Shana Tucker gave a gift to the North Carolina Museum of Art on September 2: a free concert to lure visitors in for the last day of the exhibition, "30 Americans." Attendance that night broke records, according to Museum program director George Holt.
Her quartet featured Mark Wells, Peter Kimosh, and Stephen Coffman. Here is her lovely take on Nora Jones' "Wish I Could":
Young people were especially delighted with Shana's big finish: a New Orleans version of "You Are My Sunshine." Here's a montage of the dancing that ensued.
COUNTERPOINT
Here's Shana with a trio, performing the same tune, in a different style. With Mark Wells, piano, and Brevan Hampden, percussion, here's her Latin version of "You Are My Sunshine" one recent evening at Brasa Brasilian Steakhouse:
My friend Isti Kaldor did a new painting on Friday night, at the trendy, rococo-themed wine bar Six Plates in Durham. Mysti Mayhem, a soulful singer/songwriter with a powerful voice, played guitar and sang.
Let me explain. Isti only paints to live music, in front of a live audience. His bio and artist statement can be found here, on his website. His paintings capture an evanescent moment, in which we are all involved.
This became literally true that night, as some of the avatar-blue paint Isti loaded in hefty dollops onto the canvas mysteriously spread itself around the room, via hugs, handshakes and kisses perhaps, transferred from skin to black marble countertops, to the insides of elbows, under chins, and onto cheeks. I unwittingly imprinted myself in this manner, hilariously so. A tactful barman pointed this out as I sipped samples of their xtakoli and cidre.
Luckily, a little soap, hot water, and scrubbing with the red, cloth handtowels provided in the ladies' bathroom, removed all the physical paint from my skin and possessions. But it was a tangible reminder that one doesn't so much watch Isti create, as become implicated in an infectious act of group creation. I love what this says about art, and the way it pulls the isolated visual artist into a communal relationship with music and with an audience.
I didn't take video, but you can hear Mayhem's music and see her calendar here. She performs again TONIGHT, Tuesday, August 9, at The Cave, 9 pm, opening for Jordan & The Sphinx. The cover is $5.
From the backlog: Video from the remarkable Q-bex show at the Pour House, way back on May 8! Q-bex is frontman Greg Humphreys and bassist Andy Ware of Hobex, with drummer Jeff Sipe of Apt. Q-238. Sitting in on the gig was saxophonist and vocalist Tim Smith.
This short clip makes me sad because of the footage I didn't get--I was so into the rocking that I just didn't reach for my camera soon enough. Even so, these last few drops of "Pink Champagne" demonstrate Greg's inimitable way of squeezing the last soulful drop from a blues.
Special guests on stage included Caitlin Cary, Robert Cantrell, and John Teer of opening band The Jackets.
One of the night's highlights was John Teer, on violin, trading huge solos with Greg on table steel, on the Shuggie Otis cover "Sweet Thang." Just over 10 delicious minutes, so this is in two parts!
I also went gaga for their long rendition of "Groove, Baby"--the first Hobex tune I fell in love with, live at a long ago Shakori--with an ingenious detour through James Brown's "Sex Machine," and back again.
Durham artist Isti Kaldor "live painted" this show. With his dropcloths spread out in a niche in front of the Pour House sound booth, Isti quickly painted this large oil canvas as we listened--and watched:
Isti only paints to music, and signs his paintings with a simple handprint on the back, insisting that, "it's not about me--it's about everyone."
Here's the palette Isti used to paint that at the Q-bex show, which he gave me, and which is still drying on my wall 10 days later:
Meeting Isti is one of the things I love about Durham, and the whole Triangle music scene. Musicians and artists contribute so much to the quality of life we enjoy here. I love Isti's approach of using creativity to make connections, and making painting more interactive (i.e., more like live music.)
Says Isti, "Painting a moment in time creates a sense of belonging in an otherwise judgmental world."
Born in Hungary, Isti Kaldor has lived in North Carolina since 1992. He didn't paint until the onset of his first bipolar episode in college. Filmmaker Kevin Cullen is making a documentary about Isti, called "A Moment of Clarity." Check out the film website for great stills and more info!
