A November 21 Triplebill to Get Lost In, Staged by @Tignortronics
[republished from Lucid Culture’s more adventurous younger sister blog New York Music Daily]
Violinist/composer Christopher Tignor plays music that transcends pigeonholing. His slow tempos underscore the thoughtfulness and consideration that goes into his vividly evocative, often achingly angst-fueled sonic narratives. The former leader of popular indie classical/postrock ensemble Slow Six is also an impresario, working under the Twitter handle @Tignortronics. His latest show at 8 PM on November 21 at Littlefield is a real killer one, for those who like lush, richly enveloping sounds. Former Rasputina cellist and loopmusic maven Julia Kent opens the night, followed by Tignor and then cinematic, atmospheric guitarist/composer Sarah Lipstate a.k.a. Noveller. Tignor took some time away from his studio production and engineering, among other things, to answer a few pointed questions about what he’s up to:
New York Music Daily: We have a situation – which the Village Voice, of all places, touched on in an article last week – where rehearsals for performances of new, serious composed music, are becoming more and more burdensome. Moneywise, spacewise, timewise, the works. Obviously, when an ensemble is presenting a new piece of music, it’s vastly more enjoyable for everybody, not just the musicians, if the group has some familiarity with it rather than struggling through a reading, more or less cold. How does @Tignortronics offer a solution to that problem?
Christopher Tignor: Probably a few ways. I’m booking artists that deliver a cohesive voice they’ve developed over many years. To a large degree, credit needs to go to these artists who’ve already had to figure this out in order to create at the high level that they do. These aren’t classical concerts where the players live with these works for a few rehearsals. These performers have typically toured this music far and wide.
But I know from personal experience that this doesn’t scale well. The practical demands of what it takes to put together this kind of music takes a toll. To this end, I make my full rehearsal studio in Bed-Stuy freely available to artists preparing for one of my bills. Makes sense really – if they sound good, we all sound good.
But probably the most important thing I can do is make these gigs worth it for the artists. I try to fight for good deals and real soundcheck time at a venue that sounds great and that people love going to on weekends. Costs aside, artists first and foremost want to be heard and a solid gig that’s well put together can be hard to find at this end of the musical spectrum.
NYMD: You’re staging on your third consecutive bill of cutting-edge new work, this time around on November 21 at 8 PM at Littlefield. It’s a great lineup. Julia Kent, the former Rasputina cellist and a first-rate composer in her own right, then yourself, then Sarah Lipstate, a.k.a Noveller, whose music is cinematic to the nth degree. Other than the fact that there’s a lot of tunefulness, and a hypnotic, sometimes electroacoustic aspect, with loops and effects, etcetera, is there a theme to the night – other than just plain good music? Slow tempos but high energy, maybe?
Christopher Tignor: I think we all share a uniquely compatible aesthetic on this bill. It seems like we’re all bowing here. For Julia on cello and me on violin, literally, and with the sounds Noveller evokes from her guitar, sonically. Rich long tones. Aesthetic cohesion is definitely something important to these shows. Most instrumental or experimental concerts feel a like a total grab bag to me which I find annoying.
NYMD: Is this a theme that you’re going to continue, or do you have others in mind for future performances?
Christopher Tignor: I build each bill around the artists. The more experimental an aesthetic experience is, the more aesthetically focused it needs to be to work. If I encounter artists I think fit the vibe then I reach out to them and look for ways to build a show they’ll be psyched about.
NYMD: Your previous lineup, at the Silent Barn a few weeks ago, featured Sontag Shogun and their kitchen-sink assembly of instruments and loops and epic swells and fades, then Hubble, a.k.a. Ben Greenberg and his roaring guitar vortex, along with yourself. And it was on a weeknight in the middle of Bushwick and you managed to fill the room. Clearly there’s an audience for this kind of music out there among young people. Do you have a game plan for building this kind of a scene, that stays pretty much DYI and doesn’t rely on foundation funding like, say, Roulette?
Christopher Tignor: In my opinion, all today’s most interesting art comes from one of the various DIY scenes. The moneyed culture at large is generally fucked and if you’re not pushing back against it, i.e. acting counter-culturally, you’re just not getting it. Note in 2014, this does not mean starting a noisy punk band to scream lyrics about your girlfriend over chords through some hip new distortion pedal. Have fun doing that, but make no mistake that that sound is but the expected background noise of youth made right before going back to school for a “real” degree and flipping on Sex and the City. If you want to really fuck with people in a way that counts, then stop and actually think it through. Make something thoughtful before emptying your heart into it. As for growing the scene, all I can do is put this philosophy into practice and play Kevin Costner, seeing if indeed they will come.
NYMD: Why Littlefield? I happen to like the place a lot, the sonics there are fantastic and it’s actually pretty easy to get to: you just walk downhill from the Atlantic Avenue subway a few blocks and you’re right there…
Christopher Tignor: Littlefield sounds really good and looks great. It’s a fun place to actually go and really hear music with friends. That’s a prerequisite for my shows. If the shows aren’t going to feel amazing, it’s not worth my time, and certainly not yours. However, if the shows are worth my time, it turns out they are also in fact worth yours because I know what you’ve got going and it’s cool, but really this is much, much cooler.
Name That Tune with the International String Trio’s Help
Old habits die hard. If you go back as far as the radio-and-records era, you were probably used to having a cd – or if you were lucky, a vinyl album – to refer to for song titles and now-archaic things like liner notes and musician credits. As fast as all those things are disappearing, jazz bloggers are obsessive about them. But sometimes it pays to resist OCD and leave the news release and the promo copy out of sight and just get a handle on the music. That’s the approach that everybody ought to take with the International String Trio’s new album Movie Night. Just listening to Slava Tolstoy’s nimble gypsy jazz guitar, Ben Powell’s elegantly nuanced violin and Ippei Ichimaru’s terse bass will get your head bopping and eliminate any prejudices that might arise from a peek at the credits.
Here’s why – this is a concept album, a collection of the band’s favorite movie music. It’s not known what opinions the band have, if any, about the movies themselves. Which is why it’s best just to catch the lively, carefree violin and gypsy jazz allusions on the breezy first track and ask yourself, what on earth is that? It’s too straightforward to be a pop song and you probably won’t recognize it, and here’s why: it’s the Feather Theme from Forrest Gump. In case you’re wondering, there’s nothing from Xanadu, or any of the Friday or Elvis movies here – although those flicks, forgettable as they were, all had some good tunes.
If gypsy jazz is your thing, you will enjoy the trio’s versions of the two Django Reinhardt classics here: the group gives them both the groove and the bite those songs deserve. What is that sad waltz with the biting violin solo out? That’s I Will Wait for You, a Michel Legrand composition from The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. And what’s that jaunty early swing number? Singing’ in the Rain? That’s right – these guys transform that moldy old schlockfest into something actually listenable.
Track six is a pensive, pretty ballad: could this be French? No, it’s the Schindler’s List Theme, by John Williams. That other understatedly moody, pretty waltz? Stephen Flaherty’s Once Upon a December, from the film Anastasia. And that sprightly Irish reel? That’s an acoustic cover of the Dropkick Murphy’s I’m Shipping Up to Boston and it’s way better than the original, Sox fans be damned!
Is that other waltz Haydn? No, it’s Shostakovich, done nonchalantly as gypsy jazz with Powell out front and center. David Raksin’s Theme from Laura is well-known, as is Maurice Jarre’s Somewhere My Love – but who knew that one had a laid-back, minor intro before the syrupy theme kicks in? The album closes with a matter-of-fact version of the Tennessee Waltz – wait a minute, that’s Ashokan Farewell. Aw heck, all those old folksingers ripped each other off. Who is the audience for this? Gypsy jazz fans may find these takes inspired but some of the source material on the weak side; otherwise, fans of the more accessible side of chamber and folk music won’t go wrong giving this a spin.
Album of the Day 8/14/11
Every day, our 1000 best albums of all time countdown continues all the way to #1. Sunday’s album is #534:
New York City: Global Beat of the Boroughs
This 2001 Smithsonian Folkways release may be a long series of ludicrously bad segues, but multicultural party playlists don’t get much better than this. It’s predominantly latin and Balkan music played by obscure but frequently brilliant expatriate New York-based groups, although other immigrant cultures are represented. While the tracks by Irish group Cherish the Ladies and klezmer stars Andy Statman and the Klezmatics are all excellent, it’s surprising that the compilers couldn’t come up with the same kind of obscure treasures they unearthed from Puerto Rican plena groups Vienta de Agua and Los Pleneros de 21; or Albanian Besim Muriqi’s scorching dance tunes; or stately theatrical pieces by the prosaically titled traditional groups Music From China and the Korean Traditional Performing Arts Association. There are also rousing Greek and Bulgarian romps from Grigoris Maninakis and Yuri Yunakov, respectively; a soulful suite of Lebanese songs by crooner Naji Youssef; and even a spirited if roughhewn version of the Italian theme for the Williamsburg “Walking of the Giglio,” a big wooden tower paraded through the streets by a large troupe of hardworking men every August, among the 31 fascinating tracks here. Mysteriously AWOL from the usual sources for free music, it’s still available from the folks at the Smithsonian.
Swift Years Mash Up Eclectic Sounds from Montreal and Around the Globe
Here’s how it works in the blogosphere:we’ve got every PR agent on the planet hammering on our virtual door, pleading for some attention, but we like it best when we do a writeup on the Montreal Jazz Festival, a Quebecois band we’ve never heard of finds it, and then sends us a link to their stuff. And it turns out, they’re great! Canadian trio Swift Years’ most recent album goes back to 2005, and it’s a ton of fun. They’re sort of a north-of-the-border counterpart to Tribecastan. What guitarist Patrick Hutchinson, mandolinist Bob Cussen and bassist Suzanne Ungar have assembled here is an endlessly surprising, eclectic, genuinely amusing mix of cross-pollinated global sounds. They don’t have drums on the album, but it’s so tight that you don’t notice unless you listen closely.
Musically, the two real killer tracks here are The Exile and The Sand, both tricky, bitter, bracing, psychedelic Smyrnika rock instrumentals much in the style of Annabouboula, with layers of mandolin, guitar and soaring bass. The real classic here is Old Man Santo. See, Old Man Santo – think about that title for a minute – had a Farm, E-I-G-M-O. On the farm he had some pot, and some pigs, and some cows, really bloody pissed-off mad cows everywhere. We won’t spoil the plot because it’s as funny as it is unfortunately true.
A lot of the other tracks here add reggae to enhance the comedic factor. Beside Me’s protagonist doesn’t let his lack of money stop him from trying to pick up the girl: “After supper we could split a beer,” he tells her. He’s strictly oldschool: “I’m a rotary phone, I’m the last bus home…at home I drink out of glasses that I take home from bars, an old piggybank is my retirement plan, the clothes from my back are from the Sally Ann.” Rasta Puszta blends reggae, bluegrass and a happy Eastern European dance in there somewhere. And I Dreamed I Stopped Smoking is an amusing faux-country song, like a zeros update on what the Stones did with Dear Doctor.
They do a tongue-in-cheek speed-up and then do it all over again on the gypsy-flavored Hanko Hanko, and merge Quebecois with bluegrass on the equally sardonic Mon Vieux François. The title track, which sounds like the Boomtown Rats doing a creepy reggae tune, offers a view of the afterlife where everything is pretty much the same for these guys, everybody playing everyone else’s culture’s music in one big mashup, with a politically aware edge. In this particular world, right-wing politicians are reincarnated as single mothers. The album also includes a gorgeous, plaintive Belgian barroom waltz, a medley of the Eddystone Light and three jigs, and a lickety-split string band version of Ain’t Nobody’s Business. The whole thing is streaming at Swift Years’ bandcamp site – thanks for finding us, guys! Now it’s the rest of the world’s turn to discover this entertaining band.
New York City Live Music Calendar for June and July 2011 Plus Other Events
Click here for an updated concert calendar for July and August 2011.
As always, weekly events are listed at the bottom of the page, after the last of the daily listings: scroll down and you’ll find them. If you didn’t see anything that struck you as fun this time around, check back later because we update this obsessively.
A few things you should know about this calendar: acts are listed here in order of appearance, NOT headliner first and supporting acts after; showtimes listed here are actual set times, not the time doors open. If a listing here says something like ”9 PM-ish,” chances are it’ll run late. Cover charges are those listed on bands’ and venues’ sites: always best to click on the band link provided or go to the venues page for confirmation since we get much of this info weeks in advance. This is not a list of every band playing every club in NYC; this is a list of good shows, many of which we will go see ourselves. We focus on edgy, entertaining stuff: if you’re looking for Lady Gag or Fleet Foxes, you’re in the wrong place. We try to be descriptive rather than using all kinds of superlative adjectives.
6/1, 7:30 PM adventurous pianist Alexandra Joan winds up her entertainingly counterintuitive Kaleidoscope Series with a program of original material and improvisations featuring jazz guitarist Peter Mazza, Thomson Kneeland on bass and Timothy Hayward on sax at WMP Concert Hall, 31 W 28th St., $25
6/1, 7:30 PM dark incisive classical composer/pianist Fernando Otero and cellist Inbal Segev play Bach, Kodály, and Otero at le Poisson Rouge, $15 adv tix rec.
6/1, 8 PM delightfully fun, quirky, counterintuitive all-female indie pop band the Walking Hellos at Fontana’s.
6/1, 10 PM, intense frontwoman Wendy Griffiths and her powerfully tuneful 80s punk/new wave influenced Changing Modes – who recorded our pick for best song of 2010 – at Sullivan Hall, $10.
6/1 midnight-ish big sprawling funk band Turkuaz at Southpaw, $5.
6/2, noon, George Clinton & the P-Funk All Stars at Metrotech Park in downtown Brooklyn, free.
6/2, half past noon Klezmatics violin powerhouse Alicia Svigals’ Klezmer Fiddle Express at St. Marks Park, 2nd Ave./10th St.
6/2, 2:30 PM acoustic guitarist Don DeMarco plays instruments similar to those in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection in their musical instruments section, free w/museum adm
6/2, 7 PM fiery noir cabaret songwriter Sabrina Chap at Banjo Jim’s followed eventually at 9 with the psychedelic folk of the Peaceniks feat. Moogy Klingman and Patti Rothberg at Banjo Jim’s.
6/2, 7 PM gorgeously lyrical jazz quintet the Flail at the Fat Cat. They’re also at Smalls at 9:30 on 6/16.
6/2, 8 PM smartly multistylistic retro keyboardist/singer and Jack White collaborator Rachelle Garniez (whose most recent album we rated best of the year) at Barbes.
6/2, 8 PM legendary, brilliant first-wave Irish punk rockers Stiff Little Fingers make their Brooklyn debut at Europa, $20. They’re at the Gramercy Theatre the following night for an extra $13 – that’s how much Live Nation is ripping you off for this one.
6/2, 8 PM the Da Capo Chamber Players’ 40th anniversary concert at Merkin Concert Hall feat. Pierrot lunaire, OP. 21 by Arnold Schoenberg, with guest soprano, Lucy Shelton; the world premiere performance of Gravity by George Tsontakis (written for the 40th anniversary of Da Capo); the New York premiere of Midnight Rounds by Keith Fitch (written for the 40th anniversary of Da Capo); Tres Lent as well as And…They’re Off! by Joan Tower (who was the ensemble’s founding pianist), $20 adv tix very highly rec., this should sell out.
6/2 country and bluegrass night with the Wicked Messengers, Freshly Baked and Dang-It Bobbys at Freddy’s, 8 PM.
6/2, 8 PM guitar funkmeister Askold Buk followed at 9 by Jimmy Buffett’s legendary first lead guitarist Roger Bartlett at P&G Bar on the upper west.
6/2, 8 PM the New Amsterdam Symphony plays Bizet’s Carmen Suite, Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite and Brahms’ Symphony #2 at Symphony Space, $20
6/2, 8:30 PM trombonist Samuel Blaser leads a quartet with Russ Lossing, piano; Eivind Opsvik, bass; Paul Motian, drums; Samuel Blaser, trombone playing the cd release show for his latest one at Cornelia St. Cafe, $15
6/2, 8:30 PM new music ensemble Sybarite5 play the Lincoln Center Atrium at 65th/Bwy, letting their ipod shuffle choose the pieces they’ll be performing, early arrival advised.
6/2, 9 PM Melvin Van Peebles wid Laxative at Zebulon. The legendary filmmaker also writes absolutely hilarious, subtly provocative, socially aware songs that skewer all kinds of stereotypes. He’s backed by a killer funk band comprised of members of Burnt Sugar.
6/2, 10 PM atmospheric, pensive rock anthems with Hurricane Bells feat. Steve Schiltz (ex-Longwave and Scout) at Culturefix on Clinton St.
6/2, 10 PM a solid oldtime country doublebill with Brotherhood of the Jug Band Blues followed by Alex Battles & Whisky Rebellion at the Jalopy, $10
6/2 powerpop/psychedelic guitar monsters Devi at Arlene’s, 11 PM recording a live album! Get your screams on vinyl!
6/2, midnight, dark female-fronted soul band MotherMoon at Spike Hill.
6/3, 7 PM ferocious, hilarious, theatrical, Beatlesque lyrical songwriter Walter Ego at Banjo Jim’s feat. some of NYC’s best guests (secret – we won’t give it away).
6/3, 7:30 PM the Prism Quartet plays world premieres by works by David Rakowski, Lisa Bielawa, Perry Goldstein, Matthew Levy, and Cara Haxo at Symphony Space, $20
6/3, 8 PM filmmakers Suki Hawley, Mike Galinsky and David Beilinson’s documentary the Battle for Brooklyn, which confronts the destructive effects of gentrification, notably the graft and fraud-ridden Atlantic Yards arena and parking-lot project where private property was illegally seized by a real estate swindler through an eniment domain claim. At the Brooklyn Heights Cinema; also screening 6/9 at 9 PM at Myrtle Avenue Hill in Ft. Greene Park, free; and on 6/11, 8 PM at Indie Screen, 285 Kent Ave., Williamsburg. A weeklong run begins on 6/17 at Cinema Village in Manhattan.
6/3, 8 PM torchy noir Americana siren Lily & the Parlour Tricks followed by oldschool soul revivalist/crooner Eli Paperboy Reed at Southpaw, $12 gen adm.
6/3, 8 PM grease up your pompadours: Smokey Hormel’s western swing band, retro rock chanteuse Eilen Jewel and Big Sandy & the Fly-Rite Boys at the Bell House, $12 adv tix rec.
6/3, 9 PM Caithlin De Marrais – one of the most unselfconsciously riveting singers in any style of music – sings her plaintive, tersely compelling songs at Pete’s
6/3, 9/10:30 PM Ingrid Laubrock, tenor sax; Ralph Alessi, trumpet; Kris Davis, piano; Tom Rainey, drums at Cornelia St. Cafe, $15.
6/3, 10 PM the funniest oldschool country band around, the Jack Grace Band at Rodeo Bar. They’re also at Barbes on 6/10 at 10.
6/3, 10:30ish eclectic Afrobeat/funk band Mamarazzi – whose new album is excellent – at Zebulon
6/3, 10:30 PM organist Jared Gold and trombonist Dave Gibson lead a quintet at the Fat Cat
6/3 ferocious Nashville gothic rockers Ninth House play Sathony in Astoria, 11 PM.
6/3 wry, literate Nashville gothic with Maynard & the Mustiesat Lakeside, 11 PM.
6/3, 11 PM wild intense original bluegrass band Thy Burden at Spike Hill.
6/3, 11 PM horn-driven funk band the Kickdown at Bowery Poetry Club, $10
6/3, 11:30 PM ecstatic Brazilian funk/reggae/maracatu band Dende & Hahahaes at Joe’s Pub $12.
6/4, 3:30 PM charismatic, literate NYC noir rock legend LJ Murphy at the Howl Festival, Tompkins Square Park; on 6/8 he’s at Bar 82 with his trio at 9.
6/4 Blitz the Ambassador at the Brooklyn Museum, free w/museum adm.
6/4, 6:30 PM intriguing dark 80 style dreampop band Teletextile at Ft. Useless in Bushwick
6/4, 6:30 PM, free, the St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble play Gershwin: Lullaby for Strings; Barber:Adagio for Strings; Dvorak: String Quartet No. 12, “American” at Flushing Town Hall, tix req., early arrival advised.
6/4, 7 PM Nashville gothic goddess – and indie film star – Lorraine Leckie at Banjo Jim’s
6/4 a blast from the past – legendary oldschool Williamsburg punk/indie rockers FF (which stands for Fat Fuck) at Lakeside, 7 PM.
6/4, 7 PM powerhouse blues guitarist Bobby Radcliff – the rare guy who plays a lot of notes but doesn’t waste any – at Terra Blues.
6/4, 8 PM oldschool rocksteady with the Forthrights, kick-ass third generation ska with the Scofflaws and early 80s British band Bad Manners for those who like their ska on the pop side, $15 at the downstairs studio space at Webster Hall
6/4, 8 PM Bamba Sacko play African roots reggae at Shrine followed at 10 by the reggae/rocksteady of Finotee.
6/4, 8 PM the Moonlighters’ wickedly smart, torchy Bliss Blood plus Jim Fryer on trombone at Rest Au Rant, 30-01 35th Avenue (corner of 30th St.) in Long Island City
6/4, 10 PM catchy powerpop rockers Elk City followed by sprawling acoustic Americana band the Woes at Rock Shop in Gowanus, $10; the Woes are at Sunny’s at 10 the following night for free.
6/4, 8 PM the Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma at NJPAC in Newark, $25 seats avail.
6/4, 8 PM bossa jazz siren Sasha Dobson’s country band Chola followed by Banda Sinaloense de los Muertos at Barbes. Chola are also here Mondays in June at 8 PM starting on the 13th.
6/4, 8 PM witty jazz guitar star Matt Munisteri at the Jalopy, $10.
6/4, 8:30 PM hypnotic marimba/cello duo Goli at Caffe Vivaldi followed by bluegrass band the Five Deadly Venoms (who are also here on 6/7 and 6/28 at 9:45)
6/4, 9 PM Unsteady Freddie’s monthly surf rock extravaganza with Connecticut’s surprisingly agile Clams, high-intensity Reverb Galaxy, the diverse, country-tinged Matt Rae Trio and the Octomen (excellent fiery surf trio) at midnight-ish.
6/4 intense gypsy punks Bad Buka at Mehanata, 9 PM
6/4, 9/10:30 PM drummer Ralph Peterson’s brilliant B3 band the Unity Project plays the cd release show for their spectacularly good new one with Pat Bianchi, organ; Josh Evan, trumpet; Wayne Escoffery, tenor sax at Cornelia St. Cafe, $15.
6/4, 10 PM, 90s Detroit rock cult figures the Dirtbombs at the Bell House, $20
6/4, 10 PM cowpunk with the Nightmare River Band at Spike Hill.
6/4, 11 PM eclectic Selegalese flavored roots reggae with Meta & the Cornerstones at the 92YTribeca, $12 adv tix rec.
6/5, repeating on 6/ 12, and 6/19 the NY Scandia Symphony at the Billings Lawn in Ft. Tryon Park uptown, 2 PM. This extraordinary and clever ensemble plays a Frank Foerster piece called Summer in Ft. Tryon Park which has to be heard to be appreciated, along with works by numerous brilliant obscure Scandinavian composers.
6/5, 3 PM harpsichordist Elaine Comparone and The Queen’s Chamber Band play world premieres by Michael Cohen, Stephen Kemp, Elodie Lauten, David J. MacDonald & Eugene W. McBride at St. Mark’s Church, 10th St./2nd Ave., $25.
6/5, 5 PM oldtimey doublebill with irrepressible trombonist J. Walter Hawkes and then his sultry swing bandmate Daria Grace & the Pre-War Ponies at LIC Bar, 5
6/5, 6 PM B3 groove organist Ehud Asherie’s No Bass Hit Trio ft. Harry Allen & Chuck Riggs at the Fat Cat
6/5, 7:30 PM trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith’s Golden Quartet w/ Angelica Sanchez (piano), John Lindberg (bass) and Pheeroan akLaff (drums) at le Poisson Rouge, adv tix $15 rec.
6/5, 8 PM deviously fun new music duo Anti-Depressant (violinist Jennifer Choi and pianist Kathy Supove) play Galapagos, $15/$10 stud.
6/5, 8 PM slinky low-register retro Cuban band Gato Loco – with baritone guitar, baritone sax, tuba and bass – at Bowery Poetry Club
6/5, 8 PM tuneful Americana harmony band the Bowmans at the small room at the Rockwood
6/5, 8 PM composer Eve Beglarian and her new band Brim at Galapagos, $15.
6/5, 8:30 PM bassist Petros Klampanis plays the cd release show for his eclectic new one with a scary-good lineup feat. Megan Gould , violin; Heather Paauwe, violin; Lev “Ljova” Zhurbin, viola; Yoed Nir, cello; Gilad Hekselman, guitar; Magda Giannikou, guest vocalist at Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.
6/5, 9 PM Steve Wynn’s indie rock supergroup the Baseball Project at City Winery , $25 seats avail.
6/5, 9 PM gypsy pop band Occidental Gypsy – “Found somewhere on the music tree between John Pizzarelli and Caravan Palace” – at the Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd St.
6/5 hilarious, diverse satirical cowpunk rockers Uncle Leon & the Alibis at Rodeo Bar 10ish
6/6, 6:30 PM an interfaith 9/11 commemorative concert at St. Paul’s Chapel downtown with pianist Simone Dinnerstein playing Bach’s English Suite as well as two of his Chorale Preludes – BWV 639 and 147, free but rsvp reqd
6/6, 7:30/9:30 PM Orrin Evans & the Captain Black Big Band at Dizzy’s Club, $20, better reserve now, these guys sell out fast.
6/6 arguably the first-ever guitar jazz triplebill at the Mercury with the astonishingly smart, intense, original, bluesy Marvin Sewell at 8, Liberty Ellman at 9 and then Moroccan-inspired Dave Fiuczynski at 10, $15.
6/6, 8 PM stars of the NYC Balkan underground, trumpeter Ben Holmes and trio followed by at 9:30 by Chicha Libre at Barbes.
6/6, 9 PM the New Yorkestra big band at Tea Lounge in Park Slope
6/6-7 the Melvins at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, 9 PM, $20 adv tix avail. at the Mercury weekdays til 7 PM.
6/6, 9 PM the New Yorkestra big band at Tea Lounge in Park Slope
6/6, 9 PM at Otto’s a screening of the 1982 punk rock movie Ladies & Gentlemen: The Fabulous Stains starring Diane Lane, Laura Dern, Paul Simonon, Steve Jones, Paul Cook and others from the era.
6/6, 10:30 PM Middle Eastern-tinged violist Dina Maccabee and her group at Pete’s
6/7, 6:30 PM, Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble at Central Park Summerstage, early arrival a must.
6/7, 6:30 PM the Tomsk Chamber Orchestra plays Tschaikovsky and Shostakovich at Symphony Space, $30
6/7, 7 PM ICE pianist Jacob Greenberg at Barbes followed at 9 by Slavic Soul Party.
6/7, 7:30ish oldschool hip-hop with EPMD at Betsy Head Playground, Livonia Ave. & Strauss St., Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5 to Saratoga Ave.
6/7, 7:30 PM Rose of the Compass – recorder player Nina Stern, with Glen Velez, frame drum, and Ara Dinkjian, oud – play an intriguing set of music from the Mediterranean to the Balkans at the cd release show for their new one at Drom, $10 adv tix highly rec.
6/7, 8 PM Carol Lipnik & Spookarama play the cd release show for their hypnotic, haunting new one M.O.T.H. at the big room at the Rockwood.
6/7, 8ish energetic lo-fi guitar/drums duo Eleanor followed by the Highway Gimps – the missing link between Motorhead and My Bloody Valentine – at Tammany Hall in the old Annex space on Orchard St., $5
6/7, 8 PM McCoy Tyner – who’s still got the most powerful left hand in jazz – leads a trio with Gary Bartz and Bill Frisell at Highline Ballroom, $35
6/8, 8 PM fiery literate steampunk songwriter Kelli Rae Powell at Southpaw.
6/8, 8 PM 60s soul legend Eric Burdon & the Animals at B.B. King’s, $35 adv tix a must.
6/8, 8 PM soulful, soaring country/rock siren Alana Amram & the Rough Gems at Bruar Falls, $6.
6/8, 9 PM Meschiya Lake & the Little Big Horns at Radegast Hall – if anybody can get all the douches to shut up and listen, this oldtimey New Orleans siren can.
6/8, 10 PM Sistermonk play their high energy gypsy funk at Shrine
6/8, 10ish tongue-in-cheek, period-perfect early 50s style country from Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. at Rodeo Bar.
6/8 Bauhaus frontman Peter Murphy makes a rare small room appearance at midnight at the Delancey, $25, this will sell out fast, get adv tix at the club
6/9, half past noon the Arturo O’Farrill latin jazz group at St. Marks Park, 2nd Ave/10th St.
6/9, 7:30 PM intense Balkan-influenced songwriter Alina Simone at Joe’s Pub $12.
6/9, 8 PM irrepressible, fun ska-pop band Across the Aisle at Otto’s
6/9, 9 PM dark compelling historically-fixated songwriter Elisa Flynn at the Way Station, 683 Washington Ave, Brooklyn (at Prospect Place; 2/3 to Grand Army Plaza).
6/9, 9:30 PM lush, atmospheric, socially aware, Radiohead-influenced rockers My Pet Dragon play the cd release show for their new one at the big room at the Rockwood.
6/9 Chicago blues guitar/piano legend Lucky Peterson at 10 PM at Terra Blues
6/9 Afrobeat crew Ikebe Shakedown’s cd release show, 10 PM at Southpaw, $10 gen adm.
6/9, 9 PM honkytonk hellraisers the Steamboat Disasters at Freddy’s
6/9, 10 PM Banda Magda play their cosmopolitan gypsy/Mediteranean/latin accordion-driven songs at Drom, $10 gen adm
6/9, 10ish the twangy, clever Trailer Radio at Rodeo Bar.
6/9, 10:30 PM careening Balkan brass intensity with Veveritse Brass Band at the Jalopy, $10
6/10-12 the global-themed Brooklyn Folk Festival is $20 per day; the best deal if you’re making a weekend out of it is the three-day $55 pass available at the Jalopy, who are hosting night one. Nights two and three are at BWAC, 49 Van Brunt St. in Red Hook. Too many awesome artists to list: Peter Stampfel, the Roulette Sisters, Elizabeth Butters, Uncle Monk, Black Sea Hotel, Radio Jarocho, the Newton Gang and many more, the complete lineup is here.
6/10, 7 PM smart twangy literate Americana rock with Chip Robinson at Lakeside.
6/10, 7:30 PM all-girl punk/no wave legends the Bush Tetras at le Poisson Rouge, $12 adv tix rec.
6/10, 8 PM assaultive hilarious Chinatown hip-hop pioneers the Notorious MSG’s cd release show at the Brooklyn Bowl, only $5.
6/10, 8 PM Koleurz play French African roots reggae at Shrine.
6/10 dreamy shoegaze soundscapes from Balun followed by the film NY Non-Fiction at Open Road Rooftop, 350 Grand St. at Essex, 8 PM, $10
6/10, 8 PM Gyan Riley (Terry’s talented guitarist kid) at Barbes followed by the Jack Grace Band at 10
6/10, 8 PM Lisle Atkinson & Neo Bass play bass arrangements of Ellington feat. guests pianists at Symphony Space, $25 adv tix rec.
6/10, 8 PM antique Americana harmony band Ollabelle (all original members) at City Winery, $20 standing room tix avail.
6/10, 8 PM terse oldschool Chicago blues guitarist Irving Louis Lattin at Lucille’s.
6/10, 9 PM sharp, tuneful, Aimee Mann-esque literate rockers Elizabeth & the Catapult at Bowery Ballroom, $15 gen adm.
6/10 Cuban reggaeton siren Telmary Diaz with a live band at BAM Cafe, 9:30 PM – early arrival advised, this will sell out.
6/10 Vietnamese psychedelic rock revivalists Dengue Fever, 10 PM at Highline Ballroom.
6/10 baritone country crooner/bandleader Dale Watson at Maxwell’s 10ish, $10 (note separate admission from earlier NRBQ concert).
6/10, 10 PM the Hard Times play reggae at Two Boots Brooklyn.
6/10 midnight the Peoples’ Champs play their psychedelic mix of funk and Afrobeat at the small room at the Rockwood
6/10, midnight, witty guitar star of a million bands Homeboy Steve Antonakos plays his own wry Americana stuff at Banjo Jim’s
6/10, midnight, clever fun retro 80s synth-disco duo Hank & Cupcakes at the Mercury, $10.
6/11 Jim Black’s AlasNoAxis and Josh Roseman & The King Froopy All Stars at Central Park Summerstage – be aware that they’re opening for a popular, lame jam band from the 90s and that you may not be able to get in unless you show up before 3.
6/11, 4:30 PM baritone Austin honkytonk crooner Dale Watson at Madison Square Park, free
6/11, 6 PM singer-songwriter satirists the Lascivious Biddies at the small room at the Rockwood.
6/11, 7 PM lyrical jazz pianist Mika Pohjola at Miles Cafe with his quartet, $20 includes a drink and “snacks”
6/11, 7:30/9:30 PM eclectic Middle Eastern-tinged jazz guitarist Gilad Hekselman leads a trio at the Bar Next Door.
6/11, 8 PM an amazing psychedelic dub reggae doublebill (say that five times fast) with Dub Is a Weapon and Giant Panda Guerrilla Dub Squad at Brooklyn Bowl, $7.
6/11, 8 PM oldtimey/Americana/indie band Dastardly – sort of very funny version of Mumford & Sons – at Pete’s. They’re at Spike Hill at 9 on 6/12.
6/11, 8 PM psychedelic steampunk/gypsy band the Wyld Old Souls’ cd release show at Drom, $10 adv tix highly rec.
6/11 a good roots reggae doublebill at Shrine starting at 8 PM with Num & Nu Afrika followed at 9 by the Pressers.
6/11, 8 PM Mississippi hill country blues guitar genius Will Scott (who’s got an excellent new album out) plays a NYC show at 68 Jay St. Bar to kick off his latest European tour.
6/11, 9 PM ecstatically fun, intense gypsy punk/metal cumbia/rock en Espanol band Escarioka – one of our favorites – at Mehanata
6/11 haunting noir Americana crooner Mark Sinnis (of Ninth House) plays the cd release for his new one The Undertaker In My Rearview Mirror at Duff’s Bar in South Williamsburg, 9 PM.
6/11, 9 PM Taj Weekes & Adowa – who are about the best thing happening in roots reggae right now – at the 92YTribeca, $14 gen adm.
6/11, 9/10:30 PM the cleverly lyrical John McNeil/Bill McHenry jazz group at Cornelia St. Cafe, $15
6/11, 10 PM oldtime country harmony hellraisers Those Darlins at Maxwell’s, $10.
6/11, 10 PM hellraising Irish band Jameson’s Revenge at Connolly’s
6/11 LES rockabilly/surf/punk legend Simon & the Bar Sinisters at Lakeside, 10:15ish.
6/11, 11 PM clever, funny faux-French garage rockers Les Sans Culottes at Freddy’s.
6/11 high-energy all-girl country harmony band Those Darlins, 11 PM at Maxwell’s.
6/11 we are not making this up – L’il Kim shares the stage with transvestite Amanda Lepore at gay bar Club 57, 311 W 57th St.(8th/9th Ave), $15 before midnight.
6/12 hellraising country harmony women Those Darlins at 2:45 PM followed by the intensely charismatic retro nuevo funkster Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears at 4:30 at Madison Square Park, free.
6/12, 3 PM a toy piano festival at Bargemusic feat. Phyllis Chen, Karlheinz Essl, Konrad Kaczmarek, John McDonald, Matthew Malsky and others, $25/$20 srs/$15 stud.
6/12 ska on the water: Royal City Riot and the Toasters play a concert cruise aboard the Jewel, leaving at 7 PM sharp from behind the heliport at 23rd & the FDR, $25 adv tix. available at the Highline Ballroom box office.
6/12, 7:30 PM cutting-edge string quartet Brooklyn Riderwith Silk Road Project shakuhachi player Kojiro Umezaki at the Schimmel Auditorium at Pace University downtown (Spruce St. between William/Nassau), 2 free tix per person available starting at 5 PM at the box office. Then Brooklyn Rider sprint up to Bleecker St. to le Poisson Rouge where they’re playing with Christina Courtin for $15 at 10:30.
6/12, 8 PM Syrian pop star Omar Souleyman at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, $15 adv tix available at the Mercury til 7 PM weekdays
6/12, 8 PM alt-country pioneer and Flatlanders honcho Joe Ely at B.B. King’s, $25 adv tix rec.
6/12, 8:30-midnight PM Sousalves’ Songwriters from Hell at Banjo Jim’s featuring (in order) Maya Solovey, Katie Dixon, Kerry Davis, Sousalves, Alan Merrill, Benjamin Cartel and finally Liz Tormes headlining at half past eleven.
6/12, 8:30 PM trumpeter Sarah Wilson plays the cd release for her new one with Myra Melford, piano; Ben Goldberg, clarinet; Jerome Harris, bass; Matt Wilson, drums at Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.
6/12, 9 PM killer doublebill: torchy intense chanteuse April Smith & the Great Picture Show plus the phenomenally charismatic soul man/guitarist Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears at Maxwell’s, $18 adv tix highly rec., this will sell out.
6/12, 9 PM cowpunks Nightmare River Band open for nine-piece grasscore jam band Old Man Markley at Union Hall, $10
6/12, 10 PM lyrical, dark Texas Americana rocker John Pinamonti at Sunny’s in Red Hook
6/12, 11:30 PM innovative new big band jazz with Ensemble Denada at Drom, $15 gen adm.
6/13, 6:30 PM an interfaith 9/11 commemorative concert at St. Paul’s Chapel downtown with Bach’s Sonata #2 in D Major for Harpsichord and Cello performed by harpsichordist Kenneth Cooper and cellist Fred Zlotkin, free but rsvp reqd.
6/13, 8:30 PM pianist Melody Fader leads a string trio playing Beethoven, Berio, Chopin, Carter, and Dvorak’s Dumky Trio at Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.
