10th ANNIVERSARY NIGHT #9

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17th, 2008

JOE'S PUB at the PUBLIC THEATER, NYC

7PM

This is when we're going to pop the corks and have a party. Joe's Pub has been my musical headquarters for almost all of the last decade, and it's only fitting that the big throwdown will be here. The best sound, the best lights, the best place to see a show in NYC, period.

Tonight will feature my original music, and a number of my "Romania" songs will get the full string quartet treatment. For those of you who missed the one and only previous outing of these songs in their final form at the Settlement House back in October, now's your chance!

Performing with me tonight will be:

Mazz Swift, Violin, Viola

Roland Barber, Trombone

Skye Steele, Violin

Bill Malchow, Piano, Accordion

Marika Hughes, Cello

Jon Flaugher, Upright Bass

...and maybe a special guest or two.

See you there!

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10th ANNIVERSARY NIGHT #8

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16th, 2008

GALAPAGOS ART SPACE

DUMBO, Brooklyn

8PM SHARP!

"we are destroyed" by Howard Fishman

A newly-revised version of my music theater project, this time directed by Ed Schmidt and featuring actors Robert Boardman, Susan Oetgen, Justin Nestor and Nicole Pacent. Also featuring a version of my quartet including Mazz Swift (violin), Jon Flaugher (bass), Ben Holmes (trumpet) and yours truly on guitar and piano.

 

10th ANNIVERSARY NIGHT #7

MONDAY, DECEMBER 15th, 2008

HOUSING WORKS BOOKSTORE/CAFE

CROSBY STREET, NYC

THE 'BASEMENT TAPES' PROJECT

Confirmed special guests include:

JOHN WESLEY HARDING (Gangsta Folk Musician)

ANTHONY DeCURTIS (ROLLING STONE, NEW YORK TIMES)

ALAN LIGHT (ROLLING STONE, NPR)

JESSI KLEIN (COMEDY CENTRAL, VH1)

Not to mention the band...

HF: Guitar, vocals

Mazz Swift: Violin

Ian Riggs: Bass

Mark McLean: Drums

Roland Barber: Trombone

10th ANNIVERSARY NIGHT #6

 

This one is gonna be pretty special...back to the place where it all started ten years ago, the Algonquin Oak Room. 

Joining me to celebrate will be my original partner in crime, the mysterious Russell Farhang on violin.

On bass is none other than Jon Flaugher:

Rounding out the quartet for the evening is legendary clarinetist Orange Kellin, a man known as one of the foremost New Orleans clarinet players alive.

Hope to see you there!

10th ANNIVERSARY NIGHT #2

Photo by Mark McLean
SHOW #2: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10th, 2008

PIANOS

158 LUDLOW STREET, NYC

8:30PM SHARP!

MONKEY FARM

Aside from being the name of my label, MONKEY FARM is also the name I use to designate a show as being somewhat grittier and louder than normal. This usually involves my big red electric guitar.

Joining me for this show will be some good old pals who will help me.  On electric guitar will is Michael Daves, the man you hear shredding on my BASEMENT TAPES record and also on LOOK AT ALL THIS!


On drums, Dave Berger will be kickin' it. Dave and I have yet to record together, but he's played on my gigs since 2000. Dave has a nasty groove.

On bass, the baddest of the bad, will be none other than Jon Flaugher, the guy you hear on I LIKE YOU A LOT and DO WHAT I WANT. JFlag is on the road most of the time these days, playing with the likes of Ryan Adams, Josh Radin and Colin Hay, but I'm happy to have him on a bunch of these anniversary shows with me. It's been some time since the big guy and I have played electric together -- we'll be taking names.

This should be a very fun night, and cheap -- only $8!  Hope to see you there.

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10th ANNIVERSARY NIGHT #1

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9th, 2008

DIZZY'S CLUB COCA-COLA, JAZZ @ LINCOLN CENTER

HOWARD FISHMAN and THE BITING FISH BRASS BAND

Featuring:

HF: GUITAR AND VOCALS

ETIENNE CHARLES: TRUMPET

ROLAND BARBER: TROMBONE

JOSE DALIVA: SOUSAPHONE

JORDAN PERLSON: DRUMS

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Radio Day

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On Monday, December 8th, I'll be talking and playing live on two of the best local indie stations around.  There may be some ticket giveaways, so tune in!

Photo by Ann VellisAt 11:00am EST, I'll be on WFUV 90.7 FM with CLAUDIA MARSHALL to talk about my upcoming shows and play a few tunes. Mazz Swift will join me on violin.  Tune in here.

Then at 3:00pm EST, I'll head down to WFMU 91.1 FM to talk and play some more with host IRENE TRUDEL, this time accompanied by Roland Barber on trombone. You can listen live here.

10th ANNIVERSARY SHOWS

Photo by Brennan Cavanaugh

I'm doing a kinda crazy thing to celebrate the tenth anniversary of what I consider my official NYC debut (at the Algonquin Oak Room, back in '99):

Beginning on Tuesday, Dec.9th, I'll be performing 10 consecutive shows, with 10 different bands, in almost 10 different venues (9 -- one venue has two different bands over two nights). 

It's going to be a little nuts, but I'm excited about it, because I'll be bringing back a number of players that have been with me over the years AND I'll be bringing back some projects that mean a lot to me, namely a new showing of "we are destroyed," , a return to the Algonquin with my erstwhile bandmates Russell Farhang and Jon Flaugher (and special guest Orange Kellin), a new outing for the Basement Tapes, and another chance to play my newest material with a string section at Joe's Pub.

I'm going to highlight each show with its own blog entry, so just scroll down over the next few days, and click away to see what's in store. 

Hope to see you at a few of them!

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Autumn in Romania

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I\m pretty excited about debuting my "Romania Project" on October 24th, 2008 here in NYC with my old pal Michael Benanav.You can buy tickets here.

You can read the longform blog post I wrote a few years ago about the trip that inspired this project here.

Performing with me will be a large cast of characters, including:

Skye Steele on violin

Roland Barber on trombone

Nathan Peck on upright bass

Mazz Swift on viola and violin

Bill Malchow on piano and accordion

and Marika Hughes on cello

Here's a preview of me and the band performing one of the songs from this cycle, "In Romania":

 

Should be a pretty special night. Hope you can make it!

Barbes 9/27/08

I'll be at BARBES in Brooklyn this Saturday night, playing in acoustic trio format with Mazz Swift on violin and Nathan Peck on upright bass. Mazz has been playing with me for years, and appears on my recordings LOOK AT ALL THIS! and BOB DYLAN & THE BAND'S 'BASEMENT TAPES.' 

Here she is playing with me at Barbes earlier this year:

 

Nathan has just started performing with me, and he's a fabulous player. He's this guy:

Barbes is one of the best places to play and hear music in the city, and it\'s also one of the smallest. Unless you plan on standing, get there early!

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Biting Fish Photos

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Here are few fine photos taken by Joan Garvin of me and the Brass Band playing an outdoor show at Riverside Park last month. In the band: Andrae Murchison (trombone), Etienne Charles (trumpet), Kenny Bentley (sousaphone) and Jordan Perlson (drums).

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Saturday, September 13th @ The Knickerbocker in NYC

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It's a two-night run at the Knickerbocker (for the full skinny, see the post about the first show on Friday, below).  

On night #2, I'll be joined by my old pals, Jon Flaugher on bass and Russell Farhang on violin.  Both guys played and toured with me extensively in my early days, and both are prominently featured on the CDs I LIKE YOU A LOT and DO WHAT I WANT (Russell also plays on HFQ Vols. I and II).

Jon is this guy:

 

Russell is this guy:

 

It's gonna be a fun time, hope you can make it!

PS Here's Russell at a show of ours in Chicago a few years back:

 

Enclosure

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Clifford Bailey Rocks

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I just happened upon some sketches that Cliff did at the band's hit at the Knitting Factory in Los Angeles back in 2004.  It was a special night with Mark McLean on drums, Sam Bardfeld on violin, Kevin Louis on trumpet and surprise appearances by old friends Erik Jekabson (trumpet) and Joyce Anderson (violin).  

Cliff really captured the vibe.  If you don\'t know his work, check out cliffordbailey.com!

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FRIDAY, SEPT. 12, 2008 @ The KNICKERBOCKER in NYC

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One of the things this blog may be useful for is to give audiences a preview of what a given upcoming show(s) will be like.Because my bands and projects change from night to night, and because they're all simply called "Howard Fishman," people often don't know what to expect. Let's start to change that a little, shall we?

This weekend, on Friday, 9/12 and Saturday, 9/13, I'll be performing at The Knickerbocker in New York City. Both nights will feature predominantly jazz standards, played in trio format. 

Joining me on Friday will be Victor Lin on violin and Ian Riggs on upright bass.  

Victor is this guy:

Victor toured with me extensively back in 2004. He's a virtuosic player, swings hard, and has a strange sense of humor. Plus, at The Knickerbocker, he gets to show off his skills on both violin AND piano (his primary instrument. 

Playing bass is this guy:

Ian's been playing with me fairly steadily since 2004 as well, and he appears on two of my CDs: LOOK AT ALL THIS! and my BASEMENT TAPES Project recording.  Aside from his fine, always-creative playing on the bass, Ian is also adept at singing harmonies with me and bouncing around stylistically like STEVE.

Here's a clip of Victor and Ian playing with me a while back at BARBES:

The Knickerbocker is a funny place. It's a well-known jazz venue, but it's also an old-school NY culinary destination.  When the music starts at 9:45, the place is usually still jammed full of diners chowing down who may or may not know that there is live music being played.  This always makes the first set a little dodgy, from a musical perspective.  

My suggestion is to come for one of the later sets: 11pm, 12:15am or 1:30am.  The kitchen is open late, so you won't miss the food, and the noise level will abate as the evening goes on, making the music much more listener-friendly and intimate.

Jazz standards? Yeah, but as the evening wears on, that becomes a more and more relative concept of what we play, when originals, gospel and even some country music starts to work into the sets.

Hope to see you there. Don't miss the cornbread!