The Carver Community Cultural Center has announced its 2024-2025 season of mainstage performances at the Jo Long Theatre and its locally focused Intimate Series at the Little Carver Theatre.
Female singers play an important role in the new season. Grammy award winner Patti Austin opens the new season on October 12, followed by R&B and soul singer Lady Wray. London group The Kingdom Choir, known for their performance at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018, will be guests on November 22.
In the Gullah griot of coastal South Carolina, “ranky tanky” means “get funky.” The Gullah quintet Ranky Tanky will perform their mix of spirituals, gut bucket blues, jazz, gospel, funk and R&B on January 17, along with Grammy-winning singer Lisa Fischer.
Composer, jazz singer and visual artist Cécile McLorin Salvant on April 12 and guitarist and singer-songwriter Jackie Venson, who will perform with singer-songwriter Kam Franklin on June 6, complete the lineup of female vocalists on the main stage.
Soul, Modern Dance and Flamenco
Soul stalwart Lee Fields will perform with California soul band Monophonics on January 25, and Chief Adjuah, the New Orleans jazz legend described as a sound architect, trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist, will take the stage on February 15.
Contemporary modern dance company Dallas Black Dance Theater visits March 1, and saxophonist, film and Broadway composer Branford Marsalis brings his quartet to the main stage on April 25.
Former San Antonian Tamara Adira of the nonprofit theater company Arte y Pasión, which recently relocated to Seville, Spain, will return to present a major mainstage production. Sonidos De Libertad – A history of punk told through flamencoon March 22nd.
Adira sees the art form of flamenco as a street reaction against oppression and a creative cry for freedom that comes from the same source as the international punk movement of the late 1970s.
“The precursors of flamenco emerged during the Spanish Inquisition, when the Roma, African and Jewish communities were to be exterminated,” Adira explained in a statement about the production. “These communities played a key role in the development and evolution of flamenco as we know it today; they convey sorrow, fear, sadness, joy, hope (and) pain.”
San Antonians on stage
The Little Carver Theatre often features artists from the San Antonio area. The new season’s lineup includes Carbonlily, Jaime Ramirez, Favorite Son and Ruby Alexander.
Carla Fikes, who performs under the name Carbonlily, opened for Chris Guerrero at Little Carver in February and will headline on November 15.
She described the Little Carver Theatre as “such a beautiful, intimate atmosphere, which is especially cool for musicians. We want to build a connection with our audience and this space is perfect for that.”
Keyboardist Jaime Ramirez will then perform as Mr. Winnebago & Friends on December 13. The group’s name came from a “silly song” he and a friend composed last year while walking under Interstate 35 in Austin from their parking lot to a Lila Downs concert.
The short voice memo became a full-blown song that inspired a series of similar songs that also fit the Mr. Winnebago label, he said. Although Ramirez has performed several times as an instrumentalist backing other singers, he is now stepping into the spotlight himself.
“I’m always the supporting actor, and that’s something that rarely happens as a frontman, so I try to deal with it,” Ramirez said.
Other Intimate Series performances include the blend of alternative country, rock, blues, jazz and Latin from San Antonio rockers Favorite Son on February 22 and the nostalgic song style of Ruby Alexander and The Bonafide Playboys on March 8.
Tickets for all performances in the 2024-2025 season are available from Ticketmaster (Jo Long Theatre and Little Carver Theatre) or at the Carver Center box office.
