On Stage: MARIS brings far-out vision to pop music

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times

This weekend’s local music calendar has similar characteristics to the old wedding rhyme – “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.”

The “something new” is the talented young singer MARIS, who was born in Missoula, Montana in 2000.

On November 8, MARIS will make a return visit to the area for a show at Brooklyn Bowl (1009 Canal Street, Philadelphia, www.brooklynbowl.com/philadelphia).

The versatile singer/songwriter has followed an intergalactic course according to her website bio –

“MARIS hitched a ride on a comet to Los Angeles in 2021 and decided to stay and become a pop music sensation. Her mission on this planet is to connect with listeners through her candid experiences as a queer and emotionally vulnerable songwriter with an ‘80s-inflected pop universe and beats you can’t help but dance along to.

“In 2023, MARIS released a celestial six-song EP, Gravity, and accompanying short film, Gravity: The EP: the Movie (Black House, Best Friends Music), followed by new singles, “Voicemail”, “Hot Guitar Player”, and “GOING YET!.” She supported the releases throughout the solar system, opening for acts including Anna Of The North and The Wrecks. She performed at Boston Calling and Missoula Pride this summer.

“Fans caught MARIS Earth-side this summer performing at Boston Calling, a show with Kid Sistr, and Missoula Pride.”

“The space vibe comes because I’m a nerd,” said MARIS, during a recent phone interview from a tour stop in Washington, D.C.

“I love when space vibes get involved with the story. And I’m a big sci-fi fan.”

Fittingly, MARIS released her debut EP title “Gravity,” which was released on indie record label, Black House.

Her new singles, “Voicemail”, “Hot Guitar Player”, and “Gravity EP” have been featured in Hollywood Life, The Indy Review, The Whole Kameese, Idobi, and Guitar Girl Magazine.

MARIS’ earthly story is a bit different.

MARIS, who was born September 16, 2000, rose to fame after winning Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox Search competition in 2017.

In November 2017, Maris also auditioned for American Idol, an American talent show for unsigned artists.

Maris said that she is thrilled by the exposure she got auditioning for American Idol, performing at the AMAs and appearing on Dancing with the Stars.

MARIS said that she got an invitation from American Idol after she produced a Joleen cover video with Jukebox.

This video got more than 700-thousand views and was just the beginning of her national exposure.

According to MARIS, “I was so fortunate to be called back, and I got to sing during the AMAs and that kind of thing. So, I was super grateful with how that worked out because I got some great exposure.”

MARIS initially didn’t make the cut, but each judge had the opportunity to bring one singer back for a public vote and Luke Bryan chose MARIS.

MARIS has been surrounded by music for as long as she can remember.

“My whole family was into music,” said MARIS. “My dad liked old country music as well as classic rock while my mom loved vocals.

“I got started when my sister Raleigh made me a mixtape. I really loved One Direction with their big pop sensibility.”

Throughout her celestial catalog, you can hear the influences of MARIS’ favorite artists including Whitney Houston, Michael Bolton, Stevie Wonder, and Bleachers.

“I started making my own music when I was 17 and used YouTube,” said MARIS. “My first single was ‘Heavenly Bodies,’ which I wrote on Zoom during COVID.

“Since then, I’ve had 13 singles and one EP. I did some vocal arrangements in my bedroom. I also have worked with a number of producers – really good producers. I used to do five sessions a week with a different producer each day – like speed dating.

“I’ve been doing a lot of writing post-COVID. Lyrics and melody are my cup of tea. Usually, I come up with some lyrics and melodies to go with them. Sometimes, I’ll just start with chords.”

In 2024, MARIS has released singles “Salt Water Taffy,” “The Fight,” and “Julia Roberts.” Her latest release, “Chameleon,” is available now.

MARIS, currently one of the most popular young queer artists, came out in Missoula when she was 16. Not long after, she flew the coop.

“I moved out of Montana a month after I turned 18,” said MARIS. “I moved to New York. Manhattan was too expensive, so I moved to Brooklyn – to Bushwick and Crown Heights.

“I love the East Coast. I lived in Brooklyn from 2017-1020. I went back to Montana for eight months and then moved to Los Angeles – to the East Side.”

Now, MARIS is wrapping up an extensive one-and-one-half month tour with Melt.

“I’m touring with just a drummer,” said MARIS. “Tiger has been with me for a while. He’s a great drummer. I’ll be getting on more tours next year.

“At the end of this year, I’m working on an album. A lot of acts just release single after single instead of putting together a full album, but MARIS went in the other direction.

“I was going to wait and do this single thing,” said MARIS. “But it felt a little exhausting. I’d rather have a full cohesive body of work.”

Video link for Maris — https://youtu.be/Q4lQnjNK73M.

The show on November 8, which also features Melt, will start at 8 p.m.

Tickets are $31.10 for the floor and $57.90 for the viewing deck.

“Something old” is something really old.

On November 10, Penn Arts Live is presenting jazz legend Abdullah Ibrahim at the Zellerbach Theater.

On October 9, Ibrahim who was previously known as Dollar Brand, celebrated his 90th birthday. He was 65 when MARIS was born.

The pianist will perform with his trio which includes Cleave Guyton on flute, piccolo, clarinet and saxophone and Noah Jackson on bass and cello.

Ibrahim is a South African pianist and composer. His music reflects many of the musical influences of his childhood in the multicultural port areas of Cape Town, ranging from traditional African songs to the gospel of the AME Church and Ragas, to more modern jazz and other Western styles.

Ibrahim is considered the leading figure in the subgenre of Cape jazz. Within jazz, his music particularly reflects the influence of Thelonious Monk and Duke Ellington. He is known especially for “Mannenberg,” a jazz piece that became a notable anti-apartheid anthem.

Called “South Africa’s Mozart” by Nelson Mandela, Cape Town-born icon and 2019 NEA Jazz Master Abdullah Ibrahim brings his “spell-binding trio” to the Zellerbach Theater on the heels of his latest release, “Turn to Allah”

With over 50 wide-ranging albums, this pianist, composer and outspoken chronicler of South Africa’s struggle with apartheid has become an international icon, mixing influences from jazz and classical to gospel and traditional African music with an “ever-inventive talent.”

Ibrahim was born in 1934 in Cape Town and baptized Adolph Johannes Brand. His early musical memories were of traditional African Khoi-san songs and the Christian hymns, gospel tunes and spirituals that he heard from his grandmother, who was pianist for the local African Methodist Episcopalian church, and his mother, who led the choir.

The Cape Town of his childhood was a melting-pot of cultural influences, and the young Dollar Brand, as he became known, was exposed to American jazz, township jive, CapeMalay music, as well as to classical music.

Out of this blend of the secular and the religious, the traditional and the modern, developed the distinctive style, harmonies and musical vocabulary that are inimitably his own.

He began piano lessons at the age of seven and made his professional debut at 15, playing and later recording with such local groups as the Tuxedo Slickers. He was in the forefront of playing bebop with a Cape Town flavor and 1958 saw the formation of the Dollar Brand Trio.

His groundbreaking septet the Jazz Epistles, formed in 1959 (with saxophonist Kippie Moeketsi, trumpeter Hugh Masekela, trombonist Jonas Gwanga, bassist Johnny Gertze and drummer Makaya Ntshoko), recorded the first jazz album by South African musicians.

That same year, he met and first performed with vocalist Sathima Bea Benjamin. Six years later, they married.

After the notorious Sharpeville massacre of 1960, mixed-race bands and audiences were defying the increasingly strict apartheid laws, and jazz symbolized resistance, so the government closed a number of clubs and harassed the musicians.

These were difficult times in which to sustain musical development in South Africa. In 1962, with Nelson Mandela imprisoned and the ANC banned, Dollar Brand and Sathima Bea Benjamin left the country, joined later by the other trio members Gertze and Ntshoko, and took up a three-year contract at the Club Africana in Zürich.

There, in 1963, Sathima persuaded Duke Ellington to listen to them play, which led to a recording session in Paris – Duke Ellington presents the Dollar Brand Trio – and invitations to perform at key European festivals, and on television and radio during the next two years.

