Ailey: Ronald K. Brown's "Dancing Spirit" (video)

Ronald K. Brown pays tribute to Judith Jamison with Dancing Spirit, a new work that echoes the title of Jamisons autobiography. Set to music by Duke Ellington, Wynton Marsalis, Radiohead and War, Brown uses movement from Cuba, Brazil and the United States to conjure dancing spirits who embody the elegance, vision, dignity and generosity of Jamison.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater returns to The Citi Performing Arts Center's Wang Theatre April 15-18
(Dancing Spirit will be performed April 15 and 17).

Online Auction is underway - check it out!

Consider this an invitation from Aisle Be
Seeing You: The Celebrity Series of Boston's Standing O!
Auction is now open for bidding!

Auction by the numbers:

7 Red Sox games
6 Concert programs
5 Health & Fitness
4 Personal pampering
3 Theatre events
2 Hotel & Travel
1 Bose Wave radio

The auction will run from March 15,
2010 to April 18, 2010. All proceeds support the Arts, Education and
Community Program of the Celebrity Series. Tell your friends, your
family, and your community, and let the bidding begin!

Check out the Standing O! Online Auction

Kuumba Singers at Symphony Hall

Preparing to go on with Bobby McFerrin, Sunday, March 21, 2010.

Globe: "Improvising, McFerrin style"

The Boston Globe had a chat with Bobby McFerrin recently and the results appeared in today's print edition, just in time to preview his concert at Symphony Hall this Sunday afternoon. He talked about appearing on the TV program Sing-Off! and the story of VOCAbuLarieS, his upcoming recording, eight years in the making. Here's a snippet:

"I have always played to mixed audiences on every level — age, type of
music, on and on. There are always people who remember 'Don't Worry, Be
Happy,' and I’m happy they remember it, of course. But, like any artist
over 20 years, I've moved on. Fortunately, I’ve moved on in a lot of new
directions, which keep it all fresh and inventive."

Read all of Improvising, McFerrin style.

Check out Bobby McFerrin at Symphony Hall this Sunday at 3pm, brought to you by the Celebrity Series of Boston (ahem).

0MG D00D, a Leetspeak posting (and a video)

 
Something for all you Leet speakers out there ...

0MG D00D 8088Ψ |\/|<I=€221|\| 15 T3H l_l83Я 1337 Я0XX0ЯZ!

Translation for the rest of us:

OMG, dude, Bobby McFerrin is the über-elite rocks-er!

Um, so he is. Come check him out this Sunday at Boston's Symphony Hall.

Globe review of Black Grace Dance Company

Karen Campbell's review of Black Grace Dance Company (in the photo above) is informative and positive (our favorite kind of review!), but my personal favorite bit comes from the comment section:

"I arrived tired and left buoyant."

High praise in a busy world.

Here is Karen's review.

Check out Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in "Hymn" (video)

Check out Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Hymn.



And don't miss them at Citi Wang Theatre this April 15-18.

200K ... a little or a lot?

This blog has just hit 200,000 page views since its creation in mid-2005.

For me, it seems like both a colossal figure and, well, not very much for 4 and a half years of posting. Expressed in Uraguayan pesos it doesn't seem like much either; just ask Pedro Figari (the guy on the bill). And then when you consider how many of this blog's visitors were just trolling for free images ... um, hey, has anybody been to any good concerts lately?

Black Grace dances at Perkins School for the Blind

They are performing this weekend at Boston's Paramount Theatre, but members of New Zealand's Black Grace Dance Company took some time to work with students at the Perkins School for the Blind today as part of the Celebrity Series Arts, Education and Community Program. The class was funded by The Peabody Foundation.

The video above was shot by Martin Finucane for an article on Boston.com.

Here is The Boston Herald's coverage of the same event.

Max Raabe wows Paramount crowds, reviewers

He's glamorous, he's suave, he's totally Weimar. His deadpan delivery and tuxedoed band played two fantastic concerts at the Paramount Theatre last week. Ironically, Max Raabe, playing music of the 1920s and 30s, is a man of the moment.

