The Colorado Chautauqua Association is proud to announce the 2019 Summer Concert Series in the historic Auditorium, filled with something for everyone. Artists like Melisa Etheridge and Michael McDonald, Milk Carton Kids, Little Feat and Indigo Girls bring the perfect mix of rock, blues, folk, indie and bluegrass to the stage this summer.
For a complete list of upcoming events, please visit chautauqua.com.
2019 CHAUTAUQUA SUMMER CONCERT SERIES LINEUP:
LITTLE FEAT – 50TH ANNIVERSARY
Saturday, June 8. 7:30 PM
Tickets: $58.00 - $73.00 ($55.00 - $70.00 Concert Member)*
Feat’s story began in 1969 when songwriter, performer, multi-instrumentalist, and all around colorful character Lowell George, formerly of Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention, set out to form his own band -- at Zappa’s suggestion. The brilliant and often idiosyncratic George connected with keyboard master Bill Payne, and, along with drummer Richie Hayward and Roy Estrada, founded Little Feat. They were soon signed to Warner Bros., where Little Feat, in various configurations, would remain for twelve of their sixteen albums.
TOMMY EMMANUEL & DAVID GRISMAN WITH LOGAN LEDGER
Monday, June 24. 7:30 PM
Tickets: $38.00 - $53.00 ($35.00 - $50.00 Concert Member)*
Tommy Emmanuel’s five-decade career has garnered millions of fans worldwide. Maintaining a tour schedule of nearly 200 shows a year across the globe, Emmanuel has been voted Favorite Acoustic Guitarist in both Guitar Player Magazine and Acoustic Guitar Magazine’s reader polls. He is one of five people ever named Certified Guitar Player (CGP) by his idol, Chet Atkins. Emmanuel’s catalogue includes over twenty-five musical recordings of solos, duets, and ensembles utilizing both electric and acoustic guitar. Emmanuel is an honorary Kentucky Colonel and an Order of Australia Medalist. This past year, Emmanuel released two new albums. The most recent album is Hearts Songs, which Emmanuel album with his friend and fellow CGP, John Knowles. It’s an album of timeless love songs rearranged for acoustic guitar with classics such as Hank Williams’ “Cold, Cold Heart” and The Bee Gees’ “How Deep Is Your Love”. Emmanuel also released Accomplice One, an album of duets that features guest artists such as David Grisman, Jason Isbell, Mark Knopfler, Jerry Douglas, Ricky Skaggs, Jorma Kaukonen, Suzy Bogguss, and many more.
For over half a century, David Grisman has been a guiding force in the evolving world of acoustic music as a mandolinist, composer, band-leader, and producer. His musical range is wide and deep, embracing many styles, genres and traditions. An acoustic pioneer and innovator, David forged a unique personal artistic path, skillfully combining elements of the great American music and art forms of jazz and bluegrass with many international flavors and sensibilities to create his own distinctive idiom of "Dawg" music (the nickname given him by Jerry Garcia.) Grisman has been a part of many groundbreaking projects such as Old & In The Way, The David Grisman Quintet, and the duo Jerry Garcia & David Grisman. In doing so, he’s inspired new generations of acoustic string musicians, while creating his own niche in contemporary music.
Saturday, June 29. 7:30 PM
Tickets: $60.00 - $78.00 ($57.00 - $75.00 Concert Member)*
Since the release of his 2004 critically acclaimed CD “When I Fall In Love,” Chris Botti has become the largest-selling American instrumental artist. His success has crossed over to audiences usually reserved for pop music and his ongoing association with PBS has led to four #1 jazz albums, as well as multiple Gold, Platinum and Grammy Awards. Most recently, his latest album, “Impressionswon,” the Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Album. Performing worldwide and selling more than four million albums, he has found a form of creative expression that begins in jazz and expands beyond the limits of any single genre.
JAKE SHIMABUKURO & TRACE BUNDY
Saturday, July 6. 7:30 PM.
$33.00 - $48.00 ($30.00 - $45.00 Concert Member)*
Every major artist has that one defining album or performance, but for ukulele master Jake Shimabukuro, his entire career has been filled with such magical achievements. Since he first came to the world’s attention with his deeply beautiful and original take on George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” in a viral video that dominated YouTube in 2005, the Hawaiian-born Shimabukuro has virtually reinvented the four-string instrument, causing many to call him “the Jimi Hendrix of the ukulele.”
Internationally-acclaimed guitar virtuoso Trace Bundy must be seen, not just heard. His music is poetry in motion, using harmonics, looping, multiple capos, and his unique banter and stage presence to deliver an unforgettable live concert experience. Listening to his intricate arrangements is one thing, but seeing the fan-dubbed "Acoustic Ninja" play live confounds even the most accomplished music lovers as to how one person can do all that with just two hands and ten fingers. Bundy’s unique career has brought him across the world, with concerts in 28 countries and counting - from high-tech performance halls in South Korea and Italy, to remote villages in Zimbabwe and Guatemala. He has independently sold over 125,000 albums on his record label, Honest Ninja Music. His video clips circulate virally at astonishing speed, with over 40 million YouTube views to date.
Monday, July 8. 7:30 PM
Tickets: $66.50-$81.50 ($63.50-$78.50 Concert Member)*
Melissa Etheridge is one of rock music’s great female icons. Her critically acclaimed eponymous debut album was certified double platinum. Etheridge’s popularity built around such memorable songs as “Bring Me Some Water,” “No Souvenirs” and “Ain’t It Heavy” for which she won her first Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal. Etheridge hit her commercial and artistic stride with her fourth album, “Yes I Am,” featuring the massive hits “I’m the Only One” and “Come to My Window,” a searing song of longing that brought her a second Grammy. The six times platinum album spent more than two and a half years on the album chart. Etheridge is also an Oscar winner for Best Original Song in 2007. In 2011 Melissa made her Broadway debut as St. Jimmy in Green Day’s rock opera, “American Idiot,” where she replaced Billie Joe Armstrong for one week, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Saturday, July 13. 7:30 PM
Tickets: $33.00 - $48.00 ($30.00 - $45.00 Concert Member)*
Robert Cray has been bridging the lines between blues, soul and R&B for the past four decades, with five Grammy wins and over 20 acclaimed albums. For his latest project, "Robert Cray & Hi Rhythm (April 28 / Jay-Vee Records)," the Blues Hall of Famer traveled to Memphis with his friend, renowned Grammy Award winning producer Steve Jordan, to make a classic soul album with Hi Rhythm, the band that helped create that sound. Jordan and Cray met in 1987 while working on the concert film "Hail! Hail! Rock and Roll," a tribute to Chuck Berry.
Monday, July 15. 7:30 PM
Tickets: $53.00 - $68.00 ($50.00 - $65.00 Concert Member)*
After years of his fans waiting for him to reclaim the spotlight, Michael McDonald will take the stage with “Wide Open.” His first album in nine years encompasses his first set of all-original material since 2000. The 13-time Grammy nominee is thrilled to watch "Wide Open" showcase his rediscovered songwriting voice with 11 of the album's 12 tracks penned or co-written by McDonald himself.
McDonald's top 40 singles, like “Sweet Freedom” and “I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near),” helped pave the way of his solo career while his iconic duo performances, like "On My Own (with Patti LaBelle)" and “Yah Mo B There (with Grammy-winning James Ingram),” pushed him over the top. Following the coattails of his “Motown” album, the bar was set high for whatever his next project would be.
Friday, August 9. 7:30 PM
Tickets: $45.00 - $63.00 ($42.00 - $60.00 Concert Member)*
Twenty years after they began releasing records as the Indigo Girls, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers have politely declined the opportunity to slow down with age. With a legacy of releases and countless U.S. and international tours behind them, the Indigo Girls have forged their own way in the music business. Selling over 14 million records, they are still going strong. Amy & Emily are the only duo with top 40 titles on the Billboard 200 in the '80s, '90s, '00s and '10s.
In 2012, Saliers and her Indigo Girls partner Amy Ray embarked on a bold new chapter, collaborating with a pair of orchestrators to prepare larger-than-life arrangements of their songs to perform with symphonies around the country. The duo found an elusive sonic sweet spot with the project, creating a seamless blend of folk, rock, pop, and classical that elevated their songs to new heights without scarifying any of the emotional intimacy and honesty that have defined their music for decades. Now, after more than 50 performances with symphonies across America, the experiences has finally been captured in all its grandeur on the band’s stunning new album, ‘Indigo Girls Live With The University of Colorado Symphony Orchestra.’
AN EVENING WITH TAJ MAHAL QUARTET AND MARC COHN WITH BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA
Monday, August 12. 7:00 PM
Tickets: $53.00 - $68.00 ($50.00 - $65.00 Concert Member)*
Taj Mahal
In September 2014, some 50 years after moving to Los Angeles to form the band Rising Sons with fellow blues musician Ry Cooder and Jessie Lee Kincaid, Taj Mahal hightailed it to Nashville to receive an honor he called “one of the most powerful and wonderful things that could ever happen in my life.” Celebrating decades of recording and touring that have nearly singlehandedly reshaped the definition and scope of the blues via the infusion of exotic sounds from the Caribbean, Africa and South Pacific, the two-time Grammy winning singer, songwriter, film composer, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist was feted with the Lifetime Achievement for Performance Award at the 13th Annual Americana Honors and Awards.
Marc Cohn
After winning a Grammy for his soulful ballad “Walking in Memphis,” Marc Cohn solidified his place as one of this generation’s most compelling singer-songwriters, combining the precision of a brilliant tunesmith with the passion of a great soul man. Rooted in the rich ground of American rhythm and blues, soul and gospel and possessed of a deft storyteller’s pen, he weaves vivid, detailed, often drawn-from-life tales that evoke some of our most universal human feelings: love, hope, faith, joy, heartbreak. Cohn followed up his platinum-selling debut with two more releases in the 1990s, at which point Time magazine called him "one of the honest, emotional voices we need in this decade" and Bonnie Raitt declared, "Marc is one of the most soulful, talented artists I know. I love his songs, he's an incredible singer, and I marvel at his ability to mesmerize every audience he plays for.”
Blind Boys of Alabama
The Blind Boys of Alabama are recognized worldwide as living legends of gospel music. Celebrated by The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) with Lifetime Achievement Awards, inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, and winners of five Grammy® Awards, they have attained the highest levels of achievement in a career that spans over 70 years. The Blind Boys are known for crossing multiple musical boundaries with their remarkable interpretations of everything from traditional gospel favorites to contemporary spiritual material by songwriters such as Eric Clapton, Prince and Tom Waits. They have appeared on recordings with many artists, including Lou Reed, Peter Gabriel, Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Aaron Neville, Susan Tedeschi, Ben Harper, Patty Griffin and Taj Mahal. The Blind Boys of Alabama have appeared on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno,” “Late Night with David Letterman,” “The Grammy® Awards, 60 Minutes,” “The Colbert Report” and many other television shows. blindboys.com.
BRUCE HORNSBY & THE NOISEMAKERS
Saturday, August 17. 7:30 PM
Tickets: $48.00 - $63.00 ($45.00 - $60.00 Concert Member)*
Bruce Hornsby, the creatively insatiable pianist and singer-songwriter from Williamsburg, Virginia, always has succeeded on his exceptional gifts, his training,and his work ethic. He became a global name in music by reimagining American roots forms as songs that moved with the atmospheric grace of jazz. “The Way It Is” defined sonic joy on the radio, however as a hit record it also evidenced a thrilling re-structuring, and during the years afterward Hornsby, in staggeringly diverse ways, has kept going. He has returned to traditional American roots forms, collaborating with Ricky Skaggs. He has played with the Grateful Dead. He has fused the plunk and dazzle of twentieth-century modernist classical composition to singer-songwriter emotional inquiries. He has scored films. He has performed with symphony orchestras.
Thursday, August 22. 7:30 PM
Tickets: $25.50 - $40.50 ($22.50 - $37.50 Concert Member)*
The California Honeydrops celebrate their 10th year together with the release of their 7th studio album and first ever double album, “Call It Home: Vol. 1 & 2” and continue to tour worldwide. Led by dynamic vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Lech Wierzynski, and drawing on diverse musical influences from Bay Area R&B, funk, Southern soul, Delta blues, and New Orleans second-line, the Honeydrops bring vibrant energy and infectious dance-party vibes to their shows. They’ve taken the party all over the world, playing festivals of all kinds and touring widely across North America, Europe and Australia. In 2016 & 2017 the Honeydrops were honored to support Bonnie Raitt on her North America release tour—and in the past have been privileged to support the likes of B.B. King, Allen Toussaint, Buddy Guy, and Dr. John. Whether in those high-profile performances or in more intimate venues where the band itself can leave the stage and get down on the dance floor, the California Honeydrops’ shared vision and purpose remain: to make the audience dance and sing.
BRIAN SETZER’S ROCKABILLY RIOT
Sunday, August 25. 7:30 PM
Tickets: $43.00 - $58.00 ($40.00 - $55.00 Concert Member)*
Iconic guitarist, songwriter, vocalist and 3-time Grammy-award-winner Brian Setzer is a “Musician’s Musician” credited with continually taking chances with innovative and daring musical styles, while single-handedly resurrecting two forgotten genres of music (rockabilly in the ‘80’s and swing in the ’90’s). Along the way, he has scored chart-topping hits, sold 13 million records and received the Orville H. Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award throughout his decorated career as founder/leader of the Stray Cats, his 19-piece Brian Setzer Orchestra, and as a solo artist. He is consistently cited as one of the world’s greatest living guitarists, and has a best-selling, extensive line of elite Gretsch signature model guitars bearing his name. Setzer appeared in the 1987 film, La Bamba, portraying rockabilly pioneer Eddie Cochran. In 2002, Setzer earned the privilege of being one of the few musicians to be animated in an episode of “The Simpsons.” That same year, Setzer was personally requested to induct Chet Atkins into the 17th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Setzer had the honor of being invited in 2006 to perform at the White House for the President of the United States. In 2014, Setzer received the distinct honor of being asked by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. to donate a replica of his original 1959 Gretsch 6120 “Stray Cat” guitar, joining an elite collection of iconic treasures at the museum.
