1. Composer’s workshop series @ Pianos UPSTAIRS lounge

Date: Monday,  November 11, 2013
Time: 7:30pm til 10pm
Venue: PIANOS (158 Ludlow St., New York, NY 10002
Ticket: $8
Genre: jazz/improv/workshop

A unique new workshop that spotlights composers whose work features improvisation as a compositional tool. Rocco John Iacovone‘s work is featured Nov 11, this Monday. His wife Denise will be doing an improvised painting of the music.

Each session will be multi-faceted, and focuses on improvisation within some compositional structure. The audience can watch an open rehearsal as the composer speaks to the ensemble about the work, the musical philosophy, and the approach to the composition. This is an insider’s look at what goes on in a rehearsal, and how composer’s and musicians work. After the hour rehearsal, there will be a performance of the new piece.

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1. Wieland Möller

Date: Monday, November 4, 2013
Time: 9pm
Venue: Spectrum (121 Ludlow, Second Floor, New York, NY, 650-400-5100)
Ticket: $10-20 dollar floating donation
Genre: jazz/improv

Wieland Möller is a drummer, sound artist and performer in the field of jazz, improvised music and dance. Environmental strains and the evolutionary process of the pieces of music stimulated by them are especially important for his work.

Wieland works as a drummer with international bands of different stylistics, e.g. the jazz trio ATOS and his own trio which recently released the debut album Akvariet. He has been a guest at the Buenos Aires Jazz Festival, Jazz International Rotterdam and North Sea Jazz Festival, among others, and has toured the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Argentina and Island. Being a composer and performing musician, Wieland Möller has been involved in dance theater projects e.g. the Reykjavik Dance Festival, Danceworks Rotterdam and Perform(d)ance Stralsund and has worked together with the dancer Konrad Szymanski. What does fascinate him when taking part in dance projects is to be able to make sounds visually real and motion audible.

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1. Oran Etkin

Date: Monday, October 28, 2013
Time: 8:30pm
Venue: The Cornelia Street Cafe (29 Cornelia St., NY, NY 10014)
Ticket: $10
Genre: jazz

Oran Etkin has been described as a “great clarinetist, excellent improviser” by NY Times critic Ben Ratliff and a “composer of eminent individuality” by his mentor and former teacher, Yusef Lateef. His music appeared on a recent benefit CD that won a GRAMMY Award last year. Etkin’s upcoming album features his trio with Ben Allison and Nasheet Waits plus guests Lionel Loueke and Curtis Fowlkes and is due to be released in April 2014. For this new project, Etkin draws inspiration from his recent touring, which has taken him from from Israel to Indonesia, Louisiana to Liege, Tel Aviv to Tokyo, Shanghai to Berlin. Often Etkin collaborated with local musicians in each region, learning some of their musical traditions and folk songs and sharing his own music. On his new CD, Etkin interweaves traditional melodies he learned in these countries together with his compositions, taking the listener on a journey with many flavors but one continuous storyline throughout. This evening at Cornelia Street will offer a rare preview of the material from Etkin’s upcoming album and features his long-time collaborators Lionel Loueke, Tyshawn Sorey and other guests!

2. Rebel Tumbao

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1. Yumi Kurosawa & Deep Singh

Date: Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Time: 5pm – 7pm
Venue: Rubin Museum (150 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011,  212-620-5000)
Ticket: free
Genre: modern koto music

Japanese Kotoist Yumi Kurosawa is joined by guest artist and tabla master Deep Singh for an innovative musical performance emphasizing both tradition and modernity. Kurosawa, labeled a “mesmerizing… inventive, cosmopolitan composer,” by The New York Times, will showcase her unique approach to the Koto by venturing beyond the limits of traditional acoustics, exploring classical techniques with contemporary, electronically-infused flair. Kurosawa’s solo virtuosity, featured for the first half of the concert, will then be accented with the echoing, sharp tones of Singh’s Indian tabla. Continue reading →

1. Tam Lin

Date: Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Time:  6:30pm – 7:00pmpm
Venue: The Bowery Electric (327 Bowery, New York, NY 10003)
Ticket: t.b.a.
Genre: indie rock

Tam Lin joins forces with a lineup of amazing bands to kick off this year’s CMJ Music Marathon at The Bowery Electric. Tam Lin is a Brooklyn-based singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist whose sonically-ambitious brand of literate folk rock has earned him comparisons with Leonard Cohen, Nick Drake, Daniel Lanois, and Talk Talk.

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