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Archive for the ‘GigMaven Events’ Category

Randy Johnston’s Pursuits Unknown at Banjo Jim’s

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

Banjo Jim’s is a social, down-to-earth musicians hang where players can let their hair down.

Here’s Randy Johnston, and his Pursuits Unknown playing “Fool’s Paradise.”

It’s always awesome to see Randy play, and this gig was no exception. He’s backed here by a solid bunch:

with Sam Raderman on guitar, Bomi Choi on drums and David Cutler on bass.

“Fool’s Paradise” was written by Mabel Cordle, Jerry Fuller and Robert Geddins, and recorded famously by Sam Cooke.

You can see Johnston and Pursuits Unknown this Friday, March 12 at Two Boots Brooklyn.

Also check out Randy playing with Lou Donaldson at the Village Vanguard in April. They’re starting their 5-night stand on April 6th.

Tags: Arts, Bands and Artists, Banjo, Banjo Jim's, blues, Guitar, Lou Donaldson, Music, randy johnston, sam cooke, Village Vanguard
Posted in GigMaven Events, Music Industry - General | No Comments »

New York Soul

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

Recessionmusik-Digging up some of the best live music NYC has to offer for less than $20.00 but more than $0.50. This is the 3rd entry in a series of eight.

I had the spicy pleasure of checking out New York’s Spanglish Fly play their “First Fridays” gig at Camaradas El Barrio this weekend.

Here they are playing “New York Soul” to a packed dance floor.

Spanglish Fly is Atsushi Tsumura, trumpet, Charly Rodriguez, timbales, Christelle Durandy, percussion, Dmitri Moderbacher, bass, Erica Ramos, lead vocals, Gabo Tomasini, percussion, Jonathan Flothow, bari sax, Jonathan Goldman a/k/a Jonny Semi-Colón, trumpet, Martin Wallace, piano, Mick Santurio, congas, Rose Imperato, tenor sax and Sebastian Isler, trombone.

Catch Spanglish Fly this Friday at the Shrine, or the first Friday of every month at Camaradas El Barrio.

Tags: Bass guitar, Music, New York, New York City, Percussion instrument, Piano, Singing, Tenor saxophone, Trombone, Trumpet
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Fresh Funky Tuneskees

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

Solos from John Wriggle on bone, Fred Fielder on trumpet, Charles Lee on tenor sax, Randy Johnston on geetar.

Next Ex Caminos gig you ask? See them at the Shrine with the Funky Fritters for the Jumbo Gumbo Mardis Gras Party on Saturday Feb. 13th at 8 pm.

Tags: Arts, Brass, Jazz, Music, Tenor saxophone, Trumpet, Vocal, Winds
Posted in GigMaven Events | 3 Comments »

More Freshness/Passion from Saturday Night

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

Here’s Crosby debuting “Deja Vu” in Greenpoint.

And “Over My Head” from perennial GigMaven favorite, Sean Allen Fenn. Look out for his twice/month Wednesday DJ party happening tonight!

Tags: Add new tag, Arts, Arts and Entertainment, Déjà vu, Disc jockey, DJ, Music, Netherlands, Techno
Posted in GigMaven Events | 1 Comment »

A Little Bit of Passion on a Saturday Night: The GigMaven Revue @ Coco 66

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

Recessionmusik-Digging up some of the best live music NYC has to offer for less than $20.00 but more than $0.50. This is the 1st part of the 2nd entry in a series of 8.

This past Saturday, GigMaven was very happy to share Greenpoint’s Coco 66 with friends and four great acts. Against the cold and the broken G train, Crosby, Sean Allen Fenn, Vinyl Life and the Ex Caminos tore the house apart. Thank you to everyone that came out and let’s do it again soon. Here’s a video featuring NYC’s Vinyl Life.

More footage from Sean Allen Fenn Crosby and Ex Caminos to come.

Tags: Audio, Coco 66, Entertainment, GigMaven, Greenpoint, hip-hop, Music, New York City, Recordings, Shopping, Vinyl
Posted in GigMaven Events | No Comments »

The Ex Caminos-Sugar Bar NYC

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

Recessionmusik-Digging up some of the best live music NYC has to offer for less than $20.00 but more than $0.50. This is the 1st entry in a series of 8.

Missed the $10 cover by going early + $15 drinks + $5 tip = $20.00 for three hours of premium live music.

I went to check out these guys at Ashford and Simpson’s Sugar Bar after meeting leader Brett Forman outside of a Sharon Jones concert. He was giving away free CDs in promotion of a gig a few weeks later. Turns out, the band is both top notch and easy to catch around Manhattan and Brooklyn.

“Suds/Dujii”

Jazz/soul veteran Randy Johnston was guest guitarist with New York City’s The Ex Caminos on Saturday. I get the feeling he plays with the group for the joy of it. That’s Randy ripping it up at the start of the video. He’s in the middle of “Suds,” an Ex Caminos blues favorite.

The Ex Caminos have been a staple of the New York soul/funk scene for quite some time. You can trace their roots back to 1993 when a handful of WKCR DJs started practicing Sundays when they could get some rehearsal space at the Columbia University station.

Since their founding, way back when, The Ex Caminos have opened for Galactic, Sex Mob, Busta Rhymes, and Ani DiFranco. Within just a year the group was playing regularly at famed eclectic venue, Tramps NYC, the former New York after hours home to Prince, George Clinton and A Tribe Called Quest.

Only band leader/guitarist Brett Forman and trombone player/musical director Jon Wriggle are left from the early days. The current lineup is Rich Chapple on bass guitar, Fred Fiedler on trumpet, Charles Lee on woodwinds, Seth Goldberg on drums, Dennis McCumber on guitar and Pete Santilli on keys. Frequent subs include Bob Gingery on bass, Eric Kalb on drums, Satoru Ohashi on trumpet and George Rush on bass and tuba.

On the Sugar Bar video, you’ll see the standard lineup with a few changes. Morgan Price (awesome tone, of Ikebe Shakedown fame) subs tenor sax for Charles Lee, and Fred Fiedler is absent on trumpet.

The Ex Caminos are one of the newest groups to sign up for GigMaven, and we look forward to hearing them this Saturday at Coco 66.

Tags: Bass guitar, Columbia University, Guitar, Musical ensemble, New York, New York City
Posted in GigMaven Events | 1 Comment »

Feature Article: TENSE winner of Victory’s Band Showdown

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

I had the opportunity to speak with Wayne from the band TENSE. Great attitude, purely professional, and totally fun.

A few weeks back TENSE won the Victory’s Band Showdown, which included a prize of $250, a paid featured gig at Victory’s, a GigMaven podcast interview, and a GigMaven featured blog post. TENSE had the crowd hopping around, screaming, and dancing on stage. I enjoyed their performance along with the supportive attitudes.

If you’re looking to book a fun band that can get a crowd going, then you should definitely consider TENSE. Again, I can’t stress enough how supportive and professional these guys are. Check them out on MySpace or GigMaven and leave a comment or head out to one of their shows. You will not regret it.

One of the craziest things that has happened to TENSE during a live performance was a women actually went on stage an started undressing them. You should take a listen to the podcast to learn more.

Let us know what you think and leave a comment!

Tags: book gigs online, Columbus, Cover Band, Ohio, podcast, professional, TENSE, Victory's Band Showdown, Victory's Columbus
Posted in GigMaven Events, GigMaven Podcasts | No Comments »

Victory’s Band Showdown

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

TENSE TENSE, winner of the Victory’s Band Showdown.

Here are some clips and pics from the Victory’s Band Showdown on August 29th.

To give you a quick background on the event:

4 bands were chosen to perform based on electronic fan voting on GigMaven’s Facebook App. The winner received $250, a paid featured gig at Victory’s, a podcast with GigMaven, and a featured blog post on the GigMaven Blog.

After each band performed I recorded the reaction of the crowd with a decibel reader. Then, at the end of the night I asked the audience to scream for the band they wanted to win and I recorded the decibel level once again for each band. I had to put on my thinking cap and add all the numbers up. Second grade math finally came in handy after all!

View More Videos from the Event Here.

TENSE ended up the winner of the Victory’s Band Showdown with a total of 236.8 decibels.

TENSE

The Clay Peterson Project

Lackluster

Help Is On The Way

In the end, the fans had a great time, I had a great time, and a few of the musicians told me the audience was great and they appreciated the opportunity to perform.

It was our pleasure.

The Clay Peterson Project

Tags: Battle of the Bands, book gigs online, GigMaven, Help is on the way, Lackluster, TENSE, The Clay Peterson Project, Victory's
Posted in GigMaven Events | No Comments »

GigMaven NYU Battle of the Bands: Now on Video!

Monday, June 1st, 2009

Hey everyone,

I put together a video of our awesome bands from the Battle of the
Bands. A quick final thanks to everyone involved in the event:
everyone at Le Poisson Rouge, GigMaven, Zander, the bands and everyone
who came to support the bands. That’s what this is about at the end of
the day – helping bands pursue their dreams.

Signing off – for now,
Brent Davis

Tags: Battle of the Bands, Le Poisson Rouge, Zander
Posted in GigMaven Events | No Comments »

NYU vs. Columbia Battle of the Bands

Sunday, April 26th, 2009

What an event, folks!

April 23rd – the throw-down of the year. 2 NYU bands, 2 Columbia bands. We saw quite the gamut of people, of music, of life – a jazz influenced rock band featuring three Columbia baby-faced freshmen known as Capital; a Columbia grad student ensemble featuring electronic violin known as El Diablo Robotico; an NYU pop rock tour-de force known as The Middle Eight; an eclectic group of NYU musicians known as Condom Pocket.

Everyone really tore the house down in their own way. At the end, we held a vote by crowd noise to determine which band would come away with the prize of a meeting with GigMaven friend and veteran tour manager, Chris. When the crowd noise was too close (see Florida, 2000) between two bands,Capital and The Middle Eight, we split the room to get a head-count of supporters. After a Middle Eight supporter hurdled an insult at me for saying the vote was too close, I triumphantly awarded the victory to the rookies, Capital. What an upset victory!

Here are some pictures from the show: