craig Flory is one of the top clarinetists in the Northwest, known for his old-time jazz and blues wailing. He has recorded several CDs with Del Rey. (Meet the Musician starts @ 7pm)
April 10, 2009- Closed (BSEC event)
April 17, 2009- Adults: $10 | Kids: $6Third Friday with the Park Slope Food Coop Adele Rollider is a singer-songwriter, music therapist and activist. "Adele's warm and beautiful voice and empowering songs make me know a better world really is possible" (Ray Korona). Kathleen Payne, a native Brooklynite, sings in a wide range of genres, including pop, R&B, classical, musical theater, Latin, gospel and country.
April 24, 2009- Adults: $10 | Kids: $6 Frank Fotusky – Acoustic blues guitar Frank Fotusky (fotusky.com) plays acoustic blues in the style reminiscent of the great East Coast "Piedmont" players such as Rev. Gary Davis, Blind Boy Fuller, John Jackson and Blind Willie McTell. A majority of his material is culled from the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, and acoustic blues and guitar rags are the foundation of his music. “Frank Fotusky’s handling of the country blues is kinda like a burlap sack made with silk instead of jute. It is that old familiar weave, that old familiar shape. But damn, it sure is smooth” (Peter James, Promoter/Raconteur). (Meet the Musician starts @ 7pm)
May 1, 2009- Adults: $15 | Kids: $6Nick Katzman – Blues and ragtime guitar –Traveling Troubadour Series Blues and ragtime guitarist Nick Katzman (blueskatz.com) recorded a series of highly regarded albums in the 1980s for Kicking Mule records, an influential guitar record label. Critics praised him for his virtuoso picking skills and his ability to craft songs that sounded as if they’d been written in the 1920s. A native New Yorker, Katzman now lives in Germany. (Meet the Musician starts @ 7pm)
May 8, 2009- Adults: $10 | Kids: $6James Reams & The Barnstormers – Bluegrass James Reams & The Barnstormers (jamesreams.com) offers “tight instrumental excellence and hard-edged vocals …uncompromising, hard-core bluegrass.” (Sing Out magazine). Says Bill Monroe biographer Richard D. Smith, “There are few vocalists as natural as Reams. He doesn’t have to try to sound down-home; he’s there at each turn in the song.”
May 15, 2009 -Adults: $10 | Kids: $6 Third Friday with the Park Slope Food Coop Sally Bermanzohn, author of Through Survivors’ Eyes: From the Sixties to the Greensboro Massacre (Vanderbilt Press, 2003), will present a documentary by Adam Zucker about the 1979 Klan murders and the recent Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission, titled “Greensboro: Closer to the Truth.” Angela Lockhart is a published poet and cultural worker who’s approach to the spoken word has been noted in Glamour magazine, The New York Times and the book Mega-Trends for Women.
May 22, 2009 – Closed for Memorial Day weekend (BSEC event)
May 29, 2009 - Adults: $10 | Kids: $6Singer-songwriter Greta Gertler WNYC featured Greta Gertler (gretagerler.net), an award-winning Australian singer/songwriter, as "a rising name in NYC's downtown singer.sonwriter scene." The New Yorker wrote that "Greta Gertler has a spacious voice and a welcome weakness for lushly orchestrated seventies-era singer-sonwriter pop." Plus: Professor Louie (myspace.com/professorlouie) is a spoken-work performer/political rapper who, along with percussionist Fast eddie, has been entertaining and enlightening audiences for decades. Called a genius by Pete Seeger, the phenomenon known as Professor Louie grew out of the 1960's radical theater group The Pageant Players and evolved via guerilla solo performances in the streets and parks NYC in the early 1980s. (Meet the Musician with Greta Gertler starts @ 7pm)
June 5, 2009 - $10 | Kids: $6 American Flyer-Bluegrass Bill Christophersen, Gene Yellin, Debra Griner, Phil Zimmerman, Ben Freed and Ethan Kende - play a brand of bluegrass that derives from the 1950s-era sounds of the Stanley Brothers and Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys. Individually, the band members have performed and/or recorded with bluegrass and old-time greats John Cohen, Tom Paley, Hazel Dickens, Ernie Sykes Sr., Roger Sprung, John Herald and Stacy Philips, and have several critically acclaimed CDs. (Meet the Musician starts @ 7pm)
June 12, 2009 - $10 | Kids: $6 Brooklyn Women’s Chorus The Brooklyn Women's Chorus – 45 women singing together to create one powerful voice for peace and justice – is directed by Bev Grant and backed by a band of Brooklyn musicians.
June 19, 2009 - $10 | Kids: $6 Third Friday with the Park Slope Food Coop Eric Alabaster, Brooklyn drummer, tabla player, composer and educator, has performed and toured with such notable artists as Duane Eubanks, Mark Ribot, Roy Nathanson, Roswell Rudd, Fidah Hussain and Muni Begum. Saxophonist and clarinetist Janelle Reichman will perform a combinationof traditional, Dixieland and modern jazz with her quartet. Repertoire will run the gamut from old-time standards to new original music.
Beginning Friday, June 26, 2009 The Good Coffeehouse Music Parlor will be closed for the summer.Please join us on September 11 and 12 for the Park Slope Bluegrass & Old-Time Jamboree.
DIRECTIONS VIA PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION:Directions: Q train to 7th Av station in Brooklyn; F train to 7th Av; 2 or 3 train to Grand Army Plaza; B69 bus to 2nd St; B75 bus to Prospect Park West; B41 or B71 bus to Grand Army Plaza; B67 bus to 2nd St.
