Lucid Culture

Tons of new events listed for the first two weeks of May. We’ll try to get all the links up and the rest of the month of May up in a brand-new page by the end of April, including a calendar of free summer shows. As always, weekly events first, then the daily calendar. If you don’t recognize the place where the show you’d like to see is happening, click on Venues to your right and scroll down.

 

Sundays from half past noon to 3:30 PM, bluegrass cats Freshly Baked (f.k.a. Graveyard Shift), featuring excellent, incisive fiddle player Diane Stockwell play Nolita House (upstairs over Botanica at 47 E Houston).

 

Every Sunday the Ear-Regulars, led by trumpeter Jon Kellso and (usually) guitarist Matt Munisteri play NYC’s only weekly hot jazz session starting around 8 PM at the Ear Inn on Spring St.  Hard to believe, in the city that springboarded the careers of thousands of jazz legends, but true. This is by far the best value in town for marquee-caliber jazz: for the price of a drink and a tip for the band, you can see world-famous players (and brilliant obscure ones) you’d usually have to drop $100 for at some big-ticket room. The material is mostly old-time stuff from the 30s and 40s, but the players (especially Kellso and Munisteri, who have a chemistry that goes back several years) push it into some deliciously unexpected places.

 

 

Also Sundays in April Matty Charles plays Pete’s Candy Store, 8:30 PM. Soulful baritone singer whose smart, lyrically driven, thoughtful original country songs look back to a time when the line between oldtime folk music and country was a lot more blurry, and cliches didn’t abound.

 

Also Sundays in April the Jack Grace Band play Rodeo Bar, 9:15-ish. Probably a warmup for a summer tour: these hellraising, alternately hilarious and haunting, completely authentic 1960s country types now have two drummers (?!?) to go along with the pedal steel and the honkytonk piano and the frontman’s deceptively brilliant songwriting.

 

Also every Sunday excellent country twangsters Sean Kershaw & the New Jack Ramblers play Hank’s in Brooklyn around 9:30ish, frequently with special guests or a guest band after the previous event, the weekly rock jam, is done.

 

Also on Sundays, there are free, 5:15 PM organ recitals at St. Thomas Church. This is a prestige venue for touring organists from around the world, the sonics are spectacularly good and so is the old Skinner organ.

 

Mondays in April (and pretty much every month, when he’s not on tour), Rev. Vince Anderson and his band play Black Betty in Williamsburg, two sets starting around 10:30 PM. The Rev. is one of the great keyboardists around, equally thrilling on organ or electric piano, an expert at Billy Preston style funk, honkytonk, gospel and blues. He writes very funny, very politically astute, frequently salacious original gospel songs and is one of the great live performers of our time. Moist Paula from Moisturizer is the lead soloist on baritone sax

 

Also Mondays the Barbes house band, Chicha Libre plays there starting around 9:30. They’ve singlehandedly resurrected an amazing subgenre, chicha, which was popular in the Peruvian Amazon in the late 60s and early 70s. With electric accordion, cuatro, surf guitar and a boisterous rhythm section, their mix of obscure classics and originals is one of the funnest, most danceable things you’ll witness this year. Perhaps not so strangely, they sound a lot like Finnish surf rockers Laika and the Cosmonauts in their most imaginative moments. 

 

Every Tuesday at 9 PM the boisterous and very popular brass-heavy gypsy jazz band Slavic Soul Party plays Barbes at 9. Get here as soon as you can as the opening act is usually popular as well.

 

 

 

Also Tuesdays in April, Royal Pine plays Pete’s Candy Store at 9. Frontwoman Robin Aigner is one of the most effortlessly exhilarating voices in oldtimey music, with some real smart songs to match.

 

Every Wednesday, Will Scott and drummer Wylie Wirth play mesmerizing, hypnotic, completely authentic Mississippi hill country blues along with Scott’s own melodic, tuneful blues originals at Jay St. Bar in Dumbo, starting around 8:30 PM. Junior Kimbrough, R.L. Burnside and Asie Payton are sadly gone but Scott continues their tradition of music that is as danceable as it is trance-inducing, and does his influences justice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tues Apr 8, early, 7 PM Bach Reformed plays guitar/violin duo arrangements of Bach followed by Slavic Soul Party at Barbes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also Tues Apr 8 sprawling, incredibly imaginative Williamsburg vocal jazz group the Old Rugged Sauce play Lakeside, 10 PM. If they have the organ in addition to the horns and guitar, that’ll be an even bigger plus. You’ll never hear anybody play more inspired covers of standards than this completely under-the-radar crew, who are clearly in it strictly for the fun.

 

Also Tues Apr 8 Kilifax plays Trash Bar, 8 PM. Punk/metal band whose signature song is called Bush Is an Asshole. Enough said. When word gets out this band will have a lot of fans.

 

Also Tues Apr 8 excellent Murfreesboro, Tennessee all-female oldtimey country trio Those Darlins - with guitar, bass, baritone ukelele and Carter Family-esque harmonies - play the Rockwood at 11.

 

Weds Apr 9, early, 6 PM, soaring Ella Fitzgerald-influenced jazz chanteuse Jessica Elbert plays the Rockwood.

 

Also Weds Apr 9, also early, 7 PM, alternately haunting and delightfully danceable klezmer hellraisers Metropolitan Klezmer play a fascinating multimedia show at the Eldridge Street Museum (the old Eldridge Street Synagogue just north of Division, which has been beautifully renovated). From the program notes: “Imaginative arrangements of elements from Yiddish movie soundtracks and beyond. Their film-based repertoire includes the tenement wedding scene from Maurice Schwartz’s “Uncle Moses,” the cabaret tango from “American Matchmaker,” the rabbi’s court from “The Dybbuk,” as well as melodies from newsreels of the Moscow Yiddish Theater and swinging tunes from Molly Picon’s Polish films… plus surprises! Drummer, bandleader and film historian Eve Sicular discusses the interchange between Yiddish and mainstream popular culture.”

 

Also Weds Apr 9, 8 PM The Judith Light, a promising new psychobilly band from Brooklyn plays Trash. Gotta love that name (she was a wretchedly bad tv sitcom actress from the 80s).

 

 

 

Also Weds Apr 9 The Mess Around play Cake Shop, 9 PM. One of New York’s best bands:  a fiery, kick-ass garage punk unit who competently cover Radio Birdman and whose guitar-fueled originals rip and burn with the same blazing, stomping energy of that legendary Australian band.

 

Also Weds Apr 9 samba-inflected., jazzy chanteuse Sasha Dobson - whose sultry, somewhat world-weary stylings Norah Jones should listen to for inspiration - plays Pete’s at 9 PM.

 

Thurs Apr 10, 1 PM at Trinity Church the Trovao String Quartet plays Mendelssohn and Shostakovich. Not sure which pieces, but the series here has been excellent this year.

