Only In New York

WKCR.
Today they're doing the Charles Mingus birthday bash. 24+ hours of nothing but Charles Mingus.
Tomorrow they honor the recently departed Andrew Hill. Again, 24+ hours of Hill's music.
Next week, Duke Ellington. 24+ hours of Ellington.
In May, ONE FULL WEEK OF SAM RIVERS. No other radio station in the world can do stuff like this. Not one.

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Sam Rivers Festival Broadcast

89.9 FM in New York
Streaming live online at www.wkcr.org
Starting Friday, May 18, 2007 at 12 noon
Ending Friday, May 25, 2007 at 9 p.m.

WKCR is proud to announce a week-long festival broadcast honoring the musical genius of Sam Rivers, set to air continuously for 177 hours during May 18-25, 2007.

In a career which spans over 60 years, multi-instrumentalist Sam Rivers has been an extraordinary force in the world of jazz and creative music. Whether through intricate composition or stunning free improvisation, his music synthesizes a broad spectrum of styles into a unique and forward-looking sound. Equally important to history was his proprietorship of Studio Rivbea, a vibrant performance space in lower Manhattan which nurtured exciting new expressions of jazz in New York's musician-driven renaissance of the 1970s. As a community-minded mentor and facile performer alike, Sam Rivers represents the highest level of artistic achievement and, remarkably, continues to innovate at the age of 83.

In a unique round-the-clock format, the festival will thoroughly explore Sam Rivers' fascinating musical world. The broadcast centers around a presentation of Rivers' complete recorded discography, supplemented by interviews with his fellow musicians and in-depth features on particular aspects of his music-making. Additionally, Sam Rivers will join us in studio to reflect on his career and share with listeners his living history.

In a tradition spanning over 35 years, WKCR's jazz department again presents a signature radio event: a multi-day salute to an under-recognized legend of the art form. In May of 2007, tune in to WKCR for Sam Rivers Radio.

A Major Victory for the NYC Cycling community?

If Bloomberg isn't just blowing smoke up our ass, this could mean less cars -and more bikes- in the city!
Power to the bikes!

Scott Skiles was always a piece of kaka

"From everything I hear, the Knicks are on the verge of becoming a great team," Skiles said sarcastically. "So they are probably a team we will be playing over and over again in the years to come. Something like this should not fester."

Fuck the Lower East Side

Fuck the lower east side, or what has become of the lower east side as of late, bunch of Goddamn rich stock brocker assholes moving in taking over shit. they're closing tonic! Tonic was in trouble a few years ago, this time they really are closing, and they only have one week left of shows.

tonicnyc.com

Every time I walk past that bullshit high rise luxury apartment building next to tonic, I'm going to fucking spit on the window or do some other kind of insiginicant vadalism, because that was place for beautiful music to be heard, and now it has to make way for the ugly, hiddeous people that are going to live there. Also fuck you to the bullshit high rise apartment building that supplanted what was once Luna Lounge. Better yet,FUCK YOU to all the new Lower East Side condo assholes. You think you're so cute putting up indoor swimming pools where artists once lived. You regard your life to be an episode of in sex and the city. Fuck your SUV, fuck Prada and fuck you. You took the coolest neighborhood in manhattan and turned it into yuppie SHIT.

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from the website of tonic:

Dear Musicians, Fans and Friends:

After more than 9 years as a home for avant-garde, creative, and experimental music, Tonic will reluctantly close its doors on Friday, April 13th, 2007. We simply can no longer afford the rent and all of the other costs associated with doing business on the Lower East Side.

The neighborhood around us has been increasingly consumed by "luxury condominiums", boutique hotels and glass towers, all making the value of our salvaged space worth more then our business could ever realistically support. We have also been repeatedly harassed by the city's Quality of Life Task Force which resulted in the debilitating closing of the ))sub((tonic lounge in January. Coincidentally, this campaign began as our immediate neighbor, the Blue Condominium building - a symbol of the new Lower East Side - prepared to open its doors.

As a business, we take responsibility for mistakes made along the way. If profit had been our chief motivation we could have changed our programming to something more mainstream and financially lucrative. Instead we were more committed to a certain type of music and loyal to the community that supported us. As a result, we've always just survived but never really prospered. It is, however, unfortunate that it is so difficult for small businesses to operate in this city and that a chain store that can afford a high rent is more desirable than a place like Tonic that has a different kind of value.

While this is certainly the end of Tonic at 107 Norfolk Street, we remain committed to what Tonic represents and plan to try again in some form as soon as possible. In the interim, Tonic will make efforts to present new music in existing venues such as the Abron's Arts Center located just a few blocks away.

We invite you to join us as often as you can over our remaining days to help us celebrate Tonic and more importantly the amazing artists, our unwavering staff, and the nurturing community that made Tonic possible. It’s because of you that we’ve stayed open as long as we have. Thank you!

Sincerely, Melissa and John

Contact: tonic [at] tonicnyc.com

April Schedules for the four teams that would make it in the east

There are many who at this point do not believe the knicks will make it. I am not one of them.