JC Sanford Leads the Brooklyn Big Band Renaissance

Tea Lounge, a cavernous former delivery truck garage in Park Slope, is a somewhat unlikely location to have become Big Band Central in New York, with a series of weekly shows to rival anything that’s playing at the Vanguard or Birdland. JC Sanford – lyrical trombonist, innovative composer, popular big band conductor, and now an impresario – created the Monday series, and recently took some time away from rehearsals and logistics to give us the lowdown:

Lucid Culture’s Correspondent: People in the know all know that Monday night is the new Saturday – and has been for a long time in New York. Maybe ever since the days of the week were invented. But why don’t you do this, say, on a Saturday?

JC Sanford: Monday night in NYC has historically been “big band night.” Thad Jones and Mel Lewis – now the Vanguard band – Gil Evans at Sweet Basil; Maria Schneider at Visiones; Toshiko Akiyoshi at Birdland, and Howard Williams at the Garage….Obviously most of those situations don’t exist anymore for various reasons, but I wanted to carry on that Monday night big band tradition, but this time in Brooklyn. It does create some conflicts, but it doesn’t look like anybody’s not managed to field a complete band as of yet.

LCC: This month you have the Jeff Fairbanks Jazz Orchestra on September 6, then on the 13th the Javier Arau Jazz Orchestra, your own JC Sanford Orchestra on the 20th, and the Jamie Begian Big Band – whose new cd Big Fat Grin is great fun – on the 27th. Can you give us an insider view of what they sound like, and why it’s worth the shlep out to the Slope if you don’t live there?

JCS: Well, one thing that’s so great about this series is the variety you’ll see and hear from week to week. This month is no different. Jeff Fairbanks’ repertoire is a mix of modern jazz and Asian music, including a suite he wrote about Chinatown. Javier, a Bob Brookmeyer protégé like myself, has a great sense of form and color. I like to think of his works as thematically cinematic. My vibe has long been to push the limits of what is “expected” in a specific musical setting without totally abandoning the essence of the genre, sounding adventurous while remaining “accessible.” I combine a lot of elements of traditional jazz, classical, and pop music. And yes, Jamie’s music is FUN. He can be truly dedicated to an idea or mood or bust out a quirky groove at any point.

LCC: Why the sudden popularity of new jazz for large ensembles? Can we credit Darcy James Argue for springboarding it – or at least being a magnet for it, or is this a scene that’s always been bubbling under the radar?

JCS: I think the existence of so many groups comes from a few different places, actually. Years ago, Bob Brookmeyer and Manny Albam started the BMI Jazz Composers’ Workshop where burgeoning composers were able to bring in their large ensemble music to be critiqued by master composers and eventually read down by a group of professional players. These days Jim McNeely leads the workshop, and so many writers have been through there. I would say a majority of the bandleaders that have been a part of this series at least spent a few minutes in that program at some point. Also Brookmeyer obviously influenced so many composers through the years, but he also did it tangibly as a teacher at New England Conservatory for several years. So many of his students have graduated, moved to New York, joined the BMI workshop, and their started their own bands. I think Maria Schneider’s popularity and distinctive voice really inspired a lot of folks, too. Luckily some folks like myself, and even more so Darcy, have been lucky enough to have a healthy dose of all three.

But to answer your question directly, I think Darcy is more a representative of the possible future of big bands rather than the present. At this point, his dramatic rise to success has happened too quickly for us to see its effects on other bands yet, as a majority of the bands on this series have been around for several years already. He has figured out a way to generate interest in his product in a way I didn’t think was possible anymore, though. I think we all, as large ensemble leaders, should be inspired by his meteoric rise. It’s encouraging to me, and makes me think that there is hope for us all on some level. Hopefully this series can be an avenue for that kind of exposure.

LCC: This is music you have to absolutely love, to play it live: if you’ve got twenty people in the ensemble, even with a gig at a swanky club, nobody walks away rich afterward. Back in the 30s and 40s, bands would sustain themselves by doing long stands at hotel bars or places like Minton’s. How does a big band sustain itself these days?

JCS: Well, I think you’re seeing that these days it’s pretty rare for any large band to do many long stands at all, even the super-established ones. I mean, that’s a great tradition they’ve established of having Maria Schneider playing all week at the Jazz Standard during Thanksgiving, but even that is only once a year. So, generally big bands sustain themselves by not playing very often and having a leader who’s willing to take a hit to their wallet. Folks like John Hollenbeck have a successful performing career, so he can, from time to time, drop a few dollars on a great gig at le Poisson Rouge or something. Most of the players in these bands know the deal: you’re not going to make much on a big band gig, generally. But they do it because they want to play great music, and there seems to be plenty of opportunities to do that these days.

