Recent Coverage
Bab L’ Bluz Brings Moroccan Psychedelic Blues to Joe’s Pub
New York State Music, Aproil 22,2025
By Aidan Lukomnik, Photo Credit Aidan Lukomnik
Formed in Marrakesh, Morocco in 2018, the band calls its music Psychedelic Blues. By taking hard rock riffs and multi-minute distorted solos the likes of AC/DC or Pink Floyd, and combining them with traditional Moroccan folk tradition and instruments, and then fusing that with broader North African musical influence Bab L’ Bluz’s songs push genres. Throughout their set, the band plays with the idea of what the Blues can be.
Cymande Celebrate Old School Funk on First US Tour in Over a Decade
New York State Music, Feburary 16,2025
By Aidan Lukomnik, Photo Credit Aidan Lukomnik
You may not know Cymande by their name, but as one of the most sampled British bands of all time, you’ve heard their rhythms and melodies in songs from rap legends De La Soul, Wu-Tang Clan, The Fugees, and the Sugar Hill Gang and their songs featuring in Spike Lee’s Crooklyn, Dove, and 25th Hour. The band, featuring original members Patrick Paterson (guitarist) and Steve Scipio (bassist) wowed older record heads and young kids alike with their integration of classic tracks and celebration of their newest album Renascence.
Windows95man First U.S. Tour Takes No Rules Philosophy to Next Level
New York State Music, January 20,2025
By Aidan Lukomnik, Photo Credit Aidan Lukomnik
“I’m European, and I play Eurodanceeee!” Windows95man yelled from Irving Plaza’s mainstage on Saturday, January 18. That’s exactly what the Finnish DJ and visual artists did while surrounded by 1990s nostalgia and early internet-age visual effects during his hour set.
Winter Jazz Fest Takes over New York City
New York State Music, January 12,2025
By Aidan Lukomnik, Photo Credit Aidan Lukomnik
Jazz stormed Manhattan on Friday, January 10, as 50 bands played across nine venues for Winter Jazz Fest’s Manhattan Marathon. With bands playing for more than eight hours in venues across the borough, it was an abundance of riches for any music lover. Friday’s concerts had every type of jazz imaginable, from traditional Parisian quartets to “Research Musicians” who created entirely new compositions dedicated to fungi of all kinds.
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra Turns Holiday Standards on Their Head
New York State Music, December 21,2024
By Aidan Lukomnik, Photo Credit Aidan Lukomnik
That was the theme that prevailed throughout the show: you ain’t heard it this way before. Across an hour and a half of music, standard holiday compositions were eschewed for new ways to play, throwing each song into a new context and making the audience consider their perception of just what a holiday song sounds like.
Moon Hooch Brings Relentless Energy to Bowery Ballroom
New York State Music, December 10,2024
By Aidan Lukomnik, Photo Credit Aidan Lukomnik
If you want to rave to a collection of saxophones and woodwinds, then Moon Hooch is the band for you. Yes it’s weird, yes it’s wild, and yes it’s a fun show to dance to.
Moshing to Telescreens at Webster Hall
New York State Music, November 22,2024
By Aidan Lukomnik, Photo Credit Aidan Lukomnik
You want a rock concert? A mosh-pitting, floor-bouncing, head-yelling, crowd-surfing rock show? That’s exactly what Telescreens brought to Webster Hall on November 19. Hometown fans crowded the 1,500-person Grand Ballroom and for a few hours were swept up in the power of rock.
BONUS TRACKS: Brooklyn Folk Festival and Other Moments of Musical Joy
No Depression, November 15,2024
By Meredith Lawrence, Photo Credit Aidan Lukomnik
Last Friday evening in Saint Anne’s Church on opening night of the Brooklyn Folk Festival...
Sammy Rae and The Friends bring Heartfelt Joy and Community to Terminal 5
New York State Music, November 11,2024
By Aidan Lukomnik, Photo Credit Aidan Lukomnik
Sammy Rae & The Friends brought soulful vocals, upbeat rhythms, sweet horns, and a genre-crossing show to Terminal 5 on Friday, November 8. Most importantly, they brought heartfelt joy and community to a packed venue when it was so needed - less than a week after the most contentious election in recent history.
One of Brooklyn’s brighter folk stars is just 18
Brooklyn Magazine, November 15,2023
By Meredith Lawrence, Photo Credit Aidan Lukomnik
Nora Brown has already recorded four albums and a Tiny Desk session on an unlikely instrument for a teen: a banjo…