by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Grey Gersten - Hard Times (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Grey Gersten - Of The Year Was (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Grey Gersten - Fumbles In The Dark (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Grey Gersten - Your Voice, A Seed in the Wind (MP3)

Grey Gersten, The Stone's May curator

Seach and Restore: How did you approach and deal with the task of curating an entire month of shows at the Stone, two shows a night?

Grey Gersten: I started last year by making a huge list of different artists, musicians and film-makers that I thought would create unique performances specifically for the series. It's impossible to plan anything like this because there are so many uncontrollable factors constantly shifting. At times it felt like a gigantic three dimensional Rubik's Cube! I would reach to adjust it and the blocks would morph into crazy micro Rubik layers. John Kilduff's "Lets Paint" videos were a source of constant motivation. His ability to multi-task and remain flexible is very inspiring.

Guitarist Grey Gersten's May lineup at The Stone kicked it off on the 1st with Loren Conners and Shahzad Ismaily. That's the only appearance for either at the venue this month, though Ismaily will be playing bass with Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog as part of the guitarist's 55th birthday celebration which starts next week on May 9th. The May 16th Ceramic Dog show at (Le) Poisson Rouge, with Ribot's Young Philadelphians also on the bill, will close the weeklong celebration. Note, the core Ceramic Dog trio includes percussionist Ches Smith -- more on him below. Tickets for that show are still on sale.

A number of those Ribot birthday shows will be at the Stone. That includes a Wednesday, May 13th "Tribute" with Gersten and others playing Ribot's work.

Ribot "warms up" for that week of shows with an appearance at Zebulon in Brooklyn on Wednesday, May 6th (tonight). He'll joins extra heavy jazz group Whoopie Pie.

At the Stone Wednesday, May 6th (tonight) JG Thirlwell, composer of the soundtrack to Cartoon Network's The Venture Bros. among other credits, performs with his Manorexia ensemble. It's scheduled to be the group's only NYC performance this year. Thirlwell's Venture Bros. work was recently collected and released on a disc that is out now through Adult Swim.

Part of the Stone's lineup this weekend includes a Saturday, May 9th show with Lucky Dragons and special guests Gersten and Ches Smith. Smith, who plays as part of Ceramic Dog (see above) and Secret Chiefs 3 (who recently visited NYC), collaborated with Gersten and Kato Hideki on a limited-edition LP. MP3s of that record are posted above.

Gersten put together a mixtape to highlight artists at the Stone this month. Artists on the mix include Ribot, Nels Cline, Karl Blau, Lucky Dragons and more. SearchandRestore.com is currently hosting a stream of that mix. Tracklist below.

Speaking of Blau and Cline, they round out the Stone's weekend lineup with respective early and late sets on Sunday, May 10th. Karl Blau is also playing Zebulon on Monday, May 11th, and Bruar Falls on May 12th. Nels Cline plays with Mike Watt at the Central Park Summerstage on Saturday, August 1st. M. Ward headlines that show. Watt has been recording in Brooklyn all week and has two nights of NYC-area gigs starting Thursday, May 7th.

JG Thirlwell and Manorexia videos, with gig poster and album track list and art, plus Gersten mix tracklist, below...

Continue reading "May @ the Stone continues w/ curator Grey Gersten (MP3s), Manorexia & birthday boy Marc Ribot (plays Zebulon today)"

by Andrew Frisicano

Musician and filmmaker Grey Gersten is curating the month of May at non-profit East Village space The Stone. Gersten is currently working on a new LP with Ches Smith (Xiu Xiu, Ceramic Dog, Secret Chiefs 3) and Kato Hideki (Death Ambient, Tremelo of Joy). His performances during the month with various performers are just some of the many worthy events scheduled.

A portion of Marc Ribot's 55th birthday celebration will happen at the venue on May 12th-14th. That includes a new addition to that weeklong series, "A Tribute to Ribot" - led by Gersten - on Wednesday, May 13th. That night is billed as, "Six colleagues, fans and cohorts of Marc Ribot pay tribute to the master in this special night of musical madness. Three performances per set feature music from several of Ribot's most beloved projects" Full info below.

Other acts that jump out include guitarist Loren Conners, who collaborated with Jim O'Rourke on 1997's Two Nice Catholic Boys, on Friday, May 1st; two performances by JG Thirlwell's Manorexia on May 6th; Lucky Dragons with special guests Ches Smith and Grey Gersten on Saturday, May 9th; and a pair of Sunday, May 10th shows with K Records artist Karl Blau playing an early set, followed by a late set from Wilco guitarist Nels Cline.

Select evenings in May will be broadcast live online on free103point9. Right now, scheduled broadcasts include Pauline Oliveros/Lucky Dragons on May 9thand Gersten/Crane/Sawyer and Bill Nace on May 22nd.

Full May calendar below...

Continue reading "The Stone's May schedule - Lucky Dragons, Marc Ribot, more"