If you’re already having Academy Awards withdrawals, it’s easily alleviated them with The Music Hall’s Extraordinary Cinema film series.

http://nhletsgo.com/2010/03/10/lights-cameras-action-from-art-house-to-indie-to-children’s-and-classics-the-music-hall-features-films-for-serious-movie-lovers/

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Two new Music Hall Intimately Yours concerts
Herbie Hancock
Wednesday, June 16 at 7:30pm
Electronic and acoustic funk, jazz, rhythm + blues
“blessed with genius…brilliant.” – Rolling Stone

Afro Cuban All Stars
Wednesday, June 30 at 7:30pm
Powerhouse 12-piece big band
“remarkable” – New York Times

Tickets for both shows
On sale to members noon Saturday, February 27
On sale to the public noon Saturday, March 13

“Intimately Yours: the best and brightest…in one of the best venues in the Northeast”
– Portsmouth Herald

The Music Hall, the landmark Victorian theater in downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire, has just announced two additions to the Intimately Yours roster – Herbie Hancock and Afro Cuban All Stars. Hancock, the Multi-Grammy Award winning modern music icon – from acoustic and electronic jazz and R&B – will make his Portsmouth premiere Wednesday June 16, 2010 at 7:30pm. Afro Cuban All Stars, the big band introduced to the world in Buena Vista Social Club and responsible for stoking the worldwide infatuation with Cuban music, will appear Wednesday June 30, 2010 at 7:30pm.

According to Kathleen Soldati, Director of Marketing at The Music Hall, “Our Intimately Yours series is reaching new heights – having Herbie Hancock on our stage will make for a unique intimate evening with a master. And, Afro Cuban All Stars have made it their business to bring together into one group longtime legendary musicians, they’ve blended traditional with new Cuban music, and they’ve been responsible for driving the appreciation of Cuban music around the world. Another great show on our stage!”

Herbie Hancock

About Herbie Hancock
A musician since the age of seven, Hancock is known for breaking uncharted territory with his acoustic jazz styles. He recently celebrated his 35th year in the record business, and this June his fingers will be “dancing across the keyboard” here at The Music Hall, blending funk, jazz, and pure musical genius on stage. His accessible style and ability to fuse both electronic and acoustic jazz piano styles will be sure to please concert-goers of all ages.
Known for being a “true icon of modern day music,” Hancock once had four albums on the pop charts at the same time. He has won Grammys, MTV awards, and an Oscar.  He has been associated with acclaimed musicians such as Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis, and many other jazz deities. A lover of the hip-hop genre, Hancock’s musical style differentiates from more traditional jazz musicians. With his eclectic combination of funk, jazz, electric, acoustic, rhythm and blues, it’s no wonder that The Rolling Stone Album Guide claimed he is ‘blessed with genius…brilliant.’ There are few artists in the entire music industry who have gained more recognition and respect than Herbie Hancock. In the words of the distinguished Miles Davis, “Herbie was the step after Bud Powell and Thelonius Monk, and I haven’t heard anybody yet who has come after him.” NPR claims that Hancock is “arguably the most influential practitioner of modern jazz piano since Thelonious Monk.”

About Afro-Cuban All Stars

Afro-Cuban All Stars

The Afro-Cuban All Stars, featuring “stars of the golden age of Cuban music” will be coming to Portsmouth led by the legendary Buena Vista Social Club member Juan de Marcos González known as the “unsung hero of Cuban music.” For more than a decade, the group has made an extraordinary contribution to raising the profile of Cuban music throughout the world, blending the heritage of Cuban music in order to “create a sound for the future.” The All Stars are particularly known for resurrecting the careers of several legends. Featuring singers Manuel Puntillita Licea, Pío Leyva, and Raúl Planas, bass player Orlando “Cachaito” López, and the legendary pianist Ruben González, Juan de Marcos González assembled the band he had always envisioned for their debut album, A Toda Cuba Le Gusta. Released in 1997 and recorded at the Buena Vista Social Club sessions, the album brought the band international recognition. The All Stars work to combine music from the old masters with music from the new generation of Cuban musicians.  For their second record, González brought in even more legendary Cuban musicians, such as Omara Portuondo, Lina Borges, Polo Tamayo, Jesús Aguage Ramos, and Amadito Valdés. The group has evolved from “being a musical dream, to a one-off-recording, to the formation of a full-time touring and recording group.” The New York Times claims the music “is always joyous, with a sense of humor that’s palpable whether one understands the words or not

With Valentine’s Day on Sunday, here’s what we’ve got planned for the weekend.
Tonight: The Founders Lobby Lounge opens at 5:30. Enjoy a cocktail, and a wine tasting.

