Feast of Music

Original Blues

2010-03-11T06:35:09-05:00

Guitarist Honeyboy Edwards, who won a lifetime Grammy earlier this year, is one of the last remaining original Delta Blues musicians. Edwards, 94, was literally present at the birth of the blues, having played with everyone from Robert Johnson to Howlin' Wolf. (Honeyboy claims he was with Johnson the night he died under mysterious circumstances, in 1938.) If you've never had the chance to catch Edwards live, tonight's your night, as he'll be live at B.B. King's; showtime 7:30. (Photo: Honeyboy's Delta Blues Highway marker in his hometown of Shaw, MS.)

Barber @ 100

2010-03-10T08:01:07-05:00

Samuel Barber, who would have turned 100 years old yesterday, is probably the most under-appreciated composer America has ever produced. Sure, everyone knows the pained, heartfelt Adagio for Strings and maybe the Violin Concerto (both written when Barber was in his late 20's), but how many have seen his great opera Vanessa, or the criminally panned Antony and Cleopatra, which opened the new Met Opera in 1966? For all his brilliant strokes, Barber was an unfortunate victim of his era, which viewed music as an academic - rather than tonal - exercise: a dark period from which we are only now starting to emerge.

Back in 1993, I interviewed pianist John Browning about the Pulitzer Prize-winning Piano Concerto, which Barber wrote for Browning in 1962, and became convinced that it, too, is a neglected masterpiece. (Browning informed me that the final movement, which Barber completed just prior to the premiere, was inspired by the sound of Browning urinating in Barber's toilet; take a listen to Track 7.)

Sadly, I'm not aware of any major concerts in our area commemorating the Barber centenary, though EMI has put out a nice compilation (incl. the Berlin Phil playing the Adagio) to mark the occasion. Here's hoping this will mark the beginning of a better 2nd century for Sam.

On a Happier Note...

2010-03-09T09:04:08-05:00

"I could play and sound like Charlie Parker note for note, but I was only playing it from method. So, I needed to figure out where to go from there."

Happy 80th, Ornette. You stand alone.

Sparklehorse R.I.P.

2010-03-08T20:07:57-05:00

Just read the terrible news that Mark Linkous (a.k.a. Sparklehorse) took his own life on Saturday near his home in Knoxville, TN. He was 47. I only saw Sparklehorse once - at Bowery Ballroom in 2006 - but his slow, spare songs were unlike anything I've ever experienced, before or since. It was far more searing than any high-voltage rock show, leaving me haunted for days. (Go here to listen to the brilliant Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain.)

Coming on the heels of Vic Chesnutt's suicide on Christmas day, and Jay Reatard's suspicious death three weeks later, this is one musical trend I could well do without.

Art Rock

2010-03-06T16:01:10-05:00

It's Armory Week here in NYC, and the city is flush with all manner of art and related happenings. Last night, the rough-around-the-edges Fountain Art Fair - situated this year at the Frying Pan - hosted a public opening with free-flowing booze and a pair of live musical performances. Brooklyn's Depreciation Guild aped the 80's with a mix of melodic guitars and electronics that sounded like a hyperactive videogame. Far more engaging was Detroit's ADULT, featuring Siouxsie-like Nicola Kaperus singing over husband Adam Lee Miller's drum machine and synths, spinning the all-ages crowd into a technopop frenzy. I even saw one or two bluehairs up and dancing, apparently having ditched their society friends at that establishment fair upriver.

The fun continues tonight at Fountain with Marky Ramone of The Ramones DJing from 7p - midnight; details on the website. Afterwards, head across the East River to catch the late night galleries in Williamsburg and Site Fest in Bushwick. (More pics below.)

American Singer

2010-03-05T19:28:41-05:00

Gabe Kahane, who's appeared in these pages before, is used to playing rooms like Rockwood or LPR, where you can get a drink and stand among the barstools. So, it was something of a adjustment to see him onstage Wednesday night at the Allen Room, with it's dramatic stage lighting and jaw-dropping backdrop of Central Park South. Gabe was appearing as part of Lincoln Center's American Songbook: the far-reaching series that's hosted everyone from Leslie Uggams to Rufus Wainwright this season. And, he admitted to some awkwardness in making the transition: agonizing over what to wear, expressing uncertainty over his stage banter, etc.

