Live From New York
Martin Longley and friends stay up past your bedtime to report on late night happenings in the city that never sleeps.
Shelley Hirsch: Back with a Vengeance
by John Pietaro
It took Brooklyn's Roulette performance space to break COVID-19's hold on Shelley Hirsch. Now, it seems there'll be no stopping her. The vocal acrobat, poet and performance artist was a new music original long before “downtown" moved across the East River. An original member of the avant rock band The Public Servants, Hirsch also worked her way through fringe arts circles in jny: San Francisco and then Europe before returning to her native ground in New York City. ...
read moreCaetano Veloso, James Carter, Hamza Akram, Eyal Vilner and David Grollman
by Martin Longley
Caetano Veloso Brooklyn Academy Of Music April 12, 2019 Always essential for the local Brazilian community, but also far beyond, into the general music enthusiast zone, singer and songwriter Caetano Veloso made one of his occasional visits to NYC, presenting the Ofertório show. Essentially, this involved his three musical sons, in an intimate almost-acoustic setting (just very subtle Fender Rhodes and a low-presence electric bass), simply savouring father's fine songs, from the last five ...
read moreMara Rosenbloom, Thumbscrew & Nation Beat
by Martin Longley
Mara Rosenbloom/Melanie Dyer/Ken Filiano/Rashaan Carter Soup & Sound April 10, 2019 It's an old tradition, sometimes out of necessity, for artists to host low-key gigs in their own homes. The hyper-inventive and often powerfully percussive drummer Andrew Drury has been offering soup and sound for quite a while now, opening his front door in Lefferts Avenue, Brooklyn, to improvised music enthusiasts on a monthly basis. Not so surprisingly, Drury calls the series Soup & ...
read moreBrooklyn Folk Festival 2019
by Martin Longley
Brooklyn Folk Festival Saint Ann's Church April 5-7, 2019 The Brooklyn Folk Festival takes place at Saint Ann's Church in Brooklyn Heights, but it's organised by the folks at Jalopy in Red Hook, that lively haunt of every type of roots music, an inviting home for both performance and teaching activities. Jalopy is a small venue, but this three-day festival called for way more space, managing to fill the main church, as well as ...
read moreTerry Riley, Gyan Riley, Oliver Lake, Amir ElSaffar & Tommy Castro
by Martin Longley
Terry Riley & Gyan Riley (le) Poisson Rouge April 3, 2019 Terry Riley and his son Gyan Riley enjoy an ongoing duo performance situation, in a forum where the elder composer places the emphasis on spontaneous improvisation, impromptu sonic texturing and intimate musical dialogue. Catching him in this setting, it's easier to appreciate him as a hands-on player, as well as a grand scale arranger of concepts. It's more casual, and humorous, more directly ...
read morePeter Evans, Michael Leonhart, Sean Lennon, Jambinai & Axiom
by Martin Longley
Peter Evans & Levy Lorenzo Roulette April 15, 2019 Trumpeter Peter Evans is a very familiar figure on the extreme scene, but the percussionist and electronicist Levy Lorenzo will be a new name to most folks. The pair have been jointly penning compositions, but these nevertheless have the feel of ambient improvisations. It's a continuation of the collaboration that began on 2018's Q album, released on the More Is More label. Their entwined roots ...
read moreAva Mendoza, Nels Cline & Ralph Towner
by Martin Longley
Ava Mendoza & Nels Cline National Sawdust March 27, 2019 Since its old space closed its doors, John Zorn has been spreading The Stone out into other locations, besides its current main home at The New School. One of these alternative platforms is at National Sawdust, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where Zorn programmes a monthly commissioning series, inviting artists to present specially penned works. This guitaring bill opened with a solo set from ...
read moreShowcase
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