New York City Live Music Calendar – End of July/August 2008

This calendar was new last week but it’s not this week! Here’s a link to the new one!

Constant updates: this thing is growing like Jason Giambi’s head. As usual, we start with weekly events, followed by the daily calendar. If you don’t recognize one of the places where a show is happening, click on our Venues page.

 

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, Michael Arenella & the Dreamland Dance Band play sly yet boisterous oldtimey hot jazz during a brunch set at Bar Tabac on Smith St. in Brooklyn Heights from about half past noon to 4 PM.

 

Sundays Sean Kershaw & the Terrible Two (that’s the New Jack Ramblers minus a couple fingers & toes) play the upstairs roof deck at Rocky Sullivan’s, 34 Van Dyke St at Dwight St in Red Hook, 1-4 PM. Free ferry from Manhattan (pier 11,Wall St.) and free shuttle buses from the F&G trains at Smith-9th St, the F,M,R at 4th Ave, and the 2,3,4,5,M,N,R at Borough Hall.

 

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.

 

Every Sunday in July at Rehab (note that the series is not happening in August) it’s Reminisce Reggae Sunday, in tribute to the great series at the now-defunct Reminisce Lounge on the upper east with live bands starting at 8 PM. No cover, and what promises to be as comfortably multicultural a hang as it was ten years ago.

 

Sundays in July Sasha Dobson plays Pete’s Candy Store at 8:30 PM. Jazz chanteuse on the serious Brazilian tip: musically, she’s where Snorah Jones should hope to be in five years.

 

Sundays in August at 9 PM, sensational gypsy jazz guitarist Stephane Wrembel – who’s been incorporating a lot of other influences, particularly Middle Eastern, into his sound – plays Barbes.

 

Every Sunday, hip-hop MC Big Zoo hosts the long-running End of the Weak rap showcase at the Pyramid, 9 PM, admission $5 before 10, $7 afterward. This is one of the best places to discover some of the hottest under-the-radar hip-hop talent, both short cameos as well as longer sets from both newcomers and established vets

 

Mondays in July (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 in July (note that they’re NOT playing here in August) 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 in July at 9 PM – note that the band will not be here in August – 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.

 

Tuesdays in July,  El Ritmo Southside plays Rose Bar in Williamsburg, 11 PM. A classic-style NYC Latin descarga playing the salsa, mambo, cha-cha, rhumba etc. of the masters: Palmieri, Puente, Barretto, the Fania era, featuring Antonio Rodriguez – congas, Jon Uman – timbales, Tommy Mattioli – vibraphone, Andy Cotton – bass

 

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 68 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.

 

Also every Wednesday, the Nat Lucas Organ Trio plays jazz at Lenox Lounge uptown, sets from 8 PM to midnight.

 

Thursdays in July, through August 7 at 1 PM there are free organ concerts at Trinity Church. This year’s theme is Organ Divas, an impressive mix of women performers. The new digital organ (which replaced the old pipe organ destroyed on 9/11) is virtually indistinguishable from its analog cousin.

 

Also Thursdays starting July 13, there’s a series of concerts inspired by Salvador Dali in the sculpture garden behind MOMA, two sets at 5:30 and 7 PM, admission free with MOMA’s exorbitant $20 admission (see if you have any friends who have a corporate membership through their jobs). Highlights of the series are listed below in the monthly calendar.

 

The Latino Cultural Festival at the Queens Theatre in the Park in Corona begins July 23.Check the daily calendar below for highlights.

 

 

The first major JMW Turner exhibit in the US in many moons is up at the Metropolitan Museum of Art through mid-September. Might be a good idea to wait til, say, August to check it out (or get there early in the day if you can).

 

Mon-Tues July 21-22 Alanna Fugate plays Banjo Jim’s, 8 PM. Rootsy, rustic fingerstyle guitarist/songwriter from Louisville, something like a more oldtimey Kirsten Williams. Smarter than your average folkie, nice country gospel voice.

 

Tues July 22 the Dirty Jerz’ finest hip-hop veterans, Naughty by Nature play Queensbridge Park, 41 Ave., Bridge Plaza, Vernon Blvd. & East River, 7 PM arrival highly advised.

 

Also Tues July 22 Jarvis Cocker plays Terminal 5 in Hell’s Kitchen, 10ish, adv tix $37.50 available at the Mercury box office. Expensive, sure, but the guy was the frontman in Pulp, the best British band of the 90s. He still has that withering cynicism and simmering rage and can still write a lyric with the best of them.

 

Tues July 22 the Second Fiddles play Rodeo Bar, 10:30 PM, with the irrepressible and wickedly fun Bliss Blood from the Moonlighters sitting in on ukelele and vocals. Catchy, smartly arranged, obscure and original hokum blues and hillbilly tunes from the 20s and 30s.

 

Also Weds July 23 Al Duvall plays at 6:30 PM followed eventually on the bill by the Wiyos playing their rousing oldtimey stuff around 8:30 at the Tobacco Warehouse at Brooklyn Bridge Park in Dumbo, free.

 

Also Weds July 23, 7 PM at Rockefeller Park downtown it’s the Punch Brothers playing bluegrass, featuring Chris Thile (ex-Nickel Creek mandolinist).

 

Also Weds July 23 Bahamadia plays Brower Park, Brooklyn Ave. & Prospect Park Pl in Crown Heights, C train to Kingston Ave., 7 PM. One of hip-hop’s finest women lyricists, someone who can rock the party and make you smile while she brings the smart, intensely conscious vibes.

 

Weds July 23 Aphrodesia plays Shrine uptown at 8 PM. Tight, tuneful, completely original Bay area Afrobeat band mixing reggae, soukous, hi-life and more into a fiery, horn-driven blend, some of it quiet and downtempo, the rest as rousing as you would expect. If you like Antibalas you’ll like this crew. They’re also at Zebulon the night before, 7/22 if sound quality isn’t important to you.

 

Thursday, July 24 in the garden behind MOMA, sets at 5:30 and 7 as part of the ongoing Dali festival: Brian Carpenter’s Ghost Train Orchestra, a big brass band playing obscure “voodoo jazz” from the 20s along with cartoon and silent film scores.

 

Also Thurs July 24, 7 PM in East River Park at the Band Shell along the East River between Grand & Jackson Sts., a performance by KRS-One. One of the greats from the golden age of hip-hop, his freestyles back in the 80s and 90s are the stuff of legend. He’s become awfully preachy and hasn’t put out a good album in ages, but the potential for some mind-altering lyricism is always there.

