Archive for the 'Concert Reviews' Category
Iraqi Jazz Fusion!
Author: Anthony Medici
So, are you into Iraqi jazz fusion yet? Or maybe you never heard of it? I had a chance to listen to it last night (Saturday, Feb 7) at the Smithsonian’s Freer Museum Meyer Auditorium, in a performance by Amir El Saffar’s Two River Ensemble, with El Saffar on trumpet, santur, and voice, Rudresh Mahanthappa on alto sax, Nasheet Waits, drums, Carlos De Rosa, bass, and Jason Adasiewicz, vibraphone. The place was packed– and your intrepid blogger was almost shut out. Read the rest of this entry »
read comments (2)Rundgren NYE Review Redux
Author: Jeff Boule
Due to the extreme word count of the recent Todd Rundgren NYE Concert review, the comment section was disabled. Firstly, I’d like to use this unique opportunity to allow those readers who wish to comment on the review to do so at the end of this brief blog. When I started to receive emails at my home account containing comments about the review, I knew I would have to do something, well, like this! Additionally, I would like to extend tremendous thanks to Doug the promoter of the event for contributing fact checking and editing. So if you have a comment about the review I invite you to leave one after this blog. Thanks!
Alien Huddle in Baltimore!
Author: Anthony Medici
Quick, name a top female saxophone player. Quick, name a female tenor sax player in the free jazz, creative improvised music arena. If nothing immediately leaps to mind, don’t feel too bad; unfortunately, it’s really not a crowded category. I’m not sure what the reasons are for that state of affairs. But it did add a bit of an edge to my interest to check out Danish saxophonist Lotte Anker, performing with Swiss pianist Sylvie Courvoisier, and Japanese electronics improviser Ikue Mori, the latter two now based in New York, while Anker remains based in her native Copenhagen. I caught them this past Saturday at An Die Musik in Baltimore, last stop on their U.S. tour behind the release of their new CD, Alien Huddle. Previous stops included Noo Yawk and Philly, and I had heard good reports on the show. I was not disaapointed; in fact, the show continues to resonate with me. Read the rest of this entry »
To paraphrase the sappy, mushy title theme from the equally sappy movie Love Story of the `70’s, “Where do I begin, to tell the story of how great a night can be?” No minor exaggeration, this was one of those once-in-a-lifetime events that everyone who attended will not soon forget. The evening had everything every average Todd Rundgren fan would run a Ponzi scheme to get to.
Free Jazz in Fortress America
Author: Anthony Medici
On a frigid Friday, I set out from Our Nation’s Capital to the City of Brotherly Love to attend the Marshall Allen-Han Bennink concert, part of the Ars Nova Workshop series. Leaving the DC area took on the trappings of departing from one of those doomed cities one finds in sci-fi movies, like “Escape from New York.” Massive security procedures for the Inauguration have turned DC into a bunker complex: bridges and roads closed; transit system overwhelmed and confused; people warned to stay away. I needed a change of scene. Read the rest of this entry »
The Year in Review: Highs and Lows, Including the 5 Worst Jazz Magazine Cover Stories
Author: Anthony Medici
This is the time of year when we look back, take stock of what was, both the highs and lows, and look forward to what the new year brings. Let’s start with the Top 5 Worst Jazz magazine Cover Stories of the Year, shall we? Read the rest of this entry »
Passing Ships and Cheesesteaks
Author: Anthony Medici
This past Friday, your intrepid blogger set forth to face the challenges of I-95 from DC to Philly in order to attend the Ars Nova Workshop presentation of the Ron Horton Sextet performance of Andrew Hill’s Passing Ships. Since I love the music of Andrew Hill, I was more than willing to face the three hour drive each way (it’s the return trip late at night that’s tough). On my last trip up the same route, I ran over a large metal object in the road, destroying two tires (newly installed) on the driver side of my car as well as the front left wheel. So it was with some trepidation that I set forth. Fortunately, the storm that had deluged the DC area for several days lifted on the very monring that I left, leaving cold, grey but dry weather for the trip. I was looking for great music and great cheesesteaks. I found great music…. Read the rest of this entry »
For those of you not familiar with the name David Byrne, he was the strange man in the suit and horned-rimmed glasses chopping at his forearm in the Talking Heads “Once In A Lifetime” video. Talking Heads long-time producer, Brian Eno, has been a long-time collaborator of Byrne’s. The show was billed as The Songs Of David Byrne and Brian Eno, right there, you know it’s going to be…
That Guitar Man from Central Park; David Ippolito
Author: Leigh Silbernagel
That Guitar man from Central Park; David Ippolito
Self-described as “Acoustic-storytelling like James Taylor might have written if heavily influenced by the Beatles and Broadway.”
Going Dutch in Baltimore
Author: Anthony Medici
My pal and I traveled to An Die Musik in Baltimore, Maryland Saturday night to hear two groups: Trio Bramm, from Holland, and All Coda, all from the Baltimore area with the exception of New York-based saxophonist Tim Berne. There was exciting music on offer, all in a small (perhaps 80 seats), comfortable (got to love those stuffed armchairs), and in a welcome departure from much current practice, unamplified format (although the bass players and guitarist did use small amp pickups that did not alter the essentially acoustic nature of the set). The performances were excellent, and the in the case of Trio Braam, particularly interesting and inventive. At the end, though, I was left with a question that has vexed me of late. Read the rest of this entry »
Arena = Todd Rundgren + Guitars Guitars Guitars!
