Celebrating Community
Playing music live in a band is one of the greatest sensations a living being can experience; when it is right, there is really nothing quite like it. It can take the listeners and players to great spiritual heights, cure depression, even save one from a serious illness. Some folk are even able to mix this pleasure with varying degrees […]
While the African American impact on jazz is recognized and well established, the contribution of Italian immigrants on jazz is not. Italians arrived in America playing mandolin, violin, guitar and piano. They brought traditions of Southern-Italian marching bands, opera and folk histories. Whether Neapolitan, Sicilian or Calabrese, they understood passion and romanticism in music. And the Italian propensity for humor […]
On March 29th and 30th, the Live Composition Festival was held at the Gemini & Scorpio loft in DUMBO. Over two days, 11 groups presented varying sets that presenting different approaches to “live composition” (also known as “sound painting” or “conduction”), which is a method of signs and signals communicated to a group of performers by a conductor in the […]
Making a living as a musician is hard enough in the USA. What’s it like in the UK? The Star got a report from anti-folk busking band Slack Mallard, who are from the region of Cornwall in southwestern England. The group consists of Aaron Barnes on Mandolin, Brian Dunbar on percussion, Ash on banjo, and Adam Whittaker on guitar. Together […]
Garland Jeffreys, the Brooklyn born rock and roll singer and songsmith, is hanging up his spurs. His retirement, hopefully an opportunity for him to relax with his family and enjoy the rest of his life, is our loss. I know Garland Jeffrey’s music very well, having stumbled upon his records perchance somewhat earlier on (for me at least) in his […]
BIG|BRAVE A Gaze Among Them (Southern Lord) Helium Horse Fly Hollowed (Dipole Experimental Records) It’s little wonder that the bone-crushing Montreal trio BIG|BRAVE attracted the attention of the dirge merchants at Southern Lord. Founded 21 years ago by Sunn O))) guitarist Greg Anderson, the label has become an emblem for the droney, doomy, stoner side of experimental metal. After […]
In 2008, a bearded and tatted up Alabama man named Jamey Hamm founded Roots Café in Brooklyn’s South Slope. The goal: bring back the grungy community center that was the typical indie coffeehouse of yesteryear. The shop still hides between a pharmacy and a cell phone store at the corner of 5th Ave and 18th street. An old-country rock’n’roller, Jamey […]
“Stanley John Mitchell And His Band of Buddies” might be a long band name but the man behind it has certainly had a deservedly long career. Originally from New Zealand, Mitchell arrived on the west coast of the US in the late ‘70s with his band Red Alert who had been backing the New Zealand theatre troupe Red Mole. After […]
In May, Record Union released the 73% Report, so named for the 73% of surveyed musicians who reported suffering from “…negative emotions such as stress, anxiety and/or depression in relation to…music creation.” Though this number would set off alarm bells in any other industry, it does not register the same shock in the music world. Sure, we grieve the untimely […]
A talented multihyphenate is accurately one way to describe Valentin. Lamar Stephens, known to his listeners and fans as Valentin Lamar, answers the phone at 9:30 pm. I can hear the sound of utensils tumbling around a plate, the chaotic rustling of bagged chips — he’s having dinner, and we begin our interview. Valentin is a Brooklyn based DJ, Producer […]