SARATOGA SPRINGS — More than a dozen albums ago, Saratoga Springs High School friends Pete Donnelly, Mike Gent and Guy Lyons first got together to form a musical ensemble they called The Figgs.

Thirty-one years and some 1,500 shows later, Donnelly - who calls Philadelphia and South Jersey home these days – returns Jan. 31 to Caffe Lena, where he will be joined by Fred Berman on drums, Ray Long on bass, and John Cunningham on guitar.

In addition to his founding-member in-standing with The Figgs, Donnelly’s musical path has traveled through Terry Adams’ legendary NRBQ, Soul Asylum, the Replacements’ Tommy Stinson and Graham Parker, among others.  

There was a TV commercial for a luxury car in 2013 that featured the catchy post-new wave riffs of the Figgs’ “Je T’adore,”  and with the song “Your Smile Is a Deadly Thing,” released in 2016, the band showcased THE most addictive guitar riff of the year. Go ahead, give it a whirl HERE. 

Coming back to Saratoga, “still pretty much feels like home,” Donnelly said, during a phone interview in advance of New Year’s Eve return to perform at First Night Saratoga 2017.

His most recent solo album, 2018’s “Phases of The Moon,” features an all-star combo and signals a departure from Donnelly's past work. While the pop songs remain, the jazz predominates. (As was written in these pages upon the album’s release last year: The piano serves as a driving force, merging seductive jazz riffs laced with a sweet soul muse, topped with the familiar jingle-jangle of an electric guitar).

Ten of the album’s 18 tracks are instrumentals and include recreation of works by Thelonious Monk, Ornette Coleman, Erik Satie, Claude Debussy and Oscar Pettiford.

“As a kid I loved jazz music, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, and I think a lot of people are surprised by that. Those were my idols,” says Donnelly, whose first instrument was the bass - and specifically an Ibanez Roadstar II, purchased at Drome Sound in Albany on his 13th birthday.  Growing up in ‘80s, bands like Hüsker Dü and Black Flag helped inspire his music “counter to the cheesy, schmaltzy ‘80s pop world we grew up in during the Reagan Era. Our music was an affront to that. It was an expression of searching for an identity in a banal world,” he says. “It almost feels like it’s a return to that now.”

Pete Donnelly performs 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 31 at Caffe Lena. Tickets are $20 general admission, $18 members, $10 students and kids. For more information, call 518-583-0022, or go to: caffelena.org.    

SARATOGA SPRINGS – In the waning months of 1974 and following the conclusion of his tour with The Band, Bob Dylan recorded 10 songs that would emanate from the grooves of his vinyl release in the new year. The album - “Blood On The Tracks” – includes the now-standard Dylan tunes “Tangled Up In Blue,” “Simple Twist of Fate,” “Shelter From The Storm” and “Idiot Wind.”

Wednesday night, the Rochmon Record Club calls its popular sonic gathering to order at Caffe Lena to listen, learn about and discuss Bob Dylan’s epic 1975 album “Blood On The Tracks.” 

In addition to revisiting the stories and songs of this iconic album, the night also provides a neat prelude to the scheduled 2019 Netflix release “Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese,” which focuses on the singer-songwriter during his The Rolling Thunder Revue tour. That tour hit the road shortly after the release of “Blood On The Tracks” and featured a plethora of musicians (Joan Baez to Roger McGuinn to Ramblin’ Jack Elliott to Mick Ronson), writers (Sam Shepard) and poets (Patti Smith turned the tour down, but Allen Ginsberg showed up).  There was even a push by Saratoga Springs café owner Lena Spencer to stage the tour locally (One Night Only, Nov. 18, Six Bucks).   

The Listening Party on Wednesday, Jan. 30 begins at 7 p.m. with a live audio and video presentation by Chuck Vosganian, aka Rochmon. The Caffe Lena kitchen will be open for light food and drinks. General admission is $8. For more information, go to: caffelena.org. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS – The Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee announced today that it will start interviews soon with candidates who are interested in securing the Democratic Party endorsement for municipal elections later this year. Due to changes in New York’s primary election date, SSDC interviews will be held earlier than in previous years.

The SSDC is seeking to hear no later than Sunday, Feb. 10, from those who are – or may be – planning a run in 2019.

The November 2019 election in Saratoga Springs will include races for mayor and all other City Council slots, including the commissioners of accounts, finance, public works and public safety. Two County Supervisors also will be elected to represent the city.

The SSDC will invite interested candidates to meet with its Nominations/Endorsement Subcommittee to discuss the local Democratic platform and the candidates’ positions and qualifications. The full SSDC then votes on endorsing candidates for each position.

