Valentine's Ball at Barbes!

Though someone once proclaimed in a song that "each day is Valentine's Day", you won't get to see a gig like this just any day, even in Brooklyn! I'm thrilled that Hearing Things will be sharing the stage with these wonderful bands tonight at Barbes. 

9pm: The Fraternal Order of the Society Blues--disciples of Blues legend Carolina Slim play soulful tuneful songs that the people understand

10pm: Hearing Things--"kind of Middle Eastern flavored surf rock with old-school R&B honking and striptease-worthy themes" (Chicago Reader)

11pm: The Sway Machinery--"unclassifiable, uplifitng" (The New Yorker)

Three Magicians: Farmers by Nature at the Stone

I made it out last night to Craig Taborn's residency at the Stone to hear the improvising group Farmers by Nature with Gerald Cleaver and William Parker. It was my first experience seeing them live, and the room was packed with free jazz musicians and aficionados. Before they started playing Gerald Cleaver remarked to the audience, "So should we pray now or later"?, perhaps in response to the hushed expectation that was beginning to electrify the room.
As they started playing the music immediately had a very physical, tactile feeling, especially watching Craig Taborn and William Parker. There was nothing "abstract" about their improvising, everything felt rooted in the body.....or in the earth? Does the name of the band imply something to this effect? "Farmers" of the primordial soil of music?
Every time I see Craig Taborn play the piano I'm struck by the way he's able to completely transform the instrument through the power of his musical imagination and staggering technique. There's always a moment where my ears stop registering the sounds as originating from the piano and the music enters a transcendent realm of pure sound.

Hearing Things at Music Hall of Williamsburg!

Very excited for this one. We had a great time touring with Will Butler in March but didn't get to do a show in New York with him. Also excited to have a comedian on the bill, Jo Firestone!

We play at 9pm, get your tickets here!

Here's a hilarious informational video about the show.

Hearing Things at the Hive tonight!

Another night of psychedelic-surf-rock-jazz-exotica with Hearing Things tonight,
October 23rd at the Hive in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

We're sharing the bill with Nikhil P. Yerawadekar & Low Mentality and Kendra Morris. We're on at 8pm and we would love to play....for YOU.

Here's a video of some recent live footage of the band at the Slipper Room in NYC.

Kenny Warren Quartet at Threes Brewing

Playing tonight with the Kenny Warren Quartet at the newest addition to Brooklyn's Gowanus-area music venues, Threes Brewing! This place has been a great new home to live music in Brooklyn, especially as a host to the recent Sound Minds Festival. I'm excited to play Kenny's music with this great band!

Kenny Warren - Trumpet and compositions

Satoshi Takeishi - Drums

Noah Garabedian - Bass

JP Schlegelmilch - Piano

Sound Minds Music Festival

Very excited for this new jazz festival at Three's Brewing in Brooklyn this Sunday. I'll be playing with Hearing Things at midnight. Please come out and support this festival, it's a great lineup of Brooklyn jazz/improvised music at its finest and there are hopes of it becoming an annual event.

$30 for SIX BANDS + 2 FRESH BEERS

7 pm - Miss Elie Sorbsel featuring Emilie Lesbros

8 pm - Bizingas Plays the Blues featuring Brian Drye, Kirk Knuffke, Jonathan Goldberger plus special guests Hank Roberts and Tom Rainey

9 pm - Dustin Carlson's Air Ceremony featuring DC, Mike Baggetta, Danny Gouker, Kate Gentile and Josh Sinton

10 pm - The Kate Gentile Quartet featuring KG, Jeremy Viner, Adam Hopkins and Matt Mitchell

11 pm - FOLKLORDS featuring Ajemian Jason, Peter Hanson, Nathaniel Morgan, Owen Stewart-Robertson and Jason Nazary.

12 am - Matt Bauder's Hearing Things featuring Matt Bauder, Jp Schlegelmilch and Vinnie Sperrazza

Tickets can be purchased in advance here:
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2019312

Laila and Smitty at Barbes

This week I caught Kenny Warren's band Laila and Smitty at Barbes celebrating the release of their 2nd album. They're really pushing their avant-Americana style in new directions with more layered rhythms and some African-sounding textures reminiscent of tUnE-yArDs. Kenny's singing is understated but very emotionally direct. The band is great, and it was nice to hear Jeremiah Lockwood again on dobro, who was originally in the band before he moved to the west coast.