THE COMPLETELY UNNECCESARY, TOTALLY IRREVERENT TOP 70 ALBUMS OF 2011 LIST
Gary Wien's picks for the Top 70 Albums of 2011. All of these artists were played on The Penguin's online radio station during the past year.
THE NUTCRACKER AND I
Around this time of the year, I always pity the person in charge of event calendars at arts publications. There's only so many times you can type "The Nutcracker", "A Christmas Carol", or "Handel's Messiah". Trust me, I've been there and speak from experience.
LATEST STORIES
lonnie, anthony d'amato, israel nash gripka: a solid trio at the saint (ASBURY PARK, NJ - JULY 20, 2011) -- Mid-week shows at The Saint in Asbury Park are always the best in my opinion. These are the days when you really get a chance to see up-and-coming artists before the music press gets a hold of them, the hype machine starts spinning, hipsters latch on, and tickets become hard to get. It's also the kind of day when clubs get to present some of their most interesting acts. On Wednesday, July 20, the Saint presented a night that featured two up-and-coming artists along with the club's debut of a wild avant-garde performance act. While attendance was extremely light, I have a feeling all three of these acts will almost certainly play before much larger crowds when they return.
book review: the crankamacallitToday I will build you a Crankamacallit / With pieces and parts from my carpenter's kit / With buttons and levers and yes, of course, CRANKS! / With switches and gears and an old baseball mitt.
luna musings(ASBURY PARK, NJ -- JUNE 15, 2011) -- Listening to Emily Grove's set at the Saint last night. It occurred to me that Asbury Park might be better suited to be called Asbury Garden as it's always heartening to hear and observe successive generations of artists stake their claim in the AP Garden's ever expanding cultural legacy and Emily is doing just that.
review: god of carnage at george street playhouse(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- "God of Carnage," an outrageously funny comedy, closes out the season for George Street Playhouse. The play involves a meeting between parents of two 11-year-old boys that got into a fight where one was badly injured.
jersey shore musicians helping one of their own: the concert for kevin kavanaugh(ASBURY PARK, NJ -- SUNDAY, MAY 1, 2011) -- It's something that comes very natural to performers at the Jersey Shore...helping out a fellow human being in a desperate situation. But this time was a little different....it was for one of their own... renown keyboard player and one of the founders of the music scene at the Jersey Shore, Kevin Kavanaugh.
inside abbie gardner's new cd, "hope"Abbie Gardner has followed up her brilliant "Honey On My Grave" CD with another fine piece of artistry called, simply, "Hope." The Red Molly member continues a long tradition of diversity in her music, with ample displays of blues, jazz, country, and pop/rock.
asbury park celebrates new harmonies exhibit with show at the paramount(ASBURY PARK, NJ) -- Last Sunday, 3/13/11 I attended The Smithsonian's New Harmonies: Celebrating Asbury Park Concert at the Paramount Theatre. In keeping with the theme of the Smithsonian's exhibition, local representatives of distinctly American musical genres were supposed to perform on the Paramount stage.
top acoustic artists celebrated with 2011 jammies(ASBURY PARK, NJ - MARCH 12, 2011) -- George Wirth, Matt Kay, and Emily Grove each took home two awards in the 2nd Annual Jersey Acoustic Music Awards. Held at the Atonement Lutheran Church Hall, the night contained live performances by 19 artists in front of a standing room only crowd.
a belated birthday celebration for john lennon(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ -- FEBRUARY 19, 2011) -- For the last few years, Glen Burtnik has been organizing shows to pay tribute to the work of the Beatles with friends of his from the music business. The shows went to great lengths to showcase individual albums exactly as the music was originally recorded -- note by note, instrument by instrument; often using dozens of performers to replicate the work of the Fab Four. On Saturday, February 19, Burtnik provided a different sort of tribute to the songs of John Lennon. The show, which ran through Lennon's work from the Beatles to his solo albums, was a bit looser, allowed for creative takes on the songs, and was even a little sloppy at times... in other words, it was probably exactly as John would have wanted it.
review: the subject was roses(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- Timmy Cleary returns from war, but finds himself smack in the middle of the on-going battle between his mother and father in Frank Gilroy's The Subject Was Roses, a powerful family drama playing at George Street Playhouse now through March 6. Michael Mastro, who was part of the cast for George Street's productions of The Pillowman and The Sunshine Boys, returns as director. He leads an exceptional cast comprised of Chris Wendelken (Timmy Cleary), Lee Sellars (John Cleary), and Stephanie Zimbalist (Nettie Cleary).
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