Amina Figarova Sextet US Spring Tour

Amina Figarova. Photo: www.borneocoloours.com

Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 7:00 PM

Nighttown - Cleveland, OH
Admission: $20

Friday, April 01, 2011 at 8:30 PM

Nighttown - Cleveland, OH

Admission: $20

Saturday, April 2, 2011 at 7:30 PM

The Ellen Theatre - Bozeman, MT

For tickets

Tuesday, April 5, 2011 at 3:30 PM

Whitworth University - Spokane, WA
Free admission

Thursday, April 7, 2011 at 4:00 PM

Gene Harris Jazz Festival, Jordan Ballroom D - Boise, ID

For tickets

Friday, April 8, 2011 at 4:00 PM

Gene Harris Jazz Festival, Stueckle Sky Center - Boise, ID

For tickets 
Saturday, April 9, 2011 at 8:00 PM

South Florida Jazz Society - Fort Lauderdale, FL

For tickets 
Saturday, April 30, 2011 at 10:30 AM - 5:00 PM

Jazz in the Grove Jazzfestival - Bay Springs, MS
Free admission 

Amina Figarova is one of the most productive jazz composers and talented jazz piano players from Europe. Amina started playing piano and composing at a very early age. She studied as a classical concert pianist at the Baku Conservatory, jazz performance at the Rotterdam Conservatory and the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Amina made her recording debut with Attraction in 1994, and was accepted into the prestigious Thelonious Monk Jazz Colony in Aspen, Colorado in 1998.

With her husband multi-flutist Bart Platteau central to the three horn frontline Ms. Figarova arranges for her sextet, she plays compelling, artful and heartfelt changes on the urbane, bluesy lyricism originally developed by the likes of Miles Davis, Horace Silver, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, et al. Though the recipient of rigorous Russian musical education in the classics, Amina has come to identify her sound with these master mainstream-progressives of recent jazz decades after having explored aspects of the avant garde (in September Suite, her shocked and sad response to terrorists attacks on American soil) and multi-keyboard fusion-oriented funk (on Another Me). 

Amina is stylistically wide-ranging, unwilling to be pinned down, but most of her compositions on her album Above the Clouds (2008) continue in the direction she set forth on Come Escape With Me, a 2005 release which reached top 10 status on the Jazzweek radio airplay charts (two tracks preview her next project, a suite for nonet). Throughout the entire album Amina's measured, graceful, touching pianism and cooly-controlled ensemble writing demonstrate commitment and ease with a jazz idiom.

ICP US Tour

Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 8:00 PM
Windup Space - Baltimore, MD
For tickets
Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 7:00 PM
Le Poission Rouge - New York, NY
For tickets
Friday, April 1 - Sunday, April 3 at 8:00 PM
Ars Nova - Philadelphia, PA
For tickets
Tuesday, April 5, 2011 at 8:00 PM
Bob Shop - Rochester, NY
Admission: $20
Thursday, April 7, 2011 at 7:00 PM
Epistrophy Arts - Austin, TX
- No ticket info -
Friday, April 8, 2011 at 8:00 PM
Nameless Sound - Houston, TX
For tickets
Saturday, April 9, 2011 at 7:30 PM
Caspe Terrace - Des Moines, IA
For tickets: 515-279-6452 or abe@trilixgroup.com 
Meet-The-Artist dessert reception hosted by the Waukee Area Arts Council after concert
Sunday, April 10, 2011 at 9:00 PM
Hungry Brain - Chicago, IL
Admission: $15
Monday, April 11, 2011 at 5:00 PM
Cultural Center - Chicago, IL
Free admission
Tuesday, April 12, 2011 at 8:00 PM
Earshot Jazz, Seatle Art Museum - Seattle, WA   
For tickets

These musicians can swing like mad when they want to, and can play the most sensitive cafe ballad at the drop of a hat. They also compose their own fantastic repertoire, and play a passel of Misha Mengelberg tunes, many dating back to the fifties. But the crux of what they do, as the name implies, is improvisation. And they do it as well as anyone out there.

