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.
Caetano 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 moreTim Berne, Chris Speed, Reid Anderson, Dave King & Harold Mabern
by Martin Longley
Broken Shadows The Village Vanguard March 26, 2019 Following their residency at The Village Vanguard, two-thirds of The Bad Plus remained in the club for another week, teaming up with saxophonists Tim Berne and Chris Speed to form Broken Shadows. This quartet is dedicated to the music of Ornette Coleman with a faint streak of Berne's mentor Julius Hemphill. The roots of this group came out of Spy vs Spy (Elektra, 1989), John Zorn's ...
read moreEvan Parker, Matthew Shipp, Paul Lytton, Peter Apfelbaum, Marcus Rojas & Cyro Baptista
by Martin Longley
Evan Parker/Matthew Shipp/Paul Lytton Roulette March 25, 2019 Originally, this gig was billed as The Schlippenbach Trio, featuring a rare NYC showing from German grand master pianist Alexander Von Schlippenbach. Anticipation was high, but the day before the show, it was announced that his work visa hadn't arrived in time for flying Stateside. There were fears for a couple of weeks previously that this might happen, but trio compadres Evan Parker (tenor saxophone) and ...
read moreWayne Escoffery, Mingus Big Band, Tomas Fujiwara, Mara Rosenbloom & The Ron Carter Big Band
by Martin Longley
Wayne Escoffery & Tenor Traditions Smalls March 31, 2018 To assist with his investigation into tenor traditions, saxophonist Wayne Escoffery formed a full-thrust front line with Marcus Strickland and George Garzone, surely one of the most vibrant teams possible around current NYC clubland. The quintet was completed by bassist Yasushi Nakamura and drummer Kush Abadey. Their 10.30pm Saturday set created an expected frazzle of energy, with the Greenwich Village basement full to overflowing, a ...
read moreSabir Khan, Steve Smith, Billy Childs, Pamelia Stickney & Sam Amidon
by Martin Longley
Sabir Khan & Aditya Kalyanpur The Rubin Museum Of Art March 23, 2018 The Rubin Museum now seems to have eased off on its penchant for strictly all-acoustic performances, with microphones in place for this recital by the Indian sarangi player Sabir Khan, returning a long time after his 2006 visit. The sarangi is a smallish box-shaped string instrument, looking like a complicated violin, but sounding more like a cello. It has similar ...
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