New York

August
28
Oasis Books Club To Play New Songs For New Yorkers

Oasislive Oasis has booked a club show in New York and an open air show in Cornwall prior to the Oct. 7 release of "Dig Out Your Soul" through Warner Music's Reprise in the U.S. 
Oasis will perform at Manhattan's Terminal 5 on Sept. 12 and  the Eden Project in Cornwell on Sept. 27. The U.K. show will be filmed by MTV for a later broadcast.
Getting tickets requires registering on the band's website. Applications for the New York ticket purchase will close midday Wednesday; U.K. applications will be taken until midday Sept. 5.

November
5
Clapton, Winwood Find Their Way Home ... To New York

Winwood With no word on what plans Ginger Baker has at the end of February,  Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton will perform Feb. 25, 26 and 28 at Madison Square Garden, their first official concerts together in nearly 39 years.  Tickets are being sold first to American Express cardholders, beginning Nov. 12.
The two musicians worked together in Blind Faith - a "supergroup" featuring two members each of Traffic and Cream - and appeared together at the Chicago Crossroads Guitar Festival in July.
In the decades since Blind Faith's lone release, "Had to Cry Today" has never received its proper due as one of Winwood's finest hours. Meanwhile, the 15 minute "Do What You Like" has moved from horrid space filler to significant jam.
Blind Faith went on one tour. It started July 12, 1969 at Madison Square Garden and ended Aug. 24 in Hawaii.
Winwood and Clapton have not yet discussed the set list for the shows - that will be worked out in upcoming rehearsals.
Winwood's last album was initially recorded for the String Cheese Incident's SCI Fi label and then picked up by Sony Music. His next disc will be released by Sony's Columbia Records  in early 2008.  Clapton recently published his autobiography and a companion CD, "Complete Clapton," was released by Warner Music's Reprise.
Their performance at the Crossroads Guitar Festival in Chicago is part of  a 2-disc DVD available Nov. 20 from Rhino Entertainment.

October
22
CMJ After the Rain: It's Good to Be Home With Band of Horses Ringing In Your Ears

Bandofhorses Upon returning to Los Angeles from the alternating sunshine and heavy rain of New York, most music pontificators had had enough of CMJ, others were as impressed by an act we both happened to stumble upon and, not surprisingly,  hyped bands secured more hype from reviewers who just can't get enough of shows that start after 1 a.m.
As the Internet wars or words raged over a (misguided?) piece about indie rock and race in the New Yorker, I was struck both by how impossible it is to assemble a true hierarchy for 21st century rock music and how CMJ plays into reinforcing that model; this was generally bill after bill of unfamiliar names with the occasional budding star thrown in. It lacks the communal spirit of any other festival, whether it be SXSW or Coachella. This was a scene made up of young people  finding an identity with people of a  similar stripe; music is not necessarily the bonding factor. For those of us who using the memories of the past, whether they be L.A. folk rock in the early '70s, New York punk in the '70s or Seattle, North Carolina   or Omaha, Neb., after that, there's a void at the center.
Blame the democracy on the Internet: indie rock is now a generally insular world that resonates with people who prefer to learn about music through personal recommendations and via MP3-filled websites. Seeing shows at venues  ill-equipped to present shows is no big deal.
And the acts on the verge of something bigger came and did their jobs: M.I.A., the Black Kids, Band  of Horses and St. Vincent  earned a big  thumbs up from the reviewers and bloggers; the challenge now is monetizing buzz.
My favorite moment, though, was one in which about 30 people were held in rapture by a man in his 60s appearing at a party outside the CMJ official lineup. Ed Askew made an off-the-wall folk album in 1968 album for the avant-garde jazz label ESP.    He is accompanied by a lute-like instrument called the tiple. A couple of years later, he made another series of recordings that were not released until 2003 and a few more were discovered and released this year; the man basically fell of the face of the earth.
He made it to his 7 p.m. show but his accompanist did not. He took it in stride and performed a capella, playing harmonica in between verses. His voice has a lovely calmness to it, no ragged edges here, and a poet's flair for combing the direct and the ethereal. It was the rare show that had obvious weight. He deserves a return visit to the recording studio.      

