Femi Kuti Brings Positive Force To Prospect Park – July 23, 2016 Swirling, intoxicating polyrhythms emanated from Prospect Park on Saturday night. Undeterred by the wicked New York City heatwave that’s been torching the five boroughs of late, fans of Femi Kuti packed the band shell for a free show […]
Interview
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Wonderful World With Dr. John, Soulive, Kermit Ruffins – July 16, 2016 Flushing Meadows Park was the venue for the third annual Louis Armstrong Wonderful World Festival. It was a day to appreciate not only Armstrong’s legacy but the rich musical tradition of his home city New Orleans. Both Kermit […]
Michael Franti & Spearhead Lively Up Times Square at the Playstation Theater – July 15, 2016 Michael Franti has a great attitude; he emanates positivity. Â His live shows are love-ins. That was especially true last week Friday at the Playstation Theater in Times Square as a second stage was set […]
So I collect my cash then slide, I got my back, my gun’s on my side… It shouldn’t have to be like that, I guess it ain’t where you’re from it’s where you’re at – Eric B & Rakim from In The Ghetto off Paid In Full Rakim’s Paid In […]
The Roots Got Lowdown Last Night; Free Festival Continues Tonight July 13, 2016 A genius double bill last night at The Lowdown Hudson Blues Festival with Antibalas and The Roots. Tonight, the free fest continues with Rayland Baxter, Valerie June, and Drive-By Truckers!
Garth Brooks & Trisha Yearwood Do Yankee Stadium – July 8th and 9th, 2016 The first country music concert ever at Yankee Stadium happened on Friday night followed by the second one the following evening. These were the first shows for Garth Brooks since the freebie in Central Park that […]
James Carter Organ Trio: Django Unchained – July 2, 2016 James Carter honked, squawked, squeaked, and whistled his way through an exciting and entertaining set on Saturday night as part of the 37th annual Montreal Jazzfest. He even did a bit where he produced sound from a sax without putting […]
Montreal Jazzfest ’16: Stacey Kent – July 3, 2016 Festival International de Jazz de Montreal is a honking good time! As for the talent, the ten day hootenanny draws an embarrassment of riches. For the fans, whether they be native Quebecois or the quarter of a million or so visitors […]
“Somewhere between long awaited and well overdue” was how Dave Wakeling described the status of a new English Beat record when I spoke to him during a recent visit to New York City. Dave and the rest of the band are back in town for a show this week at […]
Public Enemy Does Brownsville Freebie 6-21-16 There’s no one who is more important from what’s come to be known as the golden age of hip hop than Public Enemy. Last Tuesday evening Betsy Head Park in Brownsville was the place to be as Chuck D, Flavor Flav, and Professor Grif […]
“Information is not knowledge, knowledge is not wisdom, wisdom is not truth, truth is not beauty, beauty is not love, love is not music. Music is the best.” – Frank Zappa (From Packard Goose off Joe’s Garage, Act III) Few artists are as worthy of a documentary film as Frank […]
The Compulsions: Log Cabin Studio Session 2016 If you’ve spent a night in a NYC venue listening to a rock show over the last decade, you might have seen Rob Carlyle and/or his mates who have played innumerable gigs in dives, joints, clubs, and theaters across the five boroughs and […]
Wolf Parade Light Fuse On 2016 Northside Festival; June 9, 2016 After Wolf Parade’s sound check on a gorgeous afternoon at Brooklyn’s McCarren Park, Dan Boeckner clipped on a microphone and spoke about this band‘s wildly triumphant comeback. “I underestimated what this band meant to people while we were active.” […]
CeeLo Parties Aboard Circle Line In New York Harbor; June 7, 2016 A hootenanny with CeeLo on a boat was a brilliant way to usher in the summer of ’16! It was a beautiful night to take in the skyline views and shake bones to the sounds of the Atlanta […]
It was a no-brainer to take a road trip up to Syracuse when I learned I’d have an opportunity to sit down with none other than Ringo Starr! The occasion was the first gig of a tour by the All Starr Band featuring Steve Lukather and Todd Rundgren on guitars, […]
John Scofield is a guitar virtuoso. He can make his guitar, seemingly, do anything he wants short or having it buy a round of drinks. Brad Mehldau is a keyboard virtuoso. No appreciable space exists between sounds in his head (I imagine) and the sounds that emanate from his piano […]
Sunflower Bean at Flamingo Cantina in Austin for SXSW 3-16-16 & coming to House Of Vans as part of the annual Brooklyn hootenanny known as the Northside Festival on Thursday 6-9-16 Love the Bean! The Wednesday afternoon performance that you get a taste of in the accompanying video was a […]
Bloc Party at Bangers in Austin on 3-17-16 during SXSW & at Governors Ball this Friday, 6-3-16. Bloc Party is one of the more interesting rock bands in the world. They are nothing but flavorful and modern; unpredictable from minute to minute within songs, from tune to tune on albums, […]
Bad Boy Concerts Celebrate The Notorious B.I.G. May 20th & 21st at Barclays Center About as big a hip hop hootenanny as could possibly occur happened on Friday and Saturday nights at The Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It was the start of the Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour that sees […]
Youssou N’Dour & his longtime band Le Super Etoile de Dakar at BAM; May 20 (and 21) 2016 Youssou N’Dour is one of the most famous singers in the world and is without doubt the African artist with the greatest name recognition both on his home continent and off it. […]
Cage The Elephant, even though I had to recall the Bart Gets An Elephant episode of The Simpsons (season 5) to find the proper verb, ran amok in Central Park converting their fans into zealots and the non-committed into fans. After having an ear on them for the last eight […]
Soprano Ying Fang Shines At Juilliard’s Vocal Arts Recital on May 9, 2016 Last Monday on the Upper West Side was a great chance to savor the beauty of the human voice – the right human voice that is as projected by one Ying Fang. It’s amazing to see somebody […]
Bunny Wailer at BB Kings 5-1-16, Pearl Jam 5-2-16 I was almost resigned to missing the most important living reggae artist coming to NYC for the first time in a decade because I was holding Pearl Jam tickets. However, after being reminded by my pal Dr. Dub (yes, I do […]
Naughty By Nature with Smif N Wessun and Black Moon at Stage 48 on April 29, 2016 If you were around New York City in the mid 90’s and had any kind of interest in hip hop, the lineup at Stage 48 last Friday no doubt has some appeal. Naughty […]
Thao & The Get Down Stay Down captured 4-4-16 at WFUV HERE you go! The fabulous Thao and I in a conversation airing on WFUV tonight (at 8 on 90.7 FM and WFUV.org) and a generous 3 songs on video: Astonished Man, Departure, and Guts…which the woman has shown plenty […]