After playing Shakori on Friday night, Orquesta GarDel was in Raleigh by 11 am Saturday morning to kick off the NC Museum of Art's Grand Opening Festival. The turnout of salsa dancers representing different styles for both Gardel, and again on Sunday for Charanga Carolina, was really awesome. It was a vibrant image of our salsa community. It was truly exciting to see how well-received "our Latin thing" was by visitors to the Grand Opening. A lot of people--including one 81-year-old woman from Garner--told me they hoped to see the Museum do this kind of thing again.
The Beast @ NCMA Grand Opening Festival on Saturday
If you haven't yet seen the new gallery upgrade, drop by sometime during visiting hours. Admission is FREE, and it belongs to you, the taxpayers of North Carolina. It's quite an ark.
As stage manager at the Plaza Stage, I enjoyed working with the artists and an excellent, excellent sound and stage crew. The 21-piece NCCU Jazz Big Band never sounded better, and Appalachian duo David Holt and Josh Goforth were big crowdpleasers; their CDs sold like hotcakes at the merch table. Southern Sun Drum, the official drum of the Lumbee tribe from Pembroke, came with singers and dancers in regalia. They got the whole community (i.e. the audience) to circle and dance around the drum for the final songs. The diversity of the programming worked really well. Saturday on the plaza closed with The Beast, which energized one break dancer to emerge from the crowd (see video).
The Gospel Jubilators, an a capella group from Durham, had me join their prayer circle before they went on stage. They prayed for the spirit to move someone in the audience. Les Primitifs du Futur, a cabaret-jazz group from Paris, were on next, and sure enough, their saxophone player teared up listening to genuine article, African-American spirituals.
Les Primitifs du Futur Sunday @ NCMA
Les Primitifs are very serious musicians and yet very charming, playing a fantastic array of instruments from accordion to theremin to xylophone. Charanga was in the wings, ready to go on next, and we all enjoyed hearing Les Primitifs play a 1930s Cuban son in the French Musette style.
Inside the former East Building, crowds gathered to hear and observe Greensboro experimental musicians Invisible (aka Bart Trotman and Mark Dixon) play their analog drum machine, Rhythm 1001. Sunday afternoon, a complete performance of Mahler's 2nd Symphony, with 200 orchestral and choral musicians, took place inside, which was slightly mindblowing. Tift Merritt, The Monitors, and Carolina Brass played in the Park Theater Saturday night. The Museum posts a total visitor count of almost 15,000 for the entire grand opening weekend.
Summer events in the outdoor Museum Park Theater start soon, in May--see full schedules below.
This weekend's festivals and concerts are set to go forward rain or shine, offering several opportunities to hear 2 great Latin orchestras, and a host of other live music.
Shakori Hills Grassroots Music and Dance Festival is ongoing through Sunday (4/25)--this multi-genre festival offers day and weekend passes as well as on-site camping. From clogging to Cajun to blues, salsa, African and indie rock, it's too much to encapsulate here, so check out their website! The Shakori Hills farm near Pittsboro offers green-minded facilities, a sprawling variety of good music, awesome craft vendors, veggie and ethnic food booths, and even a freestanding ATM. Rain or shine, it's a great relaxed venue to experience live music.
Shakori spotlight: Orquesta GarDel TONIGHT, Friday (4/23), 8:30 pm in the Dance Tent. Word is GarDel will feature The Beast on a new joint arrangement of their song "Translation."
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Saturday (4/24) at 3 pm is UNC's World Music Concert, featuring Gamelan Nyai Saraswati and Charanga Carolina. The concert will be held outside, weather permitting, on the lawn in front of Kenan Music Building. In case of rain, it will go on as scheduled inside the music building.
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North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh celebrates their Grand Opening Festival this weekend with a free arts festival, including performances by Orquesta GarDel and Charanga Carolina. Prepared for rain or shine, a large tent will shelter the music stage on the Museum's new plaza. All music acts at this stage are free, no ticket is required.
