Dropkick Murphys Celebrate 20 Years At Webster Hall 3-9 (and 3-10) 2016 Twenty years; not bad for a band that was started on a bet! The man who took that bet was Dropkick Murphys founder as well as bassman and vocalist Ken Casey. The band formed in Quincy (part of […]
Interview
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Brandon Curtis Unveils Cosmicide At Pianos 2-25-16; last of 4 show Thursdays in February residency I caught Secret Machines at the long-shuttered Annex in, I’m reasonably sure, the fall of 07 when I had just moved to New York. It was an amazing show: loud, swirling, and to use the […]
Rosanne Cash Crushes Carnegie Hall (Headlining) Debut 2-20-16 One might have thought that an artist of the stature of Rosanne Cash would have headlined Carnegie Hall before but that was not the case and it was clear that Rosanne was excited about the show. She and her husband of 21 […]
The Cult Brings Hidden City Tour To Gramercy Theatre 2-17-16 The Cult rolled into town to play a pair of intimate (for them) venues after unleashing their tenth studio album this month. Frontman Ian Astbury explained that Hidden City completes a trilogy of 21st century Cult albums that began in 2007 with Born […]
Antibalas Talks Afrobeat & Brooklyn Bowl Residency Antibalas has been an essential NYC band since they came together around the turn of the century. This year, in a monthly series of concerts, they are unveiling new material, cross-pollinating with some guests like Angelique Kidjo. and basically opening up the well-oiled, high-powered […]
Pop.1280: Intense Album Release Show At Silent Barn Pop.1280 has nothing to do with pop. They are named after the excellent Jim Thompson novel Pop.1280 which is a reference to the population of a small Texas county that a homicidal sheriff presides over. Ivan Lipp and Chris Bug, who were […]
Mack Avenue Superband At Birdland; Christian McBride Interview Christian McBride rolled into Birdland recently with an all-star band made up of his label mates on Mack Avenue. In addition to being an ace of bass, McBride is a great conversationalist. He tossed off some great lines. For example, when talking […]
Iggy Pop Will Spearhead Tibet House Benefit Concert; Philip Glass Interview A tremendous lineup headed by Iggy Pop has been unveiled for this year’s Tibet House benefit concert happening Monday, February 22nd at Carnegie Hall. FKA twigs, Sharon Jones, Basia Bulat and Dechen Shak-Dagsay with Helge van Dyk will all perform […]
Wild Belle Session At WFUV – Recorded 1-20-16 It’s natural for (the fabulous and pictured) Natalie Bergman to look up to her brother Elliot, who is eight years older, and who introduced her to the intoxication of performing on stage when he brought her out on tour when she was […]
Derek Trucks Reveals Special Sauce of Tedeschi Trucks Band – Epic show on Tuesday at The Apollo by the TTB! They are a twelve piece juggernaut and, as Derek explained in the interview, with trust as their foundation, they’ve never before been this locked in…this dangerous and ready to go […]
Kenny Garrett Announces New Album; At Iridium This Weekend – Kenny Garrett is a true giant. His primary tool is alto saxophone which he supplements with the soprano sax and flute. The Detroit Native who’s been based in the NYC area since the early 80s has taken his fans to […]
Joe Bonamassa Heads To Carnegie Hall – Last January it was a pleasure to spend some time with Joe Bonamassa as he conquered Radio City Music Hall. At the time, He couldn’t think of anything better than that. He came up with something! JB is heading to Carnegie Hall for shows tomorrow […]
Meet Peter Calo I first met Peter Calo in the fall of 2013. My friend John Platt, who hosts a great show on WFUV called Sunday Supper, asked to MC a show he was playing at The Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock (a.k.a. the UUCSR) where they do a thing […]
The first time I saw Chris Potter was in ’93 or possibly ’94 when he was blowing sax on stage with Steely Dan. The alto and tenor sax of this extraordinary musician can be heard on the Dan’s Two Against Nature that came out in 2000. One of the great things […]
1-6-16 Producer Tony Visconti Talks David Bowie and Blackstar UPDATED 1-9 with video from last night’s Holy Holy show… I was excited for the opportunity to speak to Tony Visconti who has amassed an absolutely stunning body of work as a producer. Not only the most essential Bowie albums but […]
Deer Tick At Brooklyn Bowl 12-31-15 Last New Year’s Eve, Deer Tick celebrated their 10th anniversary with a show at Brooklyn Bowl that included guests like Stevie Nicks. This year, the venue was the same but, as John McCauley and Ian O’Neil explained, the emphasis was not on trying to […]
Jadakiss Talks New Album Top 5 Dead Or Alive Jadakiss gave his fans a present this season with the release of his first album in 6 years: Top 5 Dead Or Alive. The title begs the question – who are the top 5 MCs of Hip Hop and is ‘kiss […]
Jerry Lee Lewis Rocks 80th Birthday In Times Square The immortal artist rolled into BB Kings Blues Club & Grill last Wednesday, December 18th, 2015, about ten weeks after his 80th birthday and played a show that surpassed my very high expectations. He killed! What a thrill to be able to […]
The New York Tenors at Carnegie Hall with The Magic of Christmas Only ten days to go to until the fat guy in the red suit turns up so it’s time to ramp up the jolly factor. A good start would be spending a couple of minutes here with The […]
Larkin Poe Session At WFUV It’s time to find out who, or what, is Larkin Poe! The Atlanta duo is made up of two sisters – aged just 23 and 25 – who have amassed tremendous experience including touring with Conor Oberst, Kristian Bush, and Elvis Costello – who calls them […]
Glen Hansard Interview NYC Shows The man is an astonishing performer. Absolutely thrilling performance turned in at The Beacon Theatre last Tuesday – December 2nd, 2015 – featuring songs from the new record Didn’t He Ramble not to mention a genius cover of Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks. This is the second […]
Dinosaur Jr. have had a brilliant run. It’s mind boggling to consider they are now marking 30 years since the release of their debut album, but that’s exactly what they’re doing with seven (count ’em, 7!) consecutive nights at Bowery Ballroom beginning tomorrow night – Thursday, December 3rd, 2015. As […]
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes and WhyHunger have been building their reputations for 40 years and the former sang on behalf of the latter as part of this year’s annual Thanksgiving time tradition to raise awareness and funds for people, including millions right here in New York City and […]
Son Little said it was definitely a hometown show last week at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn. The artist has been associated with Philly artists like The Roots and RJD2 whom he has worked with – and he has spent significant time in that city – but it turns out he […]
The Charlatans (officially Charlatans UK here in the U.S. to differentiate from Dan Hicks’ old band) – Underrated, underrated, underrated. The lads from Manchester have had an eventful career and they’ve overcome hurdles that would have tripped a hundred other groups. No American band sounds like them. Britpop bands owe them […]