Upcoming January: Live Music...JACKPOT!!

Wow, OK, the New Year is bringing some promising musical tidings. Some of this is the result of the annual Association of Professional Arts Presenters (APAP) conference which results in a deluge of arts bookers from around the US, and sometimes other countries as well, descending on NYC to check out various musicians playing their hearts out (and butts off) in specially arranged showcases at various venues across the city. If between January 9-13, you notice your favorite hot spot having a greater number of different shows in an evening, then you know they're probably hosting a showcase. The show may be shorter, but it'll be one hot show as artists work to seduce audiences and bookers alike--hopefully securing a number of advance engagements and allowing for a less tenuous economic picture for the upcoming year.

So get out there and support artists you admire and love! Show that love to the bookers so those artists can keep working.

A few showcases of interest are happening the same night (JazzFest & Mondo Music Fest--what happened there??), but not everyone is playing at the same time:

• Friday, January 9, 2008 •
Export NOLA @ Sullivan Hall
8pm Paul Sanchez, John Boutte & Leroy Jones
9:20pm Jonathan Batiste Trio
10:40pm Christian Scott Quintet 11:40pm Big Sam's Funky Nation* (bandleader Big Sam Williams pictured right, courtesy Monstersandcritics.com)
Followed By A Late Night NOLA Jam!
Sullivan Hall
214 Sullivan Street (between Bleeker & W. 3rd St.)
Evening starts @ 8pm
Tix $18

*Noted music writer/musician Ned Sublette just gave BSFN's new release Peace, Love & Understanding a rave (but don't expect any Elvis Costello covers on the CD).

•••

• Saturday, January 10 •

• MONDO MUSIC FESTIVAL •
Melvin Gibbs' Elevated Entity (w/ John Medeski, Vernon Reid and Amayo of Antibalas)
The amazing bassist/composer Melvin Gibbs (Harriet Tubman, Rollins Band, Sonny Sharrock, etc.; pictured right playing with Cindy Blackman and Jean-Paul Bourelly ©Dargan Tasic) plays with his group as part of the Mondo/Mundo Music Festival presented by Highline Presents (a project of the Highline Ballroom) at the Hiro Ballroom. The festival line-up includes:

• Groupo Fantasma
• Melvin Gibbs' Elevated Entity
• Nation Beat
• SoCalled

Hiro Ballroom at the Maritime Hotel
371 W 16 St.
New York, NY 10011
A, C, E, and L lines
Doors open @ 7pm Bands go on @ 8pm, 9pm, 10pm, 11pm (order TBD)
Tix $17 in advance, $20 day of the show

• 2009 NYC WINTER JAZZ FEST •
For complete info go to the JazzFest site.
$25 Winter JazzFest pass
$45 THE WATTS PROJECT + Winter JazzFest pass (pictured right, Jeff "Tain" Watts, photo ©R.Cifarelli©phocus)

Here's the schedule in brief:

(Le) Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker Street (btwn Sullivan & Thompson)

6p: Claudia Acuña
7p: Gary Bartz-Ommas Keith Project (Jill Newman Productions)
8p: Jason Moran's Bandwagon
9p: Dafnis Prieto Sextet
10p: Don Byron Ivey-Divey Trio
12:00am The Watts Project feat. Jeff 'Tain' Watts, Terence
Blachard, Christian McBride, Prometheus Jenkins

Sullivan Hall, 214 Sullivan (between Bleecker & W. 3rd St.)
7:20pmTheo Bleckmann 'Berlin-Las Vegas'
w/ Todd Reynolds String Quartet
8:20pm Jonathan Batiste Trio
9:20pm Toshi Reagon & BIGLovely (pictured right)
10:20pm Marco Benevento Trio
11:20pm Will Calhoun Native Land ExperienceGroup
12:20am Robert Glasper Trio
1:20am Sarah Morrow 'Elektric Air'
2:00am Aaron Parks

Kenny's Castaways, 157 Bleecker Street (between Sullivan & Thompson): 6:30pm-3am
6:40pm Ayelet Rose Gottlieb
7:40pm By Any Means
8:40pm Sex Mob plays Sexotica
9:40pm Lafayette Gilchrist
10:40pm Tar Baby
11:40pm Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey
12:40pm Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber**
1:40am Taylor Ho Bynum Positive Catastrophe

