On the second Monday of every month the BTK Band commandeers the stage at Under St. Marks in the East Village to play their unique form of rock, story telling and improv to the intimate crowd. And it is awesome! It started with a cool, nerdy comedian followed by a medley of well known rock songs, followed by some improv, followed by a story about buying pot in nyc in the company of cops and , well I could go on. This is a video of one song the band improvised about the life of Christy, one of the women in the audience.
The best parades, not least of all because they are short and to the point, don’t always happen on fifth ave. This one took us by surprise today walking down Metropolitan Ave in Brooklyn. And, Kenya got the first Easter egg of the season out of it.
Last night seven groups competed to represent The Bronx this year in the Battle of the Boroughs sponsored by WNYC at The Greene Space. More commentary to come — for now, dig into this short video showing a little taste of each group.
Don’t forget the free Clifton Anderson concert at BAM tonight. Hope to see you there!
On this blog, in a previous incarnation, I had a weekly feature where I posted the top 3 coolest things to do each weekend. I have decided to bring it back. Why? Because too often I am talking about once a year or once in a lifetime events in the past tense. Too often I’m hearing, “Oh, I wish I had known about that!” If I can’t find 3 great things to do in a weekend, if it is a particularly dry weekend, than I’ll just suggest whatever I do find.
For this weekend, I recommend the following:
April 1st: Battle of the Boroughs
This amateur music competition does not disappoint.
Battle of the Boroughs is back with the Bronx edition. In case you don’t know, Battle of the Boroughs brings together bands from a single borough to compete for the opportunity to perform at summer stage. With Brooklyn and Queens already decided, Bronx is up for this Friday! The Queens edition of this event was the best amateur musical competition I have ever seen.
This event will be held at the absolutely wonderful Greene Space at:
44 Charlton Street (at Varick Street)
New York, NY 10013
Hudson Square
Tickets for this event are $15 per person with one drink included or $30 for an open bar option. Not only is seating limited, space is limited. Both Brooklyn and Queens sold out. Buy your tickets here.
Here is a video of Mala Reinz, one of the Bronx artists who will be competing Friday night:
April 2nd: International Pillow Fight Day
The softer the better, that way the feathers just explode as soon as you hit someone.
There are two really wonderful ways to enjoy this event. Either get yourself a pillow and come prepared to slug it out, or take a seat in the armchairs overlooking Union Square on the fourth and fifth floor at Filene’s Basement. Either way, this is an unforgettable and totally enjoyable sight. Its supposed to be a whopping 49 degrees cold. But if you move toward the center of the fight, believe me — you will not be cold.
Cost: Bring your pillow.
Time: 3:00pm
April 2nd – BAM Cafe
This and every Friday and Saturday, the cafe at BAM hosts awesome performing artists (who ever is doing the booking leans toward jazz). The shows are always free and take place in a wonderful open hall. You’ve got a top flight bar behind you, cool music in front of you and awesome people all around you.
On Saturday Clifton Anderson will be performing. Here is a video of him:
The address is: At Lafayette and Ashland in Brooklyn
That line, from a song by Sia, fits perfectly over todays topic: The Limelight. This deconsecrated Episcopal church-cum-nightclub-cum-shopping mall opened last May. It has steadily added unique one off vendors becoming a “Festival of Shops”. It was really fun to wander through it last weekend. It’s an amalgamation of a Hobbit’s home and the kind of malls I grew up with in Southern California.
The view from the entrance; not sure what part the astro turf path plays.
One of the many shops peddling unnecessary amusements.
I recommend going when the weather is warmer. With a jacket on, I felt like I was always at risk of knocking expensive things over.
Every nook and cranny where saints did pray and sinners did lay, now you too can play if you are willing to pay.
It was a pleasure to squeeze and nose my way through this church. There was plenty to see, taste and try. Expect to pay more than you do in non-ex-religious shopping venues. Check out the Limelight website.
