http://harpmagazine.com/news/detail.cfm?article=10928
Rosanne Cash to do Rare Acoustic Concert/Collaboration
Fred Mills
February 22, 2007
It will be a lucky Friday The 13th for anyone who can score tickets to this rare, sure-to-be high-demand concert: for one night only, on April 13 at 7 p.m., Elvis Costello and Rosanne Cash will team up for an acoustic show at New York City’s Rubin Museum of Art. How rare, you ask? The Rubin seats only 144 people.
The duo plans to do selections from their own back catalogues as well as by other artists in what’s sure to be one of the year’s most unique and intimate performances. The theme of the evening is being billed as “Magic Numbers.â€
Elvis and Rosanne Cash perform together
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sweetest punch
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Elvis and Rosanne Cash perform together
Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
http://www.rosannecash.com/photo_gallery.html
October 20 , 2006
Zankel Hall [at Carnegie Hall], NYC: Backstage after the show with Elvis Costello and Diana Krall. Elvis joined Rosanne on two numbers, including "Big River."
October 20 , 2006
Zankel Hall [at Carnegie Hall], NYC: Backstage after the show with Elvis Costello and Diana Krall. Elvis joined Rosanne on two numbers, including "Big River."
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verbal gymnastics
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http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/13/arts/music/13pop.html
New York Times April 13' 07
ROSANNE CASH AND ELVIS COSTELLO (Tonight) Rosanne Cash has been a frequent guest at the Rubin Museum of Art, a cozy gallery of Himalayan works in the former Barneys store in Chelsea; she was the first artist to perform in the museum’s 144-seat theater three years ago, and has been there five times since. Tonight she is joined by Elvis Costello for an acoustic show on the enigmatic theme of “Magic Numbers.â€
New York Times April 13' 07
ROSANNE CASH AND ELVIS COSTELLO (Tonight) Rosanne Cash has been a frequent guest at the Rubin Museum of Art, a cozy gallery of Himalayan works in the former Barneys store in Chelsea; she was the first artist to perform in the museum’s 144-seat theater three years ago, and has been there five times since. Tonight she is joined by Elvis Costello for an acoustic show on the enigmatic theme of “Magic Numbers.â€
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainmen ... certs.html
New York Daily News
Hot tips on this weekend's concerts
Friday, April 13th 2007
(extract)
Rosanne Cash & Elvis Costello
Tonight at 6:30 in K2 lounge at the Rubin Museum and 7 in the museum's theater (150 W. 17th St., 212-620-5000, ext. 344)
An odd couple in an odd setting, where they'll mix Nashville, punk and soul in an acoustic concert. TV simulcast shown in the K2 lounge.
New York Daily News
Hot tips on this weekend's concerts
Friday, April 13th 2007
(extract)
Rosanne Cash & Elvis Costello
Tonight at 6:30 in K2 lounge at the Rubin Museum and 7 in the museum's theater (150 W. 17th St., 212-620-5000, ext. 344)
An odd couple in an odd setting, where they'll mix Nashville, punk and soul in an acoustic concert. TV simulcast shown in the K2 lounge.
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bronxapostle
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verbal gymnastics
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- Joined: Wed Jun 11, 2003 6:44 am
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Ursula posts to listserv-
Just got back from "Acoustic Cash," the EC show at New York's Rubin
Museum of Art on Friday, April 13, 2007.
EXTREMELY intimate theater with just 144 seats.
Everyone was finally allowed to file in just a few minutes before
7:00pm.
The stage had 3 chairs a couple of guitar stands and sheet music/lyric
stands . . .
BUT NO AMPS OR MICS TO BE FOUND!
The three chairs would be occupied left-to-right by John Leventhal
(Roseanne Cash's husband/producer), Roseanne Cash, and Elvis.
JL and RC came out first and sat down.
Roseanne said she was getting over a cold, but explained that the
night's show was to be based on "The Magic of Numbers" (so each song would
have NUMBERS in the lyrics).
She kicked off the show with a nice cover of "One Is The Lonleyist
Number."
It was wonderful to hear human beings UNAMPLIFIED in any way sitting so
close to everyone. Just like they were sitting around your living room
grabbing a guitar and playing songs.
Elvis was introduced next, and he came bounding out on stage dressed
head to toe in black. Black shiny ankle boots, a black suit, a black
shirt and a black tie with black frames (clear lenses) that he's been
wearing since the Fall.
Fresh-looking hair-cut, (and black dye-job!), with less stubble than
usual - but it was there.
He only played ONE guitar the whole night - with no guitar techs to be
seen.
He was in VERY good humor and noted that this was his "first time
playing music live since the twins were born - if you don't count "Nellie
The Elephant."
You guessed it - after some pleading from the audience - EC DID favour
us with a rendition of "Nellie the Elephant" JUST the way he sings it
to the twins, I'm sure - mugging his way through.
No set-list, but the set up was that they each traded e-mails over the
last 2 months to put the show together - and never rehearsed any of it.
Some of that rag-tag "looseness" showed, but that just made things more
endearing. It was so intimate and like an inside look in to how
relaxed these folks would be - doing this at home on a Saturday morning, etc.
At first, it looked like Roseanne and EC would each take a turn doing a
song, but before long, EC began to dominate and at one point, Roseanne
leaned over to husband John and whispered with a smile: "They're all
here to see him." But she did it in a cute way, not a jealous way.