 

Also Thurs Apr 10, 6-8 PM it’s the opening reception for expat Argentinian painter Andrea Cukier at the Consulate General of Argentina, 12 W 56th St. Cukier is an absolute master of haunting, ethereal textures. Her oils frequently utilize an imaginative point of view looking in from the shadows at often very dark, compelling subject matter.

 

 

Also Thurs Apr 10, early, 7 PM, soul/funk songwriter Sean Rowe plays the Rockwood. Good lyrics, good tunes, a refreshingly laid-back, unaffected voice and something of a Gil Scott-Heron influence (musically, not chemically, that is).  Another intriguing performer on the bill is British expat keyboardist/songwriter John Garrison, who mines an artsy, ethereal pop/rock style much like vintage Alan Parsons Project. He plays at 10.

 

Also Thurs Apr 10, 8 PM at Drom, Malian kora player Mamadou Diabate plays with his band.

 

Also Thurs Apr 10, 8 PM deliriously fun, psychedelic, horn-driven African groove-jazz revivalists and Fela devotees Antibalas play SOB’s. They’re also at Southpaw on April 11 and 12 at 8 although given the iffy sound there, you’d do best to catch the SOB’s show if you’re interested.

 

Also Thurs Apr 10, 8 PM long-running Bay Area horn-driven latin-inflected funksters Tower of Power play B.B. King’s. Adv tix expensive, but could be worth it: back in their early 70s heyday these guys were as fun and energetic as early Earth Wind & Fire or P-Funk.

 

Also Thurs Apr 10 at 9 PM at Banjo Jim’s, almost every single one of the most goosebump-inducing sirens in town gather to celebrate Loretta Lynn’s birthday by playing her songs. This all-star cast includes Amy Allison, Mary Lee Kortes of Mary Lee’s Corvette, Lianne Smith, Laura Cantrell, Elena Skye of Demolition String Band, killer fiddler Diane Stockwell and Monica Passin of Lil Mo & the Monicats. Wow. Get there early.

 

Also Thur Apr 10 long-running West Coast hip-hop drunkies the Alkaholiks play the Knit, midnight -ish, $15 adv tix available at the box office. Security will be out in full, steroid-raging force for this one, so watch your back. What Cypress Hill is to pot, these guys are to Olde English. Apparently their livers are all still functioning, more or less. For a group whose rhymes are basically all the same joke - lookit the crazy stuff we do when we’re loaded! -  their albums from the 90s displayed a remarkably smart, literate, East Coast flow and somehow they make it work live.

 

Fri Apr 11 Roger Bryan, whose smartly lyrical, guitar-fueled Americana rock echoes the Jayhawks or Tandy, plays the Rockwood at 8 PM.

 

Also Fri Apr 11 the uproarious, upbeat and completely danceable cajun/honkytonk band the Doc Marshalls plays Hill Country, the barbecue place on 26th St. off Broadway, 10 PM. They’re making a live album and this is your chance to be on it. Along with the clatter of cutlery.

 

Also Fri Apr 11, 10:30 PM  dark, pounding, hypnotic My Bloody Valentine-inflected Boston noise rock/shoegazers the December Sound play Trash Bar. If their recorded stuff is any indication they could be amazing live. Followed by the excellent, uncommonly subtle, female-fronted Shapes, a garage band from Dallas.

 

Also Fri Apr 11, 10 PM one of Lucid Culture’s favorite NYC bands, improvisationally inclined, reverb-drenched noir soundtrack rockers Big Lazy play Nublu, 62 Avenue C (between 4th and 5th).

 

 

Also Fri Apr 11, 10:30 PM Canadian bluegrass cats Luther Wright & the Wrongs play Rodeo Bar. Best known for their bluegrass cover of the Pink Floyd album The Wall, they also do very amusing, smart, upbeat originals.

 

 

 

Fri Apr 11 eerie violin-and-guitar Canadian gothic rockers the Sadies play Luna, 11:30 PM. They backed Neko Case on her most recent couple of tours and have Douce Gimlet’s old drummer.

 

Also Fri Apr 11 slightly punked out, occasionally skronky surf instrumentalists the Howlin Thurstons play Lakeside, 11 PM.

 

Sat Apr 12, early, the As Is Ensemble plays their uncommonly melodic, catchy keyboard-driven jazz fusion at the Rockwood at 7 PM. Then at 9, after an generically boring latin Madonna wannabe, you can catch excellent Americana chanteuse Kelly McRae, who ventures into straight-ahead rock territory when she isn’t tapping a rustic, sometimes bluesy acoustic vein. Good, unaffected singer, too.

 

Also Sat Apr 12, 8 PM at Symphony Space it’s sitarist Shujaat Husain Khan, son of the late Ustad Vilayat Khan. He’s recorded with the Ghazal Ensemble, playing with a remarkably lyrical tone that mimics the human voice. With tabla accompaniment by Subhankar Banerjee, $35 adv tix available at the World Music Institute box office. 

 

Also Sat Apr 12 caffeinated, Dylanesque Americana rockers Whisperado, fronted by excellent bassist Jon Sobel (formerly of Erica Smith’s band) play a rare acoustic show at Connolly’s on 45th St., 8 PM.

 

Also Sat Apr 12 Cafe Antarsia Ensemble plays Mehanata at 8:30. Exactly what you’d expect to find at the Bulgarian bar on a Saturday night: a deliriously good, danceable, violin-driven gypsy band blending Mediterranean influences into their wild Balkan inferno.

 

Also Sat Apr 12 intoxicatingly good East African dance band Sounds of Taraab, who blend slinky snakecharmer Arab melodies with African rhythms, violin, oud and accordion play Alwan Center for the Arts downtown at 9 PM.

 

Also Sat Apr 12 at the Charleston at N 7th and Bedford in Williamsburg, of all places, a couple of very dark and excellent acts: at 10, noir chanteuse Little Annie Bandez, accompanied on piano by Botanica mastermind Paul Wallfisch (this generation’s Steve Nieve, one of the most menacing keyboadists around), then later (guessing around midnight) noisy, garagey, sort of noir/glam rockers the Bellmer Dolls begin the first night of their Saturday residency here which continues on the 19th and 26th.

 

Also Sat Apr 12 iconoclastic, punkish garage rockers Des Roar play Cake Shop, 11:30 PM. Their song Ted Bundy Was a Ladies’ Man is a genuine classic, as catchy as it is over-the-top amusing.

 

 

 

Also Sat Apr 12 Simon & the Bar Sinisters blast into Lakeside, 10:30 PM. Old-school LES squatter punk who cleaned up his act and became one of the great rockabilly/surf guitarists (and bassists!) around. If you’re lucky they’ll do their dirty Batman theme and the ska cover of In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida.

