arts & entertainment
N OW
upe
Gateway eauter
14 Mile Sterchard
Lake Rd
Musical Nomad
Singer-songwriter travels the world,
creating connection and community.
.
Suzanne Chessler
Contributing Writer
Ann Arbor
H
oward Fishman defines his
musical style by places —
New Orleans and Brooklyn
in particular. The singer-guitarist-
composer-bandleader has lived in both
while building his career and tuned into
the popular sounds (jazz and soul) they
brought to his attention.
Fishman will introduce those influences
to Michigan audiences for the first time
when he appears Friday, Sept. 9, at the
Kerrytown Concert House in Ann Arbor.
He'll be with his quartet, which features
Etienne Charles on trumpet and percus-
sion, Nathan Peck on upright bass and
Mazz Swift on violin.
"I'll primarily be playing from the
three recordings I put out this year:'
says Fishman, whose performance
tunes are mostly original. "My concerts
are pretty spontaneous in what we play
and the way that we play. They depend
on what's in the air and how each audi-
ence responds. My performances are
not prepackaged in any sense."
The first recording, Better Get Right, is
a love letter to New Orleans with brass
band, gospel and street music. The sec-
ond, No Further Instructions, is about
a trip Fishman took to rural Romania,
Ukraine and Hungary. The third, The
World Will Be Different, is a song cycle
about the end of a relationship.
"I never studied music formally"
says Fishman, 41, who was raised in
Connecticut and is single. "I went to
college for theater thinking I was going
to be an actor or director. When I grad-
uated from Vassar, that's what I initially
tried to do.
"I started a theater company in upstate
New York, which lasted one season, and
went to New Orleans because the city
always had fascinated me. I was getting
into more and more New Orleans music
listening to old recordings of jazz, blues
and country.
"After spending a few years study-
ing informally at the feet of the jazz and
blues greats, I moved to New York to try
my hand at theater again. I was direct-
ing plays and playing music for fun and
spare change in the subway. The band
I was playing with was discovered and
offered a two-week run at the Algonquin
Oak Room in Manhattan.
That engagement, in 1999, attracted
media attention and launched Fishman's
$1 00
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music career. Appearances mostly have
been in the Northeast, although he has
performed in other parts of the country
and abroad.
The entertainer has worked with Yo-Yo
Ma, Maceo Parker and Robyn Hitchcock
and toured extensively with Nellie McKay.
Later this year, another recording will be
released on his personal label offering
homage to composer Hoagy Carmichael.
"I feel that many of my songs reflect
that I'm a spiritual person',' says Fishman,
active with a progressive Reform con-
gregation in New York. "`Through the
Countryside' is a lighthearted song about
travel and the only one to reference my
Jewish heritage.
"I write by inspiration. I suddenly get a
song in my head and sing it into a phone
after calling myself to leave a message.
When I get home, I try to make a demo
recording for later polishing."
While in Ann Arbor, Fishman will
be meeting with the family of singer-
songwriter Connie Converse, whose music
recently claimed his interest and who
lived in the area in her later years.
"I'm going to be playing a lot of mate-
rial the audience hasn't heard:' says
Fishman, who enjoys painting and has
done the artwork for his recordings.
"That's the challenge and excitement.
Most important is making a connection
with the audience and creating a sense of
community. I think of myself as a conduit
and facilitator for an experience that
moves people in some way:' LI
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Howard Fishman performs 8 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 9, at the Kerrytown
Concert House, 415 N. Fourth Ave.,
Ann Arbor. $10-$30. (734) 769-
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