In 1965, the couple moved to New York. After appearing that year at the Newport Jazz Festival and Carnegie Hall, Dollar Brand was called upon in 1966 to substitute as leader of the Ellington Orchestra in five concerts. Then followed a six-month tour with the Elvin Jones Quartet.

In 1967 he received a Rockefeller Foundation grant to attend the Juilliard School of Music. Being in the USA also afforded him the opportunity to interact with many progressive musicians, including Don Cherry, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Pharaoh Sanders, Cecil Taylor and Archie Shepp.

The year 1968 was a turning point.

Searching for spiritual harmony in an increasingly fractured life, Dollar Brand went back to Cape Town, where he converted to Islam, taking the name Abdullah Ibrahim, and in 1970 he made a pilgrimage to Mecca.

Music and martial arts further reinforced the spiritual discipline he found. After a couple of years based in Swaziland, where he founded a music school, Abdullah and his young family returned in 1973 to Cape Town, though he still toured internationally with his own large and small groups.

In 1974 he recorded “Mannenberg – ‘Is where it’s happening’”, which soon became an unofficial national anthem for black South Africans. After the Soweto student uprising, in 1976, he organized an illegal ANC benefit concert. Before long, he and his family left for America, to settle once again in New York.

In 1990 Mandela, freed from prison, invited him to come home to South Africa. The fraught emotions of reacclimatizing there are reflected in “Mantra Modes” (1991), the first recording with South African musicians since 1976, and in “Knysna Blue” (1993).

For more than a quarter-century he has toured the world extensively, appearing at major concert halls, clubs and festivals, giving sell-out performances, as a solo artist or with other renowned artists (notably, Max Roach, Carlos Ward and Randy Weston).

His discography runs to well over a hundred album credits.

Video link for Abdullah Ibrahim – https://youtu.be/L5i4stj4M30.

The show on November 10 will start at 7 p.m.

Ticket prices start at $95.

“Something blue” is actually “something blues,” the main genre of Kelli Baker’s music.

When  Baker headlines a show at Jamey’s House of Music (32 South Lansdowne Avenue, Lansdowne, 215-477-9985,www.jameyshouseofmusic.com) on November 8, it will be another step in Baker’s rapidly growing love affair with the Delaware Valley music scene — especially her fans at Jamey’s.

The first stage was like getting a few twigs and stems, putting them together in a fire pit and lighting them. The second stage was like watching the kindling ignite and begin to create a fire. The third stage was like seeing a full-scale campfire start to blaze.

“This will be my fourth time to play Jamey’s,” said Baker, during a phone interview Tuesday from Huntington, Long Island while walking Yoshi, her 14-year-old Yorkshire Terrier.

“The first time was back in November and there were less than 30 people there. The second time was March 16, and the show was sold out.”

When Baker played Jamey’s back in June, the show had such a demand for tickets that they made it two shows – and early show at 6 p.m. and a late show at 9 p.m.”

Like many musicians, Baker has been making music since she was a kid.

“I’ve been doing music my entire life,” said Baker, who was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. “I sang in church choir with my mom. After that, I went to a Christian high school and was in a choral group there.

“Then, I taught myself guitar. I took a few years and then I got into a rock band. I moved to New York in 2012. It was where I always hoped to be.

“In addition to making music, I was also running restaurants and clubs – including the Purple Elephant in New York. Before that, I was doing it in Arizona.

“In 2018, I began to focus mostly on music. I had an ‘ah hah’ moment. When I started doing it again, I was mostly doing it myself –fake it until I make it. It was mainly at the Bar Petite every Tuesday night.”

The Bar Petite is a cocktail bar in Huntington.

“I got good at playing,” said Baker. “I also played at a lot of open mics with different musicians and that helped me learn a lot.”

Baker also landed a residency gig at one of the most prestigious music clubs in Manhattan.

“I’ve been working in house at The Bitter End,” said Baker, who recently signed as a Sony Music Artist under Bad Jeu Jeu Records. “I started playing there two years ago. I’ve done a residency once a month for the last year.”