Inspired by Fluxus, the movement that made art of everyday life, Mengelberg and Bennink created with saxophonist Willem Breuker's the Instant Composers Pool in the sixties. The legendary, absurdist tinged improvisation ensemble grew over the years into a virtuoso orchestra that acclaim worldwide appreciation.The ten-headed improvisation 'monsters' ICP can be compared to a jazz band from New Orleans that crosses a busy street in New York. Even Mengelberg's piano playing cannot disrupt the glorious finish on the other side of the road of this international ensemble.

Within Temptation at Number One in the US

Within Temptation. Photo: ANP

Within Temptation's new record The Unforgiving is out, and is rocking the charts of iTunes.

TU entered at number one today in the U.S. and the U.K.! The album is almost released in 48 countries and is ranking in the top 5 in many major markets with further number ones in France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Sweden, The Netherlands, Portugal and Switzerland.

The Unforgiving is the band's fifth studio album and their first concept album. It is based on a  comic book by writer Steven O’Connell (BloodRayne & Dark 48). The release is coincide with the band’s European tour.

Nicole Beutler at EMPAC

Nicole Beutler in 1: Songs. Photo: Anja Beutler

Wednesday, March 30, 2011 + Thursday, April 1, 2011 at 7:00 PM

'2: Dialogue with Lucinda' (based on Radial Courses + Interior Drama by Lucinda Childs)

EMPAC Studio 1, Goodmen - Troy, NY

For tickets 

Thursday, March 30, 2011 + Thursday, April 1, 2011 at 9:00 PM

'1: Songs' (ft. Sanja Mitrovic and Gary Shepherd)

EMPAC Studio 2 - Troy, NY

For tickets

The dialogue with Lucinda Childs covers the underlying choreographic scores and fiendishly complex performances of the dancers. Radial Courses is based on three movement sequences in a constantly shifting, circulatory composition. In Interior Drama, five dancers conform to an apparently perfect system, moving in repetitive and hallucinatory patterns. Childs describes her own work as an "intense experience of intense looking and listening." Beutler's reinterpretations focus on the individual dancer's roles and actions within the group patterns, revealing parallel realities and the ritualistic qualities of both dances.

'1: Songs' is a dramatic solo performance in the style of a rock song-cycle that crosses rough terrain. Performer Sanja Mitrovic channels the final words of tragic female protagonists from the history of theater, including Antigone, Medea, and Gretchen, allowing their timeless cries of suffering to enter her body and distinctly contemporary voice. As she shouts, speaks, and sings, she violently shifts between characters, at times fragile, raw, calculating, or emotional. Created by director and choreographer Nicole Beutler, with electronic music by DJ/composer Gary Shepherd, 1: Songs asks us to reconsider the words of these classic literary heroines (and anti-heroines) in the here and now.

Nicole Beutler works with the tension between intense emotionality and cool calculation while also reflecting on the history of theater. How do we look at emotions - what moves us and what doesn't? How does the past resonate in our contemporary reality? These are issues that are at stake in Nicole Beutler's work. Always searching for new forms, she currently is drawn to working with existing texts or dances.

Nicole is a choreographer, curator and performer based in Amsterdam. Her work is situated on the threshold of dance, performance, and visual arts. She seeks to precisely articulate sense and experience through performances, installations, and books. Her performances are composed musically, and suffused with subtle humor. They are characterized by minimal stage sets and a focus on the performer as a human being.

Laura Jansen Mini VS Tour

Laura Jansen. Photo: Heidi Ross

Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 7:30 PM

Joe's Pub - New York, NY

For tickets: (1) 212-967-7555

Tuesday, March 29, 2011 at 8:00 PM

Show Beat Kitchen - Chicago, IL

For tickets

Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 10:00 PM

Hotel Café - Los Angeles, CA

For tickets

Jansen, a Dutch-born, Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter, and musician, chronicles those little things, like cutting her hair, buying pink floral sheets, and venturing out for a drink with the guy down the hall, on "Single Girls" - the deceptively simple, but emotionally devastating first single from Bells, Jansen's upcoming debut album for Universal's Decca Records. A dreamy collection of piano-driven alt-pop songs, Bells has already gone platinum in Jansen's native Holland, propelled by "Single Girls" and a stunning cover of Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody," which has spent more than a year lodged in the Top 10 on the Dutch singles chart. In the U.S., Jansen is a fixture in the constellation of artists associated with Los Angeles nightclub The Hotel Cafe - a musical haven, creative incubator, and ultimately, national launching pad for such confessional-minded artists as Sara Bareilles, Priscilla Ahn, and Joshua Radin, whom Jansen toured with in 2008 and also just ended the 2011 tour with.

