The Jazz Mandolin Project, comprising Jamie Masefield and his trio of musicians, utilizes literature, video, and live musical accompaniment in a unique combination to retell Leo Tolstoy’s famous short story How Much Land Does a Man Need? The performance is for one night only Friday, April 24, at 8 p.m. at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts at New York University. Tickets are $25 and are available at www.skirballcenter.nyu.edu, by phone at 212.352.3101, or at the box office from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Unlike anything Masefield has done before, the group is performing live, an original soundtrack score to a Russian story written 120 years ago to video footage that Masefield collected while touring the United States. The contemporary observations follow the Russian tale in a moving modern context that enables the audience to reflect and ask questions of its own time and place. The performance is a featured part of NYU Earth Week.
Jamie Masefield, leader of The Jazz Mandolin Project, has established himself as a premiere mandolin player, both through this particular group and collaborations with members of the jam band Phish. The group has released records on Blue Note and has been a staple of the summer festivals scene for years, playing to legions of young jam band fans and fans of jazz, traditional folk, and acoustic “old-time” music alike, as it is known for improvising in a way that borrows as much from rock, tango, and classical, as it does from jazz.
The Jazz Mandolin Projects’ appearance is part of the Skirball Center’s “Project 566: What’s Next Series,” a lineup of artists for the 21st century - emerging, eclectic, and always electric. The next show in the series is VOX: Showcasing American Composers, May 1-2, free with RSVP.
The Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, now in its fifth year, is the premiere venue for the presentation of cultural and performing arts events for NYU and lower Manhattan. For a current listing of the Skirball Center’s 2008-2009 season of events visit: www.skirballcenter.nyu.edu.
- Jazz Mandolin Project: How Much Land Does a Man Need?
- When: 8 p.m. Friday, April 24
- Where: New York University’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, 566 LaGuardia Place (at Washington Square South)
- Tickets: $25. Tickets can be purchased on the center’s website, by phone, or at the box office from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
- Details: (212) 352-3101 or www.skirballcenter.nyu.edu