Musicus interruptus

Well, as you may already have heard, Ran Blake's performance at the Stone last night was cut short by an asthma attack. He made it about 15 minutes into his intended program before it became impossible for him to continue. (I hope he's okay -- I'll report back when I hear more.) What he did play was breathtaking, and the Stone was set up just the way Ran likes it -- piano keyboard facing away from the audience, and all the lights down low. The performance was unusual for Ran in that the set was almost entirely his own compositions, all drawn from his recent solo recording All That Is Tied.

Here is the intended setlist. As you know if you've ever heard Ran play, he moves seamlessly from one tune to the next, without pausing. The breaks in the program are thematic breaks, not necessarily musical ones.

1. Field Cry (dedicated to Willis Laurence James)
2. How 'Bout That
3. Breakthru
4. Sontagism
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5. Impressario of Death
6. Wende
7. Shostavkovich No. 9
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8. All That Is Tied (comp. Jonah Kraut)
9. Birmingham, USA (This piece concerns bombing of 16th Street Church of Birmingham where four girls were killed in 1963.)

Charles Gayle stepped in for the second half of the set. Gayle is, of course, known primarily as a tenor player, but he too has recently recorded a solo piano record for Tomkins Square Records. And in one of the most surreal moments in my NYC concertgoing experience so far, he played the last fifteen minutes of his set blindfolded, but with a plastic clown mask on top of the blindfold. (Gayle explained that with all the kidnappings and hostages these past few years, he thought the sight of the blindfold alone might be traumatic for some people.)

Comments

[mwanji]

1.

Wow, was Gayle any good? I've heard reservations about his piano playing...

[DJA]

2.

You can listen to/download a track from Gayle's new solo piano CD here.

[Ben]

3.

While I unfortunately missed this show, I can say with certainty that CG's piano playing is explosive and beautiful. In fact, it's his first instrument, not sax. He does seem often more contemplative on the piano than his exuberant or anguished sax work but it's all great, not to be missed.