Sammy Miller and The Congregation Share New Track "Date A Jew"

Article Contributed by Missing Piece Group | Published on Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Ahead of their tour next week in support of the upcoming album Leaving Egypt, Sammy Miller and The Congregation have shared the latest single "Date A Jew," a simmering narrative track that showcases the Congregation's groove pocket and their subtle music interplay with some purposeful messaging sweetly tucked in.

Listen to "Date A Jew" via YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXyA-GM-NZw

"My long time partner and I come from very backgrounds. Her, Karachi, Pakistan, me, suburban Los Angeles," Miller tells Live For Live Music. "Different cultures, different religions, different in every way you could imagine yet we’re the same. We want the happiness for our friends, family, and community. We care about our work, we care about our city, our country, and most of all we care about what we can change if we aren’t tribal."

"In this time of growing tribalism, it’s on each of us as individuals to be universal. To find empathy for those we’ve been taught to hate, to listen to those we find insufferable, it takes work, but you might find you had more love in your heart than you knew possible."

Sammy Miller, a Grammy-nominated drummer for his work with Joey Alexander, convened The Congregation in 2014 at The Juilliard School in New York City where he was getting his master's in jazz. “When I was at Juilliard, I realized jazz couldn’t just live in a conservatory vacuum. It needed to provide its initial function of being an expansive creative outlet where the rules are there for you to break and improvisation went beyond notes and into an experience,” Sammy says.

The Congregation’s 9-song debut album Leaving Egypt was cut in four 16-hour days at the legendary United Studios where the many famed Count Basie sides were tracked. The band enlisted drummer extraordinaire Jay Bellerose (Alison Krauss, Ray LaMontagne, Robert Plant, B.B. King) to supervise and produce the proceedings. The band lineup is Sammy Miller, drums and vocals; Sam Crittenden, trombone; Ben Flocks, tenor sax; Sammy’s sister Molly Miller on guitar; Alphonso Horne, trumpet; Corbin Jones, bass and tuba; and David Linard, piano.

“This is us,” Sammy says of the album. “I’m proud of it, and I’m eager to embark on our mission to bring joy to people’s lives through music.”

Leaving Egypt Tracklist:

1. Searching For Ragtime

2. Shine

3. Reasons I Just Don't Know Yet

4. Bluebird

5. Before

6. It Gets Better

7. Eagle Rock

8. Date A Jew

9. When I'm Gone

Tour Dates:

Jan 13 - Toronto, ON - Hugh’s Room

Jan 14 - Lake Orion, MI - 20 Front Street

Jan 15 - Evanston, IL - SPACE

Jan 17 - Mason City, IA - North Iowa Community Auditorium

Jan 18 - Des Moines, IA - xBK

Jan 19 - Indianapolis, IN - The Jazz Kitchen

Jan 20 - Columbus, OH - Rumba Café

Jan 30 - New York, NY - Mercury Lounge

Feb 12 - Escondido, CA - California Center for the Arts

Feb 13 - Santa Barbara, CA - Campbell Hall

Feb 16 - Los Angeles, CA - Bootleg Theater

Feb 21 - Mill Valley, CA - Sweetwater

Feb 22 - Palo Alto, CA - Oshman Family JCC

Feb 23 - Sacramento, CA - The Sofia Tsakopoulos Center for the Arts

Feb 28 - Dubai, UAE - Dubai Jazz Festival

Mar 24 - Atlanta, GA - Vinyl

Mar 26 - Charlotte, NC - Neighborhood Theatre

Mar 25 - Asheville, NC - Isis Music Hall

Mar 27 - Richmond, VA - Tin Pan

Mar 28 - Washington, DC - Songbyrd

Mar 29 - Sellersville, PA - Sellersville Theater

Mar 31 - Boston, MA - The Red Room at Cafe 939

May 1 - Fond du Lac, WI - Thelma Sadoff Center for the Arts

May 2 - Baileys Harbor, WI - Door County Brewing Co. Music Hall

May 3 - Minneapolis, MN - Dakota

June 27-28 - Aspen, CO - Jazz Aspen Snowmass

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