 

Also Thurs July 24, 7 PM at Banjo Jim’s NYC sirens Amanda Thorpe and Lianne Smith play as part of the Mad Ripple Hootenany, a series of pickup band shows put together to feature popular Minneapolis musicians playing with some of the crème de la crème here. Just hearing Thorpe and Smith on the same stage could be transcendent, especially if the backing unit is up to it.

 

Also Thurs July 24 jazzy Peruvian chanteuse Corina Bartra plays the Queens Theatre in the Park in Corona, out past the tennis stadium, 8 PM. Adv tix cheapest if you get the $54 three-pack which gets you three concerts at this year’s Latino Cultural Festival, ridiculously inexpensive considering the quality of the acts on the bill. Other festival highlights listed below.

 

Also Thurs July 24 Smokey Robinson plays a free concert at Asser Levy Park at Coney Island, 8 PM. This is the only one of this summer’s concert series here that’s worth seeing: his voice isn’t what it used to be, but so what, he still has a ton of classics and he’ll probably pull a lot of them out of the bag.

 

Also Thurs July 24 a killer double bill at Pete’s with brilliant blues guitarist and songwriter Lenny Molotov and his rustic trio followed by lush, romantic, charming French chanson revivalists les Chauds Lapins, 9 PM.

 

Also Thurs July 24 virtuoso bluegrass cats Vincent Cross & Good Company play Hill Country, two sets at 9.

 

Also Thurs July 24 the Mercenaries play Lakeside, 10 PM. Rock quartet who sound sometimes like Guided by Voices at their most tuneful, otherwise a cut above your average Stonesy bar band like the Izzys.

 

Also Thurs July 24 Mighty High plays Trash, 10 PM. Completely over the top, Spinal Tap-ish early 70s style metal, i.e. they just want to get MIGHTY HIGH. Nobody in the band seems to take themselves all that seriously, a big plus. Could be a lot of fun if you’re in the, um, mood.

 

Thurs July 24 the Phantom Rockers play better-than-average ghoulabilly (is there such a thing as average ghoulabilly?) at Rodeo Bar, 10:30 PM.

 

Fri July 25, 6:30 PM, free with museum admission it’s Moroccan night at the Queens Museum of Art featuring sensational oud player/bandleader Rachid Halihal (a longtime member of Rachid Taha’s band), plus dance, plus a 90-minute documentary, I Love Hip-Hop in Morocco. 7 train to Shea Stadium and walk through the park across the street from Shea.

 

Also Fri July 25, 9:30 PM Elysian Fields play Joe’s Pub, adv tix $15 and absolutely necessary, this will sell out. One of the great New York noir rock bands, Jennifer Charles’ dark, sultry vocals mingling with Oren Bloedow’s eerie guitar soundscapes.

 

Also Fri July 25 Steve Wynn & the Miracle 3 play his old band the Dream Syndicate’s classic album Days of Wine & Roses all the way through at Maxwell’s, 10ish, $15. Recorded live in the studio in just two days, the record is one of the greatest noise-rock albums of alltime, enormously influential on scores of dirty guitar bands who came afterward. Live, drummer Linda Pitmon sings the one that DS bassist Kendra Smith sang on the album, and the rest of the band do justice to the original with an unbridled ferocity.

 

Also Fri July 25, the Brian Jonestown Massacre play Terminal 5, 10ish, adv tix available at the Mercury box office. Kind of pricy for a garage band, but these guys sound just like they stepped out of 1967, both sonically and songwise.

Also Fri July 25 Moonlighters’ frontwoman Bliss Blood’s spectacularly good barrelhouse blues band Delta Dreambox plays Barbes, 10 PM.

 

Also Fri July 25 the Demolition String Band play Rodeo Bar, 10:30 PM. Like the country side of X, but better: guy/girl vocals, a mandolinist frontwoman who can match her scorching lead guitarist in intensity and an insanely catchy, good new album out.

 

Sat July 26, there’s a Johnny Cash tribute feat. great country/rock chanteuse Laura Cantrell, oldtimey harmony group Ollabelle, John Doe of X, Jay Farrar, cantorial riff-rockers Sway Machinery, soul/blues siren Catherine Russell et al. at the World Financial Ctr., 7 PM

 

Also Sat July 26 an amazingly hip, free doublebill at Kingsborough Community College Arts Performing Arts Ctr., of all places, in Brighton Beach. Rob Curto’s Sanfonia Project who open at 7:30 are another of the noted accordionist’s Brazilian jazz combos; the spectacular Sounds of Taarab, who headline, play music from Zanzibar, hauntingly slinky Arab melodies over bouncy African beats and have one of the most adrenalizing accordionists around as well as a great new album.

 

Also Sat July 26 the Asylum Street Spankers play two separate shows, 7:30 and 11:30 PM at Joe’s Pub, adv tix $20 and absolutely necessary. The late show is especially recommended since these wild, somewhat theatrical oldtimey Texas throwbacks will probably have had a few by then. Hokum blues, hillbilly tunes, satirical country covers of punk songs and more.

 

Also Sat July 26 Washington, DC blues guitarist Bobby Radcliff plays Lucille’s Bar, 8 PM, two sets. A rare player who doesn’t let his blinding speed distract him from terseness and melody. As good at funk as darkly meandering, minor-key blues, he also bears something of a resemblance to Chewbacca the wookie! He’s back here on Aug 9 at 8 also

 

Also Sat July 26 the Sweet Bitters play Pete’s Candy Store, 9 PM. Good choice for a Saturday night: Sharon Goldman and Nina Soka, the two irrepressible sirens in this ultra-catchy, very smart harmony-pop group are both deviously funny and have a terrific way with a catchy hook. They’ve got a great new ep out.

 

Also Sat July 26 the Brooklyn What play Freddy’s Bar, 10ish. This is the punkish group responsible for the classic song I Don’t Wanna Go to Williamsburg, which, if every one of their other songs sucked (they don’t), would still make this show worth seeing. I DON’T WANNA GO TO NORTHSIX!!! I DON’T WANNA HEAR THE FUCKING HOLD STEADY!!!

 

Also Sat July 26, 10 PM, from the Barbes website: “La Cumbiamba Eneye: La Cumbiamba blends traditional instruments from the African Diaspora in Colombia, with indigenous and European instruments to play the traditional Colombian music that developed through the colonial era and continues to evolve.” I.E. this is the roots of what Chicha Libre plays: if you like them, you should go to this show.

