April 2025
Sara Caswell, Jazz Day, Jimi Hendrix!
Heyyyy,
April is here (basically), and so is the next installment of it’s like a newsletter. As always, I greatly appreciate you supporting me on this platform and in the real-life world.
As always, upcoming performances are at the top, and you can scroll on for other announcements and what-not!
A (new) brief note for first-time readers:
If you are interesting in my work as a musician, composer, and educator, Substack is by far the best place to stay informed about my goings on. All you need is an email address to subscribe, and updates come directly to your inbox just once a month with all upcoming performances and other announcements — no ads, bots, or doomscrolling required! All of my “content” is free, although there a paid subscription option is now available for super fans.
Thank you for helping support the arts and independent media, and for fighting off the oligarchs!
Where am I playing next? Good question!
Here are some public performances you can check out this month. Keep in mind that my schedule is subject to change as other performances come up. To check for updates on gigs throughout the month, you can look at my calendar at wyattambrosemusic.com/calendar, follow me on instagram and facebook, or contact me directly at wyattambrosemusic@gmail.com.
Friday 4/4, 8-10pm — Sara Caswell with Killdeer Trio, The Van Dyck Music Club, Schenectady NY. Tix: $20 Adv / $25 at door. Ticket link here. More info below…
Saturday 4/5, 1-8pm - Hartwick Jazz Day with Sara Caswell, Hartwick College Anderson Theater, Oneonta NY. Featured concert at 6pm. All events are free and open to the public!
Tuesday 4/15, 7-8:30pm — Killdeer Trio Tribute to Jimi Hendrix, Cooperstown Art Association, Cooperstown NY. Free Admission, donations to the musicians and gallery strongly recommended.
Friday 4/18, 6-9pm — Duo with Tarik Shah at The Tasting Lab, Greenville NY. Free Admission, music to eat burgers and drink to.
Saturday 4/19, 8-11pm — Yolanda Bush & CWC at B Side, Oneonta NY. $10 cover, 1 drink minimum.
Thursday 4/24, 6-7:30pm — Fleming/Jagels/Ambrose Tribute to Jimi Hendrix, Yager Museum, Oneonta NY. Free admission!
What’s going on?
It’s been an especially hectic end to March, so this newsletter is going to be on the shorter side. I can think of worse things than putting some limits on my rambling, though… am I right?
Before I get into it, I want to thank everyone who came out to shows/concerts this month. I had the flu and missed out on several shows I was really looking forward to, but the love and support at the ones I could be at made up for it. My Joni Mitchell tributes in particular were very inspiring, and I can promise that there will be more to come!
Video overview:
This weekend: Sara Caswell with Killdeer Trio at the Van Dyck & Hartwick Jazz Day
This weekend, April 4th & 5th, Killdeer Trio will be collaborating with the great violinist Sara Caswell! Last month I wrote a bit about how great of a musician Sara is, so feel free to check that out if you missed it.
Friday night at 7:30pm, we will be playing at the historic Van Dyck Music Club in Schenectady, NY, delivering a mix of Killdeer Trio originals and some selections from Sara’s book ranging from Kenny Barron to Ebgerto Gismonti. The Van Dyck has hosted some of the greatest names in Jazz history including Chick Corea and Dizzy Gillespie. We are excited and honored to be able to host Sara there, and help continue the lineage of great music in Schenectady and the capital region in general.
You can still get your advanced tickets at this here link.
Saturday all day (1-7:30pm) — Hartwick Jazz Day! My friend, colleague, and collaborator Evan Jagels and I have been working on the 2nd Hartwick Jazz Day for months, and we are so happy to be able to share this experience with our students and the greater Oneonta community. Between 1-5pm we will be presenting a masterclass, improvisation/performance clinic, and juried performances from both the Hartwick Jazz Combo and Jazz Ensemble (big band). These classes will feature student participants from the Hartwick Music Department, as well as high school and college students from the neighboring towns including Cherry Valley, Morris, and Stamford.
The featured concert will be at 6pm in Anderson Theater (Hartwick), again presenting a blend of music from the KDT and Caswell repertoire. This concert is 100% free and open to the public — so let’s pack the house!
Huge shoutout to Chris Sule from The Van Dyck, and Hartwick Music Co-Chairs Dr. Meghan Sheehy, and Dr. Andy Pease for helping bring great music and music education to upstate NY!
Jimi Hendrix Tribute(s)
While I was studying with Vic Juris at SUNY Purchase, I once asked him “who are your favorite guitarists?” His first response — Jimi Hendrix.
As a 21-year-old jazz student consumed by my (willing) mandatory transcriptions of Charlie Christian, Tal Farlow, and Barney Kessel, I was admittedly a little confused. Truth be told, Hendrix was not an early guitar hero of mine like so many other guitarists. To be embarrassingly honest, my head was deep in the hole of prog-rock shredders to see the beauty in anything that was played in standard 4/4 time. After spending several years with the great blues, soul, and rock recordings of the past 80 years, I was finally able to not only understand his impact on the guitar, but feel his music in a deeper way that I had missed when I was younger.
To some extent I think this is due to me being a product of my generation. As someone born in 1997, it’s hard to understand just how cutting edge Hendrix was when you’re jumping in several generations later. You can’t contextualize someone’s impact on history until you take the time to understand the full picture of history in general. Speaking of history… I’ll try to avoid a history lesson and leave it at this. The guitar would not be the same without Jimi Hendrix, and my heart is warmed by the fact that many young people can still relate to the raw power and emotion of his music.
So, to coincide with my discussion of Jimi Hendrix in my Rock History class, I’ll be presenting two tributes — one at Hartwick College’s Yager Museum, and another at the Cooperstown Art Association. Originally both were planned to be performed by Killdeer Trio; however, due to Sebastian’s touring schedule we will be performing as a nameless trio with the phenomenal drummer Blake Fleming at the Yager museum.
We’d love to see you at one or both!
New Killdeer Trio Album
The rumors are true… Killdeer Trio has in fact recorded a new album, and is in fact releasing said album this May!
We recorded our debut album in November 2022 after only a few months and a handful of gigs together as a group. Since then we’ve grown substantially both as musicians and a group. We’ve played dozens of shows throughout Upstate NY, spent countless hours playing and scheming together, opened for the legendary Joel Frahm in Troy, and made lasting connections with fans in several cities. This new album reflects the deep chemistry we’ve garnered between the three of us, and I think more accurately represents what we’re about. I truly can’t wait to share it with you all!
Although there are many great things about being a collaborative/co-led group, one of the cons is that we can all get pretty busy. There are plans for an official release show and a string of supporting release shows throughout the summer. However, the official announcement along with pre-order info and more is still pending.
For my dear Substack subscribers, I can say this — if you live in or near Otsego County, keep your schedules open on Friday May 30th (Cherry Valley) and Saturday June 14th (Oneonta).
Killdeer Trio at the Alias Coffee Winter Jazz Fest w/ Joel Frahm:
Andris Balins mixin’ at Dry Hill Studios:
The three stooges:
Sebastian Green on the drums!
The End!
That’s it for this month! If you enjoyed this newsletter and aren’t subscribed, feel free to subscribe with button below or by contacting me at wyattambrosemusic@gmail.com.
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