Duke Performances is now Duke Arts presents. Learn more.

Duke Arts Presents

Theo Bleckmann

Friday, September 27, 2013 | 9:00 pm


Why do collaborators from Meredith Monk to Laurie Anderson to John Hollenbeck flock to work with Theo Bleckmann? Because Bleckmann offers a voice “so colossal, yet so meticulous, he can seem otherworldly” (All About Jazz). Last heard in Durham a season ago fronting Hollenbeck’s big band, this supernatural jazz vocalist returns with a band and project of his own.

In PSI Theatre’s intimate black box space, Bleckmann pays tribute to another singular voice: British art-pop innovator Kate Bush, with whom he shares an off-kilter sensibility. The tribute, Hello Earth!, his reimagining of Bush’s songs, was named one of the top ten jazz albums of 2012 by NPR. But categories like “jazz” and “pop” barely contain Theo Bleckmann’s outsize charisma and interstellar voice.

Theo Bleckmann, vocals & electronics
Caleb Burhans, violin, guitar & voice
Henry Hey, keyboards
Chris Tarry, electric bass
Jordan Perlson, drums