Loadsa new blood this week...

No guff this week just one tip and that is that cellist Erik Friedlander is about a third sold out already for Wednesday 14th of May in Triskel... this will be one of the gigs of the year in Cork so get your ticket soon if you want to go... I have a terrible confession to make... I should have told you ages ago that John Williams is playing this week as part of Cork Orchestral Society's programme (yes, THE world-famous guitarist John Williams) because he sold out about a month ago. I'm sorry. I was still in Peru in my head and my eye was off the ball. Please don't let it happen with Friedlander (a way more exciting gig....)

Pick of the week:


Wednesday 23rd

9pm Triskel I think the Matthew Shipp Trio is going to be another one of those intra-dimensional trips ... a free jazz pianist who is pretty big in New York. There's a pretty cheesily put-together interview with him here but it's a nice introduction ("the essence of the expression of a jazz musician ... retains some importance as far as the quest of the human spirit to say things that maybe certain people don't want you to say.... but I often wonder myself what importance jazz has today and sometimes I don't think it has any". You get a better idea of his philosophy on his homepage, somewhere in the direction I'm heading I think...

9pm Crúiscín Lán Whippersnapping prog-breakbeaters Heliopause are launching their (first?) ep, free copy with the €8 cover charge and they're definitely worth checking out, working hard and challenging themselves, ya maybe kind of like Redneck Manifesto and other stuff they have their own thing coming through .... more of it! http://www.heliopause.net/

9pm Fred Zeppelin's Sonus have recently come on my radar they are also working hard, kinda alt-rock stuff... presented by UCC's Capriccio Soc.



Thursday 24th

8pm Cork School of Music er, John Williams (reddens)
Ya well, everyone that's a member of the Cork Orchestral Society knew months ago.



Friday 25th

Oh mother, I just realised I'll be out every night for the next 5 days. God help me. And how do I spend my Tuesday evening? Writing this. Time for a beer, just a sec...
ok

8pm Cyprus Avenue Yippee Ladyfest is here at last (and it's a once-off event so make the effort if you have the chance)! A month's worth of music all in one weekend plus lots of other stuff there's way too much for me to list here so check out http://www.ladyfestcork.org for the full schedule. Highlights on Friday night will include the UK's Bela Emerson whose electric cello performances are passionate and exciting, Cork-based Lazik who bring together some of our top international folk musicians and Dutch-Croatian band DIT whose music, with English lyrics, is full of humour as well as good playing.


Saturday 26th

12-6pm Unitarian Church Ladyfest: Cork experimental improvisation group Eachtra will hold a fun music workshop for parents and kids.

8pm Cyprus Avenue Ladyfest: Michelle Brennan makes a welcome return to Cork from London; Michelle's original smoky blues and performances are hypnotising (she had a rowdy crowd spellbound at the Southern Fried CD launch a few years back in the Crane Lane) – she plays the Saturday night gig alongside hip-hop MC Ophelia, comedy act Adventures in Menstruating and loads more.

10pm Liquid Lounge Club Ping Pong are hosting Zombie Zombie whose album "A Land for Renegades" was recently named album of the month by Rough Trade - mad cool electro stuff.


Sunday 27th

3pm Cyprus Avenue Ladyfest Breakthrough band Zing from Portlaoise (yup!) could go a long way I reckon with great original alt-rock and the fresh and brazen Janey Mac are playing plus loads more. Bring your teenage cousins, it's an all-ages gig.

8pm Cyprus Avenue Ladyfest The Sunday night gig will open with super-cool Cork & Berlin-based Korridor, whose left-of-centre jazz beats sound great on their myspace, while grunge outfit the Happy Homemakers from France are probably not ladies you'd be calling round on Saturday morning to get busy with with rubber gloves and dusters. Unless....

8pm Cork Opera House It's relatively rare that we see the Opera House offering anything wildly unusual - so it's a shame that one of the most ground-breaking artists Mikel Rouse's multi-media show Music for Minorities (one of the biggest things in the Galway Arts Festival last year) doesn't seem to be selling too well - I got a two-for-one offer in my inbox today - if you want me to pass it on to you just say the word!
....In Rouse's own words Music For Minorities represents a quiet departure from the direction and performance of larger multimedia works. Another chance to be solo on the road again; a guitar, a harmonica, a video deck. The piece is a reflection of my time spent in the Delta as a composer in residence through the Meet The Composer New Residencies program. It's also a kind of video memoir of my film and theatrical works, life in New York, and friends old and new. A recorded soundscape of percussion and multiple guitars are the accompaniment to a live performance that incorporates stories, interviews and songs with synchronized video. Interviews from numerous personalities in both Louisiana and New York are combined as I underscore (musically, that is) their reflections. This assemblage is a modest integration of film, music and performance, offering another approach to story telling in the media age.


That's enough for now isn't it?

x N