Turkuaz pays tribute to Alanis Morissette

Fundraiser for Planned Parenthood

Alanis Morissette’s album, Jagged Little Pill, took the world by storm in the 1990s, and she is known for being a singer and songwriter whose been a spokeswoman for all women. Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom proudly presented a collaboration of musicians including Shira Elias, Sammi Garett, and Michelangelo Carubba from Turkuaz, Jennifer Hartswick of the Trey Anastasio Band, Sasha Brown from Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds, Mike Tallman of Euforquestra, and Chuck Jones of Dopapod for a fundraising event earlier this year. Many came together to celebrate women, music, and Alanis Morissette’s award-winning album.

A twang of a guitar rang out with a grungy electronic rock sound accompanied by a harmonica. Screams rose from the crowd as Hardswick took on the first song of the album, “All I Really Want,” with power and poise. Garett and Elias harmonized with Hardswick for the chorus as hands raised in the air throughout Cervantes, fans loudly singing along to each and every word, “And all I really want/ is some patience/ a way to calm the angry voice/ and all I really want/ is deliverance/ ah,” that they learned by heart so many years ago.

The Alanis Morissette Tribute Show was started in Manhattan, New York by Michelangelo Carubba, the drummer for Turkuaz, two years ago. “The tribute show was a fundraiser for Planned Parenthood,” Elias said. “He [Carubba] was looking for a way he could contribute and give back. The album was iconic, people know it well and grew up with it. Alanis was a huge role model for women, and she was revolutionary for women in the music scene. It just made sense to pick her album.” The first tribute show was performed in February of 2016, and it received a much larger response than the musicians even hoped for.

Due to the current political climate, Planned Parenthood is one of the organizations that was going to have their funding massively cut, so part of the proceeds from the show were donated to the organization. These musicians came together because they knew how important it was for women to have a choice when it comes to their bodies.

In 2012, Planned Parenthood had 79 percent of their patients come from lower-income communities. “With all the stuff going on with Planned Parenthood getting defunded, Michelangelo was looking for a way to raise money for this cause,” Elias said.

One year later, the musicians wanted to collaborate on another fundraiser, this time in Denver. “Michelangelo came to us and said we’re doing another show in Denver. We were all super excited to hit the road and take this show to another venue,” Garett said. “We come to Colorado multiple times a year. After New York, which is our hometown, Denver is a special place for us to play.”

The performance covered the album in its entirety with some renditions of classic tunes with added guitar solos by Tallman. But the focus was on the talent of the three female singers, with some beautiful acapella harmony by Garett, Elias, and Hardswick during the song, “You Learn.” The crowd continued to sing along with full verbosity as Elias gave it her all, singing her heart out while dancing and head banging around stage, beautifully caught up in the moment and the power of the song.

“We took portions from the first concert and donated the proceeds to Planned Parenthood and we’re going to do it again tonight,” Carubba said. “You all showed up and we really appreciate that. In this country, all these people need a lot of help, and if we’re lucky enough to have it then we should pay a little bit forward right? We want all y’all to take all the love that we gave you and all the love you created out there and take it with you.”