What’s Summer without Friends?  Do you know those folks up above? That’s (from the left) Glenn Cornett, the owner and creator of Spectrum.  To the right is Lester St. Louis, Nate Thatcher and his lovely wife Mikayla. I met Nate and Lester only two weeks ago at Spectrum, only to learn that they’ve been ‘the guys’ who’ve been keeping Spectrum humming to wonderful effect during Glenn’s absence.   

Nathan and Lester invited me to put a show together quickly and I in turn offered them, my new friends to join us for it! I then grabbed my old friend Johnny Butler, saxophonist from Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds, he grabbed his friend Kassa Overall, and I pulled my good friend Adam Cuthbért in as well for a well-rounded musical party.  Come join us for an evening of music you haven’t heard before from a whole bunch of über-talented folk!

7pm The Origin of Dialogue
Lester St. Louis (cello), Nate Thatcher (piano) and Dre Hocevar (percussion)

Straight after, ’round 7:30, enter Johnny Butler, joined by his steady collaborator Kassa Overall – Saxophonic electronic musical awesomesauce with a rap twist!
http://johnnybutlermusic.bandcamp.com

Todd Reynolds and Friends

Tuesday, August 20th at 7pm

Also this week – Wednesday night, the 21st, sees me sitting in with yet another great friend, Jason Ennis, with a stellar band including my great colleagues Michael O’Brien on bass and Conor Meehan on drums.  I’m so glad that Jason is showcasing his own music in this Zinc Bar performance, and he’s invited me to sit in on a few tunes. Here’s the facebook event.  Please consider having a drink with us.  Jason writes some great tunes, and I don’t get to play jazz nearly enough!  (photo by KJKPhoto)

THE JASON ENNIS QUINTET
Wednesday, August 21st at 7pm

Zinc Bar
82 West 3rd Street
New York, NY
http://www.zincbar.com/

Thursday, August 8, 2013, 8pm
Tickets $10 in advance/ $15 at the door

Vicky Chow and I are back from three glorious weeks at Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival at Mass MoCA up in the Berkshires on August 4th.  Four days later, we give you THIS:

It won’t quite be Mortal Kombat but sparks will fly as two classical composers with a penchant for pop duke it out at Galapagos next Thursday night, August 8.  In Rolnick’s corner will be yours truly along with Bang On A Can All-Star pianist Vicky Chow, both longtime champions of the Rolnick team.  Matt Marks’ crew features downtown piano diva Kathleen Supové, Alarm Will Sound violinist Courtney Orlando, trumpeter Mike Gurfield (of Signal and the Deviant Septet), and flutist Domenica Fossati (of Concert Black and Underground System).  Of course, both composers will be on hand and on stage to referee, and it’s entirely possible that both sides will find themselves in an all out ‘return to Thunderdome’ finish.  This, however, remains to be seen. 

Neil Rolnick will be trotting out a brand new mash-up of Everly Brothers tunes and a time traveling improvisation from the 80s, as well as putting up his tried and true standards – Hammer & Hair, Digits and Fiddle Faddle.

Matt Marks’ crew will be playing his collection of Shame Remixes – pieces based on musical guilty pleasures – including remixes of Disney songs, Baptist hymns, Taylor Swift, Sadé, and Marks’ grand remix of the Dirty Dancing soundtrack: Mixtape for the Summer of ’63. 

Okay, in the end, it’s not really much of a real battle.  More like a lovefest. That’s really pretty much all I’ll really get involved in.  But someone picked this marketing direction, so I’m following along. Most have seen Vicky and I play Neil’s music,  but never at Galapagos, and never alongside one of my favorite other solo performer/composers, Matt Marks.  

“Twill be nothing but fun and frolic” – Gandalf.

