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Chris Farrell

Windsor Terrace Musician Brings Free Jazz And Sea Shanties To Waterfront Concert

Jeff Lederer. (Courtesy of the musician)Stop me if you heard this one before: Popeye the Sailor, Herman Melville and jazz legend Albert Ayler [http://www.ayler.co.uk/] walk into a bar. Actually, that’s not the set up for a joke but a shorthand description for a recent

Classical Music Ensemble Performs In Ditmas Park This Thursday

(Photo via OMNI ensemble / Facebook)The OMNI Ensemble, a chamber music group founded and directed by neighbor David Wechsler, will perform their sixth annual Midsummer Night’s Benefit Party on Thursday, July 21. Come out for a night of music, barbecue and drinks, and dancing under the stars in Ditmas

Come To Qathra This Sunday For A Unique Jazz Trio Performance

(Photo by Brainerd James)Two Ditmas Park musicians have invited a Grammy-nominated violinist to join them in a free concert at Qathra Cafe at 5pm on Sunday, July 10. Saxophonist Roy Nathanson [http://roynathanson.net/] and singer/bassist Tim Kiah [http://timkiah.com/] perform together regularly in Sotto Voce [https:

Harriet Semegram Talks New Book, Neighborhood Changes & Brooklyn’s Artistic Legacy

Neighbor Harriet Semegram has surprisingly deep and diverse roots in the Ditmas Park arts scene. More than 50 years ago, she compiled a visual history of Eastern European Jewish life that became the visual inspiration for Fiddler on the Roof. But before this groundbreaking project, Semegram had never made a

The Music Program That Makes PS 217 Students Swing

(Students Angelina, Maria, Alexis, Melanie, and Jayson prepare for the spring recital. Teacher Judy Brandwein and Ahyaan)The first spring recital of P.S. 217’s Afro Latin Jazz Alliance’s Academy of Music (ALJAM) ended on a high note. But perhaps the most impressive part of that May 31

A “Museum Of Keyboards”: Exploring Bennett Paster’s Kensington Music Studio

Bennett Paster at the piano. (Photo: Scott Friedlander)You might think that for a small recording studio located in the basement of a house in Kensington, the presence of a Steinway grand piano would be the most extraordinary factor in the business’ success. But for Benny’s Wash N Dry

A Lot More Than Coffee — Qathra Cafe Launches Live Music Series

Photo: Brainerd JamesSeven months after quietly taking over at Qathra [https://www.facebook.com/Qathra], new owner Brainerd James is ready to make some noise. This Friday (5/13), the café on Cortelyou Road will host the second in what James hopes will become a regular series of live musical

Ditmas Park Tribute To Merle Haggard & His Bakersfield Sound This Thursday

(Photo: Bourbon Sprawl)Bourbon Sprawl [http://bourbonsprawl.net/] will bring a little bit of Brooklyn to the Bakersfield sound when the local band pays tribute this week to country-music legend Merle Haggard, who passed away April 6. In the mid-60s, Haggard was one of the pioneers of the Bakersfield sound,

Between Past And Present In Ditmas Park, Roy Nathanson Comes Home

Saxophonist Roy Nathonson. (Photo courtesy of Charna Meyers)The first place saxophonist and Ditmas Park native Roy Nathanson heard the song “Nearness of You” was at the house on East 19th Street his father bought in 1957 for $5,000. “Nearness of You,” written by Hoagy Carmichael in 1938, became

PS 130 Parents Headline Friday Night Musical Extravaganza

Photo: Scott Teplin / teplin.com.The path from Lascivious Biddy to PTA Mom is not immediately apparent, but Deidre Rodman Struck connects the dots with far fewer than six degrees of separation, ending up at the Second Annual Music Festival to benefit PS 130 [https://www.facebook.com/Ps130Pta/photos/