May Shows at Brooklyn’s IBeam

From IBeam:

IBEAM MUSIC
168 7th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11215
http://www.ibeambrooklyn.com

Friday, May 1st
9:00PM – Sarah Manning’s “Shatter the Glass”
Sarah Manning – alto saxophone
Art Hirahara – piano
Linda Oh – bass
Kyle Struve – drums

According to jazz writer Nat Hentoff, alto saxophonist and composer Sarah Manning is “an enlivening presence in the new generation of jazz makers. [She] plays – and writes – in what is unmistakably her own voice.” After five years in the San Francisco Bay Area, Manning has finally returned to her East Coast roots and her Ibeam performance celebrates her first concert as a full time NYC resident. While living on the West Coast, Manning produced two albums as a composer and bandleader and performed at top venues from Yoshi’s in Oakland to the Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz. Her second album, Live at Yoshi’s: Two Rooms Same Door, was released on ArtistShare in 2006 and both albums are comprised solely of her original compositions. Shatter the Glass, her newest quartet featuring Art Hirahara on piano, Linda Oh on bass and Kyle Struve on drums, has completed two tours since its inception in January 2007, to California and NYC/New England. Explosive musical storytellers, they delight in performing in intimate and unusual spaces ranging from the Jazz Gallery to a storefront window display in Northampton, MA. At Ibeam Manning will debut new work to be recorded in the fall as part of the the group’s first album.

10:00PM – Sean Nowell Quartet
Sean Nowell – tenor sax
Art Hirahara – piano
Sam Minaie – bass
Brian Fishler -drums

Sean Nowell is a tenor saxophonist and composer from Birmingham, Alabama. Sean is a member Travis Sullivan’s Bjorkestra, Justin Mullens’ Delphian Jazz Orchestra, 3/4 Free, MonAtomic, the KUNG-FU MASTERS, the Yutaka Uchida Quartet, VortexNine vs. Space Fantasy Unit, Dub is a Weapon. Tonight Sean and his group will perform selections from the forthcoming release from Posi-Tone Records, “The Seeker”.

Saturday, May 2nd
9:00PM – Garden of Gifts
Kirk Knuffke – trumpet
Chris Welcome – guitar
Federico Ughi – drums

10:00PM – The Sound Bats
Sean Moran – Guitar
John Mettam – Drums
Briggan Krauss – Alto Saxophone

Sound Bats are a newly formed collaborative trio which blends punk, downtown improv and progressive rock. Downtown hipsters, head-banging punk rockers and carnies will all find something in common.

Friday, May 8th
9:00PM – Huse’s “Bloodvision”
10:00PM – Xander Naylor Trio
Xander Naylor – guitar
Johan Andersson – soprano and tenor saxophones
Max Jaffe – drums, sampler

The sound of the Xander Naylor Trio is firmly rooted in the concept of group improvisation. They pull inspiration from rock, grunge, noise, and ambient genres as much as from the jazz tradition. They are joined tonight by Michael Huse’s “Bloodvision.”

Saturday, May 9th
8:30PM – Justin Keller’s Land of Leland
Justin Keller – guitar/voice

Guitarist, singer and songwriter Justin Keller has crafted songs with honesty and myriad influences, featuring pretty melodies and harmonies, and surprising textures. Justin will be performing solo at I-Beam.

9:30PM – Yoon Sun Choi and The E-String Band
Yoon Sun Choi – voice
Jacob Sacks – melodica
Khabu Doug Young – ukelele
Thomas Morgan – guitar
Vinnie Sperazza – percussion

Yoon’s E-String Band, with artists Jacob Sacks (melodica), Khabu Doug Young (ukulele), Thomas Morgan (guitar) and Vinnie Sperrazza (percussion), combines her vocal and (toy) piano skills. Yoon appears regularly in Brooklyn and New York City, inviting the audience on a musical journey that spans more than a century of music, from Robert Schumann to Motown to Cyndi Lauper to original music. A quiet and intimate group, this band has been called the “ultimate family room band.”

Friday, May 15th
8:30PM – Lady Clown
Ben Scheuer – guitar/voice
Geoff Kraly – bass/voice

Benjamin Scheuer sings and plays guitar in Lady Clown. He lives in New York City’s Greenwich Village. Geoff Kraly sings and plays bass in Lady Clown. He lives in Brooklyn.