Earlier this week, the state Senate and Assembly approved voting reform legislation, including a bill to move up New York’s primary election from September to June, consolidating state and federal primary dates. An earlier primary means that the petition process, whereby candidates seek to secure party lines on the ballot, also will occur much earlier. This in turn accelerates the SSDC’s need to interview those seeking its endorsement.

All inquiries should be directed to SSDC Chair Courtney DeLeonardis at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

BALLSTON SPA – In August 2012, the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution to create the formation of the Saratoga County Capital Resource Corporation, or SCCRC, and named Anita Daly the organization’s chair.

Charged with promoting community development and the creation of jobs in both the not-for-profit and for-profit sectors, the local development corporation this week announced it had facilitated more than $200 million in financing since its formation.

That financing benefitted health care, education and affordable housing organizations headquartered or operating in Saratoga County. Projects have included enabling low-interest financing for a segment of a new science building at Skidmore College, the expansion at Saratoga Hospital, updates to the Raymond Watkin apartments and for a St. Peter’s Hospital project.

“In the case of Saratoga Hospital, they expanded their ER and the size of their OR, and (at the Watkin apartments) they did a huge renovation to the facility that enhances the quality of life for residents there,” said Daly, who continues to serve as chairwoman of the not-for-profit SCCRC.

“By being a conduit for tax-exempt financing, it helps not-for-profits maintain low costs in financing or re-financing a project. By keeping the cost down, it allows them to save money for their operation or do an expansion, or whatever their goal may be,” Daly said. “Sometimes it makes the difference whether they go ahead with their goal or not.”

In a new initiative for 2019, the agency is providing grants to small businesses and organizations which may not otherwise have the resources to participate in the newly launched Saratoga County Institute of Management. The program is designed to help local incumbent staff members develop leadership and management skills.

“It was created at the request of different business people in the area who expressed the need to better advance certain skill sets of existing employees and new hires,” Daly said of the partnership forged between SCCRC, the county Chamber of Commerce and Empire State College with the idea of grooming future leaders. “We created a program that was directly the result of requests made by businesses, so that we can help our businesses with their workforce development needs.” 

The program is organized into three different three-month tracks: sessions in Operational Management - such as recruitment and retention, and knowledge of HR and legal issues; Self-Awareness - which includes time management and effective listening, and sessions in the Management of Others, which features motivation and conflict resolution techniques.

The cost for businesses to send employees to the management program is $1,500 (Chamber members) to $2,000 (non-members) per employee, per track.

“What the Saratoga County Capital Resource Corporation was able to so with some of its funds is to invest in the project by way of scholarships,” Daly said. “Particularly for some smaller not-for-profits that may not have the funds available in their budget to send some of their employees to this management institute, we underwrite the cost for them to attend.”  

The agency – comprised of seven members at full capacity - is self-sufficient and doesn’t rely on any taxpayer or government funding, Daly said. The group’s annual budget calls for contractual CEO and administrative expenses but is comprised of a volunteer board. Fees associated with application charges provide revenue, Daly added. Bond administration fees typically account for $75,000 in annual revenue, according to the agency’s budget.

“The whole purpose of creating Saratoga County Capital Resource Corporation was to give our not-for profits in Saratoga County an opportunity to work with a local development corporation as opposed to having to go through the state Dormitory Authority - a much more cumbersome and expensive route for them,” she said. “We’re very proud of the organization we put together and pleased that we have been were able to offer this avenue for financing and we believe it’s come back to benefit everyone across Saratoga County, and even beyond.”    

SCCRC holds public meetings on a quarterly basis at minimum, and with more frequency when working with an application or project that needs further review. For more information, call 518-435-5903, or go to: https://www.saratogacountyny.gov/departments/saratoga-county-capital-resource-corporation/.

SARATOGA SPRINGS – Amanda Platt calls Asheville, North Carolina home these days, but a decade-and-a-half and six albums ago, the then-musical novice would drag her banjo to Caffè Lena on Open Mic night, building a foundation for her life in the arts. Platt, with her band the Honeycutters, returns to the stage of her formative years Jan. 19.

“Caffè Lena is where I first learned to perform, the first place I started playing my songs out,” recalls the singer-songwriter, who attended classes at Skidmore College, worked in Ballston Spa and took lessons on playing the banjo from local musicians Trish Miller and John Kirk.

“I started playing at the Thursday night Open Mic in the winter of 2005 and I found a real receptive community at Caffè Lena. All the regulars at the Open Mic were very welcoming and kind to me and made me feel that I wasn’t being totally ridiculous to want to write songs and sing them,” Platt says. “It’s really where I started everything, where I had my first real show and where I made a promise to myself that I was just going to keep going.” 

