Recap: "A Loveletter to New York" Show at City Winery

It was a great night of music Tuesday night at City Winery, with about a dozen acts (and various backing musicians) playing a benefit to raise funds for victims of Hurricane Sandy.

Despite all the talent that took the stage, the event, called "A Loveletter to New York," had the relaxed feel of a coffeehouse concert. Some artists sang and played guitar, while others performed with only one or two additional players, rather than the full band that might otherwise accompany them.

Jesse Malin (right) at Tuesday's show.

For me, this was a plus: the low-key, mostly acoustic setting meant that there was no downtime between acts for hauling amps, drums, etc. on and off the stage. So the performers got to spend a maximum amount of time singing and playing.

Each artist did two or three songs, and I got to see performances by acts that I'd heard of for years but had never before seen (Sasha Dobson, Ari Hest, Alberta Cross, and most of all, Nicole Atkins), as well as artists I'd seen before and enjoyed (Joan Osborne, Jesse Malin, and Matisyahu). And there were some performers who were new to me: Kevin Devine, Chris Ayer, Lesley Pike, and Bobby Long.

Matisyahu, one of the Tuesday's crowd favorites.

There were many highlights; among them: Jesse Malin rocking the crowd with "If I Should Fall from Grace with God" and "Burning on the Bowery"; Ari Hest singing "The Wake"; and Matisyahu (backed with guitar and stand-up bass) doing "Crossroads," "Live Like a Warrior," and "Happy Hanukkah."

The last two acts were Nicole Atkins and Joan Osborne, and they lived up to what amounted to headline billing. Accompanying herself on guitar, Atkins sang with a voice full of emotion as she did two of her songs, including "Neptune City" (the ode to her Jersey Shore hometown), and a cover of Roy Orbison's "Crying."

Most of the evening's musicians take the stage for the night's finale.

I had seen Joan Osborne once before, maybe a decade or so ago, and last night her voice sounded as good as it did before. I haven't kept up with her album releases since then other than hearing a tune or two on WFUV, so I was glad that two of the three songs she did were from her first album, "Relish": "St. Teresa" and her ubiquitous hit, "One of Us."

The show ended with most of the musicians returning to the stage to perform "Silent Night" and the Beatles' "In My Life," a beautiful and fitting pair of songs considering both the time of year and the concert's occasion, about seeking peace and recalling the people and places that are special to us. All in all, it was a fine concert featuring a great line-up of experienced artists.

The concert was webcast live, and an emcee at the show said some of the songs would be released on an album (no specifics yet on where or when).
 
All proceeds from "A Loveletter to New York" were to benefit the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, a charity set up in memory of FDNY firefighter Stephen Siller, who perished in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Matisyahu, Joan Osborne, Nicole Atkins, & Many More Playing Sandy Benefit Tues. at City Winery

Matisyahu has been added to what was already a great Hurricane Sandy benefit show at City Winery Tuesday, Dec. 18th, the venue announced Monday. The show, called "A Loveletter to New York," features a lot of artists who either live in the City or have close connections to it. [Update: Matisyahu announced today on his Twitter account that he will be performing three acoustic songs at the show.}

Lots of musicians with an NYC connection play a benefit at City Winery.

On the bill are Joan Osborne, Ari Hest, Nicole Atkins (who recently recorded a new version of her song "Neptune City" as a benefit), Alberta Cross, Bobby Long, Kevin Devine, Sasha Dobson, Jesse Malin, and Chris Ayer, as well as what City Winery is billing as "many more VERY big surprise guests."

Matisyahu, the international rap-reggae star, is a native of the NYC area, and performed at Terminal 5 this past Saturday.

There are still tickets available for "A Loveletter to New York," ranging from $35 to $65. The concert is listed as starting at 7 p.m. The show benefits the Tunnel to Towers foundation.

Another talent-packed with a local flavor takes place on Thursday, only this time "local" means the Hoboken/north Jersey area. Maxwell's is the site for the Holiday Banding concert, which features performances by Chris Butler, Tammy Faye Startlite, Julio Fernandez, The Gefkens, Abbe Rivers, Karen Kuhl, Jack Skuller, Dave Calamoneri, The Cucumbers with Jon & Deena, Lloyd Gold, Bianca Bob, Gene Turonis, Emily Turonis & The Ideals, Sputnik, Jim Testa, AnnaLee Van Kleeck, and Tom Vincent & The Holiday Banding House Band.

The show starts at 7 p.m., costs only $7, and all sales will benefit Rebuild Hoboken.

Music Notes: Wild Flag Played Letterman; Matisyahu Shaves His Beard; D Generation to Record; More

Here are some tidbits of music news from far and wide:

• Wild Flag made its network TV debut last night, playing "Romance" on Letterman (video below).

•  Trent Reznor "feels at home" with "Dragon Tattoo": the L.A. Times looks at how the Nine Inch Nails frontman fit right in writing the music for one of the year's most anticipated movies.

• Hasidic rap/reggae star Matisyahu shaved off his trademark beard and posted a photo of his cleanly shorn face on Twitter. He explained on his website that he is "reclaiming himself" from the many rules he used to follow, and tells his fans to "Get ready for an amazing year filled with music of rebirth." 

•  D Generation to record new music: before Jesse Malin was a solo singer-songwriter, he was in the punk band D Generation, which reformed to play a few gigs recently. Now it seems they are going to record some new tunes in 2012. I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with.

• Rolling Stone's recent issue named its 100 greatest guitarists of all time, but the list was, not surprisingly, short on women. Grrrlbeat.com mentions some of the women axe players that RS forgot.

• Visqueen disbands, but Rachel Flotard plays on: I was sad to hear that the band broke up, but was glad to learn that its leader, Bergen County, NJ native Flotard, is already at work with another project, called Cobirds Unite, with singer-songwriter Rusty Willoughby and others (including Barbara Hunter, Visqueen's cello player).

• Google Music vs. Amazon vs. iTunes: a reporter put the three major cloud music players to the test, telling who came out on top and why.

Alejandro Escovedo & Jesse Malin Rock Maxwell's

Alejandro Escovedo playing at Maxwell's Friday night.

For a great rock show with veteran musicians playing in a small venue, you couldn't do much better than Friday night's show at Maxwell's in Hoboken. On the bill were Jesse Malin and the St. Marks Social and Alejandro Escovedo and the Sensitive Boys, two bands led by men who have gone from punk rock to singer-songwriters with an edge. Both are artists who I've seen at Maxwell's before.

Malin, who was in the punk band D Generation in the 1990s, has been headlining shows for some time, and his new band St. Marks Social sounds great. To see them as the opener for a talent like Escovedo is a real treat. Escovedo's punk pedigree goes back to the 1970s in San Francisco with bands like the Nuns and Rank and File; he began his solo career (which now includes 10 albums) in 1992.

David Pulkingham and Alejandro Escovedo.

Even before he began his solo work Escovedo has blended styles including punk, folk, and country, and he continues to mix things up — perhaps not surprising, since he grew up in a musical family and has lived in places ranging from Texas and California to New York and back to Texas. I last saw Alejandro Escovedo several years ago when his album 2006 "The Boxing Mirror" came out, which featured a string section.

His current band includes drummer Hector Munez (who has been with him 28 years, Escovedo said) and guitarist David Pulkingham, both of whom play on his latest album, "Street Songs of Love."

Escovedo and the Sensitive Boys played songs from throughout his career, including "Castanets," "Down in the Bowery," "Five Hearts Breaking," "Always a Friend," and "Pissed Off 2 a.m."

Jesse Malin and Alejandro Escovedo sharing vocals during an encore.

After Escovedo's set Jesse Malin and his band returned to the stage and the two bands performed a short encore set of covers, including Whiskeytown's "Excuse Me While I Break My Own Heart Tonight," Johnny Thunders' "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory," and the Rolling Stones' "Miss You."

This was a great chance to see two great artists on one bill, and Maxwell's has some more well-regarded acts playing in its intimate confines: NRBQ on June 10th, James McMurtry on June 17th, The Feelies on July 1st and 2nd, and Fountains of Wayne on July 21st and 22nd. See the Maxwell's website for links to tickets.

Jesse Malin Plays a Marathon Show at Maxwell's

Punk rocker turned singer-songwriter Jesse Malin showed both sides of his musical personality at a show at Maxwell's in Hoboken on Friday night. Well, it was practically two shows: Malin played an engaging set with acoustic guitar, accompanied by singer and keyboardist Christine Smith, then brought on his full band for a second set. The whole evenng lasted more than an hour and a half... quite a long show by club standards.

Malin is a fun performer to see live, especially in a small venue such as Maxwell's (where I also saw him perform a New Year's Eve show a few years back). His full-band set was rocking, backed by Smith and other musicians who are longtime Malin collaborators, But even his acoustic songs can have a kind of punk edge to them.

Formerly a member of the punk group D Generation, Malin has several solo albums under his belt. The Maxwell's gig was billed as a CD release party for his latest disc, "Mercury Retrograde," a live set drawn from shows he performed at New York's Mercury Lounge.

In addition the studio albums of his own material, Malin also has a covers CD out called "On Your Sleeve," featuring some of his favorite tunes from the '70s. He performed several tunes from that CD at Maxwell's, including Paul Simon's "Me And Julio Down By The School Yard," Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side," and Jim Croce's "Operator."

Samantha Murphy's 2007 Compilation Podcast

As I've written here before, singer-songwriter Samantha Murphy has been producing the SMtv podcast, which features interviews and music with other performers... as if she wasn't busy enough with her own career!

She's really picked up the pace recently with eight new episodes since the end of October, and now she's come out with a compilation program that features some of the highlights from her 2007 podcasts. This compilation has some great artists on it, including Matthew Ryan, Abra Moore, Rob Giles, and Jesse Malin. I have to admit I haven't yet gotten up to date on the recent SMtv podcasts; Samantha has just been so prolific lately.

Maybe I'll start out listening to this compilation podcast and then work my way backwards to the individual episodes.

Jesse Malin, Eleni Mandell, and More on SMtv Podcast

When I reviewed singer-songwriter Samantha Murphy's SMtv podcast recently, I mentioned that she hadn't had a new episode up in recent months. Either she'd been very busy producing new episodes since then or was motivated by my comment (not likely), because in the last couple of weeks she's put up not one but three new SMtv epi's.

The first is with Jesse Malin, a New York-based punk rocker turned singer-songwriter who I've been a fan of for several years now. His new CD Glitter in the Gutter is getting some welcome attention because of a duet Malin does with Bruce Springsteen on one of the tunes.

The next episode features Eleni Mandell, who I also like. Can't wait to listen to this episode as well. The most recent SMtv program features Mere Mortals, a band I haven't heard of. But Murphy has a great ear for good new talent, so I'm curious to hear this program also.

You can listen to Samantha Murphy's SMTV podcast or subscribe to it.