Music

Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2017: Saturday headliners include Mitch Barrett, Fruition, RJD2, The Sauce Boss, IAMA Millsaps finals

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Saturday’s weather will be perfect and the Utah Arts Festival’s headliner slate is ideal for a summer evening. Among the highlights are performers marking the fourth annual IAMA Day for musicians and members of the Intermountain Acoustic Musician Association (IAMA). There will be the finals of the Susanne Millsaps Performing Songwriter Showcase competition (noon, Big … Read more

Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2017: Friday’s blockbuster headlining slate includes new jazz and dance commissions, Brazilian culture, and plenty of blues, soul, funk, R&B

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Friday’s headliners for the Utah Arts Festival comprise a blockbuster lineup on the main stages with world premieres in two programs (click on previews for each program): the jazz commission concert with the Salt Lake City Jazz Orchestra featuring Alex Heitlinger, Andrea Miller and Chuck Findley (7:45 p.m., Festival Stage) and the dance commission concert … Read more

Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2017: Opening day headliners highlight national, local musicians with enduring legacies

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Opening day headliners for June 22 on the main stages of the 41st annual Utah Arts Festival feature musicians with enduring legacies, both national and international. Shooter Jennings and Waymore’s Outlaws – 9:45 p.m., Amphitheater Stage The son of Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter, two of country’s music biggest legends, Shooter Jennings has carved out … Read more

Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2017: Jazz commission concert with Salt Lake City Jazz Orchestra to feature Utah composer Alex Heitlinger; standout sessions musicians Andrea Miller, Chuck Findley

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Jazz’s prominence at the Utah Arts Festival has been rising in recent years. Last year’s show featuring the Salt Lake City Jazz Orchestra was a scorcher, with trumpeter Kris Johnson’s tremendously well received festival commission piece A Shift West and a special appearance with Clarice Assad performing new arrangements of iconic Brazilian songs. This year’s … Read more

Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2017: Grand preview of the 41st annual festival’s temporary city of cosmopolitan arts and culture

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The temporary miniature city of cosmopolitan art and culture that defines the Utah Arts Festival will open Thursday, June 22, with new stories and perspectives from artists of all stripes. The 41st annual festival will bring new faces and ideas from all venues. In the artist marketplace, 174 artists, including nine returning award winners, were … Read more

Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2017: Intermountain Acoustic Music Association marks 4th year in festival partnership with songwriter academy, Susanne Millsaps songwriter competition finals

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In its fourth year, the partnership between the Intermountain Acoustic Music Association (IAMA) and the Utah Arts Festival has blossomed and raised the profile of folk, bluegrass, Irish, Celtic and acoustic musicians not only at the festival but also the organization’s nationally juried songwriting competition. In addition, IAMA offers a songwriter’s academy open to musicians … Read more

Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2017: Stacy Garrop’s Postcards From Wyoming will premiere as winning chamber music commission

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Growing up first in Walnut Creek and then in Danville, California, Stacy Garrop played piano but her real music strengths were as an alto singer in choir and saxophonist in her high school marching band. At one point, her love of poetry inspired her to try her hand at writing her own verses but that … Read more

Live performance of Kris Johnson’s ‘Jim Crow’s Tears’ to electrify SLC jazz scene

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There is no question that Salt Lake City’s jazz scene will be electrified with an upcoming performance of Jim Crow’s Tears, a masterful musical of jazz verismo by Kris Johnson and book by playwright Gary Anderson. As summarized in the soundtrack review, published last December in The Utah Review, “It is a straightforward, robust, courageous … Read more

The top 10 of many fine moments in 2016 for the Utah Enlightenment

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There were many fine moments this year for the Utah Enlightenment. In compiling the list of what I believe were the 10 best defining moments of Utah’s cultural awakening for 2016, the pool of choices was more than satisfying in breadth and depth. There has been a great deal of recent press, for example, about … Read more

Kris Johnson’s album Jim Crow’s Tears is masterpiece of jazz verismo

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The closing scene of Bamboozled, Spike Lee’s 2000 provocative film, is a montage of historical images that critic Ashley Clark says encompasses “blacked-up Hollywood stars like Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney; black stars in demeaning ‘coon’ and ‘mammy’ roles; racist cartoons; and disturbing scenes from films like The Birth of a Nation and Gone with … Read more