 

Sun Apr 13 Amy Allison plays an early set, 7 PM at Banjo Jim’s. These days at NYC shows she plays mostly requests for a rabid cult audience, although her newer, more rock-oriented material is the best she’s ever written, and she’s still an absolutely hilarious performer.

 

Also Sun Apr 13 Catspaw plays Otto’s, 8 PM. These two women and a guy on bass deliver all the fun of original rockabilly and surf music with none of the affectation or the pose. How refreshing. And their song Southbound Line has to be one of the best of this decade.

 

Also Sun Apr 13, 9 PM at Barbes it’s the KAMIKAZE GROUND CREW. From the Barbes website: “Founded in 1983 as a pit orchestra for the juggling Flying Karamazov Brothers, the band “is by turns an oom-pah-pah circus band, an earnest pit orchestra and a bluesy jazz septet…The Kamikaze Ground Crew juggles styles as easily as the Karamazovs juggle cutlery,” (The New York Times). Featuring Gina Leishman, co-leader, alto and baritone sax, bass clarinet, accordion, piano, vocals; Doug Wieselman, co-leader, Eb, Bb & bass clarinets, tenor & baritone sax, guitar; Peter Apfelbaum, tenor sax; Steven Bernstein, trumpet & slide trumpet; Art Baron, trombone; Marcus Rojas, tuba and Kenny Wollesen, drums & percussion.” Talk about an A-list group! Boisterous fun will be the vibe tonight.

 

Also Sun Apr 13 Amanda Thorpe opens for her hookmeister Bedsit Poets bandmate Edward Rogers, who is playing the cd release show for his new solo album at Joe’s Pub, 9:30 PM.

 

Mon Apr 14, early, 7 PM at Barbes – from their website: “MAVROTHI KONTANIS. The singer and oud player leads what is probably the best Greek ensemble around [have these folks ever heard Magges?]. Their repertoire draws from early 20th century Istambul, Izmir, Athens and Salonika: a blend of original compositions and rare old urban songs of the Aegean. Mavrothi just released two new albums featuring this very special repertoire. Featuring Lefteris Bournias - clarinet; Megan Gould - violin; Anastassia Zachariadou - kanun; Phaedon Sinis - politiki lyra (kemence); Timothy Quigley - percussion and Mavrothi T. Kontanis - oud, voice.” They’re also here on 4/28 at 7.

 

Also Mon Apr 14 composer/songwriter/keyboadist Greta Gertler leads a typically shape-shifting project, early, 7 PM at Banjo Jim’s featuring a rotating cast of A-list rock, jazz and oldtimey types. Another shapeshifter, Matt Munisteri follows at 8 PM. The bill repeats 4/21 and 4/28; if you’re lucky, by the end of the run everybody will be playing together.

 

Tues Apr 15 British expat songwriter Amanda Thorpe, who gets props for her haunting, Linda Thompson-esque vocals but is also a terrific songwriter with her wintry, alternately jazzy and Britfolk-inflected songwriting, plays Sidewalk at 8.

 

 

 

Tues Apr 15 through 20 it’s the Jim Hall/Ron Carter duo at the Blue Note, $35 tables which is pretty cheap for what these guys deliver. Hall is one of the great subtle jazz guitarists out there; bassist Carter is a legend and deservedly so, coming off a stand with his nonet at Birdland so this ought to put him in much terser mode which is what he does best.

 

 

 

Also Tues Apr 15 through Apr 27 the Bill Frisell Quartet - Jenny Scheinman on violin, Tony Scherr on bass and Kenny Wollesen on drums is at the Village Vanguard. The East side of the guitarist’s double live East/West cd was recorded here with this rhythm section, and the addition of Scheinman to the casually brilliant other three could make for a subtly transcendent bunch of shows.

 

 

 

Weds Apr 16 the reliably and casually riveting, Kitty Wells-inspired chanteuse Laura Cantrell is at Joe’s Pub, 7:30 PM, adv tix $15. This is the cd release for her long-awaited new ep. Whether she’s singing her older country material or the rock songs she’s been doing more recently, you still get that gently potent, brilliantly nuanced old-time Nashville voice.

 

Also Weds Apr 16, 8 PM Jan Bell & the Cheap Dates open for Jolie Holland at Union Pool, of all places. The former are a terrifically good, guitar-and-lapsteel-driven country band fronted by an English expat who’s as good as singer as Laura Cantrell. And a hell of a songwriter, with a somewhat melancholy edge. The headliner plays smart, funny, Tom Waits-style lounge lizard stuff in the same vein as Rickie Lee Jones’ latest work.

 

 

 

Also Weds Apr 16 Jah Division – who play instrumental dub reggae covers of Joy Division songs – play the Mercury, 8 PM, tickets from their postponed 3/3 show will be honored. OK, now for the requisite jokes: dance to jah radio? Where will it end, bumba clot, WHERE WILL IT END!?!?!?

 

Also Weds Apr 16 fiery, ever-more-psychedelically-inclined power trio Devi play a rare acoustic show at the Goldhawk, 936 Park Ave @ 10th St, Hoboken (Park runs parallel to Washington, the main drag; walk away from the Path and go left on 9th to Park and then hang a right). If you want to hear their scorching electric show, they’re playing for free at 10 PM Shrine uptown at 2271 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd. b/w 133-134 on 4/18.

  

Thurs Apr 17, 1 PM at Trinity Church, German cello quartet Quattrocelli make their New York debut, performing works by Bach, Morricone and Gershwin. Pretty cool, huh! Don’t forget to turn off your phone before the show starts.

 

 

 

Also Thurs Apr 17 the Robert Charles Band plays Lucille’s Bar, two sets at 8 PM. About eight years ago this local blues band was really cooking. The singer/bandleader doesn’t try to Robert Plant everything and the rest of the band has a shockingly terse, soulful feel for their predictable repertoire of Muddy Waters and Son House classics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also Thurs Apr 17 a killer gypsy music bill at Drom at 10 PM with Luminescent Orchestrii and Gypsy All. You might want to stop by the club box office for advance tickets for this one.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also Thurs Apr 17 jazz guitar monster Matt Munisteri plays and sings his own excellent, smartly amusing, virtuosic tunes at Barbes, 9 PM

 

 

 

Fri Apr 18, 8 PM at Symphony Space it’s Etran Finatawa. From the Symphony Space website: “Etran Finatawa, from the West African country of Niger, incorporates the diverse traditions of two nomadic cultures–the Wodaabe, known for their striking face painting, percussion and polyphonic songs, and the Kel Tamashek (Tuareg), noted for their “desert blues.” This is their New York debut. $32 adv tix available at the World Music Institute box office.

