A BLOCK IN TIME: Christiane Bird's latest

My friend Christiane Bird, a wonderful writer and intrepid traveler, has authored several classics, beginning with The Jazz and Blues Lover's Guide to the U.S. (first published in 1991, now in its third edition).

Next came Neither East Nor West: One Woman's Journey Through the Islamic Republic of Iran (2001) which begins thus:

"I went to Iran to flirt with my childhood. I went to Iran to court the unknown. I went to Iran to see the effects of the Islamic Revolution for myself."

She followed with another book on the Middle East, based on her travels in Kurdistan and research into the history and culture of the Kurdish people: A Thousand Sighs, A Thousand Revolts: Journeys in Kurdistian (2004).

 Next, in 2010, came a fascinating popular history, The Sultan's Shadow: One Family's Rule at the Crossroads of East and West.

 

I can't wait to read her latest, A Block in Time, which, in Chris's words, "tells the story of NYC through the prism of a single block and the lives of people who once lived and worked there. Among them: a freed slave, who was the first owner of the block; a Dutch family with ties to the pirate Captain Kidd; an abortionist rumored to have had an affair with a high-society man; and an arriviste who dared breach the social hierarchy of the Gilded Age."

 

The block in question is next to Madison Square Park: 23rd Street to 24th Street between Broadway/Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. Tomorrow, Monday, March 21, she'll be reading close to that block: at Rizzoli's Bookstore, 1133 Broadway.  (I'll be there.)

 

Then on March 23, at 12:35 pm, she'll be doing a radio interview with Alison Stewart on WNYC. I'll try to catch that, too.

 

From The Wooster Group: The B-Side: "Negro Folklore from Texas State Prisons"

 Three years ago, at St. Ann's Warehouse, Jim and I caught the Wooster Group's extraordinary show The-B Side, directed by Kate Valk--a rendition of the 1965 album Negro Folklore from Texas State Prisons: blues, work songs, spirituals, and other music and talk from the state's segregated agricultural prisons, recorded by folklorist Bruce Jackson. While the LP was played, performers Eric Berryman, Jasper McGruder, and Philip Moore sang along, and Berryman added commentary from Jackson's book Wake Up Dead Man: Hard Labor and Southern Blues.  Through Monday, September 14, the Wooster Group is making The B-Side available on their website:

http://thewoostergroup.org/blog/

It was like nothing else I've seen.  Catch it if you can!

 

 

Brooklyn Folk Festival this Friday

It took me a few years to get myself to the Brooklyn Folk Festival, but, with a rich variety of terrific performers, music and dancing workshops, historic documentaries, jams, crafts, and eats,  it soon became one of the highlights of spring for me.  


http://brooklynfolkfest.com/.

One of these days, maybe I'll even catch their Banjo Toss into the Gowanus Canal. 

Aretha, now

If you happen to see this on August 19, right now, and till midnight, WKCR (89.9) is playing nonstop Aretha.

WKCR 89.9FM NY

Can't tear myself away.

Why aren't the Berrymans famous?

Well, Peter and Lou Berryman are famous among folkies who've heard "A Chat With Your Mom"--better known as "The F Word Song."

But that's not enough of us to fill halls that hold thousands.

Lucky for us--and maybe for them.   We get to hear them in intimate venues--coffee houses,  church halls, etc.  They get to see their fans up close, meet them,  chat with them, stay with them.

Last weekend in Princeton,  perhaps a hundred of us got to hear them do an assortment of their terrific songs, old and new, including "Cheese and Beer and Snow," "Artiste Interrupted," "Your State's Name here," "Djver?" "You Gotta Do More," "When Did We Have Sauerkraut?" "Dupsha Dove," "Acme Forgetting Service," and one of my all-time favorites, "Why Am I Painting the Living Room?"

Once briefly married to each other, the Berrymans have been writing and performing together for decades.  Lou, who plays accordion, writes the music; Peter, on guitar, the lyrics.

Brilliantly original, deep, and clever views of our lives and times; usually funny, often satirical/political, sometimes touching, full of insight--their songs are like no one else's.  