Laura is also going to perform at this year's SXSW (Austin, TX). You have 6 chances to see her, including an in-store performance at the beloved Waterloo Records.

Winter in Wartime (Oorlogswinter) receives good reviews

Winter in Wartime (2008). Photo: film shot

Winter in Wartime (Oorlogswinter) runned this past weekend in three cinemas in New York City and Los Angeles, which yielded an amount of $16,200 and opened to good reviews . In the US the movie holds the seventh position on the site of most popular films this weekend.  Filmdistributor Sony Pictures bought the film after it has been nominated by the Academy Awards for best foreign production in 2009. 

"...a brisk little movie (and has one twist at the end I know I didn’t see coming). And a few of the performances are fine. But this is still a story we’ve heard before" (Stephen Whitty in the New Jersey Star-Ledger). Sheri Linden wrote in the Los Angeles Times: "Straightforward and solid but only mildly involving.... Director Martin Koolhoven elicits strong performances... but fails to sustain tension... smooth and reassuring, never truly gripping".

The spartan world of Martin Koolhoven’s sober, well-made World War II melodrama, Winter in Wartime, is a rustic blue-gray landscape of woods and snow-covered roads through which armed German soldiers roam in trucks. This handsome film, set in a village in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands and shot in Lithuania, is an adaptation of a semiautobiographical 1972 novel by the Dutch author Jan Terlouw, who lived under German occupation for five years. 

For full New York Times review by Stephen Holden (March 17, 2011)

Bach Collegium Japan ft. Peter Kooij at Carnegie Hall

Peter Kooij. Photo: www.peterkooij.de

 

Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 8:00 PM

Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage - Carnegie Hall, NY
For tickets

The Dutch bass, Peter Kooij, has been active solist in many concerts all over the world in the most important concert-halls, has performed with world's most famous conductors and he is is the artistic director of the "Ensemble Vocal Européen". He started his musical career at the age of six as a choir boy and sang many solo soprano parts in concerts and on records. However, he started his formal musical studies as a violin student. This was followed by singing tuition from Max van Egmond at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam, and in 1980 he obtained a diploma for solo performance. 

Peter Kooij’s wide repertoire contains all kind of music from Schütz to Weill and he has made over hundred CD’s including for Philips, Sony and Virgin Classics. His recordings in the complete series of Bach cantatas with Masaaki Suzuki and Bach Collegium Japan have received wide acclaim. His performances of Bach's cantatas and Passions are unusually sympathetic, assisted by a soft-grained timbre and an eloquent verbal delivery.

Death Letters US Gigs

Death Letters. Photo: Courtney Chavanell

Monday, March 21, 2011 at 7:00 PM

The Warehouse - La Crosse, WI

Wednesday, March 23, 2011 at 8:00 PM

7th Street Entry -  Minneapolis, MN

For tickets 

Thursday, March 24, 2011 at 8:00 PM

Panchos - Chicago, IL

For tickets

During the Great Depression of the 30’s, American blues hero Son House wrote and recorded his signature song “Death Letter”. Somewhat 76 years later in 2006, singer/guitarist Duende Ariza Lora (19 yrs old) and drummer Victor Brandt (18 yrs old) borrowed the name for their band, inspired by the song’s characteristic raw emotion and urgent rhythm. Also influenced by groups like The Thermals, Oceansize, Death Cab for Cutie, Cult of Luna and At The Drive- In, Death Letters aren’t even close to their twenties yet, but are already bursting with talent and growing experience. Hitting it off immediately in their first rehearsal, Duende and Victor became a tight musical pair and recorded their debut EP Play it like you mean it shortly afterwards. The EP was a success receiving excellent reviews. Things really kicked off when the guys, then aged 15 and 16, entered a band competition and made their first TV appearance. They went for gold and got it; a backstage gig at Holland’s finest summer festival ‘Pinkpop’. With the media all over them it was time to get serious; that same year they recorded their first full-length album.  

