Serge the Concierge

Free Brazilian Arts, Music, Dance and Film Festival, New School, NY, February 27

End the month of February with rays of sunshine thanks to Brazilian Arts, Music, Dance and Film Festival presented by Student Film Collective at New School in New York.

Details:

Event Date: Monday, February 27th from 6 to 9:30 – Location: Wollman Hall – Event Name: The New School Brazilian Arts, Music, and Film Festival  “Free Food, Films, Live Concerts by 2 Brazilian Bands from the Jazz School – Amanda Ruzza/Chris Stover Quintet and – Scott Kettner’s Maracatú NY Free to New School Students Come hang, eat and dance with us right after you are done with class!

Last sentence makes me wonder if it is opened to general public. I guess it is since they are spreading the word via social media.

Be Bop, Jazz Cats, Beat Beat Wall at Chelsea Space, Jazz Inspired Art and Textiles

Think jam session for the eyes, standards re-invented.

Beat beat wall features jazz inspired artworks and print textiles at Chelsea Space in London.

Free admission.

Lloyd Johnson: The Modern Outfitter of Choice for Performers from Tom Waits to Kid Creole, London Exhibit, Jan 24-March 3

The Chelsea Space team in London always comes up with an array of topics for its exhibits.

Half of them about subjects or personalities I am not familiar with until I discover the program.

Such is the case with upcoming show Lloyd Johnson: The Modern Outfitter which opens on January 24 and runs until March 3, 2012.

Here's a little background on how Lloyd Johnson straddled the music and fashion spheres from program notes:

"The story goes that five or so years ago a Chelsea inhabitant encountered Bob Dylan standing outside the dry cleaner’s which now occupies 406 King’s Road.
Dylan looked lost, puzzled. The Chelsea local plucked up the courage to ask what was of concern to the spokesman of several generations.

“Didn’t there used to be a great rock & roll clothes shop here?” wheezed Dylan. The answer is, of course, yes. And its name was Johnson’s. This fabulous fashion store operated on the site for more than two decades, and – with an equally impressive sister outlet in Kensington Market - provided popular music with a dazzling variety of visual identities from the 60s to the 00s.
Dylan is just one of the stellar cast who sported Johnson’s designs on stage, on the street, on film, on record sleeves and on the road. So also did Tom Waits, Rod Stewart, Sex Pistols, The Clash, Keith Richards, Chrissie Hynde, The Specials, George Michael, Jack Nicholson, Kid Creole, Fred Astaire...the list of Johnson’s fans is breathtaking.

Now the exhibition LLOYD JOHNSON: THE MODERN OUTFITTER celebrates the career of the man behind the facade. In recognition of Lloyd Johnson’s position as one of the central figures operating at the cross-hatches of popular music and fashion design, the exhibition is centred on his core archive of garments, textiles, artwork, personal effects and ephemera, and brings together key clothing from customers and collectors from around the world.

THE MODERN OUTFITTER also opens the door on a pre-digital world of shopping, retailing, production and design, one where Johnson’s boutiques became total environments which also told his own story, from Modernist beginnings in the seaside town of Hastings through hippy splendour in London and Paris in the 60s to new wave, post-punk and New Romanticism in the 70s and 80s to LA’s Tiki/lounge scene and Tokyo’s leather-clad rockers of the 90s and 00s."

I believe Chelsea Space events remain Free of Charge in 2012.

You are advised to use public transportation as there is no on-site parking

Rumba, Rum Bar, Rock N' Rhum Pub Mixes Rum and Music in Annecy

In Annecy (France) Rock N' Rhum is a pub that mixes Rum and Music.

I am sure you can get your rum neat.

(* Image from Rock N' Rum site)

Days of Bordeaux, Wine and Roses at 1st Saint-Emilion Jazz Festival, July 20-22

The first ever Saint-Emilion Jazz Festival invites us to three days of Bordeaux, wine, roses and music too from July 20 to July 22, 2012.

So far the event site is short on details as to who will be on stage.

I hope this first vintage will be a great one.

Add to your 2012 vacation ideas if you are both a wine buff and a jazz fan.

Too bad my plans for a European visit are leaning towards second half of August.