In fact, Roseanne couldn't have been more generous - many times closing
her eyes and shaking her head in amazement at EC's performance.
EC's warm baritone - no throat problems for once! - really shone in
such a small unamplified space.
Here's a VERY rough list of songs:
ONE (RC & JL)
UNWANTED NUMBER (EC)
NOT A SECOND TIME (EC & RC)
EIGHT DAYS ON THE ROAD (EC & RC)
ONE THOUSAND MILES (EC & RC)
45 (EC)
44 STORIES (RC)
7 YEAR ACHE (RC - WITH EC BACKING VOCALS)
2 STEPS FROM THE BLUES (EC - MOVING VOCAL- BRILLIANT)
36-24-36 (EC - Hamming it up on the line "All eyes are on, but keep
your hands off")
76 TROMBONES (EC) No kidding - he did it and it was the highlight of
the night! Roseanne had this look on her face like "I thought you were
JOKING when you said you were going to come out and do this! EC was
singing it like he sang "This Offer Is Unrepeatable" on the Juliet Letters
- playing it for laughs - mugging and truly enjoying himself - it was
great.
A couple of others I was not familiar with, but as you can tell from
the short list, if there was anything to keep this from really being
brilliant - it was the length. Only an hour and 15 minutes.
But without the guitar-wanking solos, big applause breaks, extended
jams, and the over-played "Alison," "Chelsea," "Watching the Detectives,"
etc. - it was actually great fun.
No "Peace, Love & Understanding," or "Scarlet Tide" or political barbs
or statements, just lots of playin' and singin' - and foot stompin'
too.
Roseanne asked EC what his favourite number was and he said "14 and
three-quarters." He also quipped that he was glad this was about "numbers
and not logorithims."
No celebrity sightings, but I did spot the ELVIS CLONE looking dapper
as ever and with a really hot babe on his arm with huge breasts. Lucky
guy, I guess.
EC RC and JL were all presented with white scarves at the end of the
gig by the museum curator to mark the occassion, and EC looked less heavy
than last year.
With that, the all-too-brief evening was over.
Now it's time to lay my head down on fine linens and satins - away from
all the mad hatters here in Manhattan!
Nite-nite.
Just got back from "Acoustic Cash," the EC show at New York's Rubin
Museum of Art on Friday, April 13, 2007.
EXTREMELY intimate theater with just 144 seats.
Everyone was finally allowed to file in just a few minutes before
7:00pm.
The stage had 3 chairs a couple of guitar stands and sheet music/lyric
stands . . .
BUT NO AMPS OR MICS TO BE FOUND!
The three chairs would be occupied left-to-right by John Leventhal
(Roseanne Cash's husband/producer), Roseanne Cash, and Elvis.
JL and RC came out first and sat down.
Roseanne said she was getting over a cold, but explained that the
night's show was to be based on "The Magic of Numbers" (so each song would
have NUMBERS in the lyrics).
She kicked off the show with a nice cover of "One Is The Lonleyist
Number."
It was wonderful to hear human beings UNAMPLIFIED in any way sitting so
close to everyone. Just like they were sitting around your living room
grabbing a guitar and playing songs.
Elvis was introduced next, and he came bounding out on stage dressed
head to toe in black. Black shiny ankle boots, a black suit, a black
shirt and a black tie with black frames (clear lenses) that he's been
wearing since the Fall.
Fresh-looking hair-cut, (and black dye-job!), with less stubble than
usual - but it was there.
He only played ONE guitar the whole night - with no guitar techs to be
seen.
He was in VERY good humor and noted that this was his "first time
playing music live since the twins were born - if you don't count "Nellie
The Elephant."
You guessed it - after some pleading from the audience - EC DID favour
us with a rendition of "Nellie the Elephant" JUST the way he sings it
to the twins, I'm sure - mugging his way through.
No set-list, but the set up was that they each traded e-mails over the
last 2 months to put the show together - and never rehearsed any of it.
Some of that rag-tag "looseness" showed, but that just made things more
endearing. It was so intimate and like an inside look in to how
relaxed these folks would be - doing this at home on a Saturday morning, etc.
At first, it looked like Roseanne and EC would each take a turn doing a
song, but before long, EC began to dominate and at one point, Roseanne
leaned over to husband John and whispered with a smile: "They're all
here to see him." But she did it in a cute way, not a jealous way.
In fact, Roseanne couldn't have been more generous - many times closing
her eyes and shaking her head in amazement at EC's performance.
EC's warm baritone - no throat problems for once! - really shone in
such a small unamplified space.
Here's a VERY rough list of songs:
ONE (RC & JL)
UNWANTED NUMBER (EC)
NOT A SECOND TIME (EC & RC)
EIGHT DAYS ON THE ROAD (EC & RC)
ONE THOUSAND MILES (EC & RC)
45 (EC)
44 STORIES (RC)
7 YEAR ACHE (RC - WITH EC BACKING VOCALS)
2 STEPS FROM THE BLUES (EC - MOVING VOCAL- BRILLIANT)
36-24-36 (EC - Hamming it up on the line "All eyes are on, but keep
your hands off")
76 TROMBONES (EC) No kidding - he did it and it was the highlight of
the night! Roseanne had this look on her face like "I thought you were
JOKING when you said you were going to come out and do this! EC was
singing it like he sang "This Offer Is Unrepeatable" on the Juliet Letters
- playing it for laughs - mugging and truly enjoying himself - it was
great.
