Thank you to Shirleta and Laura for closing out our 2014-2015 season. And thank you to all our supporters for making Carroll Cafe a success for yet another year. Come back in October for more great music!

June 12, 2015 • 7:30 p.m.

Reservations are highly recommended, as many shows sell out.

Thanks for a great show, Brother Sun
and thanks, Ellen Bukstel, for a great opening set

May 8, 2015 • 7:30 p.m.

National touring artists Greg Greenway, Pat Wictor, and Joe Jencks have made their mark as veteran touring singer-songwriters, but Brother Sun is no songwriter’s round. The trio’s harmonies, as much as their lyrics, tell what they are about: warm as a campfire, stirring as a gospel church, rousing as a call to arms. Fusing folk, Americana, blues, pop, jazz, rock, and a cappella singing, Brother Sun is an explosion of musical diversity and harmony, in the finest of male singing traditions.

From three major points on the map–Boston, New York, and Chicago–Greg, Pat, and Joe have blended themselves into Brother Sun: a unique celebration of the amazing power of singing together. As they will tell you, the music of Brother Sun is not resident in any one of them, but rather it exists in the space between them. Audiences feel this sincerity immediately. Their combined musical skills make for an unforgettable experience, three rich voices blending on a well-crafted foundation of guitar, slide guitar, piano, ukulele, and bouzouki.

Ellen Bukstel, co-author of the award-winning song “By My Silence,” provided the opening set.

Thank you for your support of Carroll Café.

p.s. Look at our Upcoming page for information on the next season.

Thanks to Genticorum
and to cosponsor, Carpe Diem Arts

April 10, 2015 • 7:30 p.m.

From the U.S. to the U.K., from Canada to Australia, fans at folk festivals around the world have discovered Genticorum. Leaders of a new generation of Quebec traditional music groups, the three members of Genticorum bring an irrepressible joie de vivre to the hallmarks of the Quebec repertoire: non-stop dance rhythms, hearty call-and-response singing, traditional- style foot percussion, and intense and impassioned playing that leaves audiences in a frenzy. The band also performs original compositions so true to tradition that it’s difficult to tell the difference between the old and the new. The huge sound emanating from this trio features intricate fiddle and flute melodies, backed by guitar, electric bass and rich resonant vocals that blend in stirring three-part harmonies – and a humorous stage show that ties the music and the audience together.

The band was founded by musicians with an unparalleled passion for their musical heritage. Both Pascal Gemme and Alexandre de Grosbois-Garand were literally raised on traditional music. Alex grew up in the midst of living room jam sessions hosted by his father, traditional musician and Quebec culture promoter Gilles Garand. Pascal spent his childhood summers in Huntingdon, Quebec, where his grandfather was the village fiddler. Yann Falquet grew up playing guitar in rock bands but soon discovered traditional music and is now an in-demand rhythm player.

Thank you for your support of Carroll Café.

Thank you, Music Pilgrim Trio!

March 14, 2015 • 7:30 p.m.
The Second Saturday

The members of Music Pilgrim Trio bring diverse musical perspectives to a collaboration that showcases their improvisational spirit and true virtuosity. The three musicians demonstrate their skill and passion for jazz, klezmer, Russian, classical and Latin-American music styles as they blend influences from around the world.

Vladimir Fridman was born and raised in Moscow, Russia, with music a major part of his life. In Moscow Vladimir received his education in music and engineering. Despite the promising career as a civil engineer, Vladimir decided to pursue his real passion – guitar.

Seth Kibel is the leader, clarinetist, and composer for The Alexandria Kleztet, a genre-bending klezmer band he founded in the Baltimore/Washington area.

Bob Abbott has been a freelance bass player, arranger, and composer. His performance experiences range from local community festivals to performing at national political and social events.

Thanks to the Dovetail Ensemble for a great show!

February 13, 2015 • 7:30 p.m.

The Dovetail Ensemble is a flexible company of stellar performers. Each concert is fresh and surprising, inviting audiences into the process of collaboration as well as its thrilling results. A Dovetail Ensemble performance is playful, deep, intricate, and straight to the heart.

