Check Out the New Theme Song/Music Video For The Brooklyn Nets
Posted: May 13, 2013 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »Written by Brooklyn resident John Forte (formerly of the famous hip-hop ensemble the Fugees), the music video features Nets offensive stratagems and shots of Forte in what looks like his home studio.
Nonprofit Wants to Rename Jerry Garcia Amphitheater in San Francisco
Posted: May 9, 2013 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »
Photo Courtesy of Bill Jackson III
Read this great article from sfist.com about a struggling amphitheater, the nonprofit org trying to make it over, and the locals who want it to stay the same.
‘Celebrate Brooklyn’ Announces Stellar Lineup For Its 35th Year
Posted: May 8, 2013 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »
What do Phillip Glass, Shaggy and the Barenaked Ladies have in common? Not a lot, that is until today when BRIC Arts announced the lineup to their 35th annual Celebrate Brooklyn festival!
The aforementioned are just three of the many acts participating in the festival, which contains 29 (29!!) mostly free shows spanning the entire summer. Each concert kicks off at around 7-7:30 at the Bandshell in idyllic Prospect Park.
Building the Bandshell in Prospect Park
Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Wynton Marsalis will be there. Brazilian psych-rock pioneers Os Mutantes will be there. Even international weirdo Beck will be there. The question is, will you?
Festivities kick off on June 5 with a free concert by American folk singer Patty Griffin. So check out the schedule, pick a concert (or twenty) and make some plans!
Gone But Not Forgotten: Musical Memorials in the World and Elsewhere
Posted: May 7, 2013 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »
Photo Courtesy of filtermagazine.com
On May 4, Palmetto Park in Brooklyn Heights was rechristened as Adam Yauch Park. On that day a year ago, the late Beastie Boys member–widely known as MCA–lost a three-year battle with cancer a the age of of 47. The renaming ceremony was attended by Yauch’s parents and Beastie Boys’ Adam ‘Ad Rock’ Horovitz.
Adam Yauch Park is another testament to the way in which musicians touch the lives of their listeners. Here are some other places that have immortalized some of our favorite late musicians.
Joey Ramone Place (New York, NY)
Photo Courtesy of wikimedia.org
The iconic lead singer of seminal New York punk band the Ramones died of lymphoma in April of 2001 at the age of 49. The corner of Bowery and East Second Street was renamed Joey Ramone Place on November 30, 2003. According to the Associated Press, the above sign is one of the most frequently stolen in the entire city, so much so that in 2010, the sign was elevated to 20 feet above street level.
Frank Sinatra Memorial Park (Hoboken, NJ)
Photo Courtesy of hudsonreporter.com
Ol’ Blue Eyes left us on May 14, 1998 of a heart attack at the age of 82. In 1998, this beautiful Hoboken park was dedicated to Sinatra’s memory upon its completion. Although Hoboken is famed as the birthplace of the legendary singer, his relationship with the One Square Mile went sour after he was booed at a 1948 performance during a celebration for the city’s mayor. He didn’t make a public appearance in the city again until 1984.
St. John Coltrane Church (San Francisco, CA)
Photo Courtesy of last.fm
Trane was only 40 years old when he died of liver cancer on July 17, 1967. The Saint John Coltrane Church was founded by Archbishop Franzo King and Reverend Mother Marina King under the name of ‘One Mind Temple Evolutionary Transitional Body of Christ.’ The two were inspired after seeing a 1965 performance of Coltrane, and believed that his playing came from the power of God. Embedded throughout Coltrane’s life was a deep sense of spirituality, from his early Christian upbringing to his later interest in Buddhism and Islam.
4147 Lennon (Space)
John Lennon was tragically gunned down in December of 1980 at the age of 40. This minor planet on the main asteroid belt was discovered in 1983, with the name officially announced in a 1990 issue of Minor Planet Circular. Interestingly, in 2008 Lennon’s song ‘Across the Universe’ was the first ever song to be beamed directly into space.
Brooklyn Flea Record Fair Returns This Saturday
Posted: May 2, 2013 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »
Photo Courtesy of brooklyvegan.com
Picture yourself in a park in the sunshine, where all the hot labels sell vinyls galore…
But seriously.
Brought to you by Smorgasburg, Brooklyn’s weekly flea marketeers, the bi-annual Brooklyn Flea Record Fair is a hallmark event for the spin-crazy. BrooklynVegan reports a flux of new releases from record labels like DFA, Jagjaguwar and Secretly Canadian, and an impressive lineup of live DJ sets throughout the day.
Los Angeles Philharmonic Hosts ‘Brooklyn Festival’
Posted: May 1, 2013 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »
Photo Courtesy of laphil.com
From tattoo-laden indie bands to slightly less tattoo-laden classical composers, some of Brooklyn’s finest gathered to celebrate modern music’s most fertile ground.
“We may all be Brooklynites soon,” says San Francisco Classical Voice writer Brett Campbell, in a great article focusing on the festival and the continually blurring lines between rock n’ roll and classical music.
Wanderlust: The Ryan and Jana Story
Posted: April 11, 2013 Filed under: Faculty Feature Leave a comment » |
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Vocalist Jana Debusk and multi-instrumentalist Ryan McCurdy met last year as teaching artists in training for a children’s music event led by Music Adventures guru Brian Barrentine. The program, which still goes on to this day, was called Funikijam.
“You bond very, very quickly,” says Ryan of their meeting, “when you’re faced with the possibility of teaching hundreds of rambunctious children together.”
What started as a bond amongst chaos, however, quickly cohered into something mellifluous. Ryan and Jana found a connection through their shared sense of everyday inspiration, and their mutual ability to find poetry where others don’t.
“We’re examiners,” says Jana. “We look closely into situations, analyze them with our whole hearts, and base decisions on feelings whenever possible.”
This summer, the two will be going on their first tour together, under the banner of Ryan and Jana: The Wanderlust Tour. Wanderlust, the German loanword describing one’s innate desire to travel, seems to encapsulate one of the driving factors behind Ryan and Jana’s work.
There’s Jana the world traveler, who has wandered through nearly a dozen countries, often carrying little more than a backpack. Her first composition was written on a plane coming back from a trip throughout Western Europe. She has the word ‘wanderlust’ tattooed on her arm.
Ryan, a jazz pianist by nature, draws from a more abstract form of wanderlust.
“If Jana’s songs are an eyewitness account of travel,” Ryan says, “mine are dreams of travel.” He continues, “Jazz as a medium is antsy, nomadic–eternally searching.”
Before they leave for the Wanderlust Tour, Ryan and Jana will be previewing their material on Friday, April 19, right here at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. The event will feature a slew of special guests, including members of Jana’s band, Jana and the Bailout Boys, and original compositions by both Ryan and Jana.
“This isn’t your normal singer/songwriter performance,” says Jana of the upcoming concert. “There will be a little more rock, a little more soul.”
The free concert is a great chance to get to know two inspired musicians and teachers. If you come with an open mind, you may be inspired to do a little wandering of your own.
