UPDATE: All events at the Stone tonight are now cancelled.

Like Death By Audio, Manhattan's non-profit avant-garde venue The Stone is staying open Saturday night, and it's sure to be a very special show. Not only will those in attendance all have 'braving the hurricane' in common, it's the monthly...

JOHN ZORN IMPROV NIGHT--A STONE BENEFIT--PLEASE NOTE THERE WILL BE NO 10PM SHOW! 8PM ONLY!
John Zorn (sax) David Konopnicki (guitar) Steve Swell (trombone) Ikue Mori (electronics) Shanir Blumenkranz (bass) Dougie Bowne (drums) Dave Miller (drums) Erik Friedlander (cello) Anthony Coleman (piano) Dave Scanlon (guitar) Annie Gosfield (keyboards) Jon Madof (guitar) and many special guests

WITH AN INCREASE IN EXPENSES AND A DROP IN OUR CD INCOME WE NEED YOUR HELP MORE THAN EVER TO SURVIVE--SO COME DOWN AND SUPPORT THE STONE AT OUR MONTHLY RENT PARTY! TWENTY DOLLARS

That is tonight (8/27) at 8pm only (no second show tonight). And then "THE STONE WILL BE CLOSED SUNDAY AND MONDAY AUGUST 28-29. THE SHOWS ARE CANCELED DUE TO HURRICANE IRENE. STAY SAFE!"

UPDATE:

THE STONE WILL BE CLOSED SATURDAY TO MONDAY AUGUST 27-29
These concerts have been canceled out of respect to MOTHER NATURE. HURRICANE IRENE is expected to strike six hours ahead of schedule at 9PM on Saturday night.
PLEASE STAY INDOORS AND STAY SAFE!
WE WILL REOPEN ON TUESDAY AUGUST 30

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As previously mentioned, August at the Stone was curated by Carlos Giffoni and Seth Rosner. Tuesday's show features Ches Smith (drums) Tim Berne (alto sax) Nels Cline, Mary Halvorson (guitars), and Andrea Parkins (accordion). Shahzad Ismaily plays later that night. Wednesday, the last day of the month, has Jen Shyu and Tyshawn Sorey.

September is curated by Jon Abbey and Brian Brandt.

Founded in June 2010 the Undead Jazzfest is new kind of festival, bringing together an incredible array of artists from the new jazz and improvised music community currently exploding in New York City. With no headliners, affordable tickets, unorthodox venues and no drink minimums, the Undead Jazzfest aims to shake the public perception of what jazz can be today, celebrating the incredible music being made in a setting that is inviting to both the veterans and curious new fans.

Encompassing eleven venues over its four days (6/23 - 6/26), the Undead Jazzfest will feature appearances from more than 50 bands including names like Marc Ribot, Elliott Sharp, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Mountains and many others. The full list of participating bands is below. Four day passes are on sale for $45 until 4/28. The price increases to $50 after.

Undead Jazzfest is also responsible for curating another show outside of said festival, this one going down at Central Park Summerstage on June 11th with Medeski Martin & Wood, Josh Roseman's King Froopy All Stars and Jim Black's AlasNoAxis. It's one of many free 2011 Summerstage shows that have been announced.

AND, Undead Jazz presents a show at Le Poisson Rouge tonight (4/25) with Orchestre National de Jazz with Daniel Yvinec and John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble with special guests Theo Bleckmann , Kate McGarry and Uri Caine. Undead Jazz also presents Todd Sickafoose's Tiny Resistors and Mary Halvorson Trio at the same venue on May 18th.

Full Undead Jazzfest 2011 lineup below.

Continue reading "Undead Jazzfest 2011 lineup announced, tix on sale now, and other related shows too"

by Andrew Frisicano

Marc Ribot & Caged Funk plays at Rose Live Music tonight (June 17th). For that Marc joins keyboardist Bernie Worrell (ex-Parliament Funkadelic, Talking Heads), guitarist Marco Cappelli, bass player Brad Jones, drummer JT Lewis, and DJ Logic on turntables for a set of "John Cage looped, hi-jacked, detourned, and scratch mixed." Some background...

In rehearsing for a performance of John Cage's 'Sonata for Two Voices' (1933) at Issue Project Room last winter, guitarist Marco Cappelli and Marc Ribot made a strange discovery. The two guitarists overcame the gap between the rhythmic complexity of the piece and Mr. Ribot's somewhat limited sight reading skills by 'looping' measures: constantly repeating each difficult passage until it became easier. It was in this way they became aware of a strange fact about John Cage's music that would have probably surprised (and possibly dismayed) the composer himself: John Cage was one funky dude. The resulting project, "Caged Funk", is a further exploration of this little known aspect the late composer's work. Tonight's performance is an open rehearsal. This work was commissioned by and will be premiered July 8,2010 at the Ludwigsburg Festival 2010 in Germany.