A couple of others I was not familiar with, but as you can tell from
the short list, if there was anything to keep this from really being
brilliant - it was the length. Only an hour and 15 minutes.
But without the guitar-wanking solos, big applause breaks, extended
jams, and the over-played "Alison," "Chelsea," "Watching the Detectives,"
etc. - it was actually great fun.
No "Peace, Love & Understanding," or "Scarlet Tide" or political barbs
or statements, just lots of playin' and singin' - and foot stompin'
too.
Roseanne asked EC what his favourite number was and he said "14 and
three-quarters." He also quipped that he was glad this was about "numbers
and not logorithims."
No celebrity sightings, but I did spot the ELVIS CLONE looking dapper
as ever and with a really hot babe on his arm with huge breasts. Lucky
guy, I guess.
EC RC and JL were all presented with white scarves at the end of the
gig by the museum curator to mark the occassion, and EC looked less heavy
than last year.
With that, the all-too-brief evening was over.
Now it's time to lay my head down on fine linens and satins - away from
all the mad hatters here in Manhattan!
Nite-nite.
-
martinfoyle
- Posts: 2502
- Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2003 5:24 pm
- Location: Dublin, Ireland
- Contact:
Jeff, on the eclistserv, adds
Elvis voice seemed fine tonight which bodes
well for the upcoming tour.
He didn't seem to be in tour mode yet as he was reading all the lyrics,
even on Less Than Zero. The show was fantastic and even though it was
short, the set list made up for that.
When he mentioned Nellie the Elephant he said he was singing mostly kids
songs from the 50's to
his sons. He also said we were lucky he didn't come out and just sing
the lullabies.
Rozy and Mary were there, first in line as usual. Bill Flanagan was
there and there was one woman who looked like one of Rosanne's sisters,
and Richard Julian was there.
When Elvis did 76 Trombones it seemed like Rosanne was genuinely
surprised at the selection, but she did enjoy it.
Set List
One is the Loneliest Number
EC enters
One's Too Many (And a Hundred's Not Enough)
New York Mining Disaster 1941
Unwanted Number
3 Steps Down
Two Steps From the Blues
Heartache by the Number
45
44 Stories
Six O'Clock
Not a Second Time
Seven Year Ache
Less Than Zero
Encore:
76 Trombones
36-22-36
Nellie The Elephant
Six Days on the Road
Elvis voice seemed fine tonight which bodes
well for the upcoming tour.
He didn't seem to be in tour mode yet as he was reading all the lyrics,
even on Less Than Zero. The show was fantastic and even though it was
short, the set list made up for that.
When he mentioned Nellie the Elephant he said he was singing mostly kids
songs from the 50's to
his sons. He also said we were lucky he didn't come out and just sing
the lullabies.
Rozy and Mary were there, first in line as usual. Bill Flanagan was
there and there was one woman who looked like one of Rosanne's sisters,
and Richard Julian was there.
When Elvis did 76 Trombones it seemed like Rosanne was genuinely
surprised at the selection, but she did enjoy it.
Set List
One is the Loneliest Number
EC enters
One's Too Many (And a Hundred's Not Enough)
New York Mining Disaster 1941
Unwanted Number
3 Steps Down
Two Steps From the Blues
Heartache by the Number
45
44 Stories
Six O'Clock
Not a Second Time
Seven Year Ache
Less Than Zero
Encore:
76 Trombones
36-22-36
Nellie The Elephant
Six Days on the Road
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And No Coffee Table
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Boy With A Problem
- Posts: 2718
- Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2003 9:41 pm
- Location: Inside the Pocket of a Clown
From listserv -
There wasn't a song called "One Thousand Miles". What Ursula is
referring to is "One Too Many Mornings", the Dylan song. That should be on
the set list, right after "One's Too Many". They traded verses on
that one.
And "Six O'Clock" was the Lovin Spoonful song, a song EC supposedly did
during the Stiffs tour with the Attractions (at least in soundchecks.)
More details before I forget them....
Elvis looked spiffy, all in black, black suit, black shoes/boots, black
necktie, black frames. No hat.
The setlist through Less than Zero was printed out at their feet.
Roseanne's husband John Leventhal would play guitar fills during EC's
songs, and sometimes EC would chime in on guitar during Roseanne's
numbers. Roseanne only played guitar on Seven Year Ache.
Leventhal got ribbed for a lot of guitar tuning. He switched back and
forth between his 2 guitars before one song, and Elvis said he just
threw his guitars away when he couldn't get them in tune. He also said he
keeps looking for the "Reset" button on his guitars.
Heartaches by the Number started off as Roseanne's but she got Elvis to
sing the choruses, he had to read the words from her stand and was off
key a few times like he hadn't practiced it. The all laughed about his
singing on that one.
Roseanne joined in on the Less than Zero audience participation bits.
I'm sure there were lots of other funny things said but I am forgetting
those at the moment!
It was all very jovial, EC was in grear spirits and voice, said it was
the first time he'd performed "since our boys were born" and it was
nice to get out and sing again.
Setlist, annotated
>One (Nilsson)
>EC enters
>One's Too Many (And a Hundred's Not Enough)
This was done by Nick Lowe on "Nick the Knife". Did he write it?
Can't dig out my copy
just now.
