The thing that impressed me most about my late friend Rosa Rio wasn’t her incredible musical talents. Of course, she could play anything in any key. She was a clever and inventive silent film organist, always finding the right melody for the right moment. When she played a Gershwin medley[…]
Rosa Rio, the 107-year-old master of the theater organ and the piano, died Thursday. She went peacefully, says her husband, Bill Yeoman. We were so fortunate to have her on the Palladium stage for the past two years. And I was blessed to know her and, on occasion, sing with[…]
A Sunday afternoon in our cabaret with the Rowan Brothers and the great fiddler, Sue Cunningham, was already a treat – they are some of the finest singers, songwriters and musicians in the Americana/Bluegrass scene. But when an old friend stopped by to sing, things got even more interesting. Marty[…]
Summer in Florida has always been a time to forget your troubles and have some fun. That’s why the Palladium is ramping up the fun-quotient with six pop concerts in June, July and August. You like ’60s pop stars? We’ve got two of the biggest – Peter Noone of Herman’s[…]
To celebrate the April birthdays of Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington, the Palladium is bringing in some top notch-talent from the New York City jazz scene. Amy London, a jazz singer and vocal professor with a Broadway pedigree, will be handling the Ella side. Her husband, guitarist Roni Ben-Hur, will[…]
Back in the mid-1970s the critics dubbed Firefall a “Supergroup,” filled with players with impressive musical resumes. Not all of the groups given that moniker lived up to the title, but Firefall was that and more. And Jim Mason, now a resident of the Tampa Bay area, was a big[…]
Sophie Milman, the rising jazz talent appearing this Thursday at the Palladium, is profiled by Philip Booth in this week’s edition of the St. Petersburg Times. Born in Russia, raised in Israel and now living in Toronto, Milman has made a name for herself in jazz circles for taking pop[…]
The Palladium is recognized as Tampa Bay’s best venue for live jazz. But in the past year, we’ve become home to some of the best blues shows as well. Damon Fowler, Roy Book Binder, Dr. John, The Sauce Boss, and boogie-woogie piano legend Bob Seeley are among the great blues acts we’ve hosted[…]
Thanks to St. Petersburg College, the restoration of the historic Palladium Theater is continuing. While a lot of improvements – like our new air conditioning and wiring – aren’t easy to see, our latest renovation project will be visible to everyone. This week workers are replacing all of our front doors. […]
What you remember about a Roy Book Binder performance is his mastery of delta blues guitar, his knowledge of the genre and its now-legendary performers, and, his dry wit. I first heard Roy in the early 1980s playing at a new-age, vegetarian restaurant north of USF called the Sprout House.[…]
“We sat down on the floor in an apartment in New York City and came up with a tune was very exciting…collaboration in that era was a brand new ballgame for me,” Stookey said. “I think (Bob) Dylan’s strong presence, ideologically, contributed to a lot of writers taking chances and speaking out of their personal perspective.”
