-
ROCK THE CLOCK
It hasn’t been all Blondie, Sabbath and Nirvana. Because they dig sophisticated blends of eloquent jitter-swing and stormy rumination, The Bad Plus — the rogue piano/bass/drums outfit initially heralded for exploding pop and rock nuggets — has occasionally peppered its sets with Ornette Coleman tunes. “Song X” here, “Law Years” there — every time we’ve […]
-
FAMILY AFFAIR
John Zorn was beaming at the Newport Jazz Festival in August. The far-flung ensembles of his Masada family were together for a two and a half hour mix ’n’ match confab that stretched from chamber music gentility to red-zone dissonance that he proudly declared “sick” with one of his Zornian grins. The throughline was obvious […]
-
PLAY ON
Jamming — of both the improvising and disrupting varieties — provides the focus tonight and during the remainder of composer-performer Annie Gosfield’s week-long residence at John Zorn’s austere performance space. A ceaselessly re-inventive composer, Gosfield mixes history, technology, and autobiography in work that oscillates vibrantly between past and future. Jammed radio signals have inspired much […]
-
Aram Bajakian
From downtown icon John Zorn’s noise-making stable of trailblazing protégés comes Queens’ own strings-obliterating guitarist, Aram Bajakian. As part of the ensemble of slayers summoned by the avant-grade legend himself, Bajakian helped premiere Zorn’s Masada Book Three: The Book, Beriah at Town Hall last month. Now, the surging Bajakian is basking in the glow of […]
-
Chris Speed Trio
The saxophonist/clarinetist launches a six-day residence at John Zorn’s no-frills bunker with two evenings celebrating the release of Really OK by his excellent trio with bassist Chris Tordini and drummer Dave King (Happy Apple, the Bad Plus). Promising nights ahead include Human Feel with special guest Mary Halvorson on Thursday and the Clarinets on Friday, […]
-
Shia LaBeouf in Nymphomaniac: Indolently Sexy, Like a Lazy Panther
The big news out of the Berlin Film Festival earlier today was that Shia LaBeouf, here to promote Lars Von Trier’s Nymphomaniac: Volume 1, behaved like an ass on the red carpet at the movie’s premiere last night. He showed up in a proper tuxedo, but also with a paper bag over his head scrawled […]
-
Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Bird Project
Bird lives when Indian-American alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa opens a weeklong residency at sax kinsmen John Zorn’s black box performance space The Stone: Here, Mahanthappa recontextualizes Charlie Parker in a more contemporary aesthetic, touting Bird’s genius as a synthesizer of pop, jazz tradition, and his own revolutionary harmonic innovation, bebop. This reincarnation of Bird’s longtime […]
-
Ten Out-Music Carol Covers: A Very Avant-Garde Christmas
‘Tis the season, as they say, to make merry — to spike and quaff egg nog, to unearth crates of broken ornaments, to wrap overpriced boxed sets in radioactive tinsel. It is also the season, unfortunately, to suffer through traditional and more recent versions of Christmas carols you were already sick and tired of way […]
-
Holiday Arts Guide: Music Picks
Jason Moran & the Bandwagon November 26–December 1 Moran, a MacArthur “genius grant”-winning pianist, can be heard to fine effect in a variety of bands and settings — though the Bandwagon is one of his steadiest (not to mention most rewarding) groups. It’s been three years since their last Blue Note album, Ten, so this […]
-
John Zorn
Downtown icon John Zorn’s month-long 60th birthday celebration winds down at typical breakneck pace with a visceral double header featuring his extensive backlog. The Song Project puts lyrics to Zorn compositions from Masada, Dreamers, Naked City, and other groups, interpreted by Zorn’s constellation of collaborators ranging from singer-songwriter Jesse Harris to iconoclastic guitarist Marc Ribot. […]