Spent the late afternoon at the Brooklyn Folk Festival, which I love on so many levels. It's very much a folk fest and very much a Brooklyn one. Love the church setting, the DIY vibes, the warmth of the scene, and, of course, the excellent music. Many highlights in this session. Looking forward to the evening sets...
#nycfreaks
Last night: Cyro Baptista 75th birthday celebration at Rose Theater. Lively, ramshackle, all over the place, but full of joy... kind of like Cyro. Trey sit-in was fun and brought out the phans (for better or worse). It was a fun night and had some highlights, the room is gorgeous, but I think I prefer him leading a smaller group or as part of someone else's band. I know this was a special occasion, but it was a little too much for me.
The Vijay Iyer quartet at Vanguard this week is a whirlwind of awesome. He's splitting time between grand piano and Rhodes and Adam O'Farill adding effects on his trumpet creates a many-textured thing and the improv, held down by Sorey on drums, is a real headspace. Highly recommended!
Earlier was my third Krantz of his four shows during he current residency, I thought it was his best. Evan Marien on bass and Cliff Almond on drums bringing serious 55 Bar vibes, despite the vocal interludes. Wayne seems to be hitting his stride.
A great night in NYC on all levels!
Tonight: you bet your ass I went back on a Sunday night for Osees round 2. There were a zillion amazing options in NYC this weekend, seems silly to see these guys twice, but also the number if bands I'd rather see play live is less than the number of fingers on my left hand, so...
Wasn't sure they'd be anywhere as good as last night and yet they somehow surpassed it. I'll have to go check but I think minimal repeats which is a very new development. As such, a very different show. Few nifty segue, some extended psychedelia, lots of rocking the fuck out, and one more sweaty t-shirt.
Shame they only come round once a year. I freakin love seeing this band play.
Tonight: another sickass twofer with two acts I've been enjoying a long time...
First, National Sawdust for a rare Fiery Furnaces sighting. This one was just the Friedberger siblings stripped down to bare essentials: Matt on grand piano, Eleanor singing, ostensibly celebrating Blueberry Boat, but some others as well. In this format, it was really all about Eleanor's lyrical and vocal surrealism and that was fine by me. There's nothing Iike it. I wish she'd do more solo stuff, which I think I like more than the FF. This was a special treat kind of show. I will go out of my way to see Eleanor in any format.
Then Osees annual return to Warsaw. Holy shit, just... Holy shit. I love this band so much, easily a top 5 live rock act for me and they totally crushed it tonight. Pure kinetic energy, sweaty, glorious nonstop asskick. Best double drums in the biz and Dwyer was in RARE form tonight on many levels.
A+ Saturday night.
Tonight: when a friend asks you to be their dance partner at the Parcels show, hard to say no. Very fun show, actually! Band was quite good, lots of good songs, bordered on the serious cheese at times, a few too many "make some noise, NYC!" for my taste, but I think the enthusiasm was genuine. Sound was all over the place, at various times evoking Daft Punk, The Slip (seriously!), Backstreet Boys, and more. Gorgeous mid-autumn night for outdoors music in Queens.
Last night: a blissful float down a beautiful river of piano.
First stop: a wildly inventive and enchanting solo set from John Medeski at the Stone. Two long pieces, the first a 40-ish minute improvisation that went through all four seasons: stark, sparse winter, crisp-colorful autumn, sunshine summer, chaotic spring. The second piece was pure melodic happiness. What a treat! Surprisingly there were empty seats in the room, you never know at the Stone!
Second stop a few blocks away for the late set at the Vanguard. Fred Hersh with a killer trio featuring Drew Gress and the ubiquitous Marcus Gilmore. Hersh's playing is a dreamy stroll through a fragrant garden. A perfectly evolving flow. Great, great set.
Last night: first stop checking out Florry at Night Club 101. Was impressed with em at Woodsist a year before last and they did nothing to dispel my admiration. Sold out show felt like a train leaving a station, one with a few seats left and well worth riding. Excellent rock and roll in the guitar-fuzzed boundary between alt country and southern rock. Sometimes three guitars, sometimes pedal steel and/or fiddle. Fantastic songs, having-a-blast stage presence. Good shit.
Second stop at Public Records for Joan Shelley. Enchanting as ever. A LOT going on last night, so I'll forgive the half-filled room, especially at PR (nice to see the stage!). Shelley is a wonder, sounded great with full band and Nathan Salzburg on electric. Not sure I've seen that configuration for her before. New album stuff is mesmerizing.
