Steve Smith
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A weekly tally of memorable things Steve Smith has stuck in his ears. Published by National Sawdust Log. Moniek Darge – Sounds of Sacred Places (Igloo/Kye; 1987/2011) Beside Myself by crys cole crys cole – Beside Myself (Students of Decay; 2020) The Taj-Mahal Travelers – July 15, 1972 (CBS Sony/États-Unis; 1972/2019) The Sky Opens by…
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ShotsBlank Forms, Brooklyn, NY February 27, 2020 General admission Personnel: Daniel DiMaggio, amplified objects, recordingsJohn Friberg, amplified objects, recordings Matthew Friberg, amplified objects, movement On Thursday night at Blank Forms, the intimate third-floor walk-up gallery space recently opened in Clinton Hill by the curatorial organization of the same name, the trio Shots played a brief…
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My contributions to the Goings On About Town section in the March 2, 2020 issue of The New Yorker, covering the dates February 26-March 3. (Links lead to detailed listings on the New Yorker website.) BearthovenLe Poisson Rouge; Feb. 27 at 7:30 Yes, this group looks like a jazz piano trio—and, in its way, it…
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Liza Lim (Photograph: Astrid Ackermann) Among the choice items included in today's Winter-Spring 2020 season announcement from The Kitchen was news of the latest installment in Density 2036, the enthralling 23-year commissioning program initiated by the industrious flute genius Claire Chase in 2014. Density 2036, part vii will be presented at Queenslab, a Ridgewood venue…
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Once in a while – more often than I'd like, unfortunately – I'll receive details for an eminently worthy, possibly mind-blowing event juuussstt ever so slightly too late to pitch it for possible inclusion in the Goings On About Town section at the New Yorker, where I beat the drum for such events on a…
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A weekly tally of memorable things Steve Smith has stuck in his ears.Published on National Sawdust Log. Carla Bley, Andy Sheppard, Steve Swallow – Life Goes On (ECM; 2020) Dave Douglas – Marching Music (Greenleaf Music subscriber exclusive; 2020. More information here.) Sofia Gubaidulina – Jetzt Immer Schnee; Perception – Leonid Stasov, Stella Kleindienst, Siegfried…
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Charles Curtis, Abigail Levine, Dancers, and Wind EnsembleIssue Project Room, Brooklyn, NY February 21, 2020 General admission Personnel: Charles Curtis, cello Abigail Levine, dancer, choreographer Amanda Brown, design Rob Besserer, Elena Demyanenko, Kentoria Earle, Ayano Elson, Maho Ogawa, Kristopher K.Q. Pourzal, dancers Michael Matsuno, Teresa Diaz de Cossio, flutes Nicolee Kuester, French horn Rachel Allen,…
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One of the new initiatives the New York Philharmonic rolled out last season, to coincide with the arrival of music director Jaap van Zweden (and Deborah Borda, the institution's president, as well) was "Phil the Hall," an unambiguously populist gesture in which first responders, volunteers, and other public-service professionals were invited to come to Lincoln…
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Monday on Twitter, Dr. Andrea Ramsey posted a straightforward question: Favorite string quartets composed by women? — 𝔻𝕣. 𝔸𝕟𝕕𝕣𝕖𝕒 ℝ𝕒𝕞𝕤𝕖𝕪 (@ramseyandrea) February 17, 2020 Dr. Ramsey, a composer, conductor, and teacher based in Kansas City (you know, the one in Missouri), received dozens of enthusiastic responses. I won't lie, I definitely jumped in. But I…
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Jon Christensen, a deft, sensitive drummer who embodied the "ECM Sound" and an enormously influential musician, has died at age 76. Read Ethan Iverson's tribute, here, for as beautiful a succinct summary of Christensen's contributions to music as you possibly could want, and then watch this live video of Christensen playing in Keith Jarrett's storied…
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A weekly tally of memorable things Steve Smith has stuck in his ears.Published by National Sawdust Log. Stones/Water/Time/Breath by Dean Rosenthal Dean Rosenthal – Stones/Water/Time/Breath (Edition Wandelweiser; 2019) bin li – i am also here (Edition Wandelweiser; 2019. Audio samples here.) Jürg Frey – fields, traces, clouds – Jürg Frey, Ordinary Affects (Edition Wandelweiser; 2019.…
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If you happen to be in the vicinity of Ramapo College in Mahwah, NJ, tonight (Feb. 13) at 8pm, you can see the premiere performance of Fantini Futuro, a new multimedia piece by the great experimental trumpeter and composer Ben Neill. Inspired by Girolamo Fantini, the Baroque composer credited with bringing the trumpet in from…
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My contributions to the Goings On About Town section in the February 17 & 24, 2020 double issue of The New Yorker, covering the dates February 12-25. (Links lead to detailed listings on the New Yorker website.) New York PhilharmonicDavid Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center; Feb. 13-18 and 20-22; times vary Project 19, a Philharmonic initiative…
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Word has come that Lyle Mays – an extraordinary pianist, composer, bandleader, and a longtime member of the Pat Metheny Group – has died after a recurring illness. Nate Chinen, in an obituary written for WBGO, gets to the heart of Mays's creative persona: Mays was a musician of clear, analytical temperament, but within the…
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A weekly tally of memorable things Steve Smith has stuck in his ears. Published on National Sawdust Log. Christopher Rouse – Iscariot; Clarinet Concerto; Symphony No. 1 – Martin Fröst, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra/Alan Gilbert (Bis; 2008. Audio samples here.) Christopher Rouse – Flute Concerto; Symphony No. 2 – Sharon Bezaly, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra/Alan…
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Yesterday, the music publisher Edition Peters announced that it had signed an agreement with Ashley Fure, a composer of ferocious originality and power. Fure joins a roster already enriched by the signing last year of George Lewis and Sky Macklay. Fure's new association starts with four compositions: Bound to the Bow (2016), Shiver Lung (2016),…
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My contributions to the Goings On About Town section in the February 10, 2020 issue of The New Yorker, covering the dates February 5-11. (Links lead to detailed listings on the New Yorker website.) "In C"Le Poisson Rouge; Feb. 5 at 7:30 The 16th annual performance of Terry Riley's minimalist milestone, as coordinated by Darmstadt:…
Night After Night 