OK here’s my disclaimer right off the bat – YES!, composer and musician John McDowell is my brother. But much more than that, he’s the composer of the original soundtrack to the Academy Award winning documentary Born into Brothels and in his various guises and bands, he’s been heard at Lincoln Center, the UN, the Montreal Jazz Festival, and at many music, dance and theater festivals throughout Europe and North America. He has performed and recorded with artists ranging from Sting, Carlos Santana, and Krishna Das to Rusted Root.

John has been an organic, biodynamic farmer in Rockland County, NY for many years. Now, he brings his interest in music and farming together, thanks to a duo project with Canadian violin virtuoso (and also farmer!) Emmanuel Vukovich, winner of Canada’s first Golden Violin award. Operating under the name Music for Farms, the group has a mission to revive and sustain local organic agriculture and farming communities through the arts.

The duo will weave an evening of music inspired by an exploration of connecting opposites – such as in their original work based on Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parcifal legend, the meeting of Eastern and Western classical music in their own transcription of Ravi Shankar and Yehudi Menuhin’s Swara Kakali, in their personal backgrounds of jazz and classical music, and finally in their own lives of practicing music and farming side by side.

Upcoming performances in New York and Canada include:

September 18 at the Heliconian Club in Toronto, Canada (As a tie-in to the Toronto International Film Festival’s premiere of documentary film Stolen)
September 20 at Novalis Hall, Angus, Ontario, Canada
October 1 at the Golden Key Society in New York City

The performers will also share some of their experience as farmers and present an excerpt from a film about music and farming entitled Bach in a Barn. Violinist Vukovich states “Originally, music, dance, and artistic culture in general were strongly inter-connected to, and a part of, our human civilization’s relationship to nature. This was expressed in traditional agrarian society through rituals in rhythm with the seasons – such as harvest festivals. As people have migrated more and more to large urban centres, artistic cultural life has tended to separate from agricultural life. We go to concerts in the city, and we get our food from farms in the country. This has often created a void and famine of culture and arts in rural farming communities, and a corresponding disconnect/abstraction in the arts.”  To this end, the proceeds from this event will go towards the creation of a foundation which works to connect world-class music-making and artistic culture with local sustainable agriculture and farming communities.

Brooklyn based jazz violinist Zach Brock will be featured in A Memorial Tribute to Rashied Ali at Manhattan’s Le Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleeker Street on Saturday, September 5th at 7pm

The tribute will feature Collective Language – Gregg Bendian, drums and Brock, violin (The Mahavishnu Project) with Jon Irabagon, sax (2008 Thelonius Monk Award winner) and Peter Brendler, bass – interpreting the music of “Interstellar Space” and late-period Coltrane.

The late Rashied Ali, born Robert Patterson (July 1, 1935 – August 12, 2009) was an American free jazz and avant-garde jazz drummer best known for playing with John Coltrane in the last years of Coltrane’s life.

Here’s more about Zach — his official bio: Continue reading “Brock Featured in Rashied Tribute”

For the third year in a row, I will be volunteer curator of a stage of music at Union Square in conjunction with the September Concert, a fantastic organization that produces and promotes musical events for peace all over NYC and the world on September 11th.

This year, in addition to the Union Square stage, I am also producing a more intimate evening concert at South Oxford Space in Brooklyn, thanks to my wonderful friends at American Opera Projects, one of the resident organizations at the space.

Both concerts are free. For the open air Union Square concert, just come on down. For the indoor South Oxford Space show, I recommend that you order your free tickets in advance. You can also just show up – more than likely there will be space! This concert is being held under the auspices of American Opera Projects’ Helping Hands program. Directions to the space are here.

The evening show has the theme/title: “Home Grown: a Harvest of Fresh Music for Peace.” It includes performances of mostly original music by Brooklyn- and New York City area-based classical and jazz musicians and also features fresh organic produce from local farms.

LINE UP UNION SQUARE, South side of square on 14th street, Manhattan
12 noon Oran Etkin / Abdoulaye Diabate Duo
1pm Zach Brock Trio
2pm Sing-a-long of song “Give Us Hope.”
2:05pm The DAAD Quartet featuring Can Olgun – piano, Martin Schulte – guitar, Johannes Felscher – bass, and Peter Gall – drums.
3pm Rob Mosher’s Storytime
4pm Jody Redhage and Fire in July
5pm La Strada

LINE UP SOUTH OXFORD SPACE, 138 South Oxford Street, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
8pm Pianist John McDowell and violinist Emmanuel Vukovich
8:45pm The Words Project w/Sam Sadigursky, Christine Correa and Dan Tepfer
9:30pm DAAD Quartet featuring Can Olgun – piano, Martin Schulte – guitar, Johannes Felscher – bass, and Martin Kruemmling – drums.
10:15pm Frank Carlberg Trio w/Christine Correa and John O’Gallagher

Questions? Contact me!

I just returned from an extended work/pleasure trip to Chicago where I attended the newest installation of the Chicago Cultural Center’s Summer Opera program, founded in 1999 and continuing under the impeccable and stellar leadership of producer Helen Vasey. Helen has produced three operas since I left – Rossini’s il Signor Bruschino in 2007, Bizet’s Djamileh in 2008 and Handel’s Acis and Galatea in 2009. Since I moved to New York City in late 2006, my travel schedule unfortunately has not until now allowed me to catch the operas in ’07 or ’08. I’m usually quite a harsh critic, but I felt that this production of Acis was an unqualified triumph and a stunning success! I really loved the production by Joanie Schultz and thought that the performances were uniformly excellent, including the lead roles, taken on by Amy Conn and John Zuckerman, and the fabulous performance of the New Millennium Orchestra under the direction of Francesco Milioto.

Here is a review by Andrew Patner which appeared recently – I’m honored that he mentioned me but the real credit goes to the superb Helen Vasey who has really made this program her own and continued in fine fashion with high artistic and creative standards. Bravi to all involved!