Levitt AMP Music Series Returns For 2019 Season

96.1 The Eagle is proud to welcome back ten weeks of free, live music to Kopernik Park. We are proud to welcome back for it's fourth year the Levitt AMP concert series.

The concert series is presented by the Mortimer and Mimi Levitt Foundation and the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties.

Concerts will take place on Monday nights from June 24th - August 26th from 6-9pm. Opening acts will play from 6-7PM, youth intermission acts will perform at 7PM and headliners take the stage at 7:30PM. The series is family-friendly, non alcoholic and FREE.

Here's a look at the 2019 line up:

June 24th
The Claudettes from Chicago

The Claudettes fuse Windy City piano blues with the full-throttle energy of rockabilly and punk, jazz-age echoes of burlesque and neo-vaudeville and the sultriness of ‘60s pop-soul to write a thrilling new chapter in American roots music. You can’t sum up their sound in one word – you need to experience it.

 
July 1st
Paa Kow originally from West Africa, now from Colorado.

Having toured internationally, sharing stages with both African and American luminaries, Ghana-born drummer and composer, Paa Kow is dubbed “Ghana’s most artistic drummer”, playing on a custom, traditionally inspired Ghanaian drum set that is the only one of its kind in the world.

He will be heading east to Utica after playing at the Rochester Jazz Festival with his 9-piece orchestra – one musician hails from Utica, so it will be a great homecoming!

Opener: Annie in the Water whose music music is a groovy combination of Rock, Reggae, Funk, Blues and Jamstyle.

July 8th
Sons of Mystro from Hollywood, Florida

Classically trained violin virtuosos Malcolm, 23, and his 20-year old brother Umoja learned to play violin through South Florida’s public school system. Their dad saw potential in what they could do after the duo performed at a middle school talent show and orchestrated the creation of the group, calling them “Sons of Mystro” as a way to carry on the family legacy of music, since he went by DJ Mystro in his early years.

They use their violins to interpret over 10 genres of music including reggae classics, American pop songs and their own creations accompanied by beats, and sometimes a DJ & guitarist. They are winners of the Emerging Artist under 21yrs Old award at International Reggae and World Music Awards. Mentored by Black Violin, appearing on the Steve Harvey Show and performing at TEDx Youth Miami, these artists are on the rise. They have opened for reggae artists Marcia Griffiths and John Holt, Latin artist Tito Puente, Jr., singers Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds and Fantasia and rapper Common.

Opening for Sons of Mystro will be Nick and Jay – a local acoustic duo covering old fiddle tunes, bluegrass, country, classic rock and more.

July 15th
Adam Ezra Group from Boston

We are very proud to welcome the community-minded roots/rock band Adam Ezra Group to the line up. The group’s live performances are passionate affairs that have been compared to those of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band and Dave Matthews Band.

Receiving New England Music Awards for “Band of the Year” and “Album of the Year”, they are a tireless touring outfit, constantly on the road and slated to do 200 or so shows in 2019. Ezra and his band are activists and community leaders as much as they are musicians and songwriters.

During the annual “Get Folked Concert Tour”, Ezra ventures solo/acoustic to the homes of at least 40 fans in as many days and almost as many states to play house concerts throughout January and February.

Ezra, a Colgate University alum, has spent time living out of a van, farming in Canada, volunteering for the relief effort in Kosovo, and practicing environmental geography in South Africa.

Adam Ezra Group has toured with Rusted Root, Jason Mraz, The Goo Goo Dolls, Blues Traveler, Los Lobos, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Gin Blossoms, and many more.

The opener for this week will be The POORtIM Band

 
July 22nd
Boulevards from Raleigh, NC

Jamil Rashad, a/k/a Boulevards, is the embodiment of funk. The son of a jazz, soul and R&B radio DJ, Jamil grew up in a house where jazz, blues, R&B and funk was played constantly, encouraging him to get involved in music at an early age.
Getting an art education in college and trying out different bands along the way, he has finally found his rightful place as a solo act.

Taking queues from pioneers such as Prince, Rick James and Earth Wind & Fire, Boulevards seamlessly delivers cheeky, party-themed jams that range from raw to soulful – think Eddie Murphy meets The Sugarhill Gang getting everybody on the dance floor! There is no fatigue. Boulevards is a dynamic performer, a true entertainer. In his own words: he brings “party funk jams for the heart and soul to make you move.”

Opening for Boulevards will be Lillie Ruth – who you will get a sneak peek of tonight… she will be graduating next month from New York Mills High School. We welcomed this vocal powerhouse to Levitt last year as an intermission act and now are excited for her to be on stage as an opener so the community can get to know her talent.

 
July 29th
Brandon “Taz” Niederauer from Brooklyn, NY

At just sixteen-years-old, he is nicknamed “Taz” for his ferocious guitar playing. Having performed in some of the most legendary venues in America with many of the most prominent musicians of our time, the young guitarist, singer, and songwriter has already earned himself quite the reputation.

