Post-Fire Works Plans!

After the sizzle, bright lights and explosions of this July 4th weekend, you may want to cleanse your "audial palate" with some free singer-songwriter fare. BT's (Bobby Trigg's) Bistro has just the thing: an intimate evening of singer-songwriters starting at 9 pm on Tuesday, July 6th. The line up includes Chris Harford, Clemens Knieper, Johanna Warren, and Christina Ward.

BT Bistro is located at 3499 Route 1. South, next to the Clarion Palmer Inn in Princeton, NJ (just south of the Princeton Marketfair.) 

WWAC Seeks Talent for Inaugural Season

Hassidic Rabbi Bottle Dancers (NYC)

From the West Windsor Arts Council:

The new West Windsor Arts Center will open in the historic Alexander Road firehouse in September 2010 with its premiere season of performing and visual arts. The West Windsor Arts Council is seeking proposals for its Grand Opening Celebration Season, September through December 2010. Our initial season will showcase a diverse range of styles and genres, reflecting the diversity of the West Windsor community and the types of arts programs that will be a part of future offerings. Materials submitted will be reviewed and performers will be selected by the WWAC Programming Committee. If you have any questions, please email: info@westwindsorarts.org.

Submission materials

For performances including theatre, dance, instrumental and/or vocal music, performance art, puppetry, poetry, spoken word, stand-up, improv comedy, staged readings, multimedia works, or any combination of or yet to be named genres include:

1. Marketing/Supporting Materials
A listing of upcoming and recent performances
DVD or CD of the proposed work
References & reviews

2. Performing Artist Information
Name, current address, phone number, email address, and website (if applicable)
Resumé of the individual submitting the proposal and bios of all collaborators
How would you classify your work? (see list under “Submission materials” header, above.)
A short (one-page maximum) written narrative describing the work you wish to present

3. Performance Information
Age of intended audience
Space requirements
Technical requirements: what you will provide and what you will need from us
Load-in and set-up
Minimum fee requirement if applicable
Approximate length of proposed performance
Number of performers and specific collaborators you intend to engage
Has the piece been presented previously? Where and when?

The West Windsor Arts Center performance space is 52’x 38’ with flexible staging and holds 120 seats. If you would like your submission materials returned, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope. We will not return submission materials without an SASE.

SEND SUBMISSION MATERIAL TO:
West Windsor Arts CenterAttn: Programming Task Force, P.O. Box 952, West Windsor, NJ 08550

POSTMARK DEADLINE: MARCH 1, 2010

Last Freestyle Music Show of the Summer

Jean Caffeine

This Wednesday, August 12th.

7pm Jean Caffeine

8pm Radio I-Ching w/Felice Rosser

9pm Elliot Sharp 3

10pm Fire of Love featuring Bobby Radcliff

11pm James Chance Trio

$10 ADMISSION

LOCAL 269 • 269 E. HOUSTON @ SUFFOLK ST. LES NYC • 212-228-9874

Jack Wright Trio at Mill Hill

Jack Wright

This month's TAG Night at the Mill Hill is this

Wednesday, August 5, and features:

The Jack Wright/Todd Capp/Andrew Lafkas trio

The trio represents a merger of two long-standing associations between the legendary Jack Wright (saxes) and Andrew Lafkas (bass); and Andrew and Todd Capp (drums). It came together just six months ago, performing for the first time in NYC last April. Here, Jack (currently a resident of Easton, PA) returns to his roots in free jazz after ten years of exclusive focus on textural and minimal playing, picking up where he left off in the eighties and nineties. Todd's jazz roots go back to his days in Chicago when he played with members of the early Art Ensemble, and then California, before returning to NY. Andrew is a visionary young bassist hailing from Minnesota who came to NY five years ago and has been playing with a large variety of partners and in a variety of directions to great acclaim.

