SONY HALL welcomes jazz singer/songwriter and guitarist Madeleine Peyroux for one night only! Band members are: Madeleine Peyroux (vocals and guitar), Jon Herington (guitar and vocals) and Barak More (double bass and vocals). Show time Sarurday 15 May 8:00pm. Doors open at 6:00pm The Carlile Family Band opens WE ARE AMERICA: Madeleine Peyroux sings American songs that give us hope   “Music has the power to unite people” says jazz virtuoso Madeleine Peyroux, “it is the easiest way to find solidarity with another human being.” 2026 sees the celebrated musician embark on the We Are America tour, engaging with audiences from Tucson to Quebec, Boise to New York - “the beating heart of Jazz” itself. “My music and these performances are part of a dialogue” she explains - a candid, ongoing conversation with a loyal community brought together by the power of music.   Marking the 10th Anniversary of Secular Hymns’ release, the tour reunites the singular artist with her longtime collaborators bassist Barak Mori, and guitarist Jon Herington. This is the dynamic trio that in 2016 recorded the classic tunes by Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen and Sister Rosetta Tharpe among others, and harmoniously carried the worldwide Secular Hymns tour that followed.   Ten years on, the intimate ensemble will elegantly set the scene for Peyroux to uplift audiences with a captivating mix of originals and covers, old and new - from Allen Toussaint, Judy Collins, Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan and Nick Lowe, to Peyroux’s soul-baring originals. Each cover carrying the distinctive, crooning-candour, now synonymous with the maverick musician’s name - each original, revealing the artist’s musings on her personal journey and that of the world at large.   “This trio has a history of collaborating on the repertoire and ideas for arrangements” said Peyroux, “We Are America is going to be a celebration of great American composers and songwriters with the songs themselves being part of that story - knowing who we are. Barak, Jon and myself will craft a show with emotional and musical variety, picking personal, intimate and direct songs that represent what we feel about America.” One such gem is Allen Toussaint’s arresting We Are America Now, its gently-potent lyrics embodying Peyroux’s message and place in time - Toussaint’s “we’re some of yesterday and some of tomorrow” perfectly conveys Peyroux’s deep gratitude to the music greats whose legacy she is “proud to be a part of”, while his call for “all good men, to get together with one another..iron out the quarrels, and try to live as brothers”, aptly captures her strive for unity - “channeling music to speak about the right way to be, focusing on positivity, truth and justice.”   It has also been thirty years since the release of the breakthrough album Dreamland - the milestone recording that shifted teen busker Peyroux from the streets of Paris to the world’s grandest concert halls, cementing her as a classic, timeless talent that is here to stay. Three decades on, Peyroux is the holder of an arresting nine album portfolio, with sold out tours and countless accolades to her name, including the coveted BBC artist of the year. The budding singer who in 1996 enchanted the world with mesmerizing covers, now confidently crafts her own, the Jazz virtuoso ‘reminiscent of Billie Holiday’, is a courageous creative transcending genre, era and place. “My goal is to create a cathartic experience for the audience, each note healing and consoling, breeding truth, togetherness and love”.   Born in Athens, Georgia, Peyroux grew up in a musical home. Her mother played the ukulele and gifted little Madeleine with the instrument. Her “rough and stormy” New York childhood took a pivotal turn when her parents’ divorced and 12-year-old Peyroux moved to France with her mother. The musical teen soon found herself in Paris’ Latin Quarters busking with street musicians, mastering performance skills and breathing in the ‘nomad spirit’. The young rebel went on to join a vintage jazz group called the Riverboat Shufflers, before teaming up with the Lost Wandering Blues and Jazz Band, a group of street musicians with whom she toured Europe. Here she learned the art of connecting with the audience, that music is a shared experience, and that “a great song can wield powerful magic and inspire the best in any type of crowd.”   Being a street musician meant “being able to stand on the street corner, at eye level and witness the magic of music, with no fanfare, no fourth wall, no makeup, costumes, setting, fame or fortune - when you play people stop, they come and stand together, I would never have known the power of music had I not been a street musician.”   Peyroux was in her early 20s when she was discovered by Atlantic Records and when Dreamland was born. With this 1996 album the maverick talent made her mark, introducing a smokey, brooding voice that prompted references to Billie Holiday, but it was the 2004 Careless Love that propelled the gifted artist into Jazz superstardom. Produced by multiple Grammy winner Larry Klein (Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock), it sold 500,000 copies and was certified gold. The path was now set for a life of travel, collaborations with the most noted musicians around and discovering her own songwriting talent, something she has a desire to work on in future - “to craft a true, direct and personal” statement about life.   “Ever since I can remember, I have been a traveling American singer” said Peyroux, “performing and studying American tunes that were the only comforting constant in a turbulent world, We Are America is a new chapter in the journey that began on the streets of Paris.”

Jill Sobule’s work is at once deeply personal and socially conscious, seriously funny and derisively tragic. In a dozen albums spanning three decades of recording, the Denver-born songwriter/guitarist/singer has tackled such topics as the death penalty, anorexia nervosa, shoplifting, reproduction, the French Resistance, adolescent malaise, LGBTQ issues, and the Christian Right. Her hits include “I Kissed A Girl”—the first openly gay-themed song ever to crack the Billboard Top 20—and the alt-rock anthem “Supermodel” featured in the film “Clueless”. Sobule was one half of The Jill & Julia Show, providing music while actor Julia Sweeney contributes storytelling. Jill is considered a pioneer in crowdfunding and is constantly exploring and creating new models for artists in an ever-changing music industry. Her latest record is “Nostalgia Kills”, produced by Ben Lee and released on her own Pinko Records label. Jill’s theater credits include a musical adaptation of the Broadway classic “Yentl”, “Prozak and the Platypus”, and “Times Square”. Her latest, “F*ck 7th Grade”, was postponed due to Covid, but was performed and filmed for three days at a make-shift drive-in over the Summer. The musical is a finalist for the Lambda Literary awards in LGBTQ Drama category this June. “Jill Sobule can claim her place among the stellar New York singer-songwriters of the last decade. Topical, funny and more than a little poignant …grown-up music for an adolescent age.” -New York Times