I had the great fortune to perform in one of the loveliest cities in upstate New York: Hudson— a city in the county seat of Columbia.
I performed at Backbar, a beautiful venue that serves fusion food, and it was the perfect setting for my music, featuring Southeast Asian inspired bites. The owner of Backbar, Niki Porter and her husband, Michael Davis (a designer), had prepared the lounge and performance venue beautifully for the band’s arrival. The grand piano had just been tuned, and the space looked peaceful and calm, with giant wooden doors imported from Rajasthan in India (Niki said they were shipped on freight liners), as well as tall, fragrant candles.
We reached the city quickly: my band (Christian Finger on drums; Pete Swanson on double bass) and I, piled into my Atlas Cross Sport from New Jersey and drove just a mere 1.5 hours before we found ourselves in this delicious slice of the Catskills, zipping past forests covered in evergreens. How quickly urban turned into suburban!
Olana, the historic home of the most famous painter in America in the 19th century, Frederic Church
The stunning Hudson lighthouse
Hudson is a quiet, well-manicured city, filled with historic buildings from the Olana Historic Site (home to the most famous painter, Frederic Church, in 19th century America), the Hudson lighthouse, and the Thomas Cole museum.
For you art buffs out there, Cole was the painter whose trip to the Catskills changed his life and the course of American art—he started the Hudson River School of American landscape Painting). Cole taught Frederic Church. It’s worth visiting the city for the art history alone.
The city of Hudson is filled with gorgeous brick buildings and Victorian-era architecture
Downtown, you can take in brick buildings and new shops like Banque (known for its stunning chocolates and fine food, and set in a former bank), as well as dine at places like Backbar.
The concert itself was an absolute delight and I performed for almost two hours (it’s also crazy to know I have more than six hours of original music!). Accompanying my trio was flutist Tommy Gravino, who drove all the way from the Finger Lakes to play with us. Talk about being a trooper! (a video of the full Raga Kalyani that we played at Backbar is above, on the header).
The setting was beautiful: look at those stunning doors from India
With the band post show: Pete Swanson killed it on the double bass; Christian Finger on the drums, Tommy Gravino on alto flute
We played through almost all my albums from RAGS & RAGAS to RAGAS & WALTZES, and the feedback was so brilliant and I was so grateful. The mayor of Hudson, Kamal Johnson (also the youngest mayor and first African American), sat through the entire show and loved it.
With the mayor of Hudson, Kamal Johnson
The evening was even more wonderful because it was Val Shaff’s birthday (Val was a lady I just met at the show, and she had brought all her friends to my show to celebrate—so naturally we sang happy birthday to her at the end).
I love intimate concerts—and this was the ultimate soiree!
As some of you probably know, soirees were essentially elegant evening parties, and they emerged in the 18th century in France and England as a fashionable pastime for wealthy, well-married ladies. The beauty of the soiree is that it exists in so many forms in modern society—notably in the form of concerts and gatherings like these.
This visit gave my family and I the perfect excuse to return. Erika (my daughter), loved the chocolate shop Verdigris (which also has a cute cafe to dine in); my husband loved the architecture, and I loved the chance to play my music to a very appreciative audience.
So, for those of you who want a beautiful getaway to the Catskills and upstate New York area, look no further—this one’s a real gem!
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