 

Also Sat July 26 NYC rockabilly/western swing stars Sean Kershaw & the New Jack Ramblers play Hill Country, 10 PM.

 

Also Sun July 27 Argentinian jangle/flamenco rockers Los Pinguos, whoever’s left of Jamaican ska inventors the Skatalites and then acoustic blues/folk guy Taj Mahal are at Central Park Summerstage, 3 PM.

 

Sun July 27 alternately jazzy and atmospherically haunting, female-fronted pan-Orientalist band Pharaoh’s Daughter play Pier 1 on the upper West, 7 PM, songs in Hebrew, Arabic and English.

 

Also Sun July 27 the incomparably fun low-frequency trio Moisturizer – bass, drums and baritone sax, and spawling, ambient, psychedelic jazz megaplex Burnt Sugar are at Zebulon, 10ish.

 

Mon July 28 a great old-school punk bill at Europa starting at 9ish with the False Prophets, Bad Luck Charms feat. Kerry Martinez of US Bombs and then Shattered Faith. The openers were one of NYC’s best punk bands in the 80s, an amusingly theatrical, musically ambitious crew; the Bad Luck Charms have a Dead Boys/Dolls feel; the headliners go way, way back to the early 80s and wrote one of the era’s great Reagan assasination songs. No idea which original members of any of them are left. VOTE REAGAN…IN 1984!!!!!

 

Also Mon July 28 Daria Grace & the Prewar Ponies play Rodeo Bar, 10:30 PM. Grace was Bliss Blood’s original foil in the Moonlighters; since then, she’s gone on to play bass in Melomane as well as her husband Jack’s excellent band. This is her own gorgeously rustic, romantic oldtimey project.

 

Tues July 29 sensational Venezuelan acoustic guitarist Aquiles Baez plays the Queens Theatre in the Park in Corona, 8 PM as part of the ongoing Latino Cultural Festival, tix ridiculously cheap at $10. He brings a smartly rustic, original sensibility to a wide range of genres from jazz to classical.

Also Tues July 29, 10:30 PM Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. play Rodeo Bar, possibly three sets, this time with strippers (according to the Rodeo Bar website). One of the funniest and most original bands in town, period-perfect, 1953-style with their matching suits, oldtime stage patter, harmonies and often remarkably subtly amusing pre-rockabilly hillbilly songs.

 

Weds July 30, half past noon, Jamaican expat reggae singer Newsville Washington plays a free outdoor show with the former frontwoman and bassist from NY noir rock legends DollHouse (the great Lisa Lost and Frankie Monroe) at Liberty Park (Liberty btw Broadway/Church) downtown.

Also Weds July 30 the Theremin Project opens for John Zorn’s Cobra at the Tobacco Warehouse at Brooklyn Bridge Park, free, 7:30ish. The former promises to be impressively lyrical and melodic; the latter, possibly Zorn’s most-played piece manages to steer clear of the annoying kitsch that’s plagued his otherwise frequently eerie, klezmerish work.

 

Also Weds July 30 through Aug 2 brilliant Jamaican jazz pianist Monty Alexander plays Birdland with his trio 7/30-31 & Caribbean Sextet 8/1-2, shows at 9 and 11, your best bet is general admission for $30. Vividly tuneful, proudly Jamaican, he’s come a long way since his days as a generically bluesy guy back in the 70s. His collaborations with guitarist Ernie Ranglin are the stuff of legend, especially the live shows. No matter what he’s up to now, he’s worth seeing.

 

Also Weds July 30, Aimee Mann‘s show at Highline Ballroom and the Music Hall of Williamsburg on Aug 1 are SOLD OUT.

 

Weds July 30 the Unknown Invisibles play Ace of Clubs, 9 PM. Pretty good stuff, stylistically all over the place: Tom Waits, 80s art-rock like the Church, Neil Young-inflected rock.

 

Thurs July 31 in the garden behind MOMA as part of the ongoing Dali festival, Layali El Andalus plays two sets at 5:30 and 7. One of the best bands in New York, they blend classic Levantine dance music with frontman/oud player Halihal’s native Algerian songs as well as Sephardic and – obviously – Andalusian material. You’ll feel like you just wandered into Beirut’s coolest club, circa 1935.

 

Also Thurs July 31 popular, extroverted Irish band Flogging Molly play a bill with even more popular goth-folk guy/girl duo O’Death at Pier 54 in Hudson River Park at 14th St. and the water, 6 PM, not sure who’s opening for whom but it should be good either way.

 

Also Thurs July 31, 8 PM-ish Willie Colon plays the bandshell at East River Park, East River Park on the LES between Grand & Jackson Sts. “El Malo,” i.e. the bad-guy trombonist has been a salsa icon – he introduced Hector Lavoe and Ruben Blades to each other – a potent voice in the community and in politics and something of a legend in the NYC music scene for decades.

 

Also Thurs July 31 Via Audio plays Bowery Ballroom, 8-ish. Fetching guy/girl vox, catchy, occasionally loungey pop tunes with guitar and 70s analog synth. Like Scout covering the Cardigans, or vice versa.

 

Also Thurs July 31 Jan Bell & the Cheap Dates play Rodeo Bar, 10:30 PM. Hard to think of a better country artist in NYC right now. Or maybe the world. The self-described “Yorkshire lass” has an eerie wail of a voice, an understated poetic sensibility when it comes to lyrics and a killer band behind her. See her now before it costs you a hundred bucks at some big stadium.

 

Also Thurs July 31 Lucky Peterson plays Terra Blues, 10 PM. Otis Rush’s favorite piano player is a triple-threat, also a searing lead guitarist and a fine songwriter, one of the few remaining A-list Chicago blues players around.

 

Fri Aug 1 the amazing Dominican Bachata Roja Legends play their US debut at Queens Theatre in the Park, arguably the high point of this year’s Latino Cultural Festival, 8 PM, tix most cheaply available in the $54 three-pack which gets you three excellent shows at a reduced rate. This is a major event in US music history: these guys’ dark, backwoods acoustic sound is to, say, Raulin Rodriguez what Robert Johnson was to Led Zep. Revered pioneers, they’ve influenced just about every bachatisto alive today. Their frontman “The Outlaw Goat” hasn’t lost a step, just as darkly and uproariously funny as he was on their old 45s from the 60s.

 

Also Fri Aug 1, 8 PM at Central Park Summerstage it’s Max Pollack and Rhumba Tap playing their innovative, multi-stylistic take on classic Cuban and Caribbean music: dance lessons are ostensibly available as well.  