On May 11, says their newsletter,  they'll be back home at:

Madison, WI  Olin Park Pavilion, Free Concert sponsored by Friends of Olin-Turville Park tables & chairs provided; bring a picnic!  6 - 8 PM  Rain or shine (or snow?)

Eighteen of their albums are available for download on their website, and they usually offer a free song or two as well:

http://www.louandpeter.com/
 
Their Big Songbook is currently sold out, but they're updating it.  I can't wait!  And I can't wait for a chance to see their music-in-progress, More Later.

Don't Miss "Just Ancient Loops"

At the Bang on a Can Marathon in 2012, Jim and I watched riveted as cellist Maya Beiser played Michael Harrison's haunting and hypnotic Just Ancient Loops,  accompanying overlapping loops of herself playing the same music--which comprised the score of Bill Morrison's film of the same title,  being projected beside her.

It was fabulous and unforgettable, one of the most extraordinary performances I've seen in recent years, and I was thrilled to learn that tomorrow,  Thursday, October 23,  8:00 p.m., at the Museum of Modern Art, Beiser will be doing the same thing in a program that includes two other  films as well.

http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/film_screenings/22083 

On Saturday, November 8, 8:00 pm, in Washington, DC, Beiser will be performing a program that includes  Just Ancient Loops  at the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue.

http://www.washingtonperformingarts.org/calendar/view.aspx?id=2617

Composer Michael Harrison will likely be in attendance at both events.

Not to be missed if you have any interest in new music (or experimental film or the cello).

http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/film_screenings/22083d



http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/film_screenings/22083 Moses Fiction Prize

The song in my head

Every time I watch Preston Sturgis’s Hail the Conquering Hero, I go around hearing "We want Woodrow for Our Mayor," for a day or so.

Today, there’s a darker, deeper song on my mind: the Horseflies’ "Sally Ann."

I first heard the Horseflies in the 90s, at CBGB, on the recommendation of the Village Voice, which described their music as something like "warped old time." Whatever you’d call it, it thrilled my ears and my brain, defying labels.

A few years later, I heard the Horseflies at the Falcon Ridge and Dance Flurry festivals, where I discovered that besides making memorable and original boundary-transcending music, they were a dynamite contra dance band.

Then at the 2009 Flurry, the Horseflies performed at the Cafe Lena, and Jim captured the concert  on a little Zoom recorder.  The band gave him permission to post the recording here:

archive.org/details/horseflies2009-02-15.CafeLena

For more information about the Horseflies go to

thehorseflies.com


They'll be back at Falcon Ridge this year.

I'm a Stranger Here Myself

Great news: Cabaret artist Mark Nadler's wonderful show about the music, history, and legacy of the Weimar Republic, I'm a stranger here myself, has been extended through June 9 at the York Theatre.

Nadler's a passionate singer and pianist who gives his all and then some--and, boy, does he have amazing stories to tell. Franca Vercelloni on accordion and Jessica Tyler Wright on violin provide haunting accompaniment, and the show features some of the strongest use of projections I've seen.

Despite excellent reviews, the show hasn't been selling out, so there are discount tickets available, but that could well change with the word of many mouths besides mine.

Powerful, moving, and occasionally hilarious, I'm a Stranger Here Myself is a show I won't soon forget (if ever)--and neither will you.

http://www.yorktheatre.org

In Transit

This Friday, I saw an amazing new a cappella musical, still in previews, that felt like a New York classic--one that will be delighting tourists as well as New Yorkers for years to come.

With witty lyrics, tuneful score, and beatbox rhythms, In Transit speaks of the lives New Yorkers lead, especially those who ride the subways or struggle in the arts.

Amid the laughter, applause, and sighs, I heard many a whoop of self-recognition joining mine, as the dynamite cast spun the stories of the actress-temp, the ex-financier down to his last transit fare, the truculent subway clerk, the beat boxer who engages fellow travelers, and others into a glowing, moving, hilarious, and wise vision of urban community.

Singing inside, I floated out into the night after it was over, glad all over to be privileged to live here, and to be reminded of how this city can bring out the best in us--if we'll only let it.