 

Also Fri Apr 18, 8:30PM at Rose Bar in Williamsburg it’s Adam Klipple & Drive-By Leslie. Original Hammond B3 organ-based jazz/funk with influences from African and world music to the Meters. Adam Klipple-  organ and Wurly; Keith Carlock – drums; Chris Tarry – bass; David Phelps -  guitar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fri Apr 18, the Blame plays Trash Bar, 10:30 PM. They’re an actually damn good Staten Island punk band with DKs/early Damned influences – check their myspace for their hilarious song Fuck You All.  They’re followed on the bill by another NYC punk band, the sardonic, funny, pissed-off Social Distortion-influenced One Last Shot.

 

Also Fri Apr 18 New Model Army plays the Mercury, 11 PM. Since the tragic death of their drummer Rob Heaton, frontman Justin Sullivan has been doing what seems to be one long tour, playing acoustic versions of their mighty, politically-charged anthems. Back in the late 80s and early 90s, this band was one of the best around, sort of the missing link between the Clash and Midnight Oil. No one ever critiqued the failings of the left more accurately and poignantly than New Model Army.

 

Also Fri Apr 18 for those who like their surf music twangy and on the mellow side, as it often actually was around 1964, Mr. Action & the Boss Guitars (featuring the Supertones’ old drummer) play Lakeside at 11.

 

Sat Apr 19 fiery punk/pop power trio Cementhead play Rehab (the former Midway), early, 7 PM. All the firepower of the early Buzzcocks, the propulsive drive of Versus and the jangly guitar ingenuity of the Smiths’ Johnny Marr.  

 

Also Sat Apr 19, 8 PM songwriter/guitarist Ann Klein plays Kenny’s Castaways. Her songs tend to be pop with an Americana edge, but if she’s playing electric, look out: she’s one of the most dazzling, exhilarating players around, especially adept at eerie David Gilmour-esque noisy slide work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sat Apr 19 dis one’s for de massive, yeah mon. Don’t let the fact that these guys are white scare you away: if dub reggae is your thing, Giant Panda Gorilla Dub Squad and John Brown’s Body are playing Bowery Ballroom, 9 PM, adv tix available at the Mercury. The openers are woozily good instrumentalists, related to the headliners, who hail from Ithaca, of all places but sound like they just stepped off the plane from St. Ann’s Bay, Jamaica circa 1977.

 

 

Also Sat Apr 19 the excellent country band Jerry Teel & Big City Stompers play Union Pool, 10 PM. Teel has had quite a career, with noise-rockers the Honeymoon Killers, the late, great Chrome Cranks and retro garage guys the Knoxville Girls. He ran the legendary Fun House studios here on the Lower East Side til relocating to New Orleans – where he lost pretty much everything when the levees broke. Now back in the area, Teel and his velvet-voiced wife Pauline are backed by a killer band featuring JJ Jenkins on lead guitar and the Dog Show’s Jerome O’Brien on bass. They’re also here on 5/2 at 10.

 

Also Sat Apr 19, 10 PM the Moonlighters are back at Barbes. A New York institution, they’re reverted to the uber-romantic oldtimey sound they cultivated so gorgeously on their first album, and frontwoman Bliss Blood is as charming and wickedly spot-on as any frontwoman anywhere.  

 

 

 

 

Also Sat Apr 19 the Wiremen open for Cordero at Rose Bar in Williamsburg, 10 PM. The former, led by superb, subtle ex-Bee & Flower guitarist Lynn Wright mine something of a southwestern gothic vibe with horns; the headliners are another Bee & Flower spinoff, a darkly jangly rock en Espanol unit whose frontwoman Ani Cordero has never written more hauntingly or beautifully than she’s been doing lately. They’re very popular, so if you’re going, get there early.

 

 

Also Sat Apr 19 Demolition String Band plays Rodeo Bar, 10:30 PM. If you like X’s country songs, you’ll love this band with their scorching electrified bluegrass guitar, tight guy/girl vocals and excellent original songwriting that rocks as much as it twangs.

 

 

Also Sat Apr 19 slightly psychedelic Ohio surf rockers Purple K’nif play Lakeside, 11 PM. They swing a lot more than your typical surf band, their instrumentals pushing the envelope, more straight-ahead rock than most of the other sons of Dick Dale out there and write excellent original songs.

 

Also Sat Apr 19 at midnight, amusing if predictable Spinal Tap-style Brooklyn metal band Mighty High plays Trash Bar. They pick up where Satanicide left off, with songs titled I Live to Get High and Hooked on Drugs, ad infinitum. 

 

Sun Apr 20 Bostonian Middle Eastern-inflected semi-goth rockers Black Fortress of Opium play Midway, 9 PM. They have a new album out and it promises to be excellent.

 

Also Sun Apr 20 Chip Robinson (ex-Backsliders) plays with the Roscoe Trio at Lakeside, 10-ish. Now logically, doesn’t that make it the Roscoe Quartet? Robinson’s growl should blend well with Roscoe’s twang, and the Steve Earle lead player’s wrist has healed so he can work his usual alchemy.

 

Tues Apr 22 amusing, acerbic Moonwork denizen Shayna Ferm - one of those comedienne-with-guitar types - plays Trash at 8. Edgy, satirical, afraid of nothing and genuinely funny

 

 

 

Also Tues Apr 22 excellent Brazilian percussionist Nanny Assis leads his band at Lucille’s Bar, 8 PM. Especially adept at danceable, hypnotic forro music, he’s an unlikely but excellent choice to play here with the club’s good sound and comfortable surroundings.

 

 

 

Weds Apr 23 Greek-American blues guitarist Spiros Soukis plays Lucille’s Bar, 8 PM. He grew up in Greece, a fan of late 60s British players like Peter Green, and mixes Greek motifs into his music, a mix of covers and originals. Whatever you may think of this guy, you can’t say he’s not original.

 

 

 

Also Weds Apr 23 the “French Gogol Bordello,” horn and string-driven gypsy/ska/punk rockers Babylon Circus make their New York debut at Drom, 9 PM. Should be an ecstatic, politically powerful show: during last year’s worldwide “la Fete de la Musique,” known here as Make Music NY, they were the first Western band to play in Syria in solidarity with the locals and the refugees from Iraq.

 

Also Weds Apr 23 Moisturizer frontwoman/baritone saxist Paula Henderson’s astonishingly imaginative, frequently mesmerizing soundtrack-style instrumental project Secretary featuring Big Boss plays Black Betty, 10 PM followed by one of standout jazz trombonist Dave Smith’s projects.

 

Also Weds Apr 23 Reckon So, fronted by excellent North Carolina country chanteuse Mary Olive Smith and her guitarist husband Danny Weiss motor in to Rodeo Bar at 10:30. Weiss’ signature sound is a uniquely warm, soulful vibe; he loves those low strings.