But, with influences ranging from fin de siecle Vienna to American musical theater and indie rock, I can't think of anyone more deserving of this stage. (More so, at least, than a certain band who played here a few weeks ago.) He had a big ensemble along for the ride (including guitarist/composer Rob Moose, who duetted with Gabe on several songs), adding an emphatic exclamation point to the evening. Gabe himself jumped from piano, to Wurlitzer, to banjo to guitar, and back again, occasionally finding himself in front of the wrong instrument.

Gabe performed a mix of old familiars - including several selections from Craigslistlieder - and ambitious new works, such as a setting of Robert Lowell's For the Union Dead (see Glory) that sounded like some kind of Appalachian symphony, leaving the crowd in riveted silence. It was all blazing chops and serious vocal prowess.

At one point, Gabe let on that he just signed a lease for a new apartment in Ditmas Park. "You'd think I'd want to move closer to Manhattan," he cracked, no doubt knowing there are more than a few long train rides back to midtown in his future. (More pics on the Fan Page.)

Music Doodle

2010-03-04T10:37:48-05:00

(Happy 332nd Birthday, Vivaldi.)

The Best Orchestra You've Never Heard

2010-03-03T19:45:53-05:00

One of the very first posts I wrote for this site was in praise of a NYC visit by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra: the oldest orchestra in the world (founded in 1743) and, without exception, one of the finest. The reason you probably haven't heard of them is because they were locked for decades behind the Iron Curtain without the ability to tour outside Germany, or even play in a permanent concert hall. (Their own hall was bombed in WWII.)

The last time the LGO was in town, they blew me away with a performance of Mahler's 5th led by their then-new music director, Riccardo Chailly, who had just completed a 16 year run with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Chailly returned to Carnegie with the LGO this past weekend, and all evidence shows that the relationship has only deepened. (Chailly just signed a contract extension that will keep him in Leipzig through 2015, so clearly he's doing something right.)

Sunday's matinee opened with a performance of Chopin's first Piano Concerto, commemorating the 200th birthday of the composer (which was Monday.) Taking in the work's elegant lyricism and emotional maturity, it blew me away to think that Chopin was only 19 when he wrote it. (Aside from a 2nd concerto he wrote concurrently, Chopin spent the rest of his life writing exclusively for solo piano.) Montreal-native Louis Lortie played the solo part with just the right grace and reserve, throwing in one of the composer's nocturnes as an encore. (Speaking of Chopin, the World Financial Center is holding a week-long series of recitals this week on five pianos scattered throughout the Winter Garden.)

As fine as the Chopin was, this orchestra made it's name with the works of German composers, so it was only fitting they finished with Brahms' sunny 2nd symphony. Chailly used a score but rarely glanced at it, instead focusing on coaxing everything he could out of his hugely-skilled but deeply traditional players. The end result was nothing short of astonishing, with everyone firing on all cylinders: the brass was sharp and loud all the way to the back, the timpani crisp and clean, the strings bristling with energy. Chailly was like a wild stallion on the podium, full of genuine passion and unbridled emotion that continued straight through the encore of Beethoven's "Egmont" overture. The crowd went absolutely bonkers after both, rightfully so.

(You can check out Saturday's concert over at the Times. More pics at the Fan page.)

Close Quarters

2010-03-01T00:12:23-05:00

The Blue Note, on 3rd Street in the Village, likes to refer to itself as the "World's Finest Jazz Club and Restaurant," allowing patrons the chance to see the top jazz players in the world "in a close, comfortable setting." (Quote taken from the Blue Note website.) Well, they got the close part right: ten minutes before the late set Saturday night, my friend Sean and I were shunted into the middle seats of a narrow six-seater to the extreme right of the stage, my waist pinned to the table by the chair immediately backing mine. And, just to get that, we had to haggle with the aggressively rude doorman. Sorry, but for $35 (plus a $5 minimum) I expect better. Which may have something to do with why this was my first trip to the club in nearly a decade. (I saw Lionel Hampton there in 2000.)

Fortunately, the music - which was provided by veteran players Bill Frisell, Ron Carter and Paul Motian - was hushed and elegant, led by Frisell's ethereally bending Fender. And, while the set felt short at just over an hour, I, for one, was happy just to be able to breathe again. (More pics at the fan page.)

Godfather of Funk

2010-02-26T23:03:40-05:00

The mad circus that is George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars, B.B. King's, 2/21/10. More pics at the Fan Page.