Bong-Ra (ft. Enduser) US Gigs

Bong-Ra. Photo: www.timeoutbeirut.com

Saturday, March 19, 2011 at 9:00 PM
Rotture - Portland, OR
Admission: $15
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 9:00 PM
Elbo Room - San Fransisco, CA 
For tickets 
Friday, March 25, 2011 at 10:00 PM
Das Bunler - Los Angeles, CA
Admission: $10
Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 9:00 PM
Inferno Nightclub - Madison, WI
Admission: $12

For those who aren’t acquainted with Bong-Ra’s sound will be in for a pleasant surprise. As one of the pioneers of the Breakcore genre, Bong-Ra has managed to mix all his musical influences into a furiously energetic style. No remorse and no concession. Where other artists stick to their musical blueprint, Bong-Ra never stops the pursuit of musical development, hoping to catch his listeners of guard every single time. 
Bong-Ra, Jason Köhnen’s electronic alter ego saw life in 1996. Hailing form The Netherlands, Bong-Ra initially started out as a dj, but quickly focussed his priority on producing his own music in 1997.

Nederlands Dans Theater US Tour

Nederlands Dans Theater I. Photo: Joris-Jan Bos

Friday, March 18, 2011 at t.b.a.

Berkeley Zellerbach Auditorium - Berkeley, CA

For tickets

Saturday, March 19, 2011 at t.b.a.

Berkeley Zellerbach Auditorium - Berkeley, CA

For tickets

Wednesday, March 23, 2011 at 7:30 PM
LA Music Center - Los Angeles, CA

For tickets

Thursday, March 24, 2011 at 7:30 PM

LA Music Center - Los Angeles, CA

For tickets

Tuesday, March 29, 2011 at t.b.a.

The University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, NC

For tickets

Wednesday, March 30, 2011at t.b.a.

The University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, NC

For tickets

For a special to the Los Angeles Times by Victoria Looseleaf (March 20, 2011)

Never before did Paul Lightfoot and Sol León make a piece this long, 45 minutes, and hardly ever was the result so compelling and well-balanced. “Silent Screen” is set to the abstract and yet emotional music of Philip Glass (“Glassworks” and the soundtrack of “The Hours”). The piece is made for Nederlands Dans Theater I and it begins with a fascinating duet against the background of a solitary man vanishing into the sea. When the dancers disengage themselves from the images, they display harmony and happiness. Then the sea transforms into a forest and the atmosphere changes. Despite its high degree of technicality, the ballet refers to great themes of life and has a profound emotional overtone.  

The other piece that will be performed is Jiří Kylián's ''Whereabouts Unknown''. Kylián: "There is a line in my work, which always traces back to the 'whereabouts' of our existence. The dances of the Australian Aborigines or rhythms, rituals, masks of African people - the point of his interest is the same: It is the traces old civilisations have left. Artifacts, materials, traditions speak by themselves, show the way back into a living past. The attempt is to journey into their world to discover our world  - by trying to read the controversial messages of the conscious and unconscious, the visible and hidden, to uncover those above and those under the ground."

Nederlands Danstheater's (NDT) dancers display virtuosity and unparalleled expression while performing a challenging repertoire; the company performs much-praised works by former house choreographer Jiří Kylián and the present house choreographers Paul Lightfoot and Sol León, as well as new creations by established choreographers and upcoming talent from inside and outside the company.

NDT originated in 1959 when 22 people broke free from the Nederlands Ballet. These rebels were impassioned by dance and the desire to give it a style all their own. Under the direction of Carel Birnie and Benjamin Harkarvy, they steadily built a different repertoire of modern dance. Fifty years later Nederlands Dans Theater has become one of the leading dance companies in the world. A rich repertoire has been built up with works from master choreographers Jiří Kylián and Hans van Manen, as well as from resident choreographers Sol León and Paul Lightfoot, associate choreographers Crystal Pite and Johan Inger and many other guest choreographers like Ohad Naharin, Nacho Duato and William Forsythe. Under the direction of artistic director Jim Vincent, Nederlands Dans Theater attracts full houses world-wide. 

