Nels Cline's Stained Radiance at Winter Jazz Fest 2011 (more by Andrew Frisicano)

Winter Jazz Fest is returning to NYC in 2012 and will take place in multiple Greenwich Village venues from January 6-7 including Le Poisson Rouge, Sullivan Hall, Kenny's Castaways, Zinc Bar, and The Bitter End. Artists performing this year include Bill Laswell, DJ Spinna, John Medeski, Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog, Nels Cline Singers, Vijay Iyer Trio, Tyshawn Sorey, Mary Halvorson, Bernie Worrell, Marco Benevento, Jenny Scheinman, and many more. Two day passes and single day tickets are on sale now. There is also a kickoff show happening at Le Poisson Rouge on January 5 with Medeski / Skerik / Deitch, Red Baraat, and Marc Ribot's Young Philadelphians. You can also purchase a pass that includes a ticket for this show plus the two day festival pass (it's a little confusing, but if you click through on each LPR ticket link, you'll see the various options for each one).

The full schedule is below...

Continue reading "Winter Jazz Fest 2012 (January 5-7 in NYC)"

Anand Wilder with Yeasayer at Jones Beach in July (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

The record label David Byrne started in 1988, Luaka Bop, has been curating the club John Zorn started, The Stone, since December 15. If you've been paying close attention to What's Going On posts, you may have noticed more familiar names on the lineups lately (like Lucky Dragons and Kelly Pratt who have both played so far).

The curation continues through the end of the month. Tonight (12/20), Anand Wilder of Yeasayer is playing with Steve Marion of Delicate Steve, and Austin Fisher of Suckers, performing songs they've written specifically for tonight's performance. Steve leads his own group at the venue on 12/27 with members of Banned Books. Also tonight, George Langford and Tom Van Buskirk of Javelin and friends are playing. Those friends include Ahmed Gallab of Yeasayer, Powpow of Man Man, and Miho Hatori of Cibo Mato. According to George, it's going to be an "electronic drum circle rave cave."

On Thursday (12/22), Sleepy Doug Shaw/Highlife is playing. On Friday (12/23), The Present, lead by Rusty Samtos Rusty is playing the venue. Rusty is a singer/songwriter and has produced Animal Collective, Panda Bear, Born Ruffians, Owen Pallet, and others. On 12/28, Hubble (aka Ben Greenberg of Pygmy Shrews and Zs), and on 12/29 it will be Marc Ribot and David Hidalgo.

The Stone will also host their annual end of the year improv party on December 30 and 31 with tons of musicians and special guests including Thurston Moore, John Zorn, Jeremiah Cymerman, Sam Kulik, Ned Rothenburg, Eyal Maoz, David Fulmer, and others. Starting at 11 PM on 12/31, Spiritual Unity (which features Marc Ribot) will perform a ritual/jam that leads through a midnight rendition of Albert Ayler's "Bells."

Check out the full December schedule and more details on these shows at The Stone's website.

Javelin also have a show coming up on 2/24 at Glasslands with Pat Jordache.

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Swans @ Paramount Theater

You saw pictures from Friday and Portishead from Saturday (and Portishead Sunday). Here are the rest from that 2nd day in Asbury Park. They continue below...

Continue reading "I'll Be Your Mirror 2011 -- pics from ATP Saturday (Swans, Ultramagnetic MCs, Battles, Beak, Horrors & more)"

Marc Ribot @ LPR in June (more by Benjamin Lozovsky)

Guitar genius Marc Ribot has a lot of upcoming shows, all of which are listed below. They include Iridium in NYC tonight (9/15), the re-opening Roulette on Friday (9/16), The Living Theater in NYC on Sunday, Le Poisson Rouge with Akiko Yano on 10/11, and the upcoming ATP in Asbury Park, NJ on 10/1.

Head below to also hear and download a mixtape that ATP just made featuring arists that are appearing at the NJ festival at the end of the month, Marc Ribot (whose tour dates are down there too) included....

Continue reading "Marc Ribot playing shows, ATP made a mixtape "

The long wait is finally over! Roulette re-opens - bigger and better than ever - in Downtown Brooklyn. With a newly renovated Art Deco concert hall, seating for up to 400 people (600 standing!), expanded multi-channel sound system, massive projection screen for film and multi-media events, state-of-the-art lighting system, modular stage, and a specially designed floor to accommodate dance - the new Roulette promises to be one of the most exciting places in New York City to experience adventurous music and art. Join us as we kick off our inaugural season with a huge four day Grand Opening Celebration!

