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John and composer-guitar monster Gene Pritsker, Joe's Pub, Mar 9, 2024
Tearing it up with Composers Concordance Sound Liberation at NuBlu NYC (photo by Peter Fokas)
John Pietaro & Laurie Towers will guest on the downtown poetry and arts podcast, Saturday, 2/24/24
KGB Bar reading!

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Press Contact: Laurie Towers

NEW MASSES MEDIA

(212) 460-1879

LaurieTowers@NewMassesMedia.com    Massmogul@aol.com

NewMassesMedia.com

 

 

A BLEEDING IN BLACK LEATHER, poetry and punk-jazz

Book and album launch at "the new Max's"

-For Immediate Release-

 

New York, NY, February 21, 2023: The title itself may raise eyebrows, and may even be off-putting, but when writer John Pietaro conceived of his latest work, and the new release by his punk-jazz ensemble the Red Microphone, the history and legends surrounding the East Village compelled the name search. The text of A Bleeding in Black Leather furthers the mission expressed in his earlier volumes--The Mercer Stands Burning, Smoke Rings and Night People--but here, in tandem with the Red Microphone's music, the words carry not only downtown's radical, urgent creativity, but Pietaro's place within same. It is in this spirit that book and recording will be feted on February 28, 6pm, at Pangea, a club cited as "the new Max's Kansas City" in The New York Times and The Village Sun, among others.

 

THE BOOK A Bleeding in Black Leather is described by publisher UnCollected Press as "urban poetry and fiction on a throbbing roller-coaster ride through latent modernism, jagged rhythmic cadences and the raw sounds of music and words…conceived in Shelby's Brooklyn in the bare light of the blue hour." Downtown poet Puma Perl's back-cover endorsement noted that the book is, "one part punk dirge, one part jazz symphony", while Ron Kolm, founding member of the Unbearables poetry collective, stated "Groundbreaking…it's the continuation of great art". It is available via most online sources and https://therawartreview.com/2022/08/04/announcing-the-publication-of-a-bleeding-in-black-leather-by-john-pietaro/

 

THE ALBUM A Bleeding in Black Leather (ESP-Disk) was recorded and co-produced by Ivan Julian (Richard Hell & the Voidoids, the Clash). It is available as a download or CD via https://theredmicrophone.bandcamp.com/album/a-bleeding-in-black-leather-2

 

THE PERFORMERS include the Red Microphone, with guest spoken word segments by Perl, celebrated poet George Wallace, singer-songwriter Lindsey Wilson, postpunk wordsmith Didi Champagne, and from London, WFMU radio personality Georgy Ragazza.

 

ESP-DISK ARTISTS THE RED MICROPHONE's radical poetry and improvisational music draws on the fervent history of outsider jazz, revolutionary poetry and New York's downtown underground. The band's latest exemplifies its fusion of sound and word in new and daring ways, conjuring not only the Beat Generation, but a century of spoken word on the edge, from early Greenwich Village salons to the punk poets of our streets. With this collection, the band has secured a line-up of musicians that reconstructs its 12-year history: Ras Moshe Burnett (saxophones/flute; work with Bill Cole, Sabir Mateen, William Hooker, Karl Berger; bandleader), Mac Gollehon (trumpet; work with David Bowie, Blondie, James Chance, Mighty Sparrow, numerous others; bandleader), Rocco John (saxophones/composition; work with Sam Rivers, Barry Altschul, Karl Berger; bandleader), Javier Hernandez-Miyares (guitar; Fee Fi Foe Fum, Sinlab, Dissident Arts Orchestra; creative director: 17 Frost Gallery), Dave Ross (guitar; Ras Moshe Burnett; bandleader; actor: "Blues in My Soul"), Laurie Towers (bass; freelance musician, co-host: WFMU's Beneath the Underground, host: podcast She's Raising the Bar; publicist; feminist activist), and Pietaro (voice, percussion; writer, poet, percussionist, arts journalist, host: WFMU's Beneath the Underground).

