Time for a post on recent goings-on.
Caught the inaugural night of the Columbia Harlem Festival of Global Jazz a week ago. An ambitious and multifarious festival... kudos to George Lewis and all involved for putting this excellent 10 days or so together.
Joelle Leandre's octet and Globe Unity Orchestra opened the festival at the stately Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz Information Center.
It was an engaging and varied evening of music. I had mixed feelings overall about the music's success and the acoustics in the space were detrimental for Globe Unity, but am so glad that these groups were presented in New York. Very long overdue!
Steve Smith’s review at Night After Night is here.
Globe Unity trombonist, musical compatriot and all-around good bloke Jeb Bishop’s comments at Night After Night are here.
Hank Shteamer’s wonderfully-titled review of the evening is here.
The next night I went down to Cornelia St Cafe to hear Adam Lane's Full Throttle Orchestra. Good fun, great compositions and inspired ensemble/individual performances all around.
That was Friday. My ears took a day off Saturday from concertizing and then I made it out to a Sunday afternoon concert of two gorgeous pieces for brass ensembles by Anthony Braxton as part of the FONT festival. What a treat to hear two pieces of Braxton's from the early/mid 80s performed by crack ensembles that included two of my favorite musical compatriots, FONT co-curator Taylor Ho Bynum and Nate Wooley. And what a pleasure to watch Mr. Braxton conduct. So clear and with such intention!
I'll be heading down to the Abrons Art Center this Sunday September 30 to hear Nate's FONT-commissioned piece with Paul Lytton and David Grubbs. Should be a great night. Bravo to Dave Douglas, Taylor, and all the other FONT organizers for presenting another diverse, challenging, killing festival.
Creative Music Tuesdays completed its inaugural month at Spike Hill September 25. Tomas Fujiwara brought a wonderful trio with Keith Witty and Shoko Hikage. Sara Schoenbeck's and my duo Saris played after them.
Here's the complete listings for October, which I'll also include as a separate blog at the beginning of the month. Come on down if you're in the NYC area.
Creative Music Tuesdays at Spike Hill
184 Bedford Avenue (@ N7)
Brooklyn , NY 11211
(718) 218-9737
www.spikehill.com
www.myspace.com/spikehillnyc
October curated by Harris Eisenstadt
$10 cover per set
Located on the corner of Bedford and North 7th, with
delectable pub food, gold-standard Guinness, pristine sound and two full bars, Spike Hill has flourished into a staple among the area’s clubs while still maintaining its intimate atmosphere.
***
Oct2
8pm Wayne Horvitz/Briggan Krauss/Brandon Seabrook Trio
10pm Radio I-Ching: Dee Pop/Don Fiorino/Andy Haas
Oct9
8pm Eyal Maoz's Edom with Shanir Blumenkranz, Brian Marsella, Yuval Lion
10pm Michael Sarin Trio with Brad Shepik and Brad Jones
Oct16
8pm Steve Swell Slammin the Infinite w/ Sabir Mateen, Matt Heyner, Michael Wimberly, with John Blum (tentative)
10pm Angelica Sanchez Trio with Lisle Ellis and Michael Sarin
Oct23
8pm Jason Mears Trio with Kato Hideki and Harris Eisenstadt
10pm Mary Halvorson and Jessica Pavone
Oct30
8pm Barry Altschul Trio with Hayes Greenfield and Ed Schuller
10pm Harris Eisenstadt Canada Day Quintet with Matt Bauder, Chris Dingman, Eivind Opsvik, Nate Wooley
***
On the visual front, Sara and I watched a crazy movie that Jason Mears lent us: Mail Order Bride. Check it out. Its out.
Been struggling through Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland for a couple months. Was glad to find this link to help me on my way. Perhaps my most simultaneously engaging and difficult reading since Nabokov's Pale Fire and Joyce's Ulysses as an undergrad. The title of this post is one of Pynchon's hilarious turns of phrase.
Final word for now. I patiently but vigilantly await the fifth and final (HBO, you're really bumming out) season of The Wire.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Monday, September 10, 2007
Creative Music Tuesdays begins at Spike Hill
Her's the press release for a new Tuesday music series in Williamsburg:
Creative Music Tuesdays at Spike Hill
184 Bedford Avenue (@ N7)
Brooklyn , NY 11211
(718) 218-9737
www.spikehill.com
www.myspace.com/spikehillnyc
September curated by Harris Eisenstadt
$5 cover per set
Located on the corner of Bedford and North 7th, with delectable pub food, gold-standard Guinness, pristine sound and two full bars, Spike Hill has flourished into a staple among the area’s clubs while still maintaining its intimate atmosphere.