The re-opening will be celebrated with four events from September 15 to September 18. On 9/15, Kaija Saariaho, Margaret Leng Tan, Henry Threadgill & Zooid, and Mark Feldman and Sylvie Courvoisier will play the venue (tickets). The 9/16 show will feature ETHEL, Marc Ribot: Film Noir Project, and Shelley Hirsch w/ Fred Frith (tickets). On 9/17, Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, and John Zorn will play (tickets) and on 9/18 Cosa Brava (featuring Fred Frith, Carla Kihlstedt, Zeena Parkins, Matthias Bossi, and the Norman Conquest) will play (tickets).

All Tomorrow's Parties returns to the USA this September in the new location of Asbury Park, N.J. bringing an I'll Be Your Mirror event to the iconic waterfront. For the inaugural U.S. I'll Be Your Mirror, Portishead will curate and headline their firrst East Coast shows since 1998 on the Saturday & Sunday.

As well as Day Tickets, ATP have to date been selling two types of weekend pass - "Three Day Jeff Mangum" passes that include Jeff Mangum's Friday show and guarantee access to one of the Portishead shows (as well as everything else at the festival) and "Three Day Portishead" passes that do not give access to Jeff's Friday show but give guaranteed access to both Portishead shows as well as the rest of the festival. Today we announce a third type of weekend pass...

Portishead have invited Jeff to play an extra show on the Sunday night of the festival. Therefore this week we release new "Three Day Jeff Mangum Sunday Passes" - these give access to all three days of the festival to passholders who will see Jeff Mangum on the Sunday night and are guaranteed to see one of the two Portishead shows. The original Three Day passes for the event are now called "Three Day Jeff Mangum Friday Passes."

That means Jeff is playing Asbury Park three times, twice during the actual festival (see above), and, as you know, once on Monday (10/3) at Paramount Theatre (the day after ATP and not actually part of the fest itself). The Monday show has been sold out for a while now, but ATP are releasing a few more tickets for it. "To buy email feedback@atpfestival.com with JEFF MONDAY TICKETS in subject line, and tell us how many tickets you want. We will respond as soon as possible. Payments must be made by Paypal." A Hawk and a Hacksaw (ft. Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeremy Barnes) open the show.

ATP NJ has a few other lineup additions including Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 (they first reunited to play the Animal Collective ATP that recently happened in the UK), avant guitar hero Marc Ribot, avant sax hero Colin Stetson, avant comedian Reggie Watts, and others. Also: "Today we are also very pleased to announce that in conjunction with The Jonathan Levine Gallery, renowned artist SHEPARD FAIREY (who has created the art for this event and will also DJ) will be presenting an exhibition of his art over the weekend entitled Revolutions: The Album Cover Art of Shepard Fairey. More details of the exhibition will be confirmed soon."

The updated lineup is below, along with updated Jeff Mangum tour dates (he added a few other shows recently too)...

Continue reading "ATP NJ adds another Jeff Mangum show, a new kind of pass & some more bands to the lineup"

by Andrew Frisicano

As announced a few months ago, the four-night Undead Jazz Fest kicks off tonight (6/23) with music at Le Poisson Rouge, Sullivan Hall and Kenny's Castaways. The format is similar to that of the Winter Jazz fest (and the inaugural Undead fest last year): one ticket that covers entry to a handful of neighboring venues. This year, each night offers something a little different.

Thursday night the venues are in Greenwich Village and music include Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog, Dave King Trucking Company, Gerald Clayton and Alan Licht & Brian Chase. Friday night features a "round robin of improvised duets" at the Bell House. Scheduled participants for that are: "David Torn, Elliot Sharp, Jim Black, Erik Friedlander, Dean Bowman, Chris Lightcap, Brian Chase (Yeah Yeah Yeahs!), David King (Bad Plus!), Darius Jones, Chris Speed, Jamie Saft, Chris Dingman, Eivind Opsvik, Charlie Burnham, Marco Cappelli and Kirk Knuffke."

Saturday the music will be in the Gowanus/Park Slope area (at Littlefield and unconventional spots Homage Skateboard Training Facility and Cross Fit) where you'll be able to see Elliott Sharp (playing Thelonious Monk), David S. Ware, the Darius Jones Trio and more, all on the same Degraw Street block.

Sunday, the music (a super-varied lineup that includes The Claudia Quintet, Peter Brotzmann's FULL BLAST, Bobby Previte Quartet, Erik Friedlander and UB313 with Sun Ra Arkestra's Marshall Allen) is in Williamsburg, split between four stages at three venues: Public Assembly, Cubana Social and the Cameo.

