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1989-1990: Flying Into the Next Century
Strange Angels I met William S. Burroughs 10 years ago when I was an MC at the Nova Convention — a “countercultural” extravaganza celebrating Burroughs’s contribution to American art and thought. There were panel discussions (Susan Sontag, Timothy Leary) and performances by lots of people including Patti Smith, Frank Zappa (who read the talking-asshole section […]
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Kronos Quartet+Natalie Merchant+Rhiannon Giddens+Sam Amidon+Olivia Chaney
Part of the BAM 2014 Next Wave Festival, the boundary-breaking Kronos Quartet demonstrates the breadth of its scope with two separate collaborations. On September 20, they join 10,000 Maniacs frontwoman-cum-folk chanteuse Natalie Merchant, Carolina Chocolate Drops lead singer Rhiannon Giddens, and rising folk stars Sam Amidon and Olivia Chaney to premiere classical crossover settings of […]
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Kronos Quartet & Laurie Anderson
Part of the BAM 2014 Next Wave Festival, the boundary-breaking Kronos Quartet demonstrates the breadth of its scope with two separate collaborations. On September 20, they join 10,000 Maniacs frontwoman-cum-folk chanteuse Natalie Merchant, Carolina Chocolate Drops lead singer Rhiannon Giddens, and rising folk stars Sam Amidon and Olivia Chaney to premiere classical crossover settings of […]
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Laurie Anderson
“In this enchanted mood, thy spirit ebbs away to whence it came; becomes diffused through time and space,” wrote Herman Melville in Moby-Dick. In this roundtable discussion, iconoclastic performance artist Laurie Anderson reflects on space-time with Met curator Melanie Holcomb, time-bending novelist Rebecca Stead, and astrophysicist-cum-art historian SeungJung Kim. From her multimedia adaptation of Melville’s […]
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PEACE AND LOVE
“What a beautiful fall! Everything shimmering and golden and all that incredible soft light. . . . Long live the beauty that comes down and through and onto all of us.” If, like us, you’re still a little haunted by Laurie Anderson’s elegant encomium to late husband Lou Reed, here’s your chance to hear more. […]
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Fred Frith
It doesn’t happen often these days. The revered British string improviser’s visits to town are few and far between, so this stretch of dates, along with a mid-September hit at Roulette, are genuine events. His vocabulary for solo recitals is some of the most engaging guitar-speak around, and he’s trying out a handful of trios […]
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Fred Frith & Laurie Anderson
The brilliant British avant-guitar innovator (Henry Cow, Art Bears, etc.) kicks off a six-night residency with a pricier-than-usual improvisatory canoodle with violinist-vocalist Laurie Anderson. Return later in the week, when Frith leads a trio (Wednesday), confronts John Zorn (Thursday at 8), and plays a solo set probably involving table guitar (Thursday at 10). Tue., Aug. […]
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Ebe Oke+Annie Gosfield
Laurie Anderson curates the third edition of “Synthesizer Nights,” which this evening pairs Georgia-born, London-based Ebe Oke with New Yorker Annie Gosfield. Oke, a romantic experimentalist, performs selections from his new Valor, adding cello, violin, and laptop to his own vocals, piano, and electronics. Violinist Mary Rowell performs Gosfield’s “Lost Signals and Drifting Satellites” (which […]
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‘Philip Glass: Music with Friends’
Often lumped into the minimalist umbrella, Philip Glass is so much more. The iconic composer turned 75 earlier this year, and he’s celebrating the milestone with some solo shows and unlikely pairings that reflect his far-reaching influence. First, Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields joins downtown trumpeter Nate Wooley to bring his lovelorn low-frequency poetry […]
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Laurie Anderson
Four nearly four decades, Laurie Anderson has stood at the front of New York City’s avant-garde, staging performance art and creating experimental music and video (Her “O Superman” represents the best of both of those mediums). Today, the School of Visual Arts honors her achievements by giving her an honorary degree, but not before she […]