Tony Rice and Chris Thile & Michael Daves are among the artists to perform free shows at ELLNORA | The Guitar Festival at Krannert Center in Urbana, IL, September 8-10, 2011.

Tony Rice’s nimble, progressive sound has earned 10 International Bluegrass Music Association Awards as well as a Grammy Award, and collaborations with Ricky Skaggs, ELLNORA alum Jerry Douglas, and Central Illinois native Alison Krauss have solidified his place in the pantheon of bluegrass giants. “If bluegrass has a guitar god, it’s Tony Rice, who has left a generation of aspiring guitarists trying to duplicate his clean, speedy, otherworldly sound” (New Yorker).

Mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile (of Punch Brothers) and bluegrass guitarist Michael Daves will perform at ELLNORA | The Guitar Festival 2011. The duo recently released the impassioned collaboration/conversation, Sleep with One Eye Open, an album feverishly recorded over four days in Jack White’s Third Man studio in Nashville that features 16 traditional tunes by legends like The Monroe Brothers, The Louvin Brothers, Jimmy Martin, and Flatt & Scruggs. Thile explains, “Mandolin and guitar and two male voices—it’s such a good sound. It was important for us was to get that brother duet thing, but with this Lower East Side punk energy. One of the most enjoyable things about this experience was to underline the slightly delinquent side of bluegrass.”

Chris Thile & Michael Daves and The Tony Rice Unit will perform in Krannert Center’s intimate yet grand 1.5-acre lobby, grounded with Indonesian teak floors, flanked by massive Carrera marble walls, and capable of holding an audience of several thousand. Other ELLNORA artists featured in FREE shows are Artist-in-Residence Luther Dickinson and Grammy Award winner Alvin Youngblood Hart, The Sheryl Bailey 3, the Beijing Guitar Duo, Rory Block and Cindy Cashdollar, Adrian Belew, Kevin Breit’s Folkalarm, Marc Ribot y Los Cubanos Postizos, and flamenco artist Marija Temo.

More details on Chris Thile & Michael Daves, Tony Rice, and all of the free shows at ELLNORA | The Guitar Festival at Krannert Center (September 8-10, 2011) will be released on June 15, 2011. Please visit EllnoraGuitarFestival.com for information on previous festivals and for announcements about the 2011 lineup.

Today, The String Cheese Incident releases the first installment of their brand new live archival series, Rhythm of the Road, which will highlight the band’s most celebrated concerts with re-mastered limited edition releases. Titled Rhythm of the Road: Volume 1, Incident in Atlanta – 11.17.00, this first offering on the historic show’s ten-year anniversary.

2000 was a big year for SCI as they became a true touring force, settling into larger venues for the first time, including Red Rocks in Colorado, The Warfield in San Francisco, and New Orleans’ Saenger Theatre. The band finished off a long East Coast fall tour with three nights in Athens and Atlanta, GA, and it’s the middle night on 11.17.00 that fans still talk about as one of the best in the band’s career. With special guest Tony Furtado on banjo for several songs and featuring covers of Led Zeppelin, Talking Heads, John Coltrane, Peter Rowan, and Peter Gabriel, as well as bluegrass standards and a host of SCI originals, this show is the perfect way to kick off The String Cheese Incident’s archival series “Rhythm of the Road.”

Incident in Atlanta features the entire 11.17.00 performance, lovingly remastered from the original 24-bit multi-track master tapes and made available on CD, download (MP3, FLAC) and, an SCI first, 24-bit FLAC download. It will be released on November 9th in stores, through SCI Merchandise, and www.LiveCheese.com.

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Track List for Rhythm of the Road: Volume 1, Incident in Atlanta – 11.17.00 is as follows:

Set 1: Smile, Joyful Sound > Orange Blossom Special*, Barstool, Pygmy Pony,
Missing Me > Ramble On

Set 2: Outside And Inside, Impressions > Glory Chords Jam > Midnight
Moonlight*, This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) > Miss Brown's Teahouse,
Wake Up, Black Clouds*

Encore: The Old Home Place*, Shenandoah Breakdown*, Shakin' the Tree*

* featuring Tony Furtado on banjo and guitar

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This year, after a three-year hiatus from the touring circuit, The String Cheese Incident played just a few select shows that sold out in minutes. By all accounts, the epic performers were well worth the long wait. Refreshed and inspired and still making music on their own terms, SCI seems to be once again reinventing the music industry model. Stay tuned for announcement of the band’s highly anticipated 2011 plans.

Tony Kofi is one of the UK’s outstanding saxophonists, 2008 Best Instrumentalist BBC Jazz Awards and MOBO nominee amongst his most recent recognition.  Since 2000 Tony Kofi Quartet have been performing together, inspired by the more visceral end of the hard bop of the 1960s.  His quartet moves through vibrant swing to reflective lyricism with a powerful rapport, bridging the heavyweight American tradition and European individuality.

As well as leading the quartet, Tony is the youngest, and only UK, member of the renowned World Saxophone Quartet with David Murray, Oliver Lake and Hamiet Bluiett  – touring with them again in 2009, along with tours of Europe with Abdullah Ibrahim, and Jamaaladeen Tacuma. Tony has played frontline with Branford Marsalis, Courtney Pine, Clifford Jarvis, Dr Lonnie Smith, Gary Crosby's Nu Troop, Jazz Jamaica All Stars, Afropeans, Queen Latifah, US-3, Salt 'n' Pepper, to name just a few.