Tickets for all days are still available, including four-day and two-day tix.

There are copies of the Undead Jazz Fest Review floating around town that come with an excellent sampler CD, which you can stream below.

We should note that last week, the New York Times published news about an online petition asking for an increase in musician pay for the Undead and Winter Jazz Fests. Initially, it was unclear whether that situation would affect this year's festival (some of the signees are scheduled to perform), but the organizers of the petition have since clarified some points, mainly that they support this year's fest and that they didn't mean for the press to find out about what they thought was a private email, but that they're hoping to negotiate for a pay raise at future fests. Some more info on that is below, if you're interested...

Now that that's out of the way... the fest recently put together a trailer containing one second of music from each artist on the bill. That and the full schedule are below...

Continue reading "Undead Jazz Fest begins (full schedule, an event trailer & a small controversy included)"

words & photos by Benjamin Lozovsky

It could have been a showdown - a forceful match of skills, an exhilarating yet grueling slugfest. Instead, it was purely symbiotic and nurturing, a solemn and unwavering alliance between two endlessly energetic musical minds. Marc Ribot and Nels Cline, perhaps the two greatest living guitarists dispensing a seamlessly cerebral yet hefty blend of virtuosic avant-jazz and rock fusion, performed in tandem Wednesday night at Le Poisson Rouge.

Despite being giants and contemporaries in their field, the overwhelming icons of free form, genre-bending adventurism, the two had seemingly never met on stage before. It was the kind of hallowed moment most modern downtown jazz obsessives would relive and replay endlessly, a watershed of creative confluence with 'I was there' written all over it. Only announced a few weeks before the event, it was billed as a special performance for the 3rd anniversary of the West Village club. Since its opening, Le Poisson Rouge has proved to be a vivid playground for envelope-pushing downtown musicians. Ribot and Cline have settled into the venue comfortably with numerous shows there since it opened, as have many of their fellow protagonists.

There wasn't any sort of program or description provided beforehand, just the two names listed on the bill. With their wide-ranging approach to music, the two share infinite similarities. Their methods couldn't be more different. Cline with his smooth tone, effortless musicianship and neatly set up workstation complete with rug, Ribot with an abrasive sound, hectically imperative playing and a rat's nest of wires and pedals piled on the ground in front of him. Yet the two were the perfect foils to challenge and enhance the other's abilities.

It unfolded as a completely improvised performance, an hour and a half long set of seven spontaneously generated explorations. Calling them songs wouldn't do them justice - it was more akin to setting two ants behind glass and watching them instantly augment their little world into a thriving civilization.

Beyond picking which guitar to complement each other in between numbers, there was nothing more than subtle visual cues and finely focused ears on each others playing to coordinate Cline and Ribot's efforts. The two guitarists had no framework or structures, and perhaps most importantly no preconceptions coming in, according to Cline. "We did some country type stuff for the sound-check, so we started with that...but everything was unrehearsed," Cline said.

They started their performance with several all acoustic numbers that covered boundless ground, ranging from devilishly sarcastic and percussive conversation-like structures, to atmospheric, bluesy romps that started with Polynesian flavor, quickly turned vast, pastoral and disjointed, and ended with a storm of classical finger picking.

There was enough flourishes of extended techniques like surreal harmonics and the use of odd sound-mutating tools, but it was limited, each guitarist instead intently focused on tone and togetherness. On one number, a disparate and lonely melodic meditation that mashed up images of a desolate western frontier and a rainy Japanese tea ceremony, Cline evoked the chilling vibrations of a Koto, the Japanese plucked string instrument, while Ribot formed drony and dark undercurrents, each moving downward perpetually yet coming together precisely unpredictably for jarringly harmonious moments.

When they turned towards an electric sound, it was always enigmatic while never bludgeoning. Even in forceful, grunge-like sections that could pass as a Soundgarden outtake or a turbine-accelerated Radiohead stomper, Cline and Ribot focused on a spellbinding interplay rather than guitar god might. It was a highly advanced dialogue, seesawing back and forth as each musician switched roles yet kept mathematically aligned. It was a gold standard for precision and musical communication; they ended with a more straightforward free-jazz ballad that mutated into psychotic, atonal guitar solos from both players that inexplicably overlapped with little wavering.

After the show, Cline admitted that he had his trepidations about the gig. "I felt really nervous about this show beforehand, but today I felt calm," Cline said. It must have been the career long lead-up to what was a glorious first date, many years in the making.