6/13, 9 PM the Asuka Kakitani Jazz Orchestra – one of the world’s most interesting – makes a rare Brooklyn appearance at Tea Lounge in Park Slope. Don’t miss it if big band jazz is your thing
6/13, 10:30 PM Oran Etkin does his West African jazz thing followed by eclectic captivating Moroccan jazz/soul chanteuse Malika Zarra and her band at Joe’s Pub, $12
6/13 gypsy rocker Yula Beeri and the Extended Family at the big room at the Rockwood.
6/14, 6-9 PM the Museum Mile Festival features free admission at most every museum starting at 103rd St.
6/14, 7 PM fearless mostly female klezmer powerhouse Isle of Klezbos at the community garden at 520 E 12th (Ave. A/B); in case of rain, it’s at Bluestockings Bookstore on Allen St. just south of Stanton.
6/14, 8 PM witty, stinging lyrical tunesmith Marcellus Hall (of White Hassle) at Rock Shop in Gowanus, $10
6/14, 8 PM the Sirius Quartet play world premieres by Mikael Karlsson and Fung Chern Hwei at the Gershwin Hotel, $10
6/14, 9:45 PM bluegrass with the Sleepy Hollow String Band at Caffe Vivaldi.
6/14 dark politically aware jazz/pan-Asian chanteuse/pianiast Jen Shyu at Korzo, 10 PM.
6/14, 10:20 PM ethereal dark art-rockers Elysian Fields play the cd release show for their new one at le Poisson Rouge, $15 gen adm.
6/15, 7 PM twangy, tuneful Texas-flavored alt-country band Two Cent Revival play. their cd release show at the Rockwood.
6/15, 7:30 PM adventurous new music quartet Cadillac Moon Ensemble plays Luciano Berio and others including two world premieres at Culturefix, 9 Clinton St., free
6/15 the Dictators’ ageless Andy Shernoff at 7 followed eventually by the soul/garage sounds of the Solid Set at 9 at Lakeside.
6/15, 7:30 PM smartly tuneful jazz pianist Art Hirahara solo at Smalls
6/15, 7:30 PM violinist Veronique Mathieu plays works by Csickso and Shepherd followed by fearless avant ensemble Lunatics at Large performing works by Raoul Pleskow, Frederick Tillis, Elizabeth Bell, Steven Gerber and Marilyn Bliss at Symphony Space, $11.
6/15, 8 PM endlessly surprising, astonishingly intense piano virtuoso Kathleen Supove plays Julia Wolfe – Compassion; Lainie Fefferman – Barnacles (NY premiere); Alvin Curran – Inner Cities (selections); Michael Gatonska – A Shaking of the Pumpkin; Frederic Rzewski – Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues at Bargemusic, $35/$30 srs./$25 stud.
6/15, 8 PM John Zorn plays a rare duo show with Tyshawn Sorey on drums at the Stone, their calendar doesn’t say it’s any more than $10. Could be a lot of fun. Get there early.
6/15, 9 PM New Orleans band the Grand Street Stompers play the cd release show for their new one at Radegast Hall.
6/16 the Northside Festival in Williamsburg kicks off – in reality what that means is that whatever bands all the Williamsburg clubs happened to have on their calendar this week are part of it. Last year’s was badly attended and didn’t have many good bands, pretty much what you’d expect in this part of town. There are a few choice shows including Beirut on 6/16 at 8:30 and Guided by Voices on 6/18 at 7 at McCarren Park, both of which are SOLD OUT but you might be able to get close enough to hear anyway.
6/15, 9:30ish the eclectic, funny, ferociously tuneful instrumental rockers TarantinosNYC at Otto’s.
6/15 a rare non-stadium show by edgy, lyrical powerpop siren Patti Rothberg at the Bitter End, of all places, 10 PM
6/16, half past noon baritone saxophonist Claire Daly leads a quartet at at St. Marks Park, 2nd Ave/10th St.
6/16-19 James Farm (the new quartet with featuring saxophonist Joshua Redman, pianist Aaron Parks, bassist Matt Penman, and drummer Eric Harland) at the Jazz Standard, 7:30/9:30 PM, $35, res. very highly rec., this will sell out quickly.
6/16, 7:30 PM the highlight of the American Composers’ Association’s multiple nights at Symphony Space looks to be this one,with works by Christopher Shultis, Jody Rockmaker, Joyce Hope Suskind, Lewis Nielson, Barbara Jazwinski, and Glenn Stallcop. Performers include Esther Lamneck, clarinet, Falko Steinbach, piano, Martin Schuring, oboe, and Lynne Aspnes, harp, $11.
6/16, 7:30 PM violinist Emilie-Anne Gendron and pianist Yelena Grinberg play Liszt, Bartók, Kurtag, Schubert, Saint-Saëns at WMP Concert Hall, $25.
6/16 flutist Ransom Wilson’s new music ensemble Le Train Bleu at Galapagos, 7:30 PM, $15.
6/16-19, 7:30/9:30 PM Jamaican jazz/reggae piano legend Monty Alexander & the Harlem Kingston Express at Dizzy’s Club, $30 seats avail. Note that the 6/15 show is sold out.
6/16, 8 PM eclectic, witty jazz guitarist Matt Munisteri at Barbes followed at 10 by bluegrass mandolin monster Andy Statman ($10 cover).
6/16, 8:30 PM Mamie Minch and Jolie Holland’s oldtimey supergroup Midnight Hours at the Jalopy, $10
6/16, 8:30 PM eclectic electric guitar powerhouse Joel Harrison leads a quartet with Anupam Shobhakar, sarod; Stephan Crump, bass; Satoshi Takeishi, percussion at Cornelia St. Cafe, $10
6/16 subtle, psychedelic, completely original roots reggae/dub/worldbeat band Kiwi followed by John Brown’s Body – who absolutely slayed on 4/20 at Highline Ballroom – at Maxwell’s, 9 PM $15.
6/16 Esquela – the new Americana rock project from the Yayhoos’ Keith Christopher with powerhouse singer Rebecca Frame – at Lakeside, 9 PM.
6/16, 9 PM Garth Stevenson – who creates songs live from loops using his bass and a pedal – followed by intricate “American mystic music” acoustic guitarist John Shannon at the 92YTribeca, $10 gen adm.
6/16 electric bluegrass/country/rock guitar/mandolin monsters Demolition String Band at Rodeo Bar, 10ish.
6/16 dark lyrical songwriter Daniel Bernstein & the Everybody Knows at Fontana’s, 10 PM.
6/17 the third annual Istanbulive Turkish music festival at Central Park Summerstage features iconic songwriter/freedom fighter/filmmaker Zulfu Livaneli (sort of the Turkish Bob Dylan), early arrival, i.e. 3 PM at the latest, highly advised.
6/17, 7 PM the Shannon Baker/Erica Seguine Jazz Orchestra at Miles Cafe, $20 includes a drink and “snacks”
6/17, 8 PM keyboardist Kate Mattison’s sultry downtempo soul/pop band Mattison opens for Kathryn Calder of the New Pornographers at Rock Shop in Gowanus, $10
6/17, 9 PM soul/groove band the Del-Reys followed by potently politically aware third-wave ska/soul legends the Slackers at Bowery Ballroom, $16 adv tix highly rec.
6/17, 9/10:30 PM dark 80s-style goth/pop pianist/singer Kristin Hoffmann.at Caffe Vivaldi.
6/17 wickedly tuneful, fearless, funny, socially aware all-girl janglerock/folk band Left on Red play Bar 82 at 10
6/17 surf music classics and obscuities with the Boss Guitars at Lakeside, 11 PM.
6/17, 11:30 PM clarinet monster Ismail Lumanovski and his band the NY Gypsy All-Stars at Drom, $15 adv tix rec.
6/18, 7 PM charismatic, literate NYC noir rock legend LJ Murphy at Banjo Jim’s.
6/18, 7 PM Metal Mountains (Helen Rush and Samara Lubelski’s ethereal project) followed by Thurston Moore’s Whiteout and then legendary 1960s psychedelic garage band Bardo Pond, no idea how many original members are left, at le Poisson Rouge, $10 gen adm.
6/18, 7:30 PM tuneful death-obsessed indie pop pianist/songwriter Jeremy Messersmith at the Mercury, $10.
6/18, 7:30 PM salsa dura doublebill: La Excelencia and the Larry Harlow Latin Legends Big Band at Prospect Park Bandshell.
6/18 the highlight of the Northside Festival is at Trash Bar starting at 8 with the Highway Gimps, the Viennagram at 9, Gunfight at 10, the Brooklyn What – NYC’s most intense, funny, socially aware rockers, and the Shapes (the Texas psychedelic pop band?) at midnight.
6/18, 8 PM for all you percussion fans: imagine tarantella sorceress Alessandra Belloni and Bahian groove monster Dende on the same stage. It’s gonna happen – wow. A summer solstice show with John LaBarbera on guitar and Steve Gorn on reeds, at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, $25
6/18, 8 PM trumpeter Nate Wooley does double duty: first, premiering Atemwende” by Yugoslavian composer Bojan Vuleticwith the Mivos string quartet, then in a duo cd release performance with fellow trumpeter Peter Evans at Issue Project Room, free.
6/18, 8 PM Irish acoustic punk band Box of Crayons celebrate Bloomsday with the cd release show for their new album Dublin Over at Freddy’s
6/18, 9 PM hauntingly lyrical, intense Americana songwriter James McMurtry at the Bell House, $15. He’s also at Maxwell’s on 6/17 at 7:30 for the same price.
6/18, 9 PM yet another good diverse roots reggae doublebill at Shrine with 6th Degree followed at 10 by Zion Judah.
6/18, 9 PM funny, fearless oldschool style punk rockers the Live Ones, Boston’s Cortez and hilarious metal spoof Mighty High at Cake Shop
6/18 vibraphone-based Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica play the cd release show for their hypnotic, psychedelic new one Third River Rangoon at Otto’s – definitely the classiest band ever to play this dive.
6/18, 9 PM eclectic country juggernaut M Shanghai String Band at the Jalopy, $10.
6/18, 10:30 PM dark gypsy/goth rock and then slinky Cuban sounds with low-register instruments: Yula Beeri & the Extended Family followed by Gato Loco at Littlefield, $10
6/18 fearlessly fun Americana-punk rockers Spanking Charlene – winners of the Sirius/XM best unsigned band contest, now on Little Steven Van Zandt’s label – at Lakeside, 11 PM
6/19, 11 AM this year’s Bang on a Can Marathon – a NYC institution – at the World Financial Center.
6/19 this year’s free Punk Island festival at Governors Island happens two days in advance of Make Music NY as the yuppies are shitting their pants at the thought of loud, nonconformist music being played anywhere near their “luxury” apartments. This year, it’s been put together by the folks at ABC No Rio, a cool, eclectic, completely non-corporate lineup with bands as diverse as Humanwine, Fashion Week, Star Fucking Hipsters and Yula & the Extended Family. Take the free ferry which leaves every hour on the half hour from the old Shaolin ferry terminal (to the north of the new one). This year, they’re letting you bring food and drinks but be careful how you hide that booze, since it’s verboten – security is probably going to paw through your stuff, so wrap it up tight. After all, as the MMNY site reminds you, “The Trust for Governors Island reserves the right to deny access to the island at its discretion.” Let’s take over the island! Bust the trust!
6/19, 2 PM, free, extraordinary painter/performance artist Theresa Byrnes, guitarist Ronny Drayton, curator/producer Shantrelle Lewis, and actress Marie Claudine Mukamabano address issues of survival over adversity: sexual assault, illness, genocide, and a son’s incarceration, exploring the question of “how we continue after facing the unthinkable.” Moderated by musician K. Neycha Herford at Danny Simmons’ Corridor Gallery, 334 Grand Ave btwn Gates & Greene, Ft. Greene, Brooklyn, C to Clinton-Washington (G train not running)
6/19 a rare solo set by saxophone adventurer Matana Roberts at Downtown Music Gallery, 6 PM.
6/19, 8 PM Abbie Gardner of Red Molly does her gorgeously torchy jazz stuff at the Jalopy followed at 9:30 by haunting oldtime Nashville gothic/bluegrass band Bobtown
6/19, 9:30 PM rustic, lyrical Americana songwriter Andrew Vladeck’s dual cd/book release show at Joe’s Pub, $12.
6/19 soaring Americana with banjo player Hilary Hawke & the Flipsides at Rodeo Bar 10ish
6/19, 10 PM terrorist jazz with Peter Evans, Trumpet; Moppa Elliot, bass; Kassa Overall, drums at Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.
6/20 indie classical orchestra the Knights play the world premiere of Lisa Bielawa’s Templehof Etude, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony plus a Morton Feldman piece at the Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park, 7:30 PM, early arrival advised.
6/20 Piaf scholar/noir accordion siren Marni Rice at 9 at Small Beast at the Delancey followed eventually at 11 by the magnificently intense, ferocious, gypsy rock/art-rock of Vera Beren’s Gothic Chamber Blues Ensemble.
6/20, 9 PM the JC Sanford Orchestra at Tea Lounge in Park Slope. They absolutely killed here last fall.
6/20, 10 PM tuneful danceable funk/Afrobeat band Mamarazzi at the Mercury, $15.
6/21 is Make Music NY. We’ve cherrypicked the best shows and put up a separate page here since there are so many of them. Nice to see that the very last band on the list is Zion Judah, one of our favorite reggae bands.
6/21, 1 PM Louis Andriessen’s Hoketus performed by two groups TBA at Federal Hall downtown
6/21, 7ish Talib Kweli at Red Hook Park (bordered by Hicks and Henry in Red Hook – same directions as if you’re going to the Jalopy: F to Carroll St., exit front of Brooklyn-bound train. Left on Smith, right on 1st Place, continue as 1st Place becomes Summit. Go over the BQE, make a U-turn, continue on Summit).
6/22, 7 PM at Alwan for the Arts, a panel discussion: Detained Without Cause – Muslims’ Stories of Detention and Deportation in America. “The post-9/11 emergence of Islamophobic media hysteria, oppressive law enforcement tactics and increasing surveillance in the name of security is a package sold to the public as the inevitable cost of freedom. Learn what that cost really means in human terms: the stories of fellow New Yorkers disappeared from our communities during the first months after the terrible events of 9/11.” Free and open to the public, early arrival advised.
6/22, 7 PM alt-country chanteuse Tift Merritt at Madison Square Park, free.
6/22, 7:30/9:30 PM eclectic pan-latin bassist Pedro Giraudo leads his jazz orchestra at the Jazz Standard, $20.
6/22, 8 PM eclectic, poignant yet quirkly funny art-rock keyboardist Greta Gertler solo at the Gershwin Hotel, a benefit for the homeless, $15
6/22, 8 PM Pete Rock (of Pete Rock & CL Smooth) opens for psychedelic vibraphone jazz legend (and brilliant film composer) Roy Ayers at Highline Ballroom, $25 gen adm.
6/22, 8 PM a Roy Nathanson doublebill at the Stone: first his Sotto Voce quintet, then his Akhenaten Ensemble featuring vibroharp and trumpet, $10. He’s a NYC institution and an unbeatable raconteur, somebody you should see at least once.
6/22, 9 PM the Japonize Elephants play gypsy punk at Freddy’s.
6/22, 9 PM powerhouse soul-infused songwriter Jo Williamson at LIC Bar.
6/23 this year’s four-day Undead Jazz Festival begins. Some amazing shows: 6/23 at le Poisson Rouge with pianist Satoko Fuji’s lyrical Ma-Do quartet followed by Marc Ribot solo and Orrin Evans’ gritty, cerebral, intense Tarbaby; also on 6/23, haunting trumpeter Amir ElSaffar as well as lyrical pianists Kris Davis and Gerald Clayton each leading a band at Sullivan Hall; 6/25 pipa virtuoso Min Xiao-Fen’s Dim Sum and then later Jeremy Udden’s plaintive Americana jazz band Plainville at Homage Skate Park, 151 Smith St., in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn; and all kinds of great stuff scattered around on closing night. They’re doing it by neighborhood: West Village on day one, Gowanus for the next two and then Williamsburg. Your best bet the best deal is the four-day pass for $50 which works out to $12.50 a night, a real steal for these A-list shows. There are also two-day passes ($35), single-day passes ($25) and single tix to the 6/24 show at the Bell House (not included in the two-day pass), all available at the Poisson Rouge box office. Too many acts to list individually: the full calendar is here.
6/23, 7 PM the Vijay Iyer Quintet at Castle Clinton in Battery Park, free tix avail. 2 per person on the line outside the castle starting at 4 PM.
6/23, 7:15 PM oboeist Keve Wilson leads an ensemble at Caffe Vivaldi.
6/23 Greensboro, NC’s deliriously fun, lickety-split, witty oldtimey banjo/euphonium band Holy Ghost Tent Revival at Littlefield, 8 PM, $10; they’re at the Rockwood at midnight on 6/24.
6/23, 8 PM clever, entertaining toy piano expert Phyllis Chen at Barbes at 8 followed at 10 by Nation Beat drummer Scott Kettner’s Forro Brass Band.
6/23, 8 PM drummer Mike Pride’s always interesting, psychedelic jazz band From Bacteria To Boys at the Stone, $10
6/23, 8/10:30 PM vocal jazz legend Little Jimmy Scott celebrates his 85th birthday at the Blue Note, $20 “seats” avail. His show last year at the Charlie Parker Festival was characteristically shattering – he’s still got it.
6/23-24, 8 PM this era’s biggest surf band, Los Straitjackets at City Winery, $20.
6/23, 8 PM hypnotic, sometimes lush, sometimes austere new music quintet Build play the Gershwin Hotel, $10.
6/23, 9 PM one of the year’s best doublebills – haunting, hypnotic duo AE (Eva Primack and Aurelia Shrenker) who interpolate Appalachian and Balkan music, followed by badass oldtimey sirens the Roulette Sisters at 10:30 at the Jalopy, $10
6/23 Shane Endsley, trumpet; Gerald Clayton, piano; Matt Brewer, bass; John Ellis, tenor sax at Cornelia St Cafe, 9/10:30 PM, $15.
6/23, 9:30 PM Palestinian-American oudist Tareq Abboushi’s Shusmo project at Joe’s Pub, $15.
6/24, 6 PM coy, fun Israeli dance-pop duo Hank & Cupcakes at Union Square on the south side of the park
6/24, 7 PM cinematic Microscopic Septet pianist Joel Forrester’s Secret Identity with Claire Daly on baritone sax, Vito Dieterle on tenor, David Hofstra on bass, and Matthew Garrity on drums at the Gershwin Hotel, $5.
6/24, 7 PM Octavio Brunetti’s Apeadero Sur Tango Orchestra at Hudson River Park, 44th St. and the Hudson
6/24, 7:30 PM Badwagon (the Bad Plus plus Jason Moran’s Bandwagon) make their world premiere followed by Roy Hargrove’s quintet at Prospect Park Bandshell.
6/24, 8 PM unstoppably romantic, effervescent, razor-sharp Hawaiian swing band the Moonlighters at Barbes followed at 10 by the Jug Addicts.
6/24, 8ish swirling dreampop band Zaza, Quiet Light and noir psychedelic rock legend Martin Bisi at Littlefield, $8.
6/24, 8 PM new music ensemble Transit play world premieres by Pat Muchmore, Daniel Felsenfeld and Ryan Brown at St. Peter’s Church, 346 W 20th St. (8th/9th), $15
6/24, 8:30 PM Canadian darkwave/goth chanteuse NLX at Caffe Vivaldi.
6/24, 9ish intense, potently lyrical, dark songwriter Erin Regan at Goodbye Blue Monday.
6/24, 9 PM Greta Gertler’s lush, gorgeously tuneful orchestrated rock band the Universal Thump at Bowery Electric, $12
6/24, 9 PM cult legend soul/blues harpist/belter Syl Johnston at the Bell House, $20.
6/24, 9 PM garage rock night with Electric Mess and the Insomniacs at Union Hall, $8
6/24, 10 PM intense Irish party band Shilelagh Law at Connolly’s.
6/24, 10 PM Tall Tall Trees at Pete’s followed at 11 by Tumbling Bones and their similar ramshackle oldtimey country/blues sound.
6/24 original 2/3 female (2 girls, 1 guy) rockabilly/surf rockers Catspaw at the Fortune Cookie Lounge under Lucky Cheng’s, 10:30 PM, $5
6/24 kick ass Americana rockers Tom Clark & the High Action Boys at Lakeside, 11 PM
6/25 popular British soul revivalists Fitz & the Tantrums followed by James Brown-influenced soul/funk vet Lee Fields & the Expressions at Central Park Summerstage, early arrival, i.e. 4 PM at the latest highly advised.
6/25, 5:30 PM alto sax powerhouse Jacam Manricks leads a trio at Miles Cafe, $20 includes a drink and “snacks”
6/25, 7:15 PM chamber-pop band BoxFive followed by cello/marimba duo Goli at Caffe Vivaldi.
6/25, 7:30 PM snarling garage-punk band Des Roar – of Ted Bundy Was a Ladies Man notoriety – at the Mercury
6/25, 8 PM slinky, haunting vintage Middle Eastern/East African group Sounds of Taraab at Barbes.
6/25, 8 PM the Undead Jazz Festival at Littlefield is sort of the Stone transplanted to the Gowanus, with Jeff Lederer’s Sunwatcher, Sylvie Courvoisier & Mark Feldman, the Darius Jones Trio, Anthony Coleman Trio w/ Brad Jones and Satoshi Takeshi, and Jamie Saft’s New Zion Trio, $25 adv tix rec.
6/25, 8 PM the London Souls’ third-rate fifth-generation garage rock followed by the Heavy, who do oldschool funk/soul vamps with lots of loops and samples, at Prospect Park Bandshell.
6/25, 8 PM the CCB Reggae Allstars play Marley’s Rastaman Vibration in its entirety plus other Marley hits at the Brooklyn Bowl, $5.
6/25, 8ish tuneful, high-energy ska-punk with King Django at Shrine.
6/25, 10:30 PM ornate, intense, amazingly tuneful art-rock/metal band Of Earth – fresh off a world tour opening for Guns & Roses?!? at Local 269, $7. Their excellent album is now available for free download.
6/26, 3 PM Renaissance ensemble Parthenia play “an intimate collection of early English art songs for voice, viols and lute, illustrating Renaissance life and love” including music by Dowland, Purcell and Henry VIII at Bargemusic, $35/$30 srs/$15 stud.
6/26, 7 PM a characteristically eclectic triplebill at Barbes – Yukie and Ryoji playing classic tango and tango nuevo on bandoneon and guitar followed by at 8 by Ben Holmes, Curtis Hasselbring and Marcus Rojas playing brass trio improvisations and then at 10 gypsy punk band the Japonize Elephants.
6/27, 7 PM the Ossia Chamber Players perform interesting new works by Rubin Kodheli, Theo Bleckmann, Michael Gatonska, Daniel Wohl and Kono Michi at le Poisson Rouge.
6/27, 8 PM eclectic, always interesting jazz bassist Dave Holland leads a quintet at the Highline Ballroom, $25.
6/27 charming oldtimey swing and hillbilly sounds with Daria Grace & the Prewar Ponies at Rodeo Bar, 9ish.
6/27, 9 PM the Schumacher Group plays innovative third-stream big band jazz at Tea Lounge in Park Slope.
6/27, 9:30 PM drummer Ari Hoenig leads an intriguing quartet with intense, Middle Eastern influenced guitarist Gilad Hekselman at Smalls
6/28, half past noon up-and-coming jazz pianist Emmet Cohen at 1 NY Plaza downtown, free. He’s also at the World Financial Center plaza at 5:30 on 6/30.
6/28, 5:30 PM the NY Gypsy All-Stars in the parking lot out back of City Winery, free.
6/28, 7 PM maverick viola virtuoso Ljova with the Fernando Otero Quintet at Klavierhaus, 211 W 58th St., $20. Moody Argentinian pianist Otero tore up le Poisson Rouge his last time there; Ljova is always up for a challenge and maybe some serious jousting.
6/28-7/3, 7:30/9:30 PM the Kenny Garrett Quartet at Dizzy’s Club, $30 seats avail.
6/28, 10 PM dark steampunk siren Jolie Holland plays the cd release show for her latest one at Bowery Ballroom, $15 adv tix highly rec.
6/28-7/2, 11 PM alto saxophonist Sharel Cassity leads a quartet at Dizzy’s Club, $10 seats avail.
6/29, 7 PM a spectacularly good new music doublebill at Galapagos: Mivos Quartet play world premieres by Tristan Perich and Samson Young followed by Redshift Ensemble’s highly anticipated Arctic Sounds suite incorporating found sounds from the rapidly disappearing great white north, $15 gen adm., early arrival highly rec.
6/29, 7 PM short sets by powerpop goddess Patti Rothberg and ex-Utopian Moogy Klingman followed by two sets by the Peaceniks at the big room at the Rockwood, $10
6/29, 7 PM latin jazz piano legend Larry Harlow & Latin Legends Big Band at Soundview Park in the Bronx, 6 train to Morrison Ave/Soundview
6/29, 7 PM cellist Marika Hughes at the small room at the Rockwood.
6/29, 7 PM a Bernard Herrmann 100th Birthday celebration conducted by Hollywood Bowl Orchestra (?!?) conductor John Mauceri at the Greene Space, $20 includes a glass of wine.
6/29, 8 PM Brian Carpenter’s Ghost Train Orchestra – who just put out a sizzling album of classic/obscure 1920s swing jazz tunes – at Highline Ballroom, $10 adv tix very highly rec.
6/29, 8 PM hard-hitting psychedelic powerpop trio Devi play outdoors at the Grove St. Path train station in Jersey City, free
6/29, 8:30 PM the monthly ska-xtravaganza has found a new home at Southpaw. This month’s lineup is the Big Takeover, Cosmolingo, The Rudie Crew, the Times and King Django, $10, note that this is 21 and over
6/29-7/3 the annual Django Reinhardt gypsy jazz festival at Birdland, sets 8:30/11 PM, $30 seats avail., too many artists to list here but it’s a good lineup as always.
6/29, 10 PM Beninghove’s Hangmen play the release show for their new noir jazz cd at Drom, $10 gen adm
6/29 Paleface – the original sardonic 90s white funk/hip-hop guy – at Rodeo Bar 10ish. 6/30 he’s at Southpaw at 10:30 followed by dark soul/rock chanteuse Shenandoah & the Night for $10.
6/30, 7 PM Ehud Asherie plays solo piano followed at 9:30 PM by tenor saxophonist Noah Preminger’s fascinating, tuneful Quintet at Smalls.
6/30, 7 PM Laurie Anderson and Bill Laswell at Castle Clinton in Battery Park, free tix avail. 2 per person on the line outside the castle starting at 4 PM.
6/30-7/3 one of the leading lights of jazz piano, Gerald Clayton leads a trio at the Jazz Standard, sets 7:30/9:30 PM, $25 ($30 Fri-Sat).
6/30, 8 PM Burritos-style country band Whisperado followed by a birthday show by classic pop maven Elisa Peimer at Kenny’s Castaways, free, birthday cake also available (we think).
6/30, 8 PM film historian/Yiddish culturist Eve Sicular (Metropolitan Klezmer’s awesome drummer) presents “The Celluloid Closet of Yiddish Film: A Yingl Mit a Yingl Hot Epes a Tam?” addressing gay subtext in classic Yiddish celluloid. Free outdoor video/multimedia presentation at Le Petit Versailles Garden, 346 E Houston at Ave C.
6/30, 8:30 PM intense, crystalline-voices singer/composer Sara Serpa leads a quintet with Andre Matos, guitar; Pete Rende, piano; Matt Brewer, bass; Tommy Crane, drums at Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.
6/30, 9 PM fearless charismatic dark oldtimey siren Kelli Rae Powell at Freddy’s followed at 10 by a one-off NYC show by Wytchhyker, Electric Six frontman Joshua Darsky’s old “stoner pop” band.
6/30, 9:30 PM Nellie McKay’s surreal, twisted one-woman biographical show about the execution of convicted murderer Barbara Graham (who was probably innocent) in California in 1956, $20, this will sell out, adv tix a must. “Good people think they’re always right.”
6/30, 10:15 PM tuneful Americana siren Julia Haltigan plays the big room at the Rockwood
If you’re looking for weekly events for June or July, scroll down to the bottom of this page.
7/1, 8:30 PM roots reggae legends Steel Pulse at Prospect Park Bandshell.
7/1, 9 PM a clever melodic trio with JD Allen, tenor sax; Michael Bates, double bass; Jeff Davis, drums at Cornelia St. Cafe, $15.
7/1, 9 PM dark intense rock songwriter Elisa Flynn at Banjo Jim’s playing new “19th Century Songs” from her ep and a bunch of new ones “about bears, speaking in tongues, and murder…nothing but murder.”
7/1, 10 PM oldschool vallenato/cumbia hellraisers Very Be Careful at Bowery Poetry Club; they’re at Barbes 7/2 at 10.
7/2, 1 and 3 PM Jed Distler leads a 40-piece ensemble playing Terry Riley’s In C on Governors Island, free ferries leave from the old Staten Island ferry terminal every hour on the half hour
7/2 Roy Ayers and the Jazz Mafia Symphony at Central Park Summerstage, get there by 7 PM or else you probably won’t get in.
7/2, 7 PM creepy intense cool chanteuses: Lorraine Leckie solo followed by Carol Lipnik and Spookarama doing her covers project at 8 at Banjo Jim’s
7/2, 7:30 PM lyrical songwriter Niall Connolly plays the big room at the Rockwood
7/2, 8 PM blistering bluegrass jamband Thy Burden’s cd release show at Union Hall, free.
7/2, 8:30 PM torchy noir German songwriter Sophie Hunger at le Poisson Rouge, $15 gen adm.
7/2 intense gypsy punks Bad Buka at Mehanata, 9 PM.
7/3 the reliably intense, charismatic anti-gentrification rockers the Brooklyn What at Fort Tilden in the Rockaways, time TBA.
7/3, 8 PM new music ensemble Transit plays an intriguing evening of new electroacoustic works by Tristan Perich, Lesley Flanigan (very highly recommended) and Daniel Wohl at St. Paul’s Chapel downtown, Broadway at Fulton, free.
7/5, 7:30/9:30 PM Dario Boente & Proyecto Sur play tango nuevo jazz at the Jazz Standard, $20
7/5, 8 PM classic boricua sounds with the Lavoe All Stars and Cantando Renzo Padilla at St. Mary’s Park in the Bronx, St. Ann’s Ave and E 144th Street, 6 train to Brook Ave.
7/6, 6 PM African and Afro-Cuban sounds with the Edmar Castaneda Trio plus special guest Andrea Tierra and then the Lionel Loueke Trio at Madison Square Park, free.
7/6 pianist Osmany Paredes’ latin jazz quartet at the Jazz Standard, 7:30/9:30 PM, $20.
7/6, 7 PM pianist Eugene Marlow’s Heritage Ensemble playing latin/Jewish jazz – real cool stuff – at the Triad Theatre, 158 W. 72nd St., 2nd Fl.., just west of Broadway, $10
7/6, 8 PM intense, powerful Afrobeat/desert blue siren Khaira Arby at the Brooklyn Bowl, $5.
7/7, half past noon trombonist Art Baron leads a small combo at St. Marks Park, 2nd Ave/10th St.
7/7, 5:30 PM Cuban pianist Elio Villafranca at the World Financial Center, free.
7/7, 7 PM My Brightest Diamond at Castle Clinton in Battery Park, free tix avail. 2 per person on the line outside the castle starting at 4 PM.
7/7, 7 PM edgy comedic musical chicks Mel & El (their album is called She’s My Bitch) put on their latest show Mel & El: Our Time of the Month (Flight of the Conchords as done by Tammy Faye Starlite, maybe) at the 92YTribeca, $15
7/7, 8 PM cello rockers Deoro plays Bach, Ravel, Messaien, Bizet, Michael Brecker and Randy Wolff at Bargemusic, $35/$30 srs./$15 stud. On 7/8, same time, same price, the band returns, playing an acoustic set from their Kingston Morning reggae-rock album.
7/7, 8ish hip-hop/rock at the downstairs space at Webster Hall with White House Band, Mickey Factz, Tunde Olaniran, Rocky Business, Nyle vs. the Naysayers, Ra the MC and Mahogany, no idea who’s playing when but if you’re into this stuff, check it out.
7/7, 8:30 PM extraordinary oudist Tareq Abboushi plus percussionist Hector Morales at Cornelia St. Cafe, $10
7/7, 8:30 PM the Court Yard Hounds (that’s sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison of the Dixie Chicks) at Prospect Park Bandshell.
7/7, 9 PM filmmaker/hilarious satirical bandleader Melvin Van Peebles wid Laxative (his funk band feat. members of Burnt Sugar) at Zebulon
7/7, 9 PM quirky, rustic cello rockers Pearl & the Beard at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, $12 adv tix avail. til 7 PM weekdays at the Mercury.
7/7 midnight smart oldtimey chanteuse/swing guitarist Miss Tess at the small room at the Rockwood.
7/8 tight, soaring oldschool honkytonk band Yarn – with a horn section – at Southpaw, time TBA $12
7/8, 9 PM badass Australian country songwriter Kasey Chambers at Bowery Ballroom, $25 gen adm.
7/8, 9 PM Los Lobos at Prospect Park Bandshell.
7/8 dark rock chanteuse Nicole Atkins & the Sea at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, 9 PM, $12 adv tix avail. at the Mercury weekdays til 7 PM.
7/8 midnight sly acoustic jam band Tall Tall Trees at the big room at the Rockwood.
7/9, 7 PM politically aware indie rocker Ted Leo & the Pharmacists play South St. Seaport
7/9, 7:30 PM late golden-age hip-hop with Raekwon, Smif-N-Wessun, Joell Ortiz, Skyzoo, Neek the Exotic & Large Professor, no idea who’s opening or headlining, at Prospect Park Bandshell.
7/9, 9/10:30 PM multi-reed paradigm-shifter Matana Roberts leads a quintet with Daniel Levin – cello, Shoko Nagai – piano, Thomson Kneeland – bass, Tomas Fujiwara – drums, at the Jazz Gallery, $20.
7/11, 7:30 PM Bjorkestra frontwoman Becca Stevens’ Band at the big room at the Rockwood.
7/11, 9 PM cleverly haunting, intense Americana/art-rock/punk songwriter Raquel Bell at Pete’s
7/11 hypnotic pensive indie songwriter Bill Callahan f.k.a. Smog at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, 9 PM, $20 gen adm; 7/12 he’s at Bowery Ballroom, same time, same price
7/12-16, 8:30/11 PM Pablo Zeigler’s tango nuevo project with cantante Sandra Luna at Birdland, $30 seats avail.
7/13 noirish soul/rock band Shenandoah & the Night at Bryant Park, free, 6 PM
7/13, 7 PM jazz bass powerhouse Christian McBride & Inside Straight at Madison Square Park, free.
7/13, 11 PM golden-age hip-hop stars Pharoahe Monch & Black Rob, OGC (from Fab 5), Helta Skeltah,, Smif & Wessun, Black Moon at B.B. King’s
7/14, 7 PM Patti Smith at Castle Clinton in Battery Park, free tix avail. 2 per person on the line outside the castle starting at 4 PM.
7/14 drummer Tim Kuhl leads a group feat. Michael Formanek, bass; Ben Gerstein, trombone; Jonathan Goldberger, guitar; Frantz Loriot, viola; Jonathan Moritz, saxes playing the cd release show for his new one at 8:30 PM at Cornelia St. Cafe.
7/16, 4 PM C&W/Brazilian dance band Nation Beat, sultry Nina Simone-influenced worldbeat siren Meklit Hadero and then Arturo O’Farrill’s latin jazz quartet at the Stuyvesant Town oval, free, take the 15th St. entrance
7/16, 5 PM-ish PM the Black Angels at South St. Seaport.
7/16, 7:30 PM percussionist/composer Alessandra Belloni leads an all-female quintet with Jessica Valiente on reeds and Eve Sicular on drums playing Belloni’s mystical sea goddess tribute at the NY Open Center, 22 East 30th St., $25
7/16, 8 PM high-energy soul legend Andre Williams with Neko Case’s backing band the Sadies at Brooklyn Bowl, $8
7/16, 10:30 PM Patti Smith guitarist (and powerpop maven) Lenny Kaye followed by garage rock legends the Fleshtones cd release show at the Mercury $12 adv tix rec.
7/17 Pink Martini at Central Park Summerstage, early arrival 7 PM highly advised.
7/19 the Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra in the parking lot out behind City Winery, 5:30 PM, free
7/19, 7:30ish 80s hip-hop legend (and LL Cool nemesis) Kool Moe Dee at Queensbridge Park, F to 21st St.
7/19, 8 PM two excellent jazz acts for the price of less than half of one: the Pedro Giraudo Jazz Orchestra followed by bassist Ben Williams & the Checkout at the 92YTribeca, $12 gen adm.
7/19-24 lyrical jazz pianist Fred Hersch leads a trio at the Vanguard, 9/11 PM
7/19, 10 PM Toots & the Maytals at Brooklyn Bowl, $26. He’ll also be here on 7/25.
7/20 desert blues legends Tinariwen at Highline Ballroom, 9 PM, $27 adv tix rec.
7/21 ecstatic Eastern European dance mashup band Balkan Beat Box, 8 PM at Brooklyn Bowl, $12.
7/21, 8 PM 21st century style garage rock night with Plastic Traps, the Boom Bang and the Vandelles at Union Hall, $8.
7/21, 8 PM thoughtful guitar jazz with Tin/Bag (Kris Tiner, trumpet & Mike Baggetta, guitar) with the James Ilgenfritz Group at Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, 58 7th Ave, Park Slope), $15 ($10 stud/srs)
7/21 Lucinda Williams at the Beacon, 9 PM, $39.50 tix avail. at the box office – may be sold out by now.
7/23, 9/10:30 PM intense, smartly lyrical pianist Michael Cain leads a trio with Lonnie Plaxico – bass, Rudy Royston – drums at the Jazz Gallery, $20.
7/24, 7 PM eclecic violist Ljova joins Octavio Brunetti’s Apeadero Sur Tango Orchestra for a night of tangos on Pier 84, free.
7/24, 8:30 PM fiery, lyrical jazz pianist Bobby Avey leads a quartet with Miguel Zenon, alto saxophone; Thomson Kneeland, bass; Jordan Perlson, drums at Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.
7/26 Brazilian nocturnes and grooves with Forro in the Dark in the parking lot out behind City Winery, 5:30 PM, free.
7/26-31 7:30/9:30 subtle, soulful latin chanteuse Claudia Acuna leads her brilliant intense quintet at Dizzy’s Club, $30 seats avail.