Come on out, you won’t want to miss this!
Cheers!
Todd

Thursday, August 8, 2013, 8pm
Galapagos Art Space, 16 Main St., Brooklyn, NY 11201
https://www.facebook.com/events/492349404166647/ http://www.galapagosartspace.com/in-concert

Tickets $10 in advance/ $15 at the door
More info:  917-848-3008

]]> https://toddreynolds.wordpress.com/2013/08/02/neil-rolnick-vs-matt-marks-fight/feed/ 0 621 toddreyn Image https://toddreynolds.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/shoko-nagaielliot-sharpbam-film-premiere/ https://toddreynolds.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/shoko-nagaielliot-sharpbam-film-premiere/#comments Tue, 25 Jun 2013 16:22:18 +0000 http://toddreynolds.wordpress.com/?p=598 Continue reading →]]>

Hi Folks,

Tomorrow night, Wednesday, at 9.30 pm,  is the NY premiere of These Birds Walk at  BAMcinématek series.  Last year, filmmakers Omar Mullick & Bassam Tariq asked me to score this extraordinary film which moved me in ways I didn’t anticipate. After a critically acclaimed debut at SXSW, I now get to share it with you. Omar and Bassam will do a Q&A after the screening.  You won’t want to miss it!  I’ve included a summary below, but to really get an idea by seeing the trailer and buying tickets, please do click here.

“Pushing cinema vérité to its raw emotional limits, this hard-bitten portrait of Karachi’s underclass is also an ode to the beauty and anguish of childhood that has earned it comparisons to François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows. For their extraordinary debut feature, Mullick and Tariq traveled to Pakistan to raise awareness about the work of aging humanitarian Abdul Satar Edhi, the man behind the nation’s largest philanthropic organization. Immersing themselves in the lives of the countless runaways crowding Edhi’s orphanages, they emerged with this heartbreaking chronicle of poverty and street life seen through the eyes of the young and vulnerable, with a lyricism that honors the resilience of its subjects.”

These Birds Walk is sandwiched right between TWO nights of collaborations with the fantastic Shoko Nagai & Dog TAken’ SHadows.  It is such a pleasure to make music with this band, and tonight, Tuesday, at IBEAM, my legendary colleague, Elliot Sharp will be joining us as well. 

Tues 6/25 @ 10pm
IBEAM
168 7th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11215
http://ibeambrooklyn.com/
and the facebook event is here.

Todd Reynolds (violin/ electronics)
Elliot Sharp (Guitar/ effects)
Pascal Niggenkemper (bass)
Shoko Nagai (moog/ piano/ compositions)

Thurs 6/27 @ 8pm
Spectrum
121 Ludlow Street, 2nd Fl., NY, NY
https://www.facebook.com/spectrumNYC

Todd Reynolds (violin/ electronics)
Jonathan Goldberger (guitar/effects)
Pascal Niggenkemper (bass)
Shoko Nagai (moog, piano, compositions)

Shoko on Dog TAken’ SHadows:
“When I was dog-sitting several of my friend’s dogs, I was struck by the beauty of their individual characters.  Each one had very specific spirit and emotions in which I had to respect in order to communicate with them.  In turn, they gave me an inspiration to write these new compositions.”

Cheers!
Todd

Hi folks,

It’s shaping up to be a colossal June so far!  I just returned from *Skywalker Ranch* for the Sundance Institute’s newly inaugurated collaboration with Skywalker Sound to support independent filmmakers and film composers!  Beyond thrilled about being part of the lab and I’ll be sharing some more on the whole mind-blowing experience soon!

Off the airplane and into a fantastic week of concerts that I would love for you to come enjoy.  TONIGHT brings TWO amazing events:

First up, the Bang on a Can Benefit at 6pm at City Winery.  This year we’re honoring the brilliant DAVID BITHER of Nonesuch Records with a once-in-a-lifetime concert featuring Bang’s very own Asphalt Orchestra, Bang on a Can All-Star David Cossin with Glenn Kotche (of Wilco fame) playing live percussion duets (including music by Steve Reich), Devendra Banhart, the wildly creative and popular Nonesuch artist playing a couple songs for us the night before his big Town Hall gig supporting his latest record Mala AND this just in: Carolina Chocolate Drops!  I’ll be performing Michael Gordon’s Light is Calling.  More details here!