Blues harmonica master and songster Phil Wiggins joins Grammy-nominated fiddler Andrea Hoag and cellist Jodi Beder, who has been Princeton Symphony’s principal cellist and played in the rock cabaret band Zen for Primates and as a Jewish liturgical musician. For this show they’re joined by percussive dancer and Hungarian native Agi Kovacs (pronounced AH-ghee KO-vosh) and versatile guitarist Mark Puryear, for an evening that ranges from traditional Swedish music to Latin jazz, from Romanian nigun to Irish jigs, from Purcell to Mississippi John Hurt . . . and does it all with the conviction of artists who have devoted themselves to their traditions over many years, and who LOVE exploring together!

The Dovetail Ensemble arose from the Old Doors/New Worlds project, which from 2009 to 2012 brought together musicians and dancers from different traditions, generations, and parts of the country to create new music.  The project was unique among collaborations in its focus on process as well as product: How do we make what we make? What do we learn about our own art, and about communication, when we collaborate? What do traditional arts mean to us in a world of instant information?

The Dovetail Ensemble is a piece of a larger organization called Freyda’s Hands, whose mission is to provide opportunities for traditional folk musicians and other performing artists to collaborate across genres, and to educate the public about traditional performing folk arts and the collaborative process.

The vision of Freydas Hands is to give young people first-hand knowledge that making music and creating art by hand is an everyday part of life. Experienced artists enjoy opportunities to develop their collaborative skills and to pass on their knowledge, in depth to budding artists, and in breadth to the general public. This exceptional organization values tradition and innovation, intergenerational sharing, open participation, and striving for excellence.

Thank you, Sligo Creek Stompers & Lulu’s Fate

January 9, 2015 • 7:30 p.m.

Sligo Creek Stompers

The Sligo Creek Stompers — Sarah Ford, Adrian Erlanger, Jess Eliot Myhre, and Chris Ousley — play a raucous but refined blend of traditional roots music: Appalachian and Midwestern old time and bluegrass; New Orleans-style traditional jazz; haunted Irish fiddle tunes; honky tonk and classic country; Texas and gypsy swing. Inspired by scratchy 78 rpm records, contra dancing and a good bottle of whiskey, the Stompers are keeping the flame of American stringband music alive in the Washington, D.C., area.

“Hearing the [Sligo Creek Stompers] is like stepping into a time machine.”  —WTOP

Lulu’s Fate

Lulu’s Fate performs a mix of music from the Appalachian, southern string band and country blues traditions, as well as original tunes and covers ranging from Hank Williams to Tom Waits. With Tom Espinola on mandolin and guitar, Kristen Jones on cello, and singer Kara Falck, the trio blends virtuosic instrumentals with lush three-part vocal harmonies to create new interpretations of traditional tunes. Lulu’s Fate is based in the Washington, D.C., metro area and has performed at the Takoma Park Folk Festival, Washington Folk Festival, Institute of Musical Traditions and numerous house concerts throughout the area.

Thank you for your support of Carroll Café.

Thank you, Ramón Tasat, Emmanuel Trifilio, Cristian Perez & trio for a wonderful show!

December 13, 2014

Born in Buenos Aires, Cantor Dr. Ramón Tasat learned Ladino, the language of the Sephardic people, at his grandmother’s knee; his style reflects the rich history and drama of this extraordinary culture. Trained in five different countries, he received a doctorate in voice performance from the University of Texas at Austin. Cantor Tasat has performed at the Kennedy Center and the Israeli Embassy, toured Europe with world-renowned Dr. Robert Shaw, and participated in international festivals on both sides of the Atlantic.

Thanks to Karen Ashbrook & Paul Oorts for a fabulous concert and CD release,
and thanks to the Rolling Scones

November 14, 2014  • 7:30 p.m.

Karen Ashbrook teaches and performs Celtic, contra dance, and Jewish music and works teaching Irish music and culture to children. These days she primarily performs as a duo with her husband Paul Oorts, playing his native Belgian and French music.