Old Knit 20th Anniversary

My week went a bit like this: practice, practice, teaching, Trader Joe's, rehearsal, practice. The highlight of the past 7 days was the concert I attended at Town Hall celebrating the 20th anniversary of the old Knitting Factory, which has little or nothing to do with the club's present incarnation. At its best, the evening was a reunion of some of the most influential members of the downtown scene during the nineties. At its less inspired moments (particularly in the Sgt. Pepper jam session finale), it was a chaotic mess.

The concert began with some nearly straight ahead jazz combos including performers like Joe Lovano, Marc Ribot and Don Byron. John Zorn's squawking was accompanied by Ikue Mori's laptop stylings (proceeds from the evening went to benefit Zorn's new music space, the Stone). DJ Spooky's film of "Soviet Africa" never materialized due to technical difficulties, but he did manage to spin some jazz drum grooves while a member of the band Sonic Youth dragged the neck of his guitar along the stage. Zorn later sat in with Lou Reed, who closed the first half with two captivating tunes (wearing head to toe leather - Zorn, on the other hand, seems to favor camouflage pants).

Laurie Anderson's performance was one of the most entertaining social commentaries I've heard recently, touching on everything from Al Gore's Oscar to her excursion through the Utah wilderness with a group comprised of Outward Bound tree-huggers and silent Buddhists. Mike Doughty (who worked the door at the Old Knit) played some of his tunes from the "Grey's Anatomy" soundtrack. The second set wound down with Medeski, Martin and....someone who was not Wood.