I’ll be hopping off to Brooklyn right after to play at 8 in the first ever UNPLAY Festival, a three-night event conceived, curated and organized by the excellent pianist/composer  Conrad Tao. The festival will take place June 11-12-13 at 8PM, at the powerHouse Arena.  Each evening is devoted to a different conception of classical music –ePhemera explores the fleeting nature of the concert experience, REPlay challenges the notion of ‘standard repertoire’ as well as how old and new works relate to one another, and Hi/r/stories looks at the broader narrative of classical music and how our digital, social media culture has affected how the story is told. Full schedule and details here!  If you can’t make it, you can check out the livestream here.

THURSDAY at 7 brings a very special event at the National Opera Center with my long time collaborator, the wonderful Neil Rolnick.  I’ll be performing his second violin concerto, Gardening at Gropius House with Alan Pierson conducting members of Alarm Will Sound.  Additional music by Rick Baitz, Caleb Burhans, John Orfe and Matt Marks.  More details here.

Hope to see you out there!

Cheers!
Todd

Toni Dove’s LUCID POSSESSION

premieres at ROULETTE April 25, 26, 27 at 8pm!

a co-production of Issue Project Room, HERE and Roulette

Buy Tickets

In the beginning, was the silent film.  Then came the talkie, then the classic, then the blockbuster thriller – full of technology and explosions and car crashes, complex twists and plot turns. But what if you could watch the director herself ‘play’ the film in front of you using only her hands and infrared cameras?  And have the score created in front of you in surround sound, sung by one of Philip Glass’ famous lyric sopranos and a battery of lit up laptop devices?  Now you don’t have to imagine…..

I hope you’ll join me this weekend for Toni Dove’s world premiere of Lucid Possession.  Batten down your hatches for a wild ride with robotic screens, live mix video, my live score on digital violin, Hai-Ting Chinn on vocals and sampling, songs by Elliott Sharp, with Toni Dove using real time motion sensing to control characters and animate video in real time!

It’s a crazy three dimensional video pop-up book with performers playing the automated stage machine like an instrument. Technical directors Ed Bear and Matt Tennie improvise on robotics and control an 8-channel sound system that combines improvisation and pre-recorded sound. Software design by R. Luke DuBois. Robotics by Leif Krinkle and Ed Bear. Staging co-directed by Bob McGrath. Costume design by Karen Young.

For more information on the project, visit:  www.lucidpossession.com

More events coming soon, including concerts with Guy Klucevsek, China with Bang on a Can, a World Premiere with Cornelius Dufallo, the Unplay festival, tons!

First, however, I would love to see you this weekend.  I can only promise you fun and provocation.

Cheers!

Todd
Click here for directions!

The film will be unveiled in the next couple of months at South by South West. (SXSW)

This is a film by a well-known journalist/photographer and his partner filmmaker, both equals in the project, in its creativity and design, which is comprised entirely of footage shot in Pakistan, documentary style, but with no real talking heads, but rather palpable dramatic situations created by this trio of characters being watched over a series of months and created entirely by an old man, a teen and a young runaway boy.

These Birds Walk is at once a testament and revelation of runaway boys in Karachi, and the man who has given his life to giving refuge to them through his namesake creation, The Edhi Foundation. There’s his ambulance driver, and there is Omar, a child who I’ve found myself quite attached to through a multitude of repeated viewings. (I mean, that’s how we DO it.)

I am in love with this film, but moreso, I’m grateful for the gifts bestowed through successful and warm collaboration.  Near the very beginning, Omar and Bassam approached with the idea of being very hands-on in the process. For me, this wasn’t a stretch. The fact is, for a great part of it, we sat there and made this music together.  What was shocking, liberating, and ultimately the best creative catalyst, was their insistence on the music that THEY wanted, not my initial attempts to throw my ‘normal’ voice into it.  It took me a few takes to get it, and then we were off and running.  There are no spinning delays here, no motors, no intense dramatic sweeping overtures or finales.  Thanks to the relationship which developed between the three of us, (as well as nearly 4 pounds of cashews and three gallons of mint tea), the score developed organically. It is nothing but violin, layered, slathered in reverb at times, but simple, with a microscope on the dirty sounds of harmonics and an overly rosined bow on strings.

