Danny Zelisko Presents an evening with acclaimed artist Joan Baez at 8 p.m. this Saturday, October 27 at the historic Celebrity Theatre. As a special offer to fans purchasing tickets for Baez’s U.S. tour, a CD or digital download of her new album, Whistle Down The Wind, is included with every ticket purchased.
“I’m looking forward to being on the road with a beautiful new album of which I am truly proud,” says Baez. “I welcome the opportunity to share this new music as well as longtime favorites with my audiences around the world.”
Released on March 2nd, Rolling Stone called Whistle Down The Wind “a moving reflection and summation of Baez’s life as a singer, musician and activist.” Listen to the title song here: http://bit.ly/2EvMHnu. Recorded over a 10-day period in L.A., Whistle Down The Wind was produced by 3-time Grammy Award-winner Joe Henry (Bonnie Raitt, Allen Toussaint and others) and includes songs written by Tom Waits, Anohni, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Josh Ritter, Eliza Gilkyson and more. The new music marked the first release from Baez since 2008’s Grammy-nominated album, Day After Tomorrow. Its release, which ignited an extraordinary decade of achievement for Baez, coincided with the 50th anniversary of her legendary 1958 residency at the famed Club 47 in Cambridge. Milestones over the past ten years include:
• 2009: PBS American Masters premiere of her life story, Joan Baez: How Sweet The Sound, which underscored the 50th anniversary of Baez’s debut at the 1959 Newport Folk Festival.
• 2011: Baez’ seminal debut album of 1960 honored by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences in 2011, which inducted it into the Grammy Hall Of Fame.
• 2015: Library of Congress selects Baez’s debut album to be preserved in the National Recording Registry.
• 2015: Amnesty International bestowed its highest honor on Joan Baez, the Ambassador of Conscience Award, in recognition of her exceptional leadership in the fight for human rights.
• 2016: Baez’s 75th birthday was celebrated at New York’s Beacon Theater in January, where Paul Simon, Jackson Browne, Emmylou Harris and others joined her. The concert premiered on the PBS Great Performances series in May 2017.
• 2017: Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction
• 2017: Baez’s first solo exhibition of paintings, entitled “Mischief Makers,” was presented in Mill Valley, CA. The entire exhibit was subsequently purchased by the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria and donated to Sonoma State University, where it will eventually be displayed at an envisioned new social justice-learning center on campus.
Baez remains a musical force of incalculable influence. She marched on the front line of the civil rights movement with Martin Luther King, Jr., shined a spotlight on the Free Speech Movement, took to the fields with Cesar Chavez, organized resistance to the Vietnam War, inspired Vaclav Havel in his fight for a Czech Republic, saluted the Dixie Chicks for their courage to protest the Iraq war, stood with old friend Nelson Mandela in London’s Hyde Park as the world celebrated his 90th birthday and, most recently, protested the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. To this day, she continues to stand passionately on behalf of causes she embraces.
Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets ($45, $65, $85 and $125) are limited! Purchase tickets at Celebrity Theatre, 440 N. 32nd St., in Phoenix, or online at www.celebritytheatre.com. To charge by phone, call 602-267-1600 ext. 1. All tickets are subject to facility and ticketing surcharges. All ages welcome.