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Twenty years after his last performances in New York, former Hüsker Dü bassist-turned-restauranteur Greg Norton hit town this weekend for a pair of performances with his new combo, The Gang Font feat. Interloper. I caught the second, presented on Sunday night at the Knitting Factory’s Tap Bar. It’s an impressive band, featuring guitarist Erik Fratzke…
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On Saturday morning, I headed to Philadelphia to do some work for an article I’ll soon be writing. While there, I took the opportunity to belatedly hear the Philadelphia Orchestra play in Verizon Hall for the first time. (Truth be told, the two incidents are not unrelated.) The orchestra’s short but satisfying concert opened with…
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The video quality here is kind of hideous, and I don’t know what John Wetton was thinking with that facial foliage. But here, in all its glory, is this blog’s theme song (and a bonus track besides).
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The great jazz pianist, composer and bandleader Andrew Hill succumbed to cancer this morning, according to a press announcement just circulated by publicist Jim Eigo: I’ve been asked by composer and pianist Andrew Hill’s family to announce to the press that he died at 4 a.m. today, April 20, 2007, several years after being diagnosed…
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Earle Brown Retrospective at the Chelsea Art MuseumThe New York Times, April 19, 2007
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Charles Wuorinen’s Percussion Symphony at Alice Tully HallThe New York Times, April 18, 2007
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La Traviata at New York City OperaThe New York Times, April 13, 2007
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On Wednesday afternoon, I interviewed guitarist Kevin Gallagher for an upcoming TONY article about an exciting three-concert series devoted to the music of Jacob ter Veldhuis (a.k.a. Jacob TV), which will be presented at the Whitney Museum on May 2, 3 and 4. After we’d wrapped up that business, we talked a bit longer about…
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Sarah Chang and Ashley Wass at Carnegie HallThe New York Times, April 12, 2007
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Fresh off his latest celebratory run at Iridium last week, Anthony Braxton was spotted by Hank Shteamer last night at a Bowery Ballroom show by Battles, in which Braxton’s son Tyondai plays with former Helmet drummer John Stanier among others. According to Hank’s brief eyewitness account on the TONY Blog, the elder Braxton appeared to…
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Like Alex, I seem unable to observe a self-imposed hiatus. I’ve shared a fair amount of news about Philip Glass performances and recordings over the last few months, but I’m happy to say that my services are no longer required: Among the helpful features of the newly redesigned PhilipGlass.com is a news blog, Glass Notes.…
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I’d planned to write about the terrific triple bill of Amiina, Eluvium and Gilles Vonsattel presented last night at Good Shepherd Church on West 66th Street, part of the fascinating — and apparently wildly popular — Wordless Music Series. But some pressing business is calling me down to Houston this weekend, so I’ve cleared the…
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Joshua Bell and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields at Carnegie HallThe New York Times, April 3, 2007
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Wrapping up a weekend of voracious indulgence, I spent much of Sunday (April 1) in residence at Carnegie Hall. In the afternoon, I caught Joshua Bell with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields playing Vivaldi and Tchaikovsky. You’ll have to wait for Tuesday’s New York Times to read the full report, but what…
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There is no conceivable way that a music lover in New York City can get out to hear everything of potential appeal. But weekends, at least, sometimes provide the illusion that it’s possible. In terms of conspicuous consumption — the stated motto of this blog — today was as close to perfection as I can…
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I have a strong memory from years gone by of an episode of The Muppet Show in which Rudolf Nureyev was the featured guest star. Naturally, YouTube has the episode’s famous pas de deux. But what I specifically remember is beleaguered company aesthete Sam the Eagle announcing the dancer’s presence in reverent tones, anticipating artistic…
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Marc-André Hamelin at the 92nd Street YThe New York Times, March 30, 2007
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Back to the Jazz Standard tonight, where Jeff Gauthier’s "Cryptonights" series continued with Nels Cline’s Andrew Hill project. I caught the second set in the company of TONY colleague (and Dark Forces Swing blogger) Hank Shteamer and our brave, bold editor in chief, Brian Farnham, who has charged himself with the duty of accompanying every…
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Another New York City venue will soon be history, and this one’s especially painful to new-music lovers of many persuasions. After surviving near-certain disaster in early 2005 through sheer determination and a series of fund-raisers, the Lower East Side nightclub Tonic will close its doors for good on Friday, April 13. Details are sketchy, but…
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Mexican composer Daniel Catán is not yet a household name, but his three operas have garnered widespread admiration. Foremost among these is the second, Florencia en el Amazonas, a lyrical, richly orchestrated gloss on themes from Gabriel García Márquez’s ineffably beautiful Love in the Time of Cholera. The libretto, in Spanish, is by Marcela Fuentes-Berain,…
Night After Night 