Chris and Punch Brothers on Jay Leno this Friday 2/29

Chris and The Punch Brothers will be appearing on Jay Leno this Friday night, leap year day 2008. After appearing in New York last week, he and the boys took off for a West Coast tour that has taken them from Seattle to L.A. Besides being on the road with his band, Chris is currently working on a recording project with Edgar Meyer and they will be on tour together later this year.

Sara Caswell Burns Down the House-But Beautifully!

The Sara Caswell Trio, including Ike Sturm on bass and Jesse Lewis on guitar, played to a very enthusiastic gathering of jazz lovers last Saturday night. Their extraordinary musicianship gave us a window into what their instruments could do in the right hands. Sara designed two perfect sets which included selections from the American Songbook as well as some of her own tunes. At the end of the evening, Sara generously shared her band with Ari Messenger, Jonathan Russell and Reid Jenkins for a blues finale. A great time was had by all! Please come back again Sara, Ike and Jesse!

Congratulations Punch Brothers!

With Central Park as a backdrop and a full lunar eclipse above, Punch Brothers, featuring Chris Thile, presented one of the most memorable evenings of music imaginable. The Allen Room, at Jazz at Lincoln Center, was the perfect setting for the band and an audience well acquainted with acoustic music. Chris' through-composed suite for five bluegrass instruments was the centerpiece of the concert and might have caught a few ears off guard, but was very warmly received. Some of our regular house concert patrons were treated to a preview performance of "The Blind Leaving the Blind," last March 16th, the night of the biggest snow event of 2007. The composition cannot be digested in one evening and invites the listener to return again and again- exactly the point of recorded music. Their new album, "Punch", which includes the four movement suite, was available after the show and will be released to the public on February 26th.
Stephen Holden of the New York Times, writes that the new genre is "an emerging style of what might be called American country-classical chamber music." We just call it "Chris Thile" music. Congratulations to Chris, Critter, Noam, Gabe and Greg from The Jenkins Family.

Today's New York TImes Review; www.nytimes.com/2008/02/22/arts/music/22punc.html

Listen to John Schaeffer's interview with Punch Brothers on WNYC,
www.wnyc.org/shows/soundcheck/episodes/2008/02/19/segments/93677