On Wednesday evening at Lincoln Center, the Asphalt Orchestra, Bang on a Can's funky new street band, made its public debut with a rousing set of charts by Stew and Heidi Rodewald, Meshuggah, Charles Mingus, Tyondai Braxton and Goran Bregovic. Presented by Lincoln Center Out of Doors, choreographed by Susan Marshall and costumed by Elizabeth Clancy, the 12-piece ensemble raised an entertaining ruckus, delighting in-the-know observers as well as slightly startled passersby.
On Time Out New York's music blog, The Volume, we ran a brief rehearsal video not quite a month ago. My colleague Hank Shteamer posted his observations and photos on the blog this evening. You'll find a succinct, smart piece by Justin Davidson on the New York magazine site. Look for Tony Tommasini's New York Times review on Friday.
You can catch the Asphalt Orchestra somewhere outside of Lincoln Center this Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights at 7pm, with different tunes and drills each night. After the jump, the rest of the peerless iPhone photos I sent out via Twitter during the event, with the accompanying tweets and a few untweeted outtakes.
The program(s) for tonight's Asphalt Orchestra debut
Jane Moss and @activecultures [a.k.a. Bill Bragin] introduce #asphaltorchestra
Up from underground, it's #asphaltorchestra playing Stew and Heidi!
#asphaltorchestra preparing to grind some Meshuggah
#asphaltorchestra plays Meshuggah's "Electric Red"
#asphaltorchestra on the lam!
And the crowd chases #asphaltorchestra
#asphaltorchestra plays among the trees
Ken Thomson [alto saxophone, right] knows his Mingus #asphaltorchestra
Funny to see prodigious bandsmen Kenny Wollesen and Matt Moran here as spectators rather than participants. #asphaltorchestra [untweeted photo; from left: Wollesen's back, Theo Bleckmann's profile, Moran's zen repose]
Rear flank before Goran Bregovic #asphaltorchestra
#asphaltorchestra gets mouthy during Bregovic
Everyone loves #asphaltorchestra!
(Bigger, clearer versions of these images can be found on my TwitPic page.)
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