Dan Zanes delves into American and global roots traditions to create some of the most engaging and fun family music ever recorded. His forthcoming Smithsonian Folkways album celebrates the blues icon Lead Belly; Zanes takes to the Bandshell with Ashley Phillips and a gaggle of other friends for a special live sneak peek. The show honors the centennial of the birth of trailblazing author (and Brooklynite) Ezra Jack Keats, who introduced characters of color to mainstream children’s literature. The festivities begin with the delightful TADA! YOUTH THEATER performing one of Keats’ most beloved stories.
Zanes occupies a unique place in American music where sea shanties, English music hall, North American, and West Indian folk music, play party songs, the spirit of early rock-and-roll, and soulful originals collide. He has toured the world sharing handmade 21st century social music with enthusiastic crowds of kids and kid sympathizers. From thrift shop basements to Carnegie Hall, from Brooklyn to Bahrain and beyond, the Grammy Award winner has been introducing new songs and reconnecting people to songs that have always been there, and still are—although people may have forgotten about them.
Since 1984, TADA! has been providing young people of all different backgrounds, including a large number of disadvantaged children and families, the opportunity to explore and perform musical theater together in an educational, supportive, and professional environment.