Movement of the hands of Composer Pierre Boulez while conducting the London Symphony Orchestra
In the great flurry of all things artistic that is Armory Week, I had the opportunity to meet artist Morgan O’Hara in her Manhattan Studio. Like so many artists, at first glance, her work is meaningless. Many of her drawings look like a ball of gray yarn so thoroughly tied and tangled up, as to be beyond all usefulness. I almost walked straight out of her studio.
Instead, I asked her if she would explain, or better still, help me understand her work. She began by explaining that her pieces are created in real-time as some action is taking place. This action could be almost anything from a concert pianist playing a concerto to traditional noodle makers kneeding flour. As she watches them, she draws with both hands simultaneously. Her movements are loose records of the actions she is observing. Take this piece for example:
Martha Argerich playing Beethoven's Piano Concerto #4, Live-Transmission drawing by Morgan O'Hara
It looks like childish scribbling across a loosely defined axis. What it is though is a live transmission of the movement of the hands of pianist Martha Argerich playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto #4. Each one of Ms. O’Hara’s drawings then, is an organic record of what took place over a small period of time. After being armed with this information, I could see the movements of the pianist in the drawing. I could hear the flourishes and crescendos of this concerto in the longer, more dramatic lines of the drawing.
Here is a video of Ms. O’Hara at work in China. She comes into the video after about 45 seconds.
If you are anything like me, you might have felt, well, nothing, for the majority of art you saw last weekend. While I think there are a lot of culturally bankrupt artists out there, many of whom receive lots of attention regardless, sometimes, our lack of appreciation and enjoyment of art stems from a lack of understanding. And this understanding, can often only come from the artist. Many artists, as it were, are codifying their own languages. When we don’t immediately understand it, we dismiss it. It is often much more valuable to spend a modicum of time to at least get a glimpse of the artists intention and then, judge their work accordingly.
You can check out more of Morgan O’Hara’s work on her website.
If you are just coming to the blog for the first time, you’ll want to note that this post is the final post regarding the Battle of the Boroughs series presented by WNYC. Read about it here.
Max Demers, Phillip Drennen, Dan Scott
The last band of the evening was by far the most polished and appealing group. The XYZ’s had been appealing, the Charanams had been polished and surprisingly cool but Astoria Boulevard was the synthesis of both. Founded by Phillip Drennen and Dan Scott while on tour with a theatrical production, they started writing songs with a single ukulele. Eventually they added a mutual friend, Max Demers, in to the mix playing guitar. All three write and sing. Finally to round out the band they added a bass player and drummer.
Astoria Boulevard closes the Battle of the Boroughs show.
Their music is driven by catchy melodies and romantic sentiment. The influence of musical theatre (something they have all worked with from a young age) is clear in every song. Lyrically, the narrative of the song takes precedence over rhyme and rhythm. The harmonies are carefully wrought two and three part harmonies in the vocal arrangement. The instrumentation takes a lot from classic folk songs but again, pays homage to musical theatre with an extremely expressive violin used in several songs.
They sight Simon and Garfunkle as an influence which is especially clear in songs such as ‘Napa, Ca‘. The speaker ruminates about a better life in Northern California through beautiful two part harmonies. Their most notable song, ‘One Of These Days‘ is equally sentimental. The speaker promises to create a ‘tiny fortune’ for he and his love some time in the future. In every song you get the feeling that the composers are so consumed with creating beautiful music that perhaps they never really will get to California and maybe making that tiny fortune can wait a few more days. Who has time to drink in Napa, or chase after money when there are so many beautiful songs and harmonies to be composed and performed?
Astoria Boulevard will be playing on March 13 at The Living Room at 8pm.
This is a continuation of the previous two posts reviewing WNYC’s ongoing Battle of the Boroughs competition. You can learn about that here.
Charanams
My theory about this group, which by the way, blew the crowd away, is that when people initially looked at them, before they had even played a note, everyone wrote them off as a far eastern musical group that hardly anyone in the room could relate to, let alone enjoy. If you’ve ever sat through dinner at an Indian restaurant in the east village, you have probably had your fill of sitar. What people didn’t know is that Charanams is actually a group that fuses Jazz and traditional South Indian music. The result is a great ensemble with a driving beat and beautiful melody. The difference between people’s low expectations and the awesome cohesiveness of this group led them to be one of the most acclaimed groups of the evening. I think they might win.