7/27, 6 PM clever, comedic Erin & Her Cello at Bryant Park, 6 PM, free
7/27, 7:30 PM dark hypnotic songwriter Marissa Nadler at the Mercury; 7/30, 9 PM she’s at at Littlefield, both shows are $12
7/26, 7:30 PM the Matt Herskowitz Trio plays Bach, Schumann and Chopin at the Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park, early arrival advised if you want a seat.
7/26, 8:30 PM clever lyrical songwriters Joe McGinty and Ward White at Bowery Electric
7/27 rockabilly legend Wanda Jackson at Central Park Summerstage, early arrival 7 PM highly advised.
7/27, 7:30 PM the Black Earth Boys feat. kora virtuoso Juldeh Camara followed by Billy Bragg at Damrosch Park out back of Lincoln Center.
7/27, 8 PM smartly aware, tuneful Americana rocker Amy Speace at the small room at the Rockwood.
7/28 Budos Band play a concert cruise aboard the Queen of Hearts, leaving from 40. West Houston St. at West Side Highway at 8 PM sharp, adv tix $30 avail. at the Highline Ballroom box ofc.
7/29, 7:30 PM brilliant, soulful Lebanese multi-instrumentalist/composer Bassam Saba and his ensemble followed by eclectic, fearless Malian siren Oumou Sangare at Prospect Park Bandshell.
7/29, 7:30 PM hilarious, virtuosic oldtimey/grasscore band The Devil Makes Three at the Mercury, $12 adv tix very highly rec.
7/29, 8 PM excellent eclectic danceable doublebill: Brazilian/C&W band Nation Beat followed by the Mexican-American Go-Go’s, Pistolera, playing the cd release for their new one El Desierto y La Ciudad at Drom, $10 adv tix highly rec.
7/29, 9/10:30 PM percussionist Adam Rudolph leads a globally astute octet with Joseph Bowie – trombone; Graham Haynes – cornet/flugelhorn; Brahim Fribgane – oud; Kenny Wessel – guitars; Peter Apfelbaum – flute/tenor saxophone; Jerome Harris – acoustic bass guitar/slide guitar; Matt Kilmer – percussion at the Jazz Gallery, $20
7/29-30 the Eels at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, 9 PM, $30 gen adm., adv tix avail. at the Mercury weekdays til 7, this may sell out.
7/30, 4 PM psychedelic, rustic, horn-driven blues/klezmer/minor-key band Hazmat Modine followed by Steven Bernstein’s Millennian Territory Orchestra (no idea if they’re doing their Sly Stone set or not) at the World Financial Center plaza.
7/30, 6 PM a cool country doublebill: Rhett Miller followed by the always hilarious Hayes Carll at the Stuyvesant Town oval, free, take the 15th St. entrance
7/30, 6 PM Indian brass band Red Baraat, go-go godfather Chuck Brown and Dr. John & the Lower 9/11 at Prospect Park Bandshell.
7/30, 7:30 PM comedic and virtuosic Erin & Her Cello at the big room at the Rockwood
7/30, 9 PM ecstatically fun, intense gypsy punk/metal cumbia/rock en Espanol band Escarioka – one of our favorites – at Mehanata.
7/30, 9/10:30 PM Ralph Alessi – trumpet, Kris Davis – piano, Ingrid Laubrock – saxophone, Tom Rainey – drums at the Jazz Gallery, $20
7/31 French gypsy rockers Watcha Clan followed by Israeli Middle Eastern/Indian jam band Yemen Blues at Central Park Summerstage, early arrival 3 PM highly advised.
8/2 the CCB Reggae Allstars in the parking lot out behind City Winery, 5:30 PM, free.
8/2, 8 PM the Mingus Orchestra plays Washington Square Park, free
8/3 Ethiopian groove unit Budos Band at Tappen Park in Staten Island, Staten Island train to Stapleton.
8/4, 6:30 PM Balkan powerhouse Raya Brass Band on the Broadway plaza at Lincoln Center, free.
8/4, 7:30 PM Vietnamese psychedelic rockers Dengue Fever at Damrosch Park out back of Lincoln Center, free
8/4, a twangy guitar summit with the eclectic Bill Kirchen and surf rockers Los Straitjackets at Maxwell’s $15.
8/5, 7 PM Tom Waits-ish Nashville gothic singer Mark Growden at the small room at the Rockwood
8/5, 7:30 PM Bassam Saba and the NY Arabic Orchestra at Damrosch Park out back of Lincoln Center, free.
8/7, 9:30 PM hip-hop/Afrobeat innovator/bandleader Blitz the Ambassador at Damrosch Park out back of Lincoln Center, free.
8/9 noir retro rock bandleader Nicole Atkins in the parking lot out behind City Winery, 5:30 PM, free
8/9 classic roots reggae with the Abyssinians and Black Uhuru’s Mykal Rose at Highline Ballroom
8/9, 7:30 PM members of the Jupiter Symphony play Schubert, Mozart and Dvorak at the Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park, early arrival advised if you want a seat.
8/10, 7 PM oldschool latin soul stars Johnny Colon and Joe Bataan at Central Park Summerstage
8/10, 7:30 PM violinist/composer Todd Reynolds, beatboxer Adam Matta and vaudevillian Luminescent Orchestrii bandleader Sxip Shirey with Caleb Burhans, Conrad Harris, Pauline Kim Harris, Yuki Numata, Courtney Orlando, and Ben Russell followed by Laurie Anderson at Damrosch Park out back of Lincoln Center, free.
8/11, 7 PM two generations, two continents of Ethiopian grooves with Fendika and Debo Band at Damrosch Park out back of Lincoln Center, free.
8/13, 1 and 3 PM pioneering new-music string quartet Ethel play a free show on Governors Island, free ferries leave from the old Staten Island ferry terminal every hour on the half hour
8/13 clawhammer banjo player/songwriter Abigail Washburn at 4 PM at the plaza on the northwest side of Lincoln Center, free.
8/13, 7 PM 1950s rockabilly legend Sonny Burgess followed by Marty Stuart at Damrosch Park out back of Lincoln Center, free.
8/14, 7 PM the Bar-Kays plus Steve Cropper with Bettye LaVette, Ellis Hooks and Dylan Leblanc at Damrosch Park out back of Lincoln Center, free
8/16, 7ish Bachata Heightz at Highbridge Park in Harlem, 171st and Amsterdam, A/C to 168th St.
8/17, 7 PM legendary 70s psychedelic art-rock band Nektar – who were sort of a cross between Pink Floyd and the Grateful Dead – with original members Roye Albrighton and Ron Howden at B.B. King’s, $25.
8/18, 8 PM one of the year’s best triplebills with Bakersfield-style country twanglers Alana Amram & the Rough Gems, the Texas honkytonk and zydeco of the Doc Marshalls and haunting intense original acoustic Nashville gothic/bluegrass of Frankenpine at Union Hall, $7.
8/19, 9 PM wild crazy female-fronted gypsy band Fishtank Ensemble at Union Hall, $10
8/20 African reggae with Meta & the Cornerstones and Ivoirien star/freedom fighter Tiken Jah Fakoly at Central Park Summerstage, 3 PM early arrival a must.
8/21 oldschool hip-hop stars EPMD at Central Park Summerstage, 3 PM early arrival highly advised.
8/22, 7:30 PM the Knights play Schubert and Liszt at the Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park, early arrival advised if you want a seat.
8/23, 7ish Tito Rojas at East River Park, Grand St. and the river, F to East Broadway or J/M to Delancey.
8/24, 7ish the Cold Crush Brothers at East River Park, Grand St. and the river, F to East Broadway or J/M to Delancey
8/27, 1 PM day one of the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival has Tia Fuller and James Carter at Marcus Garvey Park in Spanish Harlem
8/28, 1 PM day two of the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival with the Gerald Clayton trio, Ali Jackson and the Archie Sheppp Quartet at Tompkins Square Park.
8/31 cutting edge tuneful jazz with the John Farnsworth Quintet at Bryant Park, 6 PM, free.
9/4, 1 and 3 PM pianists Blair McMillen and Pam Goldberg play Bach, John Adams and others with a string ensemble on Governors Island, free ferries leave from the old Staten Island ferry terminal every hour on the half hour
9/8-9 plus 9/15-16, 9 PM Ian Hunter at City Winery, $35 tix avail.
9/15, 8 PM the recently regrouped Klezmatics at Highline Ballroom
9/27, 8 PM Malian guitar legend Boubacar Traore at the Bell House, $17 adv tix very highly rec.
9/27, 8 PM dark Middle Eastern-tinged instrumentalist Sir Richard Bishop opens for the Swans at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, $30 adv tix avail. at the Mercury weekdays til 7 PM, this may sell out
WEEKLY EVENTS
Sundays there’s a klezmer brunch at City Winery, show starts around 11:30 AM – 2 PM, $10 cover, no minimum, lots of good bands.
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). Free drink with your entree.
Sundays at 7:30 at Theatre 80 St. Marks the world’s most socially aware “reverend” and activist, Rev. Billy and his wild, ecstatic 30-piece gospel Church of Earthalujah Choir, $10 cover but “no one turned away.”
Every Sunday the Ear-Regulars, led by trumpeter Jon Kellso and (frequently) 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, 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 at the Fat Cat the Choi Fairbanks String Quartet play a wide repertoire of chamber music from Bach to Shostakovich starting at 7.
Mondays starting a little after 7 PM Howard Williams leads his Jazz Orchestra from the piano at the Garage, 99 7th Ave. S at Grove St. There are also big bands here most every Tuesday at 7.
Mondays at the Jazz Standard it’s all Mingus, whether with the Mingus Orchestra, Big Band or Mingus Dynasty: you know the material and the players are all first rate. Sets 7:30/9:30 PM, $25 and worth it.
Also Monday nights Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks, a boisterous horn-driven 11-piece 1920s/early 30’s band play Sofia’s Restaurant, downstairs at the Edison Hotel, 221 West 46th Street between Broadway & 8th Ave., 3 sets from 8 to 11, surprisingly cheap $15 cover plus $15 minimum considering what you’re getting. Even before the Flying Neutrinos or the Moonlighters, multi-instrumentalist Giordano was pioneering the oldtimey sound in New York; his long-running residency at the old Cajun on lower 8th Ave. is legendary. He also gets a ton of film work (Giordano wrote the satirical number that Willie Nelson famously sang in Wag the Dog).
Mondays in June at 9 PM at the Brooklyn Bowl Afrobeat band Zongo Junction and funk orchestra Turkuaz play a doublebill, sometimes with an opening act at 8; 6/13 the opener is reggae band Buru Style. $5 cover.
Mondays at Tea Lounge in Park Slope at 9 PM trombonist/composer JC Sanford books big band jazz, an exciting, global mix of some of the edgiest large-ensemble sounds around. If you’re anybody in the world of big band jazz and you make it to New York, you end up playing here: what CBGB was to punk, this unlikely spot promises to be to the jazz world. No cover.
Mondays at the Vanguard the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra – composer Jim McNeely’s reliably good big band vehicle – plays 9/11 PM, $30 per set plus drink minimum.
Also Mondays in June 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 slinky but boisterous rhythm section, their mix of obscure classics and originals is one of the funnest, most danceable things you’ll witness this year.
Also Mondays in June Rev. Vince Anderson and his band play Union Pool in Williamsburg, two sets starting around 11 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, sexy original songs and is one of the most charismatic, intense live performers of our time. It’s a crazy dance party til past three in the morning. Paula Henderson from Burnt Sugar is the lead soloist on baritone sax, with Dave Smith from Smoota and the Fela pit band on trombone, with frequent special guests.
Tuesdays at 7 PM from May through July it’s a classical piano series playfully titled Upright Piano Brigade, an A-list of classical talent playing the brand-new Sauter piano at Barbes. May artists include Michael Brown on May 3; Evan Shinners on May 10; Tanya Bannister on May 17; Gregg Kallor on the 24th and William McNally on the 31st.
Tuesdays in June clever, fiery, eclectic Balkan/hip-hop/funk brass maniacs Slavic Soul Party play Barbes at 9. Get here as soon as you can as they’re very popular.
Tuesdays in June the Dred Scott Trio play astonishingly smart, dark piano jazz at the smaller room at the Rockwood at midnight.
Wednesdays at 9 PM Feral Foster’s Roots & Ruckus takes over the Jalopy, a reliably excellent weekly mix of oldtimey acts: blues, bluegrass, country and swing.
Every Thursday the Michael Arenella Quartet play 1920s hot jazz 8-11 PM at Nios, 130 W 46th St.
Thursdays and Fridays in June at Mehanata it’s Bulgarian sax powerhouse Yuri Yukanov and the Grand Masters of Gypsy Music, 10 PM, $10.
Fridays at 8:30 PM adventurous cellist/composer Valerie Kuehne books an intriguing avant garde/classical/unclassifiable “weekly experimental cabaret” at Cafe Orwell in Bushwick, 247 Varet St. (White/Bogart), L to Morgan Ave. It’s sort of a more outside version of Small Beast, a lot of cutting-edge performers working out new ideas in casual, unstuffy surroundings. Kuehne promises “never a dull moment.”
Fridays in June at 9 Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens play oldschool 1960s style gospel the Fat Cat.
Saturdays in June through August, 1 PM there are free concerts at Bargemusic – early arrival advised. Usually these are piano recitals, with the occasional string ensemble. Note that there is no concert on August 13.
Saturday nights in June, 9:30 PM Tammy Faye Starlite stars in Chelsea Madchen: An Evening with Nico at the Duplex, Duplex (61 Christopher St. at 7th Ave.), $15 plus 2 drink min. Less one of Starlite’s venomously hilarious parodies than an exploration of Nico the individual: “Nico was, and remains, a heroine and emblem for these dark days of civil unrest and our unceasing fascination with sybaritic self-destruction and the willful deconstruction and annihilation of beauty,” says Tammy Faye. “I’ve got the songs, the accent and the hair down and am working tirelessly on the cheekbones.” Let’s see if she’s learned to sing flat.
Saturdays eclectic compelling Brazilian jazz chanteuse Marianni and her excellent band at Zinc Bar, three sets starting at 10 PM.
New York City Live Music Calendar for April and May 2011 Plus Other Events
Currently working on a new calendar for May and June which should be up and running by Sunday. Once again, weekly events are listed at the bottom of the page instead of at the top: scroll down and you’ll find them. If you didn’t see anything that struck you as fun this time around, check back later because we’re in the midst of a massive update.
A few things you should know about this calendar: acts are listed here in order of appearance, NOT headliner first and supporting acts after; showtimes listed here are actual set times, not the time doors open. If a listing here says something like ”9 PM-ish,” chances are it’ll run late. Cover charges are those listed on bands’ and venues’ sites: always best to click on the band link provided or go to the venues page for confirmation since we get much of this info weeks in advance. This is not a list of every band playing every club in NYC: these are critics’ picks, every one recommended for you if the artist or band happens to play a style you enjoy. We try to be descriptive rather than using all kinds of superlative adjectives.
4/1 clever garage rock duo the Fools a 5 PM (no joke – makes sense, right?) at Goodbye Blue Monday.
4/1, 6 PM (no joke) country night with the Melody Allegra Band, Alex Battles & the Whisky Rebellion and Serena Jean and her band at Spike Hill, $6.
4/1, for real, 7 PM Americana siren Abbie Gardner of Red Molly – who’s also a tremendously nuanced, torchy jazz singer – plays the cd release show for her long-awaited new one at the Rockwood – early arrival advised, this may sell out
4/1 – no joke – lyrical jazz piano titan Fred Hersch solo, 7 PM at the Rubin Museum of Art in Chelsea, $18 adv tix highly rec.
4/1 – no joke – 7:30 PM Piedmont fingerstyle blues guitar virtuoso Mary Flower at the Good Coffeehouse, 53 Prospect Park W, $15
4/1, 8:30ish (no joke), Her Vanished Grace (playing the cd release show for their new one) and Religious to Damn do a goth-tinged doublebill at Union Hall, $8.
4/1 for real, ghoulabilly and noir retro rock with the Dead Sextons at Europa in Greenpoint, 8ish, $10
4/1, 9 PM (seriously) Charles Bradley & the Menahan Street Band and Lee Fields & the Expressions at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, $17 adv tix at the Mercury rec.
4/1, 9 PM an amazing purist rock triplebill, no joke – wickedly catchy, jangly Rickenbacker guitar rockers Jay Banerjee & the Heartthrobs, garage-rock purists the Above and then garage legends the Fleshtones at Maxwell’s.
4/1, 9 PM, no joke, tuneful yet noisy new jazz with Kretzmer/Syversen/Niggenkemper/Peskoff at 1012 Willoughby in Brooklyn, sugg don.; they’re at Local 269 on 4/4/ at 9 for $10
4/1 haunting, twangy southwestern gothic band And the Wiremen play the Bell House at 9ish opening for the Waco Bros., $12 adv tic rec.
4/1, 9 PM Providence doom/metal duo The Body followed by a rare rare NYC appearance by Australian metal blunderbuss Whitehorse at the Acheron in Greenpoint – maybe your only chance to see them, don’t miss it if metal is your thing.
4/1-2, for real, 9/10:30 PM Omer Avital plus Joel Frahm – saxophone, Aaron Goldberg – piano, Johnathan Blake – drums plus Itamar Borochov – trumpet and Matan Chapnizka – tenor saxophone at the Jazz Gallery, $20
4/1 no joke – Brooklyn’s funnest band, Chicha Libre plays a rare Friday show at their home base, Barbes, at 10 before heading off on South American tour.
4/1, no joke, the New Cookers – not the Billy Hart/George Cables crew but guys inspired by the original Freddie Hubbard album – at BAM Cafe, 10 PM
4/1, 10 PM (no joke) goth legend Peter Murphy plays Highline Ballroom, adv tix $35 rec.
4/1, 11 PM (no joke – when this guy’s involved you know he means business) the snarling retro Americana noir sounds of the Reid Paley Trio at Cafe Orwell in Bushwick
4/1, 11 PM roots rock powerhouse Tom Clark & the High Action Boys play Lakeside 11 PM – not a joke.
4/1, no joke, intense Greek traditional party band Magges – sort of the Greek Gogol Bordello -at Lafayette Grill & Bar downtown, 11 PM
4/1 midnight (no joke) lush, atmospheric, socially aware Radiohead-influenced rockers My Pet Dragon at the Mercury, $10 adv tix at the box office highly rec.
4/1-2 the Prisoners of 2nd Ave. – who do a decent oldschool NY Dolls facsimile – at Bowery Electric. And they want $20 for it. No joke.
4/1, 2 PM Broadway Musicals of 1864 at the Town Hall featuring such popular songs as “Let’s Round Up Some Irishmen,” “I Need Some Mercury (Because Down Below Is Killing Me),” “We Won’t Call It Slavery Anymore” and the John Wilkes Booth version of “Dixie.”
4/1, 3 PM the New York Stock Exchange presents a concert to celebrate the successful prevention of the Fukushima nuclear explosions – as we all know by now, there was no meltdown, nor any emission of deadly plutonium or uranium isotopes – with vintage Elvis footage accompanied by a live band at the World Financial Center.
4/1, 6 PM brand-new social networking site narciss.us presents Shallow Is What We Aim For, We Are Pampered Children, Poser Dumb and My Eyelashes Are Longer Than Yours at Glasslands; celebrity dj Fella Tio spins blo-fi between sets.
4/1, 6 PM Steve Brotherdale’s Joy Division plays the Warsaw ep cover to cover followed by Melvin Seals’ Jerry Garcia Band at B.B. King’s.
4/1, 7 PM How to Stuff Your Trousers: A Panel Discussion with the Pros at Galapagos. What works best? A roll of quarters? A veggie hot dog? String cheese? Six of the best in the business, including Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, David Lee Roth, Keith Urban and our favorite perennial mayoral candidate, Murray Hill share the secrets of their craft.
4/1, 7 PM It’s Inarticulate Night at the Bell House. Ever wonder…um…why you can’t….um…talk to…you know…um…people? Now’s your chance to meet a whole club full of others just like you who will spend the whole night staring at their shoes or trying to figure something coherent enough to say to get the bartender to bring them a beer. $15 cover includes a year’s subscription to New York Magazine.
4/1, 4 PM Taurus & Libra present Payday: The Traveling Party. Ever wonder what it’s like to have to get up and go to work all week long instead of sleeping til 5 PM and living off mommy’s credit card? Join your group leaders Emily and Faden as they take you on an “ironical” voyage around New York. You’ll see the inside of a real check cashing place, meet a real-life bill collector, dodge undercover cops as you drink cheap beer from a paper bag outside a bodega, use real scissors to cut grocery coupons from the newspaper and go on a dollar-store crawl for cheap toilet paper without GPS or an iphone app. Authentic working-class attire is a must: trucker hat, overalls, 1970s sneakers for the guys; moth-eaten polyester, uneven bangs, torn corduroys for the girls.
4/1, 8 PM at Crash Mansion, it’s Eurethra, the world’s #1 Eurythmics cover band. Relive the golden days of the day-glo decade that you fetishize even if you never experienced it with unforgettable hits like Aqua, Plus Something Else and The First Cut! If you get tired of the band, women can join the free wet t-shirt contest in the men’s room.
4/1, 8:30 PM it’s a John Zorn-a-thon at the Stone with John Zorn’s Are You Itchy?, John Zorn’s Don’t Sit on That Chair, John Zorn’s Call the Exterminator, John Zorn’s Call the Exterminator Again and finally John Zorn’s Sidewalk Sale.
4/1, 10 PM the Central Park Conservancy presents a special VIP concert with Kenny G for Platinum Circle members in the new private Great Meadow in Central Park. Enjoy the new golf driving range (please be aware that frisbee is no longer allowed). The line to the brand-new Shake Shack starts at the Battery. Helicopter shuttles to the Hamptons will be running all evening from where the zoo used to be.
4/1 the New York Times exclusive interview with Justin Bieber, conducted by Bono at the Bloomberg Society at 5th Ave. and 42nd St. Get the scoop on both performers’ opposition to abortion, and after struggling to down his first Guinness, hear Justin confess how he thinks that Ryan Secrest is cute.
4/1 it’s the battle of the kiddie bands at Southpaw. This year’s first round pits tiny terror two-year-old William Slomowitz-Park and his avant garde percussion troupe The Isaagnys against the Borough Park death-metal of Siobhan Satmarowitz’ Mitzvah Tank. Meanwhile, the snotty punk-pop of Park Slope’s Germ Bombs pairs off against Turtle Bay newcomer Asanitansamarama Patel and Dowry Large Extra. And Williamsburg contender Yeast DuPont’s laptop project Trite Is goes up against Long Island City’s The Overprotected. All proceeds to benefit the Crusade Against Suicide, in memory of last year’s winner, Hayes Bessemer of the Kaplan Klass Killers (KKK).
4/1, 10 PM Flavorpill and Khloe Kardashian present the first annual Buttcrack Awards at Public Assembly. Do your pants hang low? Do they wobble to and fro especially when you bend over? First prize winner gets a year’s subscription to New York Magazine.
4/1, 11 PM the drummer from the Strokes is dj’ing at a “celebrity party” on the roof of the empty “luxury” condo building behind the Mercury Lounge that nobody wants to move into, free admission with condo tour and $50 credit check.
4/1 Whitney Houston plays the Recoup Lounge way over by the projects, 11:30 ish – she might be running a little late for this one – with the guy you see hanging out in Tompkins Square Park with the broken Casio.
4/1 it’s the first annual Foursquare New York City Marathon, brought to you by the new green BP Oil. You get 26 hours to do as many Foursquare checkins as you can. See who can become the new mayor of the Prada store: in the door, out the door, in the door, out the door! Breakfast, lunch AND dinner at Fette Sau! Bring a sleeping bag to Freeman’s!
4/1, 7-10 PM the NY School of Autotune celebrates with a recital at Arlene Grocery followed by the Body Shots Olympics sponsored by MTV.
4/2, 6 PM pianist Aysegul Durakoglu plays the cd release show for her new one featuring works by Chopin and Debussy at Drom, $10 adv tix rec.
4/2, 7 PM Marc Ribot and a hall of fame of downtown jazz peeps play noir soundtrack stuff including new arrangements of Henry Mancini (Touch of Evil), Andre Previn (Scene of the Crime), Roy Budd (Get Carter) and also Lounge Lizards, Rootless Cosmopolitans, and new noir by the guitarist himself at the Tishman Auditorium at the New School, 66 W 12th St., free.
4/2, 7 PM Nashville/Toronto gothic rock with Lorraine Leckie & Her Demons at Banjo Jim’s.
4/2, 7 PM world-renowned choral ensemble the Tallis Scholars sing a program titled Celebrating the Genius of Victoria at Church of St. Mary the Virgin, 145 W 4th St., $35 tix avail.
4/2, 7:30/9:30/midnight Jared Gold plays the cd release to his groovy new B3 organ jazz album at the Bar Next Door with his trio.
4/2, 8 PM rustic, haunting, sprawling Balkan/jazz/Americana band Kotorino at Barbes
4/2, 8:30 PM a triplebill put together by Brooklyn Jazz starting with the Rob Garcia 4: Noah Preminger – tenor sax, Jacob Sacks – piano, Joe Martin – bass, Rob Garcia – drums followed at 9:45 by the Anne Mette Iversen Quartet: John Ellis – sax; Danny Grissett – piano; Anne Mette Iversen – bass; Mark Ferber – drums and then at 11 the Adam Kolker Trio plus woodwinds: Adam Kolker – reeds; Jeremy Stratton – bass; Billy Mintz – drums plus a wind section, all this for $15 at the Cornelia St. Cafe.
4/2, 9 PM Unsteady Freddie’s monthly surf rock extravaganza at Otto’s is a really good one this month starting at 9 with pounding, ferocious Dick Dale-inspired Connecticut band 9th Wave, the Chillers at 10, Sea Turtles at 11, twangy retro NYC legends the Supertones at midnight and sometime after that Estonia’s Android Vasja.
4/2, 9 PM a classic Syrian music extravaganza celebrating centuries of music in the city of Aleppo featuring a historical lecture by Mohamed A. Alsiadi at Alwan for the Arts followed by a show by a 10-piece allstar Syrian/Middle Eastern orchestra, $20/$15 stud/srs.
4/2, 9 PM haunting Appalachian/Balkan vocal duo AE followed at 10:30 PM by bluesman Blind Boy Paxton at the Jalopy.
4/2 new wave literate rock legend Graham Parker at City Winery, 9 PM, $25 seats avail.
4/2, 9:30 PM Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica Quartet playing Esquivel at Caffe Vivaldi.
4/2, 10 PM eclectic Selegalese flavored roots reggae with Meta & the Cornerstones at the 92YTribeca, $12 adv tix rec. The City Billies open with their blend of bluegrass and reggae at 9.
4/2, 10 PM snarling Syd Barrett/Stooges style garage rock with Obits at the Bell House, $13 adv tix rec.
4/2, 10 PM Sonny Rollins band trombone vet Clifton Anderson at BAM Cafe.
4/2, 10 PM anthemic 80s-tinged keyboard-driven art-rock band Overlord at Fontana’s
4/2 jangly, lyrical southwestern gothic rocker Tom Shaner plays Lakeside, 11 PM.
4/3, 1 and 3 PM the Baltimore Consort play eclectic 16th century Spanish compositions at the Cloisters, $35 gen adm.
4/3, 2 (two) PM the Parker String Quartet – who for what it’s worth just won a Grammy – free at Flushing Town Hall.
4/3, 3 PM the Greenwich Village Orchestra plays Ives – Variations on America; “American Songbook Selections,” and Howard Hanson’s sweeping, cinematic Symphony No. 2 at Washington Irving HS Auditorium, $20 sugg don. reception to follow.
4/3, 6 PM: Nico Soffiato on guitar, Nick Vedeen on alto sax, Giacomo Merege on bass and Zach Mangan on drums at Downtown Music Gallery.
4/3, 7 PM delightfully irreverent “unconventional oboe trio” the Threeds play Caffe Vivaldi joined by Eleanor Dubinsky who follows at 8 PM, playing new arrangements of Bjork, Mingus, the Doors, Carmichael and Dubinsky as well.
4/3 Nina Simone-influenced, popular Ethiopian-American chanteuse Meklit Hadero at the Skirball Center, 7 PM, $20.
4/3, 7 PM Stephanie Rooker & the Search Engine play wickedly smart, socially aware, psychedelic funk and downtempo grooves at the little room at the Rockwood.
4/3 tuneful British/Canadian janglepop band Early Winters (Carina Round’s latest project) at Public Assembly, time/$ TBA.
4/3 glammy, punkish, entertainingly funny Justice of the Unicorns at Bruar Falls at 8 followed at 9 PM rustic lyrical psychedelic Portland songwriter Shelley Short at Bruar Falls
4/3, 10 PM tuneful, sly, literate Americana band the Sometime Boys – the acoustic side project of ferocious art-rockers System Noise – at Banjo Jim’s.
4/4, 7 PM the Ebene Quartet performs the Debussy String Quartet and arrangements of pieces by Miles Davis and Astor Piazzolla, plus “Misirlou,” at the Greene Space, $20.
4/4 Colombian chanteuse Lucia Pulido at 7:30 followed by low-register oldschool Cuban band Gato Loco at 9:30 at Barbes. Gato Loco are also here on 4/18 at 10.
4/4, 7:30 PM the Janus Trio play new work by Paul Clift, Ashley Nail, Christopher Trapani & Lu Wang for flute, viola & harp at the Tank, $10
4/4, 7:30 PM paint-peeling noiserock intensity with the Sediment Club at Bowery Electric, $10.
4/4, 7:30 PM new music ensemble Sequitur plays Robert Sirota’s A Sinner’s Diary; the NY premiere of Victoria Bond’s Frescoes and Ash; the world premiere of Catullus Dreams by David Glaser; the NY premiere of Mix Tape by Armando Bayolo; and the world premiere of Noemi by Daniel Godfrey. at Symphony Space, $20 adv tix rec.
4/4, 8/10:30 PM veteran Chicago blues guitarist Joe Louis Walker at the Blue Note, $10 “bar seating” avail.
4/4, 8:30 PM the Becca Stevens Band’s cd release show at the big room at the Rockwood.
4/5, noon, Members of the Chamber Music Society Lincoln Center play Brahms’ Piano Quartet in G minor at the Greene Space, free.
4/5, 7 PM members of Ensemble ACJW perform Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Cello, as well as David Bruce’s octet Steampunk at the Greene Space, $20.
4/5-6 trumpeter Jeremy Pelt leads a pretty amazing group with JD Allen – tenor saxophone; Danny Grissett – piano; Peter Washington – bass; Darrell Green – drums at the Jazz Standard, sets 7:30/9:30 PM, $20.
4/5, 8 PM at Southpaw: a new low, free Colt 45 malt liquor “while supplies last,” no music, just drunkenness.
4/5, 8 PM Third World at Highline Ballroom $30 adv tix onsale now – don’t know how much, or how many original members, they have left (they were old when they started the band in the early 70s) – ostensibly they have a new album out. 196 Degrees in the Shade?
4/5, 8:30 PM adventurous mostly-female klezmer hellfaisers Isle of Klezbos at the Sixth St. Synagogue, 325 East 6th St (betw First & Second Aves), $15 includes a drink (in temple – yay!)
4/5, 9 PM Dina Rudeen plays the cd release for her brilliant new one at the little room at the Rockwood; dark psychedelic jazz pianist/composer Dred Scott plays at midnight with his trio.
4/5, 9 PM noisy distantly Balkan tinged guitar/trumpet madness with Ben Syversen’s Cracked Vessel at Local 269
4/5, 10 PM UK indie rock pioneers Wire at the Music Hall of Williamsburg; 4/6 they’re at Bowery Ballroom, $20 adv tix rec.
4/5, 11 PM lush atmospheric cinematic art-rockers the Quavers at Cake Shop.
4/6, 7 PM string quartet Ethel play Julia Wolfe’s Early That Summer; Dohee Lee’s HonBiBaekSan; Jacob TV’s Syracuse Blues; Pamela Z’s ETHEL Dreams of Temporal Disturbances; Huang Ruo’s The Flag Project (excerpt) and Anna Clyne’s Roulette at the Greene Space, $20
4/6 jazz pianist Michel Reis plays the cd release show for his haunting new one Point of No Return at Miles Cafe, 7:30 PM
4/6, 8 PM Alison Leyton-Brown’s oldtime piano blues gand House of Stride at Barbes followed at 10 by the provocative, gorgeously harmony-driven oldtimey Roulette Sisters.
4/6, 8 PM clever, playful funk/jazz guitar vet Askold Buk at P&G Bar.
4/6, 9 PM Raya Brass Band at Radegast Hall – it’ll be interesting to see who drowns who out – the Balkan brass monsters or the douchebags who hang out here.
4/6, 9:30 PM an amazing chromatically-charged, minor-key doublebill with haunting Appalachian/Balkan vocal duo AE and multistylistic Russian/tango/cinematic string band Ljova and the Kontraband at Joe’s Pub, $15.
4/7, noon, new music trio Janus play Debussy, Treuting, and Negron at the Greene Space, free.
4/6, 10 PM fun, catchy, female-fronted ska/pop band Across the Aisle at Matchless.
4/7, 7:30 PM a benefit for Japan – a rare small-room performance by the Asuka Kakitani Jazz Orchestra at the Gershwin Hotel, $10
4/7 Metropolis Ensemble and Music from China perform works by Kati Ogocs and Yu-Hui Chang, 7:30 PM at the downstairs Thalia theatre space at Symphony Space, $20.
4/7, 8 PM a good, smart, artsy keyboard-driven rock doublebill: Overlord at Rock Shop in Gowanus followed eventually at 10 by the Secret History.
4/7, 8 PM the Jack Quartet play Tetras by Iannis Xenaxis and Death Valley Junction by Missy Mazzoli, as well as Ari Streisfeld’s arrangements of pieces by haunted Renaissance composer Gesualdo.at the Greene Space, $20.
4/7, 8 PM Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes plays a darkly pensive, thematic program of two Beethoven Sonatas, No. 21, “Waldstein,” and No. 32, Op. 111, bookended by Brahms (Four Ballades, Op. 10) and Schoenberg (Sechs kleine Klavierstucke, Op. 19) at Carnegie Hall.
4/7, 8:30 PM fiery Talibam trumpeter Peter Evans leads his quartet and quintets at Littlefield.
4/7, 9 PM Timatim Fitfit play “gypsy baroque piano rock” at Pete’s.
4/7, 9ish, Rebirth Brass Band at the Brooklyn Bowl; 4/10 they’re at Maxwell’s
4/7, 10 PM chanteuse Marta Topferova – who never met a latin style she couldn’t make her own, and make it compelling – at Barbes.
4/7, eclectic Brazilian/country/New Orleans band Nation Beat at Rodeo Bar, 10ish.
4/7, 11 PM cool oldschool style ska with the Forthrights at Otto’s
4/8, noon, free, the Escher Sting Quartet performs Zemlinsky and Brahms at the Greene Space.
4/8 some cool people on the bill at the small room at the Rockwood. Bassist Saskia Lane of the Lascivious Biddies and others at 6; soulful siren Jo Williamson at 8; cowpunks the Nightmare River Band at midnight.
4/8, 7 PM at the Greene Space – let’s cross our fingers and hope they’re ok – the Tokyo String Quartet performs on its “Paganini Quartet” of matched Stradivarius instruments Haydn’s String Quartet in F major Op. 77 No. 2, the fourth movement of Bartók’s String Quartet No. 4, and Beethoven’s “Grosse Fugue” Op. 133. at the Greene Space, $20.
4/8 indie rock siren AK Healey’s recently reunited, jangly, pensive LES band Scout at the big room at the Rockwood, 7:15 PM, $15; be aware that they’re opening for a vomitous corporate easy-listening band and may only play a short set.
4/8, 7:30 PM adventurous new compositions with the Janus Trio and Mantra Percussion at First Presbyterian Church (Brooklyn Heights), 124 Henry St, Brooklyn, NY, 2/3 to Clark St.; A/C to High St.; R/4/5 to Borough Hall.
4/8, 7:30 PM eclectic classical organist Gail Archer plays Liszt at the Church of the Heavenly Rest, 5th Ave. at 90th St.
4/8, 8 PM torchy catchy compelling soul/trip-hop band Mattison in the back room at the Gutter bowling alley in Williamsburg.
4/8-9, 8 PM NYU performers play NYU composers at the Black Box Theatre, 82 Washington Square East adv tix free but required for the show.
4/8 the unstoppably romantic, effervescent, razor-sharp Hawaiian swing band the Moonlighters at Haylards, 406 3rd Ave(at 6th Street), Gowanus
4/8 assaultive, cleverly fun punk jazz with guitarist Jon Lundbom & Big Five Chord playing the cd release show for their new one at Zebulon, 9 PM
4/8, 9 PM PinkBrown feat. Cracked Vessel guitar arsonist Xander Naylor with Max Jaffe on drums and Johan Andersson on saxophones at 1012 Willoughby.
4/8, 9 PM long-running garage rockers the Greenhornes at the Bell House.
4/8, 9 PM a hall of fame cast of West Coast Middle Eastern musicians led by percussionist Souhail Kaspar play music of Umm Kulthum, Mohamed Abdel Wahab, Farid al-Atrash and Abdel Halim Hafez at Alwan for the Arts, $20/$15 stud/srs.
4/8, 9ish cleverly eerie new music improvisers Dollshot at Galapagos, $10.
4/8, 9 PM it’s the Lakeside 15 year anniversary party – amazing how such a friendly, unpretentious place could survive under siege from yuppies and tourists for so long. And whoever’s behind the bar by 9 is bound to be cool. We may be there.
4/8, 9/10:30 PM south Asian and Middle Eastern new jazz sounds with Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Gamak feat. Dave Fiuczynski on guitar at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $15
4/8, 9:30 PM eclectic acoustic Americana roots/zydeco/country band Blue Sky Mission Club at Hill Country
4/8, 10 PM the Black Angels at Bowery Ballroom; 4/9 they’re at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, $20 adv tix. at the Mercury highly rec., this will sell out.
4/8, 10 PM second wave garage rock vets the Greenhornes at the Bell House, $15.
4/8 the Pinstripes play roots reggae and ska at Two Boots Brooklyn, 10 PM. Yankee reggae maybe?
4/8, 11 PM up-and-coming Americana chanteuse Cal Folger Day at Pete’s
4/8, 1 AM (actually weehours of 4/9) psychedelic funk/afrobeat/latin band the People’s Champs at the big room at the Rockwood.