 

Also Fri Aug 1 Eli Paperboy Reed plays Union Hall, 7:30 PM. This guy is a simply amazing, stupendously energetic performer. Reed and his killer funk/soul band sound exactly like contemporaries of James Brown, circa 1965, without aping the Godfather of Soul. If old-school soul is your thing, if you can’t get enough of Sharon Jones, if you like to dance til you drop, you have to see this guy.  The little room downstairs here will sell out, advance tix very highly recommended. He’s also at the Knitting Factory the previous night, 7/31 at 8:30, adv tix ridiculously cheap at $8 and highly recommended, and playing for free at roughly 4 PM at McCarren Pool on 8/10.

 

Also Fri Aug 1 the theatrical, satirical, utterly original Witches in Bikinis play the Knitting Factory, 8:30 PM. They’re also at the Wonder Wheel outdoors at Coney Island, two sets at 5 and 7 PM on Aug 2, at Kenny’s Castaways on Aug 7 at 9, and see also Aug 9!

 

Also Fri Aug 1 Tandy plays Rodeo Bar, 10:30 PM. Lush, hypnotic, southwestern gothic jangle with a smartly narrative lyrical feel: thoughtful, often haunting tales from life’s darker side. Their latest album, a double cd release of their previous two, is simply one of the best of the decade 

 

Also Fri Aug 1 Bellman Barker play Trash, midnight. Don’t let this DC band’s recent press fool you: they are not twee and sound nothing like Belle and Sebastian. Instead, expect a bouncy, jaunting retro Britpop festival, like the Kinks, the Move or the Enfields!

 

Also Fri Aug 1 Jack Grace plays a rare White Stripes type show (guitar, vocals and drums) at Banjo Jim’s, midnight. One of the great country songwriters of our time, and a very funny performer. Should be very cool to hear him without the band kicking up a racket behind him. He’s also with his band at the Rodeo at 10:30 PM on Fri Aug 8. 

 

Sat Aug 2-3 marking the anniversary of the Tompkins Square Park riots (a little early), a bunch of bands playing the park in both afternoons. August 2: Planned Collapse, Absurd System, Black September, Rabia, Perdition, Hipster Holocaust, Casa de Chihuahua, D60, Oogle Orphanage. August 3: Leftover Crack, Death Mold, Team Spider, DisAssociate, Witch Hunt, Star Fucking Hipsters, Hungry March Band

 

Sat Aug 2 a cool, diverse ska bill at the Knitting Factory starting at 7 with versatile Staten Island reggae act the Bandulos, amazingly authentic Boston rocksteady throwbacks the Void Union, the smooth, hypnotic, horn-and-organ-driven Bluebeats, Jackmove (the Sublime soundalikes, NOT the Pacific Northwest punk band) and ska-punk Number 23 whose myspace is intriguing and original enough to make them worth checking out.

 

Also Sat Aug 2, 7:30ish a killer triple bill at Arlene’s: power popmeisters the Actual Facts, the ever-more-improvisationally-inclined, guitarishly dazzling new wave revivalists the Larch (riding the wave of their best-ever album) and another excellent retro 80s act, and wickedly literate, amusing janglerock siren Paula Carino and her band. 

 

Also Sat Aug 2, 8 PM los Gaiteros de San Jacinto play the Queens Theatre in the Park in Corona, part of the ongoing Latino Cultural Festival, tix cheapest in the $54 three-concert pack. This legendary “folklorico” septet play vibrantly percussive, reed-driven traditional dance tunes from Colombia.

 

Also Sat Aug 2, 9 PM the Toneballs fronted by Dan Sallitt (ex-Blow This Nightclub) and featuring Dann Baker from Erica Smith’s band and Love Camp 7 play Freddy’s. Sallitt is a killer songwriter, lyricist and soulful singer. It’s Donna Upton’s birthday! Hey Donna happy birthday, what are you, 26 or something? As a special bonus, fiery highway rockers the Sloe Guns open the night at 8.

 

Also Sat Aug 2 this month’s Unsteady Freddie surf rock shindig at Otto’s is reliably good, starting at 10 with the smartly retro Mr. Action And The Boss Guitars, somewhat stylistically schizophrenic Tarantinos NYC at 11, Connecticut’s impressively rocking Clams sometime after midnight and then ghoulabilly band Deathbed Bride.

 

Sun Aug 3, 7 PM candombe titan Ruben Rada plays the Queens Theatre in the Park in Corona, part of the ongoing Latino Cultural Festival, tix cheapest in the $54 three-concert pack. He’s sort of the official ambassador for his native compositionally complex jazz/traditional fusion, the Jobim of Uruguay.

 

Also Sun Aug 3 the Flying Neutrinos play Rodeo Bar, 10ish. Along with the Moonlighters, this horn-driven N’awlins swing unit pioneered the oldtimey sound in NYC, alternately danceable and dreamy. Always worth checking out to see what they’ve been up to. They’re back here on Aug 10 and 17.

 

Mon Aug 4 Chinese pipa virtuoso Wu Man (who, true to her name, happens to be a woman) plays the Schimmel Center at Pace Univ. downtown, 7:30 PM, free but adv tix req. Undoubedly they are hard to come by since the theatre seats less than a thousand; the box office on Spruce St. (close to William) opens at 4 PM, get there early if you’re going.

 

Also Mon Aug 4 at the Jazz Standard, sets at 7:30 and 9:30 PM, bandoneon player/bandleader Hector Del Curto’s Eternal Tango Quintet including piano, strings and a rhythm section playing absolutely gorgeous, haunting, classic Piazzola-style compositions. They’re also here on 8/18.

 

Also Mon Aug 4 at Rose Bar, 9 PM it’s psychedelic, organ-driven funk/jam band Polyester Pimpstrap. If Dr. Dre was a musician, this would be his band: they manage to be way-out and completely over-the-top but also devious and smart, and all the while the groove is smacking on your ass.

 

Also Mon Aug 4 the reliably entertaining, boisterous, self-explanatory Ukuladies (they spell their name that way because there’s another band, the Ukeladies, in Australia) play Rodeo Bar, 10:30 PM.

 

Tues Aug 5 multistylistic, extremely popular violinist/composer/singer Jenny Scheinman plays Barbes, 7 PM. She’s also here at 7 on Tues Aug 19.

 

Also Weds Aug 6, 7ish, hip-hop legend Chubb Rock performs at Mahoney Park in Staten Island, intersection of Beechwood Avenue, Crescent Avenue at Cleveland and Jersey Sts. If you’re coming from the Ferry, catch the S24 bus around the corner from the terminal. As this is Shaolin and most everybody drives, the bus doesn’t run all that frequently. Have we scared you off yet? That having been said, this is a real treat for Shaolanders.

