Feast of Music

Who Dat?

  Buckwheat Zydeco, prematurely celebrating the Saints first-ever Super Bowl win at B.B. King's, 2/6/10. (More pics at the Fan Page.)

The Preserver

"We're gonna date ourselves a bit tonight and sing some of the greatest music of all time." - Natalie Cole

Commanding the stage like an inevitable cross between Lena, Dinah, and her own father, Nat, Natalie Cole held a capacity crowd in thrall last night at City Winery, performing a full 2-hour set of hits from her from platinum-selling Unforgettable...with Love (1991) and her recent follow-up, Still Unforgettable. Singing with her right arm in a sling and a rhinestone-encrusted mic in her left, she stuck mainly to the the standards made famous by her dad: "What a Difference a Day Makes," "There's a Lull In My Life," "Route 66,""Lollipops and Roses," and "Smile." Cole was absolutely charming and poised, cracking jokes and thanking the intimate crowd for helping to celebrate her birthday. (She turns 60 today, but looks at least 10 years younger.) And her vocal technique is as clear and convincing as it's ever been.

The unquestionable highlight of the night was when Cole and her (virtual) dad duetted on "Unforgettable," accompanied by a video montage of vintage photos showing the two of them together, along with famous friends like Louis and Ella. It was a stunning reminder of the direct connection Cole has to this music, having grown up around the people who made it. And, despite having her own prolific career as an R&B singer-songwriter in the 70's and 80's, she seems to have embraced her unique position with grace and gratitude. Hope we see her around here again sometime soon.  (More pics at the Fan Page.)

Alberta Cross/Hacienda/Your Nature

 "We've played here before as openers, but headlining in New York is really something special." Alberta Cross

A trio of roots rockers lit up Bowery Ballroom last night, led by London/Brooklyn quintet Alberta Cross and their high-pitched lead singer, Petter Ericson Stakee. Opening for them was Hacienda: a bunch of wide-eyed, gyrating kids from San Antonio who jammed retro rock and roll from both the early and late 60's. Like a bar band night, with far better sound. (More pics below.)

Take Two: Boston

 I wasn't really hankering for another orchestra concert the day after seeing the PSO in Pittsburgh, but when James Levine and the Boston Symphony come to town, I can hardly keep myself away. They opened Monday's concert at at Carnegie with Elliott Carter's Dialogues for piano (2003), which pits the piano (played here by the always-exciting Pierre-Laurent Aimard) in an ongoing quarrel with the orchestra. It came both as no surprise and never-ending wonder that Carter - who turned 101 in December - strode up to the stage afterwards to take his curtain call in person. "I hope I'm still ambulatory at that age," Steve said to me. (The BSO was also here in 2008 to celebrate Carter's 100th birthday; pics here.) 

The last three works on the program reflected the BSO's - and Levine's - penchant for French music. Berlioz' Harold In Italy (1834) is a big romantic symphony with an autobiographical program loosely based on a Byronic poem. I usually like Berlioz, but this felt surprisingly pale and bombastic - with the notable exception of the slow "March of the Pilgrims," in which the solo viola (played by BSO principal Steven Ansell) sounded almost Glass-like in its simplicity and irrepressible beauty.

 After intermission, Aimard came back to play Maurice Ravel's Concerto for the Left Hand (1930): a masterpiece written for the Austrian concert pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his arm in World War I. (For decades, the concerto was the calling card of pianist Leon Fleisher, who only recently regained the use of his right hand in performance.) The orchestration is challenging and serious; the solo pianist part is so difficult, so virtuosic, you would swear Aimard was playing with two hands. 

The concert ended with Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe Suite No. 2 (1912): a passionate, intense work he extracted from a ballet written several years earlier. It was lush and dreamlike, almost cinematic in scope, building to a soaring climax that Levine let rip like a race horse. With the full complement of the BSO onstage, it was hard to imagine another orchestra sounding bigger - or better. Music like this I could listen to any given night. 

Steve's Times review has video of the Ravel. More pics at the fan page.

 
 

Ticket Giveaway!!

How's this for a Super Bowl pre-game party? New Orleans legend (and recent Grammy winner) Buckwheat Zydeco is coming to town this Saturday, playing two shows at B.B. King's. I have a pair of tickets for the 7:30 show that I'll give away to the first person who can correctly answer the following question: 

In what category did Buckwheat win his Grammy Sunday night? 

Use the comment button, or email me at the link to the right. Good luck! 

Pound-For-Pound

 Considering the size of the city it inhabits (roughly 300,000), the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra can justly claim to being one of the best orchestras, pound-for-pound, in America, if not the world. Founded in 1896, the PSO has always enjoyed a high standard of musicianship, benefiting from a string of Music Directors that would be the envy of almost any orchestra: from Fritz Reiner and William Steinberg in its early days, to more recent leaders like Lorin Maazel and Mariss Jansons. No doubt these conductors were drawn to the Steel City more for the paycheck than the Primanti's, but all that industrial money has clearly paid off. 

