Live Music
Tonight

OLS Sunday Jazz Brunch

You know what Sundays on the West End have been missing?
JAZZ BRUNCH.

Come on out to OLS' next Jazz Brunch on Sunday, May 19. This event is FREE to all OLS Members, just check in at the bar. $8 ticket for non-members, 11am to 2pm

John Clark has assembled an all star band "The Jazz Workshop" to play one Sunday each month from 11am to 2pm. Join John on bass, Tracy McMullan on sax, Frank Mauceri on sax, Carl Dimow on flute, Peter Dugas on piano, and Peter McLaughlin & Hayes Porterfield on drums. There will be hot coffee (with or without amaretto or Jameson...), Bloody Marys, Mimosas, and a selection of breakfast foods for purchase).

This concert will feature the music of Charles Mingus, Theolonius Monk, Miles Davis, as well as original compositions written by the band. Spend your Sunday with a croissant, a cocktail, and this incredible collection of Portland's finest performers in intimate One Longfellow Square.

Putnam Smith CD Release: Kitchen, Love

Putting the "party" back in CD Release Party, the celebration of Putnam Smith's 4th studio album, "Kitchen, Love..." will appropriately enough kick off with an hors d'oeuvres potluck (bring some eats to share, and get an "I Love Cast Iron Pans" temporary tattoo!!). While we're eating, drinking, and making merry, fiddle/guitar trad band Sassafras Stomp will get the music started (bring your dancing shoes!), followed by a short set by up-and-coming singer/songwriter Caroline Cotter. Putnam's last critically acclaimed album went to #2 on the national Folk DJ Charts -- who knows, you may be at the CD release show of an album that goes to #1! More at: www.putnamsmith.com Video! ($12 adv/$17 door)

Decompression Chamber Music Season Five/Concert #5

This "rush hour" concert series is designed for you! Stop in for an entertaining hour on your way home from work. Bring a date! Have glass of wine, listen to beautiful music, become a connoisseur.
($12 adv/$15 door, 6:00pm) There will be a $1 service fee added at check out for advance tickets.

The Portland Jazz Orchestra

Dr. Chris Oberholtzer and his 18 piece ensemble perform an evening of big band swing!
($5 students, seniors, and advance. $9 door)

A Benefit for OLS: Rex Fowler, Con Fullam, Tom Dean, Alana MacDonald & Kate Schrock

A fantastic night of songwriters and storytellers from Maine! All proceeds go to One Longfellow Square!

It's good to have friends! OLS has made a few over the years and none more special than this talented cast that has come together to support our wonderful room by donating a rare and unforgettable one-time concert event! OLS will be calling on more friends in the future so look for these special benefit concerts and come out to support your favorite venue and hear some great music!
Longtime friends and collaborators, Rex, Tom & Alana will perform solo, material from their Aztec Two-Step and Devonsquare catalogs, as well as songs they co-wrote and performed together over the decades. A rare treat from these artists with Maine roots and a love for our venue.
Con Fullam held the release party for his first CD (after a long and highly lauded career writing hits for others) at OLS and has been a friend of the venue ever since. He has brought us several great concerts and continues his work with children's music in Portland!
Kate Schrock has performed at OLS many times and was happy to join in the party with her trademark blend of jazz and rock gospel.

($25 advance / $30 door)

Verbalized Medicine presents The Clinique

The Stray Birds

When The Stray Birds take the stage, the spotlight falls on three voices raised in harmony above the raw resonance of wood and strings. It is a sound drawn from the richness of American folk music traditions, spun with a stirring subtlety and grace. From bustling street corners to silent halls, their performances speak to an uncompromising reverence for songs.
Darlin' Corey (Erica Brown and Matt Shipman) opens!

DudeFest 2013 (The Big Lebowski)

The Dude abides over One Longfellow Square for a night of mayhem featuring a screening of the Coen Brothers' cult hit, The Big Lebowski. With a Costume Contest judged by a panel of local celebrities.

Causasians (White Russians) on special all night.
Doors open at 7 pm. This evening customarily sells out.($8, NO service fee)

"Half-price tickets if you come in a bathrobe but ONLY IF there are any tickets left! Order in advance to be safe! Doors may open before 7pm if we are ready.

Joe Walsh, Darol Anger, Grant Gordy and Karl Doty

Encore Performance!

