Music listings – 2/4 through 2/10

1. Manu Koch & Filtron M

Date: Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Time: 10:30pm
Venue: Drom (85 Avenue A, NY, NY 10009, Ph: 212- 777-1157)
Ticket: $10
Genre: jazz/latin

Keyboardist, pianist and composer Manu Koch belongs to a New York-based, transnational tribe of artists who are reshaping the contours of contemporary groove-based music in the 21st century. His debut album, Triple Life, released in March 2011, is an eclectic genre border-crossing experience that distills his multiple-dimensional musical life as a performer into one funky, jazz-inflected amalgam of global electronic music. The arrival of this musical project also marks the beginning of his role as a bandleader and his live band collective Filtron M.
Manu began honing his craft in Baar, Switzerland, where he spent his early years enmeshed in the European classical tradition. By age 16, with a solid technical background, he gravitated towards jazz and other contemporary music. Only a few years later he decided to take the leap to the US where he quickly became an in-demand keyboardist/pianist in the multicultural Boston area, performing and recording with a broad range of bands from Malian kora master/vocalist Balla Tounkara, the Caribbean jazz band Ron Reid & Sun Steel to the Wally’s Café funk house band and various Brazilian projects which featured well-known instrumentalists such as Adam Deitch, Charles Haynes, Anat Cohen and Bob Moses to name a few.
Since his relocation to New York in 2000 he has continued and expanded on his early work with groove-based and popular music artists. He recorded and shared the stage with prominent jazz contemporaries Lionel Loueke and Avishai E. Cohen, and performed with a wide range of the New York-based Brazilian pantheon. Manu has toured with afro-pop star Angélique Kidjo and also performed with the groups of Cape Verdean vocalist Fantcha and Miles Davis/Santana bassist Benny Rietveld. He is the regular keyboardist for Nigerian talking drum master Kofo The Wonderman, and frequently collaborates with urban folk and jazz vocalist/guitarist KJ Denhert and Moroccan jazz vocalist Malika Zarra. Since 2011 he has toured internationally with the New York Gypsy All-Stars and has become a vital element in singer/songwriter/guitarist/producer’s Tomas Donckér’s ‘Global Soul’ movement with his participation in the  critically acclaimed ‘Power Of The Trinity’ project.
The Line up: Manu Koch – piano, keyboards, compositions, Panagitois Andreou – bass, Mauricio Zottarelli – drums and Sebastian Nickoll – congas

2. THE RED MICROPHONE

Date: Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Time: 8pm
Venue: ShapeShifter Lab (18 Whitwell Pl, between Carroll St & 1st St, Brooklyn, NY 11215,             646-820-9452      )
Ticket: $10
Genre: jazz/experimental/protest Music

THE RED MICROPHONE is an ensemble born on equal terms of both radical music and militant politics. The quartet is the product of seasoned improvisational musicians with the desire to promote their Left philosophies through sound. The band’s output is one of revolutionary creativity and draws on the traditions of Free Jazz, Modernism, New Music, Third-Stream, and songs of protest. Led by vibraphonist/percussionist John Pietaro and featuring the work of saxophonists Ras Moshe and Rocco John Iacovone, and bassist Nicolas Letman-Burtinovic.

THE RED MICROPHONE will perform with poet ERIKA DAGNINO and accompanying her as well. And closing out the evening will be the celebrated duet of NELS CLINE and JIM BLACK!

7pm: ERIKA DAGNINO with THE RED MICROPHONE

8pm: THE RED MICROPHONE (John Pietaro-vibes/percussion/voice, Ras Moshe-saxophones/flutes, Rocco John Iacovone-saxophones, Nicolas Letman-Burtinovic-double bass)

9PM: NELS CLINE (guitar) & JIM BLACK (drumset)

3. Ikhlaq Hussain

Date: Friday, February 8, 2013
Time: 7:30pm
Venue: New York Insight Meditation Center (28 W 27th Street 10th floor New York, NY 10001, Phone: 212-213-4802)
Ticket: $25
Genre: Indian classical (sitar) music

Ustad Ikhlaq Hussain Khan is a virtuoso sitarist from a centuries-long line of influential musicians of the Delhi Gharana, dating back to the very creator of the instruments ‘sitar’ and ‘tabla’ in the early 13th century, Sufi Saint Hazrat Amir Khusrao.
While his lineage is known for their proliferative work in the field of tabla and rhythmic expression/composition, Ikhlaq’s grandfather, Ustad Ahmadi Khan, was the first to choose a different instrument, sarangi. In turn, Ikhlaq’s father, the eminent Ustad Imdad Hussain, chose to devote his musical life to sitar. Ikhlaq’s immediate family was relocated to Pakistan during partition, and still resides in Karachi.
Ikhlaq Hussain, now a resident of New York City, was granted permanent residency in the U.S. on the basis of his extraordinary music ability; a category reserved for individuals with unusually exceptional talents. This has been a testimony to his virtuosity. Ikhlaq Hussain has followed in the footsteps of his forefathers, captivating audiences worldwide with his highly artistic sensibilities and skillful playing.

Concert review: Ikhlaq Hussain live at The New York Insight Meditation Center

4. Matuto

Date: Saturday, February 9, 2013
Time: 8:30pm & 10:30pm
Venue: S.O.B.’s (204 Varick St., New York, NY 10014)
Ticket: $15
Genre: Appalachia-gone-Afro-Brazilian music

Matuto is emerging as one of New York Cities hottest world-crossover acts. Rolling drums and quicksilver accordion licks, earthy vibes and thoughtful reflections mingle on the latest refinement of their Appalachia-gone-Afro-Brazilian sound.

5. Diggs Duke

Date: Sunday, February 10, 2013
Time: 7pm
Venue: Drom (85 Avenue A, NY, NY 10009, Ph:212- 777-1157)
Ticket: $10
Genre: nu jazz/electronica/r&b/soul

The sound of Diggs Duke‘s music can best be characterized as a fresh, yet familiar interpretation of the bond between soul and jazz. Within the last year, the American vocalist, instrumentalist and composer has released a steady stream of quality music that’s been dominating playlists from LA to Indonesia. Shortly after the release of his debut EP, “Gravity,” as well as several ambitious singles, the music was swiftly placed into the rotation of taste-makers across the US and Europe, including Gilles Peterson in the UK and Lefto in Brussels.

Mentored by alumni of the bands of Max Roach, Cecil Taylor and Frank Foster, Duke’s jazz ideals blend well with the hip-hop, r&b and latin music of a 90’s upbringing. The result is a stellar mix of raspy vocals, fascinating horn arrangements and adventurous song forms, never losing sight of the perfect groove. The supporting quintet for this appearance at DROM will include several of Harlem’s finest young musicians, as well as a few visitors from the leader’s home base of Washington D.C.

6. THE RED MICROPHONE

Date: Sunday, February 10, 2012
Time: 6pm – 11pm
Venue: ABC No Rio (156 Rivington Street between Norfolk and Suffolk, Lower East Side. F train to Delancey)
Ticket: sliding scale $5 to $20
Genre: jazz/free jazz/experimental

THE RED MICROPHONE will be part of the proceedings of this benefit concert for ABC No Rio’s repairs and construction; it will run all evening long with 3 stages set in this hallowed site. Blaise Siwula‘s long-running COMA experimental music series expands for this event into simultaneous musiccircus-like performances of free jazz, new music and avant sounds. Just the thing to warm on a cold winter’s evening.