4/9, 5:15 PM twangy surf guitar monsters El Muchacho at Otto’s
4/9, 8 PM up-and-coming southwestern gothic star Kerry Kennedy – part noir femme fatale, part fiery bandleader – at Union Hall, $12 adv tix highly rec.
4/9 a killer triplebill at the Postcrypt Coffeehouse – back uptown again after a brief stay in the East Village – with Alyson Greenfield at 8:30, Carol Lipnik at 9:30 and Lorraine Leckie at 10:30.
4/9, 8:30 PM hypnotic Mississippi hill country blues guitarist Will Scott at 68 Jay St. Bar.
4/9, 8:30/11 PM Jamaican jazz piano titan Monty Alexander at Birdland, $30 seats avail.
4/9, 9 PM a killer doublebill at Bowery Electric with ferociously lyrical songwriters, Linda Draper and Matt Keating.
4/9, 9 PM smart, tuneful, lyrical female-fronted powerpop/janglerock band Delusions of Grand Street at Trash.
4/9, 10 PM Magges – the Greek rock equivalent of Gogol Bordello – at 10-11 Bar, 171 Ave.C between 10th & 11th St. It’s Chuck Metaxas’ birthday show, somebody buy him some ouzo for once!
4/9, 10 PM Karikatura play gypsy punk at Two Boots Brooklyn, 10 PM.
4/10, 6 (six) PM Sara Lewis – simmering jazzy chanteuse who veers between dark cabaret-based piano songs and Beatlesque pop – at Caffe Vivaldi.
4/10 satirical all-female folk group the Lascivious Biddies at the small room at the Rockwood, 6 (six) PM
4/10, 6 PM Ras Moshe & the Music Now Ensemble feat. Kyoko Jitamura and Shayna Dulberger and Andrew Drury, followed at 7 by Belgian duo Olivier Stalon on bass and Pablo Masis on trumpet at Downtown Music Gallery.
4/10, 7 PM cellist Sebastian Baversteam plays a solo show at Barbes followed at 9 by Stephane Wrembel.
4/10, 7 PM adventurous new music ensemble Lunatics at Large continue their Sanctuary Project music-and-poetry series at Synagogue for the Arts, 49 White St., $20
4/10, 8:15 PM second-wave garage rock legends Johnny Chan & the New Dynasty 6 at Otto’s
4/10 hilarious, diverse satirical cowpunk rockers Uncle Leon & the Alibis at Rodeo Bar 10ish
4/11, 7 PM Gina Leishman, vox, baritone ukulele; Charlie Burnham, violin; Matt Munisteri, guitar and Brad Jones, bass at Barbes followed at 9:30ish by Chicha Libre.
4/11, 8ish adventurous new music string quartet Ethel play two world premieres including Dohee Lee’s HonBiBaekSan (The Ritual of White Mountain) and Hafez Modirzadeh’s A Hot Time in the Ol’ Town; as well as performances of Terry Riley’s Sunrise of the Planetary Dream Collector, and Pamela Z’s ETHEL Dreams of Temporal Disturbances at le Poisson Rouge, $20.
4/11, 9 PM eclectic violinist/composer Mazz Swift, Kontraband/Tall Tall Trees percussionist Matthias Kunzli, charismatic noir punk/goth rocker Vera Beren’s Gothic Chamber Blues Ensemble and Patti Hearst-inspired all-female Tania & the Revolutionaries at Small Beast at the Delancey
4/11 oldtime Americana with the Builders & the Butchers at the Mercury, 10 PM, $10.
4/11 fiery charismatic art-rock/goth-punk siren Vera Beren books the night at Small Beast at the Delancey, including a set with her band at 10ish
4/12 catchy tuneful brilliantly melodic jazz from Terry Dame’s Monkey on a Rail in just their third concert since the early zeros, at Barbes at 7 followed by Slavic Soul Party at 9.
4/12-13 bassist Ben Allison leads a two-guitar sextet with Brandon Seabrook and Steve Cardenas plus Jason Lindner on keys, Rudy Royston on drums and Jonathan Blake on tenor at the Jazz Standard, sets 7:30/9:30 PM, $20
4/12 bassist Lauren Falls leads a quintet with Seamus Blake, tenor sax; Mike Moreno, guitar; Can Olgun, piano; Trevor Falls, drums, 8:30 PM at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.
4/12-17, 8/10:30 PM the Crusaders – who reputedly have returned to their roots as a late 60s style funk/groove band – at the Blue Note, $30 “seats” avail ($35 on the weekend)
4/13, 7:30 PM The Orchestra of the S.E.M. Ensemble with Ostravská Banda conducted by Petr Kotik play John Cage: Concert for Piano and Orchestra with Joseph Kubera, piano; Carolyn Chen – Wilder Shores of Love (world premiere); György Ligeti – Concerto for Piano and Orchestra with Daan Vandewalle, piano; Alex Mincek – Pendulum #7 for saxophone and ensemble (world premiere) at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, $15 tix avail.
4/13, 8 PM soaring, sultry, playfully quirky Universal Thump frontwoman/pianist Greta Gertler solo at the Cornelia St. Cafe followed by Cuddle Magic (separate admission – their concept of being a chamber-rock jamband is cool, but they’ve got to avoid getting all twee) at 10.
4/13, 10ish tongue-in-cheek, period-perfect early 50s style country from Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. at Rodeo Bar.
4/13, 10ish indie classical composer Emily Wells – whose latest stuff has the playful, accessible feel of Todd Reynolds’ recent work – at Glasslands, $10 adv tix onsale now.
4/13, 10 PM trumpeter Steven Bernstein’s funky Sex Mob at 55 Bar.
4/14, 7:30 PM wry, funny acoustic Americana jam band Tall Tall Trees at Pete’s; they’re also at the big room at the Rockwood the following night at midnight.
4/14, 7:30 PM pyrotechnic violinist Gil Morgenstern’s reliably fascinating, thematic Reflections Series concludes its 2010-2011 season with a program titled Transfigured Nights with pianist Donald Berman and cellist Ole Akahoshi including Arnold Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht and Shostakovich’s Trio in E Minor, at WMP Concert Hall, $25.
4/14, 8 PM irrepressible alt-country chanteuse Shelby Lynne at City Winery, $30 seats avail.
4/14, 8 PM provocative, smart Palestinian-American world music songwriter Stephan Said at Drom, $10 adv tix rec. – the theme is “Tahrir to Madison, Building a Global Movement.” With GritTV host Laura Flanders, Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Gospel Choir, actress Najla Said, co-sponsors OR Books, FEN Magazine, Helo Magazine, The Mantle, the New Jersey Outreach Group, and WeTheWorld. The show begins with a musical incantation of selections from OR Book’s upcoming acclaimed book “Tweets From Tahrir: Egypt’s Revolution as It Unfolded, in the Words of the People Who Made It.” $10 adv tix rec.
4/14, 8/10 PM Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society – the cutting-edge big band that jumpstarted the big band craze – at Iridium, $25.
4/14 a couple of good dark rock acts at Zebulon starting at 8:30 PM with the historically-inspired Elisa Flynn followed eventually by haunting atmospheric goth-tinged art-rockers Bee & Flower and their killer basslines at 10:15
4/14, 8:30 PM a killer oldschool hip-hop extravaganza at Santos Party House hosted by D-Stroy (Arsonists) with Keith Murray, Lords of the Underground, Group Home, Real Live, Nine, Shabaam Sahdeeq, K Banger, Crazy Legs, DJ Evil D, DJ Eclipse, DJ Rockin Rob, Kon & Amir, and Video Music Box legend Ralph McDaniels dj’ing, $15 adv tix very highly rec.
4/14, 8:30 PM Canadian bluegrass/alt-country songwriter Luther Wright & the Wrongs at Hill Country; 4/15 he’s at Rodeo Bar, 10ish.
4/14, 9 PM ferociously lyrical banjo-punk Americana rocker Curtis Eller – can’t wait to hear what he has to say about Fukushima – at Rest Au Rant, 30-01 35th Ave., Astoria; 4/16 he’s at Banjo Jim’s at 8
4/14, 9:15 PM cynical misanthropic funny lyrical songwriter Jim Bianco – the kind we like best – at the big room at the Rockwood.
4/14 cutting-edge alto sax composer/powerhouse Jacam Manricks leads a large-ish ensemble at Miles Cafe, 9:30 PM, $20.
4/14, 9:30 PM bossa/jazz guitarist/songwriter Sasha Dobson at Caffe Vivaldi. She’s also here on 4/30 at 7.
4/14, 10:30 PM careening Balkan madness with Veveritse Brass Band at the Jalopy.
4/15, 7 PM legendary Clash collaborator Ellen Foley (Mick Jones wrote Should I Stay or Should I Go about her) at Lakeside.
4/15, 7 PM torchily compelling songwriter Abby Payne at the small room at the Rockwood; she’s also at Pete’s on 4/26 at 10:30 PM.
4/15, 7:30 PM the Jack Grace Band bring their oldschool 60s country cool and crazed antics to Hill Country; they’re also here on 4/29.
4/15, 7:30 PM Anne-Marie McDermott, piano and Maureen McDermott, cello play Brahms and Beeethoven at Third St. Music School Settlement, free.
4/15, 8 PM quietly fiery, eclectic, haunting and charismatic keyboard goddess/retro rock tunesmith Rachelle Garniez at Barbes followed at 10 by wild jazzy gypsy rock/jazz from Jay Vilnai’s Vampire Suit .
4/15-22 two of the most exhilarating singers on the planet, John Kelly and Carol Lipnik perform their suite The Escape Artist, which ”traces the experience of a performer who has a catastrophic trapeze accident. While stranded on a gurney with a broken neck in a hospital emergency room, he escapes and finds refuge in the images that flood his mind: the sinners and saints, prostitutes and gods that populate Caravaggio’s paintings.” With music by Lipnik and Kelly plus selections by Monteverdi and John Barry, at PS 122, 8 PM, $25/15 stud/srs.
4/15, 8 PM Niger’s desert blues legends Etran Finatawa – who played one of the 20 best shows we saw last year – at Symphony Space, $35.
4/15, 8 PM a cool reggae triplebill at the smaller studio space downstairs at Webster Hall with Echo Movement, Maui Waui and the Green (whose blend of vintage Hawaiian and roots reggae is totally original), $10 adv tix rec.
4/15, 8 PM at Bargemusic Ensemble East plays music for Japanese instruments: Michiyo Miyagi – Haru no Yo (“Spring Evening”); Fukuda Rando – Miyama Higurashi (“Crickets in the Mountains”); Tadao Sawai – Tori no Yoni (“Flying Like a Bird”); James Nyoraku Schlefer – Sankyoku No.1; Toshio Funakawa – Quartet; Hikaru Sawai O-Koto, $35, early arrival advised, this ought to sell out.
4/15 tuneful oldschool Canadian country singer Serena Jean with her band at 8 PM at Matchless.
4/15, 8 PM terse oldschool Chicago blues guitarist Irving Louis Lattin at Lucille’s; he’s also here on the 29th.
4/15, 8 PM noisy, funky all-female punk legends the Bush Tetras at the Kitchen, $12.
4/15, 9 PM Dwight & Nicole at the Brooklyn Bowl, $5. If the quieter, boudoir side of 1960s soul and funk is your thing, if you prefer Stax/Volt to P-Funk, you have to see these two at some point. He takes Steve Cropper guitar to the next level; there’s nobody better at lush soul ballads than she is.
4/15, 9 PM ferociously smart lyrical Americana/blues songwriter Joe Pug at Rock Shop in Gowanus, $10; 4/16 he’s at the Mercury at 11:30 PM for $2 more.
4/15, 9 PM Franz Nicolay of World Inferno (and that awful trendoid band we won’t mention) does his own good noirish solo stuff at Cake Shop.
4/15, 10 PM intense, female-fronted art-rock/noise/funk rockers System Noise at Trash – vote for them to play Warped Tour!
4/15, 10 PM long spiraling oldschool funk jams with Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds at Sullivan Hall, $10
4/15, 11 PM O’Death at the Knitting Factory – this will probably sell out – $10 adv tix rec.
4/16, 2 PM slinky, haunting vintage 1950s Egyptian film music revivalists Zikrayat free with museum adm. at the Museum of the City of New York.
4/16, 3 PM punk/metal rockers Cojoba followed by ska-punks OFC and hardcore from No Comply and Drain the Sky at ABC No Rio
4/16-17, 5-7 PM free at Issue Project Room, some ideas close to our hearts: “Yolande Harris’s installation Tropical Storm, developed in a residency with Alvin Lucier at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in Florida, is a shot of a Florida storm, with the sound of rainfall as the only audio. In The Pink Noise of Pleasure Yachts in Turquoise Sea, Harris explores the place of sound in the underwater animals, and the effects of the sound of recreational boating on the smallest sea creatures.”
4/16, 6 PM Bliss Blood and Al Street’s amazing new noir torch song project Evanescent at DBA, 113 North 7th Street (Berry/Wythe), Williamsburg
4/16, 7 PM charismatic, literate NYC noir rock legend LJ Murphy at Banjo Jim’s with his band
4/16, 7 PM Eleventh Dream Day opens for the recently reunited Come at the Bell House adv tix $20 rec.
4/16, 7:30 PM, repeating 4 PM on 4/17, Lisa Bielawa’s Synopses: Synopsis #2: In the Eye of the Beholder for percussion performed by Aaron Trant, Synopsis #4: I’m Not That Kind of Lawyer for solo double bass performed by Doug Balliet, Synopsis #6: Why Did You Lie to Me? for solo cello performed by Eric Jacobsen, Synopsis #9: I Don’t Even Play the Bassoon for solo viola performed by Miranda Sielaff, and Synopsis #10: I Know This Room So Well for solo English horn will be performed live, with new choreography by Catherine Gallant at NY City Center, 130 West 56th St., $15 tix avail.
4/16 NYC’s funnest, most socially aware, intensely tuneful rock band, the Brooklyn What are also NYC’s best rock promoters. Their monthly residency this month at Trash starts at 8 with smart, lyrical, potent Latin rock vets Kofre followed at 9 by the Brooklyn What, powerpop BW spinoff New Atlantic Youth, some great ska/punk en Espanol with Los Skarroneros and then early 70s style proto-metal band Pistols 40 Paces.
4/16, 8 PM slinky, haunting vintage Middle Eastern/East African group Sounds of Taraab at Barbes
4/16, 8 PM Central Asian troupe Turku play ancient Silk Road repertoire at Drom, $10 adv tix highly rec., this will sell out.
4/16, 8:30 PM ex-Citizens Band music director/pianist Duke Bojadziev plays his orchestral and film works at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall with a chamber orchestra and many special guests, $30 tix avail.
4/16, 9/10:30 PM Tyshawn Sorey – drums, Loren Stillman – saxophones, Todd Neufeld – guitar, John Escreet – piano, Chris Tordini – bass at the Jazz Gallery, $20
4/16, 9 PM ecstatic New Orleans funk/soul orchestra Brother Joscephus & the Love Revival Revolution Orchestra at the Brooklyn Bowl, $5
4/16, 9 PM sprawling, theatrical, cleverly literate Americana/art rockers Balthrop Alabama at the 92YTribeca ,$10.
4/16, 9 PM bluegrass with Hilary Hawke & the Flipsides followed at 10:30 by M Shanghai String Band at the Jalopy
4/16 psychedelic roots reggae monsters Dub Is a Weapon play their cd release show at Sullivan Hall, 9ish, $10 adv tix rec.
4/16, 9:30 PM NYC’s most exciting blues guitarist, Mississippi hill country style player Will Scott at Hill Country.
4/16, 11 PM fearless funny Americana punk rockers Spanking Charlene evoke a cooler, yuppie-free LES vibe at Lakeside
4/16, 11ish acoustic Americana/indie band Bogs Visionary Orchestra at Goodbye Blue Monday; they’re also here late on 4/27.
4/16, midnight ecstatically fun Afrobeat band Elikeh plays Joe’s Pub, $14.
4/17, 1 and 3 PM all-male choral sextet Lionheart sing Thomas Tallis’s “masterful and heart-wrenching settings of the Lamentations of Jeremiah, performed in alternation with their traditional Latin chant responsories—as they might have been heard in the chapel of Elizabeth I” at the Cloisters, $35 gen adm.
4/17, 3-9 PM a benefit for Japan with Dizzy Ventilators, Sarah White, pinoy ukelele ska band Brown Rice Family, Caneli Beat, Band Aid Japonica, DJ Mihoko, Brown Sugar baritone sax goddess Moist Paula, Mobius Collective and Retada at BPM, 237 Kent Ave., Williamsburg between Grand & North 1st, sugg don.
4/17, 4 PM hilarious retro Weimar bandleader/crooner Max Raabe & Palast Orchester at NJPAC in Newark, $21 tix avail.
4/17, 6 PM Daniel Carter and Pascal Niggenkemper: “Legendary multi-winds player & new acoustic bass wiz!” at Downtown Music Gallery.
4/17, 6:30 PM Ensemble ACJW with pianist Emanuel Ax playing Dvorák, Prokofiev, and Villa-Lobos at le Poisson Rouge, $20.
4/17, 7:30 PM powerful, emotionally vivid jazz pianist/composer Kris Davis leads a trio at Littlefield, $10.
4/17, 8:30 PM a phenomenally good dark lyrical rock doublebill with the Oxygen Ponies followed by southpaw guitarslinger/siren/songwriter Randi Russo playing the cd release show for her career-best new one Fragile Animal at the Mercury.
4/17, 9 PM Gamelan Dharma Swara at the Fat Cat. Wow. NYC’s very own competitive gamelan orchestra, transfixing all the pool players. This will be a trip.
4/17, 9 PM pianist Bobby Avey leads a quartet with Miguel Zenon, alto saxophone; Thomson Kneeland, bass; Jordan Perlson, drums at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.
4/17, 9 PM rustic oldschool country and hokum blues with the Second Fiddles at the Jalopy
4/18 QNG (Quartet New Generation), who bring a truckload of recorders of various sizes to every performance and then get amazing antique and modern sounds out of them – at Advent Church, 93rd and Broadway, 7:30 PM,
4/18-19, 8 PM powerful jazz vibraphonist Mark Sherman and his Quintet with Jim Ridl, Dean Johnson, Tim Horner and special guest Randy Brecker at the Kitano, $25 plus $15 min at tables
4/18, 8 PM the irresistible Pipettes – snarling cockney girls playing oldschool Motown and soul – at Rock Shop in Gowanus, $15; 4/20 they’re at the Mercury for the same price with hilarious faux-French garage rockers les Sans Culottes opening the night at 9:30.
4/18, 9:30 PM a rare small club date with the JD Allen Trio at Smalls, this will sell out, early arrival advised. Guitarist Peter Bernstein, who opens the night solo on electric at 7:30, isn’t bad either.
4/18, 10ish haunting, smart, tuneful Americana rock siren Jan Bell & the Cheap Dates at Rodeo Bar.
4/18 free jazz titans the Ullmann/Swell 4 with reedman Gebhard Ullmann and trombonist Steve Swell – winding up their tour for their irrepressible, deliciously fun latest album – 10 PM at University of the Streets, 130 East 7th Street, $10
4/18, 10:30 PM charming, romantic oldtimey Boston swing/blues quartet Lake Street Dive at the big room at the Rockwood.
4/18, 10:30 PM the self-explanatory and badly needed Hate My Day Jobs at Bowery Electric
4/19 Moroccan-American chanteuse Malika Zarra plays the cd release show for her new one Berber Taxi with her band at the Jazz Standard, sets 7:30/9:30 PM
4/19-24 and 4/26-5/1 Bill Frisell plays the Vanguard: first with Eyvind Kang on violin and Rudy Royston on drums, then with Ron Miles on trumpet, Tony Scherr on bass and Kenny Wollesen on drums.
4/19, 8:30 PM keyboard rock the Joe McGinty Seven followed by fearless, wickedly lyrical, entertaining songwriter Ward White’s cd release show at 9:30 at Bowery Electric.
4/19 scorching electric banjo noiserock/jazz at the Seabrook Power Plant cd release show, 9:30ish at Littlefield, $8 adv tix rec.
4/20, 7:30 PM a cool reggae/ska quadruple bill at Sullivan Hall with Soul Rebel Project, Across the Aisle, Roast Beef Curtains and Mighty Mystic, $10
4/20 Tomoko Omura – violin; Glenn Zaleski – piano;Yoshiki Yamada – bass; Ryo Noritake – drums, 7:30 PM at Miles Cafe, $20.
4/20, 8 PM all-woman noir punk/glam rockers the Foxx at Cake Shop – this band is amazing, how they stayed off our radar for so long is a mystery. They would have ruled the airwaves in 1980. Sort of like a more pop Vera Beren or a louder DollHouse. Followed at 9 by funny, entertaining retro LA girlpunks Shannon & the Clams.
4/20, 8 PM accordionist Mariel Berger’s “avant Balkan” band Paper Snakes plays two ferocious sets at the Brooklyn Lyceum
4/20, 9 PM purist retro garage rock with the Solid Set at Lakeside.
4/20, 9 PM celebrate world pot day…well, Williamsburg pot day…at the Charleston at 9 PM with a smoking early 70s style stoner rock triplebill of Strange Haze, followed by Weedbeerd and then the inimitable, hilarious Mighty High. Anna Maria Pizza is across the street if you get hungry.
4/20, 10 PM psychedelic dub reggae with John Brown’s Body followed by the Easy Star All-Stars at Highline Ballroom, $20 adv tix highly rec. Note that some loser from a reality tv show – who’s decided to switch from corporate rock to reggae – opens the show at 9.
4/21, three excellent, separate-admission shows at Joe’s Pub. 7 PM haunting slinky Middle Eastern/jazzy torch song band Pharaoh’s Daughter is $15; lyrically intense, noirish British rocker Spottiswoode’s cd release show at 9 is $15; Afrobeat band Emefe’s show at 11:30 is $TBA.
4/21-22, 7ish Mogwai at Webster Hall, adv tix $28.50 rec.
4/21, 7:30 PM adventurous new music ensemble Lunatics at Large play five brand-new commissioned works by Ryan Fusco, Andre Bregegere, Laura Koplewitz, Alex Shapiro and Mohammed Fairouz as part of their Sanctuary Project at WMP Concert Hall, $25.
4/21 the monthly ska bill has moved from the Knit to Trash starting at 8 with Sewage, Shootout, the Rudie Crew and King Django.
4/21, 8 PM in “Scuttling around in the shallows, Jana Winderen continues her investigation into the sound of shrimp, exploring how the smallest creatures of the ocean use sound for communication, orientation, and feeding. Hydrophones—originally a military development—are repurposed, inadvertently producing unexpected qualities not informed by their original design. Winderen uses these hydrophones to create immersive sonic environments, something far from the original intention of these surveillance devices.” At Issue Project Room, $12.
4/21, 8 PM an avant garde doublebill with Parias Ensemble and choir Quince Vocal Ensemble at the Gershwin Hotel ,$10.
4/21, 8:30 PM, Melvin Van Peebles wid Laxative – the celebrated filmmaker/musician with members of Burnt Sugar – at Zebulon
4/21, 8:30 PM Susie Ibarra’s Electric Kulintang – sort of the Filipino counterpart to Electric Junkyard Gamelan – at the Atrium at Lincoln Center, 8:30 PM, early arrival highly advised.
4/21 dark intense eclectic original bluegrass band Frankenpine at Banjo Jim’s, 9 PM
4/21 Lunas Atlas (violinist Rima Fand’s new Frederico Garcia Lorca poetry/music project) at the Jalopy at 9 followed by bluegrass hellraisers Freshly Baked (f.k.a. Graveyard Shift) at 10:30.
4/21, 9 PM eerily playful indie folk/art-rock siren Larkin Grimm at Death by Audio.
4/21 a real power trio with Avishai Cohen – trumpet; Omer Avital – bass; Nasheet Waits – drums at Smalls, 9:30 PM, early arrival advised.
4/21, 10 PM the “Revive Da Live Big Band Tribute to the legendary Guru & the Jazzmatazz Legacy” at le Poisson Rouge, $20 adv tix highly rec., this will probably sell out.
4/21, 10 PM captivating Americana frontwoman Julia Haltigan and her band at the big room at the Rockwood.
4/21, 10:30 PM torchy oldtimey jazz/pop with Miss Tess & the Bon Ton Parade followed by the wild oldtimey Americana/country sound of the Woes at Southpaw, $10.
4/22 Ryan Truesdell leads a 14-piece big band to recreate Gil Evans’ classic 1961 album Out of the Cool at the Jazz Standard, 7:30/9:30 PM, $35
4/22 sprawling acoustic Americana with Jones St. Station at le Poisson Rouge, 7:30 PM, $10 adv tix rec.
4/22 baritone country/western swing crooner Sean Kershaw & the New Jack Ramblers at Hill Country, 7:30 PM.
4/22 it’s a rare Friday night Unsteady Freddie surf shindig at Otto’s starting at 9 PM with satirical spoof the Alien Surfer Babes (a Witches in Bikinis spinoff), NYC’s legendary, twangy, original surf band the Supertones, the Space Rangers at 11 and the fiery Octomen sometime after midnight
4/22, 8 PM pianist Jenny Q Chai and Iktus Percussion Quartet play the world premiere of Five Pieces by Nils Vigeland, as well as works by Gérard Grisey, Lukas Ligeti, Vivian Fung, and two world premieres from emerging composers Inhyun Kim and Dillon Kondor downstairs in the Thalia Theatre at Symphony Space, $15/$10 stud.
4/22, 8:15 PM legendary Haitian big band Orchestre Septentrional at the north cove at Battery Park City, free
4/22, 8:30 PM acoustic Irish/punk rockers Box of Crayons at Bowery Electric
4/22, 9 PM gypsy chanteuse Sanda Weigl’s cd release show for her intense, excellent new one Gypsy in a Tree at the 92YTribeca, $15 adv tix highly rec.
4/22, a monster noisy rock quadruple bill at Death by Audio with the Sediment Club at 9 followed by Degreaser, Pop 1280 and Woman, who absolutely slayed with their ear-drilling hypnotic guitar swirl the last time they played here.
4/22 Evanescent – retro music goddess Bliss Blood’s flamenco-tinged, hauntingly cinematic duo project with guitarist Al Street – at Cin-M-Art Space, 9 PM, 43 Murray St. (W. Broadway & Church)
4/22, 9 PM slinky danceable oldschool plena and bomba sounds with Quimbombo at BAM Cafe.
4/22-23, 9/10:30 PM Orrin Evans’ Captain Black Big Band CD release show at the Jazz Gallery, $20. Note that their Dizzy’s Club engagement is sold out.
4/22 electric bluegrass/country/rock guitar/mandolin monsters Demolition String Band at Rodeo Bar, 10ish.
4/22, 10 PM jazzy oldschool latin soul with the Brooklyn Boogaloo Blowout at 55 Bar.
4/22, 10:30 PM psychedelic 1960s style pop with latin tinges from Damian Quinones Y Su Nuevo Conjunto at Fifth Estate, 506 5th Ave., Park Slope
4/22, 11 PM hilarious retro country songwriter Hayes Carll at Bowery Ballroom, $15 adv tix rec.
4/22, 11 PM the Boss Guitars play surf classics and obscurities Lakeside, 11 PM.
4/23 Jorma Kaukonen + Jack Casady at Hiro Ballroom are sold out.
4/23, 1 PM a free concert at Bargemusic, early arrival advised, most likely piano music; there’s another on 5/7.
4/23, 1 and 3 PM, early music ensemble Pomerium sings works by Lassus, Monteverdi, Gesualdo, and Byrd at the Cloisters, $35 gen adm.
4/23 intriguing female-fronted noir-soul band Shenandoah & the Night at the Brooklyn Bowl
4/23, 8 PM pianist Vicky Chow and the Del Sol String Quartet at the Gershwin Hotel, playing Gershwin, D’Rivera and others, $10
4/23, 9 PM scorching, noisy, glam-ish punk rock with the K-Holes followed eventually at 11 by campy, entertaining faux 60s girlgroup punks Shannon & the Clams at Glasslands, $10
4/23 Cuban reggaeton siren Telmary Diaz with a live band at BAM Cafe, 9 PM – early arrival advised, this will sell out.
4/23, 10 PM Spanglish Fly at Mehanata. Good match of band and venue: fiery danceable fun female-fronted retro 60s latin soul band and cool, unpretentious Bulgarian bar where tourists and trendoids dare not enter.
4/23, 10:30 PM a rare NYC appearance by bluegrass stars Lightning in the East at the Jalopy.
4/24, 3 PM Chinese Music Ensemble of NY’s 50th Anniversary Concert feat. “a 45 musician orchestra in various settings from small ensembles to the entire orchestra” at Merkin Concert Hall, $25 adv tix rec.
4/24, 6 PM, OMG – you want eclectic and amazing, this is it: Balkan clarinet titan Vasko Dukovski with GL Diana on sitar, Daniel Ori on bass at Caffe Vivaldi.
4/24, 7 PM stars of the NYC Balkan underground, trumpeter Ben Holmes and accordionist Patrick Farrell at Barbes followed at 9ish by Stephane Wrembel.
4/24, 8 PM rustic, intense French gypsy rockers Poum Tchack at Galapagos, $15
4/24 Esquela – the new Americana rock project from the Yayhoos’ Keith Christopher with powerhouse singer Rebecca Frame – plays Rodeo Bar at 10ish.
4/25, 7:30 PM the Del Sol Quartet plus singer Amy X Neuberg play Neuberg, Reza Vali, Ronald Bruce Smith and Ben Johnson compositions at Symphony Space, $20
4/25 charismatic intense somewhat scary cellist/vocalist Audrey Chen plays Roulette, 8:30 PM. One of the crew here insists that her set – “music” might not be an accurate word for it – at Issue Project Room last year was the best show of 2010. Your life will not be complete until you’ve survived an hour or so of her sonic assault.
4/25, 9 PM Ben Syversen’s Cracked Vessel – a wild mix of noise-rock and Balkan brass music, whose debut album was one of our picks for the best of 2010 – at Bar 4. They’re also at the 1012 Willoughby basement series in Bushwick on 4/29 at 9
4/25, 9:30 PM drummer Ari Hoenig does his “punkbop” thing with a good crew: Will Vinson – alto sax; Jonathan Kreisberg – guitar; Danton Boller – bass at Smalls.
4/25 sultry oldtimey stylings with Daria Grace and the Pre-War Ponies at Rodeo Bar, 10ish.
4/26 Emmylou Harris at Bowery Ballroom is sold out – good for her
4/26, 6:30 PM pianist Jenny Lin plays Federico Mompou’s “Música Callada” at le Poisson Rouge, $15
4/26, 8 PM Balkan Beat Box at Webster Hall, $20 gen. adm.
4/26, 8:30 PM eclectic new string ensemble Publiquartet play works by Don Byron, Skye Steele, Amanda Gookin, Nick Revel and others at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.
4/27, 7 PM psychedelic noir instrumental machine Mojo Mancini – whose debut album was one of last year’s best – at the big room at the Rockwood, $TBA
4/27, 7 PM Mr. Wau Wa – Gina Leishman, vox, accordion, pump organ; Rinde Eckert, vox, accordion, pump organ; Doug Wieselman, clarinet, sax, guitar; Marcus Rojas, tuba and Kenny Wollesen, drums – plays Bertold Brech at Barbes followed at 9:30ish by Chicha Libre.
4/27, 7:30 PM pianist Alexandra Joan – whose remarkable emotional intelligence and fearlessness set her apart from the millions of cookie-cutter classical pianists out there – plays an all-French program of Fauré, Ravel, Enescu and Fairouz at WMP Concert Hall.
4/27, 7:30 PM Egyptian vintage film music revivalists Zikrayat plus a bellydance show at Jebon Noodle Shop, 15 St. Marks Place, $10
4/27, 7:30 PM Svetlana Tsoneva, violin and Vladimir Valjarevic, piano play Brahms, Mozart and Franck at at the Bulgarian Consulate, 121 E 62nd. St., free.
4/27 haunting, hypnotic Middle Eastern sounds with Duo Jalal feat. violist Kathryn Lockwood plus percussionist Yousif Sheronick David Krakauer and Glen Velez at Drom, 8 PM, $12 adv tix rec.
4/27, 9:30 PM the funniest man in hip-hop, Houston’s Devin the Dude at the Knitting Factory, $15 adv tix a must, this will sell out.
4/27, 10:30 PM gypsy goth rock with Yula Beeri & the Extended Family at the big room at the Rockwood
4/28, 1 PM Nancianne Parella performs an organ concert at Trinity Church, free.
4/28, 8 PM swirling, haunting psychedelic guitar soundscaper Thomas Simon at the Gershwin Hotel, $10
4/28, 8 PM wild intense Italian gypsy brass band Mucca Pazza at Santos Party House, $15 adv tix rec.
4/28, 8 PM a Benjamin Lees retrospective: the Cypress String Quartet plays Lees’ string quartets #1 and 6, plus pianist Mirian Conti & violinist Herbert Greenberg play his Odyssey No. 2 and Odyssey No. 3 for solo piano, and Landscape for solo at Christ and St. Stephen’s Church (120 W. 69th), $20.
4/28, 8:30 PM tongue-in-cheek, period-perfect early 50s style country from Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. at Otto’s
4/28, 9 PM Dollshot, who put a deliciously creepy, jazz-improv spin on classical art-song at Galapagos, $10 adv tix rec
4/28 the Newton Gang play their cd release show for their long-awaited new one at Southpaw, 9 PM followed by Gangstagrass at 11, $10 adv tix highly rec, all ticketholders get a copy of the new album.
4/28, 9 PM late golden-age hip-hop icon Talib Kweli at SOBs, $26 adv tix rec, this will sell out.
4/28, 9:30 PM the auspicious debut performance of bassoon duo (!!!) Dark & Stormy (Adrian Morejon and Rebekah Heller) at the Tank playing Gubaidulina, Stravinsky, Mignone, Andriessen and a world-premiere by NYC composer Nick DeMaison.
4/28, 10 PM fun ska-pop with Across the Aisle followed by smartly aware punk rockers the Blame at Fontana’s.
4/29, 7 PM lyrical Steve Earle-esque rocker Mark McKay at Lakeside followed at 11 PM by “the Piggies” which might be a phony name for a big-name act…or a Del Lords show
4/29, 7:30 PM a high-energy gypsy rock doublebill with Watcha Clan and Rupa & the April Fishes at le Poisson Rouge, $15.
4/29, 7:30 PM pianist Angela Pistilli plays Beethoven and Chopin at at Third St. Music School Settlement, free.
4/29, 7:30 PM tuneful chamber-pop songwriter Jann Klose with his lush, string-driven ensemble at the big room at the Rockwood, $10
4/29, 8 PM psychedelic noir rock legend Steve Wynn plays a doubleheader with his band the Miracle 3 and then with the Baseball Project, playing songs about the Red Sox, a Yankee pitcher who killed a member of the opposing Indians, and tributes to slap-hitting batting champ Ichiro Suzuki and Pawtucket Red Sox (and Tigers) legend Mark Fidrych. At the Bell House, $13 adv tix rec.
4/29, 8:15 PM Canadian goth siren NLX at Caffe Vivaldi
4/29 surfy latin garage rock with the Cuban Cowboys at BAM Cafe, 9 PM.
4/30, 5 PM the UN Singers led by the sensational Mary Lee Kortes play an eclectic program at Saint Luke’s Lutheran Church, 308 W 46th Street (between 8th and 9th Aves), $15 sugg don
4/30, 7:30 PM a monstrously fun skaragga/metal cumbia/gypsy rock doublebill with Escarioka and Skarroneros at Sullivan Hall, $10
4/30, 7:30 PM comedically talented Erin & Her Cello at the big room at the Rockwood.
4/30, 7:30/9:30/midnight a pretty phenomenal trio at the Bar Next Door: Jacam Manricks – saxophones; Jared Gold – organ and Matt Wilson- drums.
4/30 a killer bill at Don Pedros for a measy $5 starting at 8 PM with high energy noisy guitar/drum duo Eleanor, the Highway Gimps – the missing link between My Bloody Valentine and Motorhead – and the best rock band in NYC, the ferocious, tuneful, funny, indomitable, politically aware anti-gentrifiers the Brooklyn What at Don Pedro’s.
4/30, 8 PM Il Albanico at Pete’s – Colombian music with chanteuse and guitar.
4/30, 8:30 PM the Sarah Bernstein Quartet: Sarah Bernstein, violin/compositions; Kris Davis, piano; Stuart Popejoy, bass guitar; Ches Smith, drums, at I-Beam.
4/30, 9 PM Irish-American rock legends Black 47 at Paddy Reilly’s – just like the old days. Get here early because anybody who remembers how wild their shows here were back in the 90s and is still alive will be here.
4/30, 9/10:30 PM bassist John Hebert’s Rambling Confessions feat. Jen Shyu, vox; Billy Drummond, drums; David Virelles, piano at the Cornelia St Cafe, $15
4/30 latin jazz by the O’Farrill Family Band at BAM Cafe, 9 PM.
4/30, 10 PM stark, tuneful cello rockers Pearl & the Beard at Rock Shop in Gowanus, $10.
4/30 Roots Vibration play reggae at Shrine, 10 PM.
4/30, 10ish Kiwi – who play ust about every style of dub and roots reggae – at Bowery Poetry Club.
4/30, 11 PM irrepressibly filthy, sharply satirical, hilarious faux-girlgroup punks Cudzoo & the Fagettes at Trash.
5/1 an amazing free outdoor lineup at the Hoboken Arts & Music Festival (two blocks from the Path station – just follow the sound to Washington St.) – intense, smart chamber-rockers Bern & the Brights at 1 PM, Tammy Faye Starlite’s hilarious Blondie cover band the Pretty Babies at 2, Steve Wynn’s hall-of-fame caliber Baseball Project at 3 and the legendary Ian Hunter – still going strong at 72! at 4.
5/1, 4:45 PM organist Scott Foppiano plays a welcome NYC return engagement at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
5/1, 6 PM a fun, entertaing new music/third-stream jazz doublebill with cellist Jody Redhage followed by the playful Steve Hudson Chamber Ensemble at Cornelia St. Cafe, $10
5/1, 7 PM smart, edgy, lyrical indie rock songwriter Tara Jane O’Neil at the Mercury, $12.