On Monday, September 3rd, Rite of Summer at Governor’s Island, sets at 1pm and 3pm. 

Ferries are FREE as is the concert.  This extraordinary series has featured Ljova’s Kontraband, JACK Quartet, and Monday I’ve put together a band of extraordinary colleagues to explore some music I rarely get to play. We’ve got old American tunes and Bluegrass originals and some simply beautiful songs for you.

Featuring the music of Jordan Tice and Jonny Rodgers, and the foundational percussion of Mathias Kunzli and the upright bass of Michael O’Brien.  These people have never played together before and you don’t wanna miss it.  Rehearsals have proven this to be a singular project on a maiden voyage.  Click the Link above for more details!

So the summary goes like this:  One of America’s most compelling bluegrass artists, a glass-harmonica songwriter who turns any composition into a sparkling event, and rhythm from the man who gives Regina Spektor her time foundation every night on tour, and, well, you and I get to see each other, all in one of New York’s most beautiful spots.  What’s not to love?  Come spend Labor Day with us!

Governor’s Island is easy to get to and a perfect place for a family outing, much to see, much history to explore, and transportation is clear and easy.  Take any one of the lower manhattan subways, (R, 1, 6) to the ferry buildings and look for the beautiful building pictured up top… There’s also a ferry from Brooklyn!

Mixtapes Streams Wednesdays at 3 pm and Thursdays at 7 pm on Q2 Music

Those who follow me on Facebook, or my preferred place of lurking, Google +, will probably also know Q2  the gift of WQXR to all of us who appreciate and thrive on creative, new, fresh music, with great programs, DJs and more. (@q2music on Twitter)

This week I put together a playlist of some of our great composer/performers for Q2’s Mixtape program. Cheers to WQXR’s Hannis Brown for asking me to contribute and for executing stunningly, and thanks to the composers for welcoming the streaming of their work here, some of whom sent me unpublished tracks for posting.  There’s tons of ways to skin this cat we think of as ‘classical music’. We do it here 13 ways to Sunday.

Enjoy, and check out all the great programming Q2 has to offer as well as the other Mixtapes on the series!

]]> https://toddreynolds.wordpress.com/2012/06/06/mixtapes-2/feed/ 0 480 toddreyn Screen shot 2012-06-06 at 8.46.48 AM https://toddreynolds.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/joes-pub-feb-10th-with-gabriel-prokofiev-and-peter-gregson/ https://toddreynolds.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/joes-pub-feb-10th-with-gabriel-prokofiev-and-peter-gregson/#respond Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:09:34 +0000 http://toddreynolds.wordpress.com/?p=457 Continue reading →]]> Joe’s Pub presents three of the most innovative musicians working in contemporary classical music, together on one bill, in a night that promises to explore the new common ground at the crossroads of classical and electronica. 9pm, February 10th at Joe’s Pub $18

Click Here to Buy Tickets!

New York’s “daredevil” digital-violinist Todd Reynolds, whose recent album Outerborough was named Amazon’s Best Classical release of 2011 continues to infect the New York and international music scene with a passion borne of rock n roll and a sensibility which any ‘new music afficionado’ can appreciate. The Bang on a Can and Steve Reich violinist will perform a work or two from Outerborough and interface in remixed conversations with his London counterparts.

Peter Gregson, described by The New Yorker as ‘at the forefront of the new music scene’, is a British cellist who has collaborated with Tod Machover and Max Richter, among many other luminaries. He will be marking the first US performance of Nonclassical’s latest release, Cello Multitracks (written by Gabriel Prokofiev), which he premiered in London in 2011.