Monthly Archives: May 2012

Hey, Buke and Gass, ummm, GASE, are back with new music

Thoughts on a name change

Buke and Gass keep their feet busy, too. (Photos © 2010, Steven P. Marsh)

Plus a PREVIEW OF THEIR NEW SONG!

It’s been more than a year since Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone?  mentioned Buke and Gass. We’re overdue.

Arone Dyer on buke.

Maybe you’ve already noticed that there’s something different about this intense duo — their name. They’re now Buke and Gase, in what appears to be a slightly sad surrender to phonetics.

For those who have been paying close attention, the morphing began late last fall when the band posted this brief, cryptic bulletin on its website:

October 26 – Just played a show in Canada and our name is morphing.

But the reality didn’t sink in until we saw announcements for the band’s May 4 appearance at The National‘s Bryce and Aaron Dessner-curated Crossing Brooklyn Ferry series at BAM. We thought somebody had made a typo. On further investigation, we discovered the band had indeed changed the spelling.

Aron Sanchez on gass.

Although the pronunciation of the band name was easy to remember once you knew what it stood for — baritone ukulele=Buke, while guitar+bass=Gass — it appears the second half of the name was too often the butt of jokes rhyming with ass. So Arone Dyer, who plays the buke, and Aron Sanchez, on gass, gave in and changed the spelling.

But they didn’t change the sound, as you’ll hear on this great preview track from their next album, which they hope to release in September.

If you can’t make it to Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, or you just want more Buke and Gase, check out the lineup they’ve curated (they’re not listed as performing, just curating) through May 15 with Terry Riley‘s son Gyan Riley, at The Stone, John Zorn‘s music venue in Manhattan’s East Village.

Tony Award nominations announced

Read the full list of Tony nominees on the official tonys site. Click here

The 66th annual Tony Award nominations are out this morning, with a movie remake, Once, topping the list. But another film takeoff, the just-opened Leap of Faith, also got one in the Best Musical category.

There’s lots of other news to report, including the snubbing of big stars Bernadette Peters and Ricky Martin and the revamped Spider-Man, but we’ll leave that to other reports.

The full list is here.

New York Daily News theater critic Joe Dziemianowicz‘s report is here.

New York Times ArtsBeat blog report here.

Billboard’s take here.

Playbill.com offers coverage here and reaction here.

We told you Condola Rashad was great! Now the Tony Awards panel backs us up by nominating her as best featured actor in a play

Condola Rashad outside the Cort Theatre after a performance of Stick Fly. (Photo © 2011, Steven P. Marsh)

The Alicia Keys-produced play Stick Fly hung on at Broadway’s Cort Theatre for just 93 performances last winter. The play may have fallen a bit flat, despite every promotional effort. But one member of the cast made a big impression that has lasted well beyond that last performance on Feb. 26.

Condola Rashad (yes, the daughter of The Cosby Show alum Phylicia Rashad and former NFL wide receiver Ahmad Rashad) was that show’s secret weapon, as Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone? told you back in December.

On Tuesday morning, she was nominated as Best Featured Actor in a Play.

So she’s crossed the first hurdle. The Tony nominators have joined with WYMMWIG? in recognizing this young superstar. Now, Tony judges, it’s time to vote for her and give her the award she earned and so richly deserved.

Her reaction was sweet and humble, as you’d expect from the sassy-smart young actress. She took to Twitter to tell her fans:

Funny fact about Condola: She never watched The Cosby Show when she was growing up. “I was on the set!” she says in this interview with The Associated Press: