Jazz in NYC: Norah Jones at Le Poisson Rouge in September, 2017

July 27, 2017September 20, 2017 arts-NY 1 Comment

Jazz in NYC: Norah Jones at Le Poisson Rouge in September, 2017

Norah Jones with Brian Blade & Chris Thomas at LPG on September 10-14, 2017

Norah Jones will perform in the informal and cozy settings of (Le) Poisson Rouge in Greenwich Village, NYC on September 10-14, 2017. Her presence on the global music scene had been established overnight after she won 5 Grammys for the album “Come away with me” released in 2002 by the Blue Note Records label. In all she is a 9 times Grammy award winner.

Jones delicate singing is rightfully falling into jazz fusion category for her mixing of jazz, country and intelligent pop. The FT review of her performance at 2016 London Jazz Festival at the London Palladium points out that “her success in selling nearly 50m records over her career has been in spite of prevailing trends”. This falling in between of the pre-defined musical genres makes Jones style so distinct and precious to those looking for new sounds.

Jones grew up in Grapevine, Texas. Born to a family of American concert producer Sue Jones and Indian sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar, she was singing in church and taking piano lessons from yearly on in her life. The music of such jazz masters as Billie Holiday and Bill Evans had particularly strong influence on her. So it was not a coincidence that she had graduated from University of North Texas majoring in jazz piano.

In the years that followed the release of “Come away with me”, she deviated from jazz into country and soul music accompanying herself on guitar. Her returning to jazz for the 2014 Newport Jazz festival on Rhode Island was very well received by the fans with tickets sales topping the charts.

Her latest album “Day Breaks” released in 2016 features Jones firmly following her jazz and piano roots. For this project she has teamed up with such prominent musicians as the saxophonist Wayne Shorter and the bassist John Patitucci. In the words of the New York Times review of her 2016 tours and album release “rather than making some sort of prodigal return, she was accessing her musical core”.

The performance at (Le) Poisson Rouge will be a delight for the music fans!

Book your tickets on Le Poisson Rouge website.

You can find more information about Norah Jones and her upcoming tours here.

Venue: (Le) Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker Street, NY Dates: September 10-14, 2017

Jazz in NYC: John Pizzarelli Sinatra & Jobim @ 50 at Birdland

August 8, 2017August 31, 2017 arts-NY 1 Comment

Jazz in NYC: John Pizzarelli Sinatra & Jobim @ 50 at Birdland

Celebrating with Daniel Jobim and Jessica Molaskey half-centennial of Sinatra / Jobim recording

Jazz in NYC John Pizzarelli Sinatra & Jobim @ 50 Birdland — John Pizzarelli; CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=966106

Soft melodies of jazz standards performed by a well recognized guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli in the company of an equally renowned jazz singer Jessica Molaskey and Antonio Carlos Jobim’s grandson Daniel Jobim will make for an unforgettable summer night! The concerts are a celebration of 50 year anniversary of the recording made by Frank Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim. Sinatra frequented a bar in Rio where Jobim had performed regularly, and this was how the timeless collaboration came to life.

An album to honor the anniversary is already released but what can beat the power of live performance at the Birdland?

John Pizzarelli comes from a family of New Jersey swing guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli well known in his own rights and still performing with John and his wife jazz-singer and actress Jessica Molasky. John credits Bucky as his most important teacher guiding his musical and professional career.

In the newly released album Pizzarelli masterly mixes the songs on the original recording done by Sinatra and Jobim in 1967 with those that were not included on it. That original album had “transported Brazilian music into stratospheric heights where it remains to the present day” in the words of Nick Catalano from AllAboutJazz.com.

The master of romantic ballades and sensible interpretation of classical tunes, Pizzarelli’s return to Birdland is highly anticipated. The audiences know his gentle sense of humor and warmth of his music. Its no wonder that “@50” album is described in The Times as “sentimental rather than slavish” with the “songs that weren’t on the Sinatra album coming off best”. You will enjoy Bossa Nova classics like Girl from Ipanema and many more.