5/1, 8 PM at Union Pool: Apocalypse Five and Dime presents We Shall Not Be Moved: The New York Five & Dime Sit Down Strikes of 1937, A One-Act Musical written by Phil Andrews starring Josh Lerner and Kate followed by the Stagger Back Brass Band – the Spinal Tap of brass band music – plus singers Xavier, Sara Lucas, Sarah Gordon (of Yiddish Princess) and Michele Hardesty doing socialist song classics.
5/1, 8 PM psychedelic African soul duo Amadou & Mariam, free, at the Cooper Square Hotel, 25 Cooper Sq., one assumes in the lobby.
5/1, 8 PM oldschool and new rustic Cuban sounds on low-register instruments by Gato Loco at Bowery Poetry Club
5/1 the hilarious Uncle Leon & the Alibis – NYC’s answer to David Allan Coe – at Rodeo Bar, 9ish.
5/2, 7 PM at the Greene Space, free: “Even as violent crime rates in New York have dropped dramatically in the past 15 years [due to NYPD brass’ manipulation of crime stats and their refusal to investigate crimes, rather than any real drop in crime], this controversial police procedure continues to divide law enforcement and community groups. Is ‘stop-and-frisk’ an effective preemptive strategy for crime prevention or a case of racial profiling? The Greene Space presents panelists on both sides of the issue in a discussion about how ‘stop-and-frisk’ affects New Yorkers in their everyday lives.”
5/2, 7 PM eclectic trombone god Josh Roseman’s Water Surgeons feat. Josh Roseman – trombone, bass guitar; Curtis Hasselbring – trombone, guitar; Jacob Garchik – trombone, accordion and Barney McAll – keyboards at Barbes followed at about 9:30 by Chicha Libre. They’re also here on 5/9, same time.
5/2, 8 PM Gutbucket and Pitom play gypsy/klezmer/jazz-tinged noisy groove stuff at Rock Shop in Gowanus, $8 “includes snacks.”
5/2, 8/10:30 PM Jane Wiedlin of the Go Go’s joins the surviving members of the Les Paul Trio at Iridium, $30. A crazy idea that just might work – she’s fun and always had the best voice in the band.
5/2, 9 PM Gary Morgan & Pan-Americana play eclectic big band jazz at Tea Lounge in Park Slope
5/2 at the big room at the Rockwood, 10:30 PM the Chris Morrissey Group – Ben Wendel- sax, Nir Felder- guitar, Mark Guiliana- drums, Pete Rende- piano, Chris Morrissey- bass followed by Sean Hutchinson’s Still Life at 11:30 – Henry Hey- keys, Chris Tarry- bass, Sean Hutchinson- drums
5/3, 7 PM Phil Kline and an A-list of downtown indie classical types – Matt Boehler on bass, Kathleen Supove on piano, Todd Reynolds on vionlin, Ashley Bathgate on cello – play songs by Kline, David Lang, Meredith Monk, Elliott Sharp at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, 450 W 37th St. betw 9th and 10th Aves., free, res. req. to 212-868-4444.
5/3, 7:30 PM guitar orchestra Los Angeles Electric 8 play Javanese songs, Balinese kecak chants, and music by Mantle Hood and Wayne Siegel at the Tank, $10
5/3-8 7:30/9:30 PM Ron Carter, bass; Rodney Jones, guitar; Frank Kimbrough, piano; Carl Allen, drums; Ron Blake, tenor saxophone at Dizzy’s Club, $30 seats avail.
5/3, 8 PM Bulgarian accordion monster Peter Ralchev and his quartet play a very rare NYC show at Drom, $15 adv tix very highly rec.
5/3-4, 8 PM Bruce Cockburn & Jenny Scheinman at City Winery, $35 seats avail.
5/3 the completely original tuneful hip-hop-jazz marching brass band Hypnotic Brass Ensemble at SOB’s, 9:30 PM $15 adv tix highly rec.
5/3 Americana violin star Hilary Hawke & the Flipsides at Rodeo Bar, 10ish.
5/3, 10ish hypnotic, pounding dreampop/goth/psychedelic instrumental trio Big Sleep at Glasslands, $10
5/4, 7:30 PM the American String Quartet play Beethoven, Schubert and Shostakovich at the lovely old-world Fabbri Library, 7 E 95th St., $35.
5/4, 7:30 PM, free, the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism proudly presents the 4th annual concert, Korea 21: Music Here and Now at Symphony Space – it seems to be more corporate pop-oriented, but might be worth stopping in to see what the buzz is about.
5/4, 7:30 PM drummer Mike Pride’s imaginative, psychedelically tuneful From Bacteria to Boys at the Knitting Factory, $10.
5/4, 8 PM dark female-fronted dreampop/shoegaze Teletextile followed by lyrical anthemic Canadian band Wintersleep – who are a singer short of greatness – at Union Hall, $10.
5/4, 8 PM guitar funk virtuoso Askold Buk at P&G Bar on the upper west
5/4, 8 PM the Dan Weiss Trio featuring Jacob Sacks and Eivind Opsvik at Littlefield, $10.
5/4, 9 PM intense improvisational Balkan group Raya Brass Band at Radegast Hall
5/4 cutting-edge conscious Senegalese/American hip-hop with Blitz the Ambassador and his Afrobeat band playing their cd release show at SOB’s, 9 PM $12 adv tix rec.
5/5, 1 PM Isabelle Demers plays the organ at Trinity Church, free
5/5, 7:30 PM catchy jangly rock en Espanol outfit Cordero at Rock Shop in Gowanus, $10.
5/5, 8 PM retro keyboard goddess Rachelle Garniez – arguably the most cleverly amusing and charismatic accordion-wielding songwriter on the planet – followed at 10 by Matuto who are sort of an acoustic Nation Beat, mixing Brazilian and bluegrass influences.
5/5, 8 PM this year’s funnest Cinco de Mayo show with Chicha Libre and Banda de los Muertos de Quisqueya at Littlefield, $10.
5/5, 8 PM the all-female 17-piece Main Squeeze Orchestra conducted by Walter Kuehr, the self-styled “Hugh Hefner” of the accordion world plays Kurt Weill at Drom, $15 adv tix highly rec.
5/5, 8 PM the Curtis Institute of Music’s 20/21 ensemble plays a Joan Tower retrospective at the Miller Theatre at Columbia, 116th/Bwy., $20.
5/5, 8 PM devious songwriters Maria Sonevytsky and Susan Hwang (both of the Debutante Hour), and World Inferno’s Franz Nicolay among others at Goodbye Blue Monday
5/5, 8:30 PM Lebanese trumpet star Ibrahim Malouf and oud virtuoso Brahim Fribgane at the Lincoln Center Atrium at 65th and Broadway, early arrival advised. Malouf is also playing a duo show with pianist Frank Woeste at Alwan for the Arts on 5/6 at 9 PM, $20/$15 stud/srs.
5/5, 9 PM third-wave and second-wave ska with the Hub City Stompers and playful 80s ska-pop vets Bad Manners at Maxwell’s, $16 adv tix avail.
5/5, 9 PM menacing instrumental Israeli heavy metal/surf music with Eyal Maoz’ Edom at Tea Lounge in Park Slope
5/5, 9:30 PM torchy noir rock with Mad Juana at Bowery Electric.
5/5, 10 PM compelling, frequently creepy art-folk chanteuse Larkin Grimm at Union Pool.
5/5, 10 PM Roger Bartlett at P&G Bar on the upper west – is this the the guitarist who was Jimmy Buffett’s one-man road band back in the 70s?
5/5, 11:30 PM Spanglish Fly with their sultry retro 60s latin soul vibe at Southpaw for Cinco de Mayo
5/6 Tift Merritt at City Winery is sold out – good for her.
5/6, 7 PM subtle, vivid classic tango chanteuse Maria Cangiano followed by Gabriel Alegria’s Afro-Peruvian Septet’s weekly Friday gig at Tutuma Social Club on 56th St.
5/6, 7 PM Esquivel revivalists Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica Quartet at Miles Cafe, $20 includes a drink and “snacks”
5/6, 7:30 PM the NOW Ensemble playing Judd Greenstein, Patrick Burke, Mark Dancigers, and Sean Friar followed by the Chiara String Quartet playing Jefferson Friedman quartets with electronic efx at le Poisson Rouge, $20
5/6, 7:30 PM the Cassatt String Quartet and pianist Ursula Oppens in a joint appearance tackling the Brahms Piano Quintet, the world premiere of Fang Man’s Images of Lake Erie, Joan Tower’s Dumbarton, and Gabriela Lena Frank’s Ghosts in the Dream Machine. at Symphony Space, $30.
5/6, 8 PM two reverends who have nothing to do with religion: Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band play rustic acoustic Americana followed by Rev. Horton Heat playing semi-urban electric Americana at the Bell House, $22 adv tix rec. Rev. HH is also at Highline Ballroom on 5/8.
5/6 a tres bon cajun festival at the Jalopy starting with a Leadbelly style guitar workshop at 6:30 followed at 8 by the Big Road Blues Band, Catahoula Cajun Band, Empty Bottle Ramblers, Magnolia Cajun Band and then a midnight jam, $12 adv tix rec., $25 for the workshop.
5/6 MotherMoon -a smart, tuneful, sometimes haunting soul-influenced female-fronted band, like Cat Power but less precious, or Katie Elevitch in a less amped moment, at Spike Hill, 8 PM, note that there is a $6 cover.
5/6, 8:30 PM at Coco 66 a slamming triplebill with gypsy punks Kagero followed by Raya Brass Band at 9:30 and the equally ferocious West Philadelphia Orchestra at 10:30, $10
5/6 Caithlin De Marrais – one of the most unselfconsciously riveting singers in any style of music – sings her plaintive, thoughtful, compelling songs at 8:30 PM at Littlefield, $12. Sort of like a more rocking My Brightest Diamond.
5/6, 9 PM noir-tinged 2/3 female original rockabilly/surf trio Catspaw at Otto’s
5/6, 9 PM the wry, funny uke/bass project 2 Man Gentlemen Band and the ecstatic, improvisational Infamous Stringdusters at Bowery Ballroom, $15 gen adm.
5/6, 9/10:30 PM fiery, innovative pianist Gerald Clayton leads a quintet with Dayna Stephens – saxophone, Chris Dingman – vibraphone, Joe Sanders (Fri)/Matt Brewer(Sat) – bass, Marcus Gilmore – drums at the Jazz Gallery, $20
5/6, 9 PM Doll Parts (accordion-driven Dolly Parton covers with three-girl harmonies) followed by twistedly funny all-girl country parody band Menage a Twang at Union Hall, $10
5/6, 9:30 PM chanteuse/pianist Lorrie Doriza’s noir/goth art-rock band Vespertina – like the Dresden Dolls, but genuinely menacing instead of cute – play the cd release show for their new one The Waiting Wolf at Bowery Poetry Club, $10.
5/6, 10 PM a killer dark triplebill at Banjo Jim’s with haunting, vivid Americana siren Jan Bell’s band the Maybelles followed at 11 by equally haunting, harmony-driven Nashville gothic band Bobtown and then the Just Desserts playing killer gypsy jazz at midnight. Wow.
5/6 the hellraising Jack Grace Band play classic 60s style country from their excellent most recent album Drinking Songs for Lovers at Barbes, 10 PM. They’re also at Rodeo Bar on 5/14 at 10ish.
5/6, 10 PM scorching, fun glampunk/noiserockers the K-Holes’ cd release show at Cake Shop
5/6, 10 PM Brooklyn’s own intense man in black, John Pinamonti at Sunny’s in Red Hook.
5/6 eerie electric bluespunk with the Five Points Band at Rodeo Bar 10ish.
5/6, 11 PM the wild, intense Pitch Black Brass Band at Bowery Poetry Club, $10
5/7, 4 (four) PM fearlessly lyrical pop/rock siren Elaine Romanelli at the small room at the Rockwood.
5/7, starting at 6 PM Rachael Bell and Derrick Barnicoat (frontwoman and brilliant percussionist of late great ominous psychedelic art-rockers Norden Bombsight) atat the Red brick school house on the corner of Prince and Mott providing a soundtrack to Daphane Park’s ambitious tea ceremony art/performance installation. Part of some New Museum series. Bell says “Art/Food/Drink/Music/Tea/Other, wash your feet.”
5/7, 7 PM a killer Americana quadruple bill starting with Apocalypse Five and Dime, the Roulette Sisters at 8, Roosevelt Dime at 9 and the Wiyos at 10 at Bowery Electric, $8.
5/7, 7 PM Nashville gothic maven – and indie film star – Lorraine Leckie & Her Demons at Banjo Jim’s.
5/7, 7 PM supersonic yet soulful electric blues guitarist Bobby Radcliff at Terra Blues
5/7, 7 PM the Gregorio Uribe Big Band at the Fat Cat
5/7, 8 PM Romanian gypsy siren Sanda Weigl – whose intense new album Gypsy in a Tree is one of the year’s best – at Barbes followed by faux Mexican banda Banda Sinaloense De los Muertos (a bunch of jazz luminaries having fun with banda themes) at 10ish
5/7, 8 PM up-and-coming Americana multi-instrumentalist/songwriter Sarah Jarosz’s cd release show at the big room at the Rockwood, $10.
5/7 the cajun festival at the Jalopy continues with a bunch of workshops for stringed and accordion musicians followed by Cleoma’s Ghost at 8, Jesse Lege & the Bayou Brew at 9:15 and Zydegroove at 10:45, $12 adv tix rec., $25 for the workshops.
5/7, 8 PM comedic, smart Texas songwriter Julia Nunes at Rock Shop in Gowanus $15
5/7, 8 PM repeating 5/8, 3 PM Mark Peskanov, violin, Eric Jacobsen, cello And Steven Beck, piano play Haydn – Piano Trio in C minor; Ravel Piano Trio in A minor; Schubert: Piano Trio at Bargemusic, $35.
5/7, 8 PM, repeating on 5/8, 3 PM the Chelsea Symphony plays The Whydah Returns (world premiere) by Aaron Dai; Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4 in D and Tschaikovsky’s 5th Symphony at St. Paul’s Church, 315 West 22nd St., sugg don. $20
5/7 haunting original bluegrass/Americana band Frankenpine at the Brooklyn Museum.
5/7, 9 PM Unsteady Freddie’s monthly surf rock extravaganza at Otto’s starting with Tsunami of Sound, Jason James & the Bay State Houserockers, the Tarantinos NYC and then sometime after midnight the Spytones.
5/7, 9 PM fearlessly funny Williamsburg punk rock vets the Live Ones at at the Gutter bowling alley in Williamsburg
5/7, 9/10:30 PM Dave Liebman, saxophone; Dan Tepfer, piano; Drew Gress, bass; Rob Garcia , drums at Cornelia St. Cafe, $15.
5/7, 10 PM eclectic Selegalese flavored roots reggae with Meta & the Cornerstones at the 92YTribeca, $12 adv tix rec.
5/7, 10 PM ska trombone star Kevin Batchelor’s Grand Concourse feat. featuring members of the Skatalites, Rocksteady 7, Stingers & Westbound Train at Two Boots Brooklyn
5/7 LES rockabilly/surf/punk legend Simon & the Bar Sinisters at Lakeside, 10:15ish
5/7 crazy, virtuosic Capt. Beefheart cover band Admiral Porkbrain at Freddy’s, 11 PM.
5/7, midnight, cello metal with Stratospheerius at P&G Bar on the upper west
5/8, 3 PM the Chelsea Symphony plays Dai: The Whydah Returns; Telemann: Trumpet Concerto in D major, TWV 51; Tchaikovsky: Symphony No.5 at St. Paul’s Church, 315 West 22nd St.
5/8, 6 PM amazing, improvisational, soulful pianist Jean-Michel Pilc plays an extremely rare small club duo show with Perry Smith on guitar at Caffe Vivaldi
5/8, 6 PM eclectic Ethiopian/jazz/Middle Eastern instrumentalists Blue Moon Ensemble play Drom, $10 adv tix rec.
5/8, 6 PM the Brooklyn Salsa Orchestra at the Brooklyn Bowl; they’re also here on 5/15
5/8, 7 PM stars of the NYC free jazz underground: Andy Haas (who has an excellent new album out), Will McEvoy on bass and David Gould on drums – at Downtown Music Gallery.
5/8, 7:30/9:30 PM the Juilliard Jazz Quintet w/Ron Carter, Rodney Jones, Frank Kimbrough, Carl Allen & Ron Blake at Dizzy’s Club, $30 seats avail.
5/8, 8 PM Americana rock crew the Felice Bros at the Bell House, $20.
5/8, 10 PM hilarious, scathingly aware hip-hop parody Schaffer the Darklord at Cake Shop
5/8, 10 PM up-and-coming Americana chanteuse Cal Folger Day at Spike Hill.
5/9, 6:30 PM a screening of the powerful documentary Gasland, a terrifying look at how hydrofracking – a dangerous natural gas drilling technique whose legalization was spearheaded by Dick Cheney in 2006 – pollutes drinking water nationwide with radioactive waste including radium. At the Museum of the City of NY, tix $12/$8 stud/srs, res req to 917-492-3395
5/9-12 this year’s reliably intriguing avant/classical Mata Festival at le Poisson Rouge kicks off with ACME, Metropolis Ensemble, Florent Ghys, L’Arsenale, Cantori New York, Dither Electric Guitar Quartet, Ryan Carter, Christopher Mayo, and Angélica Negrón, 7 PM.
5/9, 7 PM Michaela Anne sings down-to-earth, smart, tuneful Americana at Banjo Jim’s. She’s also at Caffe Vivaldi on 5/17 at 7:15 PM.
5/9, 7:30/9:30 PM oldschool soul/jazz siren Catherine Russell and phenomenal band at Dizzy’s Club, $20
5/9, 8/10:30 PM Matt Guitar Murphy at the Blue Note, $10 seats avail. Octogenarian Chicago blues guitar legend who suffered a stroke onstage a few years ago and finished the song before he decided to take a break. If he’s even a fraction of his old self he’s worth seeing.
5/9, 9 PM the Anita Brown Jazz Orchestra at Tea Lounge in Park Slope
5/10, 7 PM the king of the catchy literate rock anthem, Willie Nile and his band at Joe’s Pub, $25.
5/10, 7:30 PM opening night of the Mata new music festival at le Poisson Rouge with ACME , L’Arsenale and Hu Jianbing and Bao Jian, $20
5/10 Monty Python/Bonzo Dog Band’s Neil Innes at Highline Ballroom, 8 PM.
5/10, 8 PM a solid hip-hop extravaganza feat. DP One, J Period, Boogie Blind, Jean Grae and Pharaoh Monche at the Brooklyn Bowl, $15
5/10, 11 PM the Gowanus Reggae and Ska Society aka GRASS play instrumental Marley covers at Spike Hill; 5/14 they’re at Rodeo Bar, 9ish.
5/10, 11 PM powerfully tuneful, catchy, lyrical acoustic rocker Jennifer O’Connor at Rock Shop in Gowanus, $10; she’s also at Maxwell’s on 5/15 at 6 PM for two bucks less.
5/10, 5/12, 5/14 Pharaoh Sanders leads a quartet at Birdland, $30 seats avail.
5/11 the NY Funk Exchange plays the Rocks Off Concert Cruise aboard the Half Moon, boarding at 7, leaving at 8 from the 23rd St. heliport and the East River, $20 tix available at the Highline Ballroom box ofc.
5/11, 7:30 PM day two of the Mata Festival at le Poisson Rouge continues with Angelica Negrón, Dither, Cantori NY, Chris Danforth and the Danforths, Florent Ghys, hosted by everybody’s favorite Q2 personality, Nadia Sirota.
5/11, 8:30 PM Jacam Manricks – first-rate composer and alto player – and band at Miles Cafe, $20 includes a drink and “snacks”
5/11, 9 PM third-wave NYC garage rock legends the New Dynasty Six (presumably without Johnny Chan) at Lakeside.
5/11 Mike LeDonne leads a B3 trio at the Fat Cat, 9 PM
5/11, 10 PM up-and-coming rock guitar star Rony Corcos – sort of an Israeli version of early Thalia Zedek – at Banjo Jim’s followed at 11 by Cal Folger Day.
5/11 tongue-in-cheek, period-perfect early 50s style country from Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. at Rodeo Bar, 10ish
5/12 Renee Anne Louprette at the organ at Trinity Church, 1 PM, free
5/12, 7:30 PM closing night of the Mata Festival at le Poisson Rouge features Metropolis Ensemble, $20.
5/12, 8 PM fiery, brilliantly lyrical, politically fearless Iraqi-American rocker Stephan Said and His Magic Orchestra at Drom, $10 adv tix highly rec.
5/12, 8 PM Cuarteto La Catrina play Mexican and Puerto Rican composers at Symphony Space, $30 adv tix rec.
5/12, 8:30 PM unpredictably brilliant sax titan Jon Irabagon leads a quintet with Jon Ralph Alessi, trumpet; Jacob Sacks , piano; John Hebert , bass; Mike Pride, drums at Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.
5/12, 9ish olschool East Coast hardcore hip-hop with Ghostface Killah, Raekwon and Mobb Deep at the Nokia Theatre, $35 tix avail.
5/12, 10 PM noir cabaret/gypsy punk band Not Waving but Drowning at Drom playing the cd release show for their mysterious new one on a killer bill with slinky Middle Eastern/trance string band Copal, $10 adv tix rec.
5/12, 9/10:30 PM amazing Middle Eastern jazz with Hafez Modirzadeh – saxophones, Amir ElSaffar – trumpet, Vijay Iyer – piano, Ken Filiano – bass, Royal Hartigan – drums at the Jazz Gallery, $20.
5/12, 10 PM sly acoustic jamband Tall Tall Treesat the small room at the Rockwood; they’re also here on 5/26
5/12, 10 PM torchy smart bossa/jazz chanteuse Sasha Dobson plays with a trio at Barbes.
5/12, a very cool doublebill at Drom: 10:30 PM, hauntingly psychedelic violin-driven Middle Eastern/Balkan flavored dancefloor grooves with Copal and theatrical gypsy/steampunk band Not Waving But Drowning at Drom, $10 adv tix highly rec., not sure who’s playing when but they’re both good.
5/12, 10:30 PM blazing chromatic Balkan tonalities with Veveritse Brass Band at the Jalopy, $10.
5/13 Americana guitarmeister Chris Erikson & the Wayward Puritans at Lakeside, 7ish
5/13, 7 PM cello-driven world music band Deoro feat. chanteuse Dina Fanai at the small room at the Rockwood – their show here in December was off the hook.
5/13, 7:30 PM oldtime hokum blues and hillbilly music with the Second Fiddles at Hill Country
5/13 sharply literate, often hilarious Americana charmer Robin Aigner with her band at Barbes 8 PM followed by lush “historical orchestrette” Pinataland’s cd release show
5/13, 8 PM Mara Milkis – violin; Jerzy Wujtewicz – cello; and RAfal Lewandowski – cello – play works by F.Chopin, K. Szymanowski, W. Lutoslawski, K. Penderecki, R. Twardowski, Alicja. Jonas at Bargemusic, $35, you know the Greenpoint classical posse will be out in effect for this one.
5/13, 9 PM phantasmagorical noir siren Carol Lipnik & Spookarama at Banjo Jim’s.
5/13, 9 PM amazingly period-perfect retro 60s Bakersfield country band the Dixons at the Gutter bowling alley in Williamsburg
5/13, 9 PM Kiwi play Brazilian-flavored psychedelic dub reggae at Shrine.
5/13, 9 PM Canadian goth siren NLX at Tea Lounge in Park Slope
5/13, 10:30 PM adventurous bassist Joris Teepe with his combo at the Fat Cat
5/14, 11 AM (yes, starting an hour before noon) the free Wall to Wall Sonidos festival at Symphony Space feat. Arturo O’Farrill’s Sacred Concert for his Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra based on settings of Jewish, Islamic, Gospel, and Afro-Cuban texts; a work for shakuhachi and string quartet [Colorado Quartet] from Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez; a world premiere of Roberto Sierra’s Cuarteto para cuerdas no. 2 [La Catrina Quartet]; Tania León [Harlem Quartet]; new works by Fernando Otero (with dancers); and performances by Continuum, Damocles Trio, Poulenc Trio, Ray Vega, Gabriel Alegria, and many others.
5/14, 6 (six) PM dark Americana songwriter Abbie Barrett at the small room at the Rockwood.
5/14, 7:30 PM terse, intense classical/jazz pianist Michel Reis leads a trio at Puppets Jazz Bar in Park Slope
5/14, 8 PM the Underground Horns – a “6 piece brass band that plays afro funk bhangra new orleans salsa grooves” – at Barbes followed at 10 by Smokey Hormel’s western swing thing.
5/14 dark 80s goth/art-rock influenced chanteuse Kristin Hoffmann at Caffe Vivaldi, 9:30 PM
5/14, 9 PM one of the year’s best triplebills: sultry, funny oldtimey harmony crew the Roulette Sisters at 9, ferociously literate, witty, psychedelic/new wave rockes the Larch at 10 and Pinataland’s Dave Wechsler’s solo Tyranny of Dave project at 11 at the new Freddy’s.
5/14 dark original bluegrass/Nashville gothic band Frankenpine at 9 PM at the Jalopy followed at 10:30 by M Shanghai String Band,$10.
5/14, 9/10:30 PM allstar postbop ensemble the Cookers – who absolutely tore up the Charlie Parker Festival last year – at Iridium, $30.
5/14, 9 PM percussionist Najib Bahri’s El Amal plays a musical/dance tribute to Tunisia at Alwan for the Arts, $20/$15 stud/srs.
5/14 carnivalesque Luminescent Orchestrii frontman Sxip Shirey does his solo thing Joe’s Pub, 9 PM, $15.
5/14, 9/10:30 PM Marty Ehrlich, reeds; Ray Anderson, trombone; Brad Jones, bass; Matt Wilson, drums at Cornelia St. Cafe, $15.
5/14, 9/10:30 PM the Oliver Lake Big Band at the Jazz Gallery, $20
5/14, 10 PM Fish Out of Water play ska at Shrine followed at 11 by punk dub band the Band-Droidz.
5/14, 11:30 PM clarinet monster Ismail Lumanovski and his band the NY Gypsy All-Stars at Drom, $10 adv tix rec; they’re also here on 5/19 at 10:30
5/15, 3 PM the Greenwich Village Orchestra plays Handel – Music for the Royal Fireworks; Haydn – Concerto in C major for Cello and Orchestra; Beethoven – Symphony No. 5 at Washington Irving HS Auditorium, $20 sugg don, reception to follow.
5/15, 3 PM the East of the River accordion-and-recorder ensemble play an intriguing Balkan/Middle Eastern/Appalachian/avant program at Bargemusic, $35
5/15, 6 PM Trio Caveat feat. free jazz trombone monster Steve Swell, James Ilgenfritrz and Jay Rosen followed at 7 by guitarist Xander Naylor’s fiery PinkBrown trio at Downtown Music Gallery.
5/15, 7 PM the Four Bags – Mike McGinnis: sax/clarinet Brian Drye: trombone Jacob Garchik: accordion Sean Moran: guitar at Barbes followed at 9 by Stephane Wrembel
5/15, 7:30 PM Geogian slide guitarist Ilusha Tsinadze – who blends traditional sounds from his home country with jazz and blues – doing a cd release show at Joe’s Pub, $15.
5/16, 9ish austere, smart chamber-pop band Pearl & the Beard at Littlefield, $5.
5/16, 9 PM latin/third stream big band Michael Webster’s Leading Lines at Tea Lounge in Park Slope
5/17 frontwoman/guitarist Debra of scorching powerpop/jamband Devi at Lucky 7 Tavern in Jersey City
5/17 Tariq Ali, renowned author of From Cairo to Madison: The Arab Revolution and a World in Motion discusses the ongoing revolution throughout the Arab world, 8 PM at Galapagos, free.
5/17, 8:30 PM intriguing, captivating jazz trio Minerva’s cd release show feat. JP Schlegelmilch, piano; Pascal Niggenekemper, bass; Carlo Costa, drums at Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.
5/18, 7:30 PM the most intensely focused, most powerful jazz composer of the moment, tenor saxophonist JD Allen and his Trio play the cd release show for their new one Victory! following a screening of Mario Lathan’s documentary short film about the album at le Poisson Rouge, $15, adv tix necessary, this will sell out. Wish you were alive to see Coltrane in 1963? Don’t miss this one. We have heard the forthcoming album and it is amazing.
5/17, 7/9 PM the prototypical downtown NYC accordion chanteuse, Phoebe Legere with her quintet playing the cd release show for her new one Ooh La La Coq Tail at Iridium, $20
5/18 lyrical janglerock songwriter Paula Carino with her velvet voice, double entendres and wickedly catchy tunes plays with her new trio at 8 at Fontana’s.
5/18, 8 PM Kris Davis – one of the most original, emotionally vivid and lyrical pianists in jazz or anything – plays Barbes with Ingrid Laubrock -saxophone; Matt Maneri -viola; Trevor Dunn -bass, and Tom Rainey – drums, note that there is a $10 cover.
5/18 and 5/19 at 8 PM, concluding on 5/21 at 8:30 PM, violinist Aaron Berofsky and pianist Phillip Bush perform the complete Beethoven sonatas for piano and violin at Merkin Concert Hall, $18 single concert tix avail., $40 for a three-day pass
5/18 jazz guitar monster Matt Munisteri’s new band the Syncopatin’ Detonators at Hill Country, 8:30 PM.
5/18, 9 PM saxophonist Benjamin Drazen – whose latest cd Inner Flights is one of the year’s best – at the Fat Cat with his quartet
5/18 solid oldschool garage rock and soul with the Solid Set at Lakeside, 9 PM
5/18 The Devil Makes Three’s hilarious, satirical, tuneful grasscore at Maxwell’s,9 PM, $10.
5/18, 10 PM Jon Irabagon’s Outright feat. Ralph Alessi (trumpet) Jacob Sacks (piano) John Hebert (bass) Tom Rainey (drums) at the Stone, $10
5/19, 7:30 PM the Trinity Choir sings music of Elena Ruehr at Trinity Church.
5/19, 8:30 PM pianist Dan Tepfer and tenor saxophonist Noah Preminger at Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.
5/19, 9 PM powerful soul/Americana chanteuse Jo Williamson at the small room at the Rockwood.
5/19, 9:30 PM clever, tongue-in-cheek faux torch-song trio the Debutante Hour followed by gypsy rocker Yula Beeri and the Extended Family at Party Xpo in Bushwick, $8
5/19, 9:30 PM alt-country chanteuse Karen Hudson with her band at Lakeside playing songs from her forthcoming Late Bloomer cd.
5/19, 10 PM this era’s finest country music voice, Laura Cantrell plays the cd release show for her new one at Hill Country, $15.
5/19, 10 PM a solid oldschool country doublebill with Alex Battles & the Whisky Rebellion followed by Hilary Hawke & the Flipsides at Southpaw, $10
5/19, 10 PM klezmer/bluegrass legend Andy Statman at Barbes.
5/20, 7 PM tuneful alto saxophonist Alexander McCabe and quartet at Miles Cafe, $20 includes a drink and “snacks”
5/20 one of the year’s best doublebills: the ever increasingly haunting, harmony-driven vintage bolero/rock band Las Rubias Del Norte at 8 followed at 10 by deliriously fun mid 60s style latin soul revivalists Spanglish Fly at Barbes.
5/20, 8 PM Frank Kimbrough – piano; Scott Robinson – reeds; Ray Drummond – bass’ Matt Wilson – drums; play a Monk-themed concert at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center at BMCC, on Chambers just east of the Highway, $25/$15 stud/srs.
5/20, 9 PM multistylistic, deliriously fun, danceable all-purpose Brazilian/country band Nation Beat at the 92YTribeca, $12 gen adm.
5/20, 9 PM adventurous Tiptons sax quartet leader Jessica Lurie with her own Ensemble at BAM Cafe.
5/20, 9:30 PM killer triplebill: oldschool latin soul revivalists Spanglish Fly, funky Afrobeat innovators Ikebe Shakedown and classic Fania era salsa stylists Bio Ritmo at Sullivan Hall, $10 gen adm.
5/20, 10 PM Black Lion & the Akinyoumba band play African roots reggae at Shrine.
5/20, 10:30 PM organist Jared Gold leads a quintet at the Fat Cat
5/20 surf music classics and obscuities with the Boss Guitars at Lakeside 11 PM
5/20, 11:30 PM NYC’s answer to Spinal Tap, Satanicide at the Mercury, $12 adv tix rec.
5/21, 7ish original gypsy punks World Inferno at Webster Hall, $21 adv tix rec.
5/21, 7:30 PM hypnotic, intense, rustic minor-key blues/klezmer/reggae jam band Hazmat Modine play the cd release for their new one Cicada at le Poisson Rouge, $12 adv tix rec
5/21, 7:15 PM killer songwriter triplebill: blue-eyed soul siren Meg Braun, lyrically intense Americana chanteuse Carolann Solebello (ex-Red Molly) at Caffe Vivaldi followed at 9:45 by sharp, often haunting countrypolitan singer Hope DeBates & North Forty.
5/21, 8 PM fearless, funny, intense anti-gentrification rockers the Brooklyn What -our pick for NYC’s best rock band right now – play their monthly show at Trash starting at 8 with No One & the Somebodies, Space Ghost Cowboys and then the Brooklyn What at around 10.
5/21, 8 PM legendary bassist Bob Cunningham and his quartet at First Acoustics Coffeehouse in Brooklyn Heights, $25 adv tix rec
5/21, 8:30 PM the latest Brooklyn County Fair starts at 8:30 with southern soul siren Dina Rudeen’s cd release show for her spectacularly good new one The Common Splendor followed eventually at 10:30 by JD Duarte’s ferocious, fun, intense country/paisley underground crew the Newton Gang.
5/21, 8:30 PM cult favorite Bulgarian art-rockers Diana Express play Symphony Space, $30 adv tix rec.
5/21, 9 PM stark acoustic southern gothic with the Handsome Family at the 92YTribeca, $16 adv tix rec.
5/21, 9 PM the Cookers’ legendary pianist George Cables leads a trio at Puppets Jazz Bar, $20 plus $10 min.
5/21, 9/10:30 PM the Alan Ferber Big Band at the Jazz Gallery, $20.
5/21, 9 PM an intriguing quartet at the Cornelia St. Cafe with Mike Baggetta – guitar; Jason Rigby – saxes; Eivind Opsvik – bass; George Schuller – drums, $15.
5/21 Spanking Charlene – playful and clever X-inflected LES Americana rockers at Lakeside, 11 PM
5/22, 2 PM future stars of the avant garde Face the Music plays Missy Mazzoli’s masterpiece Death Valley Junction, Judd Greenstein’s hip-hop indie classical piece What They Don’t Like; Gregory Huebner’s Cuban Impressions; Jacob TV’s Syracuse Blues string quartet mashup plus gospel-tinged chamber piece by Paul Schoenfield at PS 142, 100 Attorney St., $15, all proceeds to benefit the school.
5/22, sets at 3 PM and 7 PM composer Ellen Fullman at Issue Project Room’s new digs at 110 Livingston St. in downtown Brooklyn. Accompanied by David Gamper, Theresa Wong, David Douglas, & Sean Meehan, Fullman plays her “long stringed instrument” consisting of wires extended from wall to wall for an otherworldly sound that’s sort of a cross between a harp and a church organ, $15, early arrival highly advised.
5/22, 7 PM Saints and Tzadiks – that’s Susan McKeown, Oran Etkin and Erik Della Penna – at Barbes followed at 9 by Stephane Wrembel
5/22, 8 PM NYC’s very own competitive gamelan orchestra, Gamelan Dharma Swara with the Momenta Quartet and bassist/multi-instrumentalist all-around good guy Shahzad Ismaily at le Poisson Rouge, 8 PM $15 adv tix rec.
5/22 the NYCity Slickers play soaring bluesgrass with harmonies at Rodeo Bar 9ish
5/23 chamber music ensemble Time for Three at Advent Church, 93rd and Broadway, 7:30 PM.
5/23 charming oldtimey swing and hillbilly sounds with Daria Grace & the Prewar Ponies at Rodeo Bar, 9ish.
5/23, 9 PM the playful, eclectic Joshua Shneider Easy-Bake Orchestra at Tea Lounge in Park Slope.
5/23, 11 PM smart, lyrical soul chanteuse Stephanie Rooker and guitarist Ben Tyree at the small room at the Rockwood.
5/24-29 vocal jazz vet Ernestine Anderson with Houston Person, Lafayette Harris, Lonnie Plaxico & Willie Jones III at Dizzy’s Club, 7:30/9:30 PM, $30 seats avail.
5/24, 8 PM Eliza Rickman plays her haunting hypnotic intense songs at the small room at the Rockwood. She’s also at Goodbye Blue Monday on 5/25 at 11.
5/24, 8 PM Booker T. Jones – you know who he is, right? – without the MGs at the Bell House, $25.
5/24-26, 8 PM the Keys to the Future piano festival: 14 new composers, 8 pianists – at the Abrons Arts Center, 466 Grand Street (at Pitt), $20.
5/24 hypnotic postpunk guitar legends Band of Outsiders at Lakeside, 9 PM.
5/24, 10 PM dark fearless surrealistically funny former Norden Bombsight frontwoman Raquel Bell does a solo show at Pete’s.
5/24, midnight, El Pueblo play Caribbean/Puerto Rican influenced dub reggae at Sullivan Hall, $10
5/25 consistently captivating yet completely unpredictable indie classical orchestra the Knights at Lincoln Center’s Kaplan Penthouse.
5/25, 7:15 PM lyrical, tuneful, Aimee Mann-inflected songwriter Andrea Wittgens at Caffe Vivaldi.
5/25, 7:30 PM wild gypsy punks, Kagero, Kendra Morris, YC the Cynic, Afrobeat band Zongo Junction and funk orchestra Turkuaz at the Knitting Factory, $8 tix highly rec., this may sell out.
5/25, 8 PM austere hypnotic imaginative composer/violinist Ana Milosavljevic at the Stone followed by eclectic ex-Ethel violin powerhouse Todd Reynolds, $10.
5/25-28 piano jazz titan Kenny Barron leads a quartet at Birdland, 8:30/10:30 PM, $30 seats avail.
5/25, 8:30 PM trombonist David White leads his jazz orchestra at Symphony Space, $25 adv tix rec.
5/25, 9 PM Diana Jones – Americana singer who follows in Jan Bell’s footsteps, but mining more of the traditional than the original – at Joe’s Pub $12.
5/25-26, 9:30 PM ferocious bassist Omer Avital returns to his old stomping grounds, Smalls with his band
5/26, 1 PM Yoon-Kyung Shin, viola plus others TBA, program TBA, at Trinity Church, free.