 

THE EVENT: TUESDAY FEBRUARY 28, 6-8:30PM at PANGEA 178 2ND Ave (near 11th Street), East Village, New York, NY. Complimentary hors d'oeuvres served in the bar area: 6-6:30. The performances occur in the Cabaret Room, 6:30-8:30pm. Admission: free. More information: http://JohnPietaro.com       ---      http://Pangeanyc.com 

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SHADOWS: John Pietaro, Laurie Towers

GREAT WEATHER FOR MEDIA'S Spoken Word Sundays NYC
Sunday, March 1, 2020
4:00 PM  6:00 PM
The Parkside Lounge317 East Houston StreetNew York
Featuring Billy Lamont and John Pietaro

Hosted by David Lawton

Plus open mic

21+

$3 suggested donation. Two drink min, alcoholic or non.

John Pietaro is a writer, poet, spoken word artist and musician as well as curator of the "West Village Word" series at Café Bohemia, NYC. Columnist and critic of the NYC Jazz Record, he's currently engaged in a book project for Berklee College of Music and writing a first novel, among other ventures. Credits include poetry chapbook Smoke Rings (2019), short fiction collection Night People (2013), a chapter in Paul Buhle/Harvey Pekar's SDS: A Graphic History (2007) and numerous published essays, reviews, poetry, reportage and fiction. As a performer, he's shared the stage with a wide variety of artists including Allen Ginsberg, Amina Baraka, and his duo with bassist Laurie Towers, SHADOWS.

 

West Village Word, a monthly curation at the legendary Cafe Bohemia by poet and jazz journalist John Pietaro, launches Wednesday, February 26. The series, planned for the last Wednesday of each month, will present integrated spoken word and music, conjuring Greenwich Village's underground arts past while exploring today's unique JazzPoetry, Neo-Beat and Post-Punk poets.

       Café Bohemia was a favorite 1950s haunt of jazz legends such as Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Art Blakey and Cannonball Adderly as well as the original Beat Generation writer, Jack Kerouac. The club, recently re-opened in its original address, is already being touted as a space for a creative community displaced by ever-rising costs. "The heritage of this place is built into its foundation", Café Bohemia manager Christine Santelli states. "You can feel it. Between 1955 and '60, most every jazz great played here and many recorded live on the club's stage". The space's history goes back to the 1940s when, as the Pied Piper, it hosted stride piano pioneer James P. Johnson and traditional jazz trumpeter Max Kaminsky.

      With live music scheduled seven nights per week—from the "cool" progressive and trad "hot" jazz schools, rollicking blues and folk, and a new residency by noted singer-songwriter Michelle Shocked, the club's promise has quickly been realized. "All that was missing was performance poetry", said West Village Word curator Pietaro. "Hey, the Beats walked these quarters".

 

Calendar

FEB 26

-8PM: SHADOWS- John Pietaro and Laurie Towers

-8:10: PUMA PERL & FRIENDS- the self-descibed rock and roll poet fronting a quintet of downtown perennials cascading over rock and Beat imagery, Coney Island tales and visions of the lower East Side. 

-10PM: LINDSEY WILSON & THE HUMAN HEARTS- singer/guitarist/poet/actor and her trio explore stories of city life and justice.

 

MAR 25

-8PM: SHADOWS

-8:10 PM: RONNIE BURRAGE SOLO- The celebrated drummer reads works of his grandfather, poet Allan David Mahr, and performs on piano and drumset.

-9:30PM: ELLIOT LEVIN/JOHN BLUM/JACKSON KRALL TRIO: Celebrating Cecil - the free jazz saxophonist/poet celebrates the birth anniversary of Cecil Taylor and the liberty inherent in the music.