In 2005 Tony Kofi Quartet released All is Know (Specific Jazz), arrangements of compositions by Thelonious Monk and performed Monk’s entire repertoire in marathon six-hour performances at London Jazz Festival in 2003 and 2005.  In 2008 they released their own compositions, The Silent Truth on Specific Jazz.

TONY KOFI QUARTET

Tony Kofi (saxes), Jonathan Gee (piano), Ben Hazleton (acoustic bass) & Rod Youngs (drums)

Sunday, June 21st Sweet Rhythm, New York 8 & 10PM

double bill with Tim Garland’s Lighthouse Trio

As the temperature falls and we add another layer to our Colorado uniform, it certainly feels like that time of year when tradition runs deep. The return of Tony Furtado to the Boulder Theater kept in traditional stride as he remained true to his Thanksgiving Day appearance and brought his genre bending songs to the familiar Boulder audience. Those of us present Friday night were fed a healthy serving of some good ol' fashioned Rocky Mountain pickin' turned electric.

Tony came in tow with his banjo and guitar back from his new home in Portland and managed to scrounge up some familiar Boulder musicians, The Tony Furtado Band. Tonight the band featured Matt Spencer on bass, Christian Teele on drums, Ross Martin on electric guitar and Tony on banjo, guitar and vocals.

The crowd spiritedly welcomed Tony and the band to the stage and the dance floor came alive. Tony Furtado and his banjo stylings present themselves as country rock songs with a tinge of bluegrass - or country songs with a dab of rock depending on what side of the Mississippi you grew up on. In actuality though, the music is best left unlabeled and should merely be absorbed for its truly original compositions and melodic jams. The electric banjo work is subtle, yet intricate, and you can feel Furtado's inspiration in each pluck. His songwriting skills seem acute as ever and Tony's acoustic guitar diligence showcases his years of creative experience and exploration. A student turned master of the slide guitar, Furtado was mainly picking and strumming this evening and why not when it sounds/feels so good.

Matt Spencer had a noteworthy bass solo that smoothly bounced back into a full band swing and the crowd was also treated to a cover of Tom Petty's Runnin' Down A Dream. It's also a pleasure to hear Ross Martin on some electric guitar. He plays a very meandering, almost whispering lead that is a distinct departure from when he picks on his acoustic.  The crowd participated in an impromptu sing along during a re-vamped version of the story of Stagger Lee as Tony and Ross volleyed solos and the entire band seemed to be having fun while the audience fed off the energy.

The night proved to be a festive evening of familial celebration and musical jubilation. From old classics to zestful covers, The Tony Furtado Band played a solid set of eclectic songs to an obviously appreciative Boulder Theater crowd.

OUT NOW!  The new cd by TONY FURTADO BARE BONES on Funzalo Records

Recorded live on tour at the behest of Tony's fans! Gripping solo acoustic performances by this master stringbender and gripping singer/songwriter.  (www.tonyfurtado.com)

Tony's on tour now, swinging through Colorado soon.

Thursday June 9
Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom

2637 Welton Street

Denver CO

303 297 1772

http://www.cervantesmasterpiece.com/

Support act: Newcomers Home

Doors 8pm / Show time 9pm / Tony on stage 10:30pm Tix: $10 advance - $12 day of show

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Friday June 10

Riverwalk Center
150 W. Adams Street

Breckenridge CO

970 453 3187

http://www.breckenridgemusicfestival.com/

Doors 4pm / Show time 4:30pm / Tony on stage 6:45pm Free show

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Saturday June 11
State Bridge Lodge

127 Through Road HCR 2

Bond CO  

970 653 4444

http://www.statebridge.com/

Doors 5pm / Show time 7:30pm / Tony on stage 9pm Tix: $10 general admission

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Thursday July 14
Jazz Aspen Summer Concert Series

Fanny Hill
Snowmass Mountain

Snowmass Village CO

http://www.stayaspensnowmass.com/p-free-summer-concerts.php#cback
http://www.jazzaspen.com/template.cfm?include=Snowmass%20Free%20Series

Doors 5:30pm / Show time 6:15pm / Tony on stage 6:15pm FREE CONCERT SERIES!

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News you can use :

- Furtado did a 3 week tour opening for Gregg Allman & Friends this spring.

- Last year's Funzalo release, THESE CHAINS, is a finalist in the Indie Acoustic Project's "Best CDs of 2004" Awards (see www.indieacoustic.com for more info).

- #5 most added at Americana radio

"There are times on Tony Furtado's new live solo cd, BARE BONES , that you'd swear there are two guitarists."
- Traverse City Record Eagle

"'The live solo show is basically what you hear on the album.  I'll do solo stuff based around old folk tunes, and I intersperse banjo in there.  It becomes this American roots vibe.'  That vibe has made the just-released BARE BONES CD a hit with audiences and has kept Furtado on the road, where he revels in his craft."
- The Grand Rapids Press

"Blending acoustic slide guitar with woodsy tales of the everyday, Furtado's mix of technical virtuosity and warm storytelling soul was a perfect warm-up for Allman and his friends."
- Glide Magazine