--

Nels Cline has more shows coming up. Catch Marc during the Undead Jazz Fest which is also coming soon. More pictures from the LPR show below...

Continue reading "guitar gods Nels Cline & Marc Ribot teamed up @ Le Poisson Rouge (pics & review)"

Tinariwen will release a new album called Tassili on August 30 via Anti- Records (pictured above). The album was recorded entirely acoustic with contributions from Tunde Adebimpe & Kyp Malone of TV on the Radio, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and Nels Cline of Wilco (who plays a show with Marc Ribot at LPR on June 15th).

Tinariwen will head out on a short North American tour in July which will hit the Winnipeg Folk Festival and the previously mentioned Highline Ballroom on July 20. Tickets are still on sale for that NYC show.

Tinariwen also play the Finger Lakes Grassroots Festival on July 21 at the Trumansburg Fairgrounds in Trumansburg, NY (which runs from July 21-24). There they share a bill with Donna the Buffalo, Court Yard Hounds, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Balkan Beat Box, Sammy Kershaw, Thomas Mapfumo & the Blacks Unlimited, John Brown's Body, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, and many others.

For Seun Kuti, the Trumansburg date is one day after he plays a free show at the Prospect Park Bandshell. Seun recently sent out an updated list of tour dates too, and a new video you can watch below.

Tinariwen collaborators TV on the Radio also recently expanded their upcoming tour dates, many of which are with Broken Social Scene who they play with at the Williamsburg Waterfront They also have a new video, as does BSS

The videos with all Seun & Tinariwen & TVOTR dates, below...

Continue reading "new Tinariwen LP & dates, Trumansburg Grassrooots Fest, Seun Kuti, Nels Cline, Marc Ribot & TV on the Radio too"

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.

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"

photos by Amanda M. Hatfield

"Managed to catch most of the Super Bowl and got to see the incredible Neko Case at the Bell House. Successful Sunday." - Joe Saturday

"Just spent 20 minutes discussing Vermont tax laws with Neko Case, Eugene Mirman and Marc Ribot." - RustySutton

Neko Case at the Bell House

After playing the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center on Long Island on Saturday, Neko Case and Lost In The Trees competed with the Super Bowl (or maybe you were able to do both) and played to a sold-out Bell House in Brooklyn last night (2/6) as part of a larger tour for the pair. Neko was joined by guitar great Marc Ribot during her encore *both Neko and Marc contributed to Jakob Dylans's last album). Pictures from that show are in this post. The full setlist is also below.

The New Porno chanteuse will now take a breather, but will return to NYC to play Barnes & Noble for FREE with Michael Showalter on 2/24. Starting tomorrow (2/8), you'll be able to buy raffle tickets that might win you Neko's classic 1967 Mercury Cougar (as seen on the cover of "Middle Cyclone")...

Neko Case & 826 National present The Cougar-Rama Muscle Car-'Splosion

We are almost ready to re-launch after a truckload of technical difficulties! We are going to begin selling raffle tickets on Tuesday, February 8. Don't worry -- the drawing has been moved up to March so there's still plenty of time to get involved. Please let us know if you have any questions and stay tuned for details!

The Cougar-Rama Muscle Car-'Splosion is upon us! Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter/rock star extraordinaire Neko Case is generously giving away her classic 1967 Mercury Cougar to benefit 826 National. Ticket sales will begin shortly, and beginning on Monday, February 14, we will draw for prizes each day leading up to the car drawing on February 18. Stay tuned for a full schedule of drawings!

The car comes packed with Rand McNally guides, piles of road trip tunes, gift certificates to Chipotle, a year's supply of Tazo Tea, and other goodies.

And because any good Cougar-Rama Muscle Car-'Splosion demands extravagance, there are heaps of other fantastic prizes to be won, including:
* A drum head signed by The New Pornographers
* Neko Case's limited-edition 1966 Gretsch Silver Duke guitar
* A Gibson guitar signed by members of the Speaking Clock Revue including Elton John and Elvis Costello
* A Carr Amplifier
* Dinner for 10 from Chipotle
* A collection of vinyl from SubPop including LPS from Fleet Foxes, Thee Oh Sees, The Vaselines
* An Adidas prize pack
* ... and more!

Tickets are $45 each, and they get cheaper the more you buy: 2 tickets for $75, 3 for $100, etc. For more details and to buy tickets, head over to www.nekocase.com/auction. Neko also designed t-shirts for 826 that are being sold in conjunction with the Muscle Car-'Splosion in 826 chapter storefronts across the country and online at www.826national.org/store.