Fans waiting for Baker’s debut album will have to keep on waiting a little while longer.

“I’m doing it single by single,” said Baker, the 2022 winner, Long Island Blues Challenge “Road to Memphis.” “My most recent single, ‘Gone Georgia, Gone,’ came out on May 10.

“I finished making my new album in March. It’s all mixed and mastered. There will be at least 10 songs – mostly originals and a few interesting takes waiting for permission.

“I’m hoping that it will be released by the end of summer or early fall.

“It was recorded at VuDu Studios – Mike Watts’ studio in Long Island. I produced the album myself.”

Baker’s band features guitar ace Noé Socha (Vernon Reid, Paula Cole), drummer Adan Wooten (son of Bela Fleck’s bassist, Victor Wooten) and bassist PJ LaMariana (Oteil Burbridge, John Kadlecik) – along with Baker on guitar and vocals.

“My genre is blues but I’m a rock girl at heart,” said Baker. The best way to describe it is as blues rooks and rock influences.”

Video link for Kelli Baker — https://youtu.be/UnaLWBF3FqU.

Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door.

Both shows will also be available as a pay-per-view at $15 each.

Jamey’s is also presenting a concert by the Deb Callahan Band on November 9.

“I’m from the Boston area and I’ve been in Philly for over 20 years,” said Callahan. “I moved here to go to grad school at Penn.”

After graduation from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Work, Callahan stayed in the area and still works as a social worker in the city.”

“I got a master’s degree in social work,” said Callahan. “I do youth counseling. My music is definitely influenced by my work as a social worker.”

Callahan, who has been a fixture in the Delaware Valley blues/rock scene for over two decades will be performing with her longtime band which features Tom Walling on drums, Garry Lee on bass and Allen James on guitar.

Callahan’s debut LP was “If Blues Had Wings” and she followed with “The Blue Pearl” in 2005, “Grace and Grit” in 2008 and “Tell It Like It Is’ in 2010.

Her most recent album, which was released in 2023.

“I’ll be playing some songs from each of my albums,” said Callahan. “I’ll also be doing some covers and playing some holiday songs.”

Video link for Deb Callahan — https://youtu.be/G8yCZBc5lIM.

The show at Jamey’s on Saturday will start at 8 p.m.

Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door.

Tickets for the Livestream concert are $15.

Jamey’s features a popular “Jazz at Jamey’s” on Thursday featuring many of the best singers in the region performing a set from 7-8 p.m. with the backing of the Dave Reiter Trio and occasional guest musicians.

Every Sunday, Jamey’s presents “SUNDAY BLUES BRUNCH & JAM” featuring the Philly Blues Kings.

“Something borrowed” refers to shows this weekend at a theater in West Chester – shows by tribute bands who borrow the music of major acts – shows that draw from music by Billy Joel and Linda Ronstadt.

Theatre Exile (1340 South 13th Street, Philadelphia, www.theatreexile.org), is in the final weekend of John Logan’s Tony Award-winning play “RED” starring six-time Barrymore Award-winner Scott Greer as iconic artist Mark Rothko and Zach Valdez as his young, challenging assistant.

“RED” captures a volatile mentorship between the aging Rothko and his ambitious assistant, Ken, set against the backdrop of Rothko’s largest commission, a series of murals for the Four Seasons restaurant.

“RED” is running now through November 10 at Theatre Exile.

Ticket prices start at $40.

Sellersville Theater (24 West Temple Avenue, Sellersville, 215-257-5808, www.st94.com) will have Tommy Castro and the Painkillers on November 8, Celtica Nova on November 9, and Davy Knowles on November 13.

The Keswick Theater (291 N. Keswick Avenue, Glenside, 215-572-7650, www.keswicktheatre.com) is hosting PopEvil on November 8, Stryper on November 9, Max Fosh on November 11 and David Cross on November 12.

Phantom Power (121 West Frederick Street, Millersville, www.phantompower.net) will present Ouija Macc on November 9 and Pig on November 10.