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ART ON THE WALLS

Thursday
Jul 10
6:00PM  WOMEN READING ALOUD
Julie Maloney Deedee Agee
WOMEN READING ALOUD image
Julie Maloney has worked in the arts as a performer and educator her entire life. She holds an MFA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Julie peformed for several modern dance companies in New York City before founding her own company and working as choreographer, artistic director and principal dancer. Dance led to photography and then to writing. Julie's new book of poetry, "Private Landscape," was published this fall by Arseya Publishing. She did not intend to write this book. Poetic form fell to the page as she traveled through cancer. This is a book about love and loving as told from a strikingly honest point of view. Its themes will resonate with every women and those brave enough will pass it on to the men in their lives.

Deedee Agee is working on a collection of autobiographical stories set in Greenwich Village in the 1950s and 60s, where she lived with her mother and father, the writer James Agee. She leads private workshops, has taught writing at the college level, and has also worked as a waitress, house painter, reproductive counselor, chef, software trainer at the United Nations and freelance writer. She was awarded a Geraldine R. Dodge Fellowship and membership in the Writer's Room of Boston. Her work has appeared in Doubletake Magazine as well as several anthologies, and she has read her work on NPR. Ms. Agee currently lives in Hingham, MA, in a 19th century parsonage with her husband, a Unitarian Universalist minister.


 Cover $7 (includes one house drink)   www.womenreadingaloud.org www.deedeeagee.com

8:30PM  DANIEL KELLY GROUP
Daniel Kelly, piano;  David Ambrosio, bass;  Rob Garcia, drums
Daniel Kelly Group image
Composer and pianist, Daniel Kelly has developed his own personal and unique approach to jazz, free improvisation and modern chamber music. His quartet was the recipient of the Chamber Music America/ASCAP Adventurous Programming Award. He has recorded and/or performed with musicians such as Lauryn Hill, Don Byron, David Murray, Harvie S, Iva Bittova, Bobby Sanabria, Candido, William Parker, John Zorn and the Bang on a Can All-Stars. Tonight he performs in the trio setting with long-time band members David Ambrosio and Rob Garcia.

"Pianist Daniel Kelly is original and adventurous." Howard Mandel, Author of Future Jazz

“Daniel Kelly is a pianist and composer who confidently splits the difference between murky history and sleek progressivism”
- Nate Chinen, New York Times
 Cover $10   www.myspace.com/danielkellymusic www.danielkellymusic.com

Friday
Jul 11

6:00PM  SON OF PONY
Roxanne Hoffman, host


The Friday night legendary open mic poetry series.

Arrive before 6 pm to sign up.

Long time open mic favorite NGOMA features.
 Cover $7 (includes one house drink)

9:00PM & 10:30PM  X-MAN AND THE BOYS.
X-Man (Matt Miller), saxophone;  Leif Arntzen , trumpet/euphonium;  Brian Harding, trombone;  Bill Ware, vibes;  Miles Arntzen, drums;  Andrew Hall , bass
X-MAN and The Boys. image
Brian and Leif are from Vancouver, Miles and Bill and Andrew are from New York, and the mystery X-Man is from everywhere. We're all %&^% great, and play the usual suspects: Coltrane/Davis/Ellington/Monk/The Meters....did you say The Meters? Yes the funk. Ok.

More info on:
Bill Ware
Leif Arntzen or on myspace....
Miles Arntzen
 Cover $10

Saturday
Jul 12

6:00PM  ITALIAN-AMERICAN WRITERS ASSOCIATION
Maria Lisella, Gil Fagiani, hosts


Italian American Writers Association, featured readers are Perillo Prize Winners - Carmela Palazzo Hakan, Miriam Polli, Kathleen Gerard Villano plus a vivacious open mic, 5 minute limit.
 Cover $7 (includes one house drink)
9:00PM & 10:30PM  THE JOHN MCNEIL HARMONIC EXTRAVAGANZA !
John McNeil, trumpet;  Tom Beckham, vibraphone;  Nate Radley , guitar;  Jorge Roeder , bass
The John McNeil Harmonic Extravaganza !  image
The John McNeil Harmonic Extravaganza !