Plan extra time for remote parking, which will be available at the Atrium on Blue Ridge Rd. (If you would like to tour the new gallery building, go online to get a free, timed-entry ticket.)
NCMA Plaza Music Stage Schedule
Saturday (4/24): 11am - 12:15pm - Orquesta GarDel (Salsa) 12:30 - 1:15 - Josh Goforth and David Holt (Appalachian) 1:30 - 2:45 - NCCU Jazz Ensemble Big Band (Jazz) 3:00 - 3:45 - Southern Sun Drum (Native American) 4:00 - 5:00 - The Beast (Hip-Hop)
Sunday (4/25): 10:00 - 11:30am - Martin Luther King All Children's Choir & The Gospel Jubilators (Gospel) 12:00 - 1:15pm - Les Primitifs du Futur (Jazz/Musette) 1:30 - 2:45 - Charanga Carolina (Latin)
A wide spectrum of free arts programming is taking place inside the old gallery building, on the plaza and grounds. These include live dance by Carolina Ballet, and Mark Dendy DanceTheater performing a new site-specific work, emerging design from NCCU's Art to Wear fashion show and Advanced Media Lab, NC pottery demos, experimental music and performance artists, short films, and talks by the architects.
I stopped by ArtWalk Saturday afternoon to catch the Al Strong Duo, one of a number of artists performing on the BBC Plaza. It was a warm, welcoming sound as folks brunched on the sidewalk at nearby Rue Cler, munched Only Burgers, and dipped in and out of downtown galleries.
Al Strong (trumpet & flugelhorn) is on NCCU's Jazz Studies faculty and is known in Latin music circles as a member of Orquesta GarDel.
It was my first time meeting Mark Wells (piano and voice). He and Al also perform regularly with the jazz quintet Peter Lamb and the Wolves.
Ed Stephenson and the Paco Band will give a FREE concert Sunday (1/10), at 3 pm at the North Carolina Museum of History. Cuban soprano Teresa Fernández will sing songs of Spain and Latin America with the nuevo flamenco quartet.
VIDEO: Paco Band at Marsh Woodwinds 9/26/09
One hour program; seating in the NC Musem of History's Daniels Auditorium is limited, so early arrival is recommended.
The exquisite Teresa Fernández sings a danza here with guitarist Ed Stephenson from the second half of Sunday's program celebrating music of Spain:
Teresa and the Paco Band opened the program with a flamenco stunner, then the tango dancers came out. Here's a clip of Jason and Cecilia:
Adding a modern twist to the 19th-century classical guitar piece "Recuerdos de la Alhambra," dancer Lacy Lowder performed choreography by Carol Finley that seemed to allude to Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms.
Stephenson, a music professor at Meredith College, named Paco Band after his flamenco guitar idol, Paco de Lucia.
"If Paco de Lucia played hockey, I'd probably have to marry him," joked Stephenson, a Canada native.
Rounding out the band on Sunday were guitarist Craig Hilton, bassist Peewee Watson whose americana projects include The Whistlestop, and world percussionist Beverly Botsford, who regularly backs jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon.
Beverly Botsford plays an astounding range of percussion, from the Afro-Cuban congas, bongo and shekere, to the atmospheric and multi-cultural rainsticks, chimes and castanets. Whatever the instrument, she plays it with the verve of a dancer, which is no accident.
"In 1974 when I was in college, I took a course in flamenco, and it just kind of stuck with me," she says.
. Beverly also gave a short history and demonstration of the string cajon, a snare-rigged box used heavily in flamenco as well as Afro Peru and Cuba:
If you want to hear more, Beverly's all-percussion ensemble Tambor Vivo will perform a variety of Latin American rhythms ONE WEEK from Thursday, on (9/24), at Mosaic's free, no-cover monthly Cuban party. (See calendar; this reflects a SCHEDULE CHANGE.)
DAC's "Sunday Salon" was produced by writer, Pulitzer Prize nominee and Indy Arts Award winner Richard Krawiec, who delivers high quality, multi-arts programming to community audiences at low cost.
"This is part of my vision of making the arts vital and accessible," Krawiec says.
