I AM VERY EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE MY WEEK AT THE STONE COMING UP JUNE 7-12.
There is a handful of premieres and a bunch of amazing bands. I am looking forward to every night!
TUESDAY JUNE 7
I'll be starting the week off with my ace cello colleague Mike Nicolas (of Brooklyn Rider and ICE) as we perform John Zorn's newest book of compositions, his Bagatelles Project. Mike and I have played this program a couple of times on Sunday afternoon concerts at the Stone and it has been a very gratifying experience. Immediately following that on Tuesday night at 10 pm, I will reconvene Claws & Wings, a trio I recorded in 2012 to memorialize my late wife Lynn Shapiro, a dancer and writer who passed away from cancer in 2011. It's a very special group that features my longtime collaborators and friends Sylvie Courvoisier (piano) and Ikue Mori (laptop electronics). This trio does not get together often – in fact it will be our first time playing in almost 3 years – so it's a rare chance to hear this music. Hear an interview I did with NPR's Arun Rath about the project in 2013.
WEDNESDAY JUNE 8 - 50 MINIATURES + DUO with CRAIG TABORN
My first premieres are Wednesday night – first at 8 PM the debut public performance of 50 Miniatures for Improvising Quintet, a piece I wrote and recorded in 2008. Second, at 10 PM, I'll be performing with the extraordinary pianist Craig Taborn, as we get together in a duo format for the first time. This should be very exciting.
THURSDAY JUNE 9 - BLACK PHEBE & VELVET WHITE
My new trio, Black Phebe, which I originally formed with Shoko Nagai (piano and accordion) and Satoshi Takeishi (percussion) to record the soundtrack to a documentary called Nothing on Earth, will be celebrating the release of Rings, my newest album. This set which will be followed by another new lineup called Velvet White, named for the John Chamberlin sculptureof car parts, this band, featuring Ikue Mori, Ava Mendoza, and Ches Smith will bring Thursday night to a raucous close. The juxtaposition of Black Phebe & White Velvet is purely coincidental. Or is it???
FRIDAY JUNE 10 - BROKEN ARM TRIO & ARRULLO DE LA NOCHE HONDA
Friday will bring my Broken Arm Trio with Trevor Dunn (bass) and Michael Sarin (drums) for a set of original tunes inspired by the small-group sound of Herbie Nichols and Oscar Pettiford. Friday night will finish with singer Lucia Pulido, who will be flying in from Mexico to join me for a very special NY premiere of Arrullo de la Noche Honda a mix of Colombian folk songs and modern settings of Colombian poetry I composed.
SATURDAY JUNE 11 - TIME QUARTET & OSCALYPSO
Saturday night will feature a new band called the Time Quartet. I will be joined by Uri Caine (piano), Mark Helias (bass), and Ches Smith (drums) for a performance including "6 Absinthe Glasses," a piece written in response to my experience at Picasso's sculpture show at MoMA. Saturday night at 10 PM, I will join the Oscalypso band performing our Oscar Pettiford tribute -- a program of all Pettiford originals! Tenor saxophonist Michael Blake and my bandmates from Broken Arm, Trevor Dunn and Michael Sarin will round out the rest of this new band.
SUNDAY JUNE 12 - ILLUMINATIONS (SOLO CELLO) & NOTHING ON EARTH
The week closes on Sunday night with a special solo performance of Illuminations, my 2015 release of pieces originally commissioned by the Jewish Museum in New York City which hosted an exhibit of ancient books from Oxford University’s Bodleian Collection. The exhibit brought together ancient illuminated texts in Arabic, Latin and Hebrew. These pieces are my reaction to seeing those amazing texts. The week ends with Nothing On Earth, the soundtrack referenced above which followed photographer Murray Fredericks to the glaciers of Greenland. Featuring the Black Phebe trio with Shoko and Satoshi Takeishi.
WE NEED YOUR HELP TO SPREAD THE WORD!
With recent setbacks and consolidations in the media, it's harder than ever to get listings in the old places we all used to rely on for our concert-going info (Time Out, The Voice, Soundcheck, even the NY Times listings, are all but gone or very drastically reduced). Facebook just doesn't cut it. Today, we have to rely more heavily than ever on word of mouth so I would ask that you help us spread the word among your peers. Feel free to forward this email to a friend or two if you think they might enjoy the music. A lot of this music is available to sample or purchase physically or digitally in advance on my Bandcamp page where I sell all my own music. I will also have physical copies of everything on hand at The Stone.
It's going to be a challenging week but we've got a lot of fun music to play and share with all of you! Please come by and lend us your ears. We look forward to seeing you there!
The Stone is located at Avenue C and 2nd Street (NW corner). Sets are at 8 PM and 10 PM. You can't buy advance tickets but you can post the graphic below on your social media if you like.
Thanks for your time & support,
Erik