 

Thurs Apr 24, 1 PM the Russian Carnival Ensemble play a mix of boisterous, accordion-driven folk tunes and more classically-oriented stuff at Trinity Church.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also Thurs Apr 24, 7 PM, early, Metropolitan Klezmer play Drom. Met Klez feature a lot of the same folks from Isle of Klezbos (soaring, soulful, mischievous trumpeter Pam Fleming and slinky frontwoman Deborah Karpel, among others) and play a lot of haunting yet head-bopping originals. The highly regarded New York Gypsy Allstars headline at 9:30.

 

Also Thurs Apr 24 Orientalist song stylists Pharaoh’s Daughter play Joe’s Pub, 9:30 PM. Frontwoman Basya Schechter is an effortlessly compelling singer in both Hebrew and Arabic and her band is equally inspired. Living proof that if we took the politicians and the mullahs out of the equation and left everything to the musicians, there would be peace in the Middle East.

 

Also Thurs Apr 24, 11 PM, excellent, ever-more-adventutous artsy garage rockers the Disclaimers play Bar Matchless in Williamsburg. Naa Koshie Mills’ violin, keys, and trombone gives their catchy, sometimes fiery Radio Birdman-inflected songs some really cool textures, and the songs are anything but predictable.

 

Fri Apr 25 one of the best bills of the year so far at the Delancey, 8 PM with hilariously urbane yet intense janglerock singer Paula Carino opening, followed by the equally smart, more overtly hilarious Tom Warnick, then rousing guitar/keyboard-driven Brooklyn country band Basement, then the headliners, excellent British expat jangle/garage/pop rockers the Actual Facts playing the cd release for their new one Pain/Pleasure.

 

Also Fri Apr 25 check out this killer bill at Banjo Jim’s, 9:30 PM: legendary Patti Smith lead guitarist Lenny Kaye (who’s been playing oud and pedal steel lately!!!), Dreamboat guitarist Craig Chesler (who excels at both oldtimey and powerpop songs) and scorching twangmeisters Tom Clark and the High Action Boys along with special guests. Get there early if you’re going

 

Also Fri Apr 25 long-running Austin oldtimey band Poi Dog Pondering plays  Bowery Ballroom, 9:30 PM, $20 adv tix available at the Mercury. These guys invented the Pete’s Candy Store ten years before there was a Pete’s Candy Store, and still crank out a fun, psychedelic, danceable stew.

 

Also Fri Apr 25 art-rockers Melomane – one of the best live bands in the world right now – play the little room downstairs at Union Hall, 10 PM as a warmup for their upcoming European tour. Here’s your chance to get to see what the Europeans pay big bucks to see for next to nothing. Their stock in trade is powerful, politically charged, somewhat creepy, lushly orchestrated songs with roots in dark, chromatic 60s garage music.

 

Also Fri Apr 25 smart, subtle, minimalist Americana rock duo Kill Henry Sugar, featuring Erik Della Penna on excellent lapsteel and lead guitar, play Barbes at 10. Check their myspace for their hilarious cover of Jumpin Jack Flash.

 

Sat Apr 26, 3 (three) PM,  for those wishing to learn how to play the musical saw, the Saw Lady AKA Natalia Paruz gives a free demonstration and performance with piano accompaniment at the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts, Bruno Walter auditorium, 40 Lincoln Center Plaza (Broadway at 65th street). Paruz is reputedly very entertaining to watch. There are certain advantages to playing the saw: it never goes out of tune, you don’t need to change the strings and in a pinch it’ll do as a defensive weapon. And it’s a whole lot cheaper than a Stratocaster.

 

Also Sat Apr 26 Hazmat Modine plays two delirious sets of their sprawling, pan-global, gypsy-inflected party music at around 7:30 PM at Terra Blues. Frontman Wade Schuman has Iggy Pop-level charisma, playing a mean chromatic blues harp and steel guitar as well. The rest of the cast: more harmonica, trumpet (that’s Pam Fleming, y’all), two evil lead guitarists, tuba and drums reaches ecstatic heights as well. Minor keys have never been so much fun.

 

Also Sat Apr 26 one of the best bills of the year so far: surf/jazz/western swing guitar genius Jim Campilongo with his trio at 8 PM, then entertaining Canadian oldtimey act the  Ukeladies at 9ish followed by jazzy chanteuse Sasha Dobson. The Prewar Ponies are also at Rodeo Bar at 10:30 on 4/28.

 

Also Sat Apr 26 Rachelle Garniez plays one long set with her killer band at Joe’s Pub, 9:30 PM, advance tix very highly recommended since her posse – what’s left of the cool, pre-luxury condo LES contingent – always shows up in droves. Some magazine just rated her “one of New York’s beautiful people” which is considerably ironic in that she could always fall back on her looks to get her places, but she’d stubbornly prefer to use her brain instead. And that amazing multi-octave voice.

 

Also Sat Apr 26 stone-cold authentic early 50s pre-rockabilly country types Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co open for dark, intense Nashville gothic rockers Ninth House at Hank’s, 10 PM.

 

Also Sat Apr 26 for the adventurous at 10 PM at the Stone it’s Whoopie Pie with Mike Pride on drums, Bill McHenry on tenor sax and longtime Hank’s denizen Jamie Saft on bass. The club characterizes them as a “Down-east blues power trio.” See how much purist punk rock Jamie can bring to this crew. Or maybe they’ll totally surprise you.

 

Sun Apr 27, 9 PM, excellent Washington DC retro 60s Kinks-inspired rockers Bellman Barker play Trash Bar. 

 

Also Sun Apr 27 Bliss Blood’s blissfully good oldtimey, Bessie Smith-style barrelhouse blues band Delta Dreambox plays the new National Underground in the old Idlewild space on Houston, 9 PM.

 

Mon Apr 28 at 1 PM at St. Paul’s Chapel the La Vita Williams Guitar Duo (Bret Williams and Giacomo La Vita) performs works by Assad, Scarlatti and Albeniz.

 

Also Mon Apr 28 deviously brilliant keyboardist Greta Gertler continues her weekly “Casting lines” (Australian for “going fishing”) project at Banjo Jim’s, early, 7 PM. Which means special guests, every style on the planet from straight-ahead art-rock to ragtime to wild psychedelia and a delirious good time. Tonight the rotating cast of characters includes las Rubias del Norte’s Allyssa Lamb and a prose writer.

 

Also Mon Apr 28 So Nu play  Freddy’s, 8:30 PM So, nu, stuff this good you usually have to shell out the big bucks for. Boisterous, frequently minor-key Jewish drinking music with violin, accordion, tuba and percussion. They like all the good stuff: Naftule Brandwein, Dave Tarras, Taraf de Haidouks et al.

 

Also Mon Apr 28 powerful blues/jazz guitarist Marvin Sewell and his group play two cheap, late sets (?!?!?) at the Blue Note. Looks like somebody cancelled, so the club had to get somebody actually good! Sewell particularly excels at slide work – he is absolutely evil.