More chords! More harmony! More funny-sounding stuff!

Tired of going out to hear bands that have no chordal instrument and rely on one lousy sad-ass bass player who doesn't know any tunes to provide all the harmonic color? Well, now's your chance to cancel out those experiences with a tsunami of tone poems, a plethora of progressions, a virtual vat of voicings -- all produced by not one but TWO (2) chordal instruments! Plus a bass player who knows everything!
 Cover $10   www.mcneiljazz.com www.tombeckham.net

Sunday
Jul 13
8:30PM  NINA MOFFITT
Nina Moffitt, voice;  Rafiq Bhatia, guitar, loops;  Kyle Wilson, saxophones;  Corey King, trombone;  Jackson Hill, bass;  Alex Ritz, drums
NINA MOFFITT image
Nina Moffitt is a Brooklyn-born vocalist who uses an instrumental approach to interpret music from a distinctive, genre-bending perspective. While currently studying cultural anthropology at Oberlin College, Nina also studies with Professor Lorraine Manz, mezzo soprano, and jazz studies professors Wendell Logan, Robert Ferrazza, and Marcus Belgrave at the Oberlin Conservatory. Among many influences, Nina's singing is greatly inspired by the work of Sarah Vaughan, Joni Mitchell, Wayne Shorter, and Nina Simone (for whom she is named). Bossa nova and samba phrasing have also become pervasive in Nina's musical concept since she studied Portuguese in Brazil in 2007. Among other projects, Nina works regularly with a Brazilian music group, sings with the Oberlin Jazz Ensemble, and performs in the New York area with her own quartet.

Rafiq Bhatia is an East-African Indian American guitarist/composer seeking to synthesize a genre-bending musical lexicon informed by the traditions of his transmigratory heritage. A first-generation American, Bhatia is currently completing an interdisciplinary honors degree in economics and cognitive science at Oberlin College. He is also associated with the world-renowned Oberlin Conservatory, where his concept quickly caught the attention of prolific drummer Billy Hart (Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis). Besides apprenticing under Hart and Cleveland-based drummer Paul Samuels (Greg Osby), Bhatia is the artist-in-residence at The Feve, an Oberlin mainstay, where his group has attracted a loyal fan-base and critical acclaim for their weekly performances. He also frequently returns to New York, performing with the Rafiq Bhatia Collective and studying with Downbeat magazine's "Rising Star Jazz Pianist/Composer" Vijay Iyer.

"A contemporary mind with the true potential of the future, Rafiq Bhatia is definitely an artist to look forward to hearing."
--Billy Hart, legendary jazz drummer

cover: $13/$7 for students

www.rafiqbhatia.com   www.myspace.com/ninamoffitt www.myspace.com/rafiqbhatiamusic

Monday
Jul 14
6:00PM  HAPPY BIRTHDAY PABLO NERUDA,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY HART CRANE

Paul Hecht, convener

Paul Hecht Quentin Mare Sonia Manzano Charlotte Parry Cristian Amigo, guitar
Happy Birthday Pablo Neruda, <br>Happy Birthday Hart Crane image Sonia Manzano
The first (and second) Poet's Birthday Bash, celebrating in this case the unlikely astrological convergence of Pablo Neruda and Hart Crane. Watch for Edna St. Vincent Millay on August 11 and John Milton's 400th birthday on December 8.

PAUL HECHT has assembled many literary events for the cafe. He has starred on Broadway opposite such actors as Rex Harrison and Maggie Smith. He received a Tony nomination for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and an Obie for Pirandello's Henry IV.

QUENTIN MARE was most recently seen on Broadway in Tom Stoppard's "Rock N Roll", "Coram Boy", "Julius Caesar" with Denzel Washington, "King Lear" with Christopher Plummer and "A Little Night Music" at the New York State Theatre. He'd like to dedicate his participation in this evening to the memory of actor and friend John Seitz, whose poetry readings in this venue were Mr. Maré's first introduction to Cornelia Street Café.

