Berklee Performance Center Fall Preview

Saturday / September 6, 2014 / 8:00 p.m.

Seán Keane

Seán Keane, from County Galway, is described as the "greatest musical find of the '90s" by The Independent. Traditional Irish, folk, and even country and blues songs all lend themselves to his unique style and unforgettable voice.

All of his solo albums are platinum sellers and remain in constant demand. Six solo albums later, Keane continues to delight audiences all over the world with his live performances and recorded work. He tours regularly with his band in Ireland, Austria, Germany, the U.S., and Canada, as well as appearing at major festivals worldwide.

Saturday / September 20, 2014 / 8:00 p.m.

Gino Vannelli

Since the 1973 release of his debut album, Crazy Life, Gino Vannelli has remained one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary music.

He is the recipient of multiple Canadian Juno awards, has been nominated for several Grammy Awards, and has sold more than 10 million records worldwide with hits including “I Just Wanna Stop,” “Living Inside Myself,” “People Gotta Move,” “The Wheels Of Life,” “Black Cars,” and many more.

Sunday / September 28, 2014 / 8:00 p.m.

Snarky Puppy / Kneebody

With the release of its live, two-disc album/DVD Tell Your Friends, Snarky Puppy has gone from an underground secret to one of the most internationally respected names in instrumental music, a reputation solidified with its 2014 Grammy win for Best R&B Performance. The band topped the iTunes jazz charts with both its Grammy-winning 2013 release, Family Dinner: Volume One and with the 2014 release of We Like It Here.

Thursday / October 2, 2014 / 7:30 p.m.

Video Game Orchestra Featuring Music From SQEX CAPCOM and D4

Video Game Orchestra is back in Berklee Performance Center! VGO will rock you out with our great band, orchestra and choir. We will be featuring the music from Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger Kingdom Hearts, Street Fighter, D4, and more!

Saturday / October 4, 2014 / 8:00 p.m.

Tim And Eric & Dr. Steve Brule

If you’ve ever seen Tim and Eric (the duo of Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim) live, you are already aware that these two know how to put on a performance – complete with singing, dancing, and all sorts of other Tim and Eric-isms. If you haven’t experienced the comedic force behind Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! (and the soon-to-be-unleashed Tim and Eric’s Bedtime Stories) in person, well, you’ve obviously missed out on some key moments in history, but we’ll let that slide for now. Past triumphs aside, no one has seen Tim and Eric with Check It Out’s Dr. Steve Brule live in 2014! As on his program, Check It Out!, where Dr. Steve Brule discovers and shares bits of great knowledge about all areas of life, the good doctor’s live show will educate crowds in a similar fashion. This power trio has put together a show of a lifetime for you and your pep-pep and they’re venturing to pretty much every major city in North America.

Tuesday / October 14, 2014 / 8:00 p.m.

WheelWorks: Darrell Katz and The JCA Orchestra

Darrell Katz will lead the 20-piece Jazz Composers Alliance Darrell Katz will lead the 20 piece Jazz Composers Alliance Orchestra in a program including his improvisational cantata, "Wheelworks," due out on a Leo Records release Why Do You Ride, featuring vocalist Rebecca Shrimpton. Also on the bill will be a new composition honoring recently retired Berklee faculty member Phil Wilson, featuring faculty members Helen Sherrah-Davies on violin and Vessela Stoyanova on marimba. Katz and the JCA Orchestra  have been presenting new music in the Boston area since 1985.

Saturday / October 18, 2014 / 8:00 p.m.

Dianne Reeves

Four-time Grammy Award–winner Dianne Reeves is among the most prominent and influential vocalists in jazz. A glorious singer with a sumptuous sound, she has for three decades proudly carried the torch kindled by Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. Steeped in tradition, her rhythmic virtuosity and improvisational ease are breathtaking.

Sunday / October 19, 2014 / 7:30 p.m.

Spokfrevo Orquestra

An astounding 17-piece big band from northeast Brazil, SpokFrevo Orquestra draws inspiration from frevo, a vibrant, old style of carnival music packed with high energy, driving rhythms, and infectious happiness. Directed by saxophonist Inaldo Cavalcante de Albuquerque, known as Maestro Spok, SpokFrevo Orquestra plays blistering new arrangements with carnivalesque abandon. Rows of trumpets, trombones, and saxophones are backed by a rhythm section of guitar, bass, kit drums, surdo (large drum usually associated with samba and samba reggae), and pandeiro (heavy tambourine).

Sunday / October 26, 2014 / 7:30 p.m.

Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Allen Toussaint

New Orleans legends, Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Allen Toussaint join forces for an evening of legendary music making. With current director Ben Jaffe, Preservation Hall Jazz Band brings the spirit of New Orleans jazz to glorious life, as it has for more than 50 years. New Orleans icon Allen Toussaint has also been making music for over five decades and has written dozens of hits, including "Southern Nights," "Working in the Coal Mine," and "Whipped Cream."

Sunday / November 2, 2014 / 8:00 p.m.

Patrick Bruel

Patrick Bruel is a French Singer and actor whose film credits include What’s in a Name? and Sabrina. With a career spanning more than 20 years, Bruel is a versatile artist-a superstar in Europe and Canada who has sold millions of albums.

Friday / November 7, 2014 / 8:00 p.m.

Ana Moura

Exquisite vocalist Ana Moura possesses a sound unlike any other in fado. Her voice trolls freely though the Portuguese tradition, flirting elegantly with pop and broadening the soul-baring genre with stunning results. The BBC raves, “her melancholic intimacy dominates the moment it sashays out of the speakers . . . setting a mood of mesmerizing sorrow.” Examiner.com called Moura’s voice “made for melodrama . . . aesthetically thrilling and emotionally heartbreaking.”

Saturday / November 8, 2014 / 8:00 p.m.

Mary Black

Performing for more than 25 years and retiring after this farewell tour, Mary Black has long been considered one of the finest female vocalists in the Celtic world. An unparalleled interpretive singer with a beautiful, dynamic voice, she draws on her traditional Irish folk and ballad background to create music that soars with a contemporary edge. Her daughter, Róisín O, will open.

Friday / November 14, 2014 / 8:00 p.m.

Diego El Cigala

Three-time Grammy Award–winner Diego el Cigala is quite simply the most exciting and innovative flamenco singer in the world today. His earthy, exultant, and richly emotive voice marks him as one of the greatest singers of our time.

Sunday / November 16, 2014 / 7:30 p.m.

Milton Nascimento

One of Brazil’s greatest stars of all time, Milton Nascimento celebrates a 50-year career with his latest album and world tour, Uma Travessia, featuring classic songs in his repertoire. His band includes Wilson Lopes on guitar, drummer Lincoln Cheib, bassist Gastão Villeroy, Kiko Continentino on piano, and Widor Santiago on saxophone.

The New York Times writes, "Nascimento is gifted with one of the most extraordinary voices in popular music, a benevolent tenor that floats upward to a heartbreakingly pure falsetto."

Saturday / December 13, 2014 / 8:00 p.m.

Brad Mehldau Trio

Acclaimed jazz pianist Brad Mehldau, a four-time Grammy nominee, and his group present Mehldau's music, which often juxtaposes dense pieces with stripped down, emotionally direct works. Mehldau has recorded and performed extensively since the early 1990s. Mehldau’s most consistent output over the years has taken place in the trio format.

For information and tickets to these events, visit: http://www.berklee.edu/BPC