Performance / Tour News

Bjork's Wide Musical Ambitions Overflow a Small Setting

Source: Michael Ricci
May 11, 2009

Wearing an ocean-blue dress and holding recently written lyrics in her hand, Bjork sang at what may well have been her smallest gig of the year on Friday night at the Housing Works Bookstore Cafe in SoHo, which was packed with about 300 people.

The music was quiet: just voices and modestly amplified acoustic instruments. But the songs were hugely complex and ambitious, announcing their destination in the lyrics: on and on and ever onward.

Bjork was collaborating on a ...

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Tony Bennett delivers big-time at the Fox

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
May 10, 2009

At a time when musical fame is manufactured weekly by the “American Idol” TV series, Tony Bennett’s concert Friday night at the Fox Theatre brought an interesting, more thoughtful perspective on what it really takes to become a lasting star in the music business. Bennett has been singing professionally for more than 60 years, and during that lengthy and impressive career he has managed to appeal to several new generations of new fans along the way winning his first Grammy ...

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Karrin Allyson at the Seasons

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
May 10, 2009

Beginning a west coast tour, Karrin Allyson took her quartet into The Seasons Thursday evening. Alternating between bossa nova subtlety and blues forthrightness, she drew liberally from the Brazilian repertoire of her current Imagina CD, singing in Portuguese and English. She sparkled with delicacy and brightness in Antonio Carlos Jobim classics including “Estrada Branca (This Happy Madness)," “Double Rainbow" and “Desafinado." She displayed her Kansas City roots in “Some of My Best Friends are the Blues," Ellington's “I Ain't Got ...

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Symphony Schedules "Simply Sinatra" Show

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
May 9, 2009

Tickets are now on sale for the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra's presentation of “Simply Sinatra with Steve Lippia“ at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 13 at Powell Symphony Hall.The concert will feature the SLSO accompanying vocalist Lippia, who has done Frank Sinatra tribute shows with symphony orchestras all around the country as well as in Las Vegas and Atlantic City showrooms. You can see a short video of excerpts from his show at the bottom of this post.

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Railroad Earth | 05.01.09 | S.F.

Source: JamBase
May 9, 2009

By: Dennis Cook | Images by: Dave Vann

Railroad Earth :: 05.01.09 :: Fillmore Auditorium :: San Francisco, CA

Listen to the show here while you read our review.

Railroad Earth :: 05.01 :: San Francisco To be consistently special is a rare thing. To get onstage and play in such a way that the gathered throng leaves slightly aglow, burnished and massaged by a group's handling, isn't ...

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Tonight: Darcy James Argue's Secret Society @ Galapagos 10 PM

Source: All About Jazz
May 8, 2009

Undiscovered Islands: Week One Tonight! 10:00 PM · Galapagos Art Space Darcy James Argue's Secret Society celebrating the release of Infernal Machines on New Amsterdam Records “Infernal Machines [is] a seven track marvel of imagination." --Time Out New York “a fully integrated sound world as current as it is timeless" --All About Jazz “one of the finest jazz records I've truly ever heard." --The Big City 7:00-9:30 - Kickoff party @ Rebar 10:00 Darcy James Argue's ...

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Eric Alexander at Jazz Alley, May 12-13

Source: Seattle Jazz Scene
May 8, 2009

The Pacific Jazz Institute at Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley presents tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander for two nights. Band members are Eric Alexander (tenor saxophone), David Hazeltine (piano) and Chuck Deardorf (bass) and Matt Jorgensen (drums). MAY 12 - 13, JAZZ ALLEY 2033 6th Avenue, Seattle Reservations: 206-441-9729 7:30pm, $22.50 Boasting a warm, finely burnished tone and a robust melodic and harmonic imagination, tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander has been exploring new musical worlds from the outset. ...

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Rhapsody and Rhythm on a Firm Foundation

Source: Michael Ricci
May 8, 2009

Brad Mehldau has a warm, pliable, softly radiant touch at the piano, suggestive of waning sunlight or certain precious metals. At the Village Vanguard, effectively his second home, that tactile impression can sometimes seem enveloping and serious. But there was looseness in his first set on Tuesday night, along with variety and depth of feeling. Appearing with his trio, which sold out the full week in advance, Mr. Mehldau conveyed a spruce informality, mixing impulse with erudition. His working partners ...

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