Category Archives: NY Musicians

Underground Comedy: Strange Talk In the Basement with Jerry Haas (At Donny Vulture’s)!

Text by Jim Hoey

Underground, (literally underground) comedy, is alive in a Brooklyn basement known as Donny Vulture’s. To get there for some laughs and to hear probing interviews with local stars, and questions beamed in from a microwave (huh? what!?), you have to hop on the L train, hightail it to Montrose, and step out past the Dominican barbershop, the Vortex thrift store, and the Danbro music studios, to where it all takes place.

It’s by invite only (Shhhhh…), so if you are lucky enough to be on the list, or know someone who might bring you around, you’re in for a few hours of homespun laughs and giddy shenanigans orchestrated by one Jerry Haas, a mysterious personality who, judging by his accent, may have made his way to New York by way of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, or the Colonel Sanders
school for young lost reprobates. Thankfully this guy knows his way around a small, cramped stage and if you’ve ever been over to the Upright Citizen’s Brigade, or a corner by a bodega in Bushwick, you might have an idea of what level of repartee you’ll be in for. Check out the video below, where you’ll see one curious saxophone player in the spotlight at Donny Vulture’s.

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Hamzat Modine’s new CD and videos!

One of New York’s original bands, HAZMAT MODINE delivers a rustic, deliriously Dionysian blend of whorehouse Blues, Reggae, Klezmer, Country and Gypsy-tinged music. In the video below  Hazmat Modine are performing live “The Tide” at the BBC.

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HAZMAT MODINE’S new CD CICADA is out (13 Tracks, 24 page booklet with special guests on the CD)
Two years in the making, this epic CD is the result of five years or worldwide touring and countless collaborations which makes Hazmat the most global of all American bands. With special guests The Kronos Quartet, Natalie Merchant and Benin’s extraordinary Gangbe Brass Band. Out May 17.

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FULA FLUTE’s new videos!

(About the video: a new video of FULA FLUTE featuring Bailo Bah and Sylvain Leroux. Performing the song “Ndougouse Baobara” in an environment of works by French sculptor Alain Kirili.)

Sylvain Leroux (alto sax & fula flute) was born in Montréal. He studied classical music at Vincent d’Indy School of Music and

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Billy Bang, a violinist known for intense performances and a wide-ranging sensibility, died Monday night!

Text from: 
http://www.npr.org/blogs/ablogsupreme/2011/04/13/135351553/billy-bang-jazz-violinist-and-vietnam-veteran-dies-at-63?ps=cprs

Billy Bang, a violinist known for intense performances and a wide-ranging sensibility, died Monday night, his agent Jean-Pierre Leduc confirmed. Bang, who had been suffering from lung cancer, was 63.

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Born William Walker in 1947, Bang was an important figure on the experimental jazz scene that blossomed in New York in the 1970s. But he gained wider recognition in the last decade for a series of recordings which drew on his military service during the Vietnam War.

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Dana Leong… the “hi-def Yo-Yo Ma”!!

Text by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

Dana Leong………”a musician in New York City who plays the cello and trombone. Rocks out. Lives good. Works harder.”

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An Asian-American artist of Chinese and Japanese descent, Dana studied both classical cello and jazz trombone on double scholarships at Manhattan School of Music. As an official Yamaha artist, Dana gives clinics and workshops around the globe on the use of electronics with cello and trombone, and his unique genre-bending composition techniques.
Dana Leong doesn’t care about music genres. He just fuses hip-hop, jazz and electronics to create a genre less sound. Being often called the “hi-def Yo-Yo Ma,” Dana’s radical fusion of electronic music and ethereal jazz sensualities has earned him critical acclaim and excited audiences around the world. He has worked with top artists, such as Dafnis Prieto, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Wynton Marsalis, Yoko Ono, and Kanye West, to name a few.

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