Spotlight: A.J. Croce

Of A.J. Croce, Willie Nelson has said, “A.J. Croce has wisdom beyond his years. With his music, he represents his generation with a profound sense of honesty in his lyrics and quality in his delivery. The future of entertainment is safe in his hands.” The son of legendary singer-songwriter Jim Croce, A.J.’s career began with his first tour at age 18 opening up for B.B. King. In the span of his 20+ -year career, A.J. has headlined festivals, concerts and major listening venues worldwide. Starting off as a jazz influenced blues-based artist, singer-songwriter Croce has since recorded a multitude of albums, created his own label called Seedling Records, and has shared the stage with a plethora of esteemed artists ranging from Nelson to Ray Charles, Béla Fleck to James Brown, Lyle Lovett to Morphine, and Rod Steward to Ben Harper. In 2013, Croce launched an ambitious recording project called Twelve Tales, featuring a dozen new tracks, released one per month.  The project, recorded by legendary producers such as Nashville’s “Cowboy” Jack Clement (Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis), New Orleans’ ambassador of funk Allen Toussaint (Dr. John, Paul McCartney), five time GRAMMY-Award winner Kevin Killen (Elvis Costello, Peter Gabriel) in Stamford, CT, GRAMMY and Golden Globe nominee Mitchell Froom (Crowded House, Los Lobos) and Tony Berg (Fiona Apple, Bob Dylan) in Los Angeles; and Greg Cohen (Tom Waits, John Zorn) in New York City, is what Croce appropriately describes as “a musical jigsaw puzzle without a box.” The album made its debut earlier in 2014 on Compass Records. Please join us as we welcome A.J. Croce to the Clive Davis Theater for an in-depth discussion about the project, moderated by Vice President of The GRAMMY Foundation and MusiCares Scott Goldman, and performance.