Hugh Blumenfeld | |
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Background information | |
Born | Jamaica, Queens, New York City | October 11, 1958
Genres | Folk |
Occupation(s) |
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Years active | 1994–present |
Labels | |
Website | hughblumenfeld |
Hugh Blumenfeld (born October 11, 1958) is an American folk musician and singer-songwriter from Connecticut. He was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York City, graduated with degrees in Biology and Humanities from M.I.T. in 1980, and got a master's degree in English Literature from the University of Chicago in 1981. He was active in the Greenwich Village music scene in the 1980s, attending the Cornelia Street Songwriters Exchange and performing at Folk City and Speak Easy while working on a PhD in Poetics from New York University. He also helped to edit the Fast Folk Musical Magazine (now part of the Smithsonian-Folkways collection) and recorded songs for a dozen issues. After earning his PhD in 1991, he worked as an English professor until 1994, [1] when he began writing and performing full-time. Over the next 10 years he toured mainly in the Northeast and Midwest, with several short tours in Europe and one in Israel. In 1999 he was appointed Connecticut State Troubadour. [2]
In the fall of 2003, he enrolled in medical school at the University of Connecticut and became an MD. He currently practices family medicine in Hartford, Connecticut, [3] and continues to perform as part of a folk quintet, The Faithful Sky with long-time collaborators including Jim Mercik.
Blumenfeld's first album, The Strong in Spirit, was self-released as an LP in late 1987. It featured performances by Lucy Kaplansky, Marshal Rosenberg, Kenny Kosek and Mark Dann, and was produced by David Seitz. It includes "Let Me Fall In Love Before the Spring Comes," which was later included in on a Winter's Night, a popular compilation edited by Christine Lavin. In 1993, Barehanded became the first release of the New York-based independent label Prime-CD.
In 1996, Blumenfeld released Mozart's Money, a more highly produced album that helped him gain a national audience through reviews and indie radio airplay. AllMusic praised it as a leap forwards with its more "confident" and "radio-friendly" sound. [4] Lucy Kaplansky and Mark Dann feature prominently and are joined by Michael Visceglia (of Suzanne Vega's band) and Mindy Jostyn. Rocket Science, the last of his Prime-CD recordings, came out in 1998; AllMusic noted its "brave", "bold" and "endearingly honest songs" in a 3/5 review. [5] In 2000, he recorded Big Red in Switzerland for the Brambus record label with percussionist Shane Shannahan, who later joined Yo Yo Ma's Silk Road Project, and popular Swiss country music singer Doris Ackermann. In 2010, his CD Dad was released on Waterbug Records.
Compilations:
"St. James Infirmary Blues" is an American blues song of uncertain origin. Louis Armstrong made the song famous in his 1928 recording on which Don Redman was credited as composer; later releases gave the name Joe Primrose, a pseudonym of Irving Mills. The melody is 8 bars long, unlike songs in the classic blues genre, where there are 12 bars. It is in a minor key, and has a 4
4 time signature, but has also been played in 3
4.
Richard Shindell is an American folk singer, songwriter, producer, and musician. Shindell grew up in Port Washington, NY. He now lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with his wife, Lila Caimari, a university professor, and their children.
The Strong in Spirit is the debut album by folk artist Hugh Blumenfeld. It was released in 1988 by Prime CD.
Mozart's Money is the third album by folk artist Hugh Blumenfeld. It was released in 1996 by Prime CD.
John Gorka is a contemporary American folk musician. In 1991, Rolling Stone magazine called him "the preeminent male singer-songwriter of what has been dubbed the New Folk Movement."
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The Folk Next Door was the name of a concert series and CD releases produced on by WWUH, the University of Hartford radio station in West Hartford, CT, USA. There were nine concerts and CDs in all, one each year starting in 1991. Featured artists included Sloan Wainright, Dar Williams, Hugh Blumenfeld, The Nields, Please and Thank You Band, Lui Collins, Dewey Burns, Bruce Pratt, Kate McDonnell and Freddie Tane, The Hartford Gospel All Stars, Catie Curtis, and Dave Drouillard.
Joe Glazer, closely associated with labor unions and often referred to as "labor's troubadour," was an American folk musician who recorded more than thirty albums over the course of his career.
Fast Folk Musical Magazine was a combination magazine and record album published from February 1982 to 1997. The magazine acted as a songwriter/performer cooperative, and was an outlet for singer-songwriters to release their first recordings.
In February 2002, twenty years after the original publication of the magazine Fast Folk, Smithsonian Folkways released a two-CD compilation album of 36 tracks selected from the magazine's fifteen-year history titled Fast Folk: A Community of Singers & Songwriters.
The Guggenheim Grotto is a folk-pop band from, County Mayo, Ireland. The members of The Guggenheim Grotto are Kevin May from Ballinrobe, and Mick Lynch from Westport. Guggenheim Grotto has a unique sound, characterized by an emphasis on piano instrumentals supporting their harmonies. Partridge of the Hartford Courant described their style as "folk-influenced indie-pop" and said it fit well with other music popular on college and public radio, such as Rufus Wainwright, Crowded House, and Kings of Convenience. The music varies from rock, to pop, folk, and even soul. Their influences include Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits, although that is not immediately apparent from their sound.
DW (Dave) Drouillard is an American vocalist, songwriter and musician.
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Larry Long is an American singer-songwriter who has made his life work the celebration of everyday heroes. Author, historian, actor, film producer and broadcaster Studs Terkel called Larry “a true American Troubadour.” His non-profit organization "Community Celebration of Place" encourages community building through music and intergenerational story-telling. He lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
"American Jerusalem" is a song written by singer-songwriter and guitarist Rod MacDonald in 1978. Considered his "signature tune", the nearly-six-minute long song first appeared on MacDonald’s 1983 debut album No Commercial Traffic.
Tom Paxton is an American folk singer-songwriter who has had a music career spanning for more than fifty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He is noteworthy as a music educator as well as an advocate for folk singers to combine traditional songs with new compositions.
Joe Flood is a musician and songwriter working in Connecticut and New York, although he started his career as a street musician in Europe. A veteran of the '80s NYC roots rock scene, Allmusic has described him as "a true inheritor of the rich rock-blues-country-folk blend of The Band." The Band has also recorded some of his songs, as have Laura Cantrell, the Flying Neutrinos, and the Bottle Rockets. He's also done sessions work for various artists, including Mojo Nixon, Harry Chapin, Kelly Willis, Artie Traum, and Blues Traveller. He's co-written with Jono Manson, Levon Helm, and Jim Weider, among others.
"She Takes My Breath Away" is a song by American singer Eddie Money, released in 1992 as the third single from his eighth studio album Right Here. It was written by Money, Gary Bromham, Dennis Morgan, Monty Byrom and Marc Tanner, and produced by Tanner and Money, with additional production by Randy D. Jackson. "She Takes My Breath Away" reached No. 5 on the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks and remained in the charts for 12 weeks.
Scott Yoo is an American conductor and violinist. He was appointed Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra in 2016. He hosts the PBS TV series Now Hear This.
In folk [...] Connecticut state troubadour Hugh Blumenfeld plays the Northwest Park Folk Series at the Windsor Nature Center Saturday.
As a family doctor, I treat and prevent illness in my patients, and I am also committed to improving public health.