Blog & Press
03
Feb, 2012
Paul Motian memorial at the Vanguard
Paul Motian Memorial: Village Vanguard 1/20/12 I was honored to attend the Paul Motian memorial, which was organized by ECM records at the Village Vanguard on a cold Sunday afternoon in January. The first thing I noticed as I emerged into this holy room was a huge, vibrant picture of Paul that sat in front [...]
26
Dec, 2011
Alternative Guitar Festival 2012
Alternative Guitar Festival 2012 Curated by Joel Harrison, Co-sponsored by the New York Guitar Festival Rockwood Music Hall 196 Allen Street New York, NY 10002 (212) 477-4155 www.newyorkguitarfestival.com 3 night pass for $50, $20 in advance, 25 at door, tix: rockwoodmusichall.com Jan. 13: 7:30- 10:45 pm Mark Stewart (guitar) and Gyan Riley (guitar) Joel Harrison (guitar), Anupam Shobhakar (sarod), [...]
23
Nov, 2011
honoring Paul Motian
Honoring Paul Motian 10 years after I conceived the String Choir Project, a year after the cd was released, I finally toured these arrangements of Paul Motian’s singular music for 11 days in Europe this Fall. It was on our 4th gig, in Malmo, Sweden, that we performed the music in the way [...]
31
Aug, 2011
Arguing with David Orr about the value of art
I just finished reading David Orr’s book “Beautiful and Pointless: a guide to modern poetry.” Orr writes for the New York Times Book Review and obviously has read a ton of modern work. There’s much to admire in his common-sense insights into what verse has to offer the average reader. He tries to gently lead [...]
25
Jul, 2011
New York State Council on the Arts cuts
I have been the lucky recipient of three grants from NYSCA, one of which was a huge asset to my career. The money I got to write my piece for string quartet and jazz quintet, “The Wheel”, allowed me to make a leap forward artistically, and this piece led to many more grants from various [...]