Lincoln Center's Acclaimed Series "American Songbook" Season Announced

Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook returns in January for its tenth season celebrating the diversity of American popular song. For 17 nights of cabaret, folk, R&B, pop, country, rock, and bluegrass, the series will explore the best of the golden age of musical standards and today's most dynamic contemporary songwriting. The 2008 season - January 23 through March 1 - will bring to the stage some of today's most gifted interpreters of song, including k.d. lang, Christine Ebersole and Bettye LaVette. It will also feature a genre-crossing performance by Deborah Voigt and celebrations of great popular composers, including the music of Leonard Bernstein (West Side Story, Candide) Charles Strouse (Applause, Annie, Bye Bye Birdie, Golden Boy) and David Yazbek (The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.) American Songbook will be presented in the spectacular Allen Room of Frederick P. Rose Hall. The Allen Room possesses one of New York's greatest settings - a stunning vista of Central Park and the Manhattan skyline that provides an evocative backdrop for the performers. Sponsored by Pfizer.

TICKETS can be purchased online at Lincoln Center's website LincolnCenter.org, via CenterCharge at 212-721-6500, at the Avery Fisher Hall Box Office, or at the Frederick P. Rose Hall Box Office. Tickets for The Friends of American Songbook go on sale October 22nd.

Lincoln Center's American Songbook 2008 Season
January 23 - March 1, 2008
Allen Room, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Broadway at 60th Street

Wednesday, January 23, 2008, 7:30 and 9:30 pm: DEBORAH VOIGT, acclaimed as the leading dramatic soprano singing today, is also a gifted interpreter of American popular song. One of Voigt's passions is the music of Broadway, and she made her cabaret debut two years ago in a Songbook performance that won her even more fans. Her lustrous voice embraces the lyrics, and she realizes that every song has a story to tell. Voigt will be singing songs from Broadway, as well as offering a few vocal surprises.

Thursday, January 24, 2008, 8:30 pm: Singer, songwriter, wife, mother - that is how LORI MCKENNA describes herself.

She is also a folk/country music phenomenon whose songwriting talent is highly in demand by country's top artists as a result of three of her songs making their way onto Faith Hill's number one album, Fireflies, in 2005. She subsequently toured with Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, and McGraw produced her newest album, Unglamorous. McKenna's songs reflect an intimate understanding of and honesty about the realities of domestic life, in all its monotony and beauty.

Friday, January 25, 2008, 8:30 pm: ROB FISHER Celebrates the Leonard Bernstein Songbook will be a multi-artist evening hosted by the long-time former musical director of the Tony-winning Encores! Series at City Center, Rob Fisher. Currently a conductor of the New York Pops Orchestra, Fisher is an acknowledged authority in classic American musical theater. He recently conducted the New York Philharmonic concert version of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd with Patti LuPone and George Hearn, conducted last spring's concert version of My Fair Lady with the New York Philharmonic, and conducted the Grammy-winning cast recording of Chicago.

Saturday, January 26, 2008, 8:30 and 10:30 pm: Soon to be Nellie Forbush in Lincoln Center Theater's upcoming South Pacific, KELLI O'HARA is one of Broadway's great ingenues and a member of the Lincoln Center family. Her lead role opposite Harry Connick Jr. in 2006's Pajama Game electrified audiences and earned her a Tony nomination. The year before she earned a Tony Award nomination for her work in The Light in the Piazza, and she has appeared on Broadway in Jekyll & Hyde, Sondheim's Follies, Dracula, and Sweet Smell of Success opposite John Lithgow. In 2007 she earned rave reviews for her performance as Eliza Doolittle in the New York Philharmonic concert production of My Fair Lady. O'Hara's vibrant soprano will explore the works of some of Broadway's most noted composers, as well as today's rising songwriters.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008, 8:30 pm: This Is the Life: ERIC COMSTOCK Salutes Charles Strouse @ 80 will be the first of several evenings around the country that will celebrate composer Strouse in his 80th year. Famed for his scores for Applause, Annie, Bye Bye Birdie, and other Broadway musical theater classics, Strouse's songs have frequently become jazz standards, both vocal and instrumental. Eric Comstock and friends - including vocalist Barbara Fasano and tenor saxophonist Harry Allen as well as the composer himself as a special guest - will perform Strouse's music from the standpoint of its influence on the jazz repertoire.

Thursday, February 7, 2008, 8:30 pm: In a career spanning more than twenty years, singer, songwriter, musician and record producer JOE HENRY (appearing with pianist Brad Meldhau) has made an indelible imprint on American popular music. A hyper-literate storyteller, Henry's music reaches into rock, jazz and blues, all the while earning extravagant praise from the critics. As a Grammy-winning record producer, Henry's influence has helped shape the sound of iconoclastic artists such as Ani DiFranco, Solomon Burke, Aimee Mann and Allen Toussaint. He and Loudon Wainwright III wrote the music to last summer's movie hit Knocked Up. Henry's newest album - his 10th - is entitled Civilians, and it is enjoying a well-deserved critical embrace. Friday, February 8, 2008, 8:30 pm: BETTYE LAVETTE is one of the mysteries of modern American music - an R&B singer with an incredibly expressive voice whose career stalled after her first hit in 1962. A contemporary of Aretha Franklin, Smokey Robinson and the Four Tops, LaVette is enjoying a career rebirth following the 2005 release of I've Got My Own Hell to Raise and her critically-acclaimed, explosive live performances. Her newest release, Scene of the Crime, debuted at #1 on Billboard's “Top Blues Album" chart the first week of its release. Although The New York Times says that with LaVette “classic soul singing doesn't get any better," LaVette is more than a soul singer - she sings the blues, rock, country and the work of contemporary singer-songwriters with equal power and emotion.

