Singletary goes ‘singular’ with eclectic concerts, artists and a unique film

An immersive movie screening? A guitarist who continually juggles genres? A jazz outing with a UK alumnus? A double bill of Southern-inspired folk?

Clear a few dates on your winter-to-spring calendar. The University of Kentucky’s Singletary Season is about to unveil one of the most stylistically far-reaching series of live events in its 44-year history.

Yes, the Rose Street venue and its two performance halls remain home for all manner of student, faculty and UK School of Music events. It’s also still the primary concert space of choice for the Lexington Philharmonic and the UK Symphony. But in between, the Singletary will be inserting some programming of its own that takes a different path to some considerably less obvious sounds.

Jeff Parker, Edition Redux, ‘32 Sounds’ and more

First up is a Jan. 25 concert by guitarist Jeff Parker and his New Breed band of jazz, soul and groove directed journeymen.

“We’re booking lots of different genres and music with people from different parts of the country,” said Singletary Center Director Matthew Gibson. “There are Grammy winners (saxophonist Ernie Watts, who performs Feb. 1 with trumpeter and UK alum Brad Goode), MacArthur Geniuses (composer/bandleader/reed player Ken Vandermark with his Edition Redux quartet on Feb. 20) and folks that have all kinds of different critical acclaims in their own areas.”

Gibson took full reins of the Singletary in 2022 after terms as interim director and director of operations. His duties included guiding the facility through the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic where all programming of touring artists was halted and all faculty/student performances were staged for video presentation without audiences present.

“We had to be really cautious back then for all sorts of reasons, so it’s just so refreshing to see audiences coming back and being able to program in a really robust way — to get back to a sense of normalcy. A sense of normalcy around here involves tons of excitement and activity. I’m just glad we’re on an upward trajectory again after a few really challenging years.”

The first shades of the Singletary’s new programming season were unveiled last fall with performances by Indian sitar player Ustad Shafaat Khan, jazz drummer and composer Makaya McCraven (who will return to the Singletary this week as a member of Parker’s New Breed) and a double-bill featuring Chicago’s drum/pedal steel guitar-based Mute Duo and Knoxville guitarist Joseph Allred.

Gibson’s interest in the discovery and presentation of performance artists predates his tenure at the Singletary. He has been involved extensively over the past 15 years with UK’s student-operated radio station WRFL-FM, including stays as programming director and general manager. That introduced him to avenues of booking and promoting concert events. What drives Gibson most, though, is his own interest in new ideas surrounding music and performance.

“On Feb. 20, we have Ken Vandermark’s new quartet Edition Redux. I remember 20 years ago, seeing one of his bands, the Vandermark 5, play downtown as part of the Outside the Spotlight music series. Ken and his ensemble were just bursting with this creative spirit. I feel I am in a very privileged position now to curate that experience for other people, both for School of Music students who are really close to us here in the Singletary Center, but also with everybody in the Lexington community.”

Perhaps the most daring entry in the Singletary season doesn’t involved live music at all. On Feb. 29, the Center will present an “immersive” screening of “32 Sounds” with director Sam Green as an active participant.

“The ‘32 Sounds’ film screening is maybe the event I’m most excited about for the semester,” Gibson said. “We are installing a 26-foot movie screen in the Recital Hall. Sam Green narrates the whole movie live from the stage and everyone in the audience wears a pair of wireless headphones. There are all these stereo audio effects, binaural sounds. It’s awesome. I got to see this last March. The movie is a documentary about sound. It’s about recording, it’s about composition — all these different things, but there is this really profound human element to the movie. It’s not just about sound as a scientific phenomenon, but about how sounds touch our lives — like hearing a recording of a deceased loved one’s voice and how that sound keeps us connected in a very special way. It’s about how people use sound to express really complex ideas and how they document parts of their lives through it. When I saw it, just within the span of one screening, I laughed, I cried. There was a point where you got up and danced. It’s this very total experience.

“A lot of this season’s programming is based on experiences I’ve had as a concert goer seeing what ideas are percolating. When I’m out there as an audience member, I’m always thinking, ‘What’s going to be compelling and really kind of singular?’ Lexington has the conditions to really broaden its horizons in terms of music and art, so we’re choosing things that are going to push against the kinds of creative boundaries of what’s out there. We’re trying to use the Singletary spaces in a kind of a different way that they have before.”

Singletary Center lineup, upcoming concerts

Here is the lineup of Singletary Center live event programming for the coming months. All events will be presented in the venue’s Recital Hall with a start time of 7:30 p.m. For more information, go to finearts.uky.edu/singletary-center/events.

▪ Jan. 25: Jeff Parker and the New Breed

A Los Angeles guitarist who juggles numerous performance projects, Parker will showcase a blend of jazz-accented groove music with his New Breed quartet.

▪ Feb. 1: Brad Goode/Ernie Watts Quintet

Trumpeter and University of Kentucky alumnus Goode continues a long-running partnership with saxophonist Watts. The latter’s credits run from Cannonball Adderly to Paul McCartney.

▪ Feb. 20: Edition Redux

Edition Redux is a new piano/drums/tuba/reeds ensemble led by Chicago bandleader, composer, improviser and veteran of many previous Lexington performances, Ken Vandermark.

▪ Feb. 29: “32 Sounds” – A Film by Sam Green

“32 Sounds” is a documentary that explores sound with director Green providing live narration and headphones for patrons to experience the subject matter in depth.

▪ March 25: Colin Stetson

A saxophonist of volcanic intensity versed in circular breathing techniques, Stetson is also a prolific film score composer who has collaborated with Lou Reed, Arcade Fire and Tom Waits.

▪ April 6: Joan Shelley/Jake Xerxes Fussell

This songwriter showcase brings together contemporary folk songstress Shelley from Louisville and Durham, N.C., song stylist Fussell.