Blacks’ Myths, a duo of electric bassist Luke Stewart and drummer Warren G. “Trae” Crudup III played the second set at the Fridman Gallery, Friday, September 7. They released their debut record in July. The band embodies deep rhythms and dark energies. The two riffed and improvised, building off of each other constantly. Stewart often
I was running late on Friday, September 7, but when I approached the block where the Fridman Gallery is in the West Village, I was pleasantly greeted by the flowing sounds of the saxophone of James Brandon Lewis. I recognized it instantly. The music appeared in an interesting context, the closing night of the Strange
Vocalist Charmaine Lee opened a three-set bill at Wonders of Nature on Wednesday, September 5. Using an amplifier and distortion effects, Lee created explosions of ecstatic, attacking sound with vibrations like abrasions, collisions, and disruptions which she occasionally disrupted with vocalized words or phrases. She performed the entire 10-minute set with her back to the
Electric guitarist Lucas Brode and drummer Kevin Shea met for an ambient duo performance at the Troost on Wednesday, August 22. What I heard defied all expectations that I had about these two musicians and represented a new dimension of their work (for me anyway). Shea opened with light shimmering cymbal work to which Brode
On Monday, August 20, drummer Brian Chase and harpist Zeena Parkins played a series of groundbreaking pieces at San Damiano Church in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It was one of those electric New York evenings. When I arrived at the venue, there was a line outside of pensive audience members ready to experience something new and unexpected.
Jason Kao Hwang (violin) brought collaborators Stomu Takeishi (electric bass) and Michael T.A. Thompson (drums) to Bushwick Public House last night for a dynamic set of improvisations. The music was fully improvised, riveting throughout, and evolved impressively from beginning to end. The piece had four distinct sections, giving the set the feeling of a suite with
Sunday evening I had my first opportunity to see Anteloper play live. It was well worth the wait. Anteloper consists of Jaimie Branch (trumpet, electronics) and Jason Nazary (drums, electronics). The band creates intense layers of sound, recording loops, playing their instruments over electronics, and using delays in a manner to create far more sound
When one gets busy in New York, it is easy to go a year or more without seeing certain performers, even those who play regularly in the city. That was the case for me with vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Anais Maviel (voice, n’goni) prior to her performance at Roulette on May 29. On that night, she
Guest Writer: Vanessa Vargas The DMG 27th Anniversary Series of Sonic Celebrations continued on the evening of April 29th with the Jesse Dulman Quartet. Located in Chinatown, the Downtown Music Gallery is a long-running and internationally known record store. Playfully coined during the concert as “the only avant-garde jazz store still on the planet,” it
The fast burning trio of Florian Herzog (bass), David Leon (alto sax), and Stephen Boegehold (drums) played an impressive set as part of the Bushwick Improvisers Collective series at Bushwick Public House, Monday, May 7. At the center of the trio was a lot of rhythmic brilliance, keeping it off-kilter or multi-faceted throughout the extended