 

Also Mon Apr 28 once-and-future White Hassle frontman Marcellus Hall - whose recent solo work is amazingly literate, lyrical and funny as hell - plays what’s probably a solo show at Pete’s, 10:30 PM and worth staying out late for.

 

Tues Apr 29 Goldfrapp plays the Beacon, 8 PM, $35 adv tix available at the box office. Pricy, but if you’re into this sort of thing – Alison and her brother’s breathy downtempo sex music – they pull it off live, more or less (hard to imagine them not having at least something on tape). What Everything but the Girl or Massive Attack were to the 90s, Goldfrapp is to the zeros.

 

Also Tues Apr 29 and Weds Apr 30 Feist plays Manhattan Center, tix $30 and available at the Irving Plaza box office. If you haven’t already become a convert, check her out: her indie rock glimmers darkly and imaginatively in a Randi Russo kind of way, and her most recent ventures into more danceable terrain see her doing stuff like Nina Simone covers: imagine a coherent Bjork. If such a thing might be possible.

 

Also Weds Apr 30, 8 PM the Santa Marias, a noisy, garagey all-girl power trio with  a classic 60s pop songwriting style, decent vocals and a refreshingly down-to-earth vibe play Trash Bar, followed by generic 80s new wave wannabes Her Vanished Grace, then a female-fronted corporate rock band from New Jersey and then at 11, Desire Lines, who mine an actually fairly compelling dreampop/shoegaze/goth vein. Between acts, hang at the front bar and have some free tater tots.

 

Thurs May 1, 1 PM for a nice financial district lunch break the Manhattan School of Music Chamber Sinfonia is at Trinity Church, performing works by Haydn, Monteverdi and Stravinsky.

 

Also Thurs May 1, 5:30 PM if you’re lucky enough to get out of work on time, there’s an organ recital at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin on West 46th St. featuring excellent New York organist Christopher Creaghan.

 

Also Thurs May 1 charmingly dark accordionist/chanteuse Cassis plays the Living Room at 7, opening for haunting Bedsit Poets frontwoman Amanda Thorpe playing the cd release for her new one Union Squre at the Living Room, $10

 

Also Thurs May 1, a good oldtimey bill at Spikehill starting at 8 PM with Brotherhood of the Jugband Blues, then yodeling banjoist Curtis Eller’s American Circus and then Bliss Blood’s blissfully good barrelhouse blues band Delta Dreambox

 

Also Thurs May 1 multi-instrumentalist/chanteuse Rachelle Garniez plays her regular monthly gig at Barbes, 10 PM. What Lou Reed was for Lester Bangs, what Dylan was for Greil Marcus, what R. Kelly is for that girl at the Times (just kidding about that one, Rachelle), this unassuming woman is the artist we’ve probably given the most press to here. Because, although she has a rabid and adoring cult following, she should be vastly more popular than she is. There is astonishing imagination in her retro jazz/blues/cabaret/gypsy inflected songwriting, brutally subtle power in her lyrics and she’s an absolutely hilarious, spontaneous live performer. Oh yeah, also maybe the best keyboardist in town, whether on piano or accordion. OK. Now you know.

 

Fri May 2 at 7 PM an all-ukulele bill at Bowery Poetry Club with a rare solo performance by the Moonlighters’ Bliss Blood along with Doug Skinner, Jennifer Kwok, Ben Lerman, Carmen Borrgia, Ballard C Boyd.

 

Also Fri May 2, 8 PM Catspaw plays Trash, 8 PM. These two women and a guy on bass deliver all the fun of original rockabilly and surf music with none of the affectation or the pose. How refreshing. And their song Southbound Line has to be one of the best of this decade.

 

Also Fri May 2 frequently mesmerizing concert harpist/chanteuse Katie Brennan plays the cd release for her sensationally good new one Slowly at Jimmy’s No. 43, 43 7th St. (between 2nd & 3rd Aves.), 9 PM.  She sounds nothing like that goofy-voiced girl who was all the rage about a year ago; instead, she’s staked a claim to sultry Neko Case/Eleni Mandell territory.

 

Also Fri May 2 absolutely riveting, haunting, oud-and-accordion-driven East African dance band revivalists Sounds of Taraab plays Shrine uptown, 9 PM, 2271 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. betw 133-134 St

 

Also Fri May 2, 9 PM a killer gypsy bill with Luminescent Orchestrii, theWiyos and Feloche at Drom on Ave. A.

 

Also Fri May 2, 10 PM the excellent country band Jerry Teel & Big City Stompers play Union Pool, 10 PM. Teel has had quite a career, with noise-rockers the Honeymoon Killers, the late, great Chrome Cranks and retro garage guys the Knoxville Girls. He ran the legendary Fun House studios here on the Lower East Side til relocating to New Orleans – where he lost pretty much everything when the levees broke. Now back in the area, Teel and his velvet-voiced wife Pauline are backed by a killer band featuring JJ Jenkins on lead guitar and the Dog Show’s Jerome O’Brien on bass.

 

Sat May 3, 9:30 PM Ninth House’s dark baritone frontman Mark Sinnis – the missing link between Johnny Cash and Ian Curtis – plays his acoustic Nashville gothic stuff upstairs at the Living Room.

 

Also Sat May 3, 9:30 PM, long-running, sprawling Brooklyn funksters Groove Collective play Drom. Bounce to those amazing basslines.

 

Also Sat May 3 scorchingly good delta blues guitarist Lenny Molotov – something of an American counterpart to Richard Thompson, with his stinging, smart, socially aware lyricism and spectacular chops -  plays with his band at Sidewalk, 10 PM

 

Also Sat May 3 it’s another of legendary surf music promoter Unsteady Freddy’s shows at Otto’s starting at 10 with the Tritons, Reverb Galaxy, the uncommonly oldschool, twangy, subtle Mr. Action & the Boss Guitars and then the sensationally good, somewhat improvisationally-inclined Venice Beach Muscle Club sometime in the wee hours. For those who prefer Mr. Action at Lakeside on a Friday night, they’re at Lakeside on May 16 at 11.

 

Also Sat May 3 the hilarious, picture-perfect retro pre-rockabilly country trio (“ballads, boogies and blues,” according to the band) Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. play Rodeo Bar, 10:30 PM

 

Sun May 4, early, 2 PM, for those not too hungover for some amusingly anti-corporate liberation theology, Rev. Billy & the Stop Shopping Choir play an afternoon show at Highline Ballroom

 

Also Sun May 4, 9 PM Bliss Blood’s ever-more-popular Bessie Smith-inspired barrelhouse blues band Delta Dreambox plays the National Underground. They’re also at Barbes on May 9 at 8 PM.