As a band, the Honeycutters – billed as a country roots group who blend Honky Tonk music with Appalachian folk – have released five albums. Platt also has a solo record to her credit and the band is readying a live album for release in June.

The date in Saratoga Springs is sandwiched between tour stops in New Haven, Connecticut and Washington, D.C., and just before the band crosses the Atlantic for shows in Germany and The Netherlands in March.   “People are really into American music over there,” says Platt, who grew up on Hastings-on-Hudson. her father has a musical background.

“My Dad used to make music professionally in his twenties. “After he got married, my mom said: you’re going to figure something else out,” says Platt, with a laugh. “He went to law school and became an attorney, but music has stayed in his life, playing weekends.”  Her dad lives in nearby Columbia County and may sit in with the band for a few songs at Caffè Lena. The show will also mark Platt’s first return since the café underwent renovations. “I am excited to come back and see it,” she says.

Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters perform at Caffè Lena at 8 p.m. on Friday Jan 18. Tickets are $20 general admission, $18 café members, $10 students and kids.  

SARATOGA SPRINGS – What can one say about David Amram?

He’s played the French horn in the legendary jazz bands of Charles Mingus, Dizzy Gillespie and Lionel Hampton. He created and performed in the first ever Jazz/Poetry readings in late 1950s New York with his friend Jack Kerouac. He worked with Allen Ginsberg in the film “Pull My Daisy,” composed the scores for “Splendor In The Grass,” and “The Manchurian Candidate,” served as the Composer and Music Director for the Lincoln Center Theatre, and was appointed by Leonard Bernstein as the first Composer In Residence for the New York Philharmonic.

Locals may recall his recent appearance at SPAC with Willie Nelson at Farm Aid, or his emotionally stirring performance at the Lake George Jazz Festival in September 2001, when in the immediate days following 9/11, Amram brought together the T.S. Monk Sextet and Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra for a musical collaboration in Shepard Park that marked, for many, the first public event they attended in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. 

Amram’s collaborations in a storied career have included the likes of Arthur Miller and Johnny Depp, Hunter S. Thompson and Bob Dylan. And topping it off, he IS the nicest guy you could ever meet – a point punctuated by his late friend Jack Kerouac, who for his cheerful disposition. dubbed Amram “Sunny Dave.”

Amram will perform Friday, Feb. 1 at Caffe Lena. Tickets are $35 general public, $32 café members, $14.50 students and kids.

SARATOGA SPRINGS – In early 2018, the City Council authorized taking “a first step” to target the arts as a potential economic driver for the local community.  Early indications are that the plan is working.

“To me, the arts are a huge part of economic development,” said city Finance Commissioner Michele Madigan. “It’s untapped.”  To that point, the city in 2018 awarded $14,000 as a one-time economic development grant to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, which the organization put to use by retaining the New York City based Rebecca Davis Public Relations firm to market the arts and cultural offerings of Saratoga Springs to those living outside the region.   

The plan was to begin a campaign to reach the “cultural tourist” - explained SPAC President and CEO Elizabeth Sobol – “to market ourselves, to get the message out that Saratoga is one of the most extraordinary cultural destinations in the world.” The “cultural tourist” spends 60 percent more than the leisure tourist, Sobol added.

Bloggers and other travel writers were invited to Saratoga Springs, taken for tours of the Tang Museum and Caffe Lena, the Yaddo arts colony, and the mineral springs. They ate meals downtown and watched events at SPAC. Sobol pointed to a piece recently published in BBC magazine - “one of the most important international publications speaking to the cultural consumer,” she said, that showcased Saratoga Springs as a cultural destination and acted as a positive example of the marketing outreach.

Commissioner Madigan calls the investment in the arts as economic driver as “having some skin in the game,” and said that investment could play a role in the large upward trend of sale tax figures in the city in 2018.   

“We look at the sales tax for last 12 months – and we don’t have the full year of 2018 in yet – but the last 12 months, year-over-year, sales tax is up more than it’s ever been, it’s up 10.1 percent,” Madigan said.    

The commissioner credited Sobol for also doing a lot to bring SPAC as a collaborator into downtown Saratoga Springs year-round.  “There are multiple ways to gauge return on economic development, but it’s very significant, and this (return on investment on arts) is just one way we would measure economic success,” Madigan said.

Last month, SPAC announced it will spend $195,000 of a $1.695 million state it was awarded grant by the Regional Economic Development Council Initiative, on a multi-media marketing campaign slated to launch in 2020. That campaign will complement the public relations campaign that SPAC and the City of Saratoga Springs initiated in 2018 to promote Saratoga as a cultural destination.

Last year’s city investment was a one-time economic development grant based on city reserves and an analysis will need to be conducted to determine if an investment in the arts, whether it involves SPAC or another entity, will be made in 2019.