Cafe Aman

Ud. Bismillah Khan, 1916-2006

Sadly, yet another great has passed...

The player Ustad Bismillah Khan passed away on Monday of a heart attack. He was a musician's musician whose technical mastery and inventiveness elevated his instrument, the shehnai, from its traditional setting of street festivals and weddings to the world's most renowned concert stages.

Emusic has an array of his recordings from Saregama/EMI India on offer, including jugalbandi (duet) recordings with sitarist and longtime colleague Ustad Vilayat Khan, with whom he often performed. Some good later recordings are also available on the UK label Navras.

Tuesday, Aug. 22 at Mostly Mozart

A last-minute invitation to a last-minute gig of mine…

To celebrate the world premiere of Magnus Lindberg's Violin Concerto at the Mostly Mozart festival, I've been asked to lead a Q&A with the composer.

The Q&A is a free event; it will be held from 6:45-7:30 PM   tomorrow night (Tuesday, Aug. 22) at the Kaplan Penthouse, which is located on the 10^th floor of Lincoln Center's Rose Building on W. 65^th St.

The performance itself, which features young Georgian violinist Lisa Batiashvili as soloist in Lindberg's concerto, also includes pianist Lars Vogt playing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K.488 as well as the overtures to Mozart's Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni. The concert will take place tomorrow evening at Avery Fisher Hall at 8:00 PM.

Following the Avery Fisher concert, the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) will be presenting a "Little Night Music" concert of three other Lindberg works: the Clarinet Quintet, Linea d'Ombra, and the US premiere of Zona. This event will be back at the Kaplan Penthouse, beginning at 10:30 PM.

Calling all friends, colleagues, and music lovers...

There will be a benefit concert for our friend and colleague Tom Terrell on Sept. 11th at the Canal Room. The lineup already confirmed for this night of love & music includes Angelique Kidjo, Butch Morris, Greg Osby, Kenny Barron, Meshell Ndegeocello, and Vernon Reid, among many (many!) others.

Looking forward to seeing you there...

Weekend America & New Music Box

Yes, it's been far too long...

• Recently aired: Picks on Weekend America, including a review of the late Ali Farka Toure's last album, Savane (Nonesuch), and Ljova's Vjola--The World on Four Strings (Kapustnik). Stay tuned for the entire podcast: there's an interesting interview (which I, in a small way, helped put together) with the editors of Time Out Beirut and Time Out Tel Aviv.  As the WA site notes, "The two met last spring, when the Beirut magazine had just launched. It was an instant friendship between the young men. But now Time Out Beirut is closed and the two haven't spoken since May. We get them together to talk about friendship and writing on opposite sides of a war."

• Now up on New Music Box: A piece of mine about a strange coincidence in the opera world.