Tangophilia dancers and choreographer Carol Finley will add Argentine tango and modern dance movement to the afternoon event, billed as a "Sunday salon."
WHAT: Ed & the Paco Band with musical guests Teresa Fernández and Beverly Botsford; dancers Tangophilia, Carol Finley. WHEN: 3 - 5 pm Sunday, 9/13 WHERE: PSI Theater in Durham Arts Council, 120 Morris St, Downtown Durham Cost: $10, Students/Seniors/Unemployed $5 Contact: (919) 810-2863
Too much Fiesta for just one blog post. Here is some coverage from Sunday.
click on photos to see larger
The Piedmont-based Occoneechee Council of Boy Scouts of America has made it a priority to recruit more Latinos into scouting. To that end, "Scoutreach" coordinators Steve Wilson (pictured, above right), Ricardo Perez and Frank Castillo were on hand at La Fiesta to answer questions from parents and potential scouts. If you would like to volunteer, or would like to have a presentation on scouting at your next group/organization event, contact Ricardo Perez at perezr9@gmail.com or 919-990-2991, Steve Wilson at stevevickiwilson@mindspring.com or 919-606-0871, or Frank Castillo at tfcastillo@gmail.com or 919-621-3434.
As usual, La Fiesta was full of good things to eat and drink (empanadas, pupusas, tacos, and catering by places like Mami Nora's and Carmen's), and the Jim Graham Building took on a bazaar-like atmosphere full of vendors, cultural and outreach booths, artist galleries, youth activities and the Cafe Teatro stage. This is the second year for this new inside/outside space configuration, and I think it works well, offering shelter from the elements and less sprawl. There was a decent crowd watching soccer in the Dorton Arena, which is an interesting architectural space (for some reason, I'd never been inside it before beyond the lobby).
At the outside Main Stage, Sarengue got good reviews although few people were dancing in the early afternoon heat. Sarengue is from Fayetteville; some of their members are retired military. As the name suggests, their sound balances Puerto Rican and Dominican influences. Here's a video of them doing a Roberto Roena classic, "Mi Desengaño":
I spoke with guiro player Abel (handily, they all had their names embroidered on their band shirts) and he said he's rehearsing his own Dominican bachata band. Soon they are getting ready to play out under the name Bachata 01.
Sarengue & friends, please stay in touch!
Honduran headliners Kazzabe had a tropical mix of soca, reggae, punta, salsa...stage show enhanced by dancer "La Gata." Even some El Pueblo volunteers got on stage to demonstrate their punta moves, an example of the Caribbean's rich dance culture.
Here's Kazzabe performing, as "La Gata" demonstrates the value of a properly chosen white accessory:
For me, the best part of La Fiesta is seeing familiar folks and meeting new ones who are working toward common goals of cultural understanding here in the Triangle. I see many of the same volunteers working hard behind the scenes year after year. I couldn't document all the bands, dancers, artists and participants, but it was a rich field full of old friends and new discoveries.
The Nasher Museum at Duke University is free on Thursdays, with a cash bar open from 5:30 pm.
Tonight (6/4) theremin player Steve Burnett will give a free talk and performance at the museum.Burnett will elucidate on the history and workings of the theremin at 6 pm, followed by live music from 6:30-7:30.
The event is sponsored in conjunction with the new installation "Video Quartet" by Christian Marclay (which features a theremin).
Thanks to WXDU deejays Jay Caldwell and Steve Burnett for this tip!
This sculpture made of reclaimed vinyl by Peruvian artist William Cordova, called "Greatest Hits," was just installed last week in the main hall of the Nasher.
Apparently, this is sneak preview for an upcoming show being put together by contemporary art curator Trevor Schoonmaker called "The Record" (!). So is a three-part work by American conceptual artist Dario Robleto, also installed last week. Robleto will be on hand Wednesday, March 25 at 7 p.m. to talk about it. Navigate yourself through the reservation form here.