 

Also Sun May 4 excellent, loud Brooklyn noise-rock/shoegaze types Apollo Heights play a loft show at Dead Herring, 141 South 5th Street, South Williamsburg, time TBA

 

Mon May 5, here’s what could be the best single show of 2008: keyboard monster Greta Gertler winds up her residency at Banjo Jim’s at 7 PM with a spectacularly good band comprised of her fellow panstylistic rock goddesses: Rachelle Garniez, Serena Jost, Alice Bierhorst and Carol Lipnik! This is the kind of crew that could swap instruments on every song a la Blue Oyster Cult (hey Greta: double double dare you to play Joan Crawford!!!)

Also Mon May 5, 9 PM it’s the debut of  Whisperado’s Mud Room Event at Kenny’s Castaways beginning with the Leonard Cohen-inspired, minimalist dark folk ofTam Lin  and then the caffeinated, Dylanesque stylings of Whisperado themselves.

 

Tues May 6, Michal the Girl – whose catchy powerpop was one of the best things going back at the old Luna Lounge around the turn of the century – plays an acoustic show featuring lots of new material at the Rockwood, 7 PM

 

Also Tues May 6 violinist Jenny Scheinman – who’s just wrapped up a long stand at the Vanguard with Bill Fressell – plays her own stuff at Barbes at 7 followed by the very popular Balkan brass band Slavic Soul Party. $10 cover for SSP.

 

Also Tues May 6, 9:30 PM, $15 adv tix available and enthusiastically recommended, Tammy Faye Starlite plays Joe’s Pub. From the moist lips of the evangelist herself: “Tammy Faye Starlite, the celebrated and somewhat salacious country chanteuse-cum-evangelist, brings her sweet gospel chansons to the stage of Joe’s Pub in order to pray for our country and to implore the cheerless, peccant souls of New York City to elect a leader who will follow the dictates of a Southern Baptist Lord and lead us into the ultimate, eschatalogical battle of Armageddon (we’re already on our way!) which will ultimately bring about the Second Coming of Christ. With songs by Tammy Wynette, Bob Dylan (the Christian incarnation) and Charlie Daniels, plus a brand new Tammy Faye original, she hopes to unite these fragmented 48 contiguous United States (Alaska and Hawaii don’t count - their indigens look different) and help make this a truly Christian nation, the way Jesus (and Ann Coulter) intended, as stated in Matthew 2:13: “And ye shall elect a leader who will protect the sanctity of life, and perpetuate an overtly heterosexual, gun-wielding, bellicose culture of abstinent imperialists, guarded from all evildoers by His holy Blue Cross and His impenetrable Blue Shield .” Songs include “Where Is America Going,”, “Saved,” “Don’t Liberate Me, Love Me” and Tammy’s own ode to White Supremacy, “White As Snow.” Sponsored in part by Pastor Rick Warren and the Saddleback Church, with additional support from Dr. James Dobson and Focus on the Family.”

 

Weds May 7, legendary 60s psychedelic artifacts the Electric Prunes play B.B.King’s, $22.50 adv tix available at the club box office. Don’t laugh: the group responsible for the classic single Too Much to Dream (and Mass in F Minor, which has to be one of the ten best stoner albums ever made), is back, with a couple of original members. Check out their myspace for a scary/cool listen to their new stuff, equal parts eerie garage band and cautionary tale a la Roky Erickson.

 

Thurs May 8, lunchtime, Ljova and the Contraband play their original gypsy stuff at 1 PM at Trinity Church, 

 

Also Thurs May 8, early evening, 7 PM, ever-more-guitarishly intense Brooklyn new wave/early 80s revivalists the Larch play the cd release for their new one Gravity Rocks at Arlene’s. Potently adrenalizing Richard Lloyd-influenced lead guitar, smart and socially aware songwriting and Liza from the WonderWheels smirking behind the keyboard.

 

Also Thurs May 8, 7 PM at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, an impressive, free evening of French romantic organ music (mostly for two organs) along with liturgical works for choir featuring Marcel Dupre’s Quatre Motets; the Louis Vierne Messe Solennelle, and another mass by Widor.

 

Also Thurs May 8, brilliantly haunting British expat Americana chanteuse Jan Bell plays with her band the Cheap Dates at Highline Ballroom, 7:30 PM, opening for longtime womens’ music singer Ferron who headlines later on.

 

Also Thurs May 8, the reliably excellent, smartly aware, lusciously romantic oldtimey Moonlighters play 9 PM at the National Underground. They’re also here on May 22 at 9, and at the Jalopy Café in Red Hook on May 16 at 9.

 

Also Thurs May 8, 10 PM at Barbes, if you need a gypsy fix later in the evening,  ANSAMBL MASTKIA. From the Barbes website:  “Greg Squared leads this mostly Balkan-inspired ensemble which plays tunes ranging from the plaintive clarinet ‘miroloi’ of northern Greece to the funkier grooves of the Serbian and Macedonia Roma (gypsies); from the mysterious qualities of Turkish calgija music to the driving power of Bulgarian wedding music. with Matt moran - percussion; Reuben Radding - bass; Joey Weisenberg - guitar; Matthew Fass - accordion; Catherine Foster - trumpet and Greg Squared - Sax and clarinet.”

 

Sat May 10 former Roulette Sisters frontwoman and National steel guitarist Mamie Minch plays her mix of salaciously entertaining and darkly haunting original blues songs at Barbes, 8 PM. Her forthcoming album Razorburn Blues is something of a change, with an emphasis on stark, sometimes emotionally wrenching songwriting.

 

Also Sat May 10 Bobby Radcliff, another damn good real blues guitarist (as opposed to fake blues guitarists – you know who they are, yuppies call them god, ad infinitum), plays  Lucille’s, 8 PM. Faster, jazzier, more incisive and intense than he’s ever been.

 

Also Sat May 10, 10:15 PM, early (by Lakeside standards), Simon & the Bar Sinisters blast into Lakeside. Old-school LES squatter punk who cleaned up his act and became one of the great rockabilly/surf guitarists (and bassists!) around. If you’re lucky they’ll do their dirty Batman theme and the ska cover of In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida.

 

Sun May 11, early, 7 PM, lush, atmospheric art-rockers the Quavers play Barbes. Live, they create songs by playing loops, one after the other, adding them to the mix until they have a song: it’s amazing to watch. Another amazing player, gypsy guitarist Stephane Wrembel follows at 9 PM.

Mon May 12 Mavrothi Kontanis and his sensationally intense, haunting, powerful Greek rebetika band play Barbes at 8 followed at 9:30 by one of New York’s most reliably good live acts, Chicha Libre.

 

Tues May 13 vocal jazz group the Old Rugged Sauce plays Lakeside at 10 PM. With horns, guitar and keys and a pretty standard repertoire, they’re pretty much what you’d hear somewhere in the Midwest – except that their arrangements are amazing. And even the more impressive considering that none of these guys is in it for anything but the sheer fun of it.