Author: Jeff Boule
The story behind the album Arena is simply a tale born out of situational necessity. You die-hard Rundgren fans remember a couple of years ago (around the time the movie CARS came out) Todd had replaced Ric Ocasek in The New Cars (the ‘New’ being added in light of the minority percentage of returning members, only Elliot Easton and Greg Hawkes returned). Also joining Easton and Hawkes were Utopia and long-time Rundgren bassist and vocalist Kasim Sulton alongside drummer for The Tubes, Jefferson Starship and also a long-time Rundgren band member Prairie Prince. During the New Cars tour, the tour bus was in an accident and Easton fell from an upper bunk and broke his shoulder/collar bone. The tour was cut short, the cross-promotion with the Pixar movie was cancelled, and Rundgren found himself with nothing to do for a summer. Not wanting to waste a prime touring season, Rundgren spoke with Tony Levin band and long-time Rundgren guitarist Jesse Gress who contacted Levin and recruited him along with Levin Band drummer Jerry Marotta to do a two guitars bass and drums tour. Less expensive than touring with Midi and keyboards, etc.
Seeing as how he was going to be touring with a guitar-oriented band, not only did he have to limit his repertoire to guitar based or guitar-oriented or guitar adaptable songs, he also had to rearrange some keyboard-oriented standards for guitar.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Nick Cave and the Good Show
Author: Lydia Pudzianowski
Technically, it’s still Sunday, making it my designated blog day here at prex.com. Good start, I know.
A little while ago, I found out that Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds were playing the Electric Factory on October 7th. While I’m from Bucks County, I go to school in Pittsburgh, and Nick is one of my favorites. Long story short, I flew home for 24 hours to catch this show and then turned around and came back.
Worth it? Yes. Hell yes. Read the rest of this entry »
They were the soundtrack to my 18 year old life
Author: Gary Cope
I remember going into a local record shop in Cypress, California called Bionic Records. I worked up the street and would stop in there each Friday with my paycheck in my pocket. I needed to pay rent and buy food, but I also needed to buy new music. Read the rest of this entry »
Idle Thoughts of an Idle Mind
Author: Anthony Medici
As William Congreve (not Shakespeare) once famously said, “Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast” (not beast, although now so often misquoted as to form a standard quote in itself), but it seems rather powerless to cure the sick– at least in my case, as I spent the week suffering from a nasty illness that left me time to listen but not much inclination to do so. I usually suffer, as I suspect most music lovers do, from a perceived lack of time to enjoy their favorite music. It’s one of life’s cruel ironies illnes gives one the time to listen but takes away one’s capacity to enjoy it. I suppose music can often be a power for healing and would love to hear from those who have experienced that power. Read the rest of this entry »
Jazz- Live! The Duke Ellington Jazz festival
Author: Anthony Medici
I love my records and my CDs, and you can find me holed up with them for hours, but whenever I can I get out and listen to live performances, particularly jazz, I do so. Pickings have been somewhat slim this summer here in Our Nation’s Capital (you know, the place politicians love to hate, or pretend to hate), and so, I have had little to blog about. However, last week provided an embarrassment of riches, thanks to the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival, presented at various venues around the Capital, with a big outdoor festival on Sunday at the Sylvan Theater on the Mall, near the Washington Monument. The weather was perfect, and the music ran from the very fine to the sublime. Read the rest of this entry »
Any time Nine Inch Nails rolls into town, there is likely to be an event. Mostly because they ARE the event. The lineup sported by Trent Reznor was no exception. It was great to see Robin Finck, as well as seeing (again) Josh Freese, who was drumming for Devo at the Pier (see an earlier blog) in Philly. Alessandro Cortini is a breath of fresh air for all the musicians in the audience. Since Cortini joined the band, all the keyboard parts have been played as they should be as opposed to what other NIN keyboardists were doing, which was triggering one key to play an entire phrase.
No cheating at THIS show, it was ALL good.
Vma’s: Not As Scary As I Thought It Would Be
Author: Melissa
First off, I apologize for the recent unprofessionally long absences. I have been shirking my duties, but it will cease and desist, I promise. Read the rest of this entry »
My hunch is that the vast majority of people reading this are not independently (or even dependently) wealthy. That means that most likely, we’re all looking for ways to get some impact out of the money we have in terms of everything, including music. While I didn’t plan it this way, I’ve had a lot of cool little music things happen over the last 12 days – and they’re all cheap. So why not share?
The King Is Dead, Long Live King Crimson – Nokia Theater, NYC, Aug. 16.