Saturday, February 9, 2008, 8:30 pm: A self-described “wild child" as well as a recording artist, Emmy-winning TV and film writer, music producer, jingle-smith and pianist DAVID YAZBEK is best known as the composer and lyricist of both Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and The Full Monty. Those shows received a combined 21 Tony Award nominations, including Best Score for both, and The Full Monty won a Drama Desk Award for Best Music. A highly respected pop songwriter, Yazbek is an exciting performer of his own compositions and, for this evening, will also be inviting several friends to perform his songs. David's fifth album of original songs will be released this winter.

Wednesday, February 20, 8:30 pm: PUNCH BROTHERS is virtuoso mandolinist/composer/singer CHRIS THILE's new band that consists of Thile on mandolin, Greg Garrison on bass, Gabe Witcher on fiddle, Chris Eldridge on guitar and Noam Pickelny on banjo. Thile is perhaps best known as a member of the Grammy Award-winning trio Nickel Creek, with whom he had played since childhood. He formed the band now known as Punch Brothers for his 2006 record, How to Grow a Woman from the Ground. This Songbook performance coincides with the release of Punch Brothers' Nonesuch Records debut, which will feature Thile's four-movement composition, The Blind Leaving the Blind, in which bluegrass, jazz, classical, and pop influences can be heard.

Thursday, February 21, 2008, 8:30 pm: GRACE POTTER and the NOCTURNALS is a Vermont-based band that plays a driving, funky blues rock that has jammed its way into the hearts of thousands. The band has been building great word-of-mouth by a massive touring schedule in addition to several national television appearances. They have released three albums, all driven by the huge voice of the young Grace Potter, whose sound is a fusion of soul, rock and power. Their new release, This Is Somewhere, confirms their status as one of the hottest bands in the country.

Friday, February 22, 2008, 8:30 pm: The history of jazz singing can be heard in the voice of the great JIMMY SCOTT, now in his 82nd year. First famous in the late 1940s singing with the Lionel Hampton Band, his tender vocals scored an early hit with “Everybody's Somebody's Fool." He recorded “Embraceable You" with his friend Charlie Parker - another memorable disk - and in the 1960s signed with Ray Charles' Tangerine label and made the classic jazz vocal recording Falling in Love Is Wonderful. Scott was rediscovered in 1991 when he sang at the funeral of record industry great Doc Pomus. Now performing all over the world, Scott brings a pathos to every note he sings. His distinctive, other-worldly sound can also be heard on 34 albums to date. In 2007 Scott received both the National Endowment for the Arts' Jazz Master award and The Kennedy Center's “Living Legend" honor.

Saturday, February 23, 2008, 8:30 and 10:30 pm: Rarely does a Broadway performer dazzle the critics and audiences alike the way that JOHN LLOYD YOUNG has. His performance in Jersey Boys, the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, won him the 2006 Tony Award, the Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award and Theater World Award, plus a nomination from the Drama League for Performer of the Year. His energetic tenor and affecting falsetto brilliantly express the music of America's nascent pop scene. For his Songbook shows Young will be performing music from the 1960s and some eclectic choices from the 70s.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, February 26, 27 and 28, 8:30 pm: k.d. lang could have the most extravagantly praised voice performing today. Her duets with Tony Bennett are legendary, and she is a multi Grammy Award winner for her albums Shadowland, Ingenue, and A Wonderful World (with Bennett). Originally a country star in her native Canada, lang's impeccable musical taste and soaring vocals lend themselves to an astonishing array of material, from Nashville tearjerkers to torch songs to cow-punk tunes to sultry, grown-up pop. Her newest album, Watershed - eleven new songs written and produced by lang - shows her at the very top of her game.

Friday, February 29, 2008, 8:30 and 10:30 pm: The name CHRISTINE EBERSOLE has come to define Broadway star. This actress and singer won raves and standing ovations, along with the 2007 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical, for her haunting portrayal of “Big Edie" and “Little Edie" Beale in Grey Gardens. She previously won the Tony Award for her role in the 2001 revival of 42nd Street, and has captivated audiences with her roles in Steel Magnolias, The Best Man, and Dinner at Eight. Ebersole also has had an active acting career in film and television, but it is Broadway that captures her heart and sets free her glorious voice. With Music Director BILLY STRITCH, Ebersole brings to American Songbook this year a new show guaranteed to thrill.

Saturday, March 1, 2008, 8:30 pm: Singer, songwriter and poet PATTI SMITH defies categorization and convention. Universally regarded as one of rock and roll's most influential musicians, her debut album Horses in 1975 fused rock with proto-punk and spoken poetry and is considered one of rock's greatest debuts. In the years since Smith has maintained her reputation for innovation and an electrifying performance style, and she was awarded the French Legion of Honor and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. Her Songbook show will be a tribute to the women who inspired her as a young woman: her mother, the singers Chris Connor and June Christy, and others. As currently planned, it will include standards, original songs and poetry.

Since it was launched in 1998, American Songbook has been dedicated to celebrating the extraordinary achievements of the popular American songwriter from the turn of the 20th century to the present day. Spanning all styles and genres from Tin Pan Alley and Broadway to the eclecticism of today's songwriters working in pop, cabaret, rock, folk and country, American Songbook traces the history and charts the course of the American song from its past and current forms to its future direction.

TICKETS for the general public go on sale October 25, 2007, and can be purchased online at Lincoln Center's website LincolnCenter.org, via CenterCharge at 212-721-6500, at the Avery Fisher Hall Box Office, or at the Frederick P. Rose Hall Box Office. Tickets for the Friends of American Songbook go on sale October 22nd.