Playing with Fire, Stonehaven Fireballs Hogmanay Festival, New Year's Eve in Scotland

The image of people swinging fireballs around them in the air is quite striking.

There are high tech pyrotechnics to be found at Stonehaven Fireballs Hogmanay Festival in Scotland, just man and fire.

The "annual procession keeping an ancient custom alive, where 45 participants swing blazing balls of fire above their heads. They finish off by throwing the fireballs into the sea at the harbour" starts at 6 pm on 31 December 31, 2011 and ends at 1:00 am on January 1, 2012.

 

Scottish journalist Joanna McAlpine shared her impressions on last year's event.

Sound of bagpipes resonated with my Celtic roots.

Playing with fire, New Year's Eve in Scotland.

Travelling Colony, Art by Caravan and Manu Chao Open Sydney Festival First Night 2012

Caravan use is not limited to vintage fans as illustrated by My Cool Caravan, they can be vehicles for art as Travelling Colony, one of the Free events opening Sydney Festival First Night 2012 proves.

Presented by Sydney Festival and Carriageworks, it is the creation of Brook Andrew.

What's behind it?

Here are program's notes"

"Travelling Colony is a major new work by Brook Andrew, whose interdisciplinary arts practice travels internationally. For two decades this celebrated artist has been creating astonishing interventions into history through installation and interactive monuments, playfully seducing audiences into new ways of seeing compelling issues of race, consumerism and history.

Inspired by his Wiradjuri tradition, the circus and pop culture, Andrew has created a cavalcade of dazzling handpainted caravans in the huge industrial foyer of Carriageworks. Enter each of the caravans in Travelling Colony and immerse yourself in the stories of Redfern - its personalities, struggles and community.

Through this whirling zig-zag of caravans, archival footage, reflections and projections, visitors will be inspired by the histories of Redfern."

Free program opens at Carriageworks on January 8, runs til' the end of Sydney Festival First Night 2012 (January 29, 2012) and actually stays opened until March 4.

On opening night, January 7, festival offers a Free concert headlined by vagabond Frenchman of music, Manu Chao  at The Domain. 

(* Image of 'Art Caravan' from program pages of Sydney Festival First Night 2012)

Turn Old Vinyl Records into Bookends, Junk for Joy by Sian Berry Offers Fun DIY Gift Ideas

If I needed a reminder that someone's junk is somebody else's gold, Junk for Joy (Kyle Books, September 2011 in the UK) by Siân Berry proves that creating new designs from discards can be very rewarding.

As shown below, the author turns old vynil records into bookends.

This would be a great DIY gift idea for a music lover.

Just don't use of her/ his favorite records for it.

Golden Age of American Rock Posters 1965-71 Exhibit, Kogart Galeria, Budapest, Til December 31

Music related art exhibits happen in many cities besides New York and London.

One such event is currently hosted by Kogart Galeria in Budapest.

I was not familiar until today with this place self-described as 'The home of art and gastronomy', nice blend in my book.

Exhibit is titled FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO WOODSTOCK – The Golden Age of American Rock Posters 1965-1971 and runs until December 31, 2011.

What's on the program?

"The exhibit presents the relics of a special period in the 20th-century history of culture, concentrating on the psychedelic rock posters of the San Francisco Bay Area, from between 1965 and 1971.

The period in question was a particularly intensive phase in, as well as the closure of, a time of ferment, and influenced popular culture and the lifestyle of generations worldwide to an extent that can hardly be overestimated. The posters are of interest not only on account of the musical events and participants they advertise, but also because they have value as works of visual art, which have surprising and particular links to the Central European traditions. The display also features other historical objects from that period, such as original record sleeves, manuscripts and instruments."

Have dinner at the Kogart restaurant afterwards for a rock the bourgeois day.

Rock the Counter, Make Room for Peace and Love Stand Up Mixer by Kitchen Aid Brazil

A little color does not hurt, Kitchen Aid Brazil brings custom themes for kitchen appliances.

From Wonderwoman to Bugs via Rock'n Roll and Peace and Love, these mixers rock the counter

Thanks to David Lebovitz for putting them on my radar.

(* Photo from Kitchen Aid Brazil photo album on their Facebook page)