Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Ela Orleans and Kevin Shea @ The Stone 3/18/09

I was pretty tired tonight, but wanted to do a little music. Since nothing was grabbing me in the listings, that meant I would head out to The Stone for whatever, the early set.

Hmm, some interesting electronics, a drummer whose look reminded me a little of Kenny Wollensen, and a nice lady sitting in front of a lot of electronics who was instantly likeable. Scott the taper/picture guy was there, which usually means it will be good music. It was.

I was impressed with how well it all integrated. Ela did lots of interesting sampling and playback while she sang, played slide guitar, and violin. The drummer was great. I felt pretty good after I left and it's still lingering. They started at 8 on the dot and played til about 8:50, so that was pretty nice as well. I can get some laundry done.

3/18 Wednesday (TD)
8 pm
Ela Orleans and Kevin Shea
Ela Orleans (sampler, guitar, violin, vocals, keyboard) Kevin Shea (drums)
Melodic sound collages haunted by all the best musical ghosts from John Barry to Pierre Boulez.

ABB @ The Beacon 3/17/09

I couldn't stay away any longer, not that I had any intention of staying away. Still, I was dragging my feet about when to go and how to get tix. I woke up with ABB songs in my head and knew I would be going that night. I was busy at work but every now and then I'd feel like singing an ABB tune. I finally got online at lunchtime to see if there were any tix available. That's what I do every year - there's always some newly released tix around now or a little sooner. Low and behold the best available orch seat was in Row BB (that's 2nd row) seat 13, whch was off to the left side. That makes the astronomical price a little easier to take!

I was a little concered about it being St Patty's Day, but I knew that might be a good thing. That turned out to be a nonissue, thankfully.

It was great. I could see the front line really well. The screen wasn't easy to see, so it wasn't distracting at all.

I like the renovationns. The place looks real nice. There were more rules, but the staff is pretty nice and it wasn't that bad, if there had to be all of those rules.

The show was good. They often had the guitars and bass pointing toward me and I could see them really well. It also turned out that I had a little extra room for dancing. There was no seat in front of me.

Warren and Derek had many amazing blown away moments. It is such a privilege watching them. Oteil was amazing and caught a lot of my attention. Someone at setbreak mentioned he thought Oteil had 8 strings. I wondered how that would work. I checked 2nd set, and he has the usual 4. He can do a lot with those 4, though.

There was one part, I think it was during the New Instrumental in the 1st set, where Derek had a lot of soloing. I thought everyone sounded better during that point because of Derek. I could hear the drums and the bass much better and it was a very magical moment.

It was pretty cool to hear Please Be With Me, since I've heard it on the Duane Allman anthology many times. I did have some moments of missing Duane and wondering what things would be like if he were around today.

Brian Mitchell sounded good and I'm glad he sat in a lot.

Overall, it was a good show. It wasn't quite the level of greatness I've become accustomed to with them. I think I've gone full circle and I'm back to not wanting to pay the high ticket prices. I know there are some very special guests I'll be missing, but I kind of doubt I'll make it to any more this year. You never know, though.

Set 1: Don’t Want You No More, It Ain’t My Cross To Bear, Trouble No More, Rocking Horse, Soul Shine, You Don’t Love Me, New Instrumental, Please Be With Me (w/ Tommy Talton, Scott Boyer and Brian Mitchell), All My Friends (w/ Tommy Talton, Scott Boyer and Brian Mitchell), The Got Song (w/ Tommy Talton, Scott Boyer and Brian Mitchell)

Set 2: Takes a Lot to Laugh, a Train to Cry (w/Sheryl Crow, Brian Mitchell), Midnight Rider (w/Sheryl Crow), Can’t Find My Way Home (w/ Sheryl Crow, Brian Mitchell), Statesboro Blues, Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More, Hoochie Coochie Man, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (w/ Scott Boyer and Brian Mitchell), Black Hearted Woman > JaBuMa > Black Hearted Woman >The Other One Jam

Encore: One Way Out (w/ Tommy Talton, Brian Mitchell, James Van DeBogert )

Monday, March 16, 2009

11th anniversary of c.o.m.a @ abc no-rio 3/15/09

I finally made it to ABC No Rio for the Sun night COMA gig. This was a special anniversary festival evening. They do have regular avant-garde/experimental shows there almost every Sun.

Last night started at 6pm and probably went til 11ish. I was there about 8:30-10:30. It was pretty cool because each ensemble got about 10-15 minutes and then it was on to the next one. So, I got to check out quite a few new and different people I wasn't familiar with.

I like the space. Its just a big room with seats and some art exhibits. They would play at different ends of the room to keep it flowing, aiming for as little time as possible in between acts.

It worked pretty well, they seemed to only be a little behind the ambitious schedule when I left. They would simply ask everyone to turn their chairs around if the next act was at the other end of the room.

I walked in at the end of the piece with violin and something else.