LCC: Your Sound Assembly album, from 2008, is a real favorite of mine. You’ve got some gems on there: a convolutedly fun tribute to a man and his cat, a crazed, Mingus-esque subway rush hour tableau and an astringent, ambient number influenced by Charles Ives. Any chance you’ll be playing any of them on the 20th?

JCS: Thanks. I’m still sussing out the exact program for the gig, but we will definitely play a few tunes from that record, including the feline foray and the MTA tribute, which will be, unlike the current organization, fast and efficient.

LCC: I get the feeling that if Tea Lounge keeps up doing this, it’ll become a sort of CBGB for the new wave of big bands. What do you think?

JCS: I’m really hoping so – as long as being the CBGBs of anything doesn’t include it sadly closing down, to the severe consternation of its audience. What I am noticing is that in addition to the regular clientele, a lot of musicians are hanging there. They want to check out what other folks are writing and support their fellow strugglers. The Tea Lounge is a really great vibe. Good grub and good drinks – including full bar – and since there’s no cover – just a $5 suggested donation – it’s really easy to just drop in and hang. People bring their kids. It’s mellow and fun. And the sound of the room is pretty good, too, which is more than I can say about a lot of the places big bands are forced to play in this city.

LCC: Can I ask a really obvious question, as far as the venue is concerned: will the September shows start on time? Sometimes what’s advertised as a 9 PM show at this place turns into 11 PM in reality…

JCS: That’s actually a very practical question. I think these folks are pretty prompt. The latest you’ll see anything start there is 9:15. This might be because these are composer/arranger-led bands, they want to get through all the charts they have programmed.

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New York City Live Music Calendar for September and October 2010 Plus Other Events

Hey – we have a new calendar for October and November up now 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. As always, weekly events first followed by the daily listings:

Sundays there’s a klezmer brunch at City Winery, show starts round 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 starting September 19 the series of free organ concerts at 5:15 PM begins at St. Thomas Church, 53rd St. and 5th Ave

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.

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.

Mondays at the Delancey on the main floor, 8:30 PMish it’s Small Beast, NYC’s edgiest and most vital rock and rock-oriented scene, founded by Botanica frontman and master of menace Paul Wallfisch. It’s an international mix of some of the most intelligent (and frequently darkest) performers passing through town. It’s free and there’s always some kind of drink special or freebee. If you wish Tonic was still open, the Beast is keeping the flame alive.

Mondays in September Alec Stephen plays Pete’s at 9:30 PM. He got his start playing noisy, distantly bluesy guitar in Railroad Jerk, went deep into lush, bucolic Nick Drake-ish acoustic stuff and has lately reinvented himself as a fiery, terse garage/blues rocker. He’ll probably be playing all this and more along with some intriguing new stuff.

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 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 October 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.

Mondays in October boisterous, clever oldtimey trombonist J. Walter Hawkes leads his combo at Banjo Jim’s, 10:30 PM

Also Mondays in October 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, frequently salacious 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.

Starting 10/12 and continuing 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.

Tuesdays in September Balkan brass maniacs Slavic Soul Party  play Barbes at 9. Get here as soon as you can as both acts are popular.

Tuesdays Julia Haltigan plays 11th St. Bar at 10 “for the rest of her life.” A nuanced, cleverly lyrical country/Americana chanteuse with a terrific band behind her and a growing catalog of first-class original songs. See her now before it costs you big bucks at the Beacon.

Tuesdays in October at 169 Bar, 10 PM, Quimbombo plays classic Puerto Rican bomba and plena sounds.

Tuesdays in October 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.

Every Friday in September at 9 PM at the Fat Cat Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens bring an authentic here-and-now Brooklyn church vibe, no slick theatrics, just soul.

Fridays at Mehanata it’s Balkan sax powerhouse Yuri Yukanov and the Grand Masters of Gypsy Music, 10 PM, $10

9/1 the John Farnsworth Quartet outdoors at Bryant Park, 6 PM, free.

9/1-2 the Cecil McBee Band: Noah Preminger – tenor saxophone; Eddie Henderson – trumpet; George Cables – piano; Cecil McBee – bass; Victor Lewis – drums at the Jazz Standard, 7:30/9:30 PM.

9/1, two great bands for free at Bruar Falls starting at 8 PM with NYC’s best blues band, Bliss Blood’s barrelhouse crew Delta Dreambox and followed eventually at 10ish by dramatic noir cabaret/steampunk goths Not Waving But Drowning.

9/1, 9 PM Americana/blues band Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds at the Brooklyn Bowl, free

9/1, 9:30 PM charismatic, female-fronted gypsy rock/latin/tango rockers Rupa & the April Fishes play Joe’s Pub, $15. They’re also at Barbes on 9/3 for $10, early arrival a must, they sold out the Bell House so they’ll sell this out in minutes.

