Michael Dorf is a New York City staple. This is the guy who gave us The Knitting Factory, Digital Club Network and City Winery. No schlep to the nightlife scene and the facilitator of the annual Paul Simon tribute show.
The artist announcements are starting up and so far we have Bettye Lavette, Bob Mould, Civil Wars’ Joy Williams, Madeleine Peyroux with Jon Herington, Allen Toussaint and Dan Wilson. Just a glimpse of what’s to come- and the diversity it’ll bring.
But wait if you think that’s all Dorf does, you’re wrong. This guy is the king of the ‘tributes’. He seems to do about ten of them a year. Heres a blurb on his Joni Mitchell tribute show
“I’ve always been a big, big fan of Joni,” Dorf told Pollstar. “Here was an artist that doesn’t play out much. You don’t get a chance to her work done live. … That was kind of the impetus, if you will, for the first one. I’d really like to hear Shawn Colvin, Martin Sexton, or Suzanne Vega doing a Joni Mitchell song. I like covers. Covers are hard not to like and to hear them interpreted in these voices that I also appreciate, was just a nice mix. That was the impetus of the first one.” Fans gave Dorf plenty of encouragement to continue the series. His tribute to Joni Mitchell netted $100,000 for charity.
Tributes? Really? Why are we shelling out big coin to hear someone else perform another persons music? I for one really love the idea of ‘covers’ especially cool bands who do covers of generic pop bands. It adds an element of fun to the mix. But schleps doing legends work? Thats a bit off putting. But hey- you’re payin’ not me.
Just fyi that Dorf also put together the Simon and Garfunkel tribute in 2010 during SummerStage. Let’s get back to Carnegie Hall shall we?
Tickets and limited VIP packages are available now with 100 percent of the net proceeds from the concert going to music education nonprofits. This year’s recipients include The American Symphony Orchestra’s Music Notes, Church Street School for Music and Art, Young Audiences New York, FIKS (Fixing Instruments For Kids In Schools), Little Kids Rock and the Center For Arts Education.
Expect more artists to be added to the lineup in the weeks to come. Of course there’s a website for the big night. Visit CarnegiePaulSimon.com