Since making his national television debut on The Ellen DeGeneres Show at just ten years old, Brandon has appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Good Morning America, and The View. Brandon played the principal role of guitarist “Zack Mooneyham” in the Tony Award-nominated Broadway production, School of Rock the Musical.

In 2018 he performed with Sarah Brightman at The Phantom of the Opera’s 30th Anniversary celebration, and alongside Sara Bareilles, Alice Cooper, and John Legend in NBC’s live broadcast production of Jesus Christ Superstar. Brandon is currently featured in Spike Lee’s Netflix series, She’s Gotta Have It, and performs concerts for audiences across the country and around the world.

Opening for Taz is Mersey Side 5 – a local classic rock & roll band whose founding core has been playing together since the mid-1960s.

 
August 5th
Rebirth Brass Band from New Orleans, LA

Whether seen on HBO’s Treme or at their legendary Tuesday night gig at The Maple Leaf, Grammy-winning Rebirth Brass Band is a true New Orleans institution.

Formed in 1983 by the Frazier brothers, along with other classmates and marching band members from their high school, the band has evolved from playing the streets of the French Quarter for tips and traveling to gigs as teenagers to playing festivals and stages all over the world. Rebirth has roots –several of the current and former members of Rebirth Brass Band are related by blood or marriage.

Rebirth Brass Band is known for combining traditional New Orleans brass band music, including the New Orleans tradition of second line, with funk, jazz, soul and hip hop.

In 2012, Rebirth won the Grammy Award for Best Regional Roots Music Album, the inaugural year of the Grammy category.

In the wake of the sometimes-stringent competition amongst New Orleans brass bands, Rebirth is the undisputed leader of the pack, and they show no signs of slowing down.

Opening for Rebirth will be D’Funk’D – a 9-piece band rooted in funk and horns that is a mix of premier musicians from the area.

 
August 12th
Kaleta & Super Yamba Band, Brooklyn NY

Brooklyn afro-funksters Kaleta & Super Yamba Band are fronted by singer, guitarist, percussionist and Afrobeat veteran Leon Ligan-Majek a.k.a. Kaleta, originally from the West African country of Benin Republic and who lived in Nigeria as an adolescent. He got his start in the late 1970s playing in church and since has played with two titans of popular music in West Africa: Fela Kuti and King Sunny Adé and someone you may be more familiar with – Lauryn Hill.

Since taking the helm of Super Yamba in 2017, Kaleta and his band have erupted onto the stages and video screens of major music festivals, rock clubs, and music publications across the United States.

Audiences will hear Kaleta sing in several different languages native to West Africa including Fon, Goun, Yoruba and Ewe, along with French and Pidgin English, “the official language of Afrobeat”. Afropop Worldwide fell in love with Kaleta, saying “his James Brown grunts have got to be some of the best in the business!”

Opening for Super Yamba will be the Ladies of Soul and their Gentlemen – Zainep “Zz” Abdelaal, Astena Smith and Tracy Bowens along with Grady Faulkner. You may have seen these amazing local singers lately singing with the “Night of Soul” production –a tribute to Aretha Franklin.

 
August 19th
Angela Meyer, Iowa

Levitt AMP Utica will be hosting a country night with an up-and-coming country singer from Iowa – Angela Meyer. Angela has been performing professionally since she was just 16 years old, bringing out the best of the country & western industries. She pulls in the crowd with a sweet voice and brutal honesty. She knows what it’s like to be in the audience, her earliest memories taking her back to being a child dancing in smoky tent while her mama sang on stage with her band at the Iowa State Fair.

Angela’s writing paints a picture of the human experience with wisdom far beyond her years. Her debut album, Consequence, was released April, 2018. She continues to perform live at venues all over the Midwest as well as nationally on the Cowboy Poetry & Western Music circuits.

Opening for Angela will be Grit N Grace – a local modern country band playing everything from Johnny Cash and Shania Twain to Stevie Nicks and Bon Jovi.

August 26th
La Misa Negra from Oakland, California

La Misa Negra is a 7-piece band known delivering an electrifying performance that explodes with infectious dance grooves and punk rock energy, powered by horn and accordion-driven riffs, a fierce rhythm section, and a vintage-inspired sound. You’re going to hear wide influences with them from traditional Latin to some surprising genres – cumbia, tambora, mambo, salsa, Cuban, hip-hop, Latin jazz, a even little heavy metal… all meshing to form a sound band members describe as “hella bailable,” or hella danceable.

A socially conscious band, La Misa Negra’s unique arrangements serve as the perfect delivery mechanism for both their humorous storytelling and exploration of heavier subject matter, like gun violence, water scarcity, and gender inequality.

Since their live debut in the fall of 2011, La Misa Negra has toured the country, sharing stages and festival bills with the likes of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stevie Wonder, Lenny Kravitz and Budos Band. They also appeared on WNPR’s Tiny Desk Concert last year.

La Misa Negra will also be playing for our Levitt AMP friends in Whitesburg, KY this summer and have lit up the stage of the Levitt Shell in Memphis, TN

Opening for La Misa Negra is Grupo Pagan – a high energy Latin American band based in Syracuse.