parallelliott Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 On February 22, Ars Nova Workshop is presenting a concert by the Celestial Septet in Philadelphia, which will be available to non-Philly audiences for free via live webcast. After only four concerts in 2008, this epic ensemble combining the Nels Cline Singers and the ROVA Saxophone Quartet return for only five US appearances, beginning with this night in Philadelphia. (Full tour info here.) Given the rarity of this celestial union, they’ve teamed up with a local webcast production crew in order to share the Celestial Septet experience with international audiences. Registration for the webcast is here: http://arsnova.webillishus.com/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Three dollars and 63 cents Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 I'm hoping to make the trip down for this, weather- and work schedule-permitting, but it's still great to know the show is going to be webcast. I hope somebody is able to record and share the stream. I get the feeling this may be the only time these guys can find the time to tour together. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dejha Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 On February 22, 8pm (EST), Ars Nova Workshop presents the Celestial Septet at International House Philadelphia. After only four concerts in 2008, this epic ensemble combining the Nels Cline Singers and the ROVA Saxophone Quartet return for only five US appearances, beginning with this event in Philadelphia. A live webcast of this rare event is available for free to audiences outside Philadelphia. http://arsnova.webillishus.com Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Three dollars and 63 cents Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 They're not playing yet, but the stream is up and running. Video! I figured it would just be audio. I couldn't get down there tonight, but I may still try to make it to New York on Saturday. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
calvino Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 They're not playing yet, but the stream is up and running. Video! I figured it would just be audio. I couldn't get down there tonight, but I may still try to make it to New York on Saturday. Way to show your support for Wilco in the chat. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Three dollars and 63 cents Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
calvino Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Only caught the last 45 minutes or so, but it was good stuff, esp. the last song. Whoever was responsible for the web-cast, deserves kudos, too. It sounded and looked great. Too bad they are not swinging through Chicago. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Three dollars and 63 cents Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 They played longer than I expected them to. I'm glad I came to my senses and realized driving down there and back tonight would've been a disaster for the rest of my work week. I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure it wowed me enough to go through the 10-hour roundtrip to see them this weekend. We'll see. Thanks to Ars Nova for doing this. They've gotten the Singers in Philly twice in barely more than six months, which is awesome. Keep it up--but not on a school night next time Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kwhitehead Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 They played longer than I expected them to. I'm glad I came to my senses and realized driving down there and back tonight would've been a disaster for the rest of my work week. I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure it wowed me enough to go through the 10-hour roundtrip to see them this weekend. We'll see. Thanks to Ars Nova for doing this. They've gotten the Singers in Philly twice in barely more than six months, which is awesome. Keep it up--but not on a school night next time Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kwhitehead Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Saw the NYC show last night. Amazing stuff all around, not a slouch in the bunch. Only complaint was that Nels' guitar, at times, got lost in the din. He needed to be louder. So happy I saw this. Le Poisson Rouge is a swanky place to see a show. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bigloop Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 The Celestial Septet (ROVA Saxophone Quartet and the Nels Cline Singers)February 25, 2011Institute for Contemporary Art - Boston, Mass The glass venue and the blowing snow made for an one-of-a-kind (perhaps once-in-a-lifetime) spacescape backdrop to the performance. Two sides of the room are 50-foot walls of glass overlooking Boston Harbor. The rain changed over to howling and sideways blowing snow early in the set, creating the sense of hurtling through space. The occasional ship passing by completed the illusion. Transportive out-jazz, described as a blending of composition and improvisation. There was scarcely a groove to be heard, favoring layered soundscapes and moods. There was no obvious band leader, rather all took turns as musical director, with their near-arcane hand gestures marking position and direction. The snow peaked during Nels' onslaught crescendo in the set-closing 'Who's to Know', a searing half-hour journey of multiple emotive states, personal expression, building and releasing tensions, and rising and dissolving harmonies. ROVA should have been reason enough, but their pairing with Nels Cline got me down from NH in a snowstorm for this show. Wonderful to see him work his manic pedal magic with both hands and feet, jerkily and obsessively adjusting his sound while playing lightening-fast runs. Drummer Scott Amendola too displayed a mastery over his own electronics, looping toms and static and beeps and bleeps, most satisfying in the show closer, Nels' composition 'The Buried Quilt', when all left the stage save for Amendola whose sci-fi meets Sun Ra electronica was met with echoes from the quartet from the top and back of the room, slowly descending the stairs and coalescing on stage in some sort of alien communication and eventual realization of a common language, ending in a final free-jazz blowout. A woman approached me at setbreak with her program in her hand and a quizzical look on her face. An obvious fan of chorale, she wondered, 'Where are the singers? Will they be out for the second set?' She was crestfallen to learn that the Nels Cline Singers were a purely instrumental trio. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Three dollars and 63 cents Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 A woman approached me at setbreak with her program in her hand and a quizzical look on her face. An obvious fan of chorale, she wondered, 'Where are the singers? Will they be out for the second set?' This just made me laugh so hard! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hixter Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 I see that Nels has added some shows to his calendar, including one with Deerhoof and another with Devin Hoff on the bill. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Three dollars and 63 cents Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 Deerhoof *and* Nels the day after my birthday? Hot damn Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bböp Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 I see that Nels has added some shows to his calendar, including one with Deerhoof and another with Devin Hoff on the bill. The gig at the Hideout with Devin (and Frank Rosaly and Dave Rempis) should be very cool; I'll be at that one. And if I'm not mistaken, the Deerhoof thing is a Deerhoof and friends show in which Nels will be playing as part of the band for If By Yes, which is the project of Petra Haden and Nels' wife Yuka Honda. So that technically won't be a Nels show. But it's still cool nonetheless, and you figure he'll join Deerhoof on stage at some point. The new listing that catches my eye is the April Fool's Day show at the Stone with Nels and Vinny Golia, two improv masters who have known each other for years but I don't think have played together--at least as a duo--in quite some time (if ever). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Three dollars and 63 cents Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 Kim Gordon is doing a solo "and friends" show at the Stone the last weekend of April. I keep hoping Nels might be part of that, though I imagine it's going to be a tough show to get into. The LPR show is Deerhoof and friends and is part of Carnegie Hall's 2011 JapanNYC Festival. If By Yes was announced as an opening act a few weeks ago, though I agree with you that Nels will probably play a song or two with Deerhoof. I was already thinking of going when it was just Deerhoof, and there have been more reasons to try to make it as it's gotten closer. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
larryt Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 saw it in NYC....fantastic Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Dare I mention this? Nels is playing the Hideout on Wednesday March 9. A quartet with Rempis / Cline / Hoff / Rosaly as part of the Immediate Sound series that has been going on forever. LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jff Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 The new listing that catches my eye is the April Fool's Day show at the Stone with Nels and Vinny Golia, two improv masters who have known each other for years but I don't think have played together--at least as a duo--in quite some time (if ever). Nels and Vinny put out a duo album in 2004. That'd be a fun show to see. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 For extended talk on Nels show at the Hideout, see the jazz thread. LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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