Switch to the mobile version of this page.

Arkansas Times

Rock Candy

Archives | RSS

« Wednesday To-Do: Nada Surf | Wednesday To-Do: Lady Antebellum »

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

What's going on / Music Wednesday To-Do: Andrew Shapiro

Posted by Robert Bell on Wed, Jun 27, 2012 at 9:33 AM

Andrew Shapiro plays at Piano Kraft Wednesday.

Andrew Shapiro plays at Piano Kraft Wednesday.

ANDREW SHAPIRO
7:30 p.m. Piano Kraft. $10.

Brooklyn musician Andrew Shapiro is a pianist and composer who writes beautiful, lush music that combines the pulsing minimalism of Philip Glass (for whom Shapiro once interned) and the forlorn beauty of Eno's Ambient series (particularly "Music For Airports") with a pop sensibility.

It's blissful-sounding stuff, but also lively and engaging, especially his recent album, "Soundesign." Check out the track "Long Coda" from that album — it makes you feel like you're coasting along at warp speed aboard some sleek bullet train in an impossibly elegant and sunny future.

For the last seven years or so, Shapiro has played a weekly gig at a McDonald's in lower Manhattan. Now, I know what you're thinking, but as the New York Times pointed out in 2005, "The music is challenging by fast-food restaurant standards, even when the fast-food restaurant in question features both fresh-cut flowers and an upstairs dining area known as the Orchid Room."

I got a phone call from Shapiro a couple of weeks ago, and he explained how he came to be performing in Little Rock. An Arkansan named Andy Gibson heard Shapiro playing at that Manhattan McDonald's and was enthralled with the music. He contacted Shapiro, and on a return trip, the two met. Gibson said he was determined to bring the musician to Arkansas for a concert, and here it is, without the fries.

Check out "Long Coda" after the jump.

Tags: Andrew Shapiro

        
Tweet
Share

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this thread:

By Email

With RSS

More by Robert Bell

Friday: The Libras, ImprovLittleRock and more

"The Paris Letter" runs Friday and Saturday at The Weekend Theater.
- by Robert Bell
- May 16, 2013
Thursday: King vigil, Louise Gluck, Ray Tarantino and more

The Fifth Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Vigil is Thursday morning at the Arkansas State Capitol.
- by Robert Bell
- Apr 3, 2013
More »