In celebration of his 70th birthday this year, gleefully unclassifiable guitar virtuoso and genre-crossing composer Marc Ribot has planned a handful of one-off events that span his vast musical interests and talents. For this very special evening presented by the Bob Dylan Center, Ribot will premiere stunning new arrangements—“radical reharmonizations,” as he describes his versions—of some of his favorite Dylan songs, including “All Along the Watchtower,” “Ballad of Hollis Brown,” “I Shall Be Released,” “Lay Down Your Weary Tune” and “Like a Rolling Stone.” Joined by widely acclaimed multi-instrumentalist and frequent collaborator Shahzad Ismaily, Ribot also will perform pieces inspired by a range of poets, from W. H. Auden to Allen Ginsberg. This will be a rare opportunity to hear master musicians apply their craft and passion to the Dylan songbook and works by similarly inspired bards, all in the intimate and acoustically pristine Church Studio. Ribot and Ismaily will join the audience for a post-performance reception with delicious bites and refreshments.
Silver Circle Sponsors:
Robert Mailer Anderson and Nicola Miner; The Miner Anderson Family Foundation
Details:
Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024
Doors: 6 p.m. CT
Performance: 7 p.m. CT
The Church Studio
304 S Trenton Ave, Tulsa, OK 74120
Tickets:
$80 Bob Dylan Center members
$100 non-members
General admission, all-seated show with post-performance reception
About Marc Ribot
Described by the New York Times as “a deceptively articulate artist who uses inarticulateness as an expressive device,” Brooklyn-based Marc Ribot’s musical wanderings and accomplishments over a five-decade career know no bounds. On dozens of recordings under his own name and with various combos, and in international performances that have found him onstage solo or guitar-neck and neck with fellow avant-garde dynamos and pop peers, Ribot conjures a startling range of sounds from his chosen instrument. A partial list of his collaborators includes Solomon Burke; T Bone Burnett; Neko Case; Elvis Costello; Marianne Faithful; Elton John and Leon Russell; Norah Jones; Diana Krall; The Lounge Lizards; John Mellencamp; Robert Plant and Alison Krauss; Allen Toussaint; Caetano Veloso; Tom Waits and John Zorn. He has contributed to film soundtracks including “The Kids Are All Right” and Walk the Line.” Ribot’s first collection of writings, “Unstrung: Rants and Stories of a Noise Guitarist,” was published in 2021. In September 2022, Ribot participated in A Tribute to Bob Dylan, a multi-artist evening of live performances curated by T Bone Burnett and presented at The Town Hall in partnership with the Bob Dylan Center.
About Shahzad Ismaily
Shahzad Ismaily is a largely self-taught composer and musician, having mastered the electric and double bass, guitar, banjo, accordion, flute, drums, and various percussion instruments and synthesizers. A recent profile in the New York Times named Ismaily the “musicians’ favorite musician.” Based in New York following extensive music studies in Pakistan, India, Turkey, Mexico, Japan, Morocco and other international locales, Ismaily has recorded and performed with a dazzling array of artists including Ceramic Dog, his post-rock band collaboration with Marc Ribot and Ches Smith; Arooj Aftab and Vijay Iyer in their Grammy-nominated trio Love in Exile; Laurie Anderson; Nels Cline; Jolie Holland; Raz Mesinai; Will Oldham; Beth Orton and Laura Veirs. He composes widely for dance and theater, and scored the “Frozen River” film soundtrack.