One Too Many Mornings (Dylan)
>New York Mining Disaster 1941 Bee Gees
>Unwanted Number
>3 Steps Down Roseanne Cash
>Two Steps From the Blues
>Heartaches by the Number (Harlan Howard) made famous by Ray Price
>45
>44 Stories Roseanne Cash
>Six O'Clock Spoonful
>Not a Second Time Beatles
>Seven Year Ache Roseanne Cash
>Less Than Zero
>
>Encore:
>76 Trombones from The Music Man
>36-22-36
Don't know who did this originally. Elvis used to do a bit of this
live with "Sally
SueBrown".
>Nellie The Elephant
>Six Days on the Road (Green/Montgomery) Dave Dudley
It was such a cool show!!!
Dave
There wasn't a song called "One Thousand Miles". What Ursula is
referring to is "One Too Many Mornings", the Dylan song. That should be on
the set list, right after "One's Too Many". They traded verses on
that one.
And "Six O'Clock" was the Lovin Spoonful song, a song EC supposedly did
during the Stiffs tour with the Attractions (at least in soundchecks.)
More details before I forget them....
Elvis looked spiffy, all in black, black suit, black shoes/boots, black
necktie, black frames. No hat.
The setlist through Less than Zero was printed out at their feet.
Roseanne's husband John Leventhal would play guitar fills during EC's
songs, and sometimes EC would chime in on guitar during Roseanne's
numbers. Roseanne only played guitar on Seven Year Ache.
Leventhal got ribbed for a lot of guitar tuning. He switched back and
forth between his 2 guitars before one song, and Elvis said he just
threw his guitars away when he couldn't get them in tune. He also said he
keeps looking for the "Reset" button on his guitars.
Heartaches by the Number started off as Roseanne's but she got Elvis to
sing the choruses, he had to read the words from her stand and was off
key a few times like he hadn't practiced it. The all laughed about his
singing on that one.
Roseanne joined in on the Less than Zero audience participation bits.
I'm sure there were lots of other funny things said but I am forgetting
those at the moment!
It was all very jovial, EC was in grear spirits and voice, said it was
the first time he'd performed "since our boys were born" and it was
nice to get out and sing again.
Setlist, annotated
>One (Nilsson)
>EC enters
>One's Too Many (And a Hundred's Not Enough)
This was done by Nick Lowe on "Nick the Knife". Did he write it?
Can't dig out my copy
just now.
One Too Many Mornings (Dylan)
>New York Mining Disaster 1941 Bee Gees
>Unwanted Number
>3 Steps Down Roseanne Cash
>Two Steps From the Blues
>Heartaches by the Number (Harlan Howard) made famous by Ray Price
>45
>44 Stories Roseanne Cash
>Six O'Clock Spoonful
>Not a Second Time Beatles
>Seven Year Ache Roseanne Cash
>Less Than Zero
>
>Encore:
>76 Trombones from The Music Man
>36-22-36
Don't know who did this originally. Elvis used to do a bit of this
live with "Sally
SueBrown".
>Nellie The Elephant
>Six Days on the Road (Green/Montgomery) Dave Dudley
It was such a cool show!!!
Dave
Nick Lowe co-wrote it with Kim Wilson for the 1981 Fabulous Thunderbirds album Butt Rockin' , recording it himself for Nick The Knife in 1982.>One's Too Many (And a Hundred's Not Enough)
This was done by Nick Lowe on "Nick the Knife". Did he write it?
Can't dig out my copy
just now.
36-22-36
Don't know who did this originally. Elvis used to do a bit of this
live with "Sally
SueBrown".
Written by Don Robey for Bobby 'Blue' Bland.
Of course , if it's '36-24-36', as listed by Ursula, Gordon Gano of the Violent Femmes had a ditty by that name that Elvis should sing!
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/v/violent+fe ... 44523.html
http://mediamatters.org/altercation/200704170004#8
Altercation by Eric Alterman
Tue, Apr 17, 2007 1:20pm EST
Alter-reviews:
Rosanne Cash and Elvis Costello at The Rubin Museum, by Sal, NYCD
(Eric notes: If I tried to tell how great this little show was, I'd sound like a real jerk, even to myself and you wouldn't believe me. After all, I love Rosanne, she gave me front-row seats, and I've been going to see Elvis regularly since I worked as a market researcher at the Bronx Zoo. (He topped a bill at Palladium with Nick Lowe and Rockpile and Mink Deville, as I sort of recall.) But hey, Sal doesn't even know Rosanne, and he paid for his tickets, and they were in the last row. So believe him.)
Rosanne Cash has performed acoustically seven times at The Rubin Museum Of Art. Each program had a theme based around paintings and readings. I was one of the lucky 92 people who attended "Acoustic Cash #7: Magic Numbers" this past Friday. Miss Cash's special guest this evening was Elvis Costello, and their program was a "bit loose," songs with numbers in the titles.
Sounds good to me.
For 75 minutes Cash, Costello, and Mr. Rosanne Cash, John Leventhal, treated this blessed crowd of a 150 or so people to some absolutely mind-blowing material, which was all put together through many e-mails. With just guitars and music stands, (OK, and some chairs) the trio did wonders to Nilsson's "One," Dylan's "One Too Many Mornings," The Bee Gees' "N.Y. Mining Disaster 1941," Cash originals such as "Seven Year Ache" and "44 Stories," Costello originals "Less Than Zero" and the rarely played "Unwanted Number," which was written for the film "Grace Of My Heart," and my two personal highs, The Lovin' Spoonful's "Six O'Clock" and a most inspired version of "76 Trombones" from The Music Man. I am NOT making any of this up. Promise.
