Stripped-down band warm-up for Lincoln Center this Monday 1/29 in the back room at Pete's Candy Store in Williamsburg, 10:30pm. Ten bucks suggested donation. It won't be swanky, there won't be horns or special guests, but we'll be stretching out on the Basement Tapes tunes if you all wanna drop in for a little late night hang. It'll be like old times!

Added a few free MP3s for your listening/downloading pleasure:

"Open the Door, Homer, "recorded live at Joe's Pub, New York City, on May 28, 2006, is a cover of the song by Bob Dylan and the Band.  The clip features Michael Daves on electric guitar, Mazz Swift on violin, Mark McLean on drums and Ron Caswell on tuba!

"I Was Not Elected" has been up for a while -- people seem to like it. A remix of the title track on the "Do What I Want" CD, it was produced by Stewart Lehrman and features a cameo by W.

"Small Talk" is a live cut recorded at Club Helsinki in Great Barrington, MA. in August 2003, featuring an entirely different band from the one that recorded the album version for "Look at All This!": Russell Farhang on violin, Jon Flaugher on bass, Thomas Marriott on trumpet and Rob Perkins on drums.  Check it!

"When I Grow Too Old To Dream" comes from an August 2003 studio session that was supposed to be the follow-up to "Do What I Want;" for various reasons, the project was scrapped.  A late night, impromptu duo session with bassist Jon Flaugher produced this and passes at several other standards like "Harbor Lights" and "Where or When."

Tickets are now on sale!  Here's the press release:

For Immediate Release:  HOWARD FISHMAN - The Basement Tapes Project at JOE'S PUB, NYC

HOWARD FISHMAN                                   

The Basement Tapes Project

Cult artist meets cult recordings in this three-night extravaganza in honor of Bob Dylans 65th birthday.

Friday, May 26; Saturday, May 27; Sunday, May 28
7:00pm

"Rather than studiously copying the sounds of the past, the band recombines familiar elements to create its own brand of classicismTranscends time and idiom."
Stephen Holden, The New York Times, review of Howard Fishman Quartet

"A singular artist... An important force in creative music"
- All Music Guide review of Howard Fishmans music

There are two elements thesessions share; a feeling of age, a kind of classicism; and an absolute commitment by the singers and musicians to their material.As you first listen to the music they made, you'll be hard put to pin it down, and likely not too interested in doing so.

-Greil Marcus, liner notes to Bob Dylan and The Bands Basement Tapes

Cult artist meets cult recordings in this three-night extravaganza, as Joe's Pub regular Howard Fishman takes on his most ambitious project to date: a three-day marathon performance of Bob Dylan and the Bands Complete Basement Tapes, on the occasion of Bob Dylans 65th birthday. Fishman and members of his various ensembles (plus special guests) bring all forces to bear on some of the strangest, most beautiful and most mysterious recordings ever made in the annals of American popular music.

In the months that followed Dylan and the Bands wild, raucous 1966 world tour (recently profiled in Martin Scorceses No Direction Home), the songwriter and co. holed up in upstate New York to informally record their own experiments with music, producing tracks that critic Greil Marcus called indicative of "the Old, Weird America."  These recordings would be bootlegged for years before officially appearing in a greatly abridged release called "The Basement Tapes." Taken as a whole, these yearning,irreverant, often hilarious songs mark a great moment in American musical history. Ironically (and, perhaps appropriately, given their underground nature) many of the greatest songs from these sessions have never been released. Over his three night stand at Joe's Pub, Fishman will explore these recordings, bringing unjustly unknown wonders to light and putting a new spin on old classics.

While Fishman intends to include as many of the 60-odd songs recorded during the original sessions as possible, the three shows will have a distinctly different character.  The first evening of shows (5/26), entitled "The Old, Weird America", (from Greil Marcus book of the same name) will focus on, and explore, the roots of the music; the second evening (5/27), "Erase that, Garth," will feature the unreleased songs on the tapes; the third evening (5/28) is titled "This Wheel Shall Explode" and highlights songs from the official release.