Dutch Impact Party at Brush Square Park

Photo: www.mcn.nl

Friday, March 18, 2011 at 5:00 PM

West Tent, Brush Square Park - Austin, TX

Free admission 

For a review of SXSW 2011 by Arjen Davidse (March 17, 2011 - in Dutch)

With support of MCN MusicXport.nl, five acts are going to perform at the Ductch Impact Party:  

The State, The Black Atlantic, Go Back To The Zoo, The Death Letters and Laura Jansen.  

The Dutch Impact Party is a initiative for foreign representatives from record companies, booking agents, venues, festivals and media. 

All five acts are also included in the export program of the Music Center of the Netherlands and will be giving one or several private showcases and perform on this year' South by Southwest, one of world's biggest showcase festivals. 

Exceptional Dutch line up at SXSW

Photo: www.therecommender.net

Friday, March 18, 2011 - Sunday, March 20, 2011

SXSW Music - Austin, TX

For complete line up and ticket info: SXSW

For a review of SXSW 2011 by Arjen Davidse (March 17, 2011 - in Dutch)
For interviews with SXSW (audio)

The Netherlands is coming to South by Southwest (SXSW) and they are looking to make an impact on one of the largest festivals the U.S. has to offer. The Dutch Impact party will offer an exceptional line up of Dutch artists including including, Laura Jansen, The Black Atlantic, Death Letters, Go Back to the Zoo and De Staat (Mascot Music). Also three other Dutch bands from The Hague will be there to perform: Pitch Blond, Pop Up Animal Kids and The Deaf. 

The SXSW Music and Media Conference celebrates its 25th Anniversary in 2011. Reaching a quarter of a century of being the biggest and most anticipated convergence of all things music, SXSW is ready to keep the reputation alive by programming the best event yet.

Made in Korea - A One-Way Ticket Seoul - Amsterdam?

Photo: www.kaffny.com

 
Thursday, March 17, 2011 at 2:00 PM

KAFFNY, Chelsea Clearview - New York, NY

Free admission

 

Documentarymaker In-Soo Radstake arrived in Holland from Seoul in 1980. Adopted as a baby by a Dutch couple he is now searching for his true identity. His search takes him along the eight other adopted persons who came with the same flight to Holland. He also visits the orphanage in Seoul where he once lived. He compares the questions and experiences of his adoption with those of his adoptees. He asks himself is weather he is Dutch or Korean. Radstake feels Dutch, but is that because he suppressed his Korean side? In the beginning of the documentary Radstake focuses on his fellow adoptees but as his search progresses, his story gets more personal and is he even trying to find his biological mother. His search ends with a reunion of his arrival group. Exactly twenty-five years after arrival is the group of nine South-Korean adoptees reunited. But this time as adults.

Made in Korea: a one-way-ticket Seoul-Amsterdam is a personal journey of In-Soo Radstake in search for his true identity.

Louis Andriessen and Monica Germino at Cornish College of the Arts

Andriessen and Germino. Photo: France Patella and Marco Borggreve

 

Wednesday, March 9, 2011 at 8:00 PM

Poncho Hall, Cornish College of the Arts - Seattle, WA

For tickets  

Don’t miss this opportunity to hear the music of internationally renowned composer and 2010 Grawemeyer Award winner Louis Andriessen in this rare appearance by the famed Dutch composer.

The program features the Seattle premiere of six of Andriessen’s signature works, many showcasing the virtuoso violinist Monica Germino, plus Andriessen’s collaboration with British filmmaker Peter Greenaway M is for Man, Music, Mozart. 

From a background of jazz and avant-garde composition, Andriessen has evolved a style employing elemental harmonic, melodic and rhythmic materials, heard in totally distinctive instrumentation. His acknowledged admiration for Stravinsky is illustrated by a parallel vigour, clarity of expression, and acute ear for colour. The range of Andriessen's inspiration is wide, from the music of Charles Ives in Anachronie I, the art of Mondriaan in De Stijl, and medieval poetic visions in Hadewijch, to writings on shipbuilding and atomic theory in De Materie Part I. He has tackled complex creative issues, exploring the relation between music and politics in De Staat, the nature of time and velocity in De Tijd and De Snelheid, and questions of mortality in Trilogy of the Last Day.

