Tim Conway announces retirement, cancels Sarasota show

   It was only last month that the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall announced that Tim Conway had been added to its season schedule.
   Now comes the announcement that Conway has decided to retire from concert performance, and that he's canceled all his Florida appearances. Obviously, that includes his March 22 date in Sarasota.

Tim Conway

   Here's what the statement from the people at Van Wezel (apparently quoting from Conway's representatives) said:
   "After completing an exhausting and extensive national book tour promoting his autobiography, 'So You Think That's Funny,' Tim Conway, in consultation with his family, has decided that it's time to retire from performing live in concert on the road. Tim will truly miss this part of his performing career and will look back upon it with only very fond memories. He sincerely apologies for any inconveniences and disappointments this has caused to his fans and to the venues but believes that this is in his and his family's best interest going forward."
   Conway, of course, is best known from his stint on "The Carol Burnett Show." He'll be 80 years old in a couple of weeks.
   If you have tickets, call 941-953-3368 and you can get a refund or credit toward tickets for another Van Wezel show.
  

One Direction is coming to Tampa in 2014

   If you're a One Direction fan, you'll probably be excited to learn that the Brit boy band is coming to Tampa.
   But you'll probably be bummed to find out that you have to wait an eternity to see Niall, Zayn, Liam, Harry and Louis. They won't be at Raymond James Stadium for more than 10 months. The show's set for Oct. 3 of next year.

One Direction

   The guys got together three years ago after auditioning separately for the British version of "The X Factor," and they've put out to album since 2011. There's good chance they'll have another one under their collective belt by next October, so you'll get to hear some newer stuff in addition to such huge hits as "What Makes You Beautiful" and "Live While We're Young"

Sarasota Ballet scores with Balanchine, Ashton, Britten

   It was a concert designed to have something for everybody. And all three dances on the Sarasota Ballet's program earned enthusiastic applause from the audience, so all three obviously had appeal.
   The first piece, Balanchine's "Serenade," set to Tchaikovsky's "Serenade for Strings," was a luminescent piece of pure classical dance, with Balanchine's typical musicality matched by the fluidity of the dancers. A couple of humorous touches -- a dancer purposely falls on her face at one point -- somehow enhance he piece transcendent beauty.

"Illuminations" (1950)

   The ballet, accompanied by the Sarasota Orchestra, next celebrated Benjamin Britten's 100 the birthday with Ashton's "Illuminations," with music by Britten and lyrics taken from Rimbaud poems. It's a wonderfully surreal narrative piece of comedy and drama. It would be tempting to call it Felliniesque, except that Ashton created it in1950, before Fellini as influential.
   The final piece, Balanchine's "Who Cares?," just didn't seem to fit. It's set to a series of 15 Gershwin songs, and the pop flavor of the music and the dance felt at odds with the sublime pleasures of the first two works.
   There were some fine moments of dance, though, especially in several pas de deux, and the piece was an undeniable crowd-pleaser.
   The orchestra, conducted by Ormsby Wilkins, sound gorgeous throughout the evening, and seemed as comfortable with Gershwin as with Britten.
   There are two more performances, at 2 and 8 p.m. today (Saturday, Nov 23) at the Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota. Tickets are $33.25-$100. Call 941-359.0099, ext.101 or go to www.sarasotaballet.org.





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Palmetto's Jesse Yawn added to Bradenton Blues Festival

   Dec. 7 is the date of the second annual Bradenton Blues Festival. It's also the 72nd anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
   That's one reason the blues festival people have invited Jesse Yawn, a Palmetto-based blues singer with a solid national reputation, to perform. 
    Yawn's an Army veteran who uses a wheelchair to get around. Festival organizers are building a wheelchair ramp so Yawn can get on stage.

Jesse Yawn

   He'll join festival headliner Eddie Shaw on stage at 5 p.m. to perform the classic "Every Day I Have the Blues."
   Yawn's known for his flashy suits, fedora hats and deep, bellowing voice.  Yawn he tarted in gospel music before turning to the blues. he's worked with some of the greats including Jack McDuff, George Benson, Grant Green and Albert King. He was a fixture on the Blues scene in the Washington, D.C. area before he returned to his native Florida.
   A high point in his career came when he was asked to perform at shows that were part of President Bill Clinton's inaugural events. 
   The Bradenton Blues Festival is scheduled for 11 a.m.- 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7 on the Bradenton Riverwalk. Tickets are $10-$40. Call 941-681-0708 or go to www.bradentonbluesfestival.com.

Sutton Foster cancels March 1 Sarasota show

   Sutton Foster's a major Broadway star, so you can't blame her for canceling her upcoming Sarasota show so that she can star on Broadway.

Foster

   She was supposed to come to the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall on March 1. But she got the lead role in a new musical called "Violet." Her contract with Van Wezel allowed to back out, so she did.
   The Van Wezel people say they hope to reschedule for another season. If you have tickets, call the box office at 941-953-3368 to find out about getting a refund or a credit to another show.

Queens of the Stone Age play St. Petersburg

     Queens of the Stone Age are one the best live bands around. 
   You can see for yourself pretty soon, 'cause they're coming to the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg Feb. 4.
   Tickets are $40.50, $50.50 and $66.50 and go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 22.
You can get tickets online at www.themahaffey.com, by phone at 727-893-7832 or in person at the Mahaffey Theater box office. The Mahaffey is at 401 First St. S. in downtown St. Petersburg.

   In their early years they played pretty much straight riff-oriented hard rock and they made some great music and put on ferocious shows. Now they're much more eclectic and much more interesting.

Queens of the Stone Age 

 QOTSA formed in 1996 out of the ashes of Josh Homme's former band Kyuss. The current lineup includes Homme (vocals, guitar, piano), Troy Van Leeuwen (guitar, lap steel, keyboard, percussion and vocals), Dean Fertita (keyboards, guitar, percussion, vocals), Michael Shuman (bass guitar, keyboard, vocals) and Jon Theodore (percussion).

 









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Flaming Lips headline Tampa's Gasparilla Music Festival

   Tampa's Gasparilla Music Festival has had some strong lineups in the first few years of existence, but the 2014 festival kicks things up a couple of notches.
   Indy gods Flaming Lips and progressive country singer-songwriter Jason Isbell -- whose album "Southeastern" is widely considered one of this year's best -- are among the acts announced so far.
    The festival is set for March 8 and 9 in Curtis Hixon Park and the adjacent Kiley Garden in downtown Tampa.

Wayne Coyne of Flaming Lips

   Also slated to appear are Los Amigos Invisibles, a Venezuelan jazz-funk band, Swedish singer-songwriter Anders Osbourne, and Americana band Delta Spirit. Lots more acts are still to be announced, festival organizers say. Last time, the festival ran only one day and featured more than 30 national acts, so it's reasonable to assume there will be significantly more than that in 2014
   Tickets are $40 for both days. You can order tickets and get other information at www.gasparillamusicfestival.com.