JOSĖ GONZÁLEZ WITH BEDOUINE
Monday, August 26. 7:30 PM
Tickets: $38.00 - $53.00 ($35.00 - $50.00 Concert Member)*
Since releasing "In Our Nature" in 2007, José González has been steadily collecting ideas for new songs. An album consisting of years' worth of musical sketches might naturally sprawl wildly in production and style, but on "Vestiges & Claws," González has created a collection of songs that cohere just about perfectly. It travels from the glowering, riff-driven 'Stories We Build, Stories We Tell' via the groovy 'Leaf Off /The Cave' to the anthemic 'Every Age.' For those familiar with José's earlier work there is little doubt as to who is behind these recordings.
Wednesday, August 28. 7:30 PM
Tickets: $33.00 - $48.00 ($30.00 - $45.00 Concert Member)*
Steel Pulse may have explored various styles of music since they started out in 1975, but when it comes to the message, the UK's Grammy - Winning reggae band has remained close to their roots. The Group have continued their commitment to fighting injustice, educating the masses, and promoting positive messages through spiritually uplifting music.
“We just can't ignore the politics, because every life and soul that's born on this earth is a political manoeuvre for someone, at some stage,” Hinds explains. “From a spiritual aspect, it's really an upliftment through facing reality - what's out there. We deal with positive spirits. It means putting aside the guns, the drugs and all of the things that are ailments of society - especially the black communities right now.”
Friday, August 30. 7:30 PM
Tickets: $25.00 - $40.00 ($22.00 - $37.00 Concert Member)*
Waltzing into disaster and its aftermath, The Milk Carton Kids' “All the Things That I Did and All the Things That I Didn't Do” arrives from ANTI- Records on June 29. The new project marks the first time that acoustic duo Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale have brought a band into the studio with them. “We wanted to do something new,” Pattengale says. “We had been going around the country yet another time to do the duo show, going to the places we'd been before. There arose some sort of need for change.”
Monday, September 16. 7:30 PM
Tickets: $53.00 - $68.00 ($50.00 - $65.00 Concert Member)*
Returning to the U.S. in 1967, Scaggs joined the Steve Miller Band in San Francisco, performing on that group's albums “Children of the Future and Sailor,” before launching his solo career with 1968's seminal “Boz Scaggs” LP, recorded in Muscle Shoals, AL for Atlantic Records. Scaggs continued to mine a personalized mix of rock, blues and R&B influences, along with a signature style of ballads on such influential '70s albums as “Moments,” “Boz Scaggs & Band,” “My Time,” “Slow Dancer” and 1976’s “Silk Degrees.” The latter release became a massive commercial breakthrough, reaching Number Two and remaining on the album charts for 115 weeks. It spawned three Top 40 hit singles: “It's Over,” “Lido Shuffle” and the Grammy-winning “Lowdown.” Subsequently, “We're All Alone” from that same album, would become a #1 single for Rita Coolidge. "Silk Degrees” was followed by the albums “Down Two Then Left” and “Middle Man,” and such hit singles as “Breakdown Dead Ahead,” “Jo Jo” and “Look What You've Done to Me.”
TICKET INFORMATION:
· All events take place in the historic Chautauqua Auditorium (b.1898)
· Member Presale and General Public on sale info:
-Chautauqua Concert Member Presale begins Monday, April 22 at 10:00 a.m.
online only at tickets.chautauqua.com
- General Public: Friday, April 26 at 10:00 a.m. online only at
tickets.chautauqua.com
· The Chautauqua Box Office is now located just north of the Chautauqua Community House in cottage 200. Hours: Monday through Friday from 12 - 5 p.m. 303.440.7666.
· The Chautauqua Box Office Kiosk opens May 6 for phone and walk-up sales. Hours: 12 - 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 12 - 8 p.m. on Auditorium event days. 303.440.7666.
· Chautauqua Concert Members receive a discount on select tickets and advance purchase privileges.
The public is welcome to join as members at any time to take advantage of early purchase privileges and discounts.
· All tickets are subject to a service fee.
· The free HOP 2 Chautauqua shuttle is available for all Auditorium concerts. See individual event listing at chautauqua.com for schedule details.
