Monthly Archives: October 2009

Radical opera defies definition

Posted on October 25, 2009 | Leave a comment

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It seems to me that the only thing The New Yorker Festival’s Radical Opera panel settled last Sunday afternoon at City Winery was that nobody’s quite sure exactly what radical opera really is.

The 90 minute discussion featured director Peter Sellars — who’s so deeply involved with John Adams‘ operas that he’s not limited to directing in the most conventional sense. He helped create the libretto for Doctor Atomic — along with performer-composers Nico Muhly, Rufus Wainwright, and Lisa Bielawa. Nico and Lisa are closely associated with Philip Glass, one of the world’s leading composers of opera, while Rufus, who’s primarily a pop musician, has no prior formal connection to the opera world.

I was hoping that The New Yorkers’ brilliant music writer, Alex Ross, would encourage some spirited debate. (Secretly, I was hoping for some bitch-slapping, if not actual fisticuffs.) Alas, that was not to be. It turned into a very un-radical love-fest and discussion of upcoming projects. I had a livelier discussion with the young composer at my table than anything I heard coming from the stage that afternoon. Continue reading →

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Posted in Music, Opera

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Hiding in plain sight: Picasso in New York City

Posted on October 23, 2009 | 1 comment
Picasso 2

This giant version of Picasso's "Bust of Sylvette" sits in the midst of three NYU towers in Manhattan's West Village.

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso

If you are a New York University alumnus, you probably know that there’s a huge reworking of a Picasso sculpture in the courtyard of Silver Towers (University Village) on Bleecker Street, just south of Washington Square Village. But if you’re not, you probably haven’t noticed it, even if you’ve walked along the block many times.Picasso 1

It’s an enlargement of Pablo Picasso‘s “Bust of Sylvette” (1934), executed on a huge scale by in 1967 Norwegian sculptor Carl Nesjär.

It’s not exactly a secret, but unless you live there or spend a lot of time in the neighborhood, you might have missed it. It’s not obvious from the street, as trees have grown over the years to block the view.

But the open courtyard amid the three 32-story towers (mostly used for NYC faculty housing) is a beautiful little space for the rather surprising artwork.

I’ve seen the gigantic work many times, but only recently was moved to stop and investigate it and take a few photos. It provides a moment of surprise and delight in an otherwise rather antiseptic and soulless modernist space.

Be sure to check it out the next time you’re in the neighborhood.

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The Bongos at Maxwell’s

Posted on October 23, 2009 | Leave a comment
The Bongos at Maxwell's. (Copyright 2009, Steven P. Marsh)

The Bongos at Maxwell's. (Copyright 2009, Steven P. Marsh)

If you didn’t go see The Bongos at Maxwell’s in Hoboken last night, you missed a magical evening. The band was tight and very much into performing for a (surprisingly light) hometown crowd. You have another chance to see Richard Barone, James Mastro, Rob Norris and Frank Giannini tonight at Hiro Ballroom in Manhattan, where they’re performing a CMJ show.

The Bongos' set list at Maxwell's.

The Bongos' set list at Maxwell's.

They played two solids sets, performing just about every song in their catalogue — which isn’t huge, since they only recorded two full albums and one EP in their 1980s heyday. But they played every one of them with great joy and energy. Plus, they threw in a couple of covers and a couple of their own songs that were never released.

They were joined by Dennis Kelly, who played synthesizer in the band’s early days, and Nick Celeste, a singer and guitarist who worked with Richard on his first post-Bongos project, Cool Blue Halo, in 1987.

Check out more photos of last night’s show after the jump.

Continue reading →

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Clem Snide’s long-overdue return to NYC

Posted on October 19, 2009 | Leave a comment
Clem Snide's Eef Barzelay. (Photos copyright 2009, Steven P. Marsh)

Clem Snide's Eef Barzelay. (Photos copyright 2009, Steven P. Marsh)

Clem Snide, we missed you badly. How long had it been, anyway?

Regardless of all the time that had passed, the crowd at the Mercury Lounge last Tuesday showed plenty of love as Eef Barzelay and company ripped through a superb set of songs new and old. Eef even apologized for being away so long.