 

Also Weds Aug 6 a diverse Americana bill at Kenny’s Castaways: at 7, Jon Sobel of caffeinated, Dylanesque rockers Whisperado playing a mostly solo acoustic set, followed by Hay Jude, who play country covers of Beatles songs, acoustic duo Compton Maddux and then the reliably rousing Mercantillers, a sprawling acoustic band of salty seamen with guitars and accordion whose repertoire consists solely of sea shanteys.

 

Also Weds Aug 6, a killer oldtimey triple bill at Sidewalk (told you they were getting some good acts these days, didn’t we!) starting at 8 with Craig Chesler from Dreamboat followed at 9 by boisterous trombonist J. Walter Hawkes and continuing with the irresistibly smart, romantic harmony-driven Moonlighters at 10.

 

Thurs Aug 7 theremin virtuoso and composer Pamelia Kurstin plays the sculpture garden out behind MOMA as part of the ongoing Salvador Dali tribute, sets at 5:30 and 7 PM. A rare passage worth quoting from a press release: “On an instrument primarily associated with horror and science fiction soundtracks, she creates lyricism. Her pitch, technique, and taste are equally perfect. She can play microtonal puzzles and walking bass lines; she can make her instrument sound like a violin, a human voice, or an analog synthesizer. Out of what was once a symbol of modernism, she plays music of a very emotional order.” She’s also at Barbes on Aug 8 at 8.

 

Also Thurs Aug 7 gypsy jazz guitar monster Stephane Wrembel plays out back of Lincoln Center at Damrosch Park, 7 PM.

 

Also Thurs Aug 7 roots reggae revivalists Taj Weekes & Adowa play at 8 PM free, at Theatre Square at the NJ Performing Arts Center in Newark. Weekes is a throwback: you’ll think you’ve just been transported back to St. Ann’s Bay, 1977, with Burning Spear and Marley and Tosh and all the rest, he’s that good. High eerie voice, excellent conscious lyrics and a killer band behind him. Take the Path train to Newark. Directions from Newark’s Penn Station: from the main waiting room, leave by the Raymond Plaza West exit, cross the bus and taxi pickup lanes, and turn to your right toward Raymond Boulevard. Turn left on Raymond Boulevard and walk 2 blocks (west) to Mulberry Street. Turn right, crossing Raymond Boulevard, and walk two blocks on Mulberry Street (north) to Center Street. NJPAC is directly across Center Street.

 

Also Thurs Aug 7 popular jazz trumpeter/composer Terence Blanchard plays Castle Clinton, 7 PM, get your tix at the fort by 5 if you’re going.

 

Thurs Aug 7 the Brooklyn What play Hank’s, time TBA. This is the punkish group responsible for the classic song I Don’t Wanna Go to Williamsburg, which, if every one of their other songs sucked (they don’t), would still make this show worth seeing. I DON’T WANNA GO TO NORTHSIX!!! I DON’T WANNA HEAR THE FUCKING HOLD STEADY!!!

 

Fri Aug 8, 7:30 PM at Joe’s Pub, longtime Elvis Costello keyboardist Steve Nieve collaborates with a drummer named Jokka and a singer named Vic to create a new band called Maybe. Nieve is arguably the greatest noir piano player alive and something of a jokester as well. $25 adv tix absolutely necessary and well worth it.

 

Also Fri Aug 8 Irving Louis Lattin plays Lucille’s, 8 PM. Given the venue, one assumes the Chicago bluesman is playing electric, which he does impressively tersely. He’s back here on the 22nd at 8 as well.

 

Also Fri Aug 8 Tift Merritt plays Bowery Ballroom, 9 PM, adv tix $16 available at the Mercury. Haunting alt-country singer who sounds a lot like Linda Thompson, and whose occasional ventures into Sheryl Crow territory are tuneful and inoffensive. Terminally bland whiteboy Jason Collett opens, reaffirming that some Canadians can be just as dumb and clueless as American.

 

Also Fri Aug 8 popular, tuneful, guy/girl-fronted janglerockers Elk City play the Mercury, 10:30 PM.  Female-fronted powerballad band Audio Fiction follow afterward, like an edgier Pat Benatar. No joke.

 

Also Fri Aug 8 sprawling but supertight, horn-driven ten-piece reggae-jazz band the Superpowers play Zebulon, 10:30 PM, get close to the stage if you can, otherwise you won’t hear anything,

 

Also Fri Aug 8 Daniel Bernstein, former Larval Organs and Whisper Doll frontman plays Sidewalk, midnight, good choice of Friday night entertainment for the angry and the haunted. Recent, revealing song title: Death Is a Charm. Wickedly stream-of-consciousness, tuneful, dark-as-hell songwriting.

 

Sat Aug 9 the excellent, rustic, harmony-driven female-fronted rock en Espanol group Pistolera open for ex-Rank and File guitarist Alejandro Escovedo – who’s playing with a string section – at Central Park Summerstage, 3 PM.

 

Also Sat Aug 9 at 3 PM at the Wonder Wheel in Coney Island, a killer outdoor show starting with riveting, supersonic, Dick Dale-influenced Connecticut surf rockers 9th Wave, blazing upstate surf band the Octomen, reliably entertaining, satirical, theatrical rock act Witches in Bikinis, the Clams and then Witches in Bikinis again!

 

Also Sat Aug 9, 9 PM at the Jalopy Café, Sweet Soubrette plays her charming and funny retro 20s ukelele songs followed by the incomparable French chanson revivalists les Chauds Lapins, $10 cover.

 

Also Sat Aug 9 Lenny Molotov plays Sidewalk with his band, 10 PM. One of the great guitarists of our time, a master of acoustic delta blues but also a force of nature with his own stuff: sort of the American Richard Thompson. Funny, sardonic and all-too-aware of the world outside.

 

Also Sat Aug 9 Rob Curto’s Grupo Sanfona plays their Brazilian forro music at Barbes, 10 PM.

 

Sat Aug 9 Lost Legacy plays Ace of Clubs, 10 PM. Ornate, classically-inflected, not completely over-the-top metal band: they are actually pretty cool. If you like Iron Maiden you’ll probably like Lost Legacy.

 

Also Sat Aug 9 Simon & the Bar Sinisters play Lakeside, 10:15ish (early by Lakeside standards, but Simon likes to play long sets). A true original: raised on punk, addicted to surf, steeped in rockabilly, honest as the day he was born and very funny. And damn, what a guitarist.

