ABOUT

ACA Inside and Out (NSB)

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Composer-musicians, Terri Hron, Sergei Tcherepnin, Cecilia Lopez, and David Kant performed on the open studios night at Atlantic Center for the Arts
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Elliott x 7, Muybridge Meets Music (Orlando)

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An in-camera multiple exposure.
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Elliott Sharp Concert (Orlando)

As part of ACA's outreach program, one of the master artists, composer and musician Elliott Sharp, performed in Orlando, at Timicua White House, a private residence which hosts regular jazz concerts.
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Caribbean Idol Singing Contest (NSB)

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For the next couple of weekends, the Dolphin View Restaurant and Bar is featuring a Caribbean Idol singing contest. A nice evening of free Bob Marley and $1 drafts.
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Michael Jackson Birthday Party (Prospect Park)

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While Ted Kennedy was on the way to Arlington Cemetery, Spike Lee threw a birthday party/ tribute to honor Michael Jackson’s 51st birthday. The crowd was huge, despite the rain, and everyone was dancing and singing.
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Jazz Band (St. Marks Square)

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RIP: Michael Jackson 1958-2009

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A few hours after I wrote of Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson’s death stole the limelight. While his last years were just so sad, I will always remember him for Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough and ABC. A half-decade older than I, his music was always there in the background as I came of age. So his passing also brings back waves of nostalgia. I can understand why Madonna and Quincy Jones wept when they heard the tragic news. Such an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime talent!
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Norteño on the Q (Manhattan Bridge)

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Anything is Drummable

Vadrum William Tell
Drummers are usually pretty eager to show off their chops. Case in point: an Italian drummer who calls himself Vadrum, an alias for Andrea Valdrucci, who’s been improvising drumkit parts to tunes you never thought drummable. Above it’s Rossini’s William Tell (which he corrals with mocking triplet beats), but he’s most popular on YouTube for his renditions of Super Mario, The Simpsons, as well as many other pop and metal covers. He’s also exquisitely massacred another fine Rossini, The Barber of Seville.
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Union Square Station

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Saxophonist in Fulton Subway Station

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A Special Night of Music

A perfect night of good vibes at Prospect Park with an African Guitar Music festival, barbecued chicken, and a rainbow...
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Buskers on the N Train

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Horn Band in Subway

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Brass and drums inside Union Square station.
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Musicians and Royalties

How can an artist make a living in a digital world, especially a musician? With the RIAA like the Catholic Church, spending vast amounts of resources on litigation, and even hinting that they may have to decrease royalties to artists to cover their costs, musicians should be thinking about viable alternatives to the big media company model of trickledown economics. David Byrne has a thoughtful piece called Survival Strategies for Emerging Artists—and Megastars over at Wired. There's also an interesting sidebar conversation between DB and Radiohead's Thom Yorke on how RH is marketing In Rainbows, first as a pay what you wish download, then as a packaged CD in January.
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