Voltage blog entries tagged with: live

Photo: souravdas

Wow. Went last night to see Ustad Shujaat Khan, Karsh Kale, Vijay Iyer, and Jonathon Maron in a show at the new Alice Tully Hall (and a good deal - tickets only $25). I figured it would be good, but we were both just blown away. I had wanted to go see Karsh Kale and a few other people this past summer at Prospect Park doing live accompaniment to Bruce Lee's Enter The Dragon, but it was seriously hot out that day and we didn't go. I knew Karsh was quality as I'm a fan of Tabla Beat Science. But the amazing fusion of these four players last night was beyond what I had expected. Khan played sitar, Jonathon Maron played electric bass, Karsh Kale played alternately tabla and a regular drum set, and Vijay Iyer switched between piano and Rhodes electric keyboard, and all five songs just worked. They took their leads in jazz style during the extended songs, with their jams flowing smoothly with what could have been a mismatched set of instruments.

We went to see Tricky play at Irving Plaza (sorry, The Fillmore at Irving Plaza) on thursday night. Wow. I haven't seen and probably won't see a show that heavy in a long while. And I never thought that I would hear Cornucopia live. He played many songs from Maxinquaye, not exact album versions, but they still sounded brilliant.

He's touring for his new album Knowle West Boy, and it seems like a good mix of styles from his career (comes out in a few days). One of the ways I know it was a good show - songs I didn't even know sounded awesome. He even did a cover of Dear God by XTC. Sweet.

I just have to say that his first three albums (as Tricky) are pure genius. Maxinquaye, Pre-Millenium Tension, and Angels With Dirty Faces. Beyonds words, all of them.

I even liked the opening group, Telepathique, from Brazil. The singer occasionally sounds a bit goofy, but the music is solid electronics - like most things these days, a mix of styles that builds and sounded great in performance. It even looked good, the guy playing laptop and keyboards looked like he was having fun, with a presence on stage unlike most knob-twiddlers.