Nominated for the Jazz Journalist Association’s Guitarist of this year, Marc Ribot, American guitarist and composer, has developed a career which defines the concept of independent musicians. Born in Newark, New Jersey, Marc Ribot moved just across the Hudson River that little town New York City in 1978 during his mid 20s. After playing in a few bands, such as John Lurie’s jazz assembly The Lounge Lizards during the 80s, Ribot began working alongside of some impressive folks, such as Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, and a familiar face to MASS MoCA, Nels Cline (Member of the band Wilco, the curators of our Solid Sound Music Festival) Working with international artists, Ribot has toured globally, put out 19 albums, and explored multiple areas of music, from avant-guard Jazz to Cuban sounds.

With having said all of that, proving his accomplishments on paper (or rather on a web log) actually doesn’t matter. The music speaks for itself. Ribot’s 2010 “Silent films� album is unique, ambient at times, powerful at others, and holds a sense of charm. Paired with the Charlie Chaplin classic, The Kid, Ribot’s media collaboration allows for a special connection of music and film, and certainly a very big nod to the historic progression of both genres.

On Saturday, July 9^th, at 9:00 MASS MoCA will be showing The Kid, with Marc Ribot performing his film score live in our outdoor Courtyard C, and we can’t think of a better way to spend a warm summer evening.

Photo credit: Ziga Koritnik

Ralph (aka Rafael) Farris from ETHEL offers a final update before their performance with La Nave de los Monstrous TONIGHT!  Tickets not available online but you can get them at the door so come on down!

Hola Amigos!

First of all, SORRY! Massive typo in my last posting. At the end, I had MEANT to write “Abrazos, Rafael”. But it looks like my spell-checker didn’t like the word “Abrazos”, and took it upon itself to write “Abrams, Rafael” instead.

…Abrams, Rafael? Wow. I’m a but wacky I know, but I ain’t THAT wacky. Anywho, moving on…

So we just had our run-thru. And it went swimmingly. Only a few page-turn problems and 3 or 4 note switcheroos, nothing really big to fix. Yay.

Again, very strange to feel so… calm.

Mary was playing drum rolls on her chin rest, Neil auditioned (and rejected!) a kazoo, Dorothy perfected her penny whistle performance, and my recorder playing has almost returned to a second grade level. Woo-hoo!

This movie is great. The music is a blast to play, Dorothy’s dance captain-ing is absolutely priceless, and the whole show is just darn good fun. We do hope y’all can come by. It’s gonna be a craaaaazy fiesta!

Abrazos(!),

Rafael

Our good friends Larry Murray and Caleb Hiliadis at Berkshire Fine Arts and Gay in the Berkshires did an interview with ETHEL’s Ralph Farris.  We recommend the piece as a fun read AND a great primer on how to collaborate on a film score.

In a Mexican mood thanks to their upcoming performance, ETHEL’s viola superstar Rafael (aka  Ralph Farris) reports on the quartet’s prep for their visit to North Adams.  ETHEL will accompany La Nave de Los Monstrous (Ship of Monsters) on Friday, October 30.

¡Hola Amigos!

Dorothy, Neil and I just finished a marathon work session and I’m thrilled to report that we FINISHED editing and formatting our revised parts for Friday’s show! Woo-hoo!

Now Dorothy’s off to the printer and Neil’s cataloging our ever-growing collection of percussion instruments.

This is a highly unusual turn of events. We’re normally editing parts right up until show time, so I’m going to have to find some other drama to consume me for the next few days. Any suggestions?

We’re all coming together for the final touch-up on Thursday. That’s when Mary breaks out the drum sticks, and Neil and I get to practice our recorder intonation. Folks, it just doesn’t get any better.

OK — I’m going to take a nap now. Catch y’all on Friday!

Abrams,

Rafael

If you want to get a feel for what the Purple Rain Sing A Long on Thursday will be like, listen to this excellent story from NPR about a recent presentation.

And just to fill your mind with trivia, our excellent performing arts intern Simon noted this morning that not only is this the 25th anniversary of the release of Purple Rain, but that the exact date of the release was the day Michael Jackson died these 25 years later.