Author: Alec Sugar
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Sermon of Sound: An Evening with Laraaji + Saapato
It’s Saturday night, and the pews are full at the Ridgewood Presbyterian Church in Queens, redubbed the Stone Circle Theater. The pulpit consists of two tables covered in electronic knobs, keypads, and percussion instruments. Projected behind the pulpit, a screensaver traces a river’s path through an autumn forest canyon, inadvertently making the life-size Jesus figure Read more
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Live Soundtrack Cinema: JG Thirwell @ The Nitehawk
The house lights dimmed and so did the clinking of glasses and silverware. Ushers scurried across Brooklyn’s Nitehawk Cinema to collect more kitchen and bar orders as King Kong and Godzilla warned the crowd to silence their phones on a homemade reel. Half-hidden behind a rack of keyboards and mixing pads in the corner near Read more
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Cosmic Music: The Celestial Songs of Alice Coltrane at Carnegie Hall
The harp has the power to unite opposites. It’s large enough to dwarf its player, yet it produces a gentle twinkle. Players pluck a rapid succession of notes by running their hands across the strings, yet the effect is soothing to the ear. You can find one in the hands of angels in religious iconography, Read more
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Celebrating Time and Tradition at Ron Carter’s 88th Birthday
“My responsibility as a bassist and band leader is using every opportunity to create spectacular music,” writes Ron Carter in his Instagram bio. It’s no surprise, then, that the legend spent his 88th birthday week performing with his Golden Striker Trio at NYC’s Blue Note, a jazz venue famous enough to attract polo-shirted tourists but Read more
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Magic in the Making: The Met’s Magic Flute as a Living Creation
Standing in the aisle or talking to a neighbor is not where an opera-goer hopes to be caught when the performance begins. But choreographer Simon McBurney’s production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) gave the audience at NYC’s Metropolitan Opera little warning. With house lights still on, audience and cast alike found their places Read more
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Cairns: Soundwalking with the Dead
The Green-Wood Cemetery is not just a traditional home for the dead, but a vibrant living space to connect with nature and culture. Local musician Gelsey Bell offers visitors a guided immersion in Brooklyn’s oldest and largest necropolis through her soundwalk Cairns, available for download on Bandcamp. Beneath light, angelic singing, I was ushered into Read more
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Robert Fripp’s Exposure: Recorded in 1979, Performed in 2025
In 1979, British guitarist Robert Fripp released his first solo album, Exposure. Its aim was to “investigate the ‘pop song’ as a means of expression,” and it featured contributions from the likes of Darryl Hall, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, and Brian Eno. But when it came time to promote the record, Fripp didn’t tour with Read more
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The Deftones’ North American Tour: A Tale of 3 Energies
With shimmering guitar washing over Madison Square Garden, Deftones singer Chino Moreno snaked his way to the front of the stage. He took in the cheering crowd for a few seconds from atop a speaker before jumping off just as the band exploded into motion and pandemonium ensued. The audience knew exactly what was about Read more
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Indofunk’s Raga Jazz Jam
When a sitar weaves around a sax solo that’s handed off to a sliding trumpet, you’ve entered the realm of Indofunk. Named for his signature musical style, Indofunk plays the firebird trumpet, a 3-valved trumpet equipped with a trombone-like slide. He hosted an open Raga Jazz Jam at the Fifth Hammer Brewing Co’s Brewside Lounge Read more
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Back to the Futurism: Kraftwerk @ King’s Theatre, Brooklyn, 3/13/25
Man-machine, computer-love, dance music played to a sold out theater of seated adults, a song called “Musique Non Stop” immediately before the concert stops… Kraftwerk juxtaposes unlikely concepts with infectious rhythm, mesmerizing colors and anachronistic techno-optimism. German quartet Kraftwerk pioneered electronic music starting in 1970. Their music has inspired nearly everyone making electronica or techno Read more