Piedmont Blues: A Search For Salvation

Andy Tennille

June 22-23,2022

Presented by Harlem Stage
150 Convent Avenue,

New York, NY 10031

90 minutes, no intermission

Piedmont Blues premiered at Duke Performances in December 2, 2016, and debuted in NYC at the Sheen Center for Thought and Culture on January 11, 2020.

Gerald Clayton - Piano | Composer
René  Marie - Vocals
Immanuel Wilkins - Alto Saxophone
Jason Marshall - Bari Saxophone
John Ellis - Tenor Saxophone
Marvin Sewell - Guitar
Tyrone Allen - Bass
Obed Calvaire - Drums
Maurice Chestnut - Dancer
Voices of the Flame Choir, 
directed by Jeff Bolding

Projections by Liviu Pasare
Text by Jaymes Jorsling & Lizz Wright

For booking information please contact:
Chris Mees
B Natural, Inc
(646) 397-8705

Produced by the american vicarious, Piedmont Blues: A Search for Salvation is a live mixed media concert led by celebrated jazz pianist / composer / bandleader Gerald Clayton and directed by Christopher McElroen that explores the essence and impact of the Piedmont blues. The project features The Assembly — a nine-piece band led by Clayton and including GRAMMY-nominated vocalist René Marie.

Entwined throughout the live concert is an assemblage of projected film, new and archival photography, and folklore underscoring the verdant cultural landscape of the Piedmont region. Included amongst the footage are performances by some of the last of the living original Piedmont blues musicians: NEA National Heritage Fellow bluesman John Dee Holeman, as well as Piedmont songsters Algia Mae Hinton and Boo Hanks (the latter passed in April 2016).

Using songs, lyrics, and imagery from the Piedmont blues, Piedmont Blues makes a testimony of the struggle endured by African Americans in the Southeast during Jim Crow and chronicles the efficacy of the Piedmont Blues as a salve for suffering.

Duke Performances | Duke University was the lead commissioner of Piedmont Blues: A Search for Salvation; co-commissioners include the Music Center at Strathmore, the Savannah Music Festival, and the Modlin Center for the Arts at University of Richmond.