Erik Friedlander @ Abrons Art Center Recital Space 6/5/09

He was as awesome as always. He decided since the area was populated with Jewish immigrants at the turn of the century that he would play pieces from his Masada album, composed by Zorn. He told us the names of the pieces and a little about each of the angels they were named after. It was wonderful.

From the listing:

Erik Friedlander "can do things with a cello that should have a reasonable listener fearing for her life," says PitchforkMedia.com. A virtuosic veteran of NYC's downtown scene, Friedlander has backed John Zorn, John Darnielle's Mountain Goats, Laurie Anderson, and Courtney Love. New York's Erik Friedlander is a unique cellist whose work blurs genre borders. He is a composer and an improviser, a classical musician and a jazzbo.

http://www.erikfriedlander.com

Colin Stetson @ Abrons Art Center Recital Space 6/5/09

This was a double-header, but they both deserve their own posts. I don't know if I've ever seen him before, but I don't think so. He was awesome. I'm very impressed that a reed player does solo gigs. You could tell after each piece how physically difficult they are. He's very creative and talented and awesome. He did pieces on the alto sax, bass sax, and clarinet. They were all just fantastic. He said he just back from touring supporting The National.

They did a better job of describing him in the listing:

Both sonically vast and melodically accessible, Colin Stetson is an absolute master of the saxophone. Stetson's compositions and ability to tell a musical story are what makes him an innovative musician. Alex Green of Caught in the Carousel has deemed Stetson "the Roger Federer of avant garde instrumental music." Aside from his work as a soloist, Stetson has brought his unique voice on winds and brass to stage and studio with dozens of artists, including Tom Waits, Arcade Fire, TV on the Radio, Antibalas Orchestra, Medeski Martin and Wood, Sinead O'Connor, LCD Soundsystem, and Anthony Braxton.

http://www.colinstetson.com

Rob Duguay Quartet @ Cornelia St. 5/31/09

It's hard to go wrong with vibes and trombone in one band. I also find that bassist-led bands are usually pretty good. I enjoyed this and was engaged for the whole thing. It was great and a lot of fun.

Here's the listing from Cornelia Street Cafe's website:

8:30PM ROB DUGUAY QUARTET
Willie Applewhite, trombone; Tyler Blanton, vibraphone; Rob Duguay, bass; Nadav Snir-Zelniker, drums
Rob Duguay Quartet is an assembly of world class musicians who share an appreciation for cutting-edge modern music while simultaneously embracing the traditions of swing, bebop, and Latin styles of jazz. Duguay’s compositions are circular creating nice avenues for positively flowing improvisations (often swinging) and typically avoid common jazz forms (i.e. 16 and 32 bar forms). Rob Duguay Quartet performs original compositions running the gamut of musical styles and pays homage to such greats as Sonny Rollins, Cedar Walton, Wayne Shorter, Charles Mingus, and Duke Ellington by playing some of their jazz not-so-standards.
Cover $10 www.myspace.com/jazzyrobduguay

Bang on a Can Marathon @ WFC 5/31/09

I was there for something like 3:30-6:00. Something like that. I missed the Bill Frisell solo piece, but I loved the piece he did with the Bang on a Can Allstars. But, that was the later.

I got there in the middle of The Smith Quartet, and I liked it. Then there was another string piece which was fine. I don't think I was quite in the mood for all the strings on the classical side of things, though.

Next was an interesting creative piece in which the solo artist was playing with cans. I think it was Jeppe Just Chistensen playing the amplified coffee grinders. I liked that one because it was so unusual. I also like the thought of cans at the Bang on a Can Marathon.

I had to duck out for the thing with a lot of choir type voices. It was very "churchy".

I can't remember much about Build and the piece they did. I think I was a little bored at first, but then it got interesting and I moved up closer to listen.

The Smith Quartet then did "The Sinking of the Titanic". It was a little mellow for my mood. It was interesting that it was then announced that they just got a twitter post that the last survivor of the Titanic just died.

Henry Grimes and Andrew Cyrille were awesome and my kind of thing. I definitely loved that.

The last piece I saw was the as yet untitled piece they commissioned Bill Frisell to compose. He played it with the Allstars, which included a bass, percussion, piano, electric guitar, cello, and clarinet. I enjoyed that piece a lot.

That was enough for me. I enjoyed the time I was there. I never realized how many vocalists and strings they have. It's a nice departure from my usual, but I need to be in the mood for it.

It was really great. I think it was clarinet, cello, drums, and, oh sorry, it's all fuzzy now. I waited too long. It was great and there were plenty of people up there.

Bobby Previte @ Blue Note 5/30/09

I stopped at home on my which was almost a fatal mistake. I did find my motivation to go back out because I really wanted to see this. I got there at around 1:30, the guy didn't charge me and I got an excellent 20 min of music.

This is one really great band. In addition to Bobby, it was Brad Jones on the electric bass, Bill Ware on vibes, and Ellery Eskelin on sax. It was phenomenal.

Here's my prior review on this:
http://terrismusicblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/bobby-prevites-new-bump-blue-note.html

Secret Chiefs 3 @ Music Hall of Williamsburg 5/30/09

I got there at about 10:30ish and got the last 20-30 min of the 1st set. They had their cloaks on, and it was somewhat intense. The crowd seemed to be really into it, but I felt like something was missing. I think it had to do more with me than anyone else, though. The music was great.

They took a short break and came back on without the cloaks.

It was awesome. I love the intensity. I love all the music and especially the violin and drums.

Miles from India @ Iridium 5/29/09

I really felt like Miles Davis' spirit was there. It was really special. It was very loose and relaxed and totally raucous. I'm surprised I didn't get up and find myself a dancing spot.

It didn't resemble the Town Hall show much, except for the killer long tabla solo. That was as wicked as before. The 3 traditional Indian guys sat on the floor, tablas, sitar, and some kind of tribal flute. There was no carnatic violin this time.

There were 2 drum kits. Awesome! One drummer was especially intense. I love loud intense drums. And this music really lent itself to it.

Then we had a great electric bass and a good guitar. I made sure to go to a set with Nicholas Payton and Bill Evans. Since I didn't have a res, that meant the late set. That was a good idea because they had the tighter "popular show" setup and it wasn't overcrowded.

There was also a keyboard player and of course Rudresh Manhanthappa. He is blown away amazing and really should have as big a following as Nicholas Payton.

It was incredibly awesome and well worth staying up for. We really screamed for an encore, but they couldn't do it. It ended at midnight.

Miles From India
NICHOLAS PAYTON – TRUMPET(FIRST 2 NIGHTS)
TIM HAGANS(NEXT 2 NIGHTS) ( USA )
JOHN BEASLEY – PIANO/KEYBOARDS (USA)
VICTOR BAILEY – BASS ( USA )
RUDRESH MAHANTHAPPA – SAXOPHONES (USA-INDIA)
BILL EVANS – SAXOPHONES (FIRST 2 NIGHTS)
DAVE LIEBMAN – SAXOPHONES (APRIL 30)
PETE COSEY – GUITAR ( USA )
BADAL ROY – TABLA (USA-INDIA)
LENNY WHITE – DRUMS ( USA ) APRIL 28TH & MAY 1
NDUGU CHANCLER – DRUMS ( USA ) APRIL 29TH AND 30TH.
VINCE WILBURN – DRUMS ( USA )
HIDAYAT KHAN – SITAR/VOCAL ( INDIA )
V.K. RAMAN – FLUTE/VOCAL( INDIA )