I am a big fan of painter Cornelio Campos and was DELIGHTED to hear from him, at the end of last year, that UNC was buying one of his large canvases. It's about time, not only that he achieve that kind of institutional recognition, but that a local entity with the resources to do so snap up some of his major work and keep it on display here, locally, on a permanent basis.
Now, this press release came from Sharon Mujica:
Sunday, March 22, 2009, 5:00-6:30 at CHICLE, Talk and display - HIS ART by local artist Cornelio Campos
About the Artist: Cornelio Campos has worked and lived in his native Mexico, in California, and now lives in Durham, NC. He is an electrician by trade and the founder of Los Viejitos, a dance group from his native Mexico. His paintings include expressive narratives of his beloved home town of Cheran, in the state of Michoacan in Central Mexico, and of his immigrant experiences in the US. He has drawn since he was a young child, and began to paint at the age of 10. He attended art classes in Cheran, taught by Panfilo Macias, and CREA Summer School in Guadalajara, Jalisco.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has recently purchased one of his paintings and it may be seen at the Campus YMCA.
Artist's Statement: "My paintings are inspired by the nostalgia I have for my home town of Cheran, Mexico, my family, and the customs I grew up with. I also see my paintings as a tool for sharing my indigenous background, and for offering a teaching lesson to people here in the United States. I currently do two types of art; one which is folkloric, and the other would be considered political. In these pieces I address the issues faced by people from Central and South America — the lingering cultural significance of Spanish colonization, and the experience of creating a life in a new country. I would describe this work as narrative – a free expression of what I think about – a way to respond to what is happening in society in general, and the status of immigrants in the US." — Cornelio Campos ======
Please call us at (919) 933-0398 if you want more information.
CHICLE, or the Chapel Hill Institute of Cultural and Language Education, is located above the Weaver Street Market in Carrboro.
MUSEUM ADMISSION: Adults $5; Senior adults and Duke Alumni with card $4; non-Duke students with ID $3; Duke students, faculty and staff with ID, Durham city residents with ID, and Children 16 and younger FREE.
General Admission is FREE on Thursdays from 5 to 9 p.m.
Dedication of the new Fredric Jameson Gallery in Duke's Friedl Building (formerly Duke Art Museum on East Campus) kicks off today with an opening and reception for Chicano graphic artist Malaquias Montoya's "Premeditated: Meditations on Capital Punishment." WHAT: MALAQUIAS MONTOYA Opening & Reception WHEN: Wednesday (3/4) Reception 5 pm, Gallery Talk by the Artist at 6 pm. WHERE: Fredric Jameson Gallery, Friedl Building Room 115, Duke East Campus COST: FREE, Open to the public.
"Montoya is a leading figure in the West Coast political Chicano graphic arts movement, a political and socially conscious movement that expresses itself primarily through the mass production of silk-screened posters. Montoya's works include acrylic paintings, murals, washes, and drawings, but he is primarily known for his silkscreen prints, which have been exhibited nationally as well as internationally. This exhibition features silkscreen images and paintings, and related text panels dealing with the death penalty and penal institutions--inspired by the escalation of deaths at the hands of the State of Texas in recent years. As Montoya states, 'We have perfected the art of institutional killing to the degree that it has deadened our national, quintessentially human, response to death. I want to produce a body of work depicting the horror of this act.'
Since 1989 Montoya has been a professor at the University of California, Davis. His classes, through the Departments of Chicana/o Studies and Art, include silkscreening, poster making and mural painting, and focus on Chicano culture and history. He is credited by historians as being one of the founders of the "social seriography" movement in the San Francisco Bay Area in the mid-1960s. His visual expressions, art of protest, depict the struggle and strength of humanity and the necessity to unite behind that struggle. Like many Chicano artists of his generation, Montoya's art is rooted in the tradition of the Taller de Grafica Popular, the Mexican printmakers of the 1920s, 30s and 40s, whose work expressed the need for social and political reform for the Mexican underprivileged. Montoya's work uses powerful images that are combined with text to create his socially critical messages.
The exhibit will be on display from the reception through April 17th and from mid-May through Mid-September. Hours from March 5 through April 17th are 10am - 5pm. Summer and fall hours to be determined - please check back on our website after April for those hours."
