Category Archives: Music Listings

Concert recommendation: Simon Shaheen – The Call: Songs of Arab Pride, Dignity and Liberation at Live@365!!

Date: Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Time: 7pm
Venue: The Graduate Center The Graduate Center Elebash Hall  (365 Fifth Ave., NY, NY 10016, Ph: 212.817.8215)
Ticket: $25
Genre: Arabic music

Marking the First Anniversary of the Arab Spring, the impeccably creative Palsetinian-American oud and violin virtuoso and composer Simon Shaheen will perform an evening of songs and freedom anthems of the 1950s that have found new resonance in the recent Middle Eastern and North African revolutions. He will also perform the New York premiere of his composition “The Call” with a guest dancer. Simon will be joined by Nidal Ibourk, vocals; Najib Shaheen: oud; Bassam Saba: ney; Peter Slavov: bass; Ali Amr: qanun and vocal; Tareq Rantisi, Percussion and guest dancer Elena Lantini.

Concert recommendation: Ostad Mohammad-Reza Lotfi – Songs of the Persian Mystics

Date: Sunday, April 15, 2012
Time: 7 pm
Venue: Peter Jay Sharp Theatre /Symphony Space (2537 Broadway at 95th Street, New York, NY 10025-6990)
Tickets: $35, $45, $60
Genre: Persian classical music

Ostad Mohammad-Rezā Lotfi, one of the greatest living masters of the tar and setar lutes, has been a major figure in the past 40 years in revolutionizing Persian traditional music. His innovative approach of combining the classical with folk elements in his compositions and performances has revitalized an ancient tradition. A prolific musician, he has made numerous recordings as a soloist and with such renowned Iranian musicians as Mohammad Reza Shajarian, Shahram Nazeri, and Hossein Alizadeh. In this program, Lotfi is joined by Mohammad Ghavihelm on tombak (goblet drum). This is Lotfi’s first New York appearance since 1993, when he performed in a concert presented by World Music Institute.

 

Music listings – 3/19 through 3/25

1. Japan Nite

Date: Monday, March 19, 2012
Time: 8:30pm
Venue: Public Assembly (70 North 6th St.,Brooklyn, NY)
Ticket: $15
Genre: Japanese indie rock

Line up:
1. ZZZ’s All-girl trio from Hyogo, featuring members of Hystoic Vein (who played Japan NIte’s US tour in 2011). http://zzzs-jpn.com/
2. NOKIES! Young Kyoto college students whose loose guitar style (think The Strokes) and off-kilter beats (a la Vampire Weekend) will make you smile, jump and dance. sites.google.com/site/nokiesweb
3. Kao=S Performance trio with Jack playing tsugaru-shamisen (kind of a Japanese banjo), Shuji on guitar, and “sword-dancing” singer Kaori.

2. Bill McHenry Quartet

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Music listings – 2/20 through 2/26

1. Jenny Scheinman’s Mischief & Mayhem w/ Nels Cline, Jim Black and Todd Sickafoose

Date: Monday, February 20, 2012
Time: 7:30pm
Venue: Le Poisson Rouge (158 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012, ph: 212- 505-3474)
Ticket: $18
Genre: Jazz/experimental

Jenny Scheinman, violin / Nels Cline, guitar / Trevor Dunn, bass / Jim Black, drums

The luminous aspects of the violinist’s songbook take a backseat when she leads this wonderfully frenzied outfit. Nels Cline’s cyclone guitar work is often up front, but the music’s architecture demands full participation from all, so drummer Jim Black’s pummels and bassist Todd Sickafoose’s tub-thumping are crucial. Neat trick: even Scheinman’s most menacing squalls have a bit of romance to them. – Jim Macnie for the Village Voice
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