Meanwhile, Lost In The Trees have a trio of dates left on their docket, including their show at Mercury Lounge TONIGHT (2/7). All three are listed below. Tickets for Mercury Lounge are still available.

More pictures from the Bell House, including a shot of Neko Case's setlist, a video from the show, and a video about the car, below..

Continue reading "Neko Case giving away her Mercury Cougar, played the Bell House w/ Lost in the Trees (and Marc Ribot) (pics & setlist)"

"Fresh off the success of his latest release, Silent Movies (Pi Recordings), Marc Ribot celebrates with a month long residency, January 2011 at (le) Poisson Rouge (NYC). Each night will start off with an intimate solo set with music from the album which has landed on several Best of 2010 lists including the LA Times, Village Voice and critical praise across the board. Ribot will then be joined on stage each night with a different band, showcasing a disparate range of projects from noise, punk, funk, soul and free jazz."

Continue reading "a Marc Ribot residency @ LPR & New Years Eve @ The Stone"

Observer: You've been with Lou Reed for what seems like forever. Any tips for staying together?

Laurie Anderson: Take a break from each other. We've been together for 19 years, married for two years. I think everything is about to blow away, and everyone is about to blow away, and it makes me care for them more.

In related news, the dates that Lou/Laurie are curating The Stone overlap with a MoMA exhibit featuring Lou Reed's former manager in The Velvet Underground, Andy Warhol. The exhibition, entitled Andy Warhol: Motion Pictures, will show silent pictures that are professed to be his "most daring and experimental" film work. The show kicks off on December 19th and lasts until March 21, 2011.

And while we're on the subject of film, "And Everything Is Going Fine" is currently playing at the IFC Center. It's a tribute to Spaulding Gray directed by Steven Soderbergh. Laurie soundtracked the Spalding Gray films Swimming to Cambodia and Monster in a Box, and made a promotional appearance related to the movie this past weekend. .

The Stone schedule is below...

Continue reading "Lou Reed & Laurie Anderson curating The Stone in February, MoMA exhibiting Andy Warhol pictures"

Screaming Females @ the 2010 Siren Festival (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

today in NYC
* Rene Lopez @ Southpaw
* Tim Keiper @ The Stone
* Herman Snertgart @ The Stone
* Sean Hayes @ Le Poisson Rouge
* Billy Idol @ Hammerstein Ballroom
* Aziz Ansari @ The Wellmont Theatre
* Translations, Heliotropes @ The Woods
* CocoRosie @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra @ Cameo Gallery
* The Bad Plus, Sam Newsome @ Bowery Ballroom
* Jackson Browne, David Lindley @ Beacon Theatre
* Happy Ending Music Series @ Joe's Pub
* Toadies, Gringo Star @ Gramercy Theatre
* Ben Frost, Ezekiel Honig, Borne (DJ set) @ Littlefield
* Marc Ribot ("Silent Movies" CD Release) @ Le Poisson Rouge
* Mostly Other People Do the Killing, Matt Mottel @ Zebulon
* Tommy Keene, Title Tracks, Valley Lodge @ The Rock Shop
* Mystery Jets, Dominant Legs, The Rassle @ Mercury Lounge
* Kria Brekkan, We Are All Romans (DJ set) @ The Manhattan Inn
* Vampire Weekend, Beach House, Dum Dum Girls @ Radio City Music Hall
* Frankie Rose & The Outs, Light Asylum, MINKS, Mirror Mirror @ Glasslands
* Nachtmystium, Zoroaster, The Atlas Moth, Dark Castle @ The Studio at Webster Hall
* Janka Nabay, Highlife, Ali Kamiya Dit Ba, Lichens (DJ International Tapes) @ Shea Stadium
* Screaming Females, Shellshag, Big Eyes (Screaming Females Record Release) @ Knitting Factory

Vampire Weekend kick off their three-night run at Radio City Music Hall tonight.

Tonight at Joe's Pub: Happy Ending Music and Reading Series featuring Darin Strauss, Matthew Sharpe, Kristin Hersh and musical guest Anni Rossi.

Marc Ribot plays a release show for his new solo guitar record, Silent Movies, officially out September 28th on Pi Records (though you'll be able to grab it at the show). The sounds on the record are subtler than his Ceramic Dog trio; without the band he take cues from the pratfalls and heartbreaks of films like Charlie Chaplin's The Kid. Tickets are still on sale. - Andrew Frisicano

What else?

by Andrew Frisicano

"Saw Marc Ribot, MeShell Nedegocello and Chocolate Genius play together last night @ Rose Live Music. It was amazing and in Williamsburg!" -just_some_pix

Silent Movies...