Tonight I will make my first encounter with Los Tigres del Norte, Mexico's godfathers of norteño, at Disco Rodeo in Raleigh. Opening bands, start time? Who knows, I'm trying to tune in to La Ley 96.9 FM to get more info. Will be checking it out for the Indy online music blog SCAN.
Update: Opening for Los Tigres: Los Yonics. Calls to the venue get you to a recording in Spanish: (919) 836-8535.
Perhaps on my way in to Raleigh, I'll stop by the North Carolina Art Museum's free After Hours party, 5:30-8:00 pm, featuring a Mardi Gras theme where Children of the Horn will be busting a Dixieland groove. Among los bravos in this band are Wayne Leechford, of Orquesta GarDel, trombonist Robo Jones who gigs with salsa bands from time to time, and Jim Crew and Ed Butler of ELM Collective. The museum will be open, and a cash wine/food bar awaits. See calendar for details!
Goodness grows in North Carolina: Children of the Horn crop up
Saludos Compay is made up of teachers, so its only natural they would perform at the annual benefit for Educators for Excellence at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh this Saturday (2/7). The fundraiser is billed as an "adults only, romantic evening" that includes music, salsa dancing, silent auction, tattoo parlor and other fun for grownups.
WHAT: "Love in the Tropics" fundraiser for Educators for Excellence WHEN: Saturday, 2/7 at 7:30-10:30 p.m. WHERE: NC Museum of Natural Sciences, 11 W. Jones St, Raleigh TICKETS: $20 adults ($15 for friends of the Museum) CONTACT: Liz Baird, 919.733.7450 x601
Saludos' newsletter says they will perform various types of Latin music as a quartet, with musicians Erich Lieth (piano), [CORRECTION added 2/16: Chuck Nolan played congas, Pablo Valencia did not perform], Lisa Lindsay (saxophone), and Victor Murillo. Wesley Boz of Mad About Dance is slated to give a salsa lesson, and Paso dancers Eduardo Winston will lead a demo with their students, pledging to get the audience involved.
UPDATE Added 2/16:
Some photos from the party (click on to see larger):
Chuck Nolan (in his Obama logo hat) makes the most of his set up, with a block pedal for marking clave.
I got to meet Victor Murillo for the first time (seen here on guitar, with Lisa Lindsay, saxophone). The Ecuadorian multi-instrumentalist moved to Chapel Hill last year from Austin, TX and has been playing with Saludos Compay since August. Victor retains some high-profile gigs as a sideman, touring with artists such as Mexican pop vocalist Christian Castro. He has his own series of New Age/Andean CDs, and provides music at various restaurants around Durham. You can find Victor at Blue Corn on Tuesday nights until 8:30 pm, and Tosca's on Wednesdays until 9 pm. Find out more at his myspace page.
"Celebrate the opening of a new exhibition, "Escultura Social: Una Nueva Generación de Arte de la Ciudad de Méjico." Artistas de arte contemporáneo de la ciudad de Méjico, incluyendo a Dr. Lakra, famoso por sus tatuajes, y Los Super Elegantes. At the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, on Thursday (January 15). Artist María Alós will present a work of performance art, "Welcome/Farewell," with students from 5 - 7 p.m.
At 7 p.m. meet artists Maria Alós, Abraham Cruzvillegas and Pedro Lasch. Open to the public."
Artwork by Cornelio Campos opens Friday (1/9) at the Carrboro ArtsCenter with a gallery reception today from 6-9 p.m..
Campos' epic canvasses with folk themes offer a mythologizing look at U.S. immigration politics. Originally from Cheran, Michoacan, Campos also led a folkloric dance troupe before focussing primarily on his painting. The show runs through the end of January. Tie-in: If you're going to the Carrboro ArtsCenter anyway, why not check out DaShawn Hickman's new band, Steel Moven. (Hickman is the great pedal steel player from the Mt. Airy Church of God gospel trio The Allen Boys.) Music starts tonight at 8:30 pm; Hooverville opens. $15, more info at www.artscenterlive.org.
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