On Saturday, January 25th, Club Café will host the first of a semi-regular jazz night for the 2020 year. The theme for the inaugural concert is “A Celebration of Pittsburgh Jazz Contributions,” with select recordings performed live from the catalog of Art Blakey, Billy Strayhorn, Errol Garner, Henry Mancini, George Benson and more! All performing musicians are graduates or attendees of Pittsburgh-area universities, featuring guest vocalist, Kelsey Hillock. The house band for the evening will comprise of Brad Fritcher on trumpet, Ryan Salisbury on guitar, Pat Spallinger on bass, and Dan Leon on drums. Join us as we honor those who have contributed to the robust and longtime history of jazz in the city of Pittsburgh.

"We went through a pretty dramatic shift with this record," says Seratones frontwoman AJ Haynes. "The band lineup, the creative process, the sound: all of it changed in ways that really reflected our growth and evolution."

One listen to ‘Power,' Seratones' spectacular sophomore album, and it's clear just how much of an evolution has taken place. Produced by Cage The Elephant guitarist Brad Shultz, the record finds the Shreveport five-piece trading in the brash proto-punk of their critically acclaimed debut for a timeless brand of gritty soul, one that takes its cues from vintage Motown and Stax even as it flirts with modern synthesizers and experimental arrangements. Haynes' captivating voice remains front and center here, but her delivery this time around is more measured and self-assured than ever before, a beacon of confidence and clarity amidst a sea of social and political turmoil. Perhaps even more marked than the any sonic development on the record, though, is Haynes' lyrical turn, which points her gaze inwards for the first time as she grapples with race, gender, and justice, writing with an unfiltered honesty that at once exudes strength and vulnerability, hope and despair, beauty and pain.

"I learned to tap more into my own stories with these songs," says Haynes. "I came to recognize that I have this lineage and these inherited experiences that are beautiful and worthy of exploration. The more personal my writing got, the more deeply I was able to connect with people."

Seratones have been chasing those kinds of deep connections since 2016, when they first rocketed into the national spotlight with their breakout debut, ‘Get Gone.' Rolling Stone called the album a "fitful collision of punk, soul and jazz echoing out of a shed strewn with whiskey bottles," while Pitchfork praised the collection's "soulful grease and punky grit," and NPR hailed it as "lean and compact, with an impressive assortment of anthemic stompers." The music earned the band dates on the road with artists as varied as St. Paul & The Broken Bones, Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, The Dandy Warhols, and Drive-By Truckers, along with festival slots from Hangout to Newport Folk and invitations to perform on national television and at NPR's Tiny Desk.

THE SEA THE SEA is an Upstate New York based indie folk-pop duo featuring what Huffington Post calls, "Two of the loveliest male-female voices you might ever hear this or any other year." Paste Music / Daytrotter describes them as "defined by their infallible vocal harmonies and their unconventional song arrangements...a pop band only in their melodic infectiousness - otherwise they are at their best when subverting conventions." The Sea The Sea has been featured on Audiotree, Paste Studio Sessions, and NPR's Mountain Stage, as well as receiving praise from NPR (Heavy Rotation), American Songwriter, No Depression, Buzzfeed, Pitchfork, TED, and Parade. Their songs have earned features by Apple Music including "Best of the Week" and "A-List Singer/Songwriter," and have received over 15 million streams on Spotify to date.

Since emerging onto the music scene at age 18 as a member of the seminal rock band Green
on Red, Prophet has collaborated with everyone from Warren Zevon and Kelly Willis to Jim
Dickinson and Lucinda Williams among many others. In recent years, Prophet’s music has
been featured in several hit television series including HBO’s “True Blood,” Showtime’s
“Californication” and “Billions,” and FX’s “Sons of Anarchy.” He also co-wrote all the songs on
Alejandro Escovedo’s 2008 critically acclaimed album Real Animal.

Through his live performances with the Mission Express and solo, Prophet has developed a
reputation as an outstanding, entertaining live act and built a loyal fanbase from Albuquerque
to Stockholm. His live solo performances offer fans the opportunity to experience his songs
from a unique perspective.

Chuck Prophet is the best damn songwriter in all of roots rock and I'll stand on Alejandro Escovedo's coffee table
in John Murry's flip-flops and say that.
- Peter Blackstock, No Depression

Prophet does an impressive job of blurring the lines that separate blues, country and roots-rock.
- NPR

In his own good-humored, ramshackle way, Prophet earns his last name.
- Anthony DeCurtis