Down On The Corner

By Paul Moffett

It's November and time for spending money for the holidays. It's also the period of madcap run of shows before the December break. Remember that it will be slow from about December 15 or so until mid-January. Get out and listen to some music. Here are a couple of things to note:

Louisville Orchestra Premiere

From the LO Press: As a part of the Brown-Forman LO Classics Series, on Saturday, November 4 at 8PM, Teddy Abrams and the Louisville Orchestra will present the world premiere of Teddy Abrams' new genre-straddling work, The Greatest: Muhammad Ali, at The Kentucky Center. The world premiere performance  of "The Greatest: Muhammad Ali," will feature a first-rate team of collaborators. Grammy-nominated baritone Jubilant Sykes returns, not only to perform, but also to make his directorial debut, after headlining Louisville's performance of Bernstein's MASS two years ago, which impressed the Wall Street Journal with its "coherence, humanity, and winning theatricality." Award-winning actor, writer, and director Olivia Dawson narrates the intricate story. Local Louisville hip hop artist and educator Jecorey "1200" Arthur returns to create the title role. Making her Louisville Orchestra debut in the female lead is Rhiannon Giddens, frontwoman of the Grammy Award-winning African-American string band known as the Carolina Chocolate Drops. The creative team is completed by choreographer Rosie Herrera, dramaturg Martine Kei Green-Rogers, and video montage curator Marlon Johnson.

MERF News

MERF's yearly fundraiser, MERFest 2017, is set for November 5, beginning at 2 p.m. and running until 10p at Headliners. Bands scheduled to appear are The Louisville Crashers, Soul Circus, Wildwood, The V-Groove and Radiotronic. As we note every year, MERF is the Louisville-based organization that offers assistance to musicians who are "down on their luck," i.e., sick or injured, have lost equipment through theft and damage and all of the other problems likely to afflict a musician. Since you are interested in musicians (or you wouldn't be reading this), bestir yourself down to Headliners on Sunday and throw a few dollars in the pot to help out. The bands all play for free

Codas

Mahley, William "Bill" Eugene, 77, died on October 3, 2017. He was an original member of the Tren-Dells.

Via, Michael Joseph, 57, of Shepherdsville, Ky. Died on October 27, 2017. He was musician with the 65 South band.