9:30PM
Yoon Sun Choi and The E-String Band

Saturday, May 16th
9:00PM – Sweet Love
Matt Glassmeyer – Bass/Bill Withers
Brian Drye – Piano/Marvin Gaye
Eric Biondo – Vocals/Trumpet/Anita Baker
Judith Berkson – Vocals/Wurlitzer/Tina Turner

Tina Turner (born Judith Berkson, November 26, 1939 in Nutbush, TN) began, in 1984, what has been called the biggest comeback in rock ‘n roll history. In 1985, she became Aunty Entity, the ruler of Bartertown, home of Thunderdome. Anita Baker (born Eric Biondo, January 26, 1958 in Toledo, Ohio) has eight Grammys and four platinum albums. Her first hit record, Rapture (1986), contains the hottest song ever made. Marvin Gaye (born Brian Drye, April 2, 1939 in Washington, DC) has a three-octave vocal range. Mr. Gaye played drums on The Marvelettes’ 1961 hit, “Please Mr. Postman” prior to making the second hottest song ever in 1982. Bill Withers (born Matt Glassmeyer, July 4, 1938 in Slab Fork, WV) left the Navy at age 26. His first hit song was released in 1971 at age 33. His last hit song was released in 1981 at age 43.

10:00PM – Strefenjunko
Eivend Lønning – trumpet
Espen Reinerthsen – tenor saxophone/prepared flute

Strefenjunko is an improvising duo with its own world of sounds on the Norwegian improv scene, clearly influenced by
European contemporary composers like Giacinto Scelsi, Salvatore Sciarrino and Helmut Lachenmann. A project where they collaborate with the well-known Japanese guitar player Tetuzi Akiyama has recently released the debut album ”Varianter av døde trær” on Norwegian hard-core impro label ‘SOFA’. Also Streifenjunko has released their debut-album “No longer burning” on SOFA in January 2009. For samples of the records, visit http://www.myspace.com/streifenjunko

Friday, May 22nd
8:30PM – Jacob Sacks/Orlando Hernandez
Jacob Sacks – piano
Orlando Hernandez – dance

Jacob Sacks and tap dancer Orlando Hernandez open up the evening with a performance of improvised music and dance.

9:30PM – Yoon Sun Choi and The E-String Band

Saturday, May 23
8:00PM – Jacob Sacks/Thomas Morgan/Vinnie Sperrazza
Jacob Sacks – piano
Thomas Morgan – bass
Vinnie Sperrazza – drums

Jacob Sacks, Thomas Morgan and Vinnie Sperrazza will present a rare performance of the Ahmad Jamal’s “But Not For Me: Live at The Pershing” album to open up the live concert recording for Yoon’s E-String Band.

8:30PM – Yoon Sun Choi and The E-String Band

Friday, May 29th
9:00PM – Mike McGinnis Group
Mike McGinnis – saxophone
Band T.B.A.

Originally from Sanford, Maine, saxophonist/clarinetist Michael McGinnis recorded his debut CD “Tangents” with his group Between Green (which included Shane Endsley and Jacob Sacks) for Ravi Coltrane’s RKM Music label in 2000. In 2007 he performed in Paris as part of Steve Coleman’s Aquarius Ingress which boasted a stellar line-up of current improvisers (Ravi Coltrane, Tony Malaby, Miguel Zenon and Chris Speed) and has also performed and/or recorded with the Lonnie Plaxico Group, Stew (of Passing Strange), the Ohad Talmor/Steve Swallow Sextet, Alice Coltrane, Yo La Tengo and Art Lande, among others. You can see him playing the flute in Ang Lee’s most recent film “Taking Woodstock.”

10:00PM – Michel Gentile/Tony Romano
Michel Gentile – flute
Tony Romano – guitar

Individually, Michel Gentile and Tony Romano have performed with Jane Ira Bloom, Kurt Rosenwinkle, Randy Brecker, Dave Valentine, Stanley Jordan, Fred Hersh, and Harvie S, to name but a few. Together, they have developed a style of playing that is truly personal in its approach. This duo has dispensed with conventional roles in order to develop a musical experience rich with interaction and nuance. It creates an organic counterpoint of ideas and support while exploring Brazilian and Jazz repertoire, as well as original compositions. They were recently featured artists in the 2007 D’Addario sponsored “Fall Festival of Guitar” at the Dix Hills Performing Arts Center (NY) along with Gene Bertoncini and Anton Del Forno.