SOSOON
The sole representative of rap, Sosoon was panned by the crowd and judges alike.
I am not a great photographer, I know, but Sosoon moved around the stage so animatedly, I could not for the life of me get a clear photograph.
Thalys Peterson
I’ve a softspot for Chorinho, a style of Brazilian music that emerged approximately alongside Jazz in the US. Mr. Peterson is a very accomplished classical guitarist. Unfortunately he made some errors in the faster sections of Tico Tico No Fubar and took flak from the judges because of it. However, no one could deny that he was one of the most technically advanced artists to perform during the evening. While I don’t think he’ll end up in the top three, he was very enjoyable to listen to. Explore his music here.
Now, you can vote on one of the top three. I have written about 8 of the 9 so far with a post coming later today or tomorrow about the last group.
Last night WNYC’s Greene Space hosted the second installment in an ongoing competition to find the best up and coming music group in the five boroughs. Nine groups, ranging from individual singer/songwriters to full on six person ensemble playing classical South Indian music with a jazz infusion came from Queens to fight for an opportunity to face off against the best groups from every other borough in June.
Before I get into the highlights of the various groups, I’d just like to point you, dear reader, in the direction of this little known but totally awesome venue. The Greene Space, as far as I am concerned, stole the show. It is a fully equipped television recording studio that just happens to double as a perfect recording studio and its an awesome party/event space. Furthermore, the wonderful people at WNYC have a refreshingly diverse line of programming for the space. And its very affordable. Click here and take your first step towards more meaningful cultural experiences: The Greene Space.
One view of The Greene Space
Now what really counts: who was really good? Who should you google?
I’ll get there. First, it is necessary to say that comparing most of these groups was totally unfair since they represented a huge array of musical styles. Obviously, a jazz trio such as the Danny Fox Trio, while excellent in every respect is not going to bring the popular acclaim of the first group, a psychedelic, omni-amorous Why G? and the XYZ’s. Competitions like this tend towards popularity contests, as long as everyone is a willing participant, than so be it!
WHY G ? and the XYZ’s
Gettin' their funkadelic, multi-cultural, love groove on.
You may be beyond the ABC’s but chances are you have never heard of the XYZ’s. This group led off the night with a song whose title and lyrics I do not remember. However, what was memorable was the huge ethnic diversity in the group. It was like The Polyphonic Spree in sapling form. The charismatic lead rapper energized the crowd with rap while the 3 guitarists rocked hard while two chorus girls danced disco? Um yeah, I guess that’s what it was. It was almost awesome. Check them out here.
Danny Fox Trio
Danny Fox drives the group with unique jazz progressions.
Why G was followed by the Danny Fox Trio. This is the kind of band that you sometimes run into in Central Park on a summer day that just makes your day perfect. Unfortunately, the crowd was not necessarily jazz enthusiasts and this group was largely panned. Following each performance, the host would interview the musicians. He asked, “What would you guys do differently to capture the audience’s attention?” Mr. Fox was at somewhat of a loss for words. His response should have been, ” Nothing.” If the audience wasn’t feeling it, it wasn’t the bands fault. You can hear their music here.
That’s all for now. I’ll continue to highlight the best groups over the next couple days, including one group that deserves a post all of its own.
Half words, half pictures – a good 1:1 ratio if you ask me. On the one side, Showpaper is a full on list of indie music shows for all ages around the tri-state area. On the other, it is a carefully selected piece of art printed to the full size of the one page newspaper. It may be half and half but its totally awesome.
Awesome example of Showpaper cover art done by artist John Mejias
A dynamic group of kids got together to put this idea together. Subsequently they were able to use the New York Foundation for the Arts as a not-for-profit umbrella, making all donations tax deductible. Finally, they were able to secure space for a gallery right on 42nd street.
I first learned about Showpaper the other night at the Rock Circus. They had a really cool set up that looked like this:
Showpaper
They were giving away past issues and handing out their current issue. Free posters!