 

Also Sat Aug 9 ancient 70s British pub-rock vets Eddie & the Hotrods headline at Maxwell’s, 11:30 PM, adv tix $12 available at the box office and at Other Music. They’re also at the Knit on Aug 10 at 9 PM, adv tix also $12. Amazing, somewhat legendary upstate power popsters the Flashcubes (who sound EXACTLY like the Move and do a killer cover of Blackberry Way), and loud retro glam/punks the Turbo ACs open the Knit show at 7.

 

Sun Aug 10 brilliant surf/western swing/jazz guitarist Jim Campilongo plays with his electric trio at 55 Bar, early, 6 PM.

 

Mon Aug 11 veteran Jack Kerouac collaborator David Amram, still undiminished in his 70s, plays keys, French horn and bedevils his bandmates at the Cornelia St. Café, 8:30 PM.

 

Tues Aug 12-14 at the Jazz Standard, sets at 7:30 and 9:30 PM, the Ron Miles Quartet which in addition to the trumpeter/bandleader features Bill Frisell on guitars and a rhythm section of Reginald Veal and Matt Wilson. If you missed Frisell’s stand at the Vanguard this year, don’t miss this one.

 

Also Tues Aug 12 an interesting double bill at le Poisson Rouge: at 7:30 PM, Shelley Hirsch sings Bernard Herrmann film scores and originals accompanied by Dan Kaufman on guitar, followed by noir neo-Balkan group Barbez, whose darkly slinky, slightly Tom Waits-ish instrumentals far surpass their vocal stuff. Adv tix $12 highly recommended at the box office.

 

Weds Aug 13, 7 PM timbalero star and bandleader Jimmy Delgado y Orquesta featuring Renzo Padilla play vintage salsa at Wagner Park in Battery Park City

 

Also Weds Aug 13, 9 PM the Melvins play the Music Hall of Williamsburg, adv tix $25 available at the Mercury box office. Their recent album backing Jello Biafra shows their Sabbath/hardcore melange absolutely undiminished.

 

Thurs Aug 14 in the sculpture garden out behind MOMA as part of the ongoing Salvador Dali tribute, sets at 5:30 and 7 PM it’s Electric Junkyard Gamelan. From the press release: “Inspired by Indonesian gamelan, this group has invented its own tradition: they play original groove-driven music on improvised instruments and household objects. Haunting melodies and layered, interlocking rhythms are performed on such musical contraptions as the rubarp, sitello, kachapitar, and terraphone. The experience is as visually stimulating as it is aurally exciting.” Terry Dame, Julian Hintz, Mary Feaster, Lee Frisari, and Robin Burdulis are the players. They’re also at Barbes on Aug 20 at 8.

 

Also Thurs Aug 14 Blonde Redhead plays Pier 54 at West 14th St., Hudson River Park, 6 PM. Somewhat iconic 90s band: started out as Sonic Youth wannabes, branching out to encompass numerous other styles from goth to jangle.

 

Also Thurs Aug 14 Big Daddy Kane plays Marcus Garvey Park uptown, 7 PM. Wildly popular, macho rapper from the golden age of hip-hop whose career peaked around 1988. No idea what if anything he has left but the posse from those days – whoever’s left – still remember him. Maybe if you’re lucky he’ll do the one about drinking a 22-ounce bottle of malt liquor.

 

Also Thurs Aug 14 a pretty amazing triple bill at Barbes: Divahn frontwoman Galeet Dardashti plays Sephardic Jewish vocal music at 7 PM followed by Matt Munisteri and Will Holshouser’s sensational, haunting 1920s Belgian barroom accordion/guitar band Musette Explosion at 8 and then klezmer/bluegrass legend Andy Statman at 10.

 

Also Thurs Aug 14 Metropolitan Klezmer, who have a sensationally good new live album out, play a special, stripped-down quartet show at 7:30 sharp at the 14th Street Y Rooftop. 344 East 14th St just west of First Avenue (concert will be held indoors in case of rain). This time out it’s accordion/bass/saxes/drums, Y members $15, nonmembers: $15 in advance, $20 at the door, includes wine & cheese following concert & free babysitting with pizza for the children!

 

Also Thurs Aug 14, 8:30 PM at the Cornelia St. Café it’s the Rez Abbasi Group, featuring organ and Indian vocals in addition the the bandleader’s imaginative guitar jazz tunes which blend groove with Indian motifs

 

Also Thurs Aug 14 Body Count plays Europa at 10-ish, $20 cover. They’re also playing Aug 15, early, at 7-ish. Back before Ice-T became a tv actor he was a great rapper (he basically invented gangsta rap) and fronted this rap-metal band, which in addition to two actually decent albums was responsible for the classic single Cop Killer, which achieved notoriety when the record label recalled all the unsold original cds and cassettes containing the song.

 

Also Thurs Aug 14 John Brown’s Body play Southpaw, 10-ish, $15. Equally masterful at catchy, upbeat, totally old-school roots reggae and hypnotic dub jams that will take your brain to the edge of the universe.

 

Fri Aug 15, 8 PM Marta Topferova plays her completely unique, haunting blend of Balkan and latin music at Barbes with accordion, guitar and a rhythm section. Pretty amazing, completely original stuff.

 

Also Fri Aug 15 at 55 Bar, 10 PM it’s Reverend Vince Anderson & The Whispering Thunder Blues Band. A rare NYC show by the amazing keyboardist/showman, as adept at Howlin Wolf as he is at funk and gospel. This band features his longtime lead instrumentalist Paula Henderson from Moisturizer on baritone sax as well as a kick-ass rhythm section of Andrew Hall and Brian Woodruff.

 

Also Fri Aug 15 the Disclaimers play Spikehill, 11 PM. One of NYC’s top half-dozen best live bands, blending hypnotic soul songs into their fiery, organ-and-keyboard-driven garage rock mix. Everybody in the band sings; frontwomen Naa Koshie Mills and Kate Thomason make an especially charismatic twosome with their voices and stage presence.

 

Also Fri Aug 15 tastefully twangy surf instrumental traditionalists Mr. Action & the Boss Guitars are back at Lakeside, 11 PM.

 

Also Fri Aug 15, midnight, sensationally good, hypnotic dub reggae crew Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad play a concert cruise aboard the good ship Half Moon, adv tix $20 and very highly recommended at the box office, 630 9th Avenue Suite 602 Between 44th and 45th streets, Monday-Friday 12 noon-6pm, 212-571-3304. The boat leaves from Skyport Marina, E 23rd St & the FDR a half hour later, but you’ll want to get there early to get a good seat.

 

Sat Aug 16 scorchingly funny punk band Custard Wally play the cd release for their surprisingly diverse new one Call Me Walt at Don Pedro’s, 9 PM.

 

Also Sat Aug 16 Spanking Charlene play Lakeside, 11 PM. NYC’s answer to X: guy/girl vocals, dirty Americana-punk songs along with some strikingly pretty country stuff. Frontwoman Charlene McPherson has one hell of a voice

 

Sun Aug 17 at Damrosch Park out back of Lincoln Center, dance and music by Ologunde, Bonga and the Vodou Drums of Haiti, and the Ivoirian Kotchegna Dance Company.

 

Also Sun Aug 17 keyboard/horn-driven groovemeisters Chin Chin open for acclaimed hip-hop artist Aesop Rock at McCarren Pool, 3ish.

 

Also Sun Aug 17, a rousing season finale at Central Park Summerstage, 3 PM: Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens, the Mehahan Street Band (who shares members with Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, the Budos Band, and El Michels Affair) followed by the incomparable funk/soul revivalists Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings at around 5. Get there at 3 at the latest if you’re going.

 

Mon Aug 18 a Caribbean bill featuring upcoming soca star Bunji Garlin & Asylum, the ageless calypso warrior Mighty Sparrow (what is he now, about eighty?) and 90s Jamaican lovers rock star Beres Hammond (what is he now, about fifty?) at Wingate Field in Bed Stuy, free, either get there early at 7:30 PM or late at 9, otherwise you’ll be waiting in line for hours before being subjected to a Guantanamo-style security gauntlet.

 

Tues Aug 19, 7 PM Middle Eastern orchestra Zikrayat plays classic Levantine dance music accompanied by bellydancers at Gantry Plaza State Park in Queens. 7 train to Vernon Blvd.-Jackson, walk on 48th Avenue to the East River. The park is in front of the Citylights Building.

 

Also Tues Aug 19 Anthony B plays B.B. King’s, 8-ish, adv tix $20 available at the box office. The self-appointed torchbearer of Peter Tosh’s legacy is a fiery, politically charged lyricist, an intensely charismatic performer and a purveyor of an uncommonly tuneful blend of roots and dancehall reggae.

 

Weds Aug 20, 7 PM in Wagner Park in Battery Park City it’s La Excelencia,  a 70s style salsa orchestra playing songs from their new cd Salsa Con Conciencia.

 

Weds Aug 20, 9 PM Black Cop White Cop play Ace of Clubs. If their myspace is any indication, they’re retro, but they’re looking back to a style most bands have never heard: early 80s indie rock, with dirty, melodic basslines, fast tempos and trebly, minor-key guitarwork that leaves a long trail of sparks.

 

Also Weds Aug 20 Carolyn Sills & the Poor Man’s Roses sing Patsy Cline covers, uncommonly well, at Rodeo Bar, 10:30 PM.

 

Thursday, August 21 in the sculpture garden out behind MOMA as part of the ongoing Salvador Dali tribute, sets at 5:30 and 7 PM it’s Kamikaze Ground Crew playing theatrical, somewhat balkan jazz featuring a ton of killer soloists: Kenny Wollensen on drums, Peter Apfelbaum on tenor, Doug Wieselman on reeds, Steve Bernstein on trumpet and more.

 

Also Thurs Aug 21 Jennifer O’Connor plays a cd release show at Mercury Lounge, 7:30 PM. Fearlessly messy, tuneful songwriter who rocks much harder than most of her other acoustic contemporaries.

 

Also Thurs Aug 21 Bobby Bland plays plays B.B. King’s, 8 PM adv tix $25 available at the box office. You never know whether this guy will phone it in or bring the soul, but it’s worth a shot: B.B. King’s ex-valet is a blues legend and rightfully so, and he still has that growl that brings all the ladies out.

 

Thurs Aug 21 two sensational Americana specialists: Bob Hoffnar leads a quartet on pedal steel at Barbes at 8 PM followed by guitarist Matt Munisteri at 10.

 

Also Fri Aug 22 10:30 PM Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. play Rodeo Bar, possibly three sets. One of the funniest and most original bands in town, period-perfect, 1953-style with their matching suits, oldtime stage patter, harmonies and often remarkably subtly amusing pre-rockabilly hillbilly songs. All-female Stockholm country/punk trio Baskery open the night at 9ish. SITnDIE are also at Otto’s on 8/28 at 8.

 

Fri Aug 22, 11 PM scorching garage/punk rockers the Mess Around – who at the top of their game are just as wildly adrenalizing as Radio Birdman – play Trash Bar. Opening at 10 are dark, female-fronted punk/metal act Vagina Panther.

 

Also Fri Aug 22 the reliably romantic, wickedly smart, ever-more-exciting oldtimey Moonlighters play Barbes, 10 PM followed by Nawlins piano guy Bill Malchow (of Jack Grace’s band) at midnight.

 

Sat-Sun Aug 23-24 it’s the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, starting at 3 both days. On 8/23 at Marcus Garvey Park; 8/24 at Tompkins Square Park. 8/23: pianist Robert Glasper, legendary drummer Rashied Ali, singer Vanessa Rubin and pianist Hank Jones, in order. 8/24: singer Gretchen Parlato, pianist Eric Lewis, legendary bandleader Jerry Gonzalez & Fort Apache and then headliner pianist Randy Weston.

 

Also Sat Aug 23 southern soul legend Irma Thomas plays out back of Lincoln Center at Damrosch Park, 8:30 PM.

 

Also Sat Aug 23 Johnny Allen plays Terra Blues, 10 PM. A power hitter on the guitar, with a searing, tastefully crescendoing Chicago blues style, and simply one of the most soulful singers in New York.

 

Also Sat Aug 23 Her & Kings County play upstairs at the National Underground, 10:30 PM. Female-fronted country band with a rotating cast of characters, anything from a tight quartet to a sprawling, four-guitar stoked twangfest.

 

Sun Aug 24 an amazing doublebill with the Knitters (which is X playing country songs and country versions of their own classics) along with Patti Smith at Damrosch Park, Lincoln Ctr., the whole thing starts 5:30 PMish but get there early because it will deservedly be a mobscene.

