If you didn’t get to Joe’s Pub last night to see Stew & The Negro Problem and grab a copy of the new album, Making It, all is not lost.
Stew in his breakup show, "Making It," at St. Ann's Warehouse in February 2010. (Copyright 2010, Steven P. Marsh)
The cover of Making It features a photo by Stew's daughter, Bibi.
First of all, let’s say “welcome black” to Stew & The Negro Problem.
It’s been 10 long years since Stew (born Mark Stewart in 1961) and his band The Negro Problem made a proper, official album: 2002’s Welcome Black. But on Tuesday, Jan. 24, the wait is officially over when Making It gets its official release.
Thank goodness. It’s long overdue. But you’ll surely find it worth the wait.
It’s a crazy, creative look at the breakup of Stew’s relationship with his longtime girlfriend and musical collaborator Heidi Rodewald. The breakup came in the run-up to the pair’s amazing theater project, Passing Strange, which briefly thumbed its nose at the Broadway establishment from the Belasco Theatre over six months in 2008. (It also lives on in a Spike Lee film of the show’s final performances.)
Heidi Rodewald and Stew. (Copyright 2009, Steven P. Marsh)
Stew and Heidi managed to survive the breakup and continue their artistic relationship, albeit not without some problems. This album documents the breakup, and in some ways, the promise of their continued collaboration.
This is Stew’s fourth album under the rather provocative name of The Negro Problem, though on this release on TNP records, the band is billed as “Stew & The Negro Problem.” And even though Stew seemed to abandon the band name in favor of his own moniker, Stew and Heidi haven’t released a rock album since 2003’s Something Deeper Than These Changes, billed simply to Stew. (Yes, there was a Passing Strange soundtrack in 2008, but that wasn’t a Stew record, let alone a Negro Problem record!)
Let’s just say it’s about time! It’s always seemed to me that Stew needs The Negro Problem to fuel his angry-not-as-young-as-he-used-to-be-man persona. (Truth be told, he’s used The Negro Problem name occasionally in recent years, but this seems to be a definitive return home.) Continue reading
Great news: Not only has City Opera averted a strike, it’s found some angels to allow it to offer all tickets for its operas at the Brooklyn Academy of Music for just $25.
George Steel, the general manager and artistic director made the announcement in an email blast late Friday afternoon:
I am also delighted to report that as a gift to the City of New York, The Reed Foundation and The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation have bought the remaining seats for all performances at BAM, allowing us to offer these seats at a special price of $25 to celebrate our new beginning. I invite you to purchase tickets today to take advantage of this incredibly generous and thoughtful gift.
That means you can see Rufus Wainwright’s Prima Donna and Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata for a song. Go here to get your tickets now.
While the three-year deal struck by the struggling opera company with its singers and instrumentalists keeps things going, it’s not a happy ending it means less money for an already hard-hit group of musicians. But without the deal, it appeared NYCO would have vanished forever.
Posted in Music, News, Opera, Theater
Tagged George Steel, New York City Opera, Prima Donna, Rufus Wainwright
As Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone? told you on Friday, Wilco‘s Solid Sound Festival v.3 won’t happen until next year. But in announcing the one-year hiatus, the band also announced that it’ll be performing a benefit concert at the festival venue, MASS MoCA this summer.
While no date for the concert has been announced, you can get first dibs on information and tickets if you’re willing to front some cash to become a MASS MoCA member. (Or you can just keep your eyes on Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone?)
Up to you. But click here for MASS MoCA membership information.
Posted in Art, Concerts, Folk, Humor, Music, News, Recordings, Theater, World Music
Tagged MASS MoCA, Solid Sound Festival, Wilco
Wilco's first takeover at MASS MoCa. (© 2010 Steven P. Marsh)
Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone? is never happy to be the bearer of bad news. But you need to know that Wilco announced today that the band is taking a year off from presenting the Solid Sound Festival at MASS MoCA, the awesome art musuem in North Adams, Mass.
Jeff Tweedy and his Wilco bandmates have with great success presented the three-day Solid Sound Festival for the past two years, bringing music, art and friends together on the low-key industrial campus in Western Massachusetts.
We’ve been watching since before Christmas for an announcment of the dates of the next three-day music fest. Finally, around 1 p.m. today, came a tweet from @WilcooftheDay listing the long-awaited info:
#SolidSound Update: The next Solid Sound Festival will be held June 21-23, 2013 at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Ma.
2013? Huh? What happened to 2012? Before we could ask the question, almost as if somebody could read our minds, came this tweet:
The 3 day event will take a 1 year hiatus, but Wilco will perform at the North Adams museum this summer in a benefit concert for MASS MoCA.
And when will that concert happen? Came the reply to our unasked question:
not announced yet
Sigh.
Stay tuned for details on why Wilco’s taking a year off and details about the benefit concert at soon as they become available.
Posted in Concerts, Folk, Humor, Music, News, Pop and Rock, Punk, Recordings, Theater
Tagged @WilcooftheDay, Jeff Tweedy, MASS MoCA, Solid Sound Festival, Wilco
Sharon van Etten at the Music Hall of Williamsburg last April. (Photo © 2011, Steven P. Marsh)
What can we say? This just-added Sharon Van Etten gig should be a great early runthrough of the material from her forthcoming third album, Tramp, due out on Jagjaguwar Feb. 7.
UPDATE: If you thought you could wait a minute past noon E.T. to try for tickets, you’ve already missed out.
Tickets go onsale at noon today (Wednesday, Jan. 11) for a show next Wednesday, Jan. 18, at the tiny (its capacity is just 250 people) Mercury Lounge. Doors open at 7 p.m., with a 7:30 set time. Buy tickets here. Sorry. Not surprisingly, this tiny venue sold out in a matter of minutes.
This appearance comes a day after she shows up for an appearance on WNYC-FM’s Soundcheck with host John Schaefer. That one’s sold out, but it’ll be on the air and on the web.
It looks like tickets are still available for her shows with Shearwater late next month, too, at The Music Hall of Williamsburg and the Bowery Ballroom.
Sharon’s flying high, and with good reason. Don’t miss this amazing artists at one of these gigs.
Theo Bleckmann and his all-star players do Kate Bush songs at (Le) Poisson Rouge. (Photos 2010, Steven P. Marsh)
It’s been 16 months since we saw the great singer Theo Bleckmann do his best Kate Bush impression in his show Hello Earth! The Music of Kate Bush, at (Le) Poisson Rouge in the Village.
Theo Bleckmann
Take our word for it, it was pretty awesome.But if you won’t take our word for it, check out a live recording from that September 2010 show here.
Bleckmann, who got a Grammy nomination for his interpretation of the songs of Charles Ives, is a great song interpreter with supple voice and a real feel for his material. You can get a listen to the latest version of his fabulous show tonight and it won’t cost a penny.
You’ll be entertained and enthralled by this week’s Target Free Thursdays presentation at Lincoln Center’s newest public space, the David Rubenstein Atrium, on Broadway between W. 62nd and W. 63rd Streets. There’s food ( the good sandwiches of ‘wichcraft) and plenty of seats.
Just show up by 8:30 p.m. (earlier if you hope to get a seat) at the Atrium to catch Hello Earth! The Music of Kate Bush.
Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone? 