**This should be a great show. The line-up includes: Jared Michael Nickerson: electric bass, Karma Mayet Johnson: vocals, Moist Paula Henderson: baritone sax, Will Martina: cello, Ben Tyree: guitar, Greg Tate: conduction, among a host of stellar performers. (pictured right, Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber)

•••

• Sunday, January 11th, 2009 •
Export NOLA @ Sullivan Hall
8pm Kirk Joseph's Backyard Groove feat. Big Chief Monk Boudreaux
9pm DJ Soul Sister
9:50pm Christian Scott Quintet
11pm Big Sam's Funky Nation @
Meet-And-Greet with New Orleans Treats
(Gumbo, Hubig's Pies, Pralines, and more!)
w/ DJ Soul Sister Spinning - 7pm

Sullivan Hall
214 Sullivan Street (between Bleeker & W. 3rd St.)
Evening starts @ 7pm
Tix $15

•••

• Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 •
Yes, INAUGURATION DAY, and for those not traveling to Washington, D.C. (Le) Poisson Rouge is hosting:
The Inauguration Concert featuring:
Apollo Heights
24-7 Spyz
HR (of Bad Brains)
(perhaps this booking is an acknowledgement of Rob Field's February 2007 assertion: "Barack Obama is Black Rock"?

(Le) Poisson Rouge
158 Bleecker (btwn Sullivan & Thomson)
Doors open @ 7:30pm, show @ 8pm
Tix $15

•••

And if all that black rock retro-to-the-future nostalgia isn't enough for you, here's some more, also at (Le) Poisson Rouge:

• Saturday, January 24, 2009 •
ESG (aka "the legenday South Bronx Scroggin Sisters no wave, post-punk, hip-hop beat goldmine band" pictured right, photo courtesy Soul Jazz Records)
(Le) Poisson Rouge
158 Bleecker (btwn Sullivan & Thomson)
Show @ 10pm
Tix $20

What I Missed, Someone Else Didn't...II + Black Banjo + Imani Coppola + Save 475 Kent Avenue

Bold As Love has been b-u-s-y folks, and with his own black rock progeny in tow he headed over to the Brooklyn Museum last weekend to check out Harriet Tubman apparently heeding an earlier "admonishment"--his words--found in this blog directed towards the talented Mr. Rob Fields. And yes, like many of us, he found that HT is no joke, and had a serious good time. You can read more about his take on that here, and check some nice photos as well (doesn't that glass window backdrop look great?). Apparently, HT indicated that their awaited album is coming out in 2008, dropped some science about black folk & the banjo and gave an update on the release of the Otis Taylor engineered Recapturing the Banjo album (Telarc, 2008--actually it's out now) and documentary (see video below) featuring Corey Harris, Keb' Mo', Alvin Youngblood Hart, Guy Davis, Taylor, and Don Vappie. This is hopefully gonna be a seriously deep year musically.

Excerpt from the Recapturing the Banjo: The Black Banjo Project documentary:





Bold As Love also hipped us to Imani Coppola's Little Jackie project, in month-long residence at Southpaw--through March 11. Did I know about this, dang, I did not. And I've been liking Coppola since 1997's underrated Chupacabra ("I'm A Tree," "Legend of A Cowgirl" oh yeah...). Looks like I missed guitarist/vocalist Honeychild Coleman's guest appearance on the bill, bummer. Plus, Maritri, whom I haven't heard of, is doing an interesting sounding monthly music series at The Cutting Room. All this and "Listening Post" yummies can be found this week at Bold As Love. Watcha waitin'for?

---

Passing Strange on Broadway

Mr. Fields reminded me that all of us in the NYC area, or visiting soon, need to get out to Stew's black rock musical, Passing Strange which has just made the trip from The Public to Broadway (aka the Great White Way--well not 100% thanks to Passing Strange among others--hee-hee, couldn't resist) where it's playing at the Belasco Theater. For those wondering at the title, no it's not a reference to racial "passing". More about the Shakespeare Othello reference of the title, and the show itself here. But that's not all, there's a Bold As Love brief write up (no spoilers), and a great podcast interview with Stew. Writer/anthropologist Maureen Mahon (Right to Rock) gives us an interview with Stew at EbonyJet.com (remember, if you can, when Ebony would barely include freaky Prince in it's pages?). Not to be outdone, not just one(with exhubertant endorsement by Spike Lee), but two hits from Bluegum on the show, with the classic quote: "Finally, a Color Purple for the rest of us!"