At one point early on, Rosanne turned to her husband and said, "They are all here to see him," referring to Costello, of course. But from my point of view, if it wasn't for Miss Cash's unpretentious and natural demeanor on stage, Costello may have just clunked through this material. Rosanne Cash is one of those rare artists whose presence and banter is just as welcome on stage as her music. When she sings, it's just cherries on the cake. And without her warmth and inspiration, I may not have been so eager to see just another Elvis Costello acoustic show.
This was one of the greatest nights of music in a long time. How I got in on a Friday the 13th, I'll never know.
Eric cannot resist but to add: Elvis' "76 Trombones" really had to be heard to be believed. Seriously. Long before I knew her, I once saw Rosanne do a show with her dad in a tiny auditorium. A year or so later, I saw her dad do his "VH1 Storytellers" show with Willie Nelson, thanks to Petey and his ex-brother-in-law. The VH1 people thought I was really good-looking so they put me in the front row for that one too. I hope RC doesn't get angry if I say those were the only shows I would dare compare with this one. Rosanne lost her dad's Nashville house, which burned down last week, and her friend Kurt Vonnegut in the days before the show. It's amazing how great music is great whether it's making you happy or sad.
Altercation by Eric Alterman
Tue, Apr 17, 2007 1:20pm EST
Alter-reviews:
Rosanne Cash and Elvis Costello at The Rubin Museum, by Sal, NYCD
(Eric notes: If I tried to tell how great this little show was, I'd sound like a real jerk, even to myself and you wouldn't believe me. After all, I love Rosanne, she gave me front-row seats, and I've been going to see Elvis regularly since I worked as a market researcher at the Bronx Zoo. (He topped a bill at Palladium with Nick Lowe and Rockpile and Mink Deville, as I sort of recall.) But hey, Sal doesn't even know Rosanne, and he paid for his tickets, and they were in the last row. So believe him.)
Rosanne Cash has performed acoustically seven times at The Rubin Museum Of Art. Each program had a theme based around paintings and readings. I was one of the lucky 92 people who attended "Acoustic Cash #7: Magic Numbers" this past Friday. Miss Cash's special guest this evening was Elvis Costello, and their program was a "bit loose," songs with numbers in the titles.
Sounds good to me.
For 75 minutes Cash, Costello, and Mr. Rosanne Cash, John Leventhal, treated this blessed crowd of a 150 or so people to some absolutely mind-blowing material, which was all put together through many e-mails. With just guitars and music stands, (OK, and some chairs) the trio did wonders to Nilsson's "One," Dylan's "One Too Many Mornings," The Bee Gees' "N.Y. Mining Disaster 1941," Cash originals such as "Seven Year Ache" and "44 Stories," Costello originals "Less Than Zero" and the rarely played "Unwanted Number," which was written for the film "Grace Of My Heart," and my two personal highs, The Lovin' Spoonful's "Six O'Clock" and a most inspired version of "76 Trombones" from The Music Man. I am NOT making any of this up. Promise.
At one point early on, Rosanne turned to her husband and said, "They are all here to see him," referring to Costello, of course. But from my point of view, if it wasn't for Miss Cash's unpretentious and natural demeanor on stage, Costello may have just clunked through this material. Rosanne Cash is one of those rare artists whose presence and banter is just as welcome on stage as her music. When she sings, it's just cherries on the cake. And without her warmth and inspiration, I may not have been so eager to see just another Elvis Costello acoustic show.
This was one of the greatest nights of music in a long time. How I got in on a Friday the 13th, I'll never know.
Eric cannot resist but to add: Elvis' "76 Trombones" really had to be heard to be believed. Seriously. Long before I knew her, I once saw Rosanne do a show with her dad in a tiny auditorium. A year or so later, I saw her dad do his "VH1 Storytellers" show with Willie Nelson, thanks to Petey and his ex-brother-in-law. The VH1 people thought I was really good-looking so they put me in the front row for that one too. I hope RC doesn't get angry if I say those were the only shows I would dare compare with this one. Rosanne lost her dad's Nashville house, which burned down last week, and her friend Kurt Vonnegut in the days before the show. It's amazing how great music is great whether it's making you happy or sad.
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117933 ... 1&nid=2579
Variety
Rosanne Cash/ Elvis Costello
(Rubin Museum of Art; 155 capacity; $65.)
By DAVID SPRAGUE
Presented in-house. Reviewed April 13, 2006.
Musicians: Rosanne Cash, Elvis Costello, John Leventhal.
Artists often go to great pains to scout offbeat locations to stage "special" performances, only to turn up and turn in the same old song and dance -- a pitfall Rosanne Cash and Elvis Costello deftly sidestepped at this conceptually driven program.
Intimate is a word that's often thrown around in reference to small-room gigs, but it's unlikely that either of this bill's marquee names had ever staged a Gotham perf with a closeness so extreme that neither amplification nor microphones were used. That was the case during this 70-minute show, a fundraiser for the Rubin Museum, an institution dedicated to preserving the art of the Himalayas.
Cash opened the evening with a dissertation on the importance of "magic numbers" in the practice of Buddhism before launching into a sultry, torch song-like rendition of Harry Nilsson's "One." Her slightly downcast manner was tempered by the appearance of a surprisingly avuncular Elvis Costello, who announced his presence with a surprisingly swinging, grit-laced take on the soul classic "99 and a Half."