5/26, 8 PM arguably the two most vital, original new music ensembles in NYC: the swirling, psychedelic Dither guitar quartet and austere, ghostly, gorgeously atmospheric Redhooker at Merkin Concert Hall, $25.
5/26, 8 PM NYC’s most popular big band, Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society and bassist Ben Allison and band at Littlefield, $16
5/26, 8 PM playful, clever toy piano specialist Phyllis Chen at Barbes.
5/26, 10:30 PM gypsy punks the West Philadelphia Orchestra followed by haunting, hypnotic, psychedelic Turkish band Raquy & the Cavemen at Drom, $12 adv tix rec.
5/26, 11 PM Radiohead-influenced art-rockers My Pet Dragon at the big room at the Rockwood.
5/28, 8 PM roots reggae, Afrobeat, desert blues and soul with the inspiring Refugee All-Stars of Sierra Leone at the Bell House, $20
5/28, 9 PM Escarioka at Mehanata. We’ve been calling them the best live band in NYC for a couple of years, now the rest of the world is finally starting to catch on.
5/28, 9 PM exhilarating, anthemic, sweepingly majestic, socially aware Radiohead-influenced art-rockers My Pet Dragon at Bowery Electric.
5/28 sly, funky chanteuse Shayna Zaid & The Catch, 10 PM at the small room at the Rockwood
5/28, 10:30 PM ukelele player/lyricist/sultry chanteuse Kelli Rae Powell at the Jalopy, $10.
5/28 dark female-fronted noir soul band Shenandoah & the Night play their ep release show at Spike Hill, 11:30 PM, note the $7 cover.
5/30 Alan Gilbert conducts the NY Phil playing Barber: Adagio for Strings; Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 “Eroica” at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, free, time TBA (guessing 8ish), early arrival advised.
5/30, 8:30 PM eclectic, often haunting pan-Asian-tinged Jen Shyu’s Jade Tongue with Jen Shyu, compositions, vocals, piano, moon lute, erhu, lakado, dance; David Binney, alto saxophone; Thomas Morgan, bass; Dan Weiss, drums at Cornelia St. Cafe, $10
5/31, 7:30 PM Nathan Davis and International Contemporary Ensemble at le Poisson Rouge, free with rsvp
5/31, 7 PM George Clinton & the P-Funk Allstars at B.B. King’s, $37.50 adv tix rec.
5/31, 8 PM new music ensemble Tribeca Monsters! feat. music of Steward Copeland, Michael Gandolfi, Dylan Mattingly, Marc Mellits, Daniel Bernard Roumain, and Jacob TV at Galapagos, $15.
6/1, 7:30 PM dark incisive classical composer/pianist Fernando Otero and cellist Inbal Segev play Bach, Kodály, and Otero at le Poisson Rouge, $15 adv tix rec.
6/1, 8 PM delightfully fun, quirky, counterintuitive all-female indie pop band the Walking Hellos at Fontana’s.
6/1, 10 PM, powerfully tuneful 80s punk/new wave throwbacks Changing Modes – who recorded our pick for best song of 2010 – at Sullivan Hall, $10.
6/1 midnight-ish big sprawling funk band Turkuaz at Southpaw, $5.
6/2, 8 PM legendary, brilliant first-wave Irish punk rockers Stiff Little Fingers make their Brooklyn debut at Europa, $20. They’re at the Gramercy Theatre the following night for an extra $13 – that’s how much Live Nation is ripping you off for this one.
6/2, 8 PM the Da Capo Chamber Players’ 40th anniversary concert at Merkin Concert Hall feat. Pierrot lunaire, OP. 21 by Arnold Schoenberg, with guest soprano, Lucy Shelton; the world premiere performance of Gravity by George Tsontakis (written for the 40th anniversary of Da Capo); the New York premiere of Midnight Rounds by Keith Fitch (written for the 40th anniversary of Da Capo); Tres Lent as well as And…They’re Off! by Joan Tower (who was the ensemble’s founding pianist), $20 adv tix very highly rec., this should sell out.
6/2, 8:30 PM trombonist Samuel Blaser leads a quartet with Russ Lossing, piano; Eivind Opsvik, bass; Paul Motian, drums; Samuel Blaser, trombone playing the cd release show for his latest one at Cornelia St. Cafe, $15
6/2, 8:30 PM new music ensemble Sybarite5 play the Lincoln Center Atrium at 65th/Bwy, letting their ipod shuffle choose the pieces they’ll be performing, early arrival advised.
6/2, midnight, dark female-fronted soul band MotherMoon at Spike Hill.
6/3, 8 PM torchy noir Americana siren Lily & the Parlour Tricks followed by oldschool soul revivalist/crooner Eli Paperboy Reed at Southpaw, $12 gen adm.
6/3, 9/10:30 PM Ingrid Laubrock, tenor sax; Ralph Alessi, trumpet; Kris Davis, piano; Tom Rainey, drums at Cornelia St. Cafe, $15
6/3 ferocious Nashville gothic rockers Ninth House play Sathony in Astoria.
6/3 wry, literate Nashville gothic with Maynard & the Mustiesat Lakeside, 11 PM.
6/3, 11:30 PM ecstatic Brazilian funk/reggae/maracatu band Dende & Hahahaes at Joe’s Pub $12.
6/4, 6:30 PM, free, the St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble play Gershwin: Lullaby for Strings; Barber:Adagio for Strings; Dvorak: String Quartet No. 12, “American” at Flushing Town Hall, tix req., early arrival advised.
6/4 a blast from the past – legendary oldschool Williamsburg punk/indie rockers FF (which stands for Fat Fuck) at Lakeside, 7 PM.
6/4, 8 PM sprawling acoustic Americana band the Woes at Rock Shop in Gowanus, $10; they’re at Sunny’s at 10 the following night for free
6/4, 8 PM the Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma at NJPAC in Newark, $25 seats avail.
6/4, 9/10:30 PM drummer Ralph Peterson’s brilliant B3 band the Unity Project plays the cd release show for their spectacularly good new one with Pat Bianchi, organ; Josh Evan, trumpet; Wayne Escoffery, tenor sax at Cornelia St. Cafe, $15
6/4, 10 PM cowpunk with the Nightmare River Band at Spike Hill.
6/5, 7:30 PM trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith’s Golden Quartet w/ Angelica Sanchez (piano), John Lindberg (bass) and Pheeroan akLaff (drums) at le Poisson Rouge, adv tix $15 rec.
6/5, 8 PM tuneful Americana harmony band the Bowmans at the small room at the Rockwood
6/5, 8 PM composer Eve Beglarian and her new band Brim at Galapagos, $15.
6/5, 8:30 PM bassist Petros Klampanis plays the cd release show for his eclectic new one feat. Megan Gould , violin; Heather Paauwe, violin; Lev “Ljova” Zhurbin, viola; Yoed Nir, cello; Gilad Hekselman, guitar; Magda giannikou, guest vocals at Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.
6/6, 7:30/9:30 PM Orrin Evans & the Captain Black Big Band at Dizzy’s Club, $20, better reserve now, these guys sell out fast.
6/6 arguably the first-ever guitar jazz triplebill at the Mercury with the astonishingly smart, intense, original, bluesy Marvin Sewell at 8, Liberty Ellman at 9 and then Moroccan-inspired Dave Fiuczynski at 10, $15.
6/6-7 the Melvins at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, 9 PM, $20 adv tix avail. at the Mercury weekdays til 7 PM
6/7, 8 PM Carol Lipnik & Spookarama play the cd release show for their hypnotic, haunting new one M.O.T.H. at the big room at the Rockwood.
6/8, 9 PM James McMurtry at the Bell House, $15. He’s also at Maxwell’s on 6/17 at 7:30 for the same price.
6/9, 7:30 PM intense Balkan-influenced songwriter Alina Simone at Joe’s Pub $12.
6/9 oldschool salsa band Bio Ritmo followed by Afrobeat crew Ikebe Shakedown’s cd release show, 9 PM at Southpaw, $10 gen adm.
6/10, 8 PM assaultive hilarious Chinatown hip-hop pioneers the Notorious MSG’s cd release show at the Brooklyn Bowl, only $5.
6/10, 8 PM Lisle Atkinson & Neo Bass play bass arrangements of Ellington feat. guests pianists at Symphony Space, $25 adv tix rec.
6/10, 8 PM antique Americana harmony band Ollabelle (all original members) at City Winery, $20 standing room tix avail.
6/10 baritone country crooner/bandleader Dale Watson at Maxwell’s 10ish, $10 (note separate admission from earlier NRBQ concert).
6/10, midnight, clever fun retro 80s synth-disco duo Hank & Cupcakes at the Mercury, $10.
6/11, 6 PM singer-songwriter satirists the Lascivious Biddies at the small room at the Rockwood
6/11 haunting noir Americana crooner Mark Sinnis (of Ninth House) plays the cd release for his new one The Undertaker In My Rearview Mirror at Duff’s Bar in South Williamsburg, 9 PM.
6/11, 9/10:30 PM John McNeil, trumpet; Bill McHenry, tenor; Joe Martin, bass; Rodney Green, drums at Cornelia St. Cafe, $15
6/11, 10 PM oldtime country harmony hellraisers Those Darlins at Maxwell’s, $10.
6/12, 8:30 PM trumpeter Sarah Wilson plays the cd release for her new one with Myra Melford, piano; Ben Goldberg, clarinet; Jerome Harris, bass; Matt Wilson, drums at Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.
6/12, 9 PM killer doublebill: torchy intense chanteuse April Smith & the Great Picture Show plus the phenomenally charismatic soul man/guitarist Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears at Maxwell’s, $18 adv tix highly rec., this will sell out
6/12, 9 PM wry, often brilliantly funny Chicago oldtimey/Americana/indie band Dastardly at Spike Hill.
6/12, 10:30 PM string driven smart eclectic doublebill: violinist/composer Christina Courtin and our favorite string quartet, Brooklyn Rider at le Poisson Rouge, $15 gen adm.
6/13, 10:30 PM Oran Etkin does his West African jazz thing followed by eclectic captivating Moroccan jazz/soul chanteuse Malika Zarra and her band at Joe’s Pub, $12
6/13 gypsy rocker Yula Beeri and the Extended Family at the big room at the Rockwood.
6/14-19, 7:30/9:30 PM Jamaican jazz/reggae piano legend Monty Alexander & the Harlem Kingston Express at Dizzy’s Club, $30 seats avail.
6/14 dark politically aware jazz/pan-Asian chanteuse/pianiast Jen Shyu at Korzo, 10 PM.
6/14, 10:20 PM ethereal dark art-rockers Elysian Fields play the cd release show for their new one at le Poisson Rouge, $15 gen adm.
6/15, 7 PM twangy, tuneful Texas-flavored alt-country band Two Cent Revival play. their cd release show at the Rockwood.
6/15, 7:30 PM pianist Veronique Mathieu plays works by Csickso and Shepherd followed by fearless avant ensemble Lunatics at Large performing works by Raoul Pleskow, Frederick Tillis, Elizabeth Bell, Steven Gerber and Marilyn Bliss at Symphony Space, $11.
6/16 John Brown’s Body – who absolutely slayed on 4/20 at Highline Ballroom – at Maxwell’s, $15.
6/16 dark lyrical songwriter Daniel Bernstein & the Everybody Knows at Fontana’s, 10 PM.
6/17, 9 PM potently politically aware third-wave ska/soul legends the Slackers at Bowery Ballroom, $16 adv tix highly rec.
6/18, 7 PM Metal Mountains (Helen Rush and Samara Lubelski’s ethereal project) followed by Thurston Moore’s Whiteout and then legendary 1960s psychedelic garage band Bardo Pond, no idea how many original members are left, $10 gen adm.
6/18, 7:30 PM tuneful death-obsessed indie pop pianist/songwriter Jeremy Messersmith at the Mercury, $10
6/19 this year’s free Punk Island festival at Governors Island happens two days in advance of Make Music NY as the yuppies are shitting their pants at the thought of loud, nonconformist music being played anywhere near their “luxury” apartments. Free ferries leave on the half hour from the old Staten Island Ferry terminal; here’s a public facebook page about it.
6/19, 6 PM a rare solo set by Matana Roberts at Downtown Music Gallery.
6/19, 9:30 PM rustic, lyrical Americana songwriter Andrew Vladeck’s dual cd/book release show at Joe’s Pub, $12.
6/19, 10 PM terrorist jazz with Peter Evans, Trumpet; Moppa Elliot, bass; Kassa Overall, drums at Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.
6/20, 10 PM tuneful danceable funk/Afrobeat band Mamarazzi at the Mercury, $15.
6/21 is Make Music NY. We’ll cherrypick the best shows and put up a separate page once the official calendar is up.
6/25 the CCB Reggae Allstars play Marley’s Rastaman Vibration in its entirety plus other Marley hits at the Brooklyn Bowl, $5.
6/28-7/3, 7:30/9:30 PM the Kenny Garrett Quartet at Dizzy’s Club, $30 seats avail.
6/29, 7 PM cellist Marika Hughes at the small room at the Rockwood.
6/30, 8:30 PM Sara Serpa leads a quintet withAndre Matos, guitar; Pete Rende, piano; Matt Brewer, bass; Tommy Crane, drums at Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.
7/2, 8 PM blistering bluegrass jamband Thy Burden’s cd release show at Union Hall, free.
7/8 dark rock chanteuse Nicole Atkins & the Sea at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, 9 PM, $12 adv tix avail. at the Mercury weekdays til 7 PM.
7/16, 10:30 PM garage rock legends the Fleshtones cd release show at the Mercury $12 adv tix rec.
7/29-30 the Eels at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, 9 PM, $30 gen adm.
8/11, 8 PM Deer Tick at Pier 54, free, seriously early arrival advised.
8/4, Bill Kirchen and Los Straitjackets at Maxwell’s $15
WEEKLY EVENTS
5/10, 5/18 and 5/26 smart, matter-of-fact, soulful Chicago blues guitarist Irving Louis Lattin plays Terra Blues at 7. He’s also at Lucille’s on 5/13 and 5/27 at 8
Sundays there’s a klezmer brunch at City Winery, show starts around 11:30 AM – 2 PM, $10 cover, no minimum, lots of good bands.
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). Free drink with your entree.
Sundays May 1, 8, 15 and 22 there are free classical organ concerts at St. Patrick’s Cathedral at 4:45 PM sharp
Through May of 2011, the series of free organ concerts at 5:15 PM continues most every week (holidays excepted) at St. Thomas Church, 53rd St. and 5th Ave.
Sundays in May, 6 PM, former New Familiars guitarist E-S Guthrie plays the Rockwood: tuneful lyrically driven Americana.
Sundays at 7:30 at Theatre 80 St. Marks the world’s most socially aware “reverend” and activist, Rev. Billy and his 30-piece gospel Church of Earthalujah Choir, $10 cover but “no one turned away.”
Stephane Wrembel plays Sundays at Barbes at 9. He’s something of an institution here, plan on arriving EARLY, 45 minutes early isn’t too soon since the whole bar gets packed fast. The guitarist has few if any equals as an interpreter of Django Reinhardt, but it’s where he takes the gypsy jazz influence in his own remarkably original, psychedelic writing – and what he brings to the Django stuff – that makes all the difference. One of the most interesting players in any style of music, anywhere in the world.
Every Sunday the Ear-Regulars, led by trumpeter Jon Kellso and (frequently) 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.
Sundays in May the Arturo O’Farrill Latin Jazz Orchestra at Birdland, 9/11 PM, $30 seats avail.
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.
Sundays in May at midnight Thad Debrock plays the small room at the Rockwood. The club calendar says he once played with the Jonas Bros., but if that’s true, don’t hold it against him. A highly sought-after sideman, multi-instrumentalist and film composer, he has a purist touch, a laserlike sense of melody and a deep list of good musicians to choose from.
Mondays at the Fat Cat the Choi Fairbanks String Quartet play a wide repertoire of chamber music from Bach to Shostakovich starting at 7.
Mondays starting a little after 7 PM Howard Williams leads his Jazz Orchestra from the piano at the Garage, 99 7th Ave. S at Grove St. There are also big bands here most every Tuesday at 7.
Mondays at the Jazz Standard it’s all Mingus, whether with the Mingus Orchestra, Big Band or Mingus Dynasty: you know the material and the players are all first rate. Sets 7:30/9:30 PM, $25 and worth it.
Also Monday nights Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks, a boisterous horn-driven 11-piece 1920s/early 30’s band play Sofia’s Restaurant, downstairs at the Edison Hotel, 221 West 46th Street between Broadway & 8th Ave., 3 sets from 8 to 11, surprisingly cheap $15 cover plus $15 minimum considering what you’re getting. Even before the Flying Neutrinos or the Moonlighters, multi-instrumentalist Giordano was pioneering the oldtimey sound in New York; his long-running residency at the old Cajun on lower 8th Ave. is legendary. He also gets a ton of film work (Giordano wrote the satirical number that Willie Nelson famously sang in Wag the Dog).
Mondays 5/2, 9 and 16 Gringoman (that’s Americana rock guitar legend and Lakeside honcho Eric “Roscoe” Ambel solo) at Lakeside 9 PM
Mondays at Tea Lounge in Park Slope at 9 PM trombonist/composer JC Sanford books big band jazz, an exciting, global mix of some of the edgiest large-ensemble sounds around. If you’re anybody in the world of big band jazz and you make it to New York, you end up playing here: what CBGB was to punk, this unlikely spot promises to be to the jazz world. No cover.
Mondays at the Vanguard the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra – composer Jim McNeely’s reliably good big band vehicle – plays 9/11 PM, $30 per set plus drink minimum.
Also Mondays in May 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 slinky but boisterous rhythm section, their mix of obscure classics and originals is one of the funnest, most danceable things you’ll witness this year.
Also Mondays in May Rev. Vince Anderson and his band play Union Pool in Williamsburg, two sets starting around 11 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, sexy original songs and is one of the most charismatic, intense live performers of our time. It’s a crazy dance party til past three in the morning. Paula Henderson from Burnt Sugar is the lead soloist on baritone sax, with Dave Smith from Smoota and the Fela pit band on trombone, with frequent special guests.
The second and fourth Tuesday of the month there are free organ concerts at half past noon at Central Synagogue, 652 Lexington Ave @ 55th St. curated by celebrated organ adventurer Gail Archer, a global mix of veteran and up-and-coming talent.
Tuesdays at 7 PM from May through July it’s a classical piano series playfully titled Upright Piano Brigade, an A-list of classical talent playing the brand-new Sauter piano at Barbes. May artists include Michael Brown on May 3; Evan Shinners on May 10; Tanya Bannister on May 17; Gregg Kallor on the 24th and William McNally on the 31st.
Tuesdays in May brass maniacs Slavic Soul Party play Barbes at 9. Get here as soon as you can as they’re very popular.
Tuesdays in May the Dred Scott Trio play astonishingly smart, dark piano jazz at the smaller room at the Rockwood at midnight.
Wednesdays at 9 PM Feral Foster’s Roots & Ruckus takes over the Jalopy, a reliably excellent weekly mix of oldtimey acts: blues, bluegrass, country and swing.
Every Thursday the Michael Arenella Quartet play 1920s hot jazz 8-11 PM at Nios, 130 W 46th St.
Thursdays and Fridays in May at Mehanata it’s Bulgarian sax powerhouse Yuri Yukanov and the Grand Masters of Gypsy Music, 10 PM, $10.
Thursdays in May hard-rocking nuevo latin soul man Rene Lopez plays Nublu. The club calendar says 9, which probably means 11.
Fridays at 8:30 PM adventurous cellist/composer Valerie Kuehne books an intriguing avant garde/classical/unclassifiable “weekly experimental cabaret” at Cafe Orwell in Bushwick, 247 Varet St. (White/Bogart), L to Morgan Ave. It’s sort of a more outside version of Small Beast, a lot of cutting-edge performers working out new ideas in casual, unstuffy surroundings. Kuehne promises “never a dull moment.”
Fridays in May at 9 Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens play the Fat Cat.
Saturdays eclectic compelling Brazilian jazz chanteuse Marianni and her excellent band at Zinc Bar, three sets starting at 10 PM
New York City Live Music Calendar for March and April 2011
We have a new calendar for April and May 2011, and it’s here.
A few things you should know about this calendar: acts are listed here in order of appearance, NOT headliner first and supporting acts after; showtimes listed here are actual set times, not the time doors open. If a listing here says something like ”9 PM-ish,” chances are it’ll run late. Cover charges are those listed on bands’ and venues’ sites: always best to click on the band link provided or go to the venues page for confirmation since we get much of this info weeks in advance. We go easy on the superlative adjectives here: every show included on this calendar is worth checking out, if the artist or band happen to play a style you enjoy. As always, weekly events first followed by the daily listings:
Sundays there’s a klezmer brunch at City Winery, show starts around 11:30 AM – 2 PM, $10 cover, no minimum, lots of good bands.
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). Free drink with your entree.
Through May of 2011, the series of free organ concerts at 5:15 PM continues most every week (holidays excepted) at St. Thomas Church, 53rd St. and 5th Ave.
Sundays in March at 6 PM the Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra – not as much of an oxymoron as the immigrants from Minnesota would have you believe – at Brooklyn Bowl, free
Stephane Wrembel plays Sundays at Barbes at 9. He’s something of an institution here, plan on arriving EARLY, 45 minutes early isn’t too soon since the whole bar gets packed fast. The guitarist has few if any equals as an interpreter of Django Reinhardt, but it’s where he takes the gypsy jazz influence in his own remarkably original, psychedelic writing – and what he brings to the Django stuff – that makes all the difference. One of the most interesting players in any style of music, anywhere in the world.
Every Sunday the Ear-Regulars, led by trumpeter Jon Kellso and (frequently) 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.
Sundays in March the Chico O’Farrill latin Jazz Orchestra at Birdland, sets 8/10:30 PM, $30 seats avail
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 at the Fat Cat the Choi Fairbanks String Quartet play a wide repertoire of chamber music from Bach to Shostakovich starting at 7.
Mondays starting a little after 7 PM Howard Williams leads his Jazz Orchestra from the piano at the Garage, 99 7th Ave. S at Grove St. There are also big bands here most every Tuesday at 7.
Mondays at the Jazz Standard it’s all Mingus, whether with the Mingus Orchestra, Big Band or Mingus Dynasty: you know the material and the players are all first rate. Sets 7:30/9:30 PM, $25 and worth it.
Also Monday nights Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks, a boisterous horn-driven 11-piece 1920s/early 30’s band play Sofia’s Restaurant, downstairs at the Edison Hotel, 221 West 46th Street between Broadway & 8th Ave., 3 sets from 8 to 11, surprisingly cheap $15 cover plus $15 minimum considering what you’re getting. Even before the Flying Neutrinos or the Moonlighters, multi-instrumentalist Giordano was pioneering the oldtimey sound in New York; his long-running residency at the old Cajun on lower 8th Ave. is legendary. He also gets a ton of film work (Giordano wrote the satirical number that Willie Nelson famously sang in Wag the Dog).
Mondays at Tea Lounge in Park Slope at 9 PM trombonist/composer JC Sanford books big band jazz, an exciting, global mix of some of the edgiest large-ensemble sounds around. If you’re anybody in the world of big band jazz and you make it to New York, you end up playing here: what CBGB was to punk, this unlikely spot promises to be to the jazz world. No cover.
Mondays at the Vanguard the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra – composer Jim McNeely’s reliably good big band vehicle – plays 9/11 PM, $30 per set plus drink minimum.
Also Mondays in March 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 slinky but boisterous rhythm section, their mix of obscure classics and originals is one of the funnest, most danceable things you’ll witness this year.
Also Mondays in March Rev. Vince Anderson and his band play Union Pool in Williamsburg, two sets starting around 11 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, sexy original songs and is one of the most charismatic, intense live performers of our time. It’s a crazy dance party til past three in the morning. Paula Henderson from Burnt Sugar is the lead soloist on baritone sax, with Dave Smith from Smoota and the Fela pit band on trombone, with frequent special guests.
The second and fourth Tuesday of the month there are free organ concerts at half past noon at Central Synagogue, 652 Lexington Ave @ 55th St. curated by celebrated organ adventurer Gail Archer, a global mix of veteran and up-and-coming talent.
Tuesdays in March Balkan brass maniacs Slavic Soul Party play Barbes at 9. Get here as soon as you can as they’re very popular.
Tuesdays in March the Dred Scott Trio play astonishingly smart, dark piano jazz at the smaller room at the Rockwood at midnight.
Wednesdays in April (not March), 4-5 PM, all ages, at the Atrium at Lincoln Center a series of Afrocentric song/dance performances with Q&A afterward moderated by Meklit Hadero. Highlights: Chanda Rule and Somi on 4/6; amazing Ethiopian Afrobeat group Debo Band spinoff the And Lay Duo playing traditional Ethiopian tunes on 4/27.
Wednesdays at 9 PM Feral Foster’s Roots & Ruckus takes over the Jalopy, a reliably excellent weekly mix of oldtimey acts: blues, bluegrass, country and swing.
Every Thursday the Michael Arenella Quartet play 1920s hot jazz 8-11 PM at Nios, 130 W 46th St.
Thursdays and Fridays in March at Mehanata it’s Bulgarian sax powerhouse Yuri Yukanov and the Grand Masters of Gypsy Music, 10 PM, $10.
Fridays at 8:30 PM adventurous cellist/composer Valerie Kuehne books an intriguing avant garde/classical/unclassifiable “weekly experimental cabaret” at Cafe Orwell in Bushwick, 247 Varet St. (White/Bogart), L to Morgan Ave. It’s sort of a more outside version of Small Beast, a lot of cutting-edge performers working out new ideas in casual, unstuffy surroundings. Kuehne promises “never a dull moment.”
Fridays in March at 9 Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens play the Fat Cat.
3/2 creepy, cinematic, noir instrumentalists Mojo Mancini at the big room at the Rockwood ,7 PM $10.
3/2, 7:30 PM at Banjo Jim’s NYC Americana luminaries singing classic country and country rock duets led by songstress Karen Hudson. Special guest vocalists incl. Alan Lee Backer, Steve Antonakos, Sean Kershaw, Orville Davis, Shannon Brown, Drina Seay, Lindy Loo, Deb O’Nair, Mo Russell, Charlie Quill, Doug Moody, Kelli King, Glenn Spivack and David Michael Weis; songs by Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons, Buck Owens, the Andrews Sisters, Linda Ronstadt, John Prine, Lucinda Williams and others.
3/2, 7:30 PM energetic oldtimey Americana act the Wiyos at Rock Shop in Gowanus, $10.
3/2-6, 7:30/9:30 PM lyrical pianist Fred Hersch – whose new solo live album is a joy – at the Jazz Standard. 3/2 with singer Kate McGarry ; 3/3 with guitarist Julian Lage; 3/4-5 Noah Preminger on tenor sax (fresh off the success of his new Palmetto release Before the Rain), Ralph Alessi on trumpet, John Hebert on bass, and Billy Drummond on drums; 3/6 in a duo show with Joshua Redman. Tickets are $30.
3/2, 9 PM Marc Ribot’s “Really The Blues” with most of the Jazz Passengers – Bill Ware, Brad Jones & EJ Rodriguez – at Rose Bar in Williamsburg.
3/2, 10 PM fiery, oldtimey chanteuse April Smith & the Great Picture Show at the Mercury, $10, early arrival advised, this deserves to sell out
3/3, 7ish smart lo-fi garage duo the Fools, the Debutante Hour’s reliably entertaining, clever Susan Hwang and fearless punk cabaret songwriter Sabrina Chap among others at Goodbye Blue Monday.
3/3, 8 PM Espers cellist Helena Espvall plays a solo set and then joins hypnotic, haunting Maine chamber-Americana duo Arborea for gorgeous rustic soundscapes at Littlefield.
3/3, 8 PM clever, torchy oldtimey songwriter Jolie Holland at City Winery, $20 seats avail.
3/3, 8 PM modern roots reggae with Giant Panda Guerrilla Dub Squad and Rebelution at Irving Plaza, $20 adv tix rec.
3/3 Springsteen violinist Sam Bardfeld’s Up Jumped the Devil – a tribute to jazz violinist Stuff Smith – at Barbes at 8 followed by Red Baraat’s funky Indian marching band madness at 10 for a $10 cover.
3/3, 9 PM charismatic Americana roots singer Cal Folger Day at Banjo Jim’s; she’s also at the National Underground upstairs at 7 on 3/11
3/3 Police cover band NY’s Finest at 9 followed by Tammy Faye Starlite’s hilarious Blondie tribute/spoof band the Pretty Babies at 10 at R Bar.
3/3, 9 PM rootsy Sweetheart of the Rodeo style country rock with Whisperado at Hank’s.
3/3 eclectic, danceable Brazilian maracatu and country sounds with Nation Beat at Rodeo Bar 10ish
3/3, 10:30 PM Whiting Tennis – the former Scholars frontman and arguably the finest practitioner of Pacific Northwest gothic rock – at Pete’s.
3/4, 6:30 PM Marc Cary’s Indigenous People plus Sameer Gupta’s Namaskar at le Poisson Rouge, $15. Cary is our favorite pianist right now – no disrespect to anybody else, but nobody else we know can switch from rivetingly intense majestic third-stream grandeur to playful, fun Rhodes funk grooves so effortlessly and intuitively as this guy. He’s doing both with probably both bands, the kind of workout that brings out his best. Gupta is his Focus Trio drummer and leads a hypnotic Bollywood flavored outfit.
3/4 the Snow’s wry, brilliantly lyrical frontman Pierre de Gaillande plays his own hilarious translations of French songwriting icon Georges Brassens’s songs at Drom, 7:30 PM, $10 gen adm.
3/4, 8 PM at Otto’s, a rare Friday surf music night put together by Unsteady Freddie: this one’s a real good one: the Octomen at 9, garage rockers Preston Wayne 4 at 10, then entertaining, intense Boston horror-surf rockers Beware The Dangers Of A Ghost Scorpion at 11; BTDOAGS are also at Spike Hill on 3/27.
3/4, 8 PM, deviously fun, low-register oldschool Cuban vamps and originals with Gato Loco – baritone guitar, sax, bass and tuba – at Barbes. They’re also at Bowery Poetry Club at 8 on 3/6.
3/4, 8 PM, the psychobilly Memphis Morticians at the smaller downstairs space at Webster Hall, $12 adv tix rec.
3/4-6, 8/10 PM the Larry Coryell “power trio” with Victor Bailey on bass and Lenny White on drums at Iridium, $30 cover. Iconic jazz guitarist from the 70s whose fusions associations transcend any involvement with the style (he got into Rachmaninoff in a big way back in the 80s), somebody you ought to see at least once
3/4-5, 8 PM at the Kitchen: “Inspired by her immigrant grandfather, a junk dealer in the Lower East Side who recycled scrap metal and other byproducts of the industrial age, Annie Gosfield will sample the sounds of metal, machines, and factories, and transform these raw materials into something new. Featuring two ensembles: the Annie Gosfield Ensemble, with Gosfield on sampling keyboard, Roger Kleier on electric guitar, and Ches Smith on drums and percussion; and Real Quiet with Felix Fan on cello, piano by Andrew Russo, and guest percussionist Alex Lipowski. Also pianist Stephen Gosling performs a selection of Gosfield solos.”
3/4, 8 PM pianist David Kalhous – who has an intuitive, laserlike feel for this sort of thing – plays the complete solo piano works of Leos Janacek at Bargemusic, $35/$30 srs/$15 stud.
3/4, 9ish swirling hypnotic tuneful postrock with cellist/composer Julia Kent at Littlefield, $8.
3/4, 9 PM: newschool and oldschool edginess: Raya Brass Band followed by The Scene Is Now at Matchless in Williamsburg
3/4, 9 PM hot Boston buzz band Mic Raygun, who mine a noirish, cinematic vein, at Tea Lounge in Park Slope.
3/4, 9 PM edgy British postpunk dance-rockers Deluka at 9 at the downstairs studio space at Webster Hall.
3/4, 9 PM the reliably cinematic Morricone Youth at Hank’s.
3/4, 9:30 PMat I-Beam Sean Moran’s “Small Elephant” – Mike McGinnis – clarinets; Reuben Radding – bass; Chris Dingman – vibraphone; Sean Moran – nylon string guitar; Harris Eisenstadt – drums.
3/4, 9:30 PM Americana siren Julia Haltigan at BAM Cafe.
3/4, 10 PM retro 60s latin soul sounds with the Brooklyn Boogaloo Blowout at 55 Bar.
3/5, 5 PM Elliott Sharp’s Orchestra Carbon play an open rehearsal of his Flexagons at Issue Project Room followed by a $35 ticketed show at 7 (it’s his birthday gig) featuring a marathon of solo and ensemble works for noiserock guitar.
3/5, 7 PM a cool dark Americana triplebill at Banjo Jim’s with Lorraine Leckie & Her Demons at 7, Carol Lipnik & Spookarama at 8 and fiddler Melody Allegra’s bluegrass jam at 9.
3/5, 8 PM richly arranged, sometimes rustic, sometimes cinematic Balkan noir band Kotorino at Barbes followed at 10 by Brooklyn’s own Banda Sinaloense de los Muertos; Kotorino are also at Sycamore Bar on 3/12 at 9.
3/5, 9 PM luminary drummer Ben Perowsky’s MSO followed at 10 by cleverly lyrical, sultry, theatrical torch song satirists the Debutante Hour’s cd release show at Bowery Electric.
3/5, 8 PM utterly original cantorial riff-rockers Sway Machinery open for Malian psychedelic desert blues goddess Khaira Arby at the Bell House, 8 PM, $15 adv tix rec.
3/5, 8 PM, repeating on 3/6, 3 PM the Chelsea Symphony plays Sibelius’ lush, lyrical Fifth Symphony and other works at St. Paul’s Church, 315 W 22nd St.
3/5, 9 PM star ska trumpeter Kevin Batchelor and then eclectic Senegalese-American roots reggae band Meta & the Cornerstones at the 92YTribeca, $12 adv tix rec.
3/5 cowpunk with I’ll Be John Brown at Hank’s, 9 PM followed by the ferocious, psychedelic, dark paisley underground Newton Gang at 10 and the Judge Roy Bean Band at midnight or so. The Newton Gang are also upstairs at the National Underground on 3/29 at 9.
3/5, 9 PM ageless Irish acoustic punk band Box of Crayons at the new Freddy’s
3/5, 9 PM hypnotic carnatic vocal music of south India with Roopa Mahadadevan at Alwan for the Arts, $20/$15 stud/srs.
3/5 gypsy punk with Bad Buka (FKA Panonian Wave) at Mehanata, 10 PM
3/5, 10 PM Koony plays darkly intense, lyrical African Francophone roots reggae at Shrine.
3/5, 10 PM the satirical, fearlessly amusing Reformed Whores at Pete’s at 10.
3/5, 11 PM the Hate My Day Jobs at Lit doing their energetic fifth-generation Stooges thing.
3/6, 3 PM intense playful all-female klezmer supergroup Isle of Klezbos at the Queens Central Library, 89-11 Merrick Blvd, Jamaica Queens, F to 169th St, or E/J trains to Jamaica Center/Parsons-Archer; they’re also at the Westbeth Theatre on 3/9 at 8:30 for $15/$10 srs.
3/6, 6 PM gypsy jazz power trio Ameranouche at Puppets Jazz Bar
3/6, 6 and 9:30 PM cellist Zoe Keating and Ethel co-founder/violinist Todd Reynolds do their separate things with their instruments and every effects pedal ever manufactured, $15 adv tix rec.
3/6, 9 PM ageless, swirling, psychedelic punk pioneers Band of Outsiders at Lakeside. They beat Brian Jonestown Massacre to it by 20 years and still kick their ass.
3/6, 10 PM smartly lyrical retro theatrical rockers Balthrop Alabama at the big room at the Rockwood
3/6 Keeping Toward Sky: Tim Keiper, nguni and drums; Chris Dingman, vibraphone; Skye Steele, violin; Chris Tordini, bass play all kinds of crazy, captivating eclectic stuff at 10 PM at Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.
3/6, 11 PM lyrical noir songwriter Adam Masterson at the small room at the Rockwood; 3/9 he’s at Lakeside at 9.
3/7 the uncommonly imaginative Christine Jensen Jazz Orchestra at Dizzy’s Club 7:30/9:30 PM, $20.
3/7, 9 PM cutting-edge big band jazz with the Russ Flynn Large Ensemble at Tea Lounge in Park Slope.
3/7 Dina Rudeen – whose long-awaited, forthcoming retro soul/rock album is a strong contender for best of 2010 – at Small Beast at the Delancey, 11 PM.
3/8, 8/10:30 PM tuneful postbop jazz pianist George Cables – whose work with the Cookers this past year was nothing short of transcendent – plays a trio gig with James Genus and Jeff “Tain” Watts at the Blue Note, $15 seats avail
3/8, 8 PM Ice Cube – yeah, the guy from the Friday movies, doing his rap thing (back in the day he was one of the great ones) at B.B. King’s, $27 adv tix rec.
3/8, 9 PM Jen Shyu plays a rare solo set of her smart, socially aware, historically-imbued pan-Asian vocal jazz at Korzo.
3/8, 9:30 PM eclectic, captivating pianist Mika Pohjola with Steve Doyle on bass and Kyle Struve on drums at Miles Cafe, 9:30 PM, $20 cover includes a drink and “snacks” but sushi is extra.
3/8, 10 PM alto saxophonist David Binney leads a quartet with Jacob Sacks on piano, Thomas Morgan on bass and Dan Weiss on drums at 55 Bar. They’re back here on 3/22 as well.
3/8, guessing sometime around 11ish, Raekwon plays a cd release show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, $15 adv tix rec., for some reason this doesn’t appear to be sold out yet.
3/8-12, 11 PM bassist Jennifer Leitham leads a trio with Sherrie Maricle on drums and Tomoko Ohno (not to be confused with the former Red Sox pitcher) on piano at Dizzy’s Club, $10 tix avail.
3/8 garage-punk with Sister Anne (andtheir two bass players) followed by retro soul star Eli “Paperboy” Reed at the Knitting Factory, 11 PM, $15, all ages.
3/9 Mos Def at the Blue Note is sold out – just so you know.
3/9 adventurous string quartet Brooklyn Rider with Iranian spike fiddle virtuoso/composer Kayhan Kalhor playing a Philip Glass premiere and more at Alice Tully Hall, 7:30 PM, $20.
3/9, 7:30 PM cello-driven world music band Deoro plays the big room at the Rockwood.