SONIA MANZANO has played Maria on Sesame Street for over thirty-five years. She has earned fifteen Emmys as a writer for that show and is now writing children's books. Visit her at www.soniamanzano.com.

CHARLOTTE PARRY has performed in a wide range of theater in New York including 'The Real Thing' and 'Coram Boy' on Broadway, 'Howard Katz' at the Roundabout, two seasons with the Sir Peter Hall Company at BAM and, most recently, 'Rainbow Kiss' at 59E59 and the world premiere of Albee's 'Me Myself and I'. Extensive West End and regional theater and TV in the UK, and a wide variety of audio book narrations.

CRISTIAN AMIGO is an award-winning composer (Guggenheim fellowship, Meet the Composer, among others) and guitarist living in New York City. His new CD Kingdom of Jones is on the innova Recordings label. For more information and sounds, please go to cristianamigo.com.


 Cover $10  

www.soniamanzano.com www.cristianamigo.com

Tuesday
Jul 15
6:00PM  POETRY
J.C. Todd Diane Lockward
Poetry image
J. C. Todd’s newest collection of poetry, What Space This Body, was published by Wind Publications in 2008. She has two chapbooks and poems in the Paris Review,American Poetry Review, SHADE, 2004 and many other journals. Among her awards are a Pennsylvania Individual Artist Fellowship and an international exchange fellowship from VCCA. She teaches in the Creative Writing Program at Bryn Mawr College. “Here is the sacred body Whitman celebrated, but taken to a deeper intimacy in both sensual and scientific knowing.” –Eleanor Wilner, MacArthur Fellow

Diane Lockward's second collection, What Feeds Us (Wind Publications), received the 2006 Quentin R. Howard Poetry Prize. Her poems appear in Garrison Keillor's Good Poems for Hard Times and in such journals as Poet Lore, Beloit Poetry Journal, Seattle Review, and Prairie Schooner. A former high school English teacher, Diane now works as a poet-in-the-schools.
 Cover $7 (includes one house drink)

8:30PM  ERI YAMAMOTO
Eri Yamamoto, piano;  William Parker, bass;  Daniel Carter , horns
Eri Yamamoto  image
Duologue is Eri Yamamoto’s first album as a leader outside of the piano trio format. Each piece was composed by her specifically with each duo partner in mind (Daniel Carter, William Parker, Hamid Drake, Federico Ughi) and each piece is informed and suffused by their respective musical/personal essences. Eri writes incredibly beautiful songs. Contemplative, jubilant, mesmerizing songs. Songs which we’ve found increasingly rewarding with each successive listen. Her improvisations within them, guided by the rhythm as much as the melody, are invitingly exploratory. We’re proud as ever to present this great work from an especially gifted new creative entity, in communion with already established masters of the form of music which brings forth beauty through sound. Steven Joerg (Aum Fidelity Label)
 Cover $10   www.eriyamamoto.com www.myspace/com/eriyamamoto
Wednesday Jul 16 6:00PM  AN EVENING OF JAZZ AND POETRY

Our favorite laureate on Long Island, GEORGE WALLACE hosts an evening of jazz and poetry featuring KIRPAL GORDON, LORRAINE CONLIN, and from the UK, GERALDINE GREEN, plus surprise guests, and an open mic.

music by Steve Elmer.   http://www.SteveElmerJazz.com

8:30PM  SAMUEL BLASER QUARTET - 7TH HEAVEN CD RELEASE PARTY
Samuel Blaser, trombone;  Todd Neufeld , guitar;  Thomas Morgan, bass;  Tyshawn Sorey , drums
Samuel Blaser Quartet - 7th Heaven CD release party image
Samuel Blaser already turned his back on his home country Switzerland quite a few years ago and settled in New York - still the city where the heart of jazz beats in the most varied ways and most vitally. He already took the first steps in his career in Europe, among others as a member of the Vienna Art Orchestra, but he was only able to form a quartet in New York of highest quality, which understands his compositions and arrangements and is able to wear it as if custom-tailored. Samuel Blaser developed his overpowering playing technique, but also his variable sound, which ranges from warm, gentle tones to hands-on, strong attack in numerous bands. His experience ranges from Big Bands, which accompanied Phil Woods, Clark Terry or the New York Voices, all the way to bands with names such as Hal Galper, Adam Nussbaum and Miles Evans. But his own project is dedicated to new sound experiences. He is finally able to explore rhythmic and tonal limits and demonstrate his very individual view of music between composition and improvisation there. Blaser's profound knowledge of modern classical composition techniques and his studies of modern composers make him able to compose complexly structured arrangements, but with the required strictness that does not permit any arbitrariness or a lack of goal. On the other hand, the result does not sound artificial in any sense, but instead radiates a relaxed mood that makes listening a pleasure. The fact that his trio is composed of tried-and-tested musicians, who have all already made good names for themselves, is demonstration of the great deal of respect that this musician from the Alps enjoys on the other side of the Atlantic.