More photos after the jump.
Continue reading →

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Darker and more deviant than ever: The Tiger Lillies at St. Ann’s Warehouse

Posted on October 17, 2009 | Leave a comment
Martyn Jacques, darker than dark, with a voice like a countertenor from Hell!

The Tiger Lillies' frontman Martyn Jacques at St. Ann's Warehouse: Darker than dark, with a voice like a countertenor from Hell! (Photos copyright 2009, Steven P. Marsh)

The Tiger Lillies are at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Dumbo, Brooklyn, tonight. You should be too.

The dark and cynical British trio (their web site declares them to be “The world’s formost Death Oompah band”) took the stage there last night for the first of two shows celebrating the 20th anniversary of the band. The result was a spectacularly entertaining romp through the enormous Tiger Lillies catalogue of deviance and black humor, including their award-winning work for the off-Broadway show Shockheaded Peter.

Behind the cynical exterior is musical genius. Jacques sings — often in a falsetto or countertenor range oozing with evil — and commands the stage in white face makeup that gives him the air of a demented, evil clown He’s supported by his bandmates, who bring their own amusing styles to the show: bassist Adrian Stout (the tall one), who grins a bit and mugs from time to time,  and drummer Adrian Huge (the stout one), who is the complete clown of the group.

The Tiger Lillies perform at 8 o’clock tonight. St. Ann’s Warehouse, 38 Water Street, Dumbo, Brooklyn. Tickets are still available. Click here for more info. $32.

Adrian Huge is angry.

Adrian Huge is angry.

Here’s a taste of The Tiger Lillies performing “Angry” at Raimundhof in Vienna, Austria last February:

Check out a host of photos of last night’s madness after the jump.

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Posted in Concerts, Music, Pop and Rock, Theater

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Travels and travails of a punk princess

Posted on October 15, 2009 | Leave a comment
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When Yasmine Lever wanted an original but authentic-sounding punk rock score to fuel her new musical-in-development, Punk Princess, she turned to her friends Stew and Heidi Rodewald, the creators of Broadway’s 2008 critical smash Passing Strange.

Smart move!

The result, revealed to the public for the first time yesterday in two readings at The Theatre at St. Clement’s as part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival, was a lively show with memorable music, a winning cast and tons of promise.

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Ukuleles but no bacon!

Posted on October 14, 2009 | 1 comment
Three Ukuladies sing and play their namesake instruments in the Children's Adventure Garden at the New York Botanical Garden. (Copyright 2009, Steven P. Marsh)

Three Ukuladies sing and play their namesake instruments in the Children's Adventure Garden at the New York Botanical Garden. (Copyright 2009, Steven P. Marsh)

Cousin Bunny does the tap-dancing.

Cousin Bunny does the tap-dancing.

The Ukuladies, a quartet (three singers-ukulele-players and one dancer) hail from Regina, Canada, or Brooklyn, NY, or somewhere in between, depending on what you believe. On Sunday, the peripatetic four (twin sisters, their aunt and their tap-dancing cousin) stopped by the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx to sing in the Children’s Adventure Garden.

It was a fun afternoon for children of all ages, as they sang their way through a rollicking selection of old-timey tunes, including my favorite, “Cookie Jar.” (After all, what kid doesn’t like cookies?) And they managed to educate the kids, make balloon animals for them and get them dancing before the afternoon was through.

I had only one quibble. Cousin  Bunny brought the frying pan, but she apparently forgot the bacon! How tragic. Bacon is one of the random things that the Ukuladies are known for sharing with their audience. Ah, well. Maybe next time!

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Posted in Concerts, Folk, Music

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An incentive to check out our friends at Bold As Love

Posted on October 13, 2009 | Leave a comment

BoldAsLove

If you haven’t checked out the blog Bold As Love (The mainstreaming of Black rock music and the evolution of the new Black imagination), you really should. The blog, a friend of Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone?, always provides provocative and entertaining reading.