Author: Jeff Boule
Faithful readers have heard this from me before, but there is no more appropriate venue to bring forth this tired tidbit, this go-round of King Crimson is to herald the 40th anniversary of the Mighty Crim Beast. Not to promote an album, simply to celebrate the 40th year Robert Fripp has been sitting atop the throne of this massive monster. Read the rest of this entry »
All Points West? More like South…
Author: Jake Hyman
Those of us with festival experience – or should I say real festival experience – were wary about what to expect from the inaugural “All Points West Music and Arts Festival” in Jersey City, NJ. The venue was promising enough: Liberty State Park, the proverbial welcome mat for millions upon millions of immigrants during the late 1800s to the mid 1900s, has iconically timeless views of the Statue of Liberty and New York City skyline, which make up for what the park lacks in natural beauty (there are virtually no trees at all, and the grass runs from plentiful stabbing crabbiness to thin and balding). The “festival,” which did not involve any sort of camping option and had beer drinkers relegated to only five beers at three nonsensically placed tents from which no music could be seen or heard, was plagued by long transportation waits (the only viable options for 30,000 on each of the three days were the ferry from Manhattan or the Light Rail from Hoboken), and even longer entry lines of up to an hour once the more big-name bands started playing in the evening, giving the entire event the vibe of a crowded concert rather than a bustling festival.
Bands were given only one hour to play (plus or minus fifteen minutes), with a half-hour between acts for breaking down and setting up, which was more than enough time for the lower-tier of performers (see examples below). For the better bands (Radiohead aside, whose set ran for over two hours, but was still over in time for the early bird special at 11:00pm, whereas most festivals run until 3:00am), the set times were ludicrously short. Treating The Roots like an opening band by putting them on stage during the waning daylight hours of 7:15pm to 8:15pm is simply inappropriate. The Roots open for no one! They were barely warmed up by the end of the hour and seemed to have at least two more hours of performance left, since that’s what their normal shows entail. They are one of the premier musical performers on today’s scene and are widely accepted as the greatest live hip-hop band EVER. And All Points West relegated them to one hour, which led immediately into the 8:30pm Radiohead set. I was just as excited as anyone there to see Radiohead play, but making them the only band that plays for longer than one hour is just disrespectful to the other worthy acts. A more apt name for the APW would have been “Radiohead featuring the All Points West Music and Art Festival,” and not the other way around. They rightfully received top billing, but at the expense of a longer Roots performance. If acts were overlapping all day, as they are bound to do at festivals, why not give people the option of staying an extra hour with The Roots and cutting down the crowd for Radiohead? I still would’ve gone and paid homage to the musical gods, but many would have opted to stick with the kings of hip-hop.
Despite all of the unfestive logistical nightmares, the arts part of the “music and arts” festival was a smashing success. The tone that organizers were going for (AEG Live of Coachella and Rothbury fame) was one of environmental responsibility, a theme that I didn’t even know about until after the festival was over and Nate Chinen of the New York Times revealed that All Points West was “expressly full” of “environmental selling points.” All bitterness aside, that green goal, while virtually invisible and unpromoted, is what led to the relaxed and entertaining atmosphere inside the festival. There were water games and modern abstract sculptures galore, and before 5:00pm rolled around, when thousands of people started filing in, there was room to play frisbee and walk calmly from stage to stage. And it’s a good thing, because it was impossible not to want to wander.
The music was the most perplexing aspect of the entire affair. Saturday consisted of a few great acts (Radiohead, The Roots, Animal Collective, Sia) interspersed with a majority of mediocre-at-best artists (K’Naan, Nicole Atkins, Chromeo), which were all painfully bogged down by some that were simply unbearable (The Felice Brothers, Exit 105, Your Vegas). The former musicians were all saved for evening slots, which explains the mad rush to get in. The latter two groups, however, were arranged in ascending order by quality (because first is the worst), leaving that calm and pleasantly festivalish part of the day filled with lots of background music, but essentially devoid of any band truly worth sticking around for…hence my gratitude at the plethora of activities (frisbee, photography, art exploration, etc.) at my disposal. In true “festival” form, the pre-evening day was a lovely refuge from the usual hustle and bustle of living in or just outside of Manhattan.
Day and night at All Points West were polar opposites. They were like…well…like night and day. Once the front runners showed up — that is, those who paid $110 to go to a festival and just show up for the headliners — All Points West went South. Not musically, of course, because Radiohead and The Roots were in the line-up, but the calm, happy-go-luckiness of the first five hours vanished in a flash of Prada bags (did I just date myself, or are those still popular?) and Dolce and Gabbana sunglasses. Call me cynical (I am) or just plain bitter (I am NOT, you son of a bitch), but those New Yorkers turned my festival into a jam-packed concert, complete with requisite dirty looks, pushing, rubbing, yelling, and “fuck-off”s.
At other festivals, the crowds exude positivity (see my posts about Rothbury) and consideration for each other. Just by attending a festival together, all those in attendance foster a sense of community and belonging that only music can create. I did not find this at All Points West, and I would argue that any festival held in New York City (even via Jersey City) will be hard pressed to maintain that positivity. Most people who live in the greater New York area will counter that All Points West wasn’t like other festivals because Manhattan isn’t like any other city. I quite agree, but this time it wasn’t for the better.