Dia de Muertos – October 29, 2016

Posted on October 30, 2016 by parker

Dia de Muertos  –    Brewster Public Library/Southeast Museum  –  October 29, 2016

I don’t think that the day of the dead (Dia de Muertos) is exactly the Hispanic Halloween, but the affinities are striking.  That there could be acceptance, even celebration associated with death, honoring those passed – it’s a bit deeper than the sanitized Hershey’s/Nestle’s version that’s all too common – and no clowns, please, too frightening?  So this event had multiple components, including face-painting, a procession, music, dance, and snacks (but no candy).  One hilarious dance featured three stooped oldsters with canes who may or may not have been dead.  I know my limits, so didn’t even try to capture dancers.

Paula Mora

Miguel Angel Mendoza

Vanessa Verdin

Lisa Velazquez

Lisseth Morin

Miguel A. Mendoza and Cosobi Mendoza

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Jane Ira Bloom – October 20, 2016

Posted on October 23, 2016 by parker

Jane Ira Bloom  – Bruno Walter Auditorium  –   October 20, 2016

Bloom, soprano saxist, is a seeker for inspiration for her new works, and she landed on Emily Dickinson once she learned that ED was a pianist and an improviser.  From there, she selected a dozen or so choice verses and used them as the basis for the works performed here, as “Wild Lines”.  Pitching in was actress Deborah Rush, who recited the poetry as intro to the pieces.  Among the expansive innovative techniques employed by Bloom were back-and-forth motion of the sax to make a mild wavering Doppler effect, and blowing directly at the strings of the open piano (sustain pedal down) to provide a batch of lingering string notes – wild stuff!  Somehow my autograph mojo was a little off, so I only got three.

Jane Ira Bloom

Dawn Clement

Kent McLagan

Bobby Previte

Deborah Rush

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James Ruff – October 1, 2016

Posted on October 1, 2016 by parker

James Ruff  –  Skinner Hall, Vassar College  –  October 1, 2016

Ruff’s original (and still principle) musical career focus has been voice, and I’m not sure I would have attended if that was the extent of this solo concert.  But he also performs on early Gaelic wire harp (you know, the one on the Guinness logo), and is a scholar of the instrument’s history and repertoire.  So the combination was sufficiently beguiling, and proved worthy.  The singing was in old Gaelic, and Ruff dives deep into ancient authenticity here as well, bringing us back hundreds of years with his expressive tenor voice.  Unfortunately, a harp string broke, but luckily it was on the final tune.

James Ruff

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Julie Corbalis – October 1, 2016

Posted on October 1, 2016 by parker

Julie Corbalis  –  Brewster Farmers Market  –  October 1, 2016

Corbalis was the final performer for this year’s local farmers market, cheerfully reeling off the numbers despite the intermittent drizzle.  Her latest CD effort is titled “What’s Up With This Heart?”.  Mostly originals, though she covered Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do With It”.

Julie Corbalis

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Awa Sangho – September 25, 2016

Posted on September 25, 2016 by parker

Awa Sangho  –  White Plains Jazz Fest  –  September 25, 2016

This was actually a multi-act afternoon, of which I caught only a fraction.  Headliner Sangho, the “golden voice of Mali”, is from a griot lineage; she featured a band that was totally (or almost – Moreno from USA, I think) African.  The music had a strong drive, and when Sangho’s shoes came off, oooh the dancing!

Awa Sangho

Daniel Moreno

Abou Lion Diarra

Yacouba Sissoko

Gustavo Dantas Magnani

Fred Doumbé

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Pluck and Rail – September 24, 2016

Posted on September 24, 2016 by parker

Pluck and Rail  –  Upstream Gallery  –  September 24, 2016

New venue for me, located in Hastings-on-Hudson.  This is a curious Americana-esque duo, in that one of the instruments is a cello, played standing up.  Repertoire was a mix of originals and folksy standards.  Schubert, a bandmate of Gierer’s from a previous group, joined in for a couple of numbers, not enough to get included in the painting.  I’d thought that the name in some way referred to music, specifically the combo’s particular instrumentation or methods of playing.  But no, instead, these are slaughterhouse terms, giving some indication of the band’s sensibility, suffused with humor and irony.

Andrew Sussman and George Gierer

Allison Schubert

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MAKU SoundSystem – September 22, 2016

Posted on September 22, 2016 by parker

MAKU SoundSystem  –  Rubenstein Atrium  –   September 22, 2016

MAKU is pretty close to the ultimate in World Music.  The basic band has a South American orientation, mostly Colombia.  The concert was like a showcase revue, with MAKU showing their stuff, and then bringing on musicians from elsewhere, not merely backing them up, but getting deep into the collaboration.  We had Lodescar with a gospel-oriented focus; Ben Jaafar (Morocco), playing the guembri (this oversized version is a kind of proto-electric bass) as part of Innov Gnawa, specializing in the music of northwest Africa; Benavides was part of the Afro-Colombian song-and-dance troupe Bulla en el Barrio.  There were others that I didn’t get to portray.  Half the time, in the dim light, I was merely guessing which color I had in my hand.  Poor Liliana!

Juan Ospina

Liliana Conde

Moris Canate

Andres Jiminez

Robert Stringer and Isaiah Richardson Jr.

Kemba Lodescar

Hassan Ben Jaafar

Gabriel Benavides

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Herbie Waters IV – September 22, 2016

Posted on September 22, 2016 by parker

Herbie Waters IV  –  Busking New York City  –  September 22, 2016

Herbie is the youngest performer I have portrayed, couldn’t have been more than 12. There he was in front of the Apple store on Broadway at 67th Street.  For all I know, he had decided to practice his classical riffs in public.  Who knows what HW III thinks about all of this, or if he even knows!

Herbie Waters IV

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Music Conservatory of Westchester Jazz Faculty Quartet – September 21, 2016

Posted on September 21, 2016 by parker

Music Conservatory of Westchester Jazz Faculty Quartet – Grace Episcopal Church – September 21, 2016

Biggest mouthful of a name for a group I’ve ever documented.  This was a memorial dedicated to the music of jazz sax player (and fellow Westchester-er) Michael Brecker (1949-2007).  New venue for me, and this was part of the ever-expanding White Plains Jazz Fest.

Jake Robinson

Rale Micic

Nicholas Biello

John Lang

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Dorraine Scofield – September 10, 2016

Posted on September 10, 2016 by parker

Dorraine Scofield  – Davis Park, West Shokan  –  September 10, 2016

Scofield was a performer at “Olive Day”, which refers to the Ulster County Town of Olive, rather than the horticultural fruit.  So it was a lucky find for my camping weekend at nearby Oliverea.  She’s a true hometown girl, carrying on what is becoming more apparent to me over time, the Catskills Americana trouper tradition.  She seemed to know and greet just about everyone that passed in front of her at this town fair.  Yes that’s an actual photo – I’m getting less doctrinaire about the format of the posts.

Dorraine Scofield

Dorraine at 4 years

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