-10:15PM: THE MOTHER OF ALL FINALES – West Village Word commemorates Women's History with an all-female free jazz and word explosion! (musicians/poets TBA)

 

Later bookings currently being verified. See www.FaceBook.com/WestVillageWordatCafeBohemia

Press Contact: New Masses Media   Laurie Towers (845) 591-2165    NewMassesMedia@gmail.com    
DISSIDENT ARTS FESTIVAL 2019
#SilentNoMore
 
Saturday October 5, 2019, 7-11pm
17 Frost Theatre & Gallery
 
17 Frost Street, Brooklyn NY 11211  
www.17frost.com
-Admission: $20 donation-
 
The Dissident Arts Festival, the annual assembly of "rad words and sounds from beneath the underground", returns to 17 Frost Theatre & Gallery in Williamsburg Brooklyn, October 5. This year's theme, #SilentNoMore , is in honor of the greater feminist cause with an accent on the voice of women. All proceeds will benefit the Dwelling Place of NY, a transitional facility and program for homeless women in midtown Manhattan
The Festival will present free jazz, protest poetry, post-punk rock, and topical song. Each set will be woman-led or inclusive of a female artist in a primary soloist role. And this year, a visual art exhibit will also be part of the proceedings. It will include multi-media works of Christina Varga (Varga Gallery, Woodstock and Phonecia NY), paintings and drawings of Denise Iacovone, photography by Sherry Rubel (Sherry Rubel Productions) and paintings by artist/musician Joff Wilson (Soul Cake). A local woman tattoo artist TBA will also be with us for this special occasion.
 
FESTIVAL PERFORMERS:
-Avant Jazz Griots the Beyond Group Cheryl Pyle-C flute, alto flute, poetry; Michael Eaton-soprano saxophone; Larry Roland-bass, poetry, spoken word; Francois Grillot-bass; Reggie Sylvester-drums
 
-Post-Punk Neo-Beat Duo Flames of Discontent John Pietaro-poetry, spoken word, vocals, electric guitar; Laurie Towers-lead electric bass, backing vocals
 
-Singer/Songwriter/Feminist Activist Judy Gorman vocals, guitar
 
-"Upsurge!" Performance Poet Zigi Lowenberg poetry, spoken word with Russell Dale-guitar
 
-Rock 'n' Roll Poet Puma Perl &Friends Walter Steding-violin; Joff Wilson-guitar; Joe Sztabnik- electric bass; John Pietaro-drums
 
-"Where's the Outrage?" Pianist-Composer Trudy Silver piano
 
-Poet/Tiananmen Square Survivor Rose Tang poetry, spoken word, electric guitar; Ayumi Ishito-tenor saxophone; Wen-Ting Wu-drums
 
-Guest Speaker Sister Joann Sambs, Administrator, the Dwelling Place NYC     
 
For more information visit www.DissidentArts.com
-DISSIDENT ARTS FESTIVAL HISTORY:
Since its inception in 2006, the Dissident Arts Festival has been a powerful vehicle to bridge daring arts to progressive activism, serving as a benefit portal for human rights organizations.
Originally based in the Hudson Valley city of Beacon NY and moving to New York City in 2010, the Festival's performers and speakers over the years included folk legend Pete Seeger, actor/raconteur Malachy McCourt, late great trumpet player Roy Campbell, filmmaker Kevin Keating, poets Steve Dalachinsky, UpSurge!NYC and the late Louis Reyes Rivera, political satirist/activist Randy Credico , the late reeds player/composer Will Connell, multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter, hip hop ensemble ReadNex Poetry Squad, labor leader Henry Foner, punk-folk songwriter Lach and many more.
Films screened included 'Giuliani Time', 'Cultures of Resistance', 'Salt of the Earth', 'Battleship Potemkin' and 'Metropolis'. Other special features were tributes to Paul Robeson, Bertolt Brecht, Woody Guthrie, and Phil Ochs. The Dissident Arts Festival has also offered a voice to progressive political candidates, the Occupy movement and radical labor organizations.
The Festival has gained media attention over the course of its history including TimeOut NY, the Indypendent, the NYC Jazz Record, the Villager, Downtown Express, Peoples World, Chronogram and noted jazz journalist Howard Mandel, among others. Over the years the Dissident Arts Festival has been endorsed by the Rosenberg Fund for Children, the Len Ragozin Foundation, the National Writers Union, AFM Local 802's Justice for Jazz Artists campaign, Occupy Musicians, the Howland Cultural Center and DooBeeDooBeeDoo music blog.
 
