Kudos to my local Barbes, which not only stayed open in the face of Hurricane Tropical Storm Irene last night, but was one of the only bars I know that actually had live music, courtesy of the Raya Brass Band: yet another of the dozen-or-so Balkan bands spawned by Tuesday night regulars Slavic Soul Party. With noone rushing to leave into the torrential wind and rain, the band kept playing til well past midnight, intoxicating everyone with their seductive rhythms and elongated solos on trumpet (Ben Syversen), clarinet (Greg Squared) and accordion (Matthew Fass). Who says brass can't keep you warm?

Any other good shows out there in NYC last night? Post in the comments below.

More pics on the Photo page. 

1-04 Reich_ It's Gonna Rain - Part 2

A little travel music for those of you in Zone A.

In spite of the ominous specter of Irene, there are still plenty of inside musical events happening this weekend. Among them are the final concerts of this year's Mostly Mozart Festival, with Louis Langrée leading the MM Festival Orchestra tonight and tomorrow in an epic concert featuring Schubert's 8th Symphony, Stravinsky's In Memoriam Dylan Thomas, and Mozart's Requiem. Both shows begin at 8pm at Avery Fisher (which has never looked or sounded better, thanks to the temporary stage and canopy placed in front of the orchestra stage.)

A full recap of this year's Mostly Mozart soon to come. In the meantime, you can check out some photos here, here, and here.