Portland based mandolin master Joe Walsh (Gibson Brothers, Yulegrass, Stowaways), fiddler extraordinaire Darol Anger (Republic of Strings, Yulegrass, The Furies etc.) blistering guitar hero Grant Gordy (David Grisman Quintet) and Karl Doty, bass (Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and A Far Cry) will come together for a special night of acoustic string music. Come and join us for an evening of inspired original tunes, expertly crafted standards and spontaneous musical serendipity with this once in a lifetime cast of super string stars.

An Evening With Tom Chapin

In a career that spans five decades, 23 albums and three GRAMMY awards, multi-talented singer/songwriter/guitarist Tom Chapin has covered an incredible amount of creative ground. In addition to his work as a recording artist and concert performer, Chapin has acted on Broadway, as well as working extensively in films, television and radio. As a music-maker, Chapin has maintained two long and productive parallel careers, both as a highly respected contemporary folk artist and as a pioneer in the field of children's music. In the former role, Chapin has established a reputation for insightful, heartfelt songcraft and effortlessly charismatic live performances. In the latter, he continues to engage the hearts, minds and imaginations of young listeners with witty, life-affirming original songs delivered in a sophisticated array of musical styles. In either format, Chapin's infectious songs, sterling musicianship and personal warmth consistently shine through, whether he's performing on record or in a concert hall, an outdoor festival, a school, in front of a symphony orchestra or in an intimate coffeehouse.

Shelley King

The music of Shelley King draws from and blends a spectrum of roots music styles, but one word succinctly describes it: soulful. Be it R&B, folk, blues, country, bluegrass or rock — or combinations of and variations on those themes — she delivers the goods straight from the heart with a voice that’s splendidly rich and warm and as big as all outdoors. Writing “a proverbial trunk full of instant hits and yet-unheard classics,” as the Austin Chronicle describes her songs, King has risen from the vibrant music scene in the Texas capital city to charm fans across North America, Europe and Japan, win two Austin Music Awards, and be named the Texas State Musician for 2008.

Aoife O’Donovan CD Release Tour "Fossils"

“NEW CD Fossilsout June 11th!” “Aoife recorded her album last October and it was produced by Tucker Martine (My Morning Jacket, Beth Orton, The Decemberists), which is due out June 11 on Yep Roc Records. “

Aoife, founder and lead singer of Crooked Still, is also guest vocalist with the Goat Rodeo Sessions a collaborative album by Yo Yo Ma, Chris Thile, Stuart Duncan and Edgar Meyer! For the past 10 years, Aoife has been fronting the alt-bluegrass/string band Crooked Still, which she formed when she was 18. Despite her young age, Aoife has toured in ten different countries, performed with the Boston Pops and the Utah Symphony Orchestra and has appeared on countless radio and television programs.

Her natural talent for songwriting recently came to the attention of Alison Krauss, who recorded Aoife’s song Lay My Burden Down, which is included on Alison’s album Paper Airplane (2011 Rounder Records) and can also be heard in the film Get Low (2010 Sony Pictures). Aoife’s crystalline voice has also been heard on True Blood (HBO) and Private Practice (ABC).

Click here for a three song sampler from Aoife https://soundcloud.com/yep-roc-music-group/sets/aoife-odonovan-sampler/s-HS4gv Video!
($20 adv/$25 door, 8PM)

Miss Tess and the Talkbacks

“When you decide to go into the studio,” reflects Miss Tess from her home in New York City, “the timing has to be just right.” In fact, uncanny timing informs and enhances nearly everything Tess does, from her disarming, behind-the-beat vocal phrasing to her solid yet gently swinging rhythm guitar. In the years since she first emerged, she has wisely learned to trust her sense of timing. “In this case, we had a batch of unrecorded songs, the studio I wanted to use was available, and the band was tight after touring all year.” The resulting album, Sweet Talk (available October 16), is Tess’s first studio album in three years, her first for Signature Sounds, and the debut of her newly christened backing outfit, The Talkbacks.

While still bearing hallmarks of the simmering, jazz-inflected sound that has made Tess and her former band the Bon Ton Parade a club and festival favorite, Sweet Talk introduces a more personal mix of influences. By blending her knack for melodic and rhythmic improvisation and interplay with elements of honky-tonk, western swing, and golden-era pop standards, she and her multifaceted supporting band have arrived at a style simultaneously refreshing and hauntingly familiar. “By changing the name of the band,” she says, “I wanted to let people know that our sound had evolved: now there’s a much stronger country and early rock’n’roll influence—and different instrumentation.”
Video! ($12 adv/$17 door)