Jenny Scheinman, right, and her Mischief & Mayhem bandmates. (Photo by Michael Gross)
Brooklyn’s own Jenny Scheinman has long been a strong side player, fiddling for lots of rock and pop heroes, from Lucinda Williams, Norah Jones, Rodney Crowell and Carla Bozulich to Bill Frisell, Vinicius Cantuaria and Ani DiFranco.
She’s straddled the divide between “popular” music (rock, folk and country) and contemporary experimental sounds.
Posted in Concerts, Contemporary, Jazz, Music, Pop and Rock, Review
Tagged (Le) Poisson Rouge, Ani DiFranco, Bill Frisell, Bleecker Street, Brooklyn, Carla Bozulich, fiddle, fiddler, Jenny Scheinman, Jim Black, Lucinda Williams, Mischief & Mayhem, Nels Cline, Norah Jones, PJ Harvey, Rodney Crowell, Todd Sickafoose, Vinicius Cantuaria, violin, Wilco
Lee Mavers of The La's
We are gutted. Completely. How could it happen that Lee Mavers, the voice of The La’s, could destroy our hopes of seeing the band in New York City?
One-album-wonders from Liverpool (yes, it’s not just the hometown of The Beatles), The La’s — or perhaps more specifically, lead vocalist Lee Mavers and a band of merry hired guns — were supposed to show up at Webster Hall in Manhattan’s East Village for a long-awaited show on March 12.
But an unhappy email arrived in our inbox on Thursday:
“It is with regret that The La’s have had to cancel their show at the Webster Hall on Monday, March 12th, 2012. Unfortunately, front man Lee Mavers has damaged the tendons in his index (playing) finger. He has been to see a doctor and been informed that it will not have recovered in time for his New York show.”
Posted in Concerts, Music, News, Pop and Rock, Recordings
Tagged Lee Mavers, Liverpool, The La's, Webster Hall
Annabel Alpers of Bachelorette
There’s something about Bachelorette, the nom de rock of New Zealander Annabel Alpers, that’s immediately appealing. Our very first impression of her is that she’s a self-directed Beth Orton who charts her own course without being at the mercy of producers and DJs.
If your first exposure to this Drag City recording artist’s dreamy, pyschedelic girl-group sound is via her most recent recordings, you might not agree. But check out this video, recording in someone’s living room, on the Australian music blog Polaroids of Androids, and you’re more likely to understand.
She’s not as folkie as Beth Orton, but she has a dreamy, somewhat fragile voice and a knack for lovely melody that evokes an Orton for a new generation, one who knows how to loop and manipulate sound live.
John Darnielle's band The Mountain Goats is one of the great acts in this year's Ecstatic Music Festival lineup. (Photo © 2010, Steven P. Marsh)
Friends have been asking for recommendations on what shows to check out in the second annual Ecstatic Music Festival at Merkin Concert Hall.
Sxip Shirey (© 2011, Steven P. Marsh)
The two-month festival, put together by Judd Greenstein and New Amsterdam Presents, an arm of the innovative New Amsterdam Records label, is an absolute must. It’s so chock full of great artist pairings that it’s tough to pick just one or two. Last year’s festival was strong, and the lineup this year looks even stronger. And ticket sales seem to reflect that, given that some of the shows have been sold out for awhile.
But some shows are still available, and tickets are around even for the sold-out gigs.
There’s one I’m really looking forward to is the Saturday, March 24 bill featuring The Mountain Goats, the homemade indie-rock project of John Darnielle, paired with the early music vocal quartet Anonymous Four. We’re not sure how this one will play out, but both groups are so good at what they do, and so genre-busting, that it should be remarkable.
Todd Reynolds (Photo © 2011, Steven P. Marsh)
Another highlight early in the festival is the amazingly indescribable music-maker Sxip Shirey and Angélica Negrón, with special guests electro-violinist Todd Reynolds, Noveller, Jonny Rodgers& Face the Music on Tuesday, Feb. 7.
And we don’t mean to give tonight’s opening show short shrift, but we have to think tickets for this one evaporated in seconds: Jherek Bischoff and the Wordless Music Orchestra, with special guests David Byrne, Craig Wedren, Greg Saunier, Mirah, Zac Pennington, and more. But if you’re willing to try to score a ticket, we’re sure it’ll be worthwhile!
For the full schedule, click through to the jump for the festival press release, courtesy of our pal, New Amsterdam publicist Jill Strominger.
