Helen Gillet w/ Sally Schaefer & Tyler Bagwell in the 9th Ward, Buffalo, NY

Big Easy in Buffalo presents Helen Gillet live in the 9th Ward, with special guests Sally Schaefer & Tyler Bagwell opening the show.

7pm Doors, 8pm Show

Tickets: General Admission Seated tickets, $10 advance / $15 day of show, can be purchased on TixR.com or in person at the Babeville Box Office (M-F 11a-5p) (in person: fee free cash sales, 3% credit card fee)

Helen Gillet is a singer-songwriter and surrealist-archeologist exploring synthesized sounds, texture, and rhythm using an acoustic cello. For someone with her varied background, New Orleans, with its mix of cultures and musics, seemed like a natural place to call home. She was born in Belgium, raised in Singapore from the ages of 2 to 11, and routinely shuttled between the homelands of her Belgian father and American mother. Over the years — working in New Orleans with musicians of all stripes, from avant-garde jazz and classical to pop and funk — Gillet has developed a singular polyglot style. The core of her work is solo performance with live looping, layering cello parts and vocal lines. Rhythmic figures emerge with bowed or plucked ostinatos or a variety of rubbing and slapping on the body of the cello, then enhanced with melodies played or sung in her haunting alto. Her mixed musical vocabulary is commensurate with her disparate travels — French chanson of the 1940s, Belgian folk tunes sung in Walloon, a mix of rock and punk from the likes of PJ Harvey and X-Ray Spex, and her own affecting originals, like audience favorite “Julien,” sung in a mix of French and English. Gillet’s solo performance is known for its enigmatic quality as she fabricates each song with innovative use of the cello and true mastery of live looping technology.

Buffalo-based acoustic folk duo Sally Schaefer (fiddle, vocals) & Tyler Bagwell (guitar, vocals) breathe fiery new life into old folk songs, bluegrass standards, classic country hits, popular Americana numbers, and a treasure trove of Celtic music. Sally is an ethnomusicologist and well-established musician around the Western New York area, appearing with numerous bands representing an array of musical genres including Creek Bend bluegrass, Buffalo Bluegrass Allstars, and Celtic rock outfit McCarthyism. Tyler is a songwriter and historian with a vast repertoire of songs and stories. His original pieces are reflective of narrative folk writing styles melded with a fervent interest in local history. Find the duo’s new album, Irish Songs & Tunes, online via your favorite streaming platform, or pick up a copy at the show.

Since 2007 The Big Easy in Buffalo has brought New Orleans and Louisiana music and culture to the Western New York region several times a year for free and low cost live performance, as well as music education and mentoring for local musicians, students, and the community. Through The Big Easy in Buffalo thousands of students, dozens of local bands, and countless audience members in Western New York have been exposed to this unique American culture. The Big Easy in Buffalo is made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Hochul and the NYS Legislature, Erie County, buffalo.fm, Dick & Jenny’s, and National Fuel Gas Co.