***
SEPTEMBER 11
8pm
Aaron Alexander/Julian Priester duo
- 25 years ago, Aaron Alexander and Julian Priester met in Seattle as student and teacher. While visiting Seattle early in 2007, Alexander invited Priester to join him in the studio for an informal recording session. They recorded spontaneous compositions and were struck by the ease of which the structures emerged and the feeling of being deeply heard by one another. Priester was planning a trip to New York for the summer, and a follow up recording session was arranged. Once student and teacher, now both professionals, the two musicians present a concert of new and spontaneous compositions. This concert will be a memorial tribute to the great drummer Max Roach and may feature some special guests.
10pm
Adam Rudolph (hand drums and percussion, with Charles Burnham (violin) and Brahim Fribgane (oud & percussion)
- Composer/percussionist Adam Rudolph invites frequent collaborator multi-instrumentalist Brahim Fribgane and freewheeling violinist Charles Burnham for a set of soulful improvisations dedicated to the late master artist/musician/drummer Max Roach.
***
SEPTEMBER 18
8pm
Aaron Siegel, percussion and Sam Amidon, woodwinds
- Drums, violin, banjo, dancing, singing, tom foolery and
earnest tunes for the new day of mountain improv.
10pm
Andrea Parkins (accordion, electronics)
Ches Smith (drums/electronics)
- Frequent collaborators Andrea Parkins and Ches Smith meet up for some duo mayhem.
***
SEPTEMBER 25
8pm
Tomas Fujiwara's The Hook Up
with Shoko Nagai – keyboard, Keith Witty - bass
- With a "quiet energy that propels" (All About Jazz) and a style that is "both volatile and watchful" (New York Times), drummer Tomas Fujiwara leads a group of like minded musicians through a set of his original compositions. With inspiration ranging from Wayne Shorter to Haruki Murakami, Fujiwara's pieces deal with the intersection of composition and improvisation as well as concepts of shifting roles within an ensemble.
10pm
Saris (Sara Schoenbeck – bassoon, Harris Eisenstadt – drums)
- Saris formed in 2000. They have toured the US and Europe, and play compositions by both members and some of their favorite composers. Sometimes they invite guests to play with them.
Creative Music Tuesdays at Spike Hill
184 Bedford Avenue (@ N7)
Brooklyn , NY 11211
(718) 218-9737
www.spikehill.com
www.myspace.com/spikehillnyc
September curated by Harris Eisenstadt
$5 cover per set
Located on the corner of Bedford and North 7th, with delectable pub food, gold-standard Guinness, pristine sound and two full bars, Spike Hill has flourished into a staple among the area’s clubs while still maintaining its intimate atmosphere.
***
SEPTEMBER 11
8pm
Aaron Alexander/Julian Priester duo
- 25 years ago, Aaron Alexander and Julian Priester met in Seattle as student and teacher. While visiting Seattle early in 2007, Alexander invited Priester to join him in the studio for an informal recording session. They recorded spontaneous compositions and were struck by the ease of which the structures emerged and the feeling of being deeply heard by one another. Priester was planning a trip to New York for the summer, and a follow up recording session was arranged. Once student and teacher, now both professionals, the two musicians present a concert of new and spontaneous compositions. This concert will be a memorial tribute to the great drummer Max Roach and may feature some special guests.
10pm
Adam Rudolph (hand drums and percussion, with Charles Burnham (violin) and Brahim Fribgane (oud & percussion)
- Composer/percussionist Adam Rudolph invites frequent collaborator multi-instrumentalist Brahim Fribgane and freewheeling violinist Charles Burnham for a set of soulful improvisations dedicated to the late master artist/musician/drummer Max Roach.
***
SEPTEMBER 18
8pm
Aaron Siegel, percussion and Sam Amidon, woodwinds
- Drums, violin, banjo, dancing, singing, tom foolery and
earnest tunes for the new day of mountain improv.
10pm
Andrea Parkins (accordion, electronics)
Ches Smith (drums/electronics)
- Frequent collaborators Andrea Parkins and Ches Smith meet up for some duo mayhem.
***
SEPTEMBER 25
8pm
Tomas Fujiwara's The Hook Up
with Shoko Nagai – keyboard, Keith Witty - bass
- With a "quiet energy that propels" (All About Jazz) and a style that is "both volatile and watchful" (New York Times), drummer Tomas Fujiwara leads a group of like minded musicians through a set of his original compositions. With inspiration ranging from Wayne Shorter to Haruki Murakami, Fujiwara's pieces deal with the intersection of composition and improvisation as well as concepts of shifting roles within an ensemble.
10pm
Saris (Sara Schoenbeck – bassoon, Harris Eisenstadt – drums)
- Saris formed in 2000. They have toured the US and Europe, and play compositions by both members and some of their favorite composers. Sometimes they invite guests to play with them.
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