The PSO sounded in good shape when I saw them Sunday afternoon at Heinz Hall: a converted movie palace in downtown Pittsburgh that's served as their home since 1971. Much of the credit goes to their new music director, Manfred Honeck: a native of Vienna who spent 10 years playing violin in the Vienna Philharmonic and has spent the past 20 years engaged in various conducting gigs throughout Europe. 

Honeck clearly has a soft spot for the music of his hometown, as was in evidence on Sunday's program, which paired violin concertos by Haydn and Mozart with Mahler's 4th symphony. The Haydn and Mozart were played by Gil Shaham: a fluent and ebullient violinist who could barely contain himself, smiling with his mouth wide open during the intervals. The chamber-sized orchestra played with grace and subtlety, sounding like a Konditorei confection. Mahler's 4th is probably the most "classical" of his nine gargantuan symphonies, lasting a mere 55 minutes and using only a single singer (soprano Sunhae Im) in the finale. There were some issues with balance and tempo throughout, but Honeck was thoughtful in his approach - particularly in the soft third movement, which he drew out with an almost unbearable tension. The sort of interpretation that tajkes buckets of confidence - or, rather, familiarity.

Honeck and the PSO will be making their Carnegie debut next week, with Anne Sophie Mutter playing the Brahms Violin Concerto; tickets available at the box office.  (More pics on the Fan Page.)
 
 

Pittsburgh Afro-Caribbean

 Pittsburgh spreads out along a peninsula surrounded by three rivers, growing more and more sparse the further you get from the point. About five miles in, you reach the DUMBO-like neighborhood of East Liberty, where old storefronts have been converted into galleries and clubs, sometimes just for the night. One of the early pioneers here was the Shadow Lounge, which last night hosted an evening of local Latin music: a welcome oasis on a night which saw temperatures dip into the teens.

Guaracha got everyone up and dancing with a set that ranged from to salsa to Cuban son. They were followed by the astounding Machete: a seven-piece ensemble that blends Puerto Rican music with Afrobeat via horns, African drums and guitar. Tying it all together was the earth-mother like Geña: a sheer life force who sang and danced like a gypsy, occasionally conducting the scoreless ensemble. It was hypnotic, psychedelic - and impossible not to groove to. Clearly, this Geña was tapping into something well beyond our immediate understanding, which she attempts to describe on the band's website:

"Machete is the sound of your soul, the root of your heart beat, the respect for our Great Foremother, the laugh of a child, the silent tear of a mother, the love of gods, the strength of un CICLÓN, the peace of the dead and alive like the ocean."

Took the words right out of my mouth. (More pics below.)

Pittsburgh

 I'll be in Pittsburgh, PA this weekend, visiting old friends and catching up on some of the cultural happenings - musical and otherwise - along the banks of the Three Rivers. On Sunday, I'll be at Heinz Hall to see the Pittsburgh Symphony and their new music director Manfred Honeck, who made a real impression when I saw first him in Prague in 2006. Considering he now has the job once held by Maazel and Jansons, I'm sure he'll be taking full advantage of his opportunity.

Staying Home

 I didn't have any major musical ventures this past week, opting to stay local and play host to some friends at my favorite watering hole/music spot: Barbès. Which isn't at all a bad thing, considering regulars Slavic Soul Party and the Mandingo Ambassadors (pictured above) were in residence, whipping up their crowds into a dancing whirl. In between, electric guitar quartet Dither played Bethany's Stochastic Brooklyn, performing composed and improvised music that ranged from eerie ambiance to (dis)organized noise, via an array of effects pedals and electronic noisemakers. Some of my friends came from as far away as Woodside, Queens, and loved it so much they insisted they'd be back again soon. Just buzz me when you get off the F train, and I'll make my way down.  Slavic Soul Party  Dither  Mandingo Ambassadors

Grade: C

 As someone who works in advertising, I've gotta say I'm not a fan of Carnegie's new branding campaign, which consists of slapping a big red C over everything they publish: programs, posters, marketing emails. Sure, it grabs your attention, but in a bad way: the font is hideous, and in every shot I've seen, it blocks both the architecture and the performers. I'm sure this uncharacteristic boldness is the marketing department's way of trying to make the hall appeal more to a 21st Century sensibility, but it also breaks one of the most basic rules of advertising: Never obscure your product shot. 

What I am a big fan of is Carnegie's upcoming parade of orchestra concerts, which is simply an embarrassment of riches over the next month (any of which you under-40 somethings can attend for only $20, once you sign up for Notables):

• 1/30-31: Chicago Symphony Orchestra
• 2/1: Boston Symphony Orchestra
• 2/9: Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
• 2/13: NY Philharmonic
• 2/15: Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
• 2/16-17: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
• 2/21: Orchestra of St. Luke's
• 2/23: Mariinsky Orchestra
• 2/27-28: Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
• 3/1: Minnesota Orchestra

Too bad the big In C show already happened last year.