####

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31ST, 2018

17 Frost Theatre of the Arts

WILLIAMSBURG HALLOWEEN  - "NOSFERATU" Halloween screening w live score - 7:30pm

17 Frost Street
Brooklyn New York

Price: $20

New Masses Media and 17 Frost Gallery & Theatre present WILLIAMSBURG HALLOWEEN with
FW Murnau's 1923 terror classic "NOSFERATU" with a live, improvised score by the Dissident Arts Orchestra.
Plus-
Magic by ZIGGY!
AMAZING AMY Spectral Stretch Contortionist!
Readings of Edgar Allen Poe!
-and-
SCARIEST MONSTER CONTEST: get into your most dreadful drag
***
THE DISSIDENT ARTS ORCHESTRA
John Pietaro: musical direction, drums, percussion
Cheryl Pyle: flutes
Rocco John Iacovone: alto and soprano saxophones
Ras Moshe Burnett: tenor saxophone, flute
Chris Forbes: piano
Javier Hernandez-Miyares: electric guitar
Laurie Towers: electric bass

17 Frost - Oct 31, 7:30 pm - $10 donation
17 Frost Street, Williamsburg Brooklyn - within reach of the skeletal shadow of the BQE (and the L)
www.DissidentArts.comwww.17Frost.com

 

 

Dissident Arts Festival benefits families of political prisoners, celebrates free expression

 

New York, NY/Brooklyn, NY (August 3, 2018) – The thirteenth annual Dissident Arts Festival, a showcase of revolutionary creativity, will occur on stages in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and Manhattan's East Village on September 8 and 15, respectively. The Festival will raise funds for three organizations relevant to the movement for social justice and feature markedly outspoken statements against repression in a reactionary time.

 

SEPTEMBER 8's edition at 17 Frost Theatre and Gallery, a premiere performance space in Williamsburg, is dubbed Cabaret of Dissent. It will benefit the Rosenberg Fund for Children, a non-profit public foundation that aids children of targeted, progressive activists. The event inspired by Weimar Berlin, New York's Café Society and downtown arts, includes speaker Jenn Meeropol, granddaughter of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and Director of the Rosenberg Fund, esteemed jazz singer Judi Silvano who adds voice to experimentalists the Beyond Group, pianist Chris Forbes presents "Harmolodic Weill", liberation jazz and spoken word by the Red Microphone, celebrated bassist/poet Larry Roland debuts his new all-star band They Come With Gold, and noted poetry duo Raymond Nat Turner and Zigi Lowenberg. The closing act is rising star singer/songwriter Lindsey Wilson & the Human Hearts and throughout the evening the politically-charged paintings of Brooklyn visual artist Sophia Dawson will be projected over the stage.

 

On SEPTEMBER 15 the action moves to the 5C Café and Cultural Center, long-standing home of avant jazz and bold performance, where funds will be raised for the Alliance of Families for Justice and the NYC Jericho Movement. Both organizations advocate for the unjustly incarcerated and call for urgent prison reform. The evening opens with a solo performance by renowned drummer William Hooker, and includes 5C's own pianist/composer Trudy Silver, Ras Moshe's Music Now! and the Flames of Discontent duo of Festival director John Pietaro and Laurie Towers. The closing act is international songwriter Martina Fiserova.

Saturday September 8, 7pm-11pm, 17 Frost Theatre and Gallery, 17 Frost Street, Brooklyn NY. Admission: $15.          Saturday September 15, 7pm-11pm, 5C Café & Cultural Center, E. 5 Street/ Ave C, New York NY. Admission: $15.

