Review: Sufjan Stevens Ep

So according to Pitchfork.com, there's a new Sufjan Stevens EP, "All the Delighted People" coming out. I did a listen through, its free to stream through pitchfork, and it's alright. The "What Gabriel Says" is decent, "The owl and the Tangent" is listenible, interesting. I'm on the title track "All Delighted People " Right now, I'll edit this is post if the 11 track EP takes a drastic turn for the better.

If you spell Ithaca backwards

Review from the travels, 3/5/10

Welcome back! I hope everyone had a good break; I was stuck in Albany teaching until Wednesday, then to Syracuse, followed by Ithaca, a return to the Cuse, then to Vermont (where I am currently, writing from a wi-fi connected bar. )Whew! It ‘s been a long two weeks of travel, and we have a few things on the agenda to talk about. First, Ithaca. I trekked out that way Thursday night for \ and  Morton’s Sophomore Recital. It was a joint cello and double bass show respectively, with Morton’s jazz trio filling up the middle. Jordan is a little tiny red head who whaled out J.S. Bach’s ten minute Suite No1 in G major BWV 1007, leaving the audience straight up baffled. Upright bass has a great sound live, soo much ambience. \ also played a similar Bach piece (Suite No. 2 in D minor) which was equally (but a little less) stellar as Morton. The rest of the performance was classically based and segued into the Ithaca Orchestra’s dress rehearsal, which I saw the next day in a huge auditorium with sounds everywhere. 

However, it was weird being in a school founded in music. Unlike the eclectic atmosphere at St Rose, all the heads I met at the place were creative, but very liner, highlighting the classical and formulaic undertones present in performance based majors. The orchestra played Stravinsky’s Firebird Suit and I got chills. But enough of this Ithaca jazz. Last Friday, Saint Joe’s Auditorium hosted the Saint Rose Music Awards. The show was spectacular, however, due to an Adventure Club Ski trip that I rocked out at (bruised lungs and a concussion due to an epic backflip fail) we’ll discuss the winners and losers, heroes and villains of the SMAs next week.  Until then, what do you get if you spell Ithaca backwards?...acahti!

Chinese New Year at The Egg , Golden Tiger review

On the other side of the spectrum, the Chinese New Year celebration kicked off this Saturday with the Year of the Golden Tiger to a sold-sold show at the Egg. The entire performance was spoken in Chinese, making it a little difficult to understand the comedy sketches and singers. However, the New Year was not what I expected, rather than seasoned professionals; the show was more like an elementary dance recital, most of the performers being under fifteen. The three hour show did have a world class magician, Qi Le, who was remarkable (he took a full size shovel out of a hand bag) but I intrigued enough to stay past intermission. 

The most interesting part of this show centered around a new usher that I met. He had a mutton chops and looked like he was late life, but I started talking to him and didn’t really stop. He’s a dancer from Saratoga (the Flurry happened this weekend), and said he didn’t stop dancing until 4am the night before and was wearing the same clothes he had on when he crashed, “Me too!” We talked about Paris for a little while and he told me how he never thought he’d be so busy after retirement. 

I was really happy to find someone so down to earth, and although he talked a storm, he proved to be a great listener too, profoundly interested in an interview I just had and such. The best part of this show was that conversation, so in line with the year of the Tiger ferrying ambition, power and social upheaval, I’m glad I started it with meeting a (rarely seen) like-minded individual.

 

Egg review Feb 4th, Gregory Alan Isakov and Brandi Carlile

This week, the show at the Egg was slightly different than the jazz tap performance from last week.  Gregory Alan Isakov kicked off the February 4^th show at 7:30. Isakov was like a mix between trailer-trash folk and Bob Dylan. He played about ten tracks and I found myself more interested in the effects pedal he used for his voice rather than the actual words (because I couldn’t understand them).

Towards the end of his set, I started being able to see a little more clearly and began to appreciate Isakov’s presentation as more of a soundscape rather than simply isolating his voice or guitar.

Brandi Carlile was the main act, and straight up, that girl can sing. She reminded me of Joni Mitchell with her range, going from a gumbly low tone to the pitch of a songbird. Her band was great too, with Tim and Phil Hanseroth (guitar and bass), Josh Neumann on cello, Allison Miller on drums and Jon Pagan on the keys. The band had a real rootsy feel to it.

While I was listening, I saw a bunch of kids in the audience, and it warmed my heart to see parents taking them to see a true performer rather  than the atypical mainstream garbage. Overall, I give both performers a B, both have good stage presence and, apparent from their passion, purely about the music.

as seen in the Saint Rose Chronicle 

A review of Echoes in Time at Albany's Egg

                Last night, I went to the dance performance of Echoesin Time at the Egg performing arts center. I didn't know what to expect, my first time in the Egg and my first time seeing a professional dance show. I went up the oval elevator to the concourse level and smiled. The walls seemed liked they could vibrate sounds into colors. 

It was my first time ushering at the place. So I did my seating duties and then snagged a 3^rd row center seat for the show. The band immediately caught my attention. I haven't been to many dance performances, but they had a five piece band positioned towards the back of the stage. The curtains went up with the drum thumping the opening lines of Ellington's Caravan. The bassist started layering the pulse and the tappers went crazy. I suppose I couldn't really judge the actual dancers, I knew the movements were amazing, but at several points during the show, I just closed my eyes and focused on the rhythms of the tapping to the accompanying music. I visualized the claps and snaps of shoes as drums of varying shapes and tones. The sliding sounds of the tappers reminded me of jazz drummers slashing brushes on a snare. 

 The show was shaped to chronicle the different styles of a bunch of famous tap dances, ranging from Bill “Bojangles” Robinson to Jimmy Slide with Andrew Nemr’s CPD (Cats Paying Dues) Plus dance group. The troupe leader did a solo dance as the second to last number which sounded like a seasoned drummer playing off-beats and polyrhythms asynchronously, (here's a clip).  I would highly recommend seeing a jazz tap show as a medium for experiencing a new interpretation of music. And speaking of shows, as you might know, the 3^rd Annual Saint Rose Music Awards is happening March 12 this year, (which yours truly is performing at) so set your calendars. We’ll get a full nomination and performance list up for ya next week.

                This week’s album to check out: Wilco A Ghostis Born. It’s going to be a cold week, so throw on some of these chilly, but groovy tunes and mellow out.

(the following was written by Frank Cutie and is an excerpt from his latest installment in the Saint Rose Chronicle)