Be it Lost Locker Combo on Bedford Ave. in the rain, Xenakis in a rented rowboat on Central Park Lake, or Peregrine migrating through Fort Greene during the winter solstice, Make Music New York has become The Big Apple's brightest plein air festival--Gotham's very own Fête de la Musique.
To wit, when we heard that our friends at NPR Music had teamed up with Aaron Friedman's MMNY for a truly unique commission involving BOTH Eli Keszler AND Sō Percussion, Classicalite knew exactly where we'd be at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, June 21, 2013...down under the Manhattan Bridge overpass.
Presented in collaboration with the DUMBO Improvement District, New York City's Department of Transportation, Q2 internet radio and ISSUE Project Room's onging PAN_ACT Fest, Keszler's Archway used tuned piano wires--stretching all the way from Adams Street to Anchorage Place--and mechanical beaters to conjure a rich and resonant drone for Sō's battery of snares and cymbals.
Our favorite part of this video, though? (Other than NPR's Anastasia Tsioulcas walking in and out of the frame, of course.) About 20 seconds in, a species of bird flies underneath the archway--weary of Keszler and Sō below, but oblivious to the automotive din above.
Because, like Anthony Kiedis once said, you can't not get enough under the bridge downtown, stop back by Classicalite tomorrow. We'll post a second, more active video of Eli Keszler's strings and Sō's Percussion's Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski, Jason Treuting and Eric Beach then.
And while our avian friend will not fly through again, it's still a big year, as Classicalite managed to catch an even rarer sighting of JG Thirlwell.