Its always struck me as ironic that most people have never heard the best of what are some of the greatest recordings ever made, namely The Basement Tapes, says Fishman.  What I love about them most is the spirit that comes through.  It doesnt matter if everyone knows the song, or if the instruments or voices are all in tune, or if the singer knows all the words.  Theyre all just going for it.  For a few months, in someones house up in the sticks, with no one watching or listening or caring, these guys tapped into the zeitgeist.

Howard Fishman made his debut at The Algonquin Oak Room in 1999 and has since headlined in major venues both in the U.S. and abroad, including The Steppenwolf Theater, The Blue Note, MassMOCA,  The Pasadena Playhouse, NJPAC, and Le Petit Journal.  Fishman has garnered a cult following for both his live performances (alternately explosive and intimate, sometimes in the space of a single song) and for his uncategorizable original music described as "modern primitive" by New York Magazine. Ever-evolving and increasingly difficult to pin down, Fishman has moved through early jazz, folk, blues, avant-garde, classical, rock, pop, funk, ska and (most recently) country and gospel; while releasing five critically acclaimed CDs.  Fronting a highly improvisational band consisting of trumpet, violin, drums, upright bass and his own guitar and vocals, Fishman's music and live shows are darkly humorous, unpredictable, caustic, romantic and intense, inspiring a legion of fans at the grassroots level who faithfully follow his shows.

Joe's Pub at The Public Theater debuted in October 1998 and quickly became one of New York City's most celebrated and in-demand showcase venues for live music and performance.  With its genre-blind booking and vast diversity of interests, Joe's Pub hosts over seven hundred shows a year, giving voice to a world of varied and stellar artists. In 2005 alone, this not-for-profit performance space has provided a home for the very best in pop and rock, both classic (Lesley Gore, Richard Thompson, Dion) and new (Feist, Liz Phair, Calexico); cabaret (Lillias White, Kiki and Herb, John Cameron Mitchell); world music (Konono No. 1, Amadou and Mariam, Tinariwen); country and Americana (Neko Case, Del McCoury, Marty Stuart);  jazz (Wallace Roney, Don Byron, The Bad Plus); rhythm and blues (Goapele, Maxine Brown, Bettye LaVette) and the stars of Broadway (Avenue Q's John Tartaglia, Donna McKechnie, Billy Porter).  With impeccable sound and lights, the warm and intimate candlelit atmosphere of Joe's Pub is filled with plush velvet couches, softly glowing lucite tables and gorgeously understated architecture.  The venue offers an Italian dinner menu and a fully stocked bar. 

HOWARD FISHMAN - The Basement Tapes Project

Friday - Sunday, May 26 - 28

All shows at 7:00pm

Friday, May 26 - "The Old, Weird America"

Named after Greil Marcus book of the same name, focusing on and exploring the roots of the music

Saturday, May 27 - "Erase that, Garth"

Featuring the unreleased songs on the tapes

Sunday, May 28 - "This Wheel Shall Explode"

Highlights songs from the official release.

Discounts available for multiple night ticket purchases!

$20 for one show, $35 for any two shows, $45 for all three shows

TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE NOW

 JOE'S PUB at The Public Theater
425 Lafayette Street NYC
(between East 4th and Astor Place)
TICKETS:   212-239-6200, www.telecharge.com or in person at The Public Theater Box Office
TABLE RESERVATIONS:   212-539-8776
Purchase of tickets does NOT guarantee a table reservation; you must call to reserve seats.  Seating, as well as standing-room, is available only on a first-come, first-served basis for all shows without a dinner reservation.  Two drink or $12 food minimum per person.

Hey everybody,

Just posted for your listening pleasure is "LUCK," a track from last year's "LOOK AT ALL THIS!" sessions that didn't make it onto the record.  Enjoy!