Booker T. Jones - Brooklyn Bridge Park - May 10, 2012
Jones is the Booker T. of the MG’s and others, having been in the band of a zillion hits since the early 1960′s. While he spent most of his time on the Hammond B-3, he did get out and play some guitar, and also did credible vocals on a few numbers. The guitar of “Ice” Black seemed unfamiliar, and it turns out that he designed and built it himself! The opener was DJ Rich Medina; while I dug his stuff, there is a limit (exceeded here) to my appreciation of a very loud human boombox, which I estimate at 45 minutes. He signed “April”, causing wonder and envy of the lifestyle so casual in accepting the flip of the calendar page.
Booker T. Jones
Vernon "Ice" Black
Darian Gray
Melvin Brannon
Rich Medina
Wall to Wall Gertrude’s Paris – Symphony Space – May 5, 2012
This year’s Wall-to-Wall celebrated the 1920′s Paris of Gertrude Stein. Performances began even before we got into the theatre, with Marni Rice leading her band, Chanson Chamber Salon, on the street as we waited in line. Some of the readings and discussions opened my mind a bit to Stein’s actual artistic output, likening it to the cubist vision of describing an object from all angles simultaneously.
Marni Rice
Matt Darriau
Josh Roseman
Christopher Matthews
Aundrey Mitchell
Ashley Jennifer Jackson
Bryan Young
Edmund White
The town of Greenwich hosts an event called “Art to the Avenue” every spring. Many establishments on or near Greenwich Avenue display the works of local artists (mine is at Greenwich Hospital this year) for a month; opening festivities include various receptions and performances by musicians.
Carmine Marino
Karen Zimmer
Richard L Kelly
SketchCrawl #35 - Columbus Circle & Lincoln Center - April 21, 2012
The sketchcrawl is a loosely organized global coalition of sketchers. On the chosen date, individuals aggregate regionally, and then go at it. For this one, there was said to be sketching occurring at over 100 sites worldwide. It feels rewarding to be part of a larger effort, recording together in some way or other some piece of our world. Works of our NYC comrades are admired in person; for others, we have access to images on the web. http://www.sketchcrawl.com/
Legs on the D Train
Columbus Circle Looking East
Dogwood Bloom, Central Park
Vendor Carts on Broadway
In Benenson Grove
SketchCrawl Person #1
SketchCrawl Person #2
ketchCrawl Person #3
Ethos Percussion Group – Skinner Hall, Vassar College – March 23, 2012
Three of the five works performed by Ethos were commissioned for them, so they were a custom fit, not likely to be heard elsewhere. “Ziggurat (interior)” by John Hollenbeck involved putting toy plastic tubes to use in creating a designed sound, and also incorporated espresso frothers. You can look it up. The LOUD finale channeled Guinea (west Africa)
Trey Files
Yousif Sheronick
Michael Lipsey
Eric Phinney
Ethos Percussion Group
Ladybird Sunshine - New Amsterdam Musical Association - February 11, 2012
I know Ladybird as Dena Robins, from when we worked together at Bronx Science. She has multiple appellations and multiple avocations. This occasion was the record release party for her new CD, “Hypnotized”. The NAMA, new venue for me, has been around since 1905.
Ladybird Sunshine - Dena Robins
Yovanne Pierre
Infinite Roots - Greenwich High School - February 10, 2012
I appreciate when the sketching is made easy – like when I get to do it during the course of my day job. Such is the case here; for the school’s annual Diversity Week programming, the drumming/dancing troupe Infinite Roots was booked for a couple of sets. Kwamé is the ringleader of the troupe, and the drum-maker as well.
Kwame Henry Jones
Monica Tinsley
Kareem Brivett
Focus : John Cage – Sounds Re-Imagined Paul Hall, Juilliard School February 2, 2012
Could only get to one of this year’s Focus evenings, oh well. John Cage gets you thinking about new ways of listening to music, to question the boundaries between sound and music (if there is indeed such). “Six Melodies for Violin and Keyboard”, performed by Garlick and LaNasa, has elements arranged by chance. The “instrument” for “Child of Tree”, performed by Funcheon, is listed in the program as “for amplified plant materials”. I guess there is also some thinking about what exactly constitutes a title for a performed piece. Trying to explain this uncertainty would merely generate another level of uncertainty, so I will not attempt it here. Anyhow, the score for this latter piece allows for improvised creative input from the performer. A table containing various plant (and I think mineral) materials, including a small cactus, was wheeled out, amped with several microphones, and then the various materials were manipulated to produce sounds. For an appropriate final touch, after the table was wheeled off stage following the performance, two members of the stage crew then had to wipe up small residual water puddles on the stage.
James Garlick and Nathaniel LaNasa
Andrew Funcheon
Mitch Katz – Unitarian Universalist Congregation – January 14, 2012
Needed to take a somewhat lengthy hiatus, first to tend to making the holiday card (will at some point get these up on line, but not now), and also some music stuff of my own keeping me creatively otherwise busy. But in the spirit of playing out more, went to HudsonValley Folk Guild Rock Tavern chapter open mike to premiere my latest opus. Singer-songwriter Katz was the headliner, so I had enough time to do a decent job on him. He demonstrated that yes, it is possible to play the blues on the ukulele. That was his axe during the two songs when I was getting around to that part of the sketch. Other performers did two songs, but in a round-robin fashion, so it wasn’t practical to put together enough consecutive time for others. Oh well.
Mitch Katz
Miguel Zenón - Harlem Stage, Gatehouse Theatre – November 10, 2011
Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute has introduced me to an incredible assortment of venues, and this one was as stunning as any – The Gatehouse is a former component of the city’s water supply system, and the theater is upstairs in the tower section. Zenón is a recent recipient of the MacArthur “genius” grant, and his combo has a seamless high energy approach to his latest project, Alma Adentro: The Puerto Rican Songbook. Cole’s drum solo was especially noteworthy, full of sharp attacks and false anticipations.
Miguel Zenón
Luis Perdomo
Hans Glawischnig
Henry Cole
Miguel Zenón Quartet
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Tagged alto sax, bass, drums, Gatehous Theatre, Hans Glawischnig, Harlem Stage, Henry Cole, jazz, latin music, Luis Perdomo, Miguel Zenon, piano, Puerto Rican, Weill Music Institute
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