June promises to be an exciting month for me….first and foremost, the NEW CD, ‘OCEAN RISING’ IS DONE!! It’s been a long process, and I thank all of you for your kind words and patience along the way….it is finally here. I am thrilled about all aspects of the final product and can’t wait to share it with you all.

This means it’s time for a CD Release Show! We’ve decided on a date, FRIDAY JUNE 26th, but I am still ironing out a few details in terms of the location. It will be somewhere in Western MA and I will keep you all posted. But there WILL BE A SHOW on JUNE 26th, even if it’s in my living room (smile…) I am happy to announce that despite living in three different parts of the country I will be joined with long time friends and collaborators Makaya McCraven (drums) and Tristan Gutner (bass). We hope you can join us, it promises to be a special evening of music. So mark your calendars, and I hope to see you all there.

In the meantime, to give you all a little taste of the new record, I’ve put three new tracks off of the album on my Myspace page. Ocean Rising is a piece of mine, Street Savior was written by Tristan, and Svetlana is Makaya’s piece. I hope you enjoy them. Check them out at:

www.myspace.com/jeffdantona

There’s also some fun shows happening in June, including a special guest appearance by renowned vocalist Evelyn Harris of Sweet Honey in the Rock (THIS MONDAY), and a special show on my birthday, June 15th, with guests Makaya McCraven (drums), Leah Randazzo (vocals), and Darby Wolf (organ). (see details below….)

JUNE SHOWS:

Monday 6/1: Sierra Grille with guest Eveyln Harris (vocals) 9-12 / Free (THIS MONDAY!)
Monday 6/8: Sierra Grille with guest Jamie MacDonald (bass) 9-12 / Free
Monday 6/15: MY BIRTHDAY BASH at the Sierra Grille with guests Makaya McCraven (drums), Leah Randazzo (vocals), and Darby Wolf (organ) 9-12 / Free
Thursday 6/18: Amherst Coffee - TRIO 8.30-11 / Free
Monday 6/22: Sierra Grille - TRIO 9-12 / Free
Friday 6/26: CD RELEASE! with Makaya McCraven (drums) and Tristan Gutner (bass) / Time and Location TBD

Friends -

Just wanted to let you know about some exciting shows I’ll be playing in May….

As always, my trio will be performing at the Sierra Grille (Strong Ave in the center of Northampton) EVERY MONDAY. We play from 9-12, and there’s no cover. If you haven’t been around to check out a Sierra show, come on by….it’s a great time…nice atmosphere, delicious (and reasonably priced) food and booze, and good music.

The lineup for the rest of the month is:

TOMORROW, May 11: Special guest Leah Randazzo (vocals), with Darby Wolf (organ), and Jon Fisher (drums) We’ll be playing a bunch of Leah’s originals as well as cover tunes by Fiona Apple, Eryka Badu, Bill Withers, and more.

May 18: Special Guest Rick Tutunjian (tenor sax) with Gary Culver (bass) and Dylan Kumnick (drums)

May 25: Special Guest David “Goody” Goodrich (guitar) with Gary Culver (bass) and Dylan Kumnick (drums)

I will also be playing at Amherst Coffee at MAY 21st, from 8.30 - 11pm….Note the date change here! There was a bit of a scheduling mixup….but I’ll be there on the 21st for sure with my trio….we have a bunch of new tunes in the repertoire, and I’d love to see you there.

Last, June is turning out to be quite an exciting month: be on the lookout for a CD Release Party, a Birthday Show at the Sierra Grille, and several special performances with my long lost bandmates Tristan and Makaya!

Take care and hope you are all enjoying the Spring.

Cheers….Jeff