I loved Paradigm Refrain. I need to find them for a full show at some point. That was the most electic I saw, but once they left there was no bass amp for anyone else's use.
It gets a little blury until the end, when I saw Shayna Dulberger and Bonnie Kane.
During the blur, I think it was a quartet with a sax and a couple of duos. I remember there was a schedule change and we had Ben Lee on guitar with Justin, a percussionist after the quartet with Blaise and a duo.

There was something that had me dancing more, and I loved it, but can't remember anything about it.

I guess that's what happens when I see a lot of great music in very short intervals. I kept thinking it was kind of like watching a bunch of short films.

http://home.earthlink.net/~bbrjsiwula/_wsn/page2.html
The Upcoming C.O.M.A schedule for 2008: what is C.O.M.A.?????????????????? C.O.M.A. - citizens ontological music agenda - started March 1998 and has presented improvised music on Sunday evenings at ABC No-Rio 156 Rivington NYC . ABC No-Rio is near the Delancey J and F train station between Clinton St. and Suffolk St. ...the sets are 35-40 minutes followed with an open session at the end with various configurations of players. C.O.M.A. is an open series for all creative improvising musicians whether they're melancholy, slightly deranged, extremely moody, happy beyond comprehension, geniuses in their own minds, or just down right normal who want to experiment, develop their craft and expand the limits of the imagination.... there is a $5.00 suggested donation at the door for the musicians. This Sunday ....... March 15th 2009 from 6:00-11:00 PM The 11th anniversary of c.o.m.a @ abc no-rioThis will be an operational benefit for abc...lights..water...heat....The set lengths are from 10-20 minutes...alternating performance locations in the 1st fl gallery...front ... back... side ... corner...a good time for the audience...Donations will be actively pursued....suggested $5-10.00 ..... 6:05 Sean Meehan dr, David Watson pipes, 6:20 Tor Snyder gtr, 6:30 Jamie McLaughlin vx/p, Katt Hernandez vln, 6:45 Tom Zlabinger bs 6:55 Tom Shad bs gtr, Katie Down vx/misc 7:10 Francois Grillot bs 7:23 The Project: Michele Smith fl, Charles Ramsey gtr, Raymond Todd trb, Andy O'Neill dr, Tom Blatt bs 7:40 David Brahinsky trpt, 7:50 Mossa Bildner vx, 8:03 David Freeman, tabla & Blaise Siwula bs cl 8:15 Richard Keene reeds, Billy Stein gtr 8:30 SFLV –Clifton Hyde gtr, Robyn Siwula vln/vla, Motoko Shimizu vx/toys, 8:45 Paradigm Refrain: Marco Buccelli dr Nico Soffiato gtr Giacomo Merega bs 9:00 Blaise Siwula t sax, Sten Hostfalt gtr, Andy O’Neil dr, James Luke bs, 9:16 Paul Pinto vx, Claire de Brunner bassoon, Ken Silverman gtr 9:31 AND - David Powell , Nico U., Arturo Roldan, 9:45 Ben Lee gtr, 9:55 Lex Samu trpt, Will Woodward bs Enrique Haneine dr 10:05 Bonnie Kane reeds Shayna Dulberger bs, 10:15 Dave Miller dr, Dave Schnug sax and Trevor Lagrange bs 10:30 Ras Moshe reeds 10:40 Killer Bob- Dave Scanlon gtr, Max Jaffe dr, Rob Lundberg bs.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Sparks Orchestra @ Roulette 2/14/09

Very good! Sparks is a duo with Tom Blancarte (bass) & Peter Evans (Piccolo trumpet). They've been playing together for a while and have developed a language and way of playing. This orchestra project was about expanding what they do for large ensembles. They had scores, and I could see from the other side of the paper that there was plenty of improvising going on. I saw the score at the end, and it just looked like a few scribbles and some pictures to me. I'm fascinated by that. But, look at the lineup, these are improvisers. Still, there is definitely a difference in having this paper in front of them than the "free form" that happens at the grand finale at The Stone on Improv Night.

There were 5 pieces in total. They started at around 8:45, played 3 pieces for a half hour, took a 10 minute break, and played the other 2 for a half hour. I don't know if I could tell when they ended and began in the first act. It started with Nate Wooley, who was very electric with his trumpet without the mouthpiece. He has a microphone hooked up to a pedal and an amp. That first piece got pretty noisy, and I got out my earplugs, which allowed me to hear better.

The whole thing was awesome. I mean, there was no way it couldn't be, given the lineup and instrumentation. I think the 2nd to last was my favorite, I don't think I can describe it, though.

Sylvie was awesome. At first she was playing the strings with a mallet and at the end she was fiercely playing the keys and I even looked around for cymbals, before I realized that was coming from her piano.

Brandon Seabrook caught my attention a lot. I don't see him as much as I would like.

