The Carolina Chocolate Drops kicked off their North American tour with what the New York Times called an "end-to-end display of excellence," during a free concert in Harlem presented by Carnegie Hall on Saturday. "They make short work of their instructive mission and spend their energy on things that require it: flatfoot dancing, jug playing, shouting." The trio next takes that infectious exuberance up north for two shows in Ontario.
The Carolina Chocolate Drops kicked off their North American tour in their inimitable style, with what the New York Times called an "end-to-end display of excellence at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem on Saturday." The concert was free, part of the Neighborhood Concert Series presented by The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall.
"The Chocolate Drops aren’t glib or pure or ritually brilliant; they don’t make you stand back and feel humble," says Times reviewer Ben Ratliff by way of praise for the trio. "They dip into styles of Southern black music from the 1920s and ’30s—string-band music, jug-band music, fife and drum, early jazz—and beam their curiosity outward. They make short work of their instructive mission and spend their energy on things that require it: flatfoot dancing, jug playing, shouting."
The complete concert review can be found at nytimes.com.
The tireless trio has brought that infectious exuberance up north for a performance at Aeolian Hall in London, Ontario, tonight, and another at Hugh's Room in Toronto tomorrow. The tour returns to the States this coming weekend with concerts in Michigan and Ohio, then continues across the country into July, when it's off to Europe. For complete tour information, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.
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