Continue reading " CMJ After the Rain: It's Good to Be Home With Band of Horses Ringing In Your Ears " »

October
16
Butch Morris Revels in The Rarely Recalled Spirit of Miles Davis

Nublu In New York for CMJ, it felt like a good idea to step completely outside the indie rock realm and venture into a cabaret setting and then some downtown free jazz. Judy Kuhn dazzled with exceptionally honest renditions of Laura Nyro songs; in an eye-opening performance, Butch Morris conducted the Nublu Orchestra in the

Alphabet

City

club Nublu.

Favoring funk flavors that his players clearly relished, Morris went in a rooted, direction Monday not usually found on his recordings. Morris calls his work “conductions”: With baton, he guides the music and the musicians, asking for thunderous bass lines, the occasional rat-a-tat drumming and a steady recurring single note blast from the alto sax. It meshed wonderfully, recalling the funk of Miles Davis’ “On the Corner” period and fed into some Sun Ra-ish electronic keyboard lines and, for a few very captivating minutes, some dub reggae. Morris is making the usually derisive term "fusion" a badge of honor.

Continue reading " Butch Morris Revels in The Rarely Recalled Spirit of Miles Davis " »

September
25
Lincoln Center Jazz Concerts Head to Radio

Marsalis The three venues at Gotham's Lincoln Center are some o the premiere places to hear jazz. Even if the music being played isn't arresting, the rooms are acoustic wonders, despite the fact that two of them have windows behind the performers
to provide delightful views of the Upper West Side.
Music from Lincoln center will be featured in two new XM shows: "Live from Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola"
and "Live from Jazz at Lincoln Center," which will feature live performances from the Frederick P.
Rose Hall.
"Live from Dizzy's" will premiere Oct. 19 on the Real Jazz channel (XM 70), and will feature  pianist Cedar Walton. Future episodes will include performances from Trio Da Paz, Tom Harrell and Charles McPherson and Eric Alexander.
"Jazz at Lincoln Center" hits the airwaves Oct. 20, also on XM 70, with the Benny Carter Centennial concert featuring the JLCO performing music and arrangements by the legendary saxophonist.  Future performances will feature Monty Alexander, Dave Brubeck, Paquito D'Rivera, Kurt Elling, Frank Foster,  Ivan Lins, Russell Malone, Branford Marsalis, Mulgrew Miller, Lewis Nash, Rosa Passos, Eric Reed, Marcus Roberts and others.
JALC artistic director Wynton Marsalis kicks off a new season of his  XM series "In the Swing Seat with Wynton Marsalis" on Sept. 28.

September
13
One Fine Cheatin' Song ... About Bill Belichick, Tom Brady And the Asterisk-Deserving Patriots

The news that Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has been cheating did not surprise many in the NFL, but it inspired Bengals-loving songwriter Ryan Parker to come up with one fine tune. The song gives a tip o' the hat to Mangenius (that would be Eric Mangini for the non-believers), for exposing the coach's corrupt ways.

September
4
Gotham Terminal 5 Sets Two Months of Concerts

The new Gotham concert venue, Terminal 5, which  promoter the Bowery Presents is running,has announced shows through Dec.1
The 3,000-capacity theater at 610 W.56th St. (between 11th and 12th) will present:

Theshins OCTOBER
11: The National with St. Vincent
19: M.I.A. (sold out)
20: Justice (sold out)
22: Justice with Midnight Juggernauts(tickets on sale Friday at noon)
23-24: The Shins with Vetiver

NOVEMBER
1-2: The Decemberists with Laura Veirs & Saltbreakers
(on sale Friday at noon)
3: Gogol Bordello
4: Band of Horses
10: John Butler Trio with Ian Ball of Gomez (on sale Saturday at noon)
17: Against Me! (on sale Friday at noon)
21: The Hold Steady / Art Brut with 1990s (on sale Friday at noon)
23: State Radio with The Beautiful Girls
30: Ween

DECEMBER
1: Ween

July
27
New York Mag Finds a Bassist Behind the Bar

Gjones Great Jones Cafe is one of my favorite places in Manhattan, to the point where no Gotham visit is complete without a stop there with my buddy Keith.
The Cajun Martini is staggeringly spicy; the beer is always cold; and the Louisiana-style food is pretty damn good.
Jukebox is aces, too.
Plus one of the country's greatest CD/record stores,
Downtown Music Gallery, is across the street.
Tonight (Friday, July 27) Nanette is behind the bar.


About

The Set List is written and compiled by Variety associate editor Phil Gallo. Gallo, based in Los Angeles, writes about the music business for Daily Variety and reviews concerts, television shows and theater.



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