Date: Monday, August 15, 2011
Time: 10pm
Venue: The Living Room (154 Ludlow St, NY, 212-533-72370
Ticket: $8
Genre: guitar music/jazz
“Where’s Spoek?”, my cousin Alap asked. Nobody knew. We’ve tracked back a few years to when Spoek’s band Playdoe was providing tour-support for Dalek in Europe. It was Playdoe’s first European tour, and apparently the boys had gone a bit wild! “We’d almost considered asking the tour manager to replace them!” Alap joked outside Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park.
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Date: Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Venue: Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center
Concert review by Sarah Rayani
On a very rainy evening, under an awning at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, the Asphalt Orchestra delighted and surprised a group of about 100 soggy New Yorkers. I came to hear about the avant-garde “street” jazz group through Sunny Jain, one of their 3 percussionists. Jain is a Punjabi American-born drummer, dhol player and composer who seamlessly fuses the two styles he grew up listening to — Jazz and Indian music. In addition to being a member of the Asphalt Orchestra and his own Sunnay Jain Quartet, he plays in a Baraat group – traditionally a North Indian wedding processional band – called Red Baraat.
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Artist: Kristjan Järvi’s Absolute Ensemble
Title: Arabian Nights: Live at Town Hall NYC
Label: Enja Rec (Germany)
Cat.#: ENJ-9571 2
Genre: a melding of Middle Eastern musical genres with Western musical genres including jazz, rock, and contemporary classical, as a post-September 11 statement of unity
Reviewed by Leo Volf
Within moments of listening to Arabian Nights, the term world music instantly springs to mind. The title of the album definitely gives the listener an idea of what part of the world he’s listening to, but to simply categorize the music as an “east meets west” collaboration would be a great disservice to everyone involved. The list of influences seems quite eclectic and the ensemble executes the ideas with great ease. At certain points, members of the ensemble can’t help but to put their own personal stamp on the music. Matt Herskowitz’s light piano fills on “Amr I Bismiki” are a perfect example. Certainly, one would not find a jazz pianist in a traditional Middle Eastern ensemble, but the in the case of the Absolute Ensemble the mix is quite natural and almost seems necessary. And all of this was recorded at one of the most respected acoustic environments in New York City, Town Hall.
Venue: the Village Vanguard (NY)
Date: Thursday, July 28th, 2011.
Concert review by Audrey Fort
Personnel: Chris Cheek and Bill McHenry (saxophones), Steve Cardenas (guitar), Mat Maneri (viola), Jacob Sacks (piano), Thomas Morgan (bass) and Paul Motian (drums)
Witnessing Paul Motian perform should be a rite of passage for all drummers. This octogenarian is especially known for his innovative role in pianist Bill Evan’s trio in the 1950’s and 60’s. Along with bassist Scott LaFaro, Motian helped liberate the rhythm section from its role as mere timekeeper. Motian still plays regularly with various groups that he leads in New York City, primarily at the Village Vanguard.