They were all great and this was great and special and I'm glad I made it out. I love Roulette. It is so nice and the chairs are comfortable and they have everything we need.

Sparks Orchestra: Tom Blancarte & Peter Evans + Dan Blake, Okkyung Lee, Nate Wooley, Brondon Seabrook, Sylvie Courvoisier, and Dan Peck
Sat Mar 14 - 8:30 PMSparks Orchestra: Tom Blancarte & Peter Evans + Dan Blake, Okkyung Lee, Nate Wooley, Brondon Seabrook, Sylvie Courvoisier, and Dan Peck
Sat Mar 14 - 8:30 PM

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Mike Holober & The Gotham Jazz Orchestra @ Jazz Standard 3/11/09

This was a nice, lively big band with lots of brass. I had trouble seeing the reeds, and I would have liked to have taken more note of what was going on. I did see a recorder, and now know there's a recorder post brewing soon. I've been seeing a lot lately and it bring up a lot. The recorder guy also had a flute and couple of saxes. There were 18 performers I think 5 reeds, 4 trombones, 4 trumpets, guitar, upright bass, drums, percussion, and piano/keyboard. I think it's always nice to have a percussionist in a jazz orchestra. It was lively an a lot of fun.

Mike Holober & The Gotham Jazz Orchestra
* Mike Holober – piano and Fender Rhodes
* Jon Gordon, Steve Kenyon, Dave Pietro, Charles Pillow, Tim Ries – reeds
* Craig Johnson, Tony Kadleck, Joe Magnarelli, Scott Wendholt – trumpets
* Nate Durham, Bruce Eidem, Pete McGuinness, Mark Patterson – trombones
* Pete McCann – guitar
* John Hebert – bass
* John Riley – drums
* Rogerio Boccato – percussion

Kathleen Supové @ The Stone 3/10/09

This was good. It was nice how they would do a composition and then have an improvised piece and then more composition.

We were given a program, which I think is always a nice touch. I especially loved the improvising, but the compositions were pretty good. They were all different.


Kathleen Supové
Kathleen Supové (piano, electronics) Adam Fisher (cello) Emanuele de Raymondi (laptop)
Pianist Kathleen Supové will play a set that features world premieres of piano works written for her by Charles Coleman and Emanuele de Raymondi, as well as the premiere of "Mechanical Dolls" by Randall Woolf for Cello and Piano.

Marco Benevento + Brad Barr + Sean Bones @ The Bell House 3/7/09

I asked someone at MTO to point me in the direction of The Bell House and talked out strategy. I didn't know if there would be an opening band or not. Adam said it would be unusual to have only one band at that venue and I got the impression there are often many in a night. It turns out there were 3 acts.

I also had my trusty All About Jazz with me and it had the address and train info in the venue listings. So, it wasn't hard to find even though I don't know the area at all.

I got there around 9ish. It's a large warehouse in a warehouse area. But, it is fixed up nice inside and I definitely like the bar area when you walk in. The bartender was very good and attentive and it had a nice feel to it. I walked toward the end and found the box office, which is right by the door to the performance space. You get an invisible handstamp that allows you to come and go in the somewhat large performance area. There's another bar off to the left and a few, very few, tables and chairs in the back on each side of the sound booth.

Sean Bones was on when I got there, so I went in to check it out. I enjoyed it enough to stay until the end of the set. At first it was kind of reggae sounding and then it melded more toward rock. I was surprised it was their first show. They have the drummer from Rana. Now that I'm looking around I see Sean is from Sam Champion. I have to check that out sometime. I wonder why he didn't ask Joe Russo to sit in, since he was there that whole time. I see they are booked at Pianos tonight and Brooklyn Masonic tomorrow. I think I saw they will be at SXSW as well. So, it's not your typical first show when you have several gigs following already.

It seemed kind of long before Brad Barr came on to do his solo. He said he had some problems getting in that day. It was his Mom's birthday, so he was excited about that. I enjoyed it at first. I was very intrigued by how he was pulling this string and interesting sounds were happening. It wasn't a guitar string, but it was somehow attached to his guitar. I really don't know what was going on. He also had a harmonica and sang at times. I enjoyed it, but it was too much for that time at night. I think it would have been better if he was first and then Sean Bones. It got old for me after a while and I got bored and even had to step out for a bit.

Marco was good, but it wasn't quite doing it for me. The best part of what I saw was when Joe Russo sat in. I loved it then. I'm not sure what was up, but I think it was too hard to go from the stellar sound at LPR to this venue. I'm getting very spoiled with these new venues and everything is on a different standard.

I do think it was me. I also didn't stay to see what else happened. At around 12:30, I just realized it was time to leave. Interesting that there was a yellow cab sitting out front and it just felt like it was meant to be. I did read about it on jambands.com and it sounds like it was more enjoyable than how I felt, so it must have been me.

Anyway, I'm glad I checked out the venue and I'm looking forward to when Marco comes back to this burrough.