Posted in Concerts, Contemporary, Contemporary Classical, Folk, Music, News, Pop and Rock
Tagged Craig Wedren, David Byrne, Ecstatic Music Festival, Greg Saunier, Jherek Bischoff, Jill Strominger, Judd Greenstein, Merkin Concert Hall, Mirah, New Amsterdam Presents, New Amsterdam Records, Sxip Shirey, Todd Reynolds, Wordless Music Orchestra, Zac Pennington
Antony Hegarty with his 60-piece orchestra on the Radio City Music Hall stage. (Photos © 2012, Steven P. Marsh)
What can we say about the wonderfully strange singer Antony Hegarty, who on Jan. 26 managed to transform Radio City Music Hall into his own special dreamscape?
Antony, who often performs with a band as Antony and the Johnsons, had some members of his band as part of a 60-piece orchestra for this light-and-music show dubbed Swanlights. He attracted a sold-out crowd that included celebrities such as Tilda Swinton, Jenny Shimizu, Rufus Wainwright, Lady Bunny, Michael Stipe and many more.
Lady Bunny in the lobby of Radio City Music Hall.
(Check out The New York Times review of the show here.)
The show, commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art and originally designed for presentation in the museum’s atrium, reached so far that it was doomed to fall a bit short. But even so, the evening was stunning and engaging, as the transgender Antony, dressed in a simple, flowing gown, came out an sang a selection of his marvelous songs with lush accompaniment, a visually stunning set, and, for the most part, well-done lighting.
The Englert Theatre, one of the University of Iowa's performing arts venues in Iowa City. (Photo courtesy Jacob Yarrow, Unversity of Iowa)
What does Mother Nature have against Iowa City, Ia.?
Stew at Joe's Pub on Jan. 23, 2012. (Photo © 2012, Steven P. Marsh)
In 2008, the Iowa River overran its banks and devastated the city, destroying much property in the city, including the notable Max Abramovitz-designed Hancher Auditorium on the University of Iowa campus.
The flood-ravaged Hancher Auditorium, designed by Max Abramovitz, the architect of Avery Fisher Hall in New York City.
The latest natural disaster didn’t cause physical damage that we know of, but the psychic damage is certainly huge. A “freak fog” closed the local airport and kept Stew and Heidi Rodewald and their band, The Negro Problem, from making it to Iowa City in time for their Feb. 2 gig.
As we reported the other day, Stew & The Negro Problem were to present Iowa Omnibus as the centerpiece of a Feb. 2 show at the Englert Theatre, a civic auditorium that is housing some of UI’s performing arts productions. It was commissioned by UI’s Hancher Auditorium, the campus performing arts presenter, inspired by Stew and Heidi’s 2010 Brooklyn Omnibus shows, as well as their hit musical, Passing Strange.
Posted in Concerts, Music, News, Pop and Rock, Theater
Tagged Avery Fisher Hall, Brooklyn OMNIBUS, Cedar Rapids, Eastern Iowa Airport, Englert Theatre, Hancher Auditoriuum, Heidi Rodewald, Iowa City, Iowa City Omnibus, Joe's Pub, Making It, Max Abramovitz, Passing Strange, St. Ann's Warehouse, Stew, Stew & The Negro Problem, Strange Freak, The Negro Problem
Stew & Heidi Rodewald at Joe's Pub in New York City. (Photos © 2012, Steven P. Marsh)
Remember Stew & Heidi Rodewald of The Negro Problem‘s theatrical show, Brooklyn Omnibus at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2010? It made a lot of sense. Both of these creative people had spent time living in the County of Kings and knew it pretty well. And the songs reflected their experiences there.
Jacob Yarrow (Photo by Tom Jorgensen)
It was a bit of a surprise when Stew, in the middle of a Jan. 23 CD-release show at Joe’s Pub in Manhattan, asked the audience: “Remember Brooklyn Omnibus? We’re doing an Iowa City Omnibus.”
The Englert Theater, one of the University of Iowa's performing arts venues in Iowa City. (Photo courtesy Jacob Yarrow, Unversity of Iowa)
Thanks to the magic of Twitter, we quickly found out who was behind this Iowa City venture, and took some time to get the lowdown for you.
It turns out that Jacob Yarrow, programming director of the University of Iowa’s Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City, saw the Spike Lee film version of Stew and Heidi’s Broadway show, Passing Strange. That was enough to give him a real hankering to bring some of Stew and Heidi’s music in the Midwest, tailored to the flood-ravaged city. So he got in touch and commissioned the duo to do an Omnibus for them.
It takes the stage on Thursday, Feb. 2. As of last week, Yarrow hadn’t heard a note of Stew and Heidi’s work, but was looking forward to hearing it. As he explains after the jump, the Iowa City commission pretty much gave the duo free rein.
My guess is that Iowa City and the University of Iowa will never be quite the same again after Stew and Heidi’s visit.