You can make reservations here.

Venue: 315 W 44 Street, NY Dates: August 8-12, 2017

Art in NYC: Anselm Kiefer at Gagosian Gallery on West 21 Street

July 18, 2017September 20, 2017 arts-NY 1 Comment

Art in NYC: Anselm Kiefer at Gagosian Gallery on West 21 Street

Transition from Cool to Warm

Art in NYC Anselm Kiefer Gagosian Gallery paintings watercolors books — Anselm Kiefer Les extases féminines (The Feminine Ecstasies), 2013 Watercolor on paper 65 3/4 × 60 5/8 inches (167 × 154 cm) © Anselm Kiefer. Photo © Georges Poncet. Courtesy Gagosian

Anselm Kiefer is known for digging deep into historical consciousness and renewal for people and land devastated by war and destruction. His usually large-scale, heavy paintings done in multiplayer of media are well-recognized precisely for portraying the secrets of the forgotten landscapes with metal or concrete chunks looking menacingly in your face. With the exhibition at Gagosian gallery , which in addition to the paintings includes a collection of watercolors showing women, flowers and their erotic interplay, the author moves closer to the stage of rebirth.

Being born in Germany two month before the end of Wold War II, Kiefer’s oeuvre confronts Germany’s dark past and the horrors of Holocaust. Another very distinguished element of his work is an intermix of various forms of artistic expression. As such, in his earlier works he used a reference to Romanian Jewish writer Paul Celan‘s poem “Todesfuge” (“Death Fugue”). And later he created a series of tributes to futuristic Russian poet Velimir Khlebnikov. His latest works are full of Wagnerian references. Last year exhibition at the White Cube Bermondsey gallery in London titled Walhalla had an explicit theme of final destruction. Some pieces looked like “a set for Wagner’s Götterdämmerung” in the words of The Guardian review by Jonathan Jones.

This conversation between literature and art continues at Gagosian gallery with a collection of more than forty artist created books exhibited in glass cases. The gallery stresses the importance of these books to author’s body of work as they carry “the sequences of narrative information and visual effect”. The viewers are free to make up the rest of the storyline using their personal experience and interpretation of cues on the pages. This is not the first time in his career that the author turns to the watercolors. In fact, the title of the exhibition refers to his celebrated book from mid-70s full of sea-blues,warms and nudes.

Kiefer is often likened to Rodin in the depiction of emotions invoking historical dilemmas and human relationships. As this year the world celebrates a centennial of Rodin death, Rodin Museum in Paris and Barnes Foundation have Kiefer Rodin exhibition ongoing. It will be on view at Rodin Museum in Paris until October 22, 2017 then move to the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, PA from November 17, 2017 – March 12, 2018.

In November Anselm Kiefer will receive J. Paul Getty Medal. Getty Board of Trustees explained to Artnews that the medal recognizes Kiefer’s engagement “in big ideas and historic moments, and sharing with the Getty a passionate commitment to global culture.”

Venue: Gagosian Gallery 522 West 21st Street, New York, NY Time: May 5 – September 1, 2017

Jazz in NYC: Eric Alexander Quartet at Smoke Jazz Club in July, 2017

July 1, 2017August 9, 2017 arts-NY 1 Comment

Jazz in NYC: Eric Alexander Quartet at Smoke Jazz Club in July, 2017

Engaging mix of high energy performance, transcendent tones and vibrant rhythm section for a summer night out in the city

Jazz NYC Eric Alexander Quartet Smoke Club July 2017 — Eric Alexander; photo by Jimmy Katz / image source ericalexanderjazz.com

Eric Alexander Quartet featuring a pianist David Hazeltine, an impressive rhythm section including a drummer Joe Farnsworth, a bassist Gerald Cannon and a percussionist Alex Diaz is performing at a cozy Smoke Jazz and Supper Club on Upper West side on June 30 – July 2, 2017.