Damthesnes* An Opera

This is only the third performance -- and the Trenton premiere -- of this two act, two-musician improvisational opera by Wilbo Wright. Set in the unspecified future, it tells the tragic story of two brothers, Damthesnes ('damn these knees') and Hildago, who happily run a business that is “a sort of clearing house for happiness in the age of interdimensional relationships” until Damthesnes falls in love with a computer icon. Problems of operatic proportions arise with plenty of betrayal, deaths, and hand-wringing. Two musicians (in this case, Wilbo on multi-instruments and Eric Haltmeier on reeds and multi-instruments) work with a loose, but predetermined palette of sounds that portray the story line and characters. There are, however, no words, no singing, and no bad acting. For an article featuring Damthesnes, click here.

8:30PM - 12AM - ONLY $5! The Mill Hill Saloon is located at 300 S. Broad St. at the corner of Broad and Market in Trenton, NJ. 609-394-7222

TAG Night at the Mill Hill Basement takes place on the first Wednesday of the month and is curated and produced by Wilbo Wright. It's a labor of love and some of the coolest performances you'll ever see in this area -- for only a fin!

FRINGE!!!

In 1947, when 8 univited theater groups performed around the edges of the Edinburgh International Festival, they kicked off a festival series that -- more than 60 years later -- is larger and wilder than ever. The Edinburgh Fringe Festival today, with more than 2,000 shows in 250+ venues, may be the great-granddaddy of the international Fringe events, but there are several local FringeFests coming up that are worthy contenders. image by Eva Surany

The New York International Fringe Festival has been around since 1997, and coming up this August 14th - 30th, 2009, some of the top theater groups and independent performers in the world will converge in our frontyard for our entertainment. And this year, among the groups juried in, will be a contingent from Mercer County Community College.

"1-900-SELFPLEX," written by MCCC adjunct instructor Alex DeFazio and directed by Jody Person (coordinator of the college’s Theatre/Dance program) features 3 recent graduates of the MCCC Theatre Program: Deena Jiles, Patrick Martin and Michelle Wood in the feature roles. A 2009 graduate of the college, Eva Surany, is doing ad design for the production and Bob Terrano (coordinator of the college’s Entertainment Technology program) is the technical director. It will premiere on August 17 at The Studio at Cherry Lane Theatre. For tickets, additional times, and ticket information, check out the NYFringe schedule.

The Philly Fringe will be coming up September 4 - 19, so I'll post more on them later in the summer. If you haven't made it to a Fringe Festival yet, you owe it to yourself to start checking out these packed full schedules and planning a couple of visits.

One Night Only: The Giants of Jazz

photo by m. stradling

From Wilbo Wright:

GIANTS OF JAZZ WED. JULY 1, MILL HILL (SALOON) BASEMENT!

BIG JAZZ ON LITTLE INSTRUMENTS, GET IT?

FEATURING: UNCLE "The Weather Up Here's Fine" HO - piccolo and curved soprano

WILL "Travelling Gulliver" CONSTANTINE - pocket trumpet

DOUG "Too Tall" MILLER - Schoenhut toy piano, miniature bakelite organ

JOHN "You People Look Like Ants" SHERIDAN - miniature Shredder guitar

WILBO "His Head In The Clouds" WRIGHT - cello as bass

CLAUDE "I Can See Your House From Here" COLEMAN - toy drums

PLUS GUEST APPEARANCES FROM OTHER MUSICAL GIANTS!

2 SETS starting at 8:30 PM, 5 measly bucks

This is a RARE gathering of this group, born years ago from an idea out of JOE Z's head, more fun than a barrel of monkeys. Please come out and forward this message to your friends who like music (they play on toys, but the jazz is great) and have a sense of humor. The Mill Hill Saloon is located at 300 S. Broad St. in Trenton, at the corner of Broad and Market. 609-394-7222

NOTE: This is part of Wilbo's on-going TAGNight in the Mill Hill Basement, taking place every first Wednesday of the month. This is the fourth TAGNight this year, and they've been terrific.