The pair -- augmented by guitarist and frequent Cash collaborator John Leventhal -- swapped lead vocals smartly throughout the show, drawing from sources as diverse as The Lovin' Spoonful (whose "Six O'Clock" took on a Mersey-ish lilt in Costello's hands) and Marc Cohn's "Three Steps Down" (which Cash rendered as an extended, poignant sigh).
They only joined forces a few times over the course of the show -- most successfully on a bittersweet version of The Bee Gees' "New York Mining Disaster 1941." That avoidance was probably a wise idea, since Costello unintentionally overpowered Cash's fragile, measured delivery when he cut loose -- as he invariably did -- at full lung power.
There was no sense of one-upmanship in Costello's manner, however. In fact, he seemed more playful and self-effacing than at any time in recent memory -- particularly when he tested his breath control (not to mention his memory) with a sped-up take on "Seventy-Six Trombones."
Cash, who exhibited a bit more gravity during most of her leads -- a mood she attributed to the fresh loss of both a close friend and the childhood home that burned to the ground earlier in the week -- perked up a bit by set's end as well, romping through an earthy "Six Days on the Road."
The loosey-goosey attitude displayed by the performers -- combined with the offbeat repertoire choices -- turned what could have been a hokey exercise into an irresistible sonic buffet, and transformed a museum space into a perfect spot for a hootenanny.
Variety
Rosanne Cash/ Elvis Costello
(Rubin Museum of Art; 155 capacity; $65.)
By DAVID SPRAGUE
Presented in-house. Reviewed April 13, 2006.
Musicians: Rosanne Cash, Elvis Costello, John Leventhal.
Artists often go to great pains to scout offbeat locations to stage "special" performances, only to turn up and turn in the same old song and dance -- a pitfall Rosanne Cash and Elvis Costello deftly sidestepped at this conceptually driven program.
Intimate is a word that's often thrown around in reference to small-room gigs, but it's unlikely that either of this bill's marquee names had ever staged a Gotham perf with a closeness so extreme that neither amplification nor microphones were used. That was the case during this 70-minute show, a fundraiser for the Rubin Museum, an institution dedicated to preserving the art of the Himalayas.
Cash opened the evening with a dissertation on the importance of "magic numbers" in the practice of Buddhism before launching into a sultry, torch song-like rendition of Harry Nilsson's "One." Her slightly downcast manner was tempered by the appearance of a surprisingly avuncular Elvis Costello, who announced his presence with a surprisingly swinging, grit-laced take on the soul classic "99 and a Half."
The pair -- augmented by guitarist and frequent Cash collaborator John Leventhal -- swapped lead vocals smartly throughout the show, drawing from sources as diverse as The Lovin' Spoonful (whose "Six O'Clock" took on a Mersey-ish lilt in Costello's hands) and Marc Cohn's "Three Steps Down" (which Cash rendered as an extended, poignant sigh).
They only joined forces a few times over the course of the show -- most successfully on a bittersweet version of The Bee Gees' "New York Mining Disaster 1941." That avoidance was probably a wise idea, since Costello unintentionally overpowered Cash's fragile, measured delivery when he cut loose -- as he invariably did -- at full lung power.
There was no sense of one-upmanship in Costello's manner, however. In fact, he seemed more playful and self-effacing than at any time in recent memory -- particularly when he tested his breath control (not to mention his memory) with a sped-up take on "Seventy-Six Trombones."
Cash, who exhibited a bit more gravity during most of her leads -- a mood she attributed to the fresh loss of both a close friend and the childhood home that burned to the ground earlier in the week -- perked up a bit by set's end as well, romping through an earthy "Six Days on the Road."
The loosey-goosey attitude displayed by the performers -- combined with the offbeat repertoire choices -- turned what could have been a hokey exercise into an irresistible sonic buffet, and transformed a museum space into a perfect spot for a hootenanny.
http://app.e2ma.net/app/view:CampaignPu ... a266120bfa
Rosanne Cash and Elvis Costello performing in the sold out Acoustic Cash concert on Friday, April 13. Photo: Richard Conde
Rosanne Cash and Elvis Costello performing in the sold out Acoustic Cash concert on Friday, April 13. Photo: Richard Conde
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verbal gymnastics
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Re: Elvis and Rosanne Cash perform together
Will a recording of this ever turn up?
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/03/arts/ ... ician.html
Close to Home, a Cosmic Setting for Her Songs
By BEN SISARIO
Published: February 2, 2012
IN the Himalayan art and artifacts that are the heart of the Rubin Museum of Art in Chelsea, some traditions go back thousands of years. Other traditions there, like Rosanne Cash’s series of acoustic performances, are more recent — and are a stretch from Tibetan Buddhism — yet are part of the institution just the same.
Since the Rubin opened in October 2004, Ms. Cash has become its unofficial musician in residence, turning out once or twice a year for cozy shows in the museum’s tiny, wood-paneled basement theater. Her first performance came less than a week after the Rubin opened its doors, and she has never really left. On Friday Ms. Cash makes her 12th appearance, with the violinist Mark O’Connor.
“I have played in so many venues in this city, from Carnegie Hall to a basement day care center in Brooklyn and everything in between,” Ms. Cash said in a recent interview at her Chelsea town house, a few blocks from the museum. “But the Rubin has become really special to me. You do that many shows in one place, and it starts to feel very homelike.”