Inventive avant guitarist Marc Ribot will be releasing a new record, Silent Movies, September 28th on Pi Recordings. As its title suggest, the album expands on Ribot's work scoring film (this year he performed several times with Charlie Chaplin's The Kid)

The album reflects Ribot's fascination with movies and contains pieces intended to function as music for films: some are adaptations of music he has actually written for films, others for classic silent movies that he scored for his personal amusement, still others for films of his own imagination. His goal is to explore, as he says "the strange area between language and spatiality that exists partly in between music and visual image, and partly as a common property of both." Whatever the inspiration, Silent Movies is replete with beautiful melodies and quietly wistful playing of a sort seldom heard from Ribot and delivers a program filled with gentle, haunting songs that evoke the feel of a different time. As he says in the CD's liner notes, the recording project "did indeed have the feeling of having walked backwards into the beautiful frame of a silent movie."

Also coming up is a release show for Silent Movies on September 15th at (Le) Poisson Rouge. Tickets are on sale.

All of Marc Ribot's upcoming tour dates (and the lineups for each) plus a video of Ribot with the Lounge Lizards and John Lurie (whose current "disappearance" got a full write-up in a recenty New Yorker) are below...

Continue reading "Marc Ribot releasing 'Silent Movies', playing more shows "

by Andrew Frisicano

Juana Molina in Stuvesant Town, NYC

Juana Molina played at the Stuy Town Oval on June 23rd (the first of two outdoor summer NYC shows for her). The free concert brought out an family-friendly crowd (lots of kids running around), which Juana treated to her looped, organic-sounding popscapes.

That other outdoor show she has is also free, part of the Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival, and happens on Wednesday, July 28th. She won't play a regular set however - it's a special collaborative evening with string quartet ETHEL.

By persistently exploding the parameters of what a string quartet can be, ETHEL challenges listeners as it bewitches them. This world premiere features the feisty four-piece in collaboration with tunesmiths who've proven just as captivating, whether trafficking in folkish blues (Dayna Kurtz), clever power pop (Fountains of Wayne songwriter Adam Schlesinger with Candy Butchers' Mike Viola), off-kilter post-punk guitar explorations (Tom Verlaine with Patrick Derivaz) or swirling sonic carpentry (Juana Molina). In these new collaborations, ETHEL invigorates each song with arrangements both plush and plucky.
[Lincoln Center]

More Juana Molina pictures are below...

Continue reading "Juana Molina (& Marc Ribot) played Stuy Town (pics, videos, Delorean Wednesday), playing Lincoln Center & other dates"

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.

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

DOWNLOAD: Sam Amidon - Relief (R. Kelly cover) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Beth Orton and Sam Amidon - Thirteen (Alex Chilton) (MP3)

Footloose... coming to LPR

The new monthly Unsilent Film series kicks off Wednesday, April 7 with a free concert from Kría Brekkan (ex-Múm, Avery Tare & Kría Brekkan) as she debuts a live-improvisational score to Jean Epstein's 1928 horror masterpiece The Fall of the House of Usher. Then on April 25 Doveman will perform revised versions of tracks from his reinterpretation of the Footloose soundtrack and his album The Conformist to excerpts from the films Footloose and The Conformist. And on May 23 the series will feature jazz guitar luminary Marc Ribot doing his solo-guitar score to Charles Chaplin's 1921 slapstick comedy The Kid. [Le Poisson Rouge]

Also coming up, Doveman will be opening for Patrick Watson on May 6th at the Bell House and May 7th at 92YTribeca. He'll also be performing with collaborator Sam Amidon at Sam's album release show at 92YTribeca on Saturday, April 10th. Tickets are still on sale.

Doveman also has a show on Thursday, April 15th at Barrow Street Theater with Uncle Monk (Tommy Ramone's bluegrass duo), Penny Arcade, Bandana Splits (a group that includes Dawn Landes) and Tyrone Cotton. That's being put on by NYC/Kentucky-based festival Motherlodge.

One of the songs on Sam's new record, I See the Sign, which is out now, is a dead serious cover of R. Kelly's "Relief" that's actually sort of affecting. The song is posted above. Beth Orton contributes to Sam Amidon's new album (and vice versa), and he joined her for two NYC shows in January. They also recently recorded a cover of Big Star's "Thirteen" with Dave Schramm and David Mansfield for Radio Free Song Club.