In Transit opens on October 5 and closes on October 30 at Primary Stages, 59 East 59 St.

Catch it now if you can, or wait for its next move or incarnation. This is a show I expect to have the pleasure of seeing again, and of introducing to family and friends.


http://primarystages.org/intransit

The Renaissance Street Singers

For 37 years, the Renaissance Street Singers, led by their founder, John Hetland, have been entertaining New Yorkers with polphonic sacred music from the 15th and 16th centuries. They perform on Sundays and can often be heard at the Chelsea Market on 9th Avenue and 16th Street.

Today's the second of the two concerts they perform every spring in Hetland's loft; reservations are by invitation and the concert's full, but you can enjoy the music online through a live webcast that can be replayed on demand.

It's available at

www.streetsingers.org

where you'll find a performance schedule.

The Streetsingers are open to new members who can "read music, carry a part confidently, blend well (with little or no vibrato)."

Debashish Bhattacharya

This is the fifth year of the Richmond Folk Festival, and every year I've been thrilled to hear some wonderful music that was new to me.

Last night it was Debashish Bhattacharya, an amazing slide guitarist and his brother Subhasis on tabla. The music was haunting, hypnotic, and powerful--and, to me, at least, incredibly sexy.

The festival continues today and tomorrow at Brown's Island and the grounds of the American Civil War Center. See Richmondfolkfestival.com

The festival is free, but donations are welcome.

In you're in NYC tonight . . . .

For my friends from the Backspace Conference--

Think about joining me at a contra dance tonight. You'll enjoy the music of a terrific band, Nightingale, and one of my favorite contra callers, Rick Mohr, calls amazing dances. Dancing starts at 8:00, following a beginner workshop at 7:15.

The Church of the Village
201 West 13th Street, NYC
$16 (you'll get a pass to come back for free)

No partner required, but wear lightweight clothes. And bring clean, soft-bottomed shoes for dancing--no high heels allowed.

For additional information visit www.cdny.org or
call the Dancephone, 212-459-4080

SOME NEARBY RESTAURANTS

Cho Dang Gol (Korean) is known for its excellent home-made tofu dishes. 55 W. 35, 212-695-8222.

If you can't get good Chinese where you live, try

Szechuan Gourmet (21 W. 39 St., 212-921-0233) for some of the best Sichuan cooking in Manhattan,

or

Grand Sichuan (229 9th Ave. at 24th St., 212-6205200), which offers food from other regions as well. I'm especially fond of dishes like pork with chestnuts from the Mao's Home Cooking section of the menu, and Green Parrot with Red Mouth (cold spinach).

Gypsy Musical Comedy and Super-party

"Gypsy dance instruction begins at 7:45," promised the email flyer for Viva Patshiva, and we were determined not too miss it. So Jim and I wolfed down our dinner at Desi Deli on 10th Avenue and rushed up to the Interart Theatre Annex, where Rolling Rocks and several varieties of box wine were already being proffered, free with admission, in the waiting room.

"This is the first play I've been to where they try to get you drunk first," Jim said, starting his beer. Christine thought the Cabernet wasn't bad for box wine.

But what about those dance lessons? Yes, I was told, they usually have them but not tonight, maybe because there were so many of us, but that shouldn't stop us from joining in for the big dance number. We didn't really need to know the steps.

Rollicking and ribald, Viva Patshiva aims to be a "super-party" as well as a musical. With a lively, soulful score, a fine band and strong singers pouring their hearts into their performances, it largely succeeds.

Close to the stage in the rugged, intimate space, we felt almost like part of the Gypsy band.

Though the plot--involving a romance between a Gypsy dancer and a motivational speaker, whom the Gypsies are hoping will give them money to keep from being deported--seemed a tad unfinished, we accepted that as part of the show's home-grown charm.

Catch Viva Patshiva now if you can--it closes May 16. Sit in the front row if you'd like some extra attention from the cast, and do join in that big dance number.

If you've got the energy--we didn't--stay for the "Gypsy-style After-party with drinking and dancing into the wee hours." I'm guessing closing night will be a blow-out to remember.

www.vivapatshiva.com