Holiday Hoot – Howland Cultural Center, Beacon – December 7, 2013
This was a community cultural affair, with a whole menu of musical and spoken performances; the Howland Cultural Center is ground zero for the Beacon arts community. Chris Ruhe was the evening’s MC. I was only able to grab snippets; nobody was on for real long. Many of the performers didn’t stick around for long after they were done, so few signings.
Chris Ruhe
Dave Bernz
Jacob Bernz
Michael Tabon
Chris Shann
Alvin Bell
Campbell Brothers – David Rubinstein Atrium – October 24, 2013
The Campbells play what they call “sacred steel”. The sacred part is that the music is strictly gospel or spiritually-oriented (they fit Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme” into the category); the steel refers to the slide guitars – one just a straight steel, one with more pedals than I’ve seen before. They really tear it up, and what comes out is as bluesy, funky, folky, as any secularists out there. The concert was part of a larger extended set of presentations throughout town called the “White Light Festival”. Several of the players had their own pens – metallic-ink sharpies, which doesn’t scan all that great.
Darick Campbell
Phillip Campbell
Denise Brown
Carlton Campbell
Chuck Campbell
Daric Bennett
Sean Jones – Schomburg Center – October 21, 2013
Jones is associated with the JALC Orchestra. Here he’s stepping out a bit with his own small group. Drat these halls with more than one exit. I waited quite some time to get Orrin Evans’s signature, thinking that I had the exit covered, only to find out otherwise.
Sean Jones
John Davis
Dezron Douglas
Orrin Evans
Zorn at the Met – Metropolitan Museum of Art – September 28, 2013
In honor of John Zorn’s 60th birthday, a special concert series was held at the Met. Each hour from 10 AM until 8 PM, a different set of music was presented by a different set of musicians in a different museum location. I managed to catch only two, and a major disappointment was that I got so distracted by viewing certain museum exhibits that I got shut out from seeing the man himself. Oh well!
Bill Frisell
Carol Emanuel
Kenny Wollesen
Jane Sheldon, Sarah Brailey, Melissa Hughes
Abigail Fischer, Kirsten Sollek
Busking Central Park – Central Park – October 19, 2013
I caught this busking group during SketchCrawl 41. A more extensive account of my day is posted (buried amidst stuff) at http://nyc.urbansketchers.org/2013_10_01_archive.html
Kolja, Lumpert, Farkas
Mark Slouka – Studio Around the Corner – September 22, 2013
This was the second Studio Around the Corner (see details of this venue in the September 8 post) in a month. This place is becoming a cultural powerhouse! Author Slouka was making the rounds to promote his latest novel, “Brewster”. We all basked in the resonance of his reading from the novel to inhabitants of the place that is the setting and title, especially the person who lived on the same block!
Mark Slouka
Juilliard Jazz Quartet – Peter Jay Sharp Theater – September 17, 2013
Thank you Juilliard Jazz, and especially Carl Allen, for keeping up with these great performances. This one was originally to have featured Ron Carter, but health issues precluded his being able to perform. Ben Wolfe filled in ably on bass. Carter did contribute a few compositions, as did Allen, Blake, and Kimbrough.
Carl Allen
Ron Blake
Frank Kimbrough
Ben Wolfe
Ensemble Signal – Miller Theatre – September 10, 2013
This was a part of the Miller Theatre’s “Pop Up” concert series. With a modest turnout expected, the seats were actually on the stage at the same level as the performers. Free beverages (alcoholic!) were provided. I’m not sure of the full configuration or orientation of the ensemble; this evening was devoted to new music for soloists, including a number of New York, USA, or world premieres. I worked in ink – bold for me, no erasing – but blinked at the photoshop step, “fixing” a few “flaws” on Parker.
Steven Parker
Oliver Hagen
Kelli Kathman
American Music & Local History – Southeast Museum – September 8, 2013
A wordy title that doesn’t fit on one line, oh well. Full story: the basement of the Southeast Museum in Brewster is a small performance space and gallery known as the Studio Around the Corner, operated by the Town of Southeast Cultural Arts Coalition. The museum is housed in the historic old town hall. OK, mouthful done! The quintet ensemble was assembled by Bob Zubrycki, and the program comprised American music spanning two centuries, from Benjamin Franklin to Aaron Copland. Narration providing historical context of the pieces was provided by Amy Campanaro (the museum’s director).
Robert Zubrycki
Sarah Hewitt-Roth
Adria Benjamin
Cecile McLorin Salvant – Marcus Garvey Park – August 24, 2013
This was day 2 of the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, so it was a bit of a tossup how I would title it, but Cecile was the real draw for me, getting me down to Harlem plenty early and sitting in the hot sun for over an hour to get a primo seat. Not that the other bands, and there were three of them, were slouches by any means. I got all of the players for the Jaleel Shaw group, and the Kimberly Thompson combo as well. But for Cecile I broke out the watercolors and let the rest of her band slide. By Kenny Garrett’s set, I was played after two days of mad action sketching, so I just took what I could get. Sketches here are in chronological order.
Jaleel Shaw & Boris Kozlov
Johnathan Blake & Lawrence Fields
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Kimberly Thompson
Courtney Bryan & Aaron Burnett
Nick Woziak
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Cecile McLorin Salvant
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Kenny Garrett
Corcoran Holt
Rudy Bird