Here are two reviews of his show:

Boston Herald (Bob Young)

Boston Globe (Matthew Guerrieri)

Two views of Perlman's concert

The first hint of Spring is upon us and dissent is in the air. Two takes on Itzhak Perlman's Sunday afternoon recital have appeared online. Enjoy:

Jeremy Eichler for The Boston Globe

Thomas Garvey, The Hub Review

We welcome the conversation. And I would like an iced tea, please.

On the verge of 200,000 ...

I estimate Aisle Be Seeing You will reach 200,000 page views in about a week. Sobering stuff. Definitely more than just Mom checking in ...

Itzhak Perlman's stage-announced selections from Sunday

No use keeping any of you in the dark about yesterday's recital by Itzhak Perlman, Here are the selections that Mr. Perlman announced from the
stage at his recital on Sunday:

Kreisler
Chanson Louis XIII and Pavane in the Style of Couperin

Hummel (trans. Heifetz)
Rondo in E-flat Major

Gluck (trans. Heifetz)
Melodie from Orfeo ed Euridice

Brahms (trans. Kreisler)
Hungarian Dance No. 2

Wienawski (trans. Kreisler)
Etude-Caprice in A minor Op. 18 No. 4

Williams
Theme from “Schindler’s List”

Bazzini
Dance of the Goblins

Rest in peace, Ray Smith

Ray Smith, host of The Jazz Decades on WGBH since 1972 has died at 87.

Check out Ray Smith in his own words and selections from among the more than 1900 programs he recorded between 1972 and the present, here.

More of Ray

Very sad. Listening to Ray was (is) like hanging out with an old friend; so glad we have the recordings.

Aardvark helps out at Paramount

Here's a pic of our friends the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra onstage at the newly refinished, refurbished, Paramount Theater. They graciously agreed to hold a rehearsal on the stage to help us test the sound system in advance of the concert by Max Raabe & Palast Orchester this Saturday. Onlookers were treated to a truly remarkable vocal solo of some duration by leader Mark Harvey, who typically plays trumpet. The shape of jazz to come?

Reviews of Leipzig Gewandhaus Celebrity Series performance

Last Thursday was a rainy, blustery night, but concertgoers flocked to hear the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra at Symphony Hall. It was the orchestra's 7th Celebrity Series appearance and it's second under the baton of Maestro Riccardo Chailly. Pianist Louis Lortie filled in for an injured Nelson Freire.

Boston Globe review by Jeremy Eichler

Boston Herald review by Keith Powers

Here are some other news highlights from the tour:

The Newark Star-Ledger

The Orange County Register

Sfist

David Soyer, founding cellist of Guarneri Quartet (1923-2010)

Guarneri String Quartet publicity photo (Soyer is on far right) 

David Soyer, the founding cellist of the Guarneri String Quartet, which was formed in 1964 at Vermont's famed Marlboro Music Festival, died Feb. 24 at his home in Manhattan. He had turned 87 on Feb. 23.

Mr. Soyer performed with the Guarneri String Quartet in concerts presented by the Celebrity Series of Boston on 38 occasions from 1967 to 2001, the year he retired from the group.

The New York Times (Daniel Wakin)

The Philadelphia Inquirer (David Patrick Stearns)

The Baltimore Sun, Clef Notes (Tim Smith)

It's Fee Free Week II

Fee Free Week, "the offer so nice we tried it twice," is back! All performances remaining in the Celebrity Series of Boston 2009-2010 season are available with NO ticket fees from March 1-5. By phone only, at 617-482-6661 (Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm). Check out the schedule of performances here.

Of check out this list: the amazing one-man vocal show Bobby McFerrin, jazz vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater, the extraordinary all-male chorus Chanticleer, author David Sedaris, Imani Winds with jazz vibraphonist Stefon Harris, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Israeli cellist and multi-media artist Maya Beiser, classical pianist Maurizio Pollini, baritone Thomas Quasthoff and more ...