The Giving Sessions featuring, Parlour Tricks, Nation Beat, Russ Kaplan +7

The Giving Sessions is a new concert series that lets artists raise money for charities of their choice. Proceeds from this show will go directly to Planned Parenthood.


Parlour Tricks h?as spent the last few years building a loyal fan base and wowing critics with their "big, bold and powerful" three­part harmonies and chameleonic blend of alternative pop and indie rock. Recipients of the Village Voice's award for Best Pop Band in New York 2014, the band tours frequently and has earned slots at festivals including Bonnaroo, SXSW, Summerfest, and both CMJ and CBGB Fests in their hometown of New York City. For their Bar/None Records debut BROKEN HEARTS / BONES, Parlour Tricks traveled down to Nashville frequently to work with producer Emery Dobyns (Suzanne Vega, Noah & The Whale). With influences as diverse as Nine Inch Nails and The Andrews Sisters, the band calls the album "pop", but they're perfectly happy not being able to specify exactly what that means. "'Pop' was a dirty word for a while," says lead singer and songwriter Lily Cato. "Not anymore. The idea of pop music has changed. Now it seems like a hundred different genres at once. It gives us a lot of room to explore."


Nation Beat is a NYC-Brazilian collision that parades with an infectious, audacious energy, seamlessly bridging folkloric Brazilian rhythms with classic American roots music in an altogether creative and original manner. Their 21st Century fusion is an explosion of thunderous Brazilian maracatu drumming and New Orleans second line rhythms, Appalachian­inspired bluegrass music, funk, rock, and country­ blues. Their new EP C?arnival Caravan?­ a collaboration with the New Orleans Mardi Gras/Indian Funk group Cha Wa, was released on July 31 via Nation Beat Music. Nation Beat has shared the stage with artists such as Willie Nelson, Stanton Moore (of Galactic) and the legendary Maracatu Nação Estrela Brillante from Recife, Brazil. N?PR’s Banning Eyre has c?alled them “the most original and alluring fusion group I have heard in years.”


Russ Kaplan +7 ?is the brainchild of composer/keyboardist Russ Kaplan, whose diverse musical obsessions have led him through the worlds of jazz, rock, and theatre music. His all­star band brings all these elements together, telling fantastic stories through Kaplan’s evocative compositions and the fiery improvisations of his merry jazz assassins. RK+7’s debut album T?he Ulysses Cycle?­ based on the story of The Odyssey ­ was released on Ropeadope Records in 2013. The song P?igz in Space?received the Independent Music Awards’ Vox Populi Award for “Best Funk/Fusion/Jam Song.” RK+7 features members from many of New York’s most notable world music, Jazz, and Indie Rock bands (including Red Baraat, Mostly Other People do the Killing, and the Eddie Palmieri Salsa Orchestra).