I concur, this was one of the best theater "experiments" I've seen in a long time. I'm using the word "experiment" because that what Stew calls the show and it's Broadway presence. But I don't mean "best" on the "experiment" continuum, but on the "theater" continuum. Although I do believe that theater is meant to be continually experimenting, reconfiguring itself, finding the best way to stage a story without always deferring to precedent--in this case rock musical theater precedent, i.e.: Rent, Hair, or Jesus Christ Superstar.

I was galvanized afterwards. I wanted more, more, more black rock, more black people exploring difference, and boundaries, and varied intersections with culture and creativity. The show just opens up your head, and your heart--to get all goofy and squishy about. Passing Strange makes you think, makes you groove, makes you shudder, makes you squirm, makes you laugh, makes you grieve, makes you hot, makes you holler, and then makes you do it all over again. Ain't nothin' but right about that.

For information on how to get discounted tickets go to this Bold As Love post.

---

Speaking of Supporting Artists...
475 Kent Avenue, Brooklyn: 200+ artists trying to keep their studios after City eviction:
•PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION•

Among the displaced artists from 475 Kent in Brooklyn, NY is master bassist Melvin Gibbs formerly of the Rollins Band and currently of the aforementioned Harriet Tubman. You probably know of one or more of the 200+ artists and their families who have been impacted by this situation, some who have lived there for a decade. Even if you don't, if you're an artist living in the NYC-Area it easily could you in this situation. For more from audiologo on the amazing and hardworking Mr. Melvin Gibbs check here, and on Harriet Tubman live at Joe's Pub in September 2007, check here.

The New York Times has been giving a solid amount of coverage to this situation (see links below) where the tenants are working with the landlords to bring the building up to code (a rare situation where the landlords are supporting the tenants). At this point only the sprinkler system needs repair, and the tenants are requesting permission to return to their homes while the work is done. To date this request has been denied.

Open Letter from 475 Kent Avenue resident & artist vibeke jensen:
Date: February 11, 2008

Dear Friends, New York-, national- and international arts community,

we are trying to save the building where more than 200 artists, my
neighbors & i lived and worked for 10 years!

for more information:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/21/nyregion/21loft.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/22/nyregion/22lofts.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/nyregion/10building.html

please sign our online petition to Mayor Bloomberg

http://www.petitiononline.com/475Kent/petition.html

please do so now. And PLEASE forward this to your friends.
We are trying to get thousands of signatures on his desk asap.


sorry for any cross postings.
vibeke jensen
www.thing.net/~vibekeie

While the gettin' is good: OUT ON A LIMB, 9/20/07

Master guitarist Brandon Ross' Out on A Limb curated music series at Rose Live Music was intended to give musicians an opportunity to get out of their comfort zones and try working without the usual nets, be they back-up musicians, laptop computers, or whatever.

"Naked," as bassist Melvin Gibbs intoned this evening, is the operative word. Gibbs and lyric tenor Carlo Vutera were on tonight's bill with Vutera offering the first set, a primarily a cappella performance of songs in Spanish, Italian, and there was also one in French I caught which dealt with memory and was quite haunting. Vutera is the owner of Rose Live Music which he runs with his sister, Gina Vutera. But he was quite reticent about accepting Ross' invitation to participate. Somewhat refreshing modesty from an opera singer (yep, there have been some unfortunate recent experiences), except he almost backed out of the gig. That would have been a shame. In between songs he said he was ultimately lured by the opportunity to work with composer/conductionist Butch Morris on the final night of the series.