 

Also Tues May 13 at Barbes, 7 PM it’s Nanina. From the Barbes site: “Nanina’s repertoire is a panorama of vocal Georgian music. They perform Alilos (orthodox carols) chants from the eastern and western liturgy, and rousing and/or humorous folk songs from several regions accompanied by panduri, chonguri or chunir. With Jodi Hewat, Carl Linich, and Aurelia Shrenker. Then, at 8, AE: Aurelia Shrenker and Eva Primack sing songs that’ll make your eyes water and your toes tingle. Tonight they will share music from Appalachia, Caucasus Georgia, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Ukraine, Corsica and beyond, with accompaniment on dulcimer, accordion, and the Georgian panduri.”

 

Thurs May 15, 1 PM the bracingly powerful, equally intense and amusing Metropolitan Klezmer – whose new live album is sensationally good - play a free lunchtime show at Trinity Church.

 

Also Thurs May 15, 9 PM legendary blues crooner Bobby Bland plays B.B. King’s, $25 adv tix available at the box office. You never know with this guy: B.B. King’s former valet could phone it in, or he could give you goosebumps. He still has that growl, and the ladies still love him, fifty years after he put down B.B.’s bags and got on the mic.

 

Also Thurs May 15, Suicide plays Europa, time TBA. That’s right, Alan Suicide, from CBGB, 1976. Their sound hasn’t changed one iota, and it could be described as unlistenable. For serious noise-rock fans and anyone who actually likes Metal Machine Music.

 

Sat May 17, starting in the morning at 11 AM it’s Wall to Wall Bach at Symphony Space, free, but get there early for this terrific event.  The American Symphony Orchestra (under the baton of Maestro Leon Botstein) and a slew of artists performs preludes, fugues, cantatas, suites, concerti, sonatas and more (gavottes? Airs?), concluding with a resounding performance of the B minor Mass.  

 

 Also Sat May 17 Witches In Bikinis play Kenny’s Castaways, 10 PM. More of a theatrical event than a concert: The Trip (the Jack Nicholson movie) meets Rocky Horror. Campy, yes, but genuinely funny, both lyrically and musically, to the extent that the show would work equally well if the witches, in their matching colored wigs and bathing suits, weren’t all dancing around with hardly anything on.

 

Also Sat May 17 if the X show at Irving Plaza (May 24) is too rich for your blood, Spanking Charlene provide a worthwhile alternate at Lakeside, 11 PM. Frontwoman Charlene MacPherson is the real deal, a fiery, powerful belter and her husband/guitarist has a real feel for dirty, distorted, punky Americana rock. And the songs can be very funny.

 

Sun May 18, early, 7 PM Amy Allison plays Banjo Jim’s. She’s sensationally funny, super smart, has a beautifully unique voice and while her new, more rock oriented songs are sometimes wrenchingly dark, she still plays a lot of her older, more countryish, amusing material for a rapt cult audience who know all the words and request stuff issued on obscure compilation cds back in the 90s that Allison has long since forgotten.

 

Also Sun May 18, semi-legendary mandolinist Andy Statman – equally dazzling at both bluegrass and klezmer - plays Barbes at 9 PM, early arrival (i.e. an hour early) very strongly advised, as this guy is used to playing vastly larger clubs.

 

5/22, 1 PM at Trinity Church – the New York Scandia Symphony, Dorrit Matson, conductor, performing works by Sibelius, Foerster and Langgard.

5/22 Patti Rothberg plays the cd release for her new album Double Standards at the Gramercy Theatre, time TBA

5/22 the Mercenaries at Lakeside, 10 PM

5/23 Les Sans Culottes/Chicha Libre at Joe’s Pub, 7 PM $15

5/24 Johnny Allen at Terra Blues, 10 PM

5/20, 5 PM Les Mysteres des Voix Bulgares at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, 416 West 42

5/23 at Barbes 8 PM Les Chauds Lapins followed by Rob Curto’s GRUPO SANFONA. “Led by accordionist Rob Curto, the band plays the classic brazilian Northeast forros of Luis Gonzagua and Jackson do Pandeiro as well as orignial compositions. Forro comes from the African word “forrobodó” which means big party. Mispronounced by the English railroad workers in Brazil, Forró became For All. Forro Updating the traditional setting, Forro For All uses Accordion, Zabumba (a bass drum strapped on at an angle) and Triangle; Cavaquinho (ukulele-size steel string guitar), a 7-String Guitar (which plays the bass lines), and percussion such as Snare Drum, Agogo and Pandeiro”

5/25 7 PM at Barbes BRIDGET KIBBEY. “Harpist Bridget Kibbey is a winner of the 2007 Concert Artists Guild International Competition and recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant. A leader among harpists active in contemporary music, Ms. Kibbey has premiered works by both emerging and prominent living composers. She performed Britten’s Canticles in Carnegie’s Zankel Hall with tenor Ian Bostridge, and she was a soloist in both Weill Recital Hall’s Elliot Carter/Oliver Knussen workshop and MOMA’s 2006 Elliot Carter Portrait.“Bridget Kibbey…made it seem as though her instrument had been waiting all its life to explode with the gorgeous colors and energetic figures she was getting from it.” The New York Times

Sun 05/25 at Barbes STEPHANE WREMBEL: 9:00pm

5/26 Mavrothi Kontanis at Barbes 8 PM

5/26 Botanica and Firewater at  Bowery Ballroom, time tba

5/27 at Barbes 7 PM RUFUS CAPPADOCIA. From the Barbes site: ”Rufus is one of the leading voices of cutting edge cello today. His technique and musicianship inspire awe and critics have characterized his playing as “powerful…exploring territory that is positively otherworldly.” Rufus plays a self-designed five-string electric cello that extends the bass range of the cello and through amplification expands its tonal possibilities. His rhythmic and sonic approach has led to collaborations with musicians from the Balkans, Ireland, West Africa, Greece and the Caribbean. He has backed the great singers Aretha Franklin and Kasse Mady and has performed at jazz, dance and world music festivals throughout Europe and the Americas. Rufus was at the core of the rhythm section of Urban Tap, a dance company he toured with extensively. Rufus can be heard on cd with Songs for Cello (solo cello) , Bethany & Rufus, The Paradox Trio, Ross Daly, and Kif.”

5/29 St. Pat’s Cathedral Olivier Messiaen Anniversary Recital Thursday, 7:00 p.m. with Gail Archer, DMA

5/30 El Jezel at Crash Mansion time TBA - the cd release for The Warm Frequency

5/30 the Moonlighters at Barbes, 10 PM

5/31 Curtis Eller’s American Circus at Barbes 8 PM