by Andrew Frisicano

Nellie McKay playing piano (more by Chris La Putt)


Highline Piano Series, eight nights of piano-centric pop and jazz at Highline Ballroom, kicks off Wednesday night (8/18, tonight) with a performances by Vienna Teng & Alex Wong and songwriter Joey Ryan. Tickets are still on sale. One highlight of this year's series will be Nellie McKay on August 29th (tickets are on sale). Nellie's only other upcoming NYC performance comes October 15th as part of Broadway Melody Makers (multiple performers doing Broadway tunes) at Town Hall. Tickets are on sale.

Last year, Highline Piano series hosted jazz legends like McCoy Tyner and Cecil Taylor. This year, Tyner will play his second free outdoor show of the summer (the first was June 23rd at Central Park SummerStage) on Saturday, August 28th at Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem. That's the first day of the Charlie Parker Jazz Fest, which features Jason Moran and the Bandwagon, JD Allen Trio, and Revive Da Live, who'll be performing a special Charlie Parker tribute set. The next day (8/29), Jimmy Scott, Vijay Iyer, The Cookers and Catherine Russell continue the fest at Tompkins Square Park. Both shows are free and start at 3pm.

The full Highline Piano Series schedule and Nellie McKay's tour dates are posted below...

Continue reading "the Highline Piano Series, Nellie McKay dates, Jimmy Scott"

The Highline Piano series continues at Highline Ballroom this week with one change: They have moved the Tuesday, August 25th show with Cecil Taylor to Monday, August 31st. Tickets for the show on the 25th are still valid for the 31st, or you can get a refund. Have you seen any of the shows yet? Taylor set times and a set of live videos are below...

Continue reading "Highline Pianos Series continues, Cecil Taylor date change"

DOWNLOAD: Christopher O'Riley - True Love (Elliott Smith) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Christopher O'Riley - Us & Them (Pink Floyd) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Christopher O'Riley - Heart Shaped Box (Nirvana) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Bad Plus - Heart of Gold (Neil Young) (MP3)

Cecil Taylor & McCoy Tyner

The Highline Ballroom Piano Series, which includes shows from Christopher O'Riley, McCoy Tyner, the Bad Plus and Cecil Taylor, kicks off at the Highline Ballroom in NYC tonight (8/17) with a set from the Benevento/Russo Duo, with "prog piano electronica" opener Jeff Bujak. Tickets to that and the rest of shows in the series are still on sale.

We have four pairs of tickets to give away to every show in the series. So that's four winners who will get two tickets each to ALL ELEVEN SHOWS. Each prize is worth like a zillion dollars. Details on winning are below.

The schedule is also posted below with some updates. The previously-announced Matthew Shipp show on Tuesday, Agusut 18th has been replaced by an August 29th show with classical pianist Jeremy Denk. Other openers and lineup changes are reflected below too...

Continue reading "the Highline Piano Series kicks off --- win tix to every show"