The naked voice is a scary thing to put out there, especially when it's yours and you're singing to an intimate group of people a selection of songs that requires the placing of your heart on your sleeve. But Vutera rose to that, he allowed himself to be exposed with a maybe four feet between him and the audience--at eye-level no less on the Rose's low stage--singing songs that he loves. It was all there in his voice, and it was moving to witness. Vutera, a Sicillian, was born in Italy, and has lived in Belgium and New York (he's a long-time Williamsburg resident), where he sang with the New York Light Opera. But he was apparently changed forever by studying Cuban music, which he did for three years while living in Havana and working with coach and pianist Pura Ortíz and singing at the National Opera House. He has released an album which includes popular Neopolitan works along with traditional Cuban ones, and supporting him are some of the top musicians in Havana. Vutera called himself "a romantic" tonight, so it's not surprising the album is called Ammore (check out Vutera's playful bedroom eyes on the cover), it's also available in Spanish as Mi Amor. Where can you get it? Why, CD baby of course (love 'em!). Vutera live and unaccompanied was rawer sounding than what you'd hear on the CD (go to his MySpace page for more tracks), he was also more vulnerable and immediate. It's just a different experience, both for audience and musician. Fortunately, we were a crowd capable of appreciating Vutera's ultimate willingness to "go there" evidenced by repeated enthused applause (and not just from his biggest fan, the friendly María, who was collecting the cover charge, and to whom he dedicated the song "Maria O Mari").

Melvin Gibbs was up next, and though he said he's never nervous before playing a gig he was nervous yesterday about this one. The bass, he explained, is meant to be played with other things. It's not a solo instrument. I've never subscribed to this view having grown up listening to Charles Mingus, Ron Carter, Charlie Haden, and Jaco Pastorius. Even though they each "played well with others" (even the legendary ego that was Pastorius, RIP), I listened to them because I came to appreciate their particular musical voices.

But it's not like I was going to stand up and contradict the bass legend that is Mr. Gibbs.


There was no need for that anyway because Gibbs went on and pulled a breadth of sounds from a six string and a four string bass that made his hesitancy a moot point. Plus, he treated us to a couple of poems from a book he found during his recent touring in Europe, The Immeasurable Equation: The Collected Poetry and Prose of Sun Ra (pictured below right). Gibbs had been planning on bringing his laptop, as he makes his own beats and such (all the beats on his MySpace page are his own), but playing a laptop, he shrugged, was "so 2003, I just couldn't get with it [for this date]." (He mentioned the unfortunate issue with live performance and laptop music, where the musician is playing away but to the audience it looks as though s/he is checking their email.) I was grateful Gibbs wasn't feeling the laptop. Nothing wrong with those beats, it's just a huge gift to have the opportunity bear witness to an artist journeying "out on a limb" creatively. These days it's a pretty rare experience. It's also not a simple one; it was evident that Gibbs was pushing himself at different points during the set to go beyond his own expansive instrumental vocabulary. Gibbs, pulled lyrical passages, full sensual lead-lines, deft runs, funk, punk, deep growls and crunchy moans from his basses. He played with the bass as a melodic instrument--strumming, slicing, and arranging chord progressions; worked it as a spare rhythmic engine, sometimes giving a hard yet full sound with thumb and plucking; he worked note extensions with pedals, gave us a range of meaningful distortion, and played with harmonics from behind the pick ups--I didn't know that was possible.

There were dedications; a work speaking to the situation of the Jena 6. Gibbs shared that his mother and her sister had moved to New York because they witnessed a lynching in their town; they left for New York the very next day--so nooses hanging from trees aren't a silly prank to him. Also, Gibbs gave us an edgy instrumental commentary on the Jamaican vacation phenomenon known as "Rent-A-Rasta" of which he'd recently become apprised on his own vacation where he went to rest, look at the water, just relax, something he doesn't normally get to do when he travels because it's all about work. But some people go on vacation to experience "something" completely new. Nuff Said. Gibbs also played a beautiful and multi-voiced piece honoring Sonny Sharrock with whom Gibbs played for a number of years. Gibbs shared that over those years Sharrock only held one actual rehearsal--he preferred to teach Gibbs about playing through telling jokes, "because it was all about the timing." That's some profound trust in letting the process be what it's gonna be. Gibbs even accompanied himself on voice on a few songs, and played the mbira (pictured below right).

All told it was a profound experience, and if that's the first and last time Gibb is ever gonna play a solo set (which is what he inferred) I can't tell you how glad I am I was there.