Ani and Dennis Shake it Up
November 20, 2007
Last night I went to see Ani Difranco at New York City’s town hall. In the past 7 years or so I’ve gone to about six or seven Ani concerts, and each one has been unbelievably awesome. Town Hall was no exception. Ani’s an exquisitely powerful and dynamic performer. Throughout the show she rocked no less than 6 different guitars (all tuned differently, I assume) along with her 3-piece band. She played a fantastic mix of old and new songs, including some essential Ani classics, opening with Napoleon and closing with Both Hands and 32 Flavors (the first time I had ever seen her perform Both Hands). Ani’s inter-song bantor is priceless; whether she’s talking about her daughter, her band, nuclear development, or how she loves New York so, she’s always warm, funny and entertaining.
One of the opening “acts” for Ani was, yes, Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich. One of Ani’s most current issues is the construction of nuclear reactors and the dumping of high-level radio active waste throughout the U.S. Kucinich spoke for a few minutes before Ani’s set on sustainable energy issues and environmental justice. But the real treat came at the very end of the show when Dennis came back on stage for the encore, kissing Ani on both cheeks and then picking up a shaker to play 32 Flavors. His sincere and goofy grin as he played along next to Ani was truly the most priceless and memorable thing I have yet to see from any presidential candidate.
(Apologies for the poor photo quality. I had only my cell phone on me, but had to get one of Dennis and Ani together. Kucinich is third from the left, in the black blazer behind the second guitar player. Ani of course, front and center.)
Upcoming Events
November 15, 2007
This is a heads up about two exciting events in Brooklyn and Manhattan (both of which I’ll be attending): Batsheva Dance Company, based in Tel Aviv, Israel, will be performing a three-part work called Three at Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) this Thursday through Saturday. Batsheva’s director and choreographer, Ohad Naharin, creates beautifully kinetic and fluid movement. I saw Batsheva at the 2006 Lincoln Center Festival and they blew me away, so I’m pretty excited about this. You can read more about it and purchase tickets here.
On Monday night (November 19th), The Idan Raichel Project will be performing at Irving Plaza. This amazing group, led by Idan Raichel, blends Ethiopian and Middle Eastern sounds to create songs that focus on peace, love and tolerance. The group has gained worldwide popularity in a relatively short amount of time (since 2002), and I’m sure they’ll continue to attract fans. Although I’ve been listening to Idan for several years and have even danced to their music with my college Israeli dance group, I’ve never seen them live. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to it. Ticket information can be found here. Look for a review of one or both of these events sometime next week.
Mùms the Word
November 13, 2007
On Friday, November 9th I met a friend at St. John the Apostle Church behind Columbus Circle for a concert by Icelandic band, Mùm. (Pronounced “miooyyuujm,” clearly.) The band classifies themselves as Folk/Country/Electronic/Dance, which, despite the ambiguity of this description, is about as accurate as you could get. Their performance was part of the Wordless Music Series and the sanctuary of St. John the Apostle Church was a perfectly prepossessing venue. Mùm is dreamlike and smooth; the electronic keyboard and percussion is highlighted by a cello, piano, an unidentifiable wind instrument that involves a long white tube and wistful vocals, performed in Icelandic by both the male and female instrumentalists. Mùm would be the perfect soundtrack for moonwalking or swimming underwater, both in slow motion.
One of the most wonderful surprises of the evening (I had no idea to what concert my friend was taking me) was the opening musician, cellist Jihyun Kim. Cello is without a doubt one of my favorite instrument to sit and listen to, ever since I lived next to a Julliard cellist at Columbia and awoke on Sunday mornings to hear her practicing. Wheeldon’s piece Mesmerics, set to Philip Glass’s Mishima, included all eight cellists on stage behind the dancers and enthralled me far beyond my typical dance-watching rapture. My friend and I had both seen Morphoses’s Mesmerics and as Kim walked out on stage with her cello we turned to each other and said, “Well, it won’t exactly be Bach, but let’s see…” meaning that we didn’t expect anything like Bach to open for a dance/electronica concert. No sooner had the words escaped our mouths did Kim raise her bow to begin Bach’s Cello Suites. If you have never heard Bach Cello Suites (most famously performed by Yo-Yo Ma), it is one of the most breathtaking – and difficult, as it has no pauses in it whatsoever – pieces of music ever written. Kim played the plaintive and buttery piece perfectly. She followed it with a sharp but doleful Gyorgy Ligeti score – also a composer used by Wheeldon.
Listen to Mùm: http://www.myspace.com/mumtheband
War Dance
November 11, 2007
Yesterday, Allison and I saw an inspiring and moving documentary called War Dance, playing at the Angelika Film Center (for those of you in NYC). The film follows the lives of three children who live in northern Uganda and attend school in the Patongo refugee camp. In spite of the violence and grief that these children have experienced in the northern war zone, they travel with their classmates to Kampala to compete in the finals of Uganda’s national music and dance competition. As the students prepare for the competition, the film shows how important music and dance are in their daily lives. One girl says that singing helps her forget about the violence and the horrific events from her past.
The cinematography is incredible, although some of the shots look too glossy and some scenes look too staged. The most powerful parts of the film occur when one of the children would look right into the camera and talk about his or her past, such as their family separation or the murder of their parents. Although filled with grief, the children also express joy and pride in the traditional dances, music and songs that they perform at the competition. At one point, you can actually see the stage shaking as they stamp their feet to the rhythm of the drums. See a clip and learn more about the film here.
Trip to the Botanical Garden
November 11, 2007
Last Sunday I went to the Bronx Botanical Garden to see the Kiku exhibit. Unfortunately, it didn’t really live up to the hype. I learned that the kiku – Japanese chrysanthemums – are “trained” to grow a very specific way. Since many flowers blossom off of one tiny stem, the flowers are trained to grow upright, as opposed to falling off to the sides. If they do not grow exactly as planned, they are cut away. The whole process of growing these flowers seems rather forced, and the idea of training nature to grow a certain way is not exactly my cup of tea. I think nature is most beautiful when found in its natural state, untouched by humans. Included are some photos of the Japanese chrysanthemums – one showing how they grow – and a photo of a leaf that I caught “dancing” across the water’s surface…it was a windy day.
