Holly Taormina of Holly & Evan
Photographs by Timothy Reidy
WILDWOODStock returned to the Parting Glass in Saratoga Springs on Sunday, April 28. It was the sixth annual fundraising fest – an all-day benefit bash to help raise funds for Wildwood Programs, a non-profit organization in Schenectady that provides comprehensive services for children and adults with autism spectrum disorders, complex learning disabilities and other developmental disabilities.
Bear Grass
Photographs and video by Timothy Reidy
Katie Hammon and her band Bear Grass celebrated the release of their new album Stories in Books with a bash at Valentine’s Music Hall in Albany on Friday, May 3. Sharing the stage for the festivities were Two Tree and Careers (who were also celebrating the release of their new music, The Dream a Little Dream EP).
Caroline Cotter and M.R. Poulopoulos
Photographs and video by Timothy Reidy
M.R. Poulopoulos and Caroline Cotter shared the stage at the More Bread & Jam Cafe in Cohoes last month…
Review and photographs by Timothy Reidy
This promised to be a once in a lifetime concert, and it was. The members of UK played a full set at The Egg in Albany, and it was exceptional. The band met and exceeded all expectations.
Most of UK’s self-titled album was performed, and, as an added bonus, we were treated to some red-and-black numbers of King Crimson – “Starless and Bible Black” and “Red.”
Video by Timothy Reidy
Yes, Putnam Den was jumpin’. The occasion was the CD release party for Sirsy’s excellent new album, Coming Into Frame on Funzalo Records, and of course Melanie Krahmer and Rich Libutti were in fine form. But they were also loving the opportunity to share the spotlight with their pals in Wild Adriatic, who not only opened the show, but also joined Sirsy for a dip into the Beatles’ songbag with this rendition of “Don’t Let Me Down”…
San Cisco’s Jordi Davieson
Review by Erin Harkes
Photographs by Timothy Reidy
Anyone who says there’s nothing to do in Albany doesn’t listen to WEQX-FM.
This great radio station presents some amazing (and often free!) shows – pairing up Local 518 greats with touring indie rock bands. The results are usually epic, and Sunday night’s free show was no exception.
The Australian four-piece indie-pop band San Cisco performed at Albany’s Bayou Cafe to a packed crowd of reveling hipsters. The band opened with “Golden Revolver,’ which set the ebullient tone for the evening. The second song was led by Scarlett Stevens’ pulsing bass drum as though she were leading a parade. “Lyall” had a punk/surf beat which brilliantly contrasted with the almost reggae feel of the following song “Hunter” before bringing it back to pop with the slower and catchy “Beach.” “Reckless” was sweet and ethereal. I couldn’t help falling in love with the line, “I wouldn’t mind loving that girl.”
Peter Evans
Review by J Hunter
Photographs by Timothy Reidy
A JazzApril story
In our last episode, drummer Clifford Barbaro revealed his former bandleader Sun Ra’s description of his legendary Arkestra (“This is not a jazz band! This is an avant-garde band!”), after which Barbaro looked at us in total consternation and said, “What’s ‘avant-garde?’” Clifford, wherever you are, I think I found your answer.
Ladies and gendarmes, I give you the Peter Evans Quintet, a unit that has been making (in the words of its trumpet-playing leader) “weird noises” since 2009. The band is described as “an adventurous jazz quintet for the 21st century,” and their music is purported to present “traditional idioms contorted by real-time computer processing and performed with pinpoint accuracy.” That’s marketing, baby! What’s more, the pieces performed at EMPAC last Friday night had only been performed in Europe since the Jerome Foundation and Roulette Intermedium commissioned them in 2011. “So it’s good to play this music on home turf,” trumpeter-composer Peter Evans told us.
My reaction? “What’d we ever do to YOU?”
Photographs by Timothy Reidy
With Winston Churchill overseeing the procedings, the Parlor packed the Olde English Pub & Pantry in Albany last month…
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