Matthew Shipp Trio– performs from his forthcoming album “Art of the Improvisor”
Matthew Shipp-piano
Michael Bisio: Bass
Whit Dickey: Drums

Kayhan Kalhor & The Brooklyn Rider w. Shawn Conley, bass and Shane Shanahan, percussion

Kayhan Kalhor is a master of Persian music, playing the fiddle-like kamancheh, an instrument known for a warm, almost human voice. Brooklyn Rider astounds audiences with its fresh, adventurous redefinition of the string quartet. The result of their collaboration is a shimmering sound that defies classification, far beyond a simple blending of cultures. This performance features several new works, including a solo improvisation by Kalhor and a world premiere by Philip Glass.

SOLLIMA: Federico II, from Viaggio in Italia
GLASS: Suite for String Quartet from Bent (world premiere)
JACOBSEN: Beloved, do not let me be discouraged; Atashgah (New York premiere)
KALHOR: Solo improvisation
TRAD. (arr. Jacobsen and Aghaei): Ascending Bird

5. Yemen Blues w/ Oran Etkin’s Kelenia 

Yemen Blues is an original and fascinating meeting of traditional Yemenite melodies & the world of blues, jazz and funk. The flavours of West African roots and enhanced modern compositions are bringing together a breathtaking experience and a mixture of beautiful complex grooves. It is the powerful outcome of Ravid Kahalanis musical journey from his Yemenite roots to western influences a joyful oasis in the middle of the desert.

Oran Ektin has been described as a “great clarinet player” and “an excellent improviser” by the New York Times’ jazz critic Ben Ratliff and a “woodwind maestro” by PRI’s internationally syndicated show, Afropop Worldwide. He has performed around the world with musicians ranging from jazz guitarist Mike Stern to rapper Wyclef Jean. His latest album, Kelenia (Motema Music), fuses traditional Malian and Jewish music with modern jazz creating what the Boston Globe dubbed a “hypnotic balance between straight-ahead jazz and world music”. Kelenia won “Best World Beat Album” at the Independent Music Awards.

Date: Thursday, March 10, 2011
Time: 8pm – 10pm
Venue: Alwan For The Arts (16 Beaver Street, between Broad and Broadway, 4th floor, New York, NY) 
Ticket: t.b.a.
Genre: Persian classical music/oud

Negar Booban, oud and vocal. Solo performance in celebration of Nowruz by outstanding Iranian musician Negar Booban, who returns to Alwan after her successful sold-out debut performance in 2009. 

About the Artist: brn in Tehran in 1973, Negar Booban studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, earning an MA in Architecture with her design of Tehran’s future Conservatory. Focusing on special acoustic design, she concurrently studied music and musical acoustics, becoming interested in the principles of Iranian music of the past. Negar later mastered the oud and Iranian radif (a collection of old melodies handed down by masters to students throughout the generations) and since 1994 has worked with numerous ensembles of Iranian classical music. She has given over one hundred performances, including the Fajr and Yas Music Festivals, and made several recordings. Negar is also deeply involved with the art of improvisation, both in traditional dastgah (Persian musical modal system) and in free improvisation on themes of various origins and modes. Her solo oud album, Payaapey (Continuous), was released in August 2008. She holds a PhD in Art Research, with her dissertation on a comparative study of rhythm in Iranian music and Persian language and is currently an instructor of oud at the Tehran Conservatory of Music.”Expression is what I most seek in music. Without discovering a distant or unseen part of the human soul, what can music be?”

Date: Thursday, March 10, 2011
Time: 8pm
Venue: Le Poisson Rouge (158 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012, ph: 212- 505-3474)
Ticket: $15
Genre: alternative/experimental/noise/post punk/metal

The songs range from The Ex versions of high energy Gurage music from Ethiopia (‘Eyoleyo’) to hypnotic full on dance tunes like ‘24 Problems’ and ‘Double Order’. The sound is unmistakably The Ex but with new vocals and Konono style catchy guitar riffs from Arnold and crunchy baritone guitar melodies from Terrie and Andy all propelled along by Kat’s relentless driving ‘African’ beats. The songs range in subject matter from climate confusion, unexpectedly throwing surprise objects, optical illusions, deceitful cropdusters, ice picks and late trains.

Liturgy are a black metal band from Brooklyn, New York City. The band released their first LP ”Renihilation” in 2009.

8. AIR: Nate Wooley presents The Seven Storey Mountain

Date: Friday, March 11, 2011
Time: 8pm
Venue: The Issue Project Room (at the Old American Can Factory, 232 3rd Street, Brooklyn)
Ticket: free
Genre: contemporary music

Trumpet player Nate Wooley, a 2011 ISSUE Artist-in-Residence, will present The Seven Storey Mountain, a 7-part series of abstractions and additive processes on the theme of ecstaticism. Each performance features elements of all the proceeding performances, and consists of a layered tape background over which Wooley combines graphic notation and inprovisation. Performers include Paul Lytton, Chris Corsano, David Grubbs, C. Spencer Yeh, Matt Moran, and Chris Dingman. Wooley’s performances and recordings, called “exquisitely hostile,” have been numbered amongst a privileged handful that have helped to shape a new approach to the instrument.Immediately following the concert, Artistic Advisory Board Member David Grubbs will host a Q&A reception for ISSUE members with Nate Wooley

9. Tribecastan

Date: Saturday, March 12, 2011
Time: 7:30pm
Venue: Joe’s Pub (425 Lafayette St, NY)
Ticket: $15 & $18
Genre: Jazz/Blues/Balkan/Middle Eastern