3/9, 9ish one of the great wits in rock, Marcellus Hall plays the cd release show for his career-best new one at Bowery Electric.
3/9, 9 PM at the Jalopy: Lunas Atlas – “beautiful and ancient songs of the Sephardic diaspora, sung in Ladino, Turkish and Greek. It features Chris Rael on sitar, 12-string guitar, Portugese lute and voice, Rima Fand on violin and voice, Bulgarian chanteuse Vlada Tomova, reed man extraordinaire Greg Squared and flamenco percussion star Nacho Arimany” – followed by Raya Brass Band.
3/9, 9ish cleverly theatrical, lyrical, satirical all-girl trio the Debutante Hour at Culturefix on Clinton St.
3/9, 10ish tongue-in-cheek, period-perfect early 50s style country from Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. at Rodeo Bar.
3/9, 10 PM bassist Chris Tordini leads a quartet with the always fascinating Kris Davis on piano plus Jeremy Viner, tenor sax, clarinet; Jim Black, drums at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.
3/10, Maksim Shtrykov and Alina Kiryayeva, clarinet and piano, program TBA, 1 PM at Trinity Church, free.
3/10-13 saloon jazz piano legend Mose Allison at the Jazz Standard, 7:30/9:30 PM, $30. Without this guy, Tom Waits wouldn’t exist, maybe not Dr. John either. Now in his 80s, he’s absolutely undiminished.
3/10, 8 PM fiery psychedelic rock/honkytonk band the Newton Gang at Banjo Jim’s
3/10 NYC indie/janglerock legends Scout 8 PM at the small room at the Rockwood.
3/10, 8 PM The Escape Artist, a haunting Caravaggio-themed theatrical piece by legendary singer John Kelly with music by Carol Lipnik at the Park Ave. Armory on the upper east, $25, reception to follow concert. They’re also doing this at PS 122 from 4/15 through 4/22.
3/10 Stephan Said’s Magic Orchestra, 8 PM at Drom, $10 – fiery, socially aware rock, hip-hop, Balkan and reggae tunes.
3/10, 8:30 PM the most unpredictably amusing guy in country music, the Jack Grace Band at Hill Country
3/10 Burnt Sugar play Bowie at the Atrium at Lincoln Center, 8:30 PM.
3/10 saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock plays the cd release for her new one Anti-House with Mary Halvorson , guitar; John Hébert , bass; Tom Rainey , drums, 8:30 PM at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $10
3/10, 9 PM two of the funniest and most period-perfect songwriters in oldtimey Americana, Al Duvall and Robin Aigner at Rest Au Rant, 30-01 35th Ave., Long Island City.
3/10 noir rockabilly/blues showman Reid Paley at Rodeo Bar 10ish “laughing in the face of life’s unrelenting ugliness.”
3/10, 10 PM reggae and ska with the Hard Times and then Royal City Riot at 11 at Otto’s.
3/10, 10 PM oldschool Colombian cumbia band Cumbiagra at Barbes.
3/10-11 at Smalls, 10 PM Seamus Blake – tenor sax; Lage Lund – guitar; Dave Kikoski – piano; Matt Clohesy – bass; Bill Stewart – drums.
3/10, 11ish smart, tuneful powerpop with the Brooklyn What spinoff John-Severin & the Quiet 1s at Union Hall.
3/11, 6 PM at Alwan for the Arts, free and open to the public, “a conversation moderated by Amy Goodman between Ahdaf Soueif and her son Omar Robert Hamilton, both of whom were in Tahrir Square, Cairo, participating throughout, filming and disseminating information, and have since been writing about it all, but have never had the opportunity between themselves for a reflective encounter.”
3/11, 7:30 PM oldtime hokum blues and hillbilly music with the Second Fiddles at Hill Country.
3/11, 7:30 PM tuneful, energetic, original postbop saxophonist Benny Sharoni leads a quartet at Miles Cafe, $20 cover includes a drink and “snacks”
3/11, 7:30 PM avant garde multi-reed legend JD Parran plays Menon Dwarka; the solo version of You Have a Right To Remain Silent by Anthony Davis; “…vikings, unless…” by Douglas Anderson at Greenwich House Music School, 46 Barrow St. between Bedford St. & 7th Ave. S, $15
3/11-12, 8 PM the long-awaited debut of The Songs of Buelah Rowley, by the brilliantly eclectic Mary Lee Kortes at the Cell Theatre, 338 W. 23rd St. (8th and 9th Aves.): “A song cycle with narration and projections based on the biography of Beulah Rowley, a regionally-known depression-era singer and songwriter from the Midwest,” $20 adv tix rec.
3/11, 8 PM a cool punk-oriented quadruple bill at Ace of Clubs starting at 8 with Box of Crayons, goth-punks Eleventh Hour (whose new album is called Coney Island Death March), the entertaining Hymen Holocaust and Irish band Paranoid Visions, who do a pretty good DKs facsimile.
3/11, 8 PM latin string quartet Sweet Plantain and equally cutting-edge, considerably more brooding Argentinian pianist/composer Fernando Otero at the 92YTribeca, $12 adv tix highly rec
3/11, 8 PM improvisational Afrobeat vibes with the Budos Band at the Bell House, $15.
3/11, 8 PM edgy trumpeter Nate Wooley plays his improvisational suite The Seven Storey Mountain at Issue Project Room.
3/11 a characteristically eclectic night at Barbes: reedman Petr Cancura leads a septet at 8 followed at 10 by Dominican folk music chanteuse Irka Mateo.
3/11, 8 PM whispery/sultry, original retro jazz/Americana chanteuse Brooke Campbell at the cafe at the 92YTribeca, free.
3/11, 8:30 PM at I-Beam, violinist Tom Swafford brings a huge, interesting band: Sally Wall, oboe; Mike McGinnis, clarinet; Jen Baker, trombone; Nathan Koci, accordion; Cory Bracken, log drum; Leanne Darling, viola; Brian Sanders, cello; Reuben Radding, bass
3/11 noir rocker Nicole Atkins at Maxwell’s at 8:30 PM, $16 adv tix rec; note that there is separate admission ($15) for the Blasters show at 11.
3/11 Bogs Visionary Orchestra’s Jose Delhart plays terse, pensive Americana nocturnes followed by the wry yet haunting Elisa Flynn, whose upcoming album features songs about William Tecumseh Sherman, the 1893 Chicago Exposition, and the Donner Party (yup, that’s me, she says) at Sugar Lounge, 147 Columbia St., Red Hook, 9 PM
3/11, 9 PM powerpop/oldschool R&B with the Brilliant Mistakes at the small room at the Rockwood.
3/11, 9 PM ageless reggae-rock band Faith at BAM Cafe.
3/11, 9 PM virtuoso oldschool country guitar duo the Plunk Bros. at Freddy’s.
3/11, 9/10:30 PM pianist Ben Waltzer with the JD Allen trio rhythm section, Gregg August on bass and Rudy Royston on drums at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $15
3/11-12 Wess Anderson, Charles McPherson and others play music from Charlie Parker’s Bird with Strings at Rose Theatre at Lincoln Center, $30 tix avail.
3/11, 10 PM Zion Judah plays roots reggae at Shrine.
3/11, 10 PM a good dark Americana/Nashville gothic doublebill with Fist of Kindness followed at 11 by Maynard & the Musties at Desmond’s
3/12, 1 PM a free concert at Bargemusic, early arrival advised, most likely piano music.
3/12, 6:30 PM Turn Down the Sun play pretty good Dead Kennedys style punk at Ace of Clubs.
3/12, 7 PM charismatic blue-eyed soul siren Meg Braun and intense, smart multi-instrumentalist Americana songwriter Carolann Solebello (ex-Red Molly) at Caffe Vivaldi
3/12, 7:30 PM psychedelic Middle Eastern/Balkan/Asian jamband Tribecastan at Joe’s Pub, $15 adv tix rec.
3/12 a killer ska/rocksteady triplebill with the Hard Times on more of a reggae tip, then the oldschool Bluebeats and the latin-flavored King Django at Shrine, 8 PM
3/12, 8 PM lush, clever, quirky art-rockers the Universal Thump – in the midst of a brilliant new album – at Barbes.
3/12, 8 PM Poor Baby Bree presents Historic Songs of the Lower East Side at Bowery Poetry Club with an all-star oldtimey ragtime band featuring Karen Waltuch of the Roulette Sisters on viola.
3/12 intense, surprising, lyrical pianist Kris Davis leads a trio with Tony Malaby, saxophone; Eivind Opsvik, bass; Tom Rainey, drums, 9/10:30 PM at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $15.
3/12, 9 PM an all-star evening of hypnotic, haunting sufi music at Alwan for the Arts with Taoufiq Ben Amor – vocals, oud and percussion; Ramzi El-Edlibi – percussion; and Zafer Tawil – violin, pud and percussion; George Ziadeh – oud and vocals , $20/$15 stud.srs.
3/12, 9ish garage rock fun with faux-French band les Sans Culottes and then another reunion show by 80s/90s legends Johnny Chan & the New Dynasty 6 at Bowery Electric.
3/12 Magges – the Greek Gogol Bordello – at Mehanata, 10:30 PM – free before 10
3/12, 10:30 PM LES punk/surf/rockabilly guitar legend Simon & the Bar Sinisters at Lakeside.
3/12 “Brooklyn’s #1 regressive rock act,” stoner metal parodists Mighty High at Trash, midnight.
3/13, 3 PM organist Gail Archer plays Liszt at West End Collegiate Church, West End Ave. at 77th St..
3/13 a killer doublebill at 55 Bar starting at 6 with noir guitarist Jim Campilongo leading an jam quartet followed by tenor saxophonist Noah Preminger with guitarist Ben Monder, bassist John Hebert and drummer Matt Wilson at 9:30
3/13, 7 PM, hot modern klezmer with the Klez Dispensers at Drom, $10.
3/13 a cool duo show with Dan Tepfer on piano plus Becca Stevens on vocals and charango, 8:30 PM at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $10
3/13, 9 PM a wild cerebral exuberant intense psychedelic doublebill at Joe’s Pub with the incomparable Rachelle Garniez opening for Electric Junkyard Gamelan. The former topped our best albums list in 2007; the latter played arguably the best concert we saw all year long in 2010.
3/13, 11 PM the Hsu-Nami play Taiwanese art-rock/metal instrumentals with electrified er-hu violin at Arlene’s – this band is unbelievably intense and a lot of fun.
3/13, midnight, multi-instrumentalist Thad Debrock plays the small room at the Rockwood. He’s played brilliantly on so many Americana and singer-songwriter albums it’s not funny; it’ll be interesting to hear him do his own stuff.
3/14 the Italian Surf Academy feat. Marco Cappelli – guitar; Luca Lo Bianco, bass and Francesco Cusa, drums at 7:30ish at Barbes playing 1960s style spaghetti western and Italian surf music (!?!) followed at 9:30 by another devious surfy band, Chicha Libre. They’re also at Shrine at 6 (six) PM on 3/15.
3/14, 9 PM Godspeed You Black Emperor at Terminal 5, $25 all ages. 3/15-16, 8 PM they’re at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple, $TBA, this may sell out, no word on adv tix.
3/14, 9 PM the eclectic Javier Arrau Jazz Orchestra at Tea Lounge in Park Slope.
3/15, 7 PM Musette Explosion play darkly smoldering oldtime Belgian barroom music at Barbes followed at 9 by Slavic Soul Party.
3/15, 7:30 PM at le Poisson Rouge: the Jasper String Quartet, Sospiro Winds, violinist Miranda Cuckson, pianists Jacob Greenberg and Aaron Wunsch, cellist Julia Bruskin, and hornist Angela Cordell Bilger play György Ligeti: Music for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, $15 adv tix rec.
3/15 pianist Jeremy Denk with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center plays Dvorak: Slavonic Dances (with pianist Wu Han), String Sextet and Piano Quintet in A plus works by Smetana at Alice Tully Hall, 7:30 PM, $25 tix avail.
3/15, 8 PM Cadillac Moon Ensemble plays works by Shawn Allison , Angélica Negrón, David Claman, Amy Beth Kirsten, Andre Brégégère, Ed RosenBerg III, and Anna Mikhailova at St. Peter’s Church, at 631 Lexington Ave. off 54th St., $10 sugg don.
3/15, 9 PM Iviorien roots reggae star Tiken Jah Fakoly at SOB’s, $25 adv tix rec.
3/16, 7 PM a deliciously fun if completely bizarre doublebill: banjo virtuoso Jayme Stone, who’s recently moved from desert blues to Bach, opens for the increasingly sepulchral, mesmerizing retro latin harmony band Las Rubias del Norte at le Poisson Rouge, $15.
3/16, 7 PM at Alwan for the Arts, free and open to the public, a lecture by Stuart Schaar (Prof. Emeritus, Brooklyn College/Rabat, Morocco and editor of the Grove Press Middle East and Islamic World Reader) on the topic of Generational Change and the Future of Hope in the Arab World.
3/16, 7:30 PM Shara Worden and Ymusic play a Worden world premiere plus pieces from Sarah Kirkland Snider’s hypnotic antiwar suite Penelope at Merkin Concert Hall, $25 tix highly rec. I’ll also be simulcast live on q2.
3/16, 8 PM Ethel violinist/composer Todd Reynolds plays the cd release show for his lively, entertaining, strikingly accessible new cd Outerborough at Issue Project Room, $20 cover includes a copy of the double cd – good value!
3/16 the Solid Set play garage rock at Lakeside, 9 PM.
3/16 janglerocker Sam Sherwin – who’s mining a tuneful, soulful Wallflowers vibe these days – at the Parkside, 9 PM.
3/16, 9:30 PM the JD Allen Trio with Gregg August on bass and Rudy Royston on drums at Zinc Bar, 9:30 PM. This will sell out, get there at least a half-hour early: the most explosively interesting trio in jazz right now warp tenor player Allen’s wickedly melodic, intense compositions into some crazy and unexpected shapes
3/16, 9:30 PM Joris Teepe – bass; Don Braden – tenor sax; Alex Norris – trumpet, Jon Davis – piano; Gerry Gibbs – drums, at Smalls.
3/16 dark gypsy rock bandleader/bassist Yula Beeri and her band at the big room at the Rockwood 10 PM.
3/17 lyrical jazz pianist Deanna Witkowski at Trinity Church, 1 PM, free.
3/17, 7 PM the Lia Fail Pipe Band open for Black 47 playing their annual St. Paddy’s Day show at B.B. King’s, $25 adv tix rec. Black 47 actually draw a much cooler crowd than you’d expect at one of these St. Paddy’s Days shows.
3/17, 8 PM Iranian oud virtuoso Negar Booban plays a celebration of the Nowruz, the Persian New Year/equinox festival at Alwan for the Arts, $20/$15stud/srs. Her debut here two years ago sold out quickly, advance tix rec
3/17, fun and funky stuff starting at 8 PM with Sex Mob followed by Tuarata tenor saxophonist Skerik’s punk jazz trio the Dead Kenny G’s at Brooklyn Bowl, $5.
3/17, 9 PM brilliantly lyrical, sly, torchy oldtimey songwriter/siren Kelli Rae Powell with “soulful songwriting monster” Yolanda Batts at Bar 4 in Park Slope
3/18, 7 PM pianist Simone Dinnerstein PS 142, 100 Attorney St. (Rivington/Delancey), $15, program TBA, possibly Bach from her ridiculously popular new cd.
3/17, 8 PM watch fortysomething moms dodge drunken amateurs in the Meatpacking District as they make their way to see Karla Bonoff at Highline Ballroom. $25 advance tix available in case you want to pick up a fortysomething mom.
3/17, 8:30 PM escape the drunken hordes with the Escher String Quartet playing Beethoven: Quartet in F minor, Op. 95, “Serioso” plus Mendelssohn: Quartet in D major, Op. 44, No. 1 at the Atrium at Lincoln Center, free, early arrival advised.
3/17, 10 PM yet another a chance to get away from the amateurs with Azizah & the Tribal Council playing roots reggae at Shrine
3/18, 7:30 PM the NYC debut of big band arrangements of Esquivel “compositions” by Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica at le Poisson Rouge, $20 adv tix rec
3/18, 8 PM, repeating 3/19/11 at 9 PM at Symphony Space, legendary Lebanese expat oud icon/composer Marcel Khalife in the US premiere of his Concerto Al Andalus for oud and orchestra; Armenia’s most renowned kanun (zither) virtuoso, Karine Hovhannisyan, performing the concerto for kanun and orchestra by Khachatur Avetisyan; and clarinetist David Krakauer playing the NY premiere of the Klezmer Concerto by Ofer Ben-Amots for strings, harp, percussion and clarinet; plus the eclectic Orchestra Celebrate, conducted by Laurine Celeste Fox, $25 adv tix avail. at the World Music Institute box office and highly rec.
3/18, 8 PM Richard Thompson at NJPAC in Newark – $35 tix still available according to their website.
3/18, 8 PM eclectic vocalist Suzanne Langille and multi-instrumentalist Neel Murgai plus adventurous avant guitarist Chris Forsyth’s Paranoid Cat at Issue Project Room, $10.
3/18, 8 PM adventurous jazz guitarist Mary Halvorson leads a quintet at Barbes: Jon Irabagon (alto saxophone), Kirk Knuffke (cornet), Mary Halvorson (guitar), John Hébert (bass) & Ches Smith (drums), followed by Smokey Hormel’s Roundup playing western swing at 10.
3/18, 8 PM new music ensemble Detour at Galapagos, program TBA, $10.
3/18, 9 PM smart lyrical indie rocker Jennifer O’Connor opens for the Red House Painters’ Mark Kozelek at Bowery Ballroom, $25 gen adm.
3/18 bassist Carlo De Rosa leads a quartet with Mark Shim – saxophones, Vijay Iyer – piano, Justin Brown – drums to celebrate his new cd release, 9/10:30 PM, at the Jazz Gallery, $20
3/18, 9 PM charismatic Brazilian chanteuse Liliana Araujo – of Nation Beat – at BAM Cafe.
3/18, 9:30 PM sophisticated, counterintuitive Americana chanteuse Hope DeBates & North Forty at Caffe Vivaldi.
3/18, 10 PM a funk doublebill with Afroskull and Buzz Universe at Bowery Poetry Club, $10.
3/18 the Boss Guitars play surf classics and obscurities Lakeside, 11 PM.
3/19, 6 PM clarinetist Tom Piercy plays Piazzolla and other fascinating eclectic stuff at Caffe Vivaldi, supporting cast TBA.
3/19, 7 PM Ensemble Pi play a potent program of socially aware new music: George Crumb’s whale-song piece Vox Balaenae for Three Masked Players; Kristin Norderval’s Echo Systems (2011), composed in response to both the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the 1989 sinking of the Exxon Valdez tanker in Alaska; Pete Seeger’s classic song, Rainbow Race, in a new arrangement by Karl Kramer (2011); and Christopher Kaufman’s Hudson Valley (2010), capturing the world of the Hudson River Valley through music and film footage, including the dangers of natural gas drilling, at the great hall at Cooper Union, $15/$10 stud/srs
3/19, 7 PM latin jazz with the Gregorio Uribe Big Band at the Fat Cat.
3/19, 8 PM the high point of the month for rock music is at Trash with Thinktankok, the Highway Gimps (the missing link between My Bloody Valentine and Motorhead), the ferocious, anthemic, hilarious Brooklyn What, entertainingly ghoulish Space Ghost Cowboys and Fatty Acid around midnight. Oh yeah, open bar with PBRs and wells 8-9 PM with paid admission.
3/19, 8 PM wry lyrical janglemeister Jay Banerjee – creator of Hipster Demolition Night – is back with a wall-to-wall good evening of retro rock and soul starting with Zap & the Naturals, Toys in Trouble, Mighty Fine, Shakedown at the Majestic and his own band the Heartthrobs at midnight.
3/19, 8 PM irrepressible folk/Americana harmony trio Red Molly with Pat Wictor on guitar at the First Acoustics Coffeehouse in downtown Brooklyn, $30 adv tix rec.
3/19, 8 PM Sistermonk play Shrine – if you haven’t seen their gypsy funk thing at Grand Central (upstairs from the N/R platform) now’s your chance.
3/19, 8 PM retro jazz/bossa chanteuse Sasha Dobson – who excels at avoiding the schlock factor – at Barbes followed by the Baby Soda Jazz Band at 10 playing oldtime swing.
3/19, 8:30 PM sound sculptor Lesley Flanigan – whose creations using homemade speakers and feedback are absolutely hypnotic – plays a duet with Dither axeman James Moore at Roulette followed by string ensemble Till by Turning doing new compositions by Erica Dicker, Matt Marble, and Katherine Young.
3/19, 9 PM swirling hypnotic Radiohead-influenced art-rockers My Pet Dragon at Cake Shop; they’re also at the Mercury at 11:30 on 4/1, no joke
3/19, 9 PM Forever Her Nightmare play tuneful female-fronted punk/metal at Ace of Clubs, $10.
3/19, 10:30 PM big oldtime Americana outfit M Shanghai String Band at the Jalopy.
3/19 fearlessly funny, oldschool East Village style punk/Americana rockers Spanking Charlene play Lakeside, 11 PM.
3/20, 7 PM La Camerata Washington Heights plays “sacred and profane” music by Grandjany, Bach, Saint-Saens, Satie, Debussy, Villa-lobos and Beethoven at Culturefix on Clinton St., 8 PM
3/20, 7 PM the Four Bags – who blend jazz, classical and the Beatles with deadpan wit – at Barbes followed at 9 by Stephane Wrembel.
3/20, 8:15 smart, original 2/3 female rockabilly/surf trio Catspaw at Otto’s
3/20, 8:30 PM guitarist Scott DuBois leads a quartet featuring; Jon Irabagon, tenor, soprano sax; Thomas Morgan, bass; Kresten Osgood, drums at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.
3/20 Uncle Leon & the Alibis at Rodeo Bar 10ish: “Roller Derby saved his soul as he rode the Beer Train, hating his job whilst noticing that baby’s got back.”
3/21 new music ensemble Lunatics at Large debuts their Sanctuary Project featuring works by Andre Bregegere, Mohammed Fairouz, Raphael Fusco, Laura Koplewitz, Alex Shapiro at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall
3/21, 8 PM sharp, cumbia stars Chico Trujillo at Barbes – their only Brooklyn appearance this year – followed at 9:30ish by Chicha Libre. Chico Trujillo are at SOB’s on 3/22 at 11ish for $12 in advance if you can’t make it to Barbes.
3/21, 9 PM third-stream big band jazz with with Joseph C. Phillips and Numinous at Tea Lounge in Park Slope.
3/21 Israeli Jam/Buzzcocks ripoff Electra at Bruar Falls.
3/22 the Gowanus Reggae and Ska Society a.k.a. GRASS plays the cd release show for their new one GRASS on Fire (a jazzy instrumental remake of the Wailers’ Catch a Fire) at the Apple Store, 103 Prince St., 7 PM, free
3/22 trumpeter Steven Bernstein’s genre-defying Millennial Territory Orchestra, 7:30/9:30 PM at the Jazz Standard, $20.
3/22, 8 PM Japanese salsa stars Sonodaband play a benefit for Japanese meltdown survivors at SOB’s, $12 adv tix very highly rec., followed at 10 by Spanglish Fly with their sultry retro 60s latin soul vibe for $10 (separate admission).
3/22-27 trumpet luminary Dave Douglas & Brass Ecstasy at the Vanguard, sets 9/11 PM.
3/23, 7 PM, free, this year’s edition of avant piano titan Kathy Supove’s Music with a View festival is underway at the Flea Theatre (41 White St. between Church/Bwy). On the bill tonight: Preston Stahly, Emily Manzo and bagpiper Matthew Welch, Paul Crowley, Kevin Bourisquot and his large musical/theatrical/dancing troupe and Aled Roberts.
3/23, 8 PM powerpop guitar genius/songwriter Pete Galub at LIC Bar.
3/23-24, 8 PM Mariachi El Bronx open for dark gypsyish rockers Devotchka at Highline Ballroom, $26.50 adv tix rec.
3/23, 7:30 PM, new music ensemble Le Train Bleu plays their debut performance of Stravinsky’s Histoire du Soldat at Galapagos, $20/$10 stud.
3/23, 7:30 PM Pedro Diaz, oboe; Milan Milisavljevic, viola; Anna Stoytcheva, piano play Schumann, Brahms, Saint-Saens and Loeffler at the Bulgarian Consulate, 121 E 62nd. St., free.
3/23-24 eclectic retro Mexican bandleader Lila Downs at City Winery, 8 PM, $35 seats avail.
3/23, 9 PM Richard Ashcroft, late of the Verve at Bowery Ballroom, $25 gen adm. Go see the show, help save him from having to do car commercials for a living!
3/24 from Turkey to Tuva and all points in between, a Nevruz (Persian new year) celebration at the UN General Assembly Hall (bring ID and remember you have to go through a metal detector), 6 PM; 3/26 it’s at Town Hall at 8 PM, free admission to each w/rsvp to www.serdarilhan.com
3/24 dark, fiery bluegrass innovators Frankenpine plays the cd release show for their phenomenal new album upstairs at the National Underground, 8 PM.
3/24, 8 PM the Talea Ensemble play new works by Evan Ziporyn, Rand Steiger, Fred Lerdahl, David Fulmer, Elizabeth Hoffman, and Aaron Cassidy: “a highlight on the program will be a world premiere by Rand Steiger entitled A Menacing Plume (2011) which is a musical response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.” At Merkin Concert Hall, $20.
3/24 Pauline Kim-Harris (S.E.M Ensemble) and Christine Kim (principal cellist, Metro Chamber Orchestra) with Dan Joseph on hammered dulcimer play Xenakis, Ravel and others at Culturefix on Clinton St., 8 PM.
3/24 Palestinian-Canadian pianist and composer John Kameel Farah plays Middle Eastern-flavored electroacoustic works at Alwan for the Arts, 8 PM, $15 gen adm.
3/24 amusing toy piano specialist Phyllis Chen at Barbes at 8 followed by Nation Beat bandleader/drummer Scott Kettner’s Forro Brass Band at 10.
3/24 making their US debut, Australian/Korean jazz group Daorum offer a new spin on traditional Korean pansori art-song at the Atrium at Lincoln Center, 8:30 PM, early arrival highly advised.
3/24, 9/10:30 PM powerful, intense Middle Eastern jazz improvisation with Hafez Modirzadeh on saxes and Amir ElSaffar on trumpet at the Jazz Gallery, $15 first set, $10 for the second.
3/24, 9 PM Mike Baggetta – guitar; Jason Rigby – saxophones;Eivind Opsvik – bass; George Schuller – drums at Tea Lounge in Park Slope.
3/24 oldschool soul revivalists the One and Nines – like a more Memphis equivalent of Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings – at Maxwell’s, 9:30 PM
3/24, 9:30 PM the cd release show for alto saxophonist Mike DiRubbo’s excellent new Chronos album with Brian Charette on organ and Darrell Green on drums at Smalls.
3/25, 7 PM, free, this year’s edition of avant piano titan Kathy Supove’s Music with a View festival continues at the Flea Theatre (41 White St. between Church/Bwy) with Robert Rowe, Martha Mooke, Agatha Kasprzyk and Vision Fugitive (Audio/Video Collective from NYU) and Coppice (Noé Cuellar and Joseph Kramer)
3/25, 7 PM New York’s most diverse, engagingly virtuosic klezmer hellraisers Metropolitan Klezmer at Cooper Union as part of a commemoration of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire (where’s Rasputina, who did a song about it?)
3/25, 7:15 PM, Americana hellraiser/singer Carolyn Mark at Hill Country. Is she gonna let the hordes of yuppies bellow at each other through her set? Doubtful. Could be great fun even without the music.
3/25, 7:30 PM powerful, eclectic singer Mellissa Hughes (of Newspeak) and pianist Timo Andres play songs about “death, sexuality, and Craigslist, by Jacob Cooper, Corey Dargel (a song utilizing condemned convicts’ last words), Ted Hearne, Gabriel Kahane, Matt Marks, and Eric Shanfield” followed by Victoire keyboadist Lorna Krier and her bandmate Eleonore Oppenheim plus Peter Pearson and Derek Muro (of Love Like Deloreans) along with Stephen Greisgraber of Redhooker on guitar at First Presbyterian Church (Brooklyn Heights), 124 Henry St, 2/3 to Clark St.; A/C to High St.; R/4/5 to Borough Hall, $10.
3/25, 8 PM the O’Farrill Brothers Band – Livio Almeida – saxophones; Adam Kromelow – piano; Adam O’Farril – trumpet and Zach O’Farrill – drums – play latin jazz at Barbes followed at 10 by the ageless Jug Addicts.
3/25 the Brilliant Coroners play Monk (fans will get the joke) at Fontana’s, 8 PM.
3/25, 8:15 PM Box Five play quirky female-fronted chamber pop followed by hypnotic marimba/cello duo Goli at Caffe Vivaldi.
3/25, 8:30 PM an amazing duo doublebill at I-Beam: the Charlie Evans/Neil Shah duo (bari sax and piano) and the Charlie Rauh/Sam Kulik Duo (guitar/trombone).
3/25, 9 PM hypnotic, intense gypsy-tinged Balkan instrumental rock band Barbez – who were sort of the prototype for Ansambl Mastika – at BAM Cafe “debuting new material from a forthcoming recording for John Zorn’s Tzadik label of radical reinterpretations of ancient melodies from Roman-Jewish community, the oldest Jewish community in Europe. The group will also present new works from a forthcoming album concerning the wars in the Middle East since 9/11.”
3/25, 9 PM charming, sultry French chanson revivalists les Chauds Lapins play the cd release show for their long awaited second album Amourettes at the 92YTribeca, $12.
3/25, 9 PM bassist Michael Feinberg plays the cd release show for his brash, smart new one at Smalls with saxophonist Noah Preminger, pianist Julian Shore, guitarist Alex Wintz, and drummer Daniel Platzman.
3/25, 9/10:30 PM alto sax hellraiser Jon Irabagon leads a trio with John Hebert on bass and Mike Pride on drums at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $15.
3/25-26, 9:30 PM oldtime country harmonies with Those Darlins and then Austin retro funk/soul star Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears – who puts all these new jack wannabes to shame – at Bowery Ballroom, $16 adv tix rec.
3/25, 11 PM 90s style melodic Britrock with the Royal Chains at Spike Hill, $7.
3/26, 3 PM at ABC No Rio hardcore with Loto Ball, Boston’s Furiosity, Belgian band Baby Fire and Brooklyn band Wojcik.
3/26, 3 PM, free, this year’s edition of avant piano titan Kathy Supove’s Music with a View festival continues at the Flea Theatre (41 White St. between Church/Bwy) with a demo by Dafna Naphtali & “musical robots” Lemur Bots followed at 7 PM by performances by Dafna Naphtali & Lemur Bots, Ted Hearne & Philip White and Jonathan Chen.
3/26, 6:30 PM violinist Erik Sato, violist Naomi Rooks, pianist Ruth Alperson, clarinetist Daniel Spitzer , cellist Michael Finckel play Beethoven, Schickele and Dvorak at the lounge at Hudson View Gardens, 116 Pinehurst Ave. and 183rd St., $10.
3/26 oud genius Mavrothi Kontanis’ amazing band Maeandros – featuring saxophone powerhouse Lefteris Bournias – at Barbes at 8 followed at 10 by retro latin soul band Spanglish Fly.
3/26 Connecticut surf rock monsters Commercial Interruption at 8 followed eventually at 10 by the Tarantinos NYC at Coco 66, free
3/26, 8 PM this month’s Brooklyn County Fair at the Jalopy features a reliably good C&W lineup with Ramblin’ Andy & the See Ya Laters, Spuyten Duyvil, Citizens Band Radio, Sam Otis Hill and Co. and at midnight the ferocious Newton Gang, $10.
3/26, 8 PM Roosevelt Dime play tongue-in-cheek oldtimey Americana originals followed eventually at 11 by funk/soul powerhouse Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds at Pete’s.
3/26, 8 PM, a mind-warping all ages metal show with Disma, Mutant Supremacy and death metal legends Nunslaughter (first NYC show in 10 years) at the Acheron in Bushwick.
3/26, 8 PM Juan de Marcos’ Afro-Cuban All Stars at the NY Society for Ethical Culture, 2 W 64th St., $45 seats avail (super expensive, but they’re mostly Buena Vista Social Club type legends).
3/26 the John Sharples Band- who play all covers by brilliant obscure rock songwriters at 9 at the Parkside followed at 10 by charismatic keyboardist/noir songwriter Tom Warnick & the World’s Fair.
3/26, 9 PM 80s style goth-pop pianist/chanteuse Kristin Hoffmann at Caffe Vivaldi.
3/26 lush, jangly Americana band Alana Amram & the Rough Gems at Matchless, time TBA. They’re also at the Gutter bowling alley in Williamsburg on 4/1 at 11ish.
3/26, 9:30 PM renowned sufi/Middle Eastern multi-instrumentalist/singer Amir Vahab plus a screening of Like A Phoenix From The Ashes documentary film focusing on Iran in the 1960s and 70s; part of this year’s Persian Arts Festival.
3/26 legendary East Coast Balkan brass juggernaut Zlatne Uste at Drom, 10:30 PM, $10 adv tix rec.
3/26 midnight-ish Exit Clov plays captivating psychedelic pop in the vein of the Zombies at the big room at the Rockwood.
3/27, 3 PM, free, Dither guitarist James Moore and Cornelius Duffalo co-host an “open salon” featuring literally dozens of emerging cutting-edge composers (too many to list here) to wrap up this year’s edition of avant piano titan Kathy Supove’s Music with a View festival at the Flea Theatre (41 White St. between Church/Bwy)
3/27 John Zorn’s benefit for Japan at the Miller Theatre with Sonic Youth et al. is sold out. There are others coming up at benefits at the Abrons Arts Center on April 8 with Norah Jones, Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), Ikue Mori, John Zorn, Vinicius Cantuaria, Masada String Trio, among others., and the Japan Society on April 9
3/27, 7 PM Pierre de Gaillande sings George Brassens at Barbes followed at 9 by Stephane Wrembel.
3/27, 7:30 PM the Jack Quartet plays György Ligeti, Steve Lehman, and Horatiu Radulescu at le Poisson Rouge, $15.
3/27 the Felice Bros. show at Maxwell’s is sold out but there are still $20 tix avail. for the 3/28 show.
3/28, 7 PM the pretty amazing Kamikaze Ground Crew – Gina Leishman, saxophones, bass clarinet, accordion, vocals; Doug Wieselman, clarinets, saxophones, guitar; Steven Bernstein, trumpet and slide trumpet; Marcus Rojas, tuba; Peter Apfelbaum, tenor saxophone, Art Baron, trombone, Kenny Wollesen, drums – at Barbes followed at 9:30ish by Chicha Libre
3/28, 7 PM the titanic Bobby Sanabria Big Band at the Museum of the City of NY, $5 cover
3/28 the Jasper Quartet at Advent Church, 93rd and Broadway, 7:30 PM, free.
3/28 the JC Sanford Orchestra at Tea Lounge in Park Slope, 9 PM. Their trombonist leader – who books the Monday night series here – and his adventurous crew absolutely slayed last time they played here.
3/28, 9 PM wry Americana multistylist guitarist/songwriter Steve Antonakos plays a solo show at Banjo Jim’s; he’s also at Local 269 at 7 on 3/31.
3/28 charming oldtime 20s swing jazz with Daria Grace and the Pre-War Ponies at Rodeo Bar, 10ish.
3/29, 8 PM, free at the Bell House (not a joke): “Due to a legal settlement that we’re not allowed to discuss TV Party is giving back with some community service. For one night only we’ll be providing drug awareness education to keep you from making terrible life choices! Join TV Party for a special showing of 90’s drug awareness episodes. We’ll see Zack Morris, Steve Urkel, Stephanie Tanner, Carlton Banks [besides Urkel, WTF are these people?!?], and more try to overcome the temptation of drugs while still looking cool. Including Just Say No & TV commercials from 90’s TV past! Test your drug use prevention knowledge with the D.A.R.E challenge! Winner gets a free D.A.R.E. t-shirt! Take away your dry mouth with drinks! No peer pressure… but seriously, have a drink. Prizes including tickets to upcoming Bell House shows & more!”
3/29, 8 PM art-metal Mars Volta spinoff Zechs Marquise play Highline Ballroom, followed by one of the guys from the MV, $20 adv tix onsale now.
3/29, 9:30 PM Bosnian singer Natasa Mirkovic and hurdy-gurdy virtuoso Matthias Loibner putting a new spin on traditional Balkan stuff at Joe’s Pub, $15.
3/30, 2 PM Suzanne Vega performs songs from her forthcoming play Carson McCullers Talks About Love at the Green Space. Also on the bill and talking with WNYC host John Schaefer: the Mountain Goats. Adv tix $20 very highly rec., events here always sell out.
3/30, 8 PM a killer gypsy punk triplebill at the downstairs studio space at Webster Hall with Bad Buka, Slavic Soul Party and Kultur Shock, $10 adv tix rec.
3/30, 8 PM a John Zorn Masada Marathon including just about every good rock, jazz and classical artist who’s ever played the Stone doing selections from the Book of Angels at the NY City Opera, $12 adv tix. very highly rec., this will sell out.
3/30, 9 PM all-female Canadian punk-pop trio Hunter Valentine at Bowery Electric, $12
3/30 austere, smart chamber-pop band Pearl & the Beard at Rock Shop in Gowanus, 10 PM, $10; 4/1 at 9:30 PM (no joke) they’re at the Knitting Factory for $10 in advance.
3/31, 7 PM pianist Anna Levy plays classic Bulgarian art-songs by Pancho Vladigerov, Ditimar Nenov, Veselin Stoyanov, Ivan Spassov, Vasil Kazandzhiev, Georgi Anaourdov and Mikhail Goleminov at the Bulgarian Consulate, 121 E 62nd St., free
3/31, 7 PM noir/garage chanteuse Peg Simone at Bowery Poetry Club.
3/31, 7:30 PM the Vinca String Quartet play Mozart, Janácek, Bartók and Beethoven at WMP Concert Hall, $25
3/31, 8 PM smartly multistylistic retro keyboardist/singer and Jack White collaborator Rachelle Garniez (whose most recent album we named best of the year) at Barbes.
3/31 a good night for voices: fearlessly lyrical pop/rock siren Elaine Romanelli at Banjo Jim’s 8 PM followed by country chanteuse Drina & the Deep Blue Sea at 9 and then Boo and Elena from Demolition String Band at 10.