“...Even if Samuel Blaser has obviously assimilated the language of the contemporary jazz trombone player, he has his own way to play the instrument...”
Impartial, 2004

“....The perfect occasion to penetrate into the beautiful and lyrical musical universe of the trombone player. This music reminds me of the sound of trumpet player Thomas Stanko...”
Alexandre Caldara, l’Express 2005
 Cover $10   www.samuelblaser.com

Thursday
Jul 17
6:00PM  PO'JAZZ
Barbara Sfraga, host


A MERGE Convergence: MERGE founding members Erik Lawrence and Cassandra Cleghorn return to the Cornelia Street Café with guest musicians and special special guest poet Jeffrey Levine to present an evening of poetry and music. Hosted by Barbara Sfraga, for Golda Solomon.

Moving beyond conventional roles, the members of this ensemble take part in the true jazz tradition in which each player assumes equal responsibility as supporter and soloist: the drummer plays a melody from a Bach cello suite, the bassist taps on his instrument like a drum, the poet creates an underlying pulse for the saxophonist’s vocal line.

Winner of the Transcontinental Poetry Award, as well as the Larry Levis Poetry Award, the Mississippi Review Poetry Prize, the Kestral Poetry Prize, and the New Jersey Skyland Writers and Artists Association Award, Jeffrey Levine is the Founder, Publisher, and Editor-in-Chief of Tupelo Press in Dorset, Vermont.

"Merge is an exciting and highly creative new collaboration between the intimate and innovative poetry of Cassandra Cleghorn and the brilliant supportive music created on the spot by Erik Lawrence and members of his band Hipmotism. In an era when Spoken Word has finally come to fruition, the spirit of ensemble and spontaneity that Jack Kerouac and I pioneered in NYC’s first-ever jazz poetry reading in 1957 is now reaching new plateaus. Merge is another step forward in celebrating the marriage of poetry and music." ~ David Amram
 Cover $15 (includes one house drink)   http://www.mergepoetrymusic.com

8:30PM  LAINIE COOKE
Lainie Cooke, vocals;  Peter Zak, piano;  Cameron Brown, bass;  Matt Wilson, drums;  Roland Barber, trombone
Lainie Cooke image
Sophisticated jazz from - to use that old cliche - one of the best kept secrets in the city. Harlemwood Records recording artist Lainie Cooke has been singing in New York and LA for two decades, but is best known for her voice-over work on some of your very favorite commercials. She is joined as always by some of the most talented musicians in the business who obviously enjoy making music with her. Her recently released CD, "It's Always You" justifies the acclaim Lainie has received from people who know a "jazz singer" when they hear one. In fact, an evening with Lainie is just simply a good time. Tonight Lainie returns to Cornelia St Cafe with Peter Zak, Cameron Brown and Matt Wilson to celebrate her birthday (which is next week), with songs that are classic and timeless. Exactly like Lainie. Be sure to come and celebrate with her.
"no hype or attitude just the pure emotion that only true life experience can endow in an artist"

"This lady can sing the Blues. And ballads, and...well just about anything."
Bob Gish, Jazz Improv Magazine, June 2008
 Cover $15   www.lainiecooke.com

Drum kit donated by
CANOPUS DRUMS, Japan

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Cover is given where known
Many spoken words events are free
There is always a one-drink minimum per set; times are door opening times