And now there’s an extra incentive to check it out. Bold As Love is offering a 17-track compilation album for free. Just click here to go to the post that has all the info you need to get your copy. Check it out. And be sure to go back to Bold As Love regularly for great new posts — right after you’ve checked in on WYMMWIG, of course!

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Posted in Music, News, Pop and Rock

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Os Mutantes: Mutant music at Webster Hall

Posted on October 13, 2009 | 1 comment
Sergio Diás leading Os Mutantes through a rollicking set at NYC's Webster Hall. (Photos copyright 2009, Steven P. Marsh)

Sergio Diás and Bia Mendes leading Os Mutantes through a rollicking set at NYC's Webster Hall. (Photos copyright 2009, Steven P. Marsh)

The Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone? team has no real excuse for missing out on the original incarnation of Os Mutantes— except for the fact that the whole team (that would be me) never went to Brazil, was kept in a cage for most of the Sixties and was only allowed to listen to baseball games on they tiny transistor radio his grandmother gave to him after extracting a promise that he wouldn’t use it to listen to “the devil’s music.”

So it was a revelation when the legendary psychedelic band reunited in 2006 (after a hiatus that started in 1978) and I started listening to the original recordings. The sound was of its time, but not dated, spectacularly playful and inventive. And the reunited band — which at that time included both founding brothers Sergio Diás and Arnaldo Baptista — did not disappoint when I saw them at the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center in 2007.

That show was full of pomp and circumstance in a formal theater. The audience was seated, and stayed that way pretty much to the end. Os Mutantes is a rock band, and I didn’t feel I got the full impact sitting through that show, no matter how strong it was musically.

So I was thrilled to see Os Mutantes (with a new lineup, as Arnaldo has left the band and the awesome and earthy Bia Mendes has stepped in as the female singer, replacing Zélia Duncan, a somewhat chillier vocalist who during the early part of the reunion replaced original singer Rita Lee) booked at Webster Hall last Thursday. Although it’s not my favorite place to see a show, at least it was a real rock club, which somehow seemed more fitting for such a rockin’ band.

We were not disappointed. Sergio —  the proud 58-year-old who rocked out like he was half that age — and company put on a fantastic show.

For more photos of Os Mutantes, Brooklyn-based opener DeLeon, and an Os Mutantes video, click through to the jump. Continue reading →

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Posted in Concerts, Music, Pop and Rock, World Music

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Hope Sandoval likes to keep us in the dark

Posted on October 11, 2009 | 1 comment
Hope Sandoval stays cloaked in darkness on the Music Hall of Williamsburg stage.

Hope Sandoval stays cloaked in darkness on the Music Hall of Williamsburg stage.

Last night was a busy one for Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone? After the fantastic GraceMusic performance by Anonymous 4 in Nyack, there was just enough time to make it to Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg for Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions.

Because she had some technical difficulties, there was plenty of time to get into position for her set.

If you’ve never seen Hope perform before (I hadn’t), you need to know that the former Mazzy Star lead singer like to perform in darkness. The set started with an announcement that no photography was allowed, and one of the band’s roadies was pretty aggressive about pointing out suspected photo pirates in the audience, using a very bright flashlight beam. (As you can see, WYMMWIG got access to a photo. My apologies for the poor quality, but conditions were far less than ideal.)

Hope’s set was subdued but lovely. Her first song, “Blanchard,” was so low-key that her voice was almost inaudible in the sound mix. After that problem was repaired, her singing could be heard, but remained deliberately obscured.

Hope sang and played glockenspiel front and center onstage, with only the flickering light of projected silent films illuminating her face from time to time. She let her songs do her talking, pausing to speak a few words only in response to a cry of “We love you, Hope” from the audience. Her response: “If you love me, stop the people from talking!”

In the end, it was a strong set, but I didn’t feel compelled to applaud loudly for more. It was just enough,

Read more about the show at Yes, I Am That Important!, which also posted the set list:

Credit: Yes, I Am That Important!

Credit: Yes, I Am That Important!

Hope and her band are still in town, and will perform tonight at 9 a Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Manhattan. (212) 533-2111. $22 at the door.

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