Dane Khan and Lakha Khan.
So many great shows have been happening in Nashville lately that I haven’t been able to keep up with them all. Concurrence’s Greg Bryant had a hand in bringing the legendary organist Dr. Lonnie Smith to town. (By the way, check out Greg’s excellent new podcast JazzWatch.) Chris Davis organized a show with Carter Thornton, Malocchio, and Grandpa Egg. And Sunday brought Michael Holland’s magnum opus in art curating: VORTEX and the BAD BOY!
If you missed any of those shows, don’t fret. The rest of April is loaded to the gills with rare opportunities!
On Friday, April 12th, there’s the legendary jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter at Schermerhorn. Ben Ratliff of The New York Times called Shorter “jazz’s greatest living composer.”
Chris Davis organized at least three amazing lineups in the coming weeks, including Saturday at Betty’s Bar & Grill: The Wrest Trio (Jack Wright/Evan Lipson/Ben Bennett) and Craig Schenker/Tommy Stangroom.
Jack Wright is the legendary underground experimental saxophonist whom Davey Williams called “the Johnny Appleseed of Free Improvisation.” (Yes, I’ve used the word “legendary” three times so far. It’s the right word in all cases.) To see a force of nature like Jack Wright engulf the tiny room at Betty’s, well that’s just an experience you can’t afford to miss. The saxophone/percussion duo of Craig Schenker and Tommy Stangroom open the show.
The very next night, catch, yes I’ll say it, the fourth legend this month: Ustad Lakha Khan at the Downtown Presbyterian Church. Lakha Khan plays the sindhi sarangi, a bowed North Indian folk instrument with a tone similar to the human voice.
Lakha Khan, 63 is a sarangi player and vocalist, and perhaps the greatest exponent of the sindhi sarangi. He was born in the village of Raneri in Jodhpur district, Rajasthan, India into a family of traditional musicians from the Manganiyar community. He was trained at an early age by his father Tharu Khan and later, by his uncle Mohammad Khan, in rendering the compositions of the Multan school of Manganiyars. His first public performances were in the late 60’s and 70’s under the guidance of the late Komal Kothari, a highly regarded Indian historian and ethnomusicologist. Today, Lakha Khan is one of the last remaining Manganiyars to have mastered this complex instrument and to carry forward the centuries-old musical tradition of Rajasthani folk and Sufi music. He has performed extensively across Rajasthan and India, and internationally in the U.S. and Europe. — Amarrass Records
Nashville’s Kirby Shelstad opens the show on tabla and vocal. Chris Davis organized.
On Tuesday, April 23rd, DJ’s Pub & Grill welcomes Chris Corsano, Leslie Keffer, and The Cherry Blossoms. Percussionist Chris Corsano is a member of Drag City’s Rangda and plays in a duo with saxophonist Paul Flaherty. He was a touring musician with Bjork and was featured on her album Volta. He also recorded with Evan Parker, Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore, Jim O’Rourke, Jandek, and C. Spencer Yeh.
Leslie Keffer is an internationally-known noise artist who currently calls Nashville home. The Cherry Blossoms describe themselves as “Middle Tennessee’s finest anarchic post neo-skiffle collective specializing in kazoo-exotica.” Keffer and Chris Davis organized this show.
In addition to all of that, we at Noa Noa are hosting an Electro-Dance party featuring Nudity, Scale Model, and The Prime Ordeal on Friday, April 19th. Nashville Film Festival pass-holders get in free. This show isn’t experimental per-se, but it does feature three great acts incorporating electronics into their sound. This will be the first public performance by The Prime Ordeal, an electronic duo comprised of Robert Amsbary and Shawn Jenkins who “explore exotic and subconscious soundscapes through an improvised medium of rhythmic sample looping, steeped in elektronische musik and pseudo-musique concrète.” For those of you in Huntsville, Alabama, catch rising stars Nudity the very next day at Happenin Fest 2013 at Lowe Mill.