 

For more information and a complete Festival schedule see www.DissidentArts.com

Press Contact: New Masses Media    John Pietaro (646) 599-0060    leftmus@earthlink.net    
 

DISSIDENT ARTS FESTIVAL 2018 – PERFORMERS/SPEAKERS:

 

SEPT 8

17 FROST THEATRE AND GALLERY, 17 Frost Street, Brooklyn NY

RAYMOND NAT TURNER & ZIGI LOWENBERG:

-Poetry, spoken word

 

THE BEYOND GROUP:

Cheryl Pyle- C flute, alto flute

Michael Eaton- soprano saxophone

Larry Roland- bass

Reggie Sylvester- drums

Judi Silvano- guest vocalist

 

SPEAKER: Jenn Meeropol, Director, Rosenberg Fund for Children

 

THEY COME WITH GOLD:

Larry Roland- bass, poetry, spoken word

Daniel Carter – reeds, brass

Michael Moss- reeds, winds

Steve Cohn- keyboard

Marvin Bugulu Smith- drums

 

THE RED MICROPHONE:

John Pietaro- percussion, spoken word

Ras Moshe Burnett- saxophones, flute

Rocco John Iacovone- saxophones

Laurie Towers- electric bass

 

HARMOLODIC WEILL:

Chris Forbes- piano

 

LINDSEY WILSON & THE HUMAN HEARTS:

Lindsey Wilson- vocals, guitar, spoken word

Reggie Sylvester- drums

Michael Trotman- electric bass

 

SEPT 15

5C CAFÉ & CULTURAL CENTER, E. 5 Street/ Ave C, New York NY

WILLIAM HOOKER:

-solo drums

 

MARTINA FISEROVA:

-vocals, guitar

 

SPEAKERS: Tajuana Johnson and Kwesi Dash, Alliance of Families for Justice

 

TRUDY SILVER:

-piano, voice

 

THE FLAMES OF DISCONTENT:

John Pietaro- spoken word, vocals, percussion, banjo,

Laurie Towers- electric bass

 with guest Rocco John Iacovone, alto saxophone

 

RAS MOSHE'S MUSIC NOW!

Ras Moshe Burnett- saxophones, flute

Jair-Rohm Parker Wells- bass

Leonid Galaganov- drums

John Pietaro- hand drums, percussion

 

 

 DISSIDENT ARTS FESTIVAL HISTORY:

Since its inception in 2006, the Dissident Arts Festival has been a powerful vehicle to bridge radical arts to progressive socio-political activism. Increasingly, the Festival has gained media attention over the course of its decade-long history as evidenced by press in TimeOut NY, the Indypendent, the Villager, the NYC Jazz Record, Downtown Express, Peoples World, Chronogram and others as well as an endorsement by noted jazz journalist Howard Mandel. Over the years the Dissident Arts Festival has been sponsored by the Rosenberg Fund for Children, the National Writers Union, the Len Ragozin Foundation, Local 802's Justice for Jazz Artists campaign, Occupy Musicians, the Howland Cultural Center and DooBeeDooBeeDoo music blog.

 

Originally based in the Hudson Valley and moving to New York City in 2010, the Festival's performers and speakers over the years included folk music legend Pete Seeger, actor/raconteur Malachy McCourt, revolutionary poet Amina Baraka, late great trumpet player Roy Campbell, filmmaker Kevin Keating, spoken word artists Steve Dalachinsky and the late Louis Reyes Rivera, political satirist/activist Randy Credico, the late saxophonist/composer Will Connell, multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter, Chilean guitarist Luis ToTo Alvarez, protest song maven Bev Grant, hip hop ensemble ReadNex Poetry Squad, labor leader Henry Foner, Anti-Folk founder Lach and many more. Films screened include 'Giuliani Time', 'Cultures of Resistance', 'Salt of the Earth', 'Battleship Potemkin' and 'Metropolis'. Other special features were tributes to Paul Robeson, Bertolt Brecht, Woody Guthrie, and Phil Ochs. The Dissident Arts Festival has also offered a voice to progressive political candidates, the Occupy movement and radical labor organizations.

 

Festival Producer/Host: John Pietaro

www.DissidentArts.com

www.JohnPietaro.com

 

###

Pietaro's liberation music ensemble the Red Microphone features the leaders spoken word, drums and percussion. The band regularly collaborates with noted poet/actress/activist Amina Baraka.
Performances include
-The Commons, Brooklyn NY October 30, 2017 (commemoration of John Reed's 130th birth anniversary)
-The Colony, Woodstock NY November 11, 2017
-Wayward Social, Brooklyn NY November 19, 2017
-Arts for Art Evolving series, New York NY, January 2, 2018