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So here are a few pics taken by my friend Matt Chandler during the Sonic Uke set at last Saturday’s Ukulele Cabaret. I like that my hands are blurry in both pictures–it makes me look like the fastest drummer ever made.

Matt ChandlerRetired Time Bomb

A video of our complete set can be found at the Midnight Ukulele Disco site. I think you get a good sense in the video of the full power of our set and the general excellence of the multiple costume changes. It doesn’t really tell you what it’s like to play “Big Takeover” with Ted’s hula-skirted ass right up in your face, but I guess that’s a pain I’ll keep all to myself.

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Listening to: Deerhoof – Wrong Time Capsule
via FoxyTunes

Koven Performances, music sonic uke, ukulele

Firstly, much love to those of you beautiful souls that came out to the Ukulele Cabaret last night. It was a stirring evening as always; Sonic Uke managed three costume changes during a set that lasted only about 15 minutes, and Michael (Chappy) Wagner was amazing as always. I’m hoping that Matt Chandler, who took some action photos during Sonic Uke’s set, will post some of those photos soon–I’ll put them up here as well as soon as they’re in my hands.

In the meantime, however, I’d like to just post some music that’s been freaking blowing my mind over the last couple of days, courtesy of WFMU’s completely wonderful “365 Days Project.”  If you have not been to this site (as I hadn’t been until just a few days ago), go there now.  You will not be disappointed.  Here I offer just a small sampler of what you might find there.

The Fairfax High School Marimba Band – “Popcorn”: 

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Michael Mills – “Hidden Satanic Messages In Rock Music”:

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National Fuel Gas Distribution Corporation – “Rappin’ With Gas”: 

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Now playing: Guy Pedersen – Kermesse Non Héroïque

Koven appreciation marimba, rappin', ukulele, wfmu

Koven Performances

Hey, kids! Come on out tomorrow night to see me drum it up with THREE separate and dynamic ukulele performers at the monthly Ukulele Cabaret at Jimmy’s No. 43 in Manhattan. I have said it many times before, but I’ll say it again here for no reason: I am the ukuleleist’s percussionist of choice. Tomorrow night I’ll have the honor of playing with M. David Hornbuckle , Sonic Uke, and Michael Wagner. All this will be taking place in the second set of the night, which starts around 8:30 or so. More detailed information may be found on the “events” page.

Also as a P.S., we here at Koven J Smith Dot Com have made the transition to using microformats. If you’re using the Operator or Tails Export plugins for Firefox, all of these event postings can be added to your Google Calendar (or other calendar that supports the iCalendar format) with a single click. Damn!

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Listening to: Conlon Nancarrow – Study No. 29
via FoxyTunes

Koven Performances

So it would appear that by this time tomorrow, I will have watched Herbie Hancock perform live on “The View.” I will have watched him from behind the sound board, because the ladies in that audience frighten me very much. Apparently, someone named Terry O’Quinn is the main guest on the show. Is he famous? Will the ladies in the audience go nuts when he appears? I don’t know. I’m assuming that he is the dynamic star of “CSI: Break Room” or something like that. My TV antenna hasn’t worked for a long time.

But Herbie Hancock! Damn! He’s going to be playing with Vinnie Colaiuta, my all-time favorite drummer. I’ve never seen Vinnie play in person, so I’m pretty charged up about this. I haven’t seen Herbie for a while–the last time was with Wayne Shorter on the “1+1” tour, which must have been over ten years ago.

Thinking about this reminded me of this amazing clip someone sent to me a while back of Herbie from (I’m guessing) about 1983 demonstrating the awesomeness of the Fairlight for Quincy Jones. Watching this clip reminds me of why I love Herbie so much–he’s so completely free of irony or self-consciousness as he plays. You can see in his face the complete, unabashed joy he has for what he’s doing, even (at that point) over 30 years into his career. The man is excellent. I hope these ladies in the “View” audience will know what they’re in for.

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Now playing: Shudder To Think – Sweet Year Old

Koven appreciation herbie hancock, jazz, music, quincy jones, view, vinnie colaiuta