On June 26th, Marc plays with another super-improv group at (Le) Poisson Rouge - a quintet with guitarist Leonid Fedorov, bassist Vladimir Volkov, John Medeski on keys, and percussionist Ches Smith. Tickets are on sale.

Marc Ribot goes on to play at The Stone on June 29th with bassist Greg Cohen, and for free at the Stuy Town Oval on June 30th with Marc Ribot y Los Cubanos Postizos and La Cumbiamba eNeYe. After that, dates in Canada and Europe.

Videos and all dates are below...

Continue reading "Marc Ribot @ Rose Live Music w/ Bernie Worrell & other dates "

by Andrew Frisicano

Ches w/ Good for Cows; Weasel Walter

We mentioned Rose Live Music's drummer-led series, which continues through March, but we'd be remiss not to mention two other stunning drummers who will be working like crazy this March. Ches Smith and Weasel Walter both have a mad amount of shows planned throughout the month, playing almost nightly with a number of different bands and collaborators (some of which even overlap).

Both compose and improvise; Weasel Walter (who recently moved to New York) walks the metal/free jazz divide, having headed Flying Luttenbachers, and Ches's credits include current work with eclectic combos Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog and Secret Chiefs 3 (both with multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily) and past work with Xiu Xiu.

Ches plays tonight Wednesday, March 17th at the Stone with Good for Cows, a duo with bassist Devin Hoff that just released a new record, Audumla, in January. And Thursday he plays with Mary Halvorson Quintet at Roulette. Those are just of a few of the shows in NYC before Ches leaves in late April for a European tour with Secret Chiefs 3. His solo project Congs for Brums opens on the trip..

Weasel Walter played two gigs last night (3/16) - his compositions were performed at (Le) Poisson Rouge by International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) and he played with Aurora Josephson Group (doing the music of Ayler, Mingus, Sun Ra, Feldman and improvising) at The Stone. He also joins Aram Shelton (alto saxophone), Damon Smith (bass) at Silent Barn tonight (March 17th) and has shows at Zebulon and Goodbye Blue Monday (both pass-the-hat venues) in March.

On March, 19 at the Stone, Weasel Walter plays drums with Quok, a trio with Ava Mendoza on guitar and Devin Hoff (of Good for Cows) on bass. The second set that night is Fig - Nels Cline (guitar) & Yuka Honda (keyboards). Hoff plays with Nels Cline Singers, whose two-disc set of guitar & electronic led tunes, Initiate, comes out April 13th on Cryptogramophone. The Singers will be at LPR for two sets on July 6th. Tickets are on sale.

Full dates for both drummers and videos of some of their projects are below...

Continue reading "drummers Ches Smith & Weasel Walter have a lot of shows coming up (dates) "

by Andrew Frisicano

Marc Ribot @ Hudson Square in August (more by Andrew Frisicano)

The Times wasn't too impressed by Marianne Faithfull's set at Town Hall on September 24th, though they did have good things to say about Marc Ribot, who once again backed her on guitar.

Despite a good band (most of the crew from the new record, directed by the bassist Greg Cohen and including the guitarist Marc Ribot, who repeatedly tore it up), despite the rousing volume, despite the healthy and unhealthy adulation from the crowd, much of the show felt a bit inert. Having finished her part in a song, Ms. Faithfull leaned against a stool or a keyboard or a speaker, smiling into the distance, waiting for the musicians to wrap it up.

It didn't help that she kept her eyes on lyric sheets; consequently, many of the songs felt like recitations. She seemingly became truly involved in the music only when she didn't need to be reminded of the lyrics, which happened in some of her old songs: a little bit in the morbid "Sister Morphine," a lot in the scabrous "Why'd Ya Do It?" When she traded elegant resignation for asperity, closing her eyes and shaking her fists, she was so much better. [NY Times]

Ribot plays tonight (9/29) with Ceramic Dog, a trio with Shahzad Ismaily on bass/moog/other and drummer Ches Smith, and regular guest Eszter Balint. Tickets are still on sale.

Marc will be back at the venue on November 18th for a show with Akiko Yano. He played guitar on her 2008 T-Bone Burnett-produced album akiko, and it'll be their first NYC show together. Tickets are on sale. She plays without Marc Ribot (but with Will Lee & Chris Parker) at Joe's Pub on October 6th (tix).

Coming up, Marc Ribot will be part of the NY Guitar Festival's Silent Films/Live Guitars series in January 2010. Ceramic Dog will tour Europe this October. Those dates are below...

Continue reading "Marianne Faithfull played Town Hall w/ Marc Ribot (who plays LPR tonight & other upcoming shows) "