Author Archives: Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

Cooplog #9 : A very brief view of blizzards and improvisation

Constance CooperText by Constance Cooper

Amidst snowstorm forecasts last February, a friend of mine was driving off for the President’s Day Weekend amateur string-quartet-playing fest, which is an annual reunion of devotees of the summer Chamber Music Conference at Bennington College.

The only concern my friend expressed about snow conditions was whether the people responsible for bringing all the string-quartet parts would be able to get there.
I thought, fine if they don’t! How wonderful it would be to improvise all weekend, night and day!

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Brother G: Giuseppi Logan and the Twilight

Matt Lavelle & GIUSEPPI LOGANText by Matt Lavelle

Photo and video courtesy of Matt Lavelle and YouTube

The last we heard from Brother G he was still holding court in Tompkins Square Park with a tenor and a small batch of CD’s to sell. 9:30 every morning, like clockwork. Rain or shine, G was almost always at his post on the northwest corner. This last winter slowed him down though. Even the cockroaches, rats, and sky-rats were M.I.A. Despite my time crunch; I had lined up three concerts for him to play, two out of state, and one with bass player Eric Revis. Then G fell again and re-injured his hip. When he ended up back in the hospital, the state decided that G was no longer in control of his life, and they took over. G was dispatched out to Far Rockaway Queens, at the end of the A-train line. It took me a minute to track down  Giuseppi Logan since I’m not a blood relative, but soon enough I learned he was on the fourth floor, and that he was in stable condition. Lawrence Nursing Home is a God-send, straight up. A place for folks who have reached the twilight alone, with no support system. Incredible stories and a few tragedies reside there. The folks at this home are all survivors. At some point, everybody has to come in from the cold.

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Concert Review: Subtle Realms Trio…lives up to its name

Date: May 3, 2015
Venue: The Skinny Bar And Lounge (NY)
Review and video by Dawoud Kringle (video by courtesy of  Subtle Realms Trio)

On a beautiful evening, the first Sunday of May 2015, The Subtle Realms Trio was scheduled to perform at the Skinny, a bar on the Lower East Side. The Subtle Realms Trio is Dan Kurfirst (drums, percussion), Ben Cohen (saxophones), and Will McEvoy (bass). A new project started by Kurfirst in the early part of 2015, Subtle Realms evidently seeks a more sublime musical element to build from.

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Music Listing – 5/4 through 5/10/2015

1. Mike Dopazo Trio

Date: Monday, May 4, 2015
Time: 8pm
Venue: Quinn’s (330 Main Street, Beacon, New York 12508)
Tickets: donation
Genre: jazz

Mike Dopazo on alto sax, Rusty Hollyway on bass and Bob Meyer on drums”

Mike Dopazo is regarded as one of the most creative saxophonists on the jazz scene. A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music in New York City, Mike has performed with jazz ensembles across Europe, Asia, and throughout the United States. Over the past 15 years, he has recorded several albums and led his own groups at various jazz festivals and jazz clubs in NYC.

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Cooplog #15

Photo courtesy of Constance Cooper

Photo courtesy of Constance Cooper

Text by Constance Cooper (keyboards/vocals improviser and performance artist)

Quoting Sten Hostfalt (composer/improviser, microtonal guitarist, superb colleague) about the improvising life:
Free as a style and stylistic marker and/or a philosophy ? What is free ? How free is free ? is free really free ?
does it matter ? do we care ? well, either way we’ve done it for decades already so it most likely does exist.
Also we might find a clue in rehearsal ( yes freedom can be rehearsed ! ) the night before this event.
And the audience can hear/decide for itself at the concert.

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