Tom Ze

Lincoln Center Festival 2011 Announced
Three LEADING International Companies Highlight
LINCOLN CENTER FESTIVAL 2011 - July 5-August 14

Mariinsky Ballet (Kirov) returns to Lincoln Center, joining Royal Shakespeare Company and The Cleveland Orchestra

OTHER FESTIVAL 2011 PRESENTATIONS:

* Director Peter Brook directs the U.S. Premiere of A Magic Flute
* Druid Theatre Company performs Seán O'Casey's classic drama The Silver Tassie, directed by Tony Award-winner Garry Hynes
* Royal Danish Opera offers U.S. Premiere of Poul Ruders' opera Selma Ježková; Royal Danish Orchestra performs an orchestral concert and an evening of chamber music
* Amon Miyamoto directs U.S. Premiere of Yukio Mishima's The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, starring popular Japanese star Go Morita
* Merce Fair, a day-long immersion in performances, workshops, video and art installations, celebrates the artistry of choreographer Merce Cunningham
* Influential Brazilian singer-songwriter Tom Zé makes rare U.S. concert appearance
* David Michalek's large-scale, outdoor video installation, Portraits in Dramatic Time, to be shown each evening from July 5-31 on Josie Robertson Plaza

Tickets and more information are at the Lincoln Center Festival website.

by Andrew Frisicano

they make their US debut after 40+ years...

Last September Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou played to a packed house at the Barbican Centre in London. There's nothing unusual about a sold-out gig, but what was unusual was that this was Poly-Rythmo's first ever gig in Europe. One thing that may have helped is an extraordinary YouTube video of the band in action in the 1970s, which the Barbican put on its website. And indeed, the Barbican gig was spectacular - angular melodies, punchy horn lines, psychedelic guitar, an injection of funk and insistent, powerful percussion - beaten out on drums, gourds, bells and shakers. It's music you can't ignore. "We are now able to share our music with others," says bandleader Clément Mélomé, "and we ­believe in this adventure."

Poly-Rhythmo are probably the oldest of the post-independence bands in west Africa still active - but only just. The group was founded in Benin by Mélomé in 1968 and became hugely popular in the 1970s. They performed a varied repertoire of Afrobeat, songs based on the vodoun (voodoo) rituals in Benin, Latin music and James Brown-influenced funk. Their success wasn't limited to Benin - the group toured and enjoyed hit records in neighbouring Nigeria, Ghana and French West Africa, while they played alongside some of the continent's greatest stars, including Miriam Makeba, Angelique Kidjo and Fela Kuti. But in the early 1980s, under the Marxist dictatorship of Mathieu Kérékou, Benin entered a period of economic hardship and decline. The band survived, but with precious few engagements, many, even in Benin, thought Poly-Rythmo were history. [Guardian UK]

As heartonastick points out, Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou will be make their North American debut on Sunday, July 11th at Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College (10th Ave at 58th St). The show is part of this year's Lincoln Center Festival (July 7-25). Tickets are on sale.

Another Lincoln Center US premiere will be Serbian band Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra who play Wednesday, July 14th at Avery Fisher Hall. Fans of Gogol Bordello take note, Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra have a similar "gypsy-punk" sound with prominent violin and other folk instruments. They formed in the late '90s out of political '80s punk group Zabranjeno Pušenje (which translates to No Smoking band) who broke up around the time of the Yugoslav Wars. Tickets are on sale. (And if you enter the ticket code "WMP" when buying one of the $40 tickets to Orchestre Poly-Rythmo, you can get a free ticket to the Emir Kusturica show.)

We've already discussed some of the new music, theater and dance productions that are part of The Lincoln Center Festival this year. One of them is the The Blind Boys of Alabama-curated three-concert series with guests Yo La Tengo, Aaron Neville, Ralph Stanley and Joan Osborne. Another is complete works of Edgard Varèse, with the NY Philharmonic, International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) and members of So Percussion (who play for free on May 5th), that happens over two nights. Varèse is massively influential 20th century composer whose work with musique concrete and electronic sounds inspired musicians from Zappa and the Beatles to modern rock and electronic bands like the Music Tapes and Matmos.

Also at Lincoln Center this summer are their free Out of Doors Festival and their Midsummer Night Swing Festival, which is also outside but ticketed.

Videos and tour dates (Orchestra Poly-Rythmo will also be in Chicago and Quebec) are below...

Continue reading "Lincoln Center Festival presents Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou and Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra"

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Bo-Keys - Cracker Jack (MP3)

Wardell's Band with Robert Parker @ Ponderosa Stomp '07 in NOLA

Ponderosa Stomp is an American roots music festival that showcases the world's most authentic, vibrant rockabilly, R&B, jazz, blues, soul, funk, and swamp pop....The 8th annual Ponderosa Stomp will take place in New Orleans on April 28-29, 2009.

The Stomp is also hosting a set of dates at this year's Lincoln Center Festival 2009, which runs from July 7 through July 26, 2009 (tix on sale Friday 3/13). The Stomp @ Lincoln Center includes The Get Down: Soul/R&B evening on July 16, Best Dance in Town: Rockabilly on July 17 (both part of the Midsummer Night Swing series), and "A Tribute to Wardell Quezergue" on July 19 at the refurbished Alice Tully Hall.

The only date with details so far, "A Tribute to Wardell Quezergue," honors the songwriter and arranger known as the "Creole Beethoven" with a performance of recent Quezergue (pronounced Kuu-zair) arrangements by:

New Orleans musician, producer, and session man Mac Rebennack (Dr. John); R&B icons The Dixie Cups and Robert Parker; soul greats Jean Knight, Dorothy Moore, Tammy Lynn, and Tony Owens; legendary New Orleans drummer Zigaboo Modeliste; garage-music pioneer Michael Hurtt; plus an all-star ten piece band led by Wardell Quezergue himself in a rare New York appearance.

Those at SXSW next week can get a preview of Ponderosa Stomp at its Friday, March 20th showcase at Continental Club featuring Roy Head, Barbara Lynn, Lil buck Senegal, Classie Ballou, Huelyn Duvall, Floyd Dakil, The Silver Apples, Little Joe Washington, The Bo-Keys, The Elite, The Excels. Founder Dr. Ike Padnos - a real anesthesiologist, is also presenting a SXSW panel.

Though it doesn't mention it on the schedule, Eli Paperboy Reed will be performing with Barbara Lynn at the SXSW stomp. Eli is also playing the same SXSW venue two days earlier, and a show at The Bell House in Brooklyn this Thursday night (3/12). He's also playing a lot of other places. All tour dates below.

The Lincoln Center Festival in NYC will also host the North American premiere of a work by Philip Glass, performed by Dennis Russell Davies and Maki Namekawa as part of Two by Four with the Ruhr, four-hand and two-piano works.

Full Lincoln Center Fest '09 highlights, Eli tour dates, and a Wardell Quezergue bio, below....

Continue reading "Ponderosa Stomp in Austin SXSW & NYC for 2009 Lincoln Center Festival (full lineup) + Eli 'Paperboy' Reed touring"