I'm playing at Le Poisson Rouge on Thursday, October 29 (8 pm; doors at 7) -- doing a mix of new-music scores and classic-rock reinterpretations, including a world premiere and two New York premieres.  My friend Carter Burwell, who's known for his scores for the Coen Brothers' movies, will be opening with a rare live performance, leading a chamber-rock ensemble in the world premiere of Blood Complex (Coen Brothers fans will get the reference). Tickets are $15 and available through www.lepoissonrouge.com.

I met Carter in the summer of 2008 when we were both mentoring at the Sundance film composer’s lab.  We started talking about collaboration, and are now in the midst of working on a new cello concerto.  This evening is a wonderful opportunity for my audience to hear Carter’s film music in concert settings where it takes center stage.

My set will include pieces written for me by Michael Gordon (Industry), Steve Reich (Cello Counterpoint), and Joby Talbot (Motion Detector) along with some “covers” spanning from the 13th century to the 20th.  One of them will be Jed Distler’s soulful take on Ragovoy and Berns’s Piece of My Heart, made famous by Janis Joplin, who I've always adored.  There will also be a pair of New York premieres:  a rather faithful multi-tracked cello arrangement of Led Zeppelin’s Middle Eastern-tinged Kashmir, arranged by Evan Ziporyn and myself; and David Lang’s Heroin, a new musical setting of Lou Reed’s lyrics for the notorious Velvet Underground song, with a video by Doug Aitken.

Carter describes Blood Complex as “a ‘mash-up’ of music from my Coen Brothers’ scores.” For this show, he's put together a group with guitarist David Torn, violinist Laura Seaton (ex-Soldier String Quartet), woodwind player Bogdan Hilash (Meredith Monk Ensemble), and Carter on piano, with a bassist and percussionist to be announced.  

Carter's having a busy month:  two films with his scores will be in theaters -- the Coen Brothers’ A Serious Man, opening October 2, and Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are, bowing on October 16.  His score for the hit film Twilight has become a best-selling soundtrack CD on the Atlantic label.

I hope you'll join me at Le Poisson Rouge on the 29th!

For more information, visit www.mayabeiser.com.