9/1 the Fumes – the Australian hill country blues band, not the Queens ska-rockers – at Death By Audio, 11 PM.

9/1 the Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra at the Cameo Gallery, 11 PM.

9/2 dark baritone Ninth House frontman Mark Sinnis plays his solo acoustic cemetery & western songs at Bar on A, 8 PM

9/2, 8 PM dark Middle Eastern .rock chanteuse Yula Beeri with her band at Highline Ballroom, $10 adv tix rec.

9/2, 8:30 PM the Sometime Boys, a nifty little acoustic band who happen to have the most powerful singer in town (Sarah Mucho) and also one of the most captivatingly eclectic guitarists at Bar East, 1733 1st Ave. at 90th St. They play blues, bluegrass, Aimee Mann and Bowie and who knows what else. Lots of fun.

9/2 at Matchless, 9 PM Russian-American ska/reggae crew Karikatura, 10 PM ska-punks Radio Armada, and then at 11, Escarioka, the latin Gogol Bordello.

9/2, 9 PM wickedly smart avant/folk/chamberpop songwriter Larkin Grimm at the Knit, $10.

9/2, 9 PM the reliably charming but stiletto-sharp Bliss Blood of the Moonlighters plays blues at a rare duo show followed at 10:30ish by ferociously literate, politically aware banjo rocker Curtis Eller at Rest Au Rant, 30-01 35th Ave. at 30th St., Long Island City, 2 blocks from N/W at 36th Ave.

9/2 adventurous original bluegrass band Frankenpine at Lakeside, 9:15ish.

9/2, ferocious Balkan dances and dirges at 10 PM with Raya Brass Band at Barbes.

9/2 eclectic Brazilian/New Orleans/ska dance baned Nation Beat at Rodeo Bar 10:30 PM

9/3 B3 organist Adam Klipple’s Sneak at 55 Bar, 6 PM, feat. Natalie John on vox

9/3-5 ageless saloon jazz legend Mose Allison at the Jazz Standard, his home away from home, 7:30/9:30 PM

9/3-4, 8 PM politically spot-on punk rock anthem legends New Model Army at the Bell House, $24 adv tix avail. or two-night passes for cheaper if you’re a diehard fan.

9/3 terse expat Chicago blues guitarist Irving Louis Lattin at Lucille’s 8 PM. He’s also here on 9/24

9/3 fun, sassy female-fronted ska band Across the Aisle 8:45 PM at Trash

9/3, 9ish fiery, smart, funky Stephanie White & the Philth Harmonic at the Bitter End.

9/3-5, 9:30 PM Frank Black solo acoustic at Joe’s Pub, $25

9/3 the ten year anniversary of the state-of-the-art weekly End of the Weak hip-hop throwdown at Highline Ballroom, 10 PM $12 adv tix highly rec.

9/3, 10 PM powerpop songwriter Mikal Evans at the smaller room at the Rockwood

9/3 western swing and rockabilly with the clever, lyrical Sean Kershaw & the New Jack Ramblers at Rodeo Bar 10:30 PM

9/3, snarling punk/garage rockers Des Roar at 10:30 opening for the Greenhornes, free at the Mercury w/rsvp.

9/4 dark Americana/janglerock/garage rocker Lorraine Leckie & Her Demons at Banjo Jim’s, 7 PM.

9/4, 8 PM the monthly ska/punk show at the Knitting Factory is a characteristically good one with (in reverse order of appearance) the King Django Septet, Hub City Stompers, Unlikely Alibi, Uzimon & the Dons and Manut Bol, all ages, $10 adv tix rec.

9/4, 8 PM Jolie Holland, Grey Gersten, Shahzad Ismaily and Sam Amidon play songs by Michael Hurley at the Jalopy, $15

9/4, 8 PM at Barbes mandolinist Snehasish Mozumder plays Hindustani music with a stellar band – Nick Gianni – flute/saxes; Vin Scialla – drums;  Bopa King Carre – percussion;l Jason Hogue – bass;  Jason Lindner – keys, Sameer Gupta – tabla; Rick Bottari – keys, followed at 10 by the Jug Addicts.

9/4, 9 PM at Otto’s Unsteady Freddie’s monthly surf rock shindig starts with Tsunami of Sound, the Spytones at 10, the Reefriders at 11 and the Octomen hitting at sometime around one on Sunday morning.

9/4 the Big Takeover play ska at Shrine, 10 PM.

9/4, 11ish roots reggae with Under the Rasta Influence at Sullivan Hall, $10

9/5, 7 PM sultry Europop chanteuse Lulla followed by amazingly diverse, psychedelic Middle Eastern/Asian/blues behemoth Tribecastan at 8 at Coco 66, $10.

9/5 long-running improