(Posted this afternoon on the TONY Blog)
We've been enjoying the sounds we've been hearing from Victrola, a newish all-female "bandsemble" led by classically trained composer and groove-oriented keyboardist Missy Mazzoli. Turns out, however, that a certain multinational media conglomerate we won't specify felt the group's name infringed upon that of one of its long out-of-use label imprints, which necessitated a change for Mazzoli and her bandmates (Olivia di Prato and/or Andie Springer on violin, clarinetist Eileen Mack, keyboardist Lorna Krier and double-bassist Eleonore Oppenheim).
Graciously accepting defeat, Mazzoli declared Victoire to be the new name of her group, which you can catch on a double bill with the always-amazing So Percussion at Galapagos Art Space in DUMBO on Wednesday, January 28 at 8pm. It'll only cost you $10 to get in, so we don't want to hear any excuses. You can hear some of Victrola's Victoire's music on its MySpace page, but Mazzoli has graciously slipped us a demo track you can stream right here:
We have to imagine that Mazzoli's not wasting much time fretting over the name change; after all, she's got a massive year ahead. In addition to Victoire's debut CD, Cathedral City, which will be issued this fall by—everyone say it together now—New Amsterdam Records, Mazzoli is busy getting ready for this year's MATA Festival, which takes over (Le) Poisson Rouge Mar 31–Apr 4. (The self-described "delinquent tap dancer turned insomniac composer" serves as the festival's executive director.)
But wait, there's more! The fabulous new-music sextet eighth blackbird will be unveiling Mazzoli's promisingly titled Still Life with Avalanche at the University of Richmond's Modlin Center on March 25. (You can bet we'll be shaking someone down for a recording.) And during the press conference announcing the 2009–10 Carnegie Hall season earlier this week, we were excited to see one of Mazzoli's greatest hits, the extremely beautiful orchestral piece These Worlds In Us, on an American Composers Orchestra concert scheduled for April 9, 2010.
Well, it's about time! We were spreading the word on Missy over at Sequenza21 more than two years ago:
http://www.sequenza21.com/index.php/131
She's definitely worth watching and hearing in years to come.
Posted by: Steve Layton | January 23, 2009 at 11:07 PM