 

Tues Aug 26, 7 PM darkly moody, female-fronted janglerockers Noirceur play Gantry Plaza State Park in Queens. 7 train to Vernon Blvd.-Jackson, walk on 48th Avenue to the East River. The park is in front of the Citylights Building. Also on the bill: the Japanese-American Uzuhi, who alternate between bouncy, upbeat jangly guitar/keyboard pop and generic hardcore.

 

Also Tues Aug 26 panstylistic art-rock rock keyboard goddess Greta Gertler plays the Zipper Theatre at 8 PM – with a string section and special guests.

 

Also Tues Aug 26-31 the Kenny Barron Quartet with Dana Stevens on tenor plus a rhythm section of Kiyoshi Kitagawa and Francisco Mela plays the Village Vanguard, sets at 9 and 11. Popular pianist Barron plays with an intense, percussive physicality which is even more impressive considering how damn fast the guy is: if you like adrenaline and crescendos, this is your fun for the week.

 

Weds Aug 27, 7 PM Latin jazz bassist Ray Martinez plays with his band at Wagner Park.

 

Also Weds Aug 27 Reckon So plays Rodeo Bar, 10:30 PM. Guitarist Danny Weiss lives and breathes in the lower registers, the most soulful part of the instrument; his wife and partner in harmonies, Mary Olive Smith has a casually enchanting voice, and the two write some fine, old-school country tunes as well. They’re back here on 9/10 as well.

 

Thurs Aug 28 in the sculpture garden out behind MOMA as part of the ongoing Salvador Dali tribute, sets at 5:30 and 7 PM: Enso String Quartet violinist John Marcus presents a program of quartets, trios, and duos incl. Bach, Ravel and Webern.

 

Also Thurs Aug 28 pianist Simone Dinnerstein, who’s created quite a buzz going on in classical circles, plays Bach, Beethoven and more at a cd release show at le Poisson Rouge, 6:30 PM, cheap $15 adv tix at the box office highly recommended.

 

 

Also Thurs Aug 28 at Issue Project Room, 8 PM, $10, Jozef Van Wissum who “will perform pieces from A Priori on 13 course baroque lute and pieces from Station of the Cross [by Dupre?] for Baroque Lute and manipulated field recordings made at airport lounges and train stations. A priori is minimal hypnotic trance lute palindromes. Sometimes bottleneck is applied on the lute now.” Quiet, minimalist, cerebral yet playful.

 

Also Thurs Aug 28 the Robert Charles Band plays Lucille’s Bar, two sets at 8 PM. Back in the late 90s this band had a real good thing going, remarkably terse and potently crescendoing, and the frontman didn’t Pearl Jam his vocals. Worth checking out to see what they’re up to now.

 

Also Thurs Aug 28, 8:30 PM alternately haunting and deliciously groove-driven shoegaze/dreampop rockers El Jezel play songs from their new cd The Warm Frequency at Union Hall. Word on the street is that it’s the excellent album that Portishead should have made this year but didn’t.

 

Also Thurs Aug 28 recently reunited Austin alt-country satirists the Gourds, best known for their hilarious cover of the Snoop Dogg classic Gin & Juice play the Music Hall of Williamsburg, 10ish, adv tix $15 available at the Mercury box office.

 

Also Thurs Aug 28 the Mercenaries play Lakeside, 10 PM. Rock quartet who sound sometimes like Guided by Voices at their most tuneful, otherwise a cut above your average Stonesy bar band like the Izzys.

 

Fri Aug 29 the Figgs play the Knitting Factory, 9ish, no discounted adv tix available. Legendary powerpop trio whose work with Graham Parker is a good indication of how many sparks they can shoot out on their own.

 

Sat Aug 30 the Motels play B.B. King’s, 8 PM, adv tix $25 available at the box office. One of the last of the “good top 40” bands, originally lumped in with the punk movement even though frontwoman Martha Davis was more of a pop siren. And she’s still got that full-throated wail. Take the L!

 

Also Sun Aug 31 roots reggae legend Burning Spear plays Irving Plaza, 10ish, adv tix $35 at the box office and absolutely recommended. Long, hypnotic grooves, dub interludes and a vault full of classic songs: Marcus Garvey, Slavery Days, Columbus, Door Peep, the list goes on and on. Spear’s voice is still there, and his forthcoming studio album is his best in years

 

Upcoming in September:

 

9/1 the Ukuladies at Rodeo Bar, 10:30 PM

9/3 Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. at Rodeo Bar, 10:30 PM

9/3 Latin Giants of Jazz (Tito Puente’s backup band) at Wagner Park, 7 PM

Saturday and Sunday, September 13th and 14th Michael Arenella and the Dreamland Orchestra at Governor’s Island.

9/6 the Jack Grace Band open for Luther Wright & the Wrongs at Rodeo Bar, 9ish

9/12 Mr. Action & the Boss Guitars at Lakeside, 11 PM

9/13 Simon & the Bar Sinisters at Lakeside, 10ish

9/17 the Dandy Warhols at Terminal 5, 10 PM, adv tix $27 available at the Mercury box office

9/19 Squeeze plays Radio City, adv tix. $39.50 available at the box office

9/19 guitar just as good and a whole lot cheaper: Chip Robinson plays Lakeside with the Roscoe Trio, 10ish

9/20 Spanking Charlene at Lakeside, 11 PM

9/22 female-fronted dreampop group This Reporter plays Lakeside of all places, 10 PM.

9/27 a free punk show at Tompkins Square Park

9/27 Les Chauds Lapins at le Poisson Rouge, 7:30 PM, $25

9/27 Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby at Southpaw, 9 PM

9/27 the Headless Hookers/Jerry Teel & the Big City Stompers at Union Pool, 9 PM.

10/8 the Wedding Present at Bowery Ballroom, time TBA

10/9 the Wedding Present at Southpaw, time TBA cheaper than Bowery but the sound isn’t as good.

 

10/18 legendary, artsy, psychedelic rock en Espanol band Jaguares at the Nokia Theatre, adv tix $37.50 available at their box office open Mon-Sat noon-6 PM

 

10/18 Kayhan Kalhor at Carnegie Hall, 8:30 PM, adv tix $36 available at the World Music Institute box office

 

10/25 Los Straitjackets/Laika & the Cosmonauts at Southpaw, 9 PM, adv tix ridiculously cheap at $13 on sale now.

 

10/30 Cypress Hill at the Nokia Theatre, time TBA, adv tix $36 available at their box office Mon-Sat noon-6 PM

 

 

11/20 Liu Fang (Chinese pipa virtuoso) Symphony Space, 7:30 PM, adv tix $28 at the World Music Institue box office