Save the date - February 12 for a live film show at the Drawing Center in Soho

Fridays and Saturdays in late January and early February, The Drawing Center will present Basement Performances curated by renowned composer and performer John Zorn. The six cutting edge multi-media performances in our Lab will bring together improvised music with expanded cinema and feature some of Downtown New York’s most adventurous musicians and visual artists including: Okkyung Lee and Andrew Lampert; Raha Raissnia and Panagiotis Mavridis; Bill Laswell; Kenny Wollesen and Julia Elsas; Ela Troyano and Uzi Parnes; and Ikue Mori.

The Basement Performances are produced by Brett Littman, Executive Director.

Friday, January 29 at 7:30pm
$10 at BrownPaperTickets.com
Okkyung Lee (composer, cellist) and Andrew Lampert (artist, film archivist)
Performing a site-specific piece with multiple projections and live music

Saturday, January 30 at 7:30pm
$10 at BrownPaperTickets.com
Raha Raissnia (artist) and Panagiotis Mavridis (artist, musical instrument maker)
Performing with multiple looped 35 and 16 mm film projections and installation with live music

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Friday, February 5 at 7:30pm
$20 at BrownPaperTickets.com
Bill Laswell (record producer, bassist)
Performing to Godfrey Reggio's Koyaanisqatsi

Saturday, February 6 at 7:30pm
$10 at BrownPaperTickets.com
Kenny Wollesen (percussionist) and Julia Elsas (artist)
Kenny Wollesen and Julia Elsas will create an intimate sonic and visual performance with handmade instruments and an object-based installation.

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Friday, February 12 at 7:30pm
$10 at BrownPaperTickets.com
Ela Troyano (filmmaker, actress) and Uzi Parnes (photographer, performer)
Parnes and Troyano will work environmentally, presenting two works – The Silence of Marcel Duchamp with John Zorn’s BeuysBlock as a soundtrack and a live film version of Bubble People, featuring legendary filmmaker Jack Smith along with Parnes and Polly Bradfield. Bradfield, one of downtown’s earliest improvisers, can be seen and heard on violin and record player. Bubble PeopleTroyano’s first film was shot at Parnes' loft Performances Staged and includes his environments and artworks.

Saturday, February 13 at 7:30pm
$10 at BrownPaperTickets.com
Ikue Mori (improviser, composer)
Performing a new live visual and sound piece based on the Nathaniel Hawthorne tale “Pomegranate Seeds”

Image: Raha Raissnia, Longing, 2014. 16 mm film, color, 20-minute loop, optical sound. Dimensions variable. Image courtesy of the artist and Miguel Abreu Gallery, New York.

http://www.drawingcenter.org/en/drawingcenter/20/events/21/public-programs/1284/basement-performances/

My accidental tzimmis with matzo-meal streusel

For my semi-seder this year I made my usual brisket (see recipe in an earlier entry) but had a hard time finding the apricot nectar I usually use to cook the meat in and had to find a substitution.  I got a can of apricot halves and another of pineapple chunks both in heavy syrup and used the fruit along with two cut up large onions and 8 or 10 baby carrots as a rack for my meat, and used the syrup along with two cups of sweet kosher wine and 2 cups of beef bouillon to cook the meat low and slow.  Since I was planning on having baby carrots as a side dish about an hour before I took the meat out I stuck a pound package of baby carrots in a baking dish and let them roast at about 275 for an hour or so.  They weren't quite done so I figured I would roast them longer the next day when cooking the meat after it has been sliced.  But after I saw all the stewed apricots, pineapple and onion under the brisket a flash bulb went off in my Yiddishe kopp and suddenly it occurred to me why not try making a tzimmis, the traditional sweet and savory carrot dish that often accompanies Jewish holiday meat.

So here are my ingredients, though you don't necessarily need to cook them under meat.  A cup or so of kosher sweet wine will do the trick.

1 can of apricot halves in sweet syrup, 1 can of pineapple chunks in sweet syrup, two large onions,   1lb of baby carrots, 1 cup of wine or juice, 4oz butter, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 2/3 cup of whole wheat matzo-meal.

Cook the apricots, pineapple and onions with the wine or juice low and slow at 300 degrees until they are fully stewed, (or place them under your brisket while that is cooking.)

Separately cook the carrots with a sprinkling of the brown sugar for about an hour in a covered baking dish, leaving enough room to add the fruit later.  Assemble the fruit mixture atop the carrots and then mix the rest of the brown sugar, matzo-meal and melted butter in a bowl till it is fully mixed into a pasty texture.  Spread the streusel mix over the fruit and bake covered for another hour at 350 degrees.  Once it's baked through it can sit in warming oven for as long as needed till served.