Tonight: so Wayne Krantz is doing a biweekly residency at Bitter End and while I'm not feeling compelled to do them all, I do think the high points of tonight's set did make a reasonable case that... maybe I should? By no means is this peak Wayne, and Bitter End ain't 55 Bar, but even without the magic of yore, there's some serious mindfuck going down. With the beast Josh Dion on drums and, new to me, Brad Miller on bass. Probably go back in two weeks. Why the heck not?
Last night: great Monday zones at Berlin, capped by Matt LaJoie who went from zero to infinity in roughly 35 minutes. Quite a heady set of guitar, knobs, and pedals.
Tonight: really should go to Jalopy more often. Glad to somehow! make it for some stellar bluegrass with Michael Daves, Tony Trishka and Erik Alvar. Not sure how I'm still standing on zero sleep, but no rest for the weary!
Tonight: well, MMJ crushed it again. Maybe the best complete show of the weekend. Another A+ sit-in from Ms Rykman taboot. Tears for Fears in the encore? Sweet!
Would be great to see a three-nighter at the Paramount become a tradition.
Night 2 of MMJ at the BK Paramount. Pretty fascinating setlist, very few songs I would have asked for, but they kind of crushed the B and C level material. Like they were out to prove the depth of their catalog... and succeeded mightily. Of course, a couple favorites sprinkled in and then a monster close (including another sick Karina Rykman sit-in/bass duel) and A++ encore. This band has been performing at an incredibly high level the last couple years, even higher than usual. Not sure many are doing it better these days. Looking forward to getting loopy tomorrow.
Tonight: man, I wore my MMJ Z CD *out* when it first came out 20 years ago. Turned me from a pretty big fan to a will-travel-to-see fan. Now have been lucky to see it played in full twice including tonight's powerhouse show at the Brooklyn Paramount. 2/3 of the record is basically songs you're psyched to get one of at a show, so hearing them all one after the end there is a serious whoa! for me. Second half had some more lulls, but ended strong and the encore was more MMJ muscle, while still leaving plenty for the rest of the run. Sweet!
Tonight: somehow saw my 2nd of 3 "play the full album" shows in a single week. How is that possible? This one was Grandaddy playing Sophtware Slump in full in celebration of its 25th anniversary. 25?? How is that possible? Holds up pretty well! Then a short second set of other stuff. Pretty strong show, good not great, but good is good!, at Brooklyn Steel.
Opener Greg Freeman had a cool indie rock thing, band included both sax and pedal steel which gave it some interesting sonic avenues. Will seek him out for sure (his newest album is not bad!).
#nycfreaks #livemusic #brooklyn #williamsburg #grandaddy #sophtwareslump
Tonight: if every workday ended with a transcendental set from Natural Information Society around the corner from my place, it'd do wonders for my soul. Heck, if every Monday did! For now I'll just take this evening's zones. Two songs in one long, flowing hour+ in-journey at Roulette.
Tonight: couple of stops at the avant garde on a miserably windy and rainy night in NYC.
First stop at Close Up for a fab set of freejazz from Tony Malaby with a stellar quartet of Jacob Sacks, Eivind Opsvik, and Dan Weiss, who was kind of the hero with his drumming. Recording for an album, see how that comes around.
Then around the corner to Pianos for a Sunday bill headlined by a trio of Ryan Sawyer, Steve Gunn, and poet Eileen Myles who recited contemporary material over zone-out guitar/drum improv. Pretty cool.
Second: almost twenty-five years ago, I saw Bill Frisell for the first time, in a duo with Ron Carter. Tonight I got to see the same duo again for the first time since then. They were old vets then, so what does that make them now? Fucking masters, that's what. What a magical, dreamlike set. They've still got it! Kind of miraculous. Also got to fulfill my annual trip to Times Square. Sublime mastery at Birdland.
Tonight: First stop with GoGo Penguin who doesn't come around enough to skip and proving once again why they're unmissable. Not everyday you see a packed SRO crowd going apeshit for a jazz trio. And while the music is strongly influenced by electronica motifs and post rock catharsis, it IS a jazz trio. Such a unique bass-forward sound. Phenomenal set at Le Poisson Rouge.
2: Kurt Rosenwinkel and Gerald Clayton in a dreamy guitar/piano duet. Not something you see at the Vanguard every day. Billed as a Tribute to Geri Allen, it was mostly just the two of them in drowsy musical conversation. Love to nod off in my favorite spot in the back of the room.
#nycfreaks #livemusic #nyc #jazz #villagevanguard #westvillage
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