As we gathered on St. Patrick's Day to tape show number four, we learned of the death of Alex Chilton. Beth Orton and Sam Amidon were in the studio that night and worked out a version of Big Star's "Thirteen". Ted found the lyrics online, Sam picked out the chords and they sang it for the first time.

Marc Ribot will be performing in a trio with bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Chad Taylor at Rose Live Music on April 12th. And he'll do two sets at the Stone on May 6th (1st Henry Kaiser, Marc Ribot & John Zorn; 2nd Duo with Henry Kaiser & Marc Ribot).

The film screening tonight is the only announced upcoming date for Kría Brekkan. check out a video of her and Fall of the House of Usher, both pasted below...

Continue reading "film w/ music series w/ Kria Brekkan, Doveman, Marc Ribot ++ Sam Amidon MP3s (Alex Chilton & R Kelly covers) & more "

by Andrew Frisicano

Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog and Skeletons are two bands that have to be seen live, not only for their talents (which are considerable), but because their current live sets are basically unrepresented on record. The last albums for both were in 2008 (Ceramic Dog with Party Intellectuals and Skeletons with Money) and there have been plenty of changes since. First off, new personnel: Ceramic Dog frequently performs with violinist/melodica player/singer Eszter Balint, and Skeletons, shortly before their show at (Le) Poisson Rouge on February 2nd, went from a quartet to a trio. As three, their avant-pop jams and grooves were expansive with the help of some pedals and electronics. The band is led by a recognizable core aesthetic - but exactly what that is is hard to pin down. The band is both scientific and effortless in its interlocking pulses. Skeletons Big Band, their vehicle for long-form compositions (and another unrecorded project) layers jazz dissonance in a similar way, but with a dozen-member lineup.

Ceramic Dog similarly bends between extended jazz improvisation and a traditional song-based rock set. Songs seem to spontaneously come together, sometimes without introduction, as if variations on the previous tune. They pound out noise and blast beats, and then counter with a tender guitar figure and melodica. There are music stands in front of the musicians, but those seem to be of only occasional interest (then again, Eszter puts on her reading glasses to get a better look, and Marc's specs are attached by a croakie so they don't slide off his perpetually bent posture). Drummer Ches Smith reaches into his bag and tosses a piece of sheet music at bassist Shahzad Ismaily. It doesn't land that near him, and anyway he's already into the song by that point. Lyrics enter just in time for the song to end.

Like the shifting Skeletons' line-up, Marc Ribot can be found in different musical settings (eg. his Albert Ayler-influenced Spiritual Unity, solo, on a forthcoming country record with Bill Frisell & Buddy Miller, and as a sideman on records like the new Jakob Dylan album, details below). The only way to catch either band is live, and I recommend you do before they evolve again. More pictures, info and tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog, Skeletons played Guitar Fest @ LPR (pics), Neko Case on new Jakob Dylan album, more dates"

Marc Ribot @ Maxwell's in 2008 (more by Tim Griffin)

tonight in NYC
* Lost
* Aziz Ansari @ the Apple Store
* Bushwick Book Club @ Goodbye Blue Monday
* Those Darlins @ Wonder Bar in Asbury Park
* Scrambler/Seequil, Sugarlife @ The Stone
* The London Souls, The Auctioneers @ Mercury Lounge
* Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog, Skeletons @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* Das Racist cover Beastie Boys Paul's Boutique @ The Cameo
* Oberhofer, Blair, Cabinet Of Natural Curiousities @ Pianos
* Scary Mansion, Pepi Ginsberg, Alps, The Wailing Wall @ Cake Shop
* Retribution Gospel Choir feat. Alan Sparhawk, Object @ Union Hall
* BKLYN2HAITI Benefit w/ Girls In Trouble, Air Waves, Screens, Ill Ease, DJ Jonathan Toubin @ Southpaw
* Get Off Your Knees w/ Sara Schaefer & Kim Armstrong, Kristen Schaal, Claudia Cogan, Adira Amram @ The Bell House Front Lounge

Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog and Skeletons play at (Le) Poisson Rouge as part of NY Guitar Fest. On Thursday (2/4) Chicha Libre and Gyan Riley close out the Fest when they soundtrack silent films at Merkin Concert Hall. Skeletons play with another multi-venue local fest that night, Sounds Like Brooklyn, at Zebulon with Up Died Sound.

bklyn2haiti at Southpaw tonight "is a benefit concert raising funds for Partners in Health. This organization has been actively providing health care services to the Haitian community for over 20 years." Bands are above. Flyer below.

Das Racist cover Beastie Boys at Cameo tonight. Actual Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz, a.k.a Ad-rock, has been making cameos at a monthly show at Joe's Pub called Our Hit Parade. Videos from those appearances below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"

by Andrew Frisicano

"Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Marc Ribot (but were afraid to ask)" is the first of the Stone's new Monday night seminar series and, as previously mentioned, it happens tonight (1/4). The first 13 of those events, which the venue describes as "a special series of workshops, lectures, seminars and Q&As on a variety of fascinating subjects by some of the world's most unique, cutting edge musical thinkers," are laid out below and cover a huge spectrum of musicians and topics.

Ribot will be performing as part of the NY Guitar Festival on January 14th (doing a live improvised score to Charlie Chaplin's "The Kid") and playing with his stellar group Ceramic Dog on February 2nd at (Le) Poisson Rouge (with Skeletons, who played NYE and New Year's Day shows at Zebulon, opening). Tickets for the LPR show, which is also part of the NY Guitar Fest (more on that later), are on sale.

Another interesting, very different Q&A event is also coming up. On February 23rd, Santos Party House will host "Ask Andrew W.K. Anything: An intimate evening of unpredictable performance." Presumably the event is being held to further address the internet rumor that Andrew W.K. is an actor who plays the part of Andrew WK. Tickets are on sale. In other news, he's re-releasing his formerly-import-only-record Close Calls With Brick Walls with a new "lost" disc Mother of Mankind on February 23rd, and he's on this year's Warped Tour.

More info on the Andrew W.K. event and the Stone's seminar series are below...

Continue reading "Marc Ribot & Andrew W.K. answer your questions and other upcoming events (The Stone, Santos, LPR & more)"

Iggy Pop @ Road Recovery Benefit in May (more by Arcadia Media)

Iggy Pop will be at the Tribeca Barnes & Noble (97 Warren St) tonight (10/13) at 7pm. He's speaking with Robert Matheu, who just wrote The Stooges: The Authorized and Illustrated Story, about the book and his life. Entry is first come, first served.

On September 11th and 12th, Iggy Pop joined Marc Ribot, Ceramic Dog, and singer Tine Kindermann at this year's Century of Song Festival (part of Germany's Ruhr Triennale), which was curated by Ribot. The set list from the first of those gigs (posted below) covers a broad range of material, from "Les feuilles de morte" (Autumn Leaves) off Pop's new album to German folk song "Schwesterlein" (Little Sister) to "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "Mass Production" (the latter from 1977's The Idiot). Video clips from that set are posted below.

Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog are touring Europe through October. Iggy Pop and the Stooges are scheduled to play Rio in November and perform Raw Power in full at ATP's Don't Look Back shows on May 2nd and 3rd at London's Hammersmith Apollo. Also on the ATP bill are Suicide, who'll be playing their first album like they did at ATP NY. Tickets are on sale now.

Iggy Pop, as well as Pavement (who are curating the other ATP UK weekend in May), are both rumored to be in the running for ATP NY in 2010.

Dates, and above-mentioned setlist and videos are below...

Continue reading "Iggy Pop - Barnes & Noble today (new Stooges book), ATP UK (playing Raw Power) & Marc Ribot (played Century of Song) "

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]

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) "

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"

Bon Iver @ Sasquatch Fest (more by Chris Graham)

Tickets are now on sale for all of Merkin Hall's upcoming 2009/10 concerts. Those shows include the NY Guitar Festival's Silent Films/Live Guitars series (previously mentioned here), which features David Bromberg and Marc Ribot playing alongside Charlie Chaplin films on January 14th, Bon Iver's Justin Vernon (Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush) with Steve Kimock (Buster Keaton's Cops) on January 21st, and more. The full lineup, with details, is below.

The venue is also hosting the New Sounds series, which includes performances by ETHEL and the Bang on a Can All-Stars. Details on those are below. Check out a video of the BoaC All-Stars rehearsing a Steve Reich piece from a few years back below too. You'll notice Bryce Dessner of the National is in the ensemble in that video. He's currently working on his own new piece with brother Aaron and Matthew Ritchie to debut at BAM this fall.

Also, as part of their trio of "Contemporary Contexts" concerts, Merkin Hall will be bringing Signal, who will premiere a new work from Nico Muhly and UK composer Harrison Birtwistle, in May.

The full schedule is below...

Continue reading "Bon Iver, Marc Ribot & other NY Guitar Fest tickets on sale ++ full upcomng Merkin Hall schedule (New Sounds, etc)"