Loosely structured around universal concepts — dreams, ancestral legacies — Ms. Cash’s shows are grab bags of favorite songs, thematic larks and the occasional new tune on tryout, all of it casual and chatty enough to feel like a living-room jam session. For each show Ms. Cash and her husband, the guitarist John Leventhal, invite a guest performer, and their roster over the years has included Sandra Bernhard, Loudon Wainwright III, Marc Cohn and Marshall Crenshaw. At Friday’s show with Mr. O’Connor, the theme is memory.
Five years ago Elvis Costello joined her for a concert devoted to the idea of magic numbers, revealing the profusion of numerological pop songs: “Heartaches by the Number”; Bob Dylan’s “One Too Many Mornings”; Mr. Costello’s “Less Than Zero.”
“The only appropriate answer when Rosanne asks you to do a concert accumulating numbers is: ‘How many?’ ” Mr. Costello wrote in an e-mail.
The series, officially called Acoustic Cash, came about as a result of a blind pitch by Tim McHenry, who directs the museum’s event programming. Seeking to establish the Rubin as a neighborhood arts center, he approached some prominent Chelsea residents in the months before the museum opened. He wrote to Ms. Cash in January 2004 requesting nothing more extensive than a public discussion.
But she was intrigued. And though Ms. Cash says she is not a Buddhist (“I kill ants and eat meat,” she notes, with a belly laugh), the request reached her just as she was in the market for some cosmic solace; her father, Johnny Cash, had died four months earlier.
“Tim came at just the right time,” Ms. Cash said, surrounded in her living room by fading photographs that in another context might constitute a small archive of American music history but for her are simply family pictures. “I was happy to soak up any spiritual sustenance that made itself available. It felt very safe and comforting to think about the cycles of life and death.”
Ms. Cash played six shows in the museum’s first eight months; since then she has returned on a roughly annual schedule. Her performances helped put the Rubin on the New York cultural map, Mr. McHenry said, and drew more talent. The museum’s musical programs now include classical, singer-songwriter and world-music concerts, as well as jazz series like Harlem in the Himalayas.
“Her endorsement allowed me to say, ‘We have Rosanne Cash, so we’re real,’ ” Mr. McHenry said.
Ms. Cash often browses through the museum’s galleries for inspiration, and the links between her art and the Rubin’s can be striking. For her first show, about cycles of life and death, she became fascinated by a painting depicting the wheel of life and resurrection, a classic image in Tibetan Buddhism that became a revealing backdrop when projected at the performance. In the context of the painting, the lyrics to “The Wheel,” her 1993 song, seem eerily appropriate: “And the wheel goes round, round/ And the flame in our souls, it will never burn out.”
“To pull pop songs together with those images, it’s just a fascinating idea,” Ms. Cash said.
But she said she took pains not to make the whole experience too didactic, a position shared by her friend and Chelsea neighbor Ms. Bernhard, who was the guest a year ago.
“The setting speaks for itself, wherever you are,” Ms. Bernhard said in a phone interview. “The less said, the more impact the performance has, whether it’s a spiritual place, a strip club, a jazz club — every setting has its own quiet message.”
If the Rubin and its art have a message, Ms. Bernhard suggested, it might be the need for reflection and peace in an age of electronic distraction. Or perhaps that even the most intimately affecting ideas can come from anywhere.
At her early Rubin shows Ms. Cash tried out some songs of grief and loss that ended up on “Black Cadillac,” her 2006 album. And after singing “Heartaches by the Number” with Mr. Costello in 2007, Ms. Cash invited him to record it with her two years later on “The List,” a set of country standards drawn from a sheet of 100 essential songs her father gave her when she was 18.
The Rubin shows, Ms. Cash says, are also “a playground” for songs that would fit nowhere else in her repertory. “I do things I would never do in my own show,” she adds. “I sang ‘Cry Me a River,’ ‘Moon River,’ Bee Gees songs, ‘California Dreamin’.’ I sang Green Day’s ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’ at the last show,” she said with a trace of disbelief.
The neighborhood angle also appeals to Ms. Cash, a 16-year resident of Chelsea who sells “Zone C” T-shirts on her Web site. (After Hurricane Irene, the city designated Chelsea a high-ground, or C, zone.) A prolific user of Twitter, Ms. Cash made it a mock-survival riff — as in, “Here in Zone C, all we need are cupcakes, good music and a full deck of cards to survive anything” — and it stuck. (She proudly modeled a black shirt.)
Before each Rubin concert, Ms. Cash and Mr. Leventhal rehearse with the night’s guest in their living room (which on a recent afternoon had become a scooter course for her 12-year-old son, Jake). They walk to the museum and hang out afterward for drinks.
But how long will this tradition continue?
“What happens is, I’ll say, ‘Well, I should probably wind this series up,’ ” Ms. Cash said. “And then it ends up being so much fun. So then Tim calls me up and says, ‘Are you ready for 11? Are you ready for 12?’ And I say, ‘O.K., as long as it’s fun"
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/03/arts/ ... ician.html
Close to Home, a Cosmic Setting for Her Songs
By BEN SISARIO
Published: February 2, 2012
IN the Himalayan art and artifacts that are the heart of the Rubin Museum of Art in Chelsea, some traditions go back thousands of years. Other traditions there, like Rosanne Cash’s series of acoustic performances, are more recent — and are a stretch from Tibetan Buddhism — yet are part of the institution just the same.
Since the Rubin opened in October 2004, Ms. Cash has become its unofficial musician in residence, turning out once or twice a year for cozy shows in the museum’s tiny, wood-paneled basement theater. Her first performance came less than a week after the Rubin opened its doors, and she has never really left. On Friday Ms. Cash makes her 12th appearance, with the violinist Mark O’Connor.