Mike McDonald surfs into the Music Hall

At 8pm Cuzin Richard Entertainment Presents: Mike McDonald’s 9th Annual Comedy Xxtravaganza Funnyman Mike McDonald offers the best in Stand-up Insanity with his 9th Annual Comedy Xxtravaganza. So join Mike and Kelly MacFarland, Robbie Printz, Frank Santorelli and surprise mystery guest–all heavyweight comedy ninjas–as they rip powerhouse punchlines into your funnybone. Music by the rockin’ Boston Naturals.

A Prairie Home Companion On Stage

Saturday 2pm. The first ever HD Broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion Each week, A Prairie Home Companion is heard by more than 4 million listeners of every age, on more than 600 public radio stations across the country. The show is performed live on stage in front of an audience. The Music Hall will record the February 4 LIVE broadcast to be played on Saturday, February 13 at 2pm.

Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend in The Young Victoria

Saturday 7pm. The Young Victoria Golden Globe Nominee Emily Blunt stars, along with Rupert Friend, Paul Bettany and Miranda Richardson in this story of the turbulent first years of Queen Victoria’s rule. Her uncle, King William (Jim Broadbent), is dying and Victoria is in line for the throne. Everyone is vying to win her favor. However she is kept from the court by her overbearing mother (Richardson) and her ambitious advisor (Mark Strong). Victoria hates them both. Her only friend is her doting governess.

Eliane Elias

Sunday 8pm. Eliane Elias: A Bossa Nova Valentine’s Day. Celebrate a Bossa Nova Valentine’s Day with the sensual Brazilian jazz pianist, singer-songwriter whose distinctive musical style blends her Brazilian roots, her sensuous, alluring voice with her impressive instrumental jazz, classical and compositional skills – a triple Grammy nominee with 18 albums.  Valet Service available for this event. Details

Wednesday, April 7 at 7:30pm

Michael Lewis discusses his new book, The Big Short

Writers on a New England Stage presents the author of Liar’s Poker,
Moneyball, and The Blind Side

Tickets go on sale to Music Hall and NHPR members
Friday, February 5 at noon
and to the public Friday, February 12 at noon

Vouchers for autographed books also on sale
– 10% discount when purchased in advance

Writers on New England Stage, the celebrated author series presented by The Music Hall and New Hampshire Public Radio in collaboration with Yankee Magazine and RiverRun Bookstore, announced that journalist and author Michael Lewis will take the stage on Wednesday, April 7. The author of the scathing Wall Street expose Liar’s Poker as well as other investigative nonfiction books, Moneyball (about baseball), The Blind Side (about football), and The New New Thing (about Silicon Valley); Lewis will present his new book, THE BIG SHORT: Inside the Doomsday Machine.

In this new book, Lewis gives a character-rich and darkly humorous account of how the U.S. economy “was driven over the cliff” by a collection of professionals entrenched in the financial world. Following a brief author presentation, Lewis will be interviewed by New Hampshire Public Radio reporter Jon Greenberg, once a Washington reporter at National Public Radio and now Executive Editor of NHPR. Live music will be performed by the award-winning house band Dreadnaught. The live show will be rebroadcast on New Hampshire Public Radio.

“Among journalists, Michael Lewis is top notch. Those who’ve read his work know his humor is deeply perceptive and his insights into people and business are truly illuminating,” said Writers on a New England Stage Associate Producer Margaret Talcott. “He’s a wonderful addition to the spring roster for the series which, until now, has focused on fiction and women authors, including Jodi Picoult on March 31 and Isabel Allende on May 5. Like so many of writers in the series, he’s a fixture on the New York Times bestseller list, sitting at #1 now with the paperback edition of The Blind Side, also a top-selling movie.” she added.

About THE BIG SHORT: Inside the Doomsday Machine

Just as Lewis’ past books Moneyball and The Blind Side gave us insight into the business of baseball and football; THE BIG SHORT exposes the world of high finance – and financial collapse. In the words of Lewis’ publisher W.W. Norton, “Who better than the author of the signature bestseller Liar’s Poker to explain how the event we were told was impossible—the free-fall of the American economy—finally occurred; how the things that we all wanted, like ridiculously easy money and greatly expanded home-ownership, were vehicles for that crash; how shareholder demand for profit forced investment executives to eat the forbidden fruit of toxic derivatives.

There are surprisingly few villains in this tale and fewer heroes, but an awful lot of people look very, very silly: high government officials, including the watchdogs; the heads of major investment banks (some overlap here with previous category); perhaps even the face in your mirror. In this trenchant, raucous, irresistible narrative, Michael Lewis writes of the goats and of the few who saw what the emperor was wearing, and gives them, most memorably, what they deserve. He proves yet again that he is the finest and funniest chronicler of our times.