American-born, Amsterdam-based violinist Monica Germino is on the cutting edge of new music. On a quest to redefine her instrument's boundaries, Monica has created innovative programmes with a constantly expanding, eclectic repertoire, commissioning and performing many works written for her by today's leading composers. Since 2003, when she acquired a custom made 'Violectra,' she has been exploring the unlimited possibilities for the electric violin. The Observer (UK) praised ‘the dazzling violinist Monica Germino’ for her performances of new works combining singing and playing, a skill she developed in recent years. Her years of work with Frank van der Weij have evolved into a rewarding partnership between violinist and sound engineer, revolutionizing the concept of a solo violin recital by transforming sound, executing unconventional feats and exploiting new technologies. Hailed by The Sunday Times (UK) as a “striking presence” whose “virtuosity was exhilarating,” she has premiered innovative works in such venues as Queen Elizabeth Hall, Barbican Centre, Alice Tully Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, MASS MoCA and many more. She performs often as a soloist and chamber musician with renowned orchestras over the world. She has also recorded for Attacca Records, Basta Music and BMOP, as well as numerous discs with the Asko|Schönberg Ensemble for Deutsche Grammophon, Nonesuch and Philips.

The Ex USA Tour

The Ex. Photo: The Ex

 
Tuesday, March 8, 2011 at 8:00 PM
Lincoln Hall (ft. Follows, K.Vandermark&Zerfu Demissie) - Chicago, IL
Admission: $15
Wednesday, March 9, 2011 at
The Rock Shop (ft. DJ Rupture) - Brooklyn, NY
For tickets
Thursday, March 10, 2011 at 7:00 PM

Le Poisson Rouge (ft. Liturgy) - New York, NY

For tickets

Friday, March 11, 2011 at 8:00 PM
Brighton Music Hall (ft. Liturgy) - Allston, MA
For tickets
Saturday, March 12, 2011 at 9:00 PM
Black Cat (DJ Rupture) - Washington D.C.,DC
For tickets
Sunday, March 13, 2011 at  8:00 PM
First Unitarian Church (ft. DJ Rupture) - Philadelphia, PA
For tickets
Tuesday, March 15, 2011 at 9:00 PM
Doug Fir Lounge (ft. Death Sentence Panda) - Portland, OR
For tickets
Wednesday, March 16, 2011 at 7:30 PM
The Vera Project - Seattle, WA
For tickets
Thursday, March 17, 2011 at 9:00 PM
Bottom of the Hill (ft. Death Sentence Panda) - San Francisco, CA
For tickets
Friday, March 18, 2011 at 8:00 PM
The Satellite (ft. Death Sentence Panda) - Los Angeles, CA
For tickets

Playing a hybrid of punk to advance their liberal socialist agenda (serving as the rough equivalent of a Dutch Crass), the Ex put out reams of records and propaganda during the '80s - each released on a different Dutch label - but in the '90s began to embrace industrial forms of percussion and improvisation more in line with Einstürzende Neubauten and Test Dept. Formed in the late '70s, the group debuted at the turn of the decade with Disturbing Domestic Peace. The year 1983 was particularly busy; two proper albums were released (Tumult and Blueprints for a Blackout) plus the singles box Dignity of Labour and an EP, Gonna Rob the Spermbank.

The Ex’s 25th CD/LP release on their own Ex Records and 123rd release in total. ‘Catch My Shoe’ is the first CD with their new singer Arnold de Boer.
The songs range from The Ex versions of high energy Gurage music from Ethiopia (‘Eyoleyo’) to hypnotic full on dance tunes like ‘24 Problems’ and ‘Double Order’. The sound is unmistakably The Ex but with new vocals and Konono style catchy guitar riffs from Arnold and crunchy baritone guitar melodies from Terrie and Andy all propelled along by Kat’s relentless driving ‘African’ beats. The songs range in subject matter from climate confusion, unexpectedly throwing surprise objects, optical illusions, deceitful cropdusters, ice picks and late trains.