“I have played in so many venues in this city, from Carnegie Hall to a basement day care center in Brooklyn and everything in between,” Ms. Cash said in a recent interview at her Chelsea town house, a few blocks from the museum. “But the Rubin has become really special to me. You do that many shows in one place, and it starts to feel very homelike.”
Loosely structured around universal concepts — dreams, ancestral legacies — Ms. Cash’s shows are grab bags of favorite songs, thematic larks and the occasional new tune on tryout, all of it casual and chatty enough to feel like a living-room jam session. For each show Ms. Cash and her husband, the guitarist John Leventhal, invite a guest performer, and their roster over the years has included Sandra Bernhard, Loudon Wainwright III, Marc Cohn and Marshall Crenshaw. At Friday’s show with Mr. O’Connor, the theme is memory.
Five years ago Elvis Costello joined her for a concert devoted to the idea of magic numbers, revealing the profusion of numerological pop songs: “Heartaches by the Number”; Bob Dylan’s “One Too Many Mornings”; Mr. Costello’s “Less Than Zero.”
“The only appropriate answer when Rosanne asks you to do a concert accumulating numbers is: ‘How many?’ ” Mr. Costello wrote in an e-mail.
The series, officially called Acoustic Cash, came about as a result of a blind pitch by Tim McHenry, who directs the museum’s event programming. Seeking to establish the Rubin as a neighborhood arts center, he approached some prominent Chelsea residents in the months before the museum opened. He wrote to Ms. Cash in January 2004 requesting nothing more extensive than a public discussion.
But she was intrigued. And though Ms. Cash says she is not a Buddhist (“I kill ants and eat meat,” she notes, with a belly laugh), the request reached her just as she was in the market for some cosmic solace; her father, Johnny Cash, had died four months earlier.
“Tim came at just the right time,” Ms. Cash said, surrounded in her living room by fading photographs that in another context might constitute a small archive of American music history but for her are simply family pictures. “I was happy to soak up any spiritual sustenance that made itself available. It felt very safe and comforting to think about the cycles of life and death.”
Ms. Cash played six shows in the museum’s first eight months; since then she has returned on a roughly annual schedule. Her performances helped put the Rubin on the New York cultural map, Mr. McHenry said, and drew more talent. The museum’s musical programs now include classical, singer-songwriter and world-music concerts, as well as jazz series like Harlem in the Himalayas.
“Her endorsement allowed me to say, ‘We have Rosanne Cash, so we’re real,’ ” Mr. McHenry said.
Ms. Cash often browses through the museum’s galleries for inspiration, and the links between her art and the Rubin’s can be striking. For her first show, about cycles of life and death, she became fascinated by a painting depicting the wheel of life and resurrection, a classic image in Tibetan Buddhism that became a revealing backdrop when projected at the performance. In the context of the painting, the lyrics to “The Wheel,” her 1993 song, seem eerily appropriate: “And the wheel goes round, round/ And the flame in our souls, it will never burn out.”
“To pull pop songs together with those images, it’s just a fascinating idea,” Ms. Cash said.
But she said she took pains not to make the whole experience too didactic, a position shared by her friend and Chelsea neighbor Ms. Bernhard, who was the guest a year ago.
“The setting speaks for itself, wherever you are,” Ms. Bernhard said in a phone interview. “The less said, the more impact the performance has, whether it’s a spiritual place, a strip club, a jazz club — every setting has its own quiet message.”
If the Rubin and its art have a message, Ms. Bernhard suggested, it might be the need for reflection and peace in an age of electronic distraction. Or perhaps that even the most intimately affecting ideas can come from anywhere.
At her early Rubin shows Ms. Cash tried out some songs of grief and loss that ended up on “Black Cadillac,” her 2006 album. And after singing “Heartaches by the Number” with Mr. Costello in 2007, Ms. Cash invited him to record it with her two years later on “The List,” a set of country standards drawn from a sheet of 100 essential songs her father gave her when she was 18.
The Rubin shows, Ms. Cash says, are also “a playground” for songs that would fit nowhere else in her repertory. “I do things I would never do in my own show,” she adds. “I sang ‘Cry Me a River,’ ‘Moon River,’ Bee Gees songs, ‘California Dreamin’.’ I sang Green Day’s ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’ at the last show,” she said with a trace of disbelief.
The neighborhood angle also appeals to Ms. Cash, a 16-year resident of Chelsea who sells “Zone C” T-shirts on her Web site. (After Hurricane Irene, the city designated Chelsea a high-ground, or C, zone.) A prolific user of Twitter, Ms. Cash made it a mock-survival riff — as in, “Here in Zone C, all we need are cupcakes, good music and a full deck of cards to survive anything” — and it stuck. (She proudly modeled a black shirt.)
Before each Rubin concert, Ms. Cash and Mr. Leventhal rehearse with the night’s guest in their living room (which on a recent afternoon had become a scooter course for her 12-year-old son, Jake). They walk to the museum and hang out afterward for drinks.
But how long will this tradition continue?
“What happens is, I’ll say, ‘Well, I should probably wind this series up,’ ” Ms. Cash said. “And then it ends up being so much fun. So then Tim calls me up and says, ‘Are you ready for 11? Are you ready for 12?’ And I say, ‘O.K., as long as it’s fun"