Hudson Square Fest 2009 (more by Andrew Frisicano)

City Winery will be hosting the second annual Hudson Square Music & Wine Festival, free Tuesday night music in its parking lot/courtyard. The first of those is tonight (June 29th) with Al Kooper Rockabilly Trio. Music starts at 5pm and ends by 7pm, and the series runs through August 10th.

The full schedule, which includes Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens and Bajah & The Dry Eye Crew (and Ed Kowalczyk of Live), is posted below...

Continue reading "Hudson Square Fest kicks off (free Tuesday evening shows)"

By Andrew Frisicano

Rain washed out Marc Ribot's initial Hudson Square date on July 21st (the story of the summer). So in addition to switching the show to August 18th, Ribot also decided to switch groups (perhaps another rain-caused necessity), subbing the originally booked La Cumbiamba with his "rock band" Ceramic Dog and violinist Eszter Balint.

The parking lot of City Winery, which has been hosting shows all summer, served as a relaxing, tucked away venue, after the sun finally hid behind one of the surrounding buildings. The set sounded great, but accurately describing Ceramic Dog's sound (as I've found in trying to tell friends) can be a bit difficult. It's not exactly what you hear on 2008's Party Intellectuals. That album is more funk driven and homogeneous than their live set, which veers between genres and sounds without warning. Live there were plenty of solos and riffing, but the real clincher was when Ribot pulled more natural, acoustic-based sounds out from the guitar, at times reminding me a little of a spare-sounding Bright Eyes. Subtly comped chords matched up with crunchy leads - often coming, in a reversal of roles, from Balint's overdriven violin. Vocals bounced between Ribot and Balint, who rhapsodized in foreign tongues and, on other songs, added pleasant harmonies. But the loose rhythm section was the element that fought most against the "rock band" premise. Drummer Ches Smith and multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily (who moved from bass to synth to other noisemakers) lead the songs into strange places with a pulse that was more textures and color than 4/4.

Tonight (8/26) Marc Ribot plays Rose Live Music with Sun Ship, a free-form-jazz inspired group with Mary Halvorson, Jason Ajemian and Chad Taylor.

Further on, he plays with Marianne Faithfull (as he did earlier this year) on September 24th at Town Hall. He's also on the schedule for the NY Guitar Festival's Silent Films/Live Guitars series in early 2010.

More Hudson Square pictures and tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Marc Ribot played Hudson Square @ City Winery (pics) ++ at Rose Live Music tonight & other tour dates"

"Due to this lovely downpour we're experiencing (good for grapes, bad for outdoor music), we're unfortunately going to have to cancel this evening's Hudson Square Festival. We are looking at rescheduling Mark Ribot for August 18th, more info on that coming soon."

Starting Tuesday, June 23rd, Hudson Square will be another one of the spots in NYC with a free weekly music series -- it joins free programs at Stuy Town Oval, Madison Square Park, Williamsburg Waterfront, Hudson River Rocks, Seaport Music, East River Park, NYC CityParks Concerts, Central Park Summerstage, BAM R&B Fest at Metrotech, Celebrate Brooklyn and several free movie series, to name a few.

The Hudson Square Music & Wine Festival will take place on Tuesdays from 5-7pm in the parking lot of City Winery (between Varick, Spring, Hudson and Vandam Streets). Series highlights include Jason Isbell, William Elliot Whitmore, Marc Ribot and La Cumbiamba and Budos Band (who already played a free show this summer at Stuy Town Oval).

Full schedule for the eight-week series, with a flyer, below...

Continue reading "Hudson Square Music & Wine series - free Tuesday shows w/ Budos Band, William Elliot Whitmore, Marc Ribot, more"