The musicians’ mastery is obvious right from the start and is only getting better as the program moves alone. Light humor and joyful chit-chat of the instruments are the highlights of skillful improvisations on well-known tunes like “In the shadow of your smile” and “Impressions”. As the musicians move from one composition to the next, the music seems to never get old leaving the audience with cravings for more as the performance comes to an end. This almost guarantees that the listeners would likely want to come back as the short sets taste like delicious hors d’oeuvre rather than a complete jazz session entrée. But of course there are CDs for sale for those eager to extend the joy and pleasures of the music.

Alexander came to NYC jazz scene some twenty plus years ago and had already recorded more than 35 albums as a lead and numerous features. He started playing tenor sax in late 80s when at Indiana University, Bloomington and the obsession with the instrument had defined his future career. In his biography he says that his music is still influenced by bebop pioneers. With placing second in 1991 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition playing against Joshua Redman and Chris Potter, Alexander’s professional career had begun. He is touring extensively with both of his quartet and his sextet One For All. In a review for AllAboutJazz, Jack Bowers stresses that “Alexander is a tireless craftsman who loves to play”. This love shows at each of his performances.

Alexander will return to Smoke Jazz club later in July for a set of performances with his sextet One For All. For future performances and tickets click here.

Venue: Smoke Jazz and Supper Club, 2751 Broadway, NY

Dates for Eric Alexander Quartet performances: June 30 – July 2, 2017

Dates for One For All performances: July 28 – 30, 2017

Art in NYC: Photography by Michel Houellebecq at VENUS Over Manhattan Gallery

June 28, 2017August 9, 2017 arts-NY

Art in NYC: Photography by Michel Houellebecq at VENUS Over Manhattan Gallery

French Bashing: First New York exhibition of photographs, photomontages and more by French writer Michel Houellebecq

Michel Houellebecq
France #014, 2016; courtesy VENUS New York

Michel Houellebecq is undoubtedly the most talked about french writer. However his artistic oeuvre is not limited to a written word. He is also well known for his photography and film making. The exhibition of the photographs and photomontages at VENUS Manhattan gallery is the first such show for Houellebecq in the US.

The installation at VENUS under a title “French Bashing” is heavily influenced by the writer’s world view depicted in his novels. For VENUS the works were selected from the last year expose “Rester Vivant” at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. Le Figaro review notes that “French Bashing” makes it a logical follow-up to “Rester Vivant”.

Art in NYC: Photography by Michel Houellebecq at VENUS Over Manhattan Galle — Michel Houellebecq
France #035, 2016; courtesy VENUS New York

The exhibition has 2 very distinct parts united by author’s sense of inescapable decline of european way of life and a drift towards banality and mass-commercialization. The expensive urban developments viewed via a prism of neglect and decay make moody and depressive impression. The most characteristic work is a picture of the EUROPE sign near Calais. The letters made in concrete have crumbled from the accelerated speed of changes. This could be the suggested theme for the first part of the exhibition. To compete an eerie impression it is installed in a dark-walled room with a soundtrack composed for the show in collaboration with Raphael Sohier.

The second room is too bright and too loud with kitschy images of the standard tourist attractions made for the unattached crowds. The lighting and the soundtrack are all coordinated to bring in a typical glitz of mass-entertainment.

Art in NYC: Photography by Michel Houellebecq at VENUS Over Manhattan Gallery — Michel Houellebecq
Espagne #008, 2016; courtesy VENUS New York

Overall the exhibition is very much in line with Houellebecq’s novels. In fact the author is known to look at his photographs when constructing the characters for his books. In an interview with L.Collins for The New Yorker, Houellebecq explains that he doesn’t “take pictures of human beings” preferring “literature for describing a human being”. And he doesn’t “do much description of the landscape” in his books, because he “finds that a photo is better.”

Now the public has a chance to see what the writer sees when working on his novels and make a better connection to his work.

Venue: 980 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10075 Dates: June 2 – August 4, 2017

Author: arts-NY