3/31, 8 PM world-renowned Amsterdam-based jazz troublemakers Instant Composers Pool (ICP) Orchestra with the legendary Misha Mengelberg on piano at le Poisson Rouge, adv tix $15 highly rec.
3/31, 8 PM the Chiara String Quartet’s latest Creator/Curator concert features Lutoslawski’s String Quartet (with improvisations) and Daniel Ott’s String Quartet No. 2 at Galapagos, $10 adv tix rec.
3/31, 8 PM Irish art-rock crooner Pierce Turner at Paddy Reilly’s, $15.
3/31, 8 PM pianist Jenny Lin plays ten of György Ligeti’s Études pour piano (1985-2001), as well as his Continuum for Harpsichord (1968), and Musica ricercata (1951-3) Greenwich House Music School, 46 Barrow St. between Bedford St. & 7th Ave. S, $15.
3/31, 8:30 PM the ferocious Balkan/Middle Eastern psychedelic jams and amped-up, haunting old folk songs of Ansambl Mastika at the Atrium at Lincoln Center, 8:30 PM, early arrival very highly advised.
3/31-4/2, 8 PM Wynton Marsalis leads a quintet at Rose Theatre at Jazz at Lincoln Center, $30 seats avail., reserve now if you’re going.
3/31, 9 PM amazingly period-perfect retro 60s Bakersfield country band the Dixons at Union Pool $TBA.
3/31, 10 PM Jane says she’s only going to be at Pete’s Candy Store: Oh Liza Jane play bluegrass and retro Americana followed by the infectious, all-female oldtimey Calamity Janes at 11.
3/31, 10:15ish chamber rock band Build plays the cd release show for their new one at Joe’s Pub $12. Note that the 9:30 PM opening act is nauseatingly self-indulgent.
3/31 retro soul/noir chanteuse Shendandoah & the Night at the Rockwood, midnight.
4/1 clever garage rock duo the Fools at 5 PM (no joke – makes sense, right?) at Goodbye Blue Monday.
4/1, 6 PM (no joke) country night with the Melody Allegra Band, Alex Battles & the Whisky Rebellion and Serena Jean and her band at Spike Hill, $6.
4/1 lyrical jazz piano titan Fred Hersch solo, 7 PM at the Rubin Museum of Art in Chelsea, $18 adv tix highly rec.
4/1, 7:30 PM Piedmont fingerstyle blues guitar virtuoso Mary Flower at the Good Coffeehouse, 53 Prospect Park W, $15
4/1, 8:30ish (no joke), Her Vanished Grace (playing the cd release show for their new one) and Religious to Damn do a goth-tinged doublebill at Union Hall, $8.
4/1 for real, ghoulabilly and noir retro rock with the Dead Sextons at Europa in Greenpoint, 8ish, $10
4/1, 9 PM (seriously) Charles Bradley & the Menahan Street Band and Lee Fields & the Expressions at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, $17 adv tix at the Mercury rec.
4/1, 9 PM an amazing purist rock triplebill, no joke – wickedly catchy, jangly Rickenbacker guitar rockers Jay Banerjee & the Heartthrobs, garage-rock purists the Above and then garage legends the Fleshtones at Maxwell’s.
4/1, 9 PM, no joke, tuneful yet noisy new jazz with Kretzmer/Syversen/Niggenkemper/Peskoff at 1012 Willoughby in Brooklyn, sugg don.; they’re at Local 269 on 4/4/ at 9 for $10
4/1 haunting, twangy southwestern gothic band And the Wiremen play the Bell House at 9ish opening for the Waco Bros., $12 adv tic rec.
4/1, 9 PM Providence doom/metal duo The Body followed by a rare rare NYC appearance by Australian metal blunderbuss Whitehorse at the Acheron in Greenpoint – maybe your only chance to see them, don’t miss it if metal is your thing.
4/1 no joke – Brooklyn’s funnest band, Chicha Libre plays a rare Friday show at their home base, Barbes, at 10 before heading off on South American tour.
4/1, no joke, the New Cookers – not the Billy Hart/George Cables crew but guys inspired by the original Freddie Hubbard album – at BAM Cafe, 10 PM
4/1, 10 PM (no joke) goth legend Peter Murphy plays Highline Ballroom, adv tix $35 rec.
4/1, 11 PM (no joke – when this guy’s involved you know he means business) the snarling retro Americana noir sounds of the Reid Paley Trio at Cafe Orwell in Bushwick
4/1, 11 PM roots rock powerhouse Tom Clark & the High Action Boys play Lakeside 11 PM – not a joke.
4/1, no joke, intense Greek traditional party band Magges – sort of the Greek Gogol Bordello -at Lafayette Grill & Bar downtown, 11 PM
4/1 midnight (no joke) lush, atmospheric, socially aware Radiohead-influenced rockers My Pet Dragon at the Mercury, $10 adv tix at the box office highly rec.
4/1 (no joke) the Fleshtones at Maxwell’s.
4/1-2 the Prisoners of 2nd Ave. – who do a decent oldschool NY Dolls facsimile – at Bowery Electric. And they want $20 for it. No joke.
4/1, 2 PM Broadway Musicals of 1864 at the Town Hall featuring such popular songs as “Let’s Round Up Some Irishmen,” “I Need Some Mercury (Because Down Below Is Killing Me),” “We Won’t Call It Slavery Anymore” and the John Wilkes Booth version of “Dixie.”
4/1, 3 PM the New York Stock Exchange presents a concert to celebrate the successful prevention of the Fukushima nuclear explosions – as we all know by now, there was no meltdown, nor any emission of deadly plutonium or uranium isotopes – with vintage Elvis footage accompanied by a live band at the World Financial Center.
4/1, 6 PM brand-new social networking site narciss.us presents Shallow Is What We Aim For, We Are Pampered Children, Poser Dumb and My Eyelashes Are Longer Than Yours at Glasslands; celebrity dj Fella Tio spins blo-fi between sets.
4/1, 6 PM Steve Brotherdale’s Joy Division plays the Warsaw ep cover to cover followed by Melvin Seals’ Jerry Garcia Band at B.B. King’s.
4/1, 7 PM How to Stuff Your Trousers: A Panel Discussion with the Pros at Galapagos. What works best? A roll of quarters? A veggie hot dog? String cheese? Six of the best in the business, including Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, David Lee Roth, Keith Urban and our favorite perennial mayoral candidate, Murray Hill share the secrets of their craft.
4/1, 7 PM It’s Inarticulate Night at the Bell House. Ever wonder…um…why you can’t….um…talk to…you know…um…people? Now’s your chance to meet a whole club full of others just like you who will spend the whole night staring at their shoes or trying to figure something coherent enough to say to get the bartender to bring them a beer. $15 cover includes a year’s subscription to New York Magazine.
4/1, 4 PM Taurus & Libra present Payday: The Traveling Party. Ever wonder what it’s like to have to get up and go to work all week long instead of sleeping til 5 PM and living off mommy’s credit card? Join your group leaders Emily and Faden as they take you on an “ironical” voyage around New York. You’ll see the inside of a real check cashing place, meet a real-life bill collector, dodge undercover cops as you drink cheap beer from a paper bag outside a bodega, use real scissors to cut grocery coupons from the newspaper and go on a dollar-store crawl for cheap toilet paper without GPS or an iphone app. Authentic working-class attire is a must: trucker hat, overalls, 1970s sneakers for the guys; moth-eaten polyester, uneven bangs, torn corduroys for the girls.
4/1, 8 PM at Crash Mansion, it’s Eurethra, the world’s #1 Eurythmics cover band. Relive the golden days of the day-glo decade that you fetishize even if you never experienced it with unforgettable hits like Aqua, Plus Something Else and The First Cut! If you get tired of the band, women can join the free wet t-shirt contest in the men’s room.
4/1, 8:30 PM it’s a John Zorn-a-thon at the Stone with John Zorn’s Are You Itchy?, John Zorn’s Don’t Sit on That Chair, John Zorn’s Call the Exterminator, John Zorn’s Call the Exterminator Again and finally John Zorn’s Sidewalk Sale.
4/1, 10 PM the Central Park Conservancy presents a special VIP concert with Kenny G for Platinum Circle members in the new private Great Meadow in Central Park. Enjoy the new golf driving range (please be aware that frisbee is no longer allowed). The line to the brand-new Shake Shack starts at the Battery. Helicopter shuttles to the Hamptons will be running all evening from where the zoo used to be.
4/1 the New York Times exclusive interview with Justin Bieber, conducted by Bono at the Bloomberg Society at 5th Ave. and 42nd St. Get the scoop on both performers’ opposition to abortion, and after struggling to down his first Guinness, hear Justin confess how he thinks that Ryan Secrest is cute.
4/1 it’s the battle of the kiddie bands at Southpaw. This year’s first round pits tiny terror two-year-old William Slomowitz-Park and his avant garde percussion troupe The Isaagnys against the Borough Park death-metal of Siobhan Satmarowitz’ Mitzvah Tank. Meanwhile, the snotty punk-pop of Park Slope’s Germ Bombs pairs off against Turtle Bay newcomer Asanitansamarama Patel and Dowry Large Extra. And Williamsburg contender Yeast DuPont’s laptop project Trite Is goes up against Long Island City’s The Overprotected. All proceeds to benefit the Crusade Against Suicide, in memory of last year’s winner, Hayes Bessemer of the Kaplan Klass Killers (KKK).
4/1, 10 PM Flavorpill and Khloe Kardashian present the first annual Buttcrack Awards at Public Assembly. Do your pants hang low? Do they wobble to and fro especially when you bend over? First prize winner gets a year’s subscription to New York Magazine.
4/1, 11 PM the drummer from the Strokes is dj’ing at a “celebrity party” on the roof of the empty “luxury” condo building behind the Mercury Lounge that nobody wants to move into, free admission with condo tour and $50 credit check.
4/1 Whitney Houston plays the Recoup Lounge way over by the projects, 11:30 ish – she might be running a little late for this one – with the guy you see hanging out in Tompkins Square Park with the broken Casio.
4/1 it’s the first annual Foursquare New York City Marathon, brought to you by the new green BP Oil. You get 26 hours to do as many Foursquare checkins as you can. See who can become the new mayor of the Prada store: in the door, out the door, in the door, out the door! Breakfast, lunch AND dinner at Fette Sau! Bring a sleeping bag to Freeman’s!
4/1, 7-10 PM the NY School of Autotune celebrates with a recital at Arlene Grocery followed by the Body Shots Olympics sponsored by MTV.
4/2, 6 PM pianist Aysegul Durakoglu plays the cd release show for her new one featuring works by Chopin and Debussy at Drom, $10 adv tix rec.
4/2, 7 PM Marc Ribot and a hall of fame of downtown jazz peeps play noir soundtrack stuff including new arrangements of Henry Mancini (Touch of Evil), Andre Previn (Scene of the Crime), Roy Budd (Get Carter) and also Lounge Lizards, Rootless Cosmopolitans, and new noir by the guitarist himself at the Tishman Auditorium at the New School, 66 W 12th St., free.
4/2, 7 PM Nashville/Toronto gothic rock with Lorraine Leckie & Her Demons at Banjo Jim’s.
4/2, 7:30/9:30/midnight Jared Gold plays the cd release to his groovy new B3 organ jazz album at the Bar Next Door with his trio.
4/2, 8 PM rustic, haunting, sprawling Balkan/jazz/Americana band Kotorino at Barbes
4/2, 8:30 PM a triplebill put together by Brooklyn Jazz starting with the Rob Garcia 4: Noah Preminger – tenor sax, Jacob Sacks – piano, Joe Martin – bass, Rob Garcia – drums followed at 9:45 by the Anne Mette Iversen Quartet: John Ellis – sax; Danny Grissett – piano; Anne Mette Iversen – bass; Mark Ferber – drums and then at 11 the Adam Kolker Trio plus woodwinds: Adam Kolker – reeds; Jeremy Stratton – bass; Billy Mintz – drums plus a wind section, all this for $15 at the Cornelia St. Cafe.
4/2, 9 PM a classic Syrian music extravaganza celebrating centuries of music in the city of Aleppo featuring a historical lecture by Mohamed A. Alsiadi at Alwan for the Arts followed by a show by a 10-piece allstar Syrian/Middle Eastern orchestra, $20/$15 stud/srs.
4/2, 9 PM haunting Appalachian/Balkan vocal duo AE followed at 10:30 PM by bluesman Blind Boy Paxton at the Jalopy.
4/2 new wave literate rock legend Graham Parker at City Winery, 9 PM, $25 seats avail.
4/2, 9:30 PM Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica Quartet playing Esquivel at Caffe Vivaldi
4/2, 10 PM snarling Syd Barrett/Stooges style garage rock with Obits at the Bell House, $13 adv tix rec.
4/2, 10 PM Sonny Rollins band trombone vet Clifton Anderson at BAM Cafe.
4/2, 10 PM anthemic 80s-tinged keyboard-driven art-rock band Overlord at Fontana’s
4/2 jangly, lyrical southwestern gothic rocker Tom Shaner plays Lakeside, 11 PM.
4/3, 1 and 3 PM the Baltimore Consort play eclectic 16th century Spanish compositions at the Cloisters, $35 gen adm.
4/3, 2 (two) PM the Parker String Quartet – who for what it’s worth just won a Grammy – free at Flushing Town Hall.
4/3, 3 PM the Greenwich Village Orchestra plays Ives – Variations on America; “American Songbook Selections,” and Howard Hanson’s sweeping, cinematic Symphony No. 2 at Washington Irving HS Auditorium, $20 sugg don. reception to follow.
4/3, 6 PM: Nico Soffiato on guitar, Nick Vedeen on alto sax, Giacomo Merege on bass and Zach Mangan on drums at Downtown Music Gallery.
4/3, 7 PM delightfully irreverent “unconventional oboe trio” the Threeds play Caffe Vivaldi joined by Eleanor Dubinsky who follows at 8 PM, playing new arrangements of Bjork, Mingus, the Doors, Carmichael and Dubinsky as well
4/3, 7 PM Stephanie Rooker & the Search Engine play wickedly smart, socially aware, psychedelic funk and downtempo grooves at the little room at the Rockwood.
4/3 tuneful British/Canadian janglepop band Early Winters (Carina Round’s latest project) at Public Assembly, time/$ TBA.
4/3 glammy, punkish, entertainingly funny Justice of the Unicorns at Bruar Falls at 8 followed at 9 PM rustic lyrical psychedelic Portland songwriter Shelley Short at Bruar Falls
4/3 popular Ethiopian-American chanteuse Meklit Hadero at the Skirball Center, 8 PM, $20.
4/3, 10 PM tuneful, sly, literate Americana band the Sometime Boys – the acoustic side project of ferocious art-rockers System Noise – at Banjo Jim’s
4/4 Colombian chanteuse Lucia Pulido at 7:30 followed by low-register oldschool Cuban band Gato Loco at 9:30 at Barbes. Gato Loco are also here on 4/18 at 10.
4/4, 7 PM the Ebene Quartet performs the Debussy String Quartet and arrangements of pieces by Miles Davis and Astor Piazzolla, plus “Misirlou,” at the Greene Space, $20.
4/4, 7:30 PM paint-peeling noiserock intensity with the Sediment Club at Bowery Electric, $10.
4/4, 7:30 PM new music ensemble Sequitur plays Robert Sirota’s A Sinner’s Diary; the NY premiere of Victoria Bond’s Frescoes and Ash; the world premiere of Catullus Dreams by David Glaser; the NY premiere of Mix Tape by Armando Bayolo; and the world premiere of Noemi by Daniel Godfrey. at Symphony Space, $20 adv tix rec.
4/4, 8/10:30 PM veteran Chicago blues guitarist Joe Louis Walker at the Blue Note, $10 “bar seating” avail.
4/4, 8:30 PM the Becca Stevens Band’s cd release show at the big room at the Rockwood.
4/5, noon, Members of the Chamber Music Society Lincoln Center play Brahms’ Piano Quartet in G minor at the Greene Space, free.
4/5, 7 PM members of Ensemble ACJW perform Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Cello, as well as David Bruce’s octet Steampunk at the Greene Space, $20.
4/5, 8 PM Third World at Highline Ballroom $30 adv tix onsale now – don’t know how much, or how many original members, they have left (they were old when they started the band in the early 70s) – ostensibly they have a new album out. 196 Degrees in the Shade?
4/5, 8:30 PM adventurous mostly-female klezmer hellfaisers Isle of Klezbos at the Sixth St. Synagogue, 325 East 6th St (betw First & Second Aves), $15 includes a drink (in temple – yay!)
4/5, 9 PM Dina Rudeen plays the cd release for her brilliant new one at the little room at the Rockwood; dark psychedelic jazz pianist/composer Dred Scott plays at midnight with his trio.
4/5, 9 PM noisy distantly Balkan tinged guitar/trumpet madness with Ben Syversen’s Cracked Vessel at Local 269
4/5, 10 PM UK indie rock pioneers Wire at the Music Hall of Williamsburg; 4/6 they’re at Bowery Ballroom, $20 adv tix rec.
4/5, 11 PM lush atmospheric cinematic art-rockers the Quavers at Cake Shop
4/6, 8 PM Alison Leyton-Brown’s oldtime piano blues gand House of Stride at Barbes followed at 10 by the provocative, gorgeously harmony-driven oldtimey Roulette Sisters.
4/6, 7 PM string quartet Ethel play Julia Wolfe’s Early That Summer; Dohee Lee’s HonBiBaekSan; Jacob TV’s Syracuse Blues; Pamela Z’s ETHEL Dreams of Temporal Disturbances; Huang Ruo’s The Flag Project (excerpt) and Anna Clyne’s Roulette at the Greene Space, $20
4/6, 9:30 PM an amazing chromatically-charged, minor-key doublebill with haunting Appalachian/Balkan vocal duo AE and multistylistic Russian/tango/cinematic string band Ljova and the Kontraband at Joe’s Pub, $15.
4/7, noon, new music trio Janus play Debussy, Treuting, and Negron at the Greene Space, free.
4/7, 8 PM the Jack Quartet play Tetras by Iannis Xenaxis and Death Valley Junction by Missy Mazzoli, as well as Ari Streisfeld’s arrangements of pieces by haunted Renaissance composer Gesualdo.at the Greene Space, $20.
4/7, 8 PM Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes plays a darkly pensive, thematic program of two Beethoven Sonatas, No. 21, “Waldstein,” and No. 32, Op. 111, bookended by Brahms (Four Ballades, Op. 10) and Schoenberg (Sechs kleine Klavierstucke, Op. 19) at Carnegie Hall
4/7 Rebirth Brass Band at the Brooklyn Bowl; 4/10 they’re at Maxwell’s
4/7, 10 PM chanteuse Marta Topferova – who never met a latin style she couldn’t make her own, and make it compelling – at Barbes.
4/7, eclectic Brazilian/country/New Orleans band Nation Beat at Rodeo Bar 10ish
4/8, noon, free, the Escher Sting Quartet performs Zemlinsky and Brahms at the Greene Space.
4/8, 3 PM organ adventurer Gail Archer wraps up her latest tour through a composer’s repertoire with an all Liszt concert at the Church of the Heavenly Rest, 5th Ave. at 90th St., 6 train to 86th St., free.
4/8, 7 PM at the Greene Space – let’s cross our fingers and hope they’re ok – the Tokyo String Quartet performs on its “Paganini Quartet” of matched Stradivarius instruments Haydn’s String Quartet in F major Op. 77 No. 2, the fourth movement of Bartók’s String Quartet No. 4, and Beethoven’s “Grosse Fugue” Op. 133. at the Greene Space, $20.
4/8, 7:30 PM adventurous new compositions with the Janus Trio and Mantra Percussion at First Presbyterian Church (Brooklyn Heights), 124 Henry St, Brooklyn, NY, 2/3 to Clark St.; A/C to High St.; R/4/5 to Borough Hall.
4/8, 8 PM torchy catchy compelling soul/trip-hop band Mattison in the back room at the Gutter bowling alley in Williamsburg.
4/8-9, 8 PM NYU performers play NYU composers at the Black Box Theatre, 82 Washington Square East adv tix free but required for the show.
4/8, 9 PM PinkBrown feat. Cracked Vessel guitar arsonist Xander Naylor with Max Jaffe on drums and Johan Andersson on saxophones at 1012 Willoughby.
4/8, 9 PM long-running garage rockers the Greenhornes at the Bell House.
4/8, 9 PM a hall of fame cast of West Coast Middle Eastern musicians led by percussionist Souhail Kaspar play music of Umm Kulthum, Mohamed Abdel Wahab, Farid al-Atrash and Abdel Halim Hafez at Alwan for the Arts, $20/$15 stud/srs.
4/8, 9ish cleverly eerie new music improvisers Dollshot at Galapagos, $10.
4/8, 9 PM it’s the Lakeside 15 year anniversary party – amazing how such a friendly, unpretentious place could survive under siege from yuppies and tourists for so long. And whoever’s behind the bar by 9 is bound to be cool. We may be there.
4/8, 9/10:30 PM south Asian and Middle Eastern new jazz sounds with Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Gamak feat. Dave Fiuczynski on guitar at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $15
4/8, 9:30 PM eclectic acoustic Americana roots/zydeco/country band Blue Sky Mission Club at Hill Country
4/8, 10 PM the Black Angels at Bowery Ballroom; 4/9 they’re at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, $20 adv tix. at the Mercury highly rec., this will sell out.
4/8, 10 PM second wave garage rock vets the Greenhornes at the Bell House, $15
4/9, 8 PM up-and-coming southwestern gothic star Kerry Kennedy – part noir femme fatale, part fiery bandleader – at Union Hall, $12 adv tix highly rec.
4/9 a killer triplebill at the Postcrypt Coffeehouse – back uptown again after a brief stay in the East Village – with Alyson Greenfield at 8:30, Carol Lipnik at 9:30 and Lorraine Leckie at 10:30.
4/9, 8:30 PM hypnotic Mississippi hill country blues guitarist Will Scott at 68 Jay St. Bar.
4/9, 8:30/11 PM Jamaican jazz piano titan Monty Alexander at Birdland, $30 seats avail.
4/9, 9 PM a killer doublebill at Bowery Electric with ferociously lyrical songwriters, Linda Draper and Matt Keating.
4/10, 6 (six) PM Sara Lewis – simmering jazzy chanteuse who veers between dark cabaret-based piano songs and Beatlesque pop – at Caffe Vivaldi.
4/10, 6 PM Ras Moshe & the Music Now Ensemble feat. Kyoko Jitamura and Shayna Dulberger and Andrew Drury, followed at 7 by Belgian duo Olivier Stalon on bass and Pablo Masis on trumpet at Downtown Music Gallery
4/10, 7 PM cellist Sebastian Baversteam plays a solo show at Barbes followed at 9 by Stephane Wrembel.
4/10 hilarious, diverse satirical cowpunk rockers Uncle Leon & the Alibis at Rodeo Bar 10ish
4/11, 7 PM Gina Leishman, vox, baritone ukulele; Charlie Burnham, violin; Matt Munisteri, guitar and Brad Jones, bass at Barbes followed at 9:30ish by Chicha Libre.
4/11, 8ish adventurous new music string quartet Ethel play two world premieres including Dohee Lee’s HonBiBaekSan (The Ritual of White Mountain) and Hafez Modirzadeh’s A Hot Time in the Ol’ Town; as well as performances of Terry Riley’s Sunrise of the Planetary Dream Collector, and Pamela Z’s ETHEL Dreams of Temporal Disturbances at le Poisson Rouge, $20
4/11 oldtime Americana with the Builders & the Butchers at the Mercury, 10 PM, $10.
4/11 fiery charismatic art-rock/goth-punk siren Vera Beren books the night at Small Beast at the Delancey, including a set with her band at 10ish
4/12 catchy tuneful brilliantly melodic jazz from Terry Dame’s Monkey on a Rail in just their third concert since the early zeros, at Barbes at 7 followed by Slavic Soul Party at 9.
4/12 bassist Lauren Falls leads a quintet with Seamus Blake, tenor sax; Mike Moreno, guitar; Can Olgun, piano; Trevor Falls, drums, 8:30 PM at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.
4/12-17, 8/10:30 PM the Crusaders – who reputedly have returned to their roots as a late 60s style funk/groove band – at the Blue Note, $30 “seats” avail ($35 on the weekend)
4/13, 7:30 PM The Orchestra of the S.E.M. Ensemble with Ostravská Banda conducted by Petr Kotik play John Cage: Concert for Piano and Orchestra with Joseph Kubera, piano; Carolyn Chen – Wilder Shores of Love (world premiere); György Ligeti – Concerto for Piano and Orchestra with Daan Vandewalle, piano; Alex Mincek – Pendulum #7 for saxophone and ensemble (world premiere) at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, $15 tix avail.
4/13, 10ish indie classical composer Emily Wells – whose latest stuff has the playful, accessible feel of Todd Reynolds’ recent work – at Glasslands, $10 adv tix onsale now.
4/14 retro soul/noir chanteuse Shendandoah & the Night at Spike Hill
4/14, 7:30 PM pyrotechnic violinist Gil Morgenstern’s reliably fascinating, thematic Reflections Series concludes its 2010-2011 season with a program titled Transfigured Nights with pianist Donald Berman and cellist Ole Akahoshi including Arnold Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht and Shostakovich’s Trio in E Minor, at WMP Concert Hall, $25.
4/14, 8 PM Shelby Lynne at City Winery, $30 seats avail.
4/14, 8 PM provocative, smart Palestinian-American world music songwriter Stephan Said at Drom, $10 adv tix rec
4/15-22 two of the most exhilarating singers on the planet, John Kelly and Carol Lipnik perform their suite The Escape Artist, which “traces the experience of a performer who has a catastrophic trapeze accident. While stranded on a gurney with a broken neck in a hospital emergency room, he escapes and finds refuge in the images that flood his mind: the sinners and saints, prostitutes and gods that populate Caravaggio’s paintings.” With music by Lipnik and Kelly plus selections by Monteverdi and John Barry, at PS 122, 8 PM, $25/15 stud/srs.
4/15, 8 PM Niger’s desert blues legends Etran Finatawa – who played one of the 20 best shows we saw last year – at Symphony Space, $35.
4/15, 8 PM a cool reggae triplebill at the smaller studio space downstairs at Webster Hall with Echo Movement, Maui Waui and the Green (whose blend of vintage Hawaiian and roots reggae is totally original), $10 adv tix rec.
4/15, 9 PM Joe Pug at Rock Shop in Gowanus, $10; 4/16 he’s at the Mercury at 11:30 PM for $2 more.
4/15, 10 PM wild jazzy gypsy rock/jaz with Jay Vilnai’s Vampire Suit at Barbes
4/15, 11 PM O’Death at the Knitting Factory – this will probably sell out – $10 adv tix rec.
4/16-17, 5-7 PM free at Issue Project Room, some ideas close to our hearts: “Yolande Harris’s installation Tropical Storm, developed in a residency with Alvin Lucier at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in Florida, is a shot of a Florida storm, with the sound of rainfall as the only audio. In The Pink Noise of Pleasure Yachts in Turquoise Sea, Harris explores the place of sound in the underwater animals, and the effects of the sound of recreational boating on the smallest sea creatures.”
4/16, 7 PM Eleventh Dream Day opens for the recently reunited Come at the Bell House adv tix $20 rec.
4/16, 7:30 PM, repeating 4 PM on 4/17, Lisa Bielawa’s Synopses: Synopsis #2: In the Eye of the Beholder for percussion performed by Aaron Trant, Synopsis #4: I’m Not That Kind of Lawyer for solo double bass performed by Doug Balliet, Synopsis #6: Why Did You Lie to Me? for solo cello performed by Eric Jacobsen, Synopsis #9: I Don’t Even Play the Bassoon for solo viola performed by Miranda Sielaff, and Synopsis #10: I Know This Room So Well for solo English horn will be performed live, with new choreography by Catherine Gallant at NY City Center, 130 West 56th St., $15 tix avail.
4/16, 8 PM Central Asian troupe Turku play ancient Silk Road repertoire at Drom, $10 adv tix highly rec., this will sell out
4/16 psychedelic roots reggae monsters Dub Is a Weapon play their cd release show at Sullivan Hall, 9ish, $10 adv tix rec.
4/16, 11ish Bogs Visionary Orchestra at Goodbye Blue Monday; they’re also here late on 4/27.
4/16, midnight ecstatically fun Afrobeat band Elikeh plays Joe’s Pub, $14.
4/17, 1 and 3 PM all-male choral sextet Lionheart sing Thomas Tallis’s “masterful and heart-wrenching settings of the Lamentations of Jeremiah, performed in alternation with their traditional Latin chant responsories—as they might have been heard in the chapel of Elizabeth I” at the Cloisters, $35 gen adm.
4/17, 4 PM hilarious retro Weimar bandleader/crooner Max Raabe & Palast Orchester at NJPAC in Newark, $21 tix avail.
4/17, 6 PM reedman Daniel Carter with bassist Pascal Niggenkemper at Downtown Music Gallery.
4/17, 9 PM dark lyrical rock siren/guitar goddess Randi Russo plays the cd release show for her career-best new one Fragile Animal at the Mercury, followed by another equally fiery, lyrical band the Oxygen Ponies.
4/17, 9 PM pianist Bobby Avey leads a quartet with Miguel Zenon, alto saxophone; Thomson Kneeland, bass; Jordan Perlson, drums at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.
4/18-19 powerful jazz vibraphonist Mark Sherman and his Quintet with Jim Ridl, Dean Johnson, Tim Horner and special guest Randy Brecker at the Kitano, $25 plus $15 min at tables
4/18, 8 PM the irresistible Pipettes – snarling cockney girls playing oldschool Motown and soul – at Rock Shop in Gowanus; 4/20 they’re at the Mercury at 7:30 PM, $15.
4/19 Moroccan-American chanteuse Malika Zarra plays the cd release show for her new one Berber Taxi with her band at the Jazz Standard, sets 7:30/9:30 PM
4/19-24 and 4/26-5/1 Bill Frisell plays the Vanguard: first with Eyvind Kang on violin and Rudy Royston on drums, then with Ron Miles on trumpet, Tony Scherr on bass and Kenny Wollesen on drums.
4/20, 10 PM psychedelic dub reggae with John Brown’s Body followed by the Easy Star All-Stars at Highline Ballroom, $20 adv tix highly rec. Note that some loser from a reality tv show – who’s decided to switch from corporate rock to reggae – opens the show at 9.
4/21, three excellent, separate-admission shows at Joe’s Pub. 7 PM Pharaoh’s Daughter is $15; Spottiswoode’s cd release show at 9 is $15; Afrobeat band Emefe’s show at 11:30 is $TBA.
4/21-22, 7ish Mogwai at Webster Hall, adv tix $28.50 rec.
4/21, 7:30 PM adventurous new music ensemble Lunatics at Large play five brand-new commissioned works by Ryan Fusco, Andre Bregegere, Laura Koplewitz, Alex Shapiro and Mohammed Fairouz as part of their Sanctuary Project at WMP Concert Hall, $25
4/21, 8 PM in “Scuttling around in the shallows, Jane Winderen continues her investigation into the sound of shrimp, exploring how the smallest creatures of the ocean use sound for communication, orientation, and feeding. Hydrophones—originally a military development—are repurposed, inadvertently producing unexpected qualities not informed by their original design. Winderen uses these hydrophones to create immersive sonic environments, something far from the original intention of these surveillance devices.” At Issue Project Room, $12
4/21, 8:30 PM Susie Ibarra’s Electric Kulintang – sort of the Filipino counterpart to Electric Junkyard Gamelan – at the Atrium at Lincoln Center, 8:30 PM, early arrival highly advised
4/21, 8:30 PM oldtimey Americana with Margaret Glaspy, Miss Tess & the Bon Ton Parade and the Woes at Southpaw, $10 adv tix rec.
4/22 sprawling acoustic Americana with Jones St. Station at le Poisson Rouge, 7:30 PM, $10 adv tix rec.
4/22, 8 PM pianist Jenny Q Chai and Iktus Percussion Quartet play the world premiere of Five Pieces by Nils Vigeland, as well as works by Gérard Grisey, Lukas Ligeti, Vivian Fung, and two world premieres from emerging composers Inhyun Kim and Dillon Kondor downstairs in the Thalia Theatre at Symphony Space, $15/$10 stud.
4/22, 9 PM gypsy chanteuse Sanda Weigl’s cd release show for her intense, excellent new one Gypsy in a Tree at the 92YTribeca, $15 adv tix highly rec.
4/22, 9 PM oldschool plena and bomba sounds with Quimbombo at BAM Cafe.
4/22, 11 PM Hayes Carll at Bowery Ballroom $15 adv tix rec.
4/23, 1 PM a free concert at Bargemusic, early arrival advised, most likely piano music; there’s another on 5/7.
4/23, 1 and 3 PM, early music ensemble Pomerium sings works by Lassus, Monteverdi, Gesualdo, and Byrd at the Cloisters, $35 gen adm.
4/23, 8:30 PM ferocious noisy punk/glam rockers the K-Holes at Glasslands adv tix $10 rec.
4/25 charismatic intense somewhat scary cellist/vocalist Audrey Chen plays Roulette, 8:30 PM. One of the crew here insists that her set – “music” might not be an accurate word for it – at Issue Project Room last year was the best show of 2010. Your life will not be complete until you’ve survived an hour or so of her sonic assault.
4/26, 8 PM Balkan Beat Box at Webster Hall, $20 gen adm.
4/27, 7 PM Mr. Wau Wa – Gina Leishman, vox, accordion, pump organ; Rinde Eckert, vox, accordion, pump organ; Doug Wieselman, clarinet, sax, guitar; Marcus Rojas, tuba and Kenny Wollesen, drums – plays Bertold Brech at Barbes followed at 9:30ish by Chicha Libre.
4/27, 7:30 PM pianist Alexandra Joan – whose remarkable emotional intelligence and fearlessness set her apart from the millions of cookie-cutter classical pianists out there – plays an all-French program of Fauré, Ravel, Enescu and Fairouz at WMP Concert Hall
4/27 haunting, hypnotic Middle Eastern sounds with Duo Jalal feat. violist Kathryn Lockwood plus percussionist Yousif Sheronick David Krakauer and Glen Velez at Drom, 8 PM, $12 adv tix rec
4/28 the Newton Gang play their cd release show for their long-awaited new one at Southpaw, 9 PM followed by Gangstagrass at 11, $10 adv tix highly rec, all ticketholders get a copy of the new album.
4/29, 7:30 PM a high-energy gypsy rock doublebill with Watcha Clan and Rupa & the April Fishes at le Poisson Rouge, $15.
4/29 surfy latin garage rock with the Cuban Cowboys at BAM Cafe, 9 PM.
4/30 latin jazz by the O’Farrill Family Band at BAM Cafe, 9 PM.
5/3-4, 8 PM Bruce Cockburn & Jenny Scheinman at City Winery, $35 seats avail.
5/6, 9 PM the 2 Man Gentlemen Band and the Infamous Stringdusters at Bowery Ballroom $15 gen adm.
5/7 haunting original bluegrass/Americana band Frankenpine at the Brooklyn Museum
5/8 Rev. Horton Heat at Highline Ballroom.
5/9-12 the Mata Festival at le Poisson Rouge feat. ACME, Metropolis Ensemble, Florent Ghys, L’Arsenale, Cantori New York, Dither Electric Guitar Quartet, Ryan Carter, Christopher Mayo, and Angélica Negrón
5/9, 8/10:30 PM Matt Guitar Murphy at the Blue Note, $10 seats avail. Octogenarian Chicago blues guitar legend who suffered a stroke onstage a few years ago and finished the song before he decided to take a break. If he’s even a fraction of his old self he’s worth seeing.
5/10 Monty Python/Bonzo Dog Band’s Neil Innes at Highline Ballroom
5/14, 11 AM Wall to Wall Sonidos at Symphony Space, free, Arturo O’Farrill’s Sacred Concert for his Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra based on settings of Jewish, Islamic, Gospel, and Afro-Cuban texts; a work for shakuhachi and string quartet [Colorado Quartet] from Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez; a world premiere of Roberto Sierra’s Cuarteto para cuerdas no. 2 [La Catrina Quartet]; Tania León [Harlem Quartet]; new works by Fernando Otero (with dancers); and performances by Continuum, Damocles Trio, Poulenc Trio, Ray Vega, Gabriel Alegria, and many others.
5/19, 7:30 PM the Trinity Choir sings music of Elena Ruehr at Trinity Church.
5/19, 9:30 PM Karen Hudson with her band at Lakeside playing songs from her forthcoming Late Bloomer cd.
5/26, 10:30 PM gypsy punks the West Philadelphia Orchestra followed by haunting, hypnotic, psychedelic Turkish band Raquy & the Cavemen at Drom, $12 adv tix rec.
6/4 the Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma at NJPAC in Newark, $25 seats avail.
6/19 this year’s free Punk Island festival at Governors Island happens two days in advance of Make Music NY as the yuppies are shitting their pants at the thought of loud, nonconformist music being played anywhere near their “luxury” apartments. Free ferries leave on the half hour from the old Staten Island Ferry terminal; here’s a public facebook page about it.
Album of the Day 12/18/10
Every day our 1000 best albums of all time countdown continues all the way to #1. Saturday’s album is #773:
The Pogues – Peace & Love
Conventional wisdom is that the Pogues peaked early, that the original Irish folk-punk band was at their best when they had Elvis Costello’s second wife on bass and a fairly lucid Shane MacGowan out in front. And as ecstatically fun as their early albums are, this one from 1988 is their most diverse, and most original, maybe because it draws on the songwriting talent of just about everyone in the band while Shane was going through a…um…down period. The opening track, Gridlock, proves these great Irish musicians could tackle jazz and pull it off. The gorgeous hook-driven acoustic pop songs include White City, the bouncy Blue Heaven, the hypnotic Down All the Days and the beautifully rueful Lorelei; among the more traditionally oriented numbers, there’s the characteristically snarling Young Ned of the Hill, Cotton Fields, MacGowan’s lickety-split USA, the psychedelic Boat Train and the tongue-in-cheek Night Train to Lorca. The best tracks are accordionist Jem Finer’s haunting Tombstone and the majestic, almost cruelly evocative, solitary wee-hours ballad Misty Morning, Albert Bridge. The 2005 cd reissue includes the less-than-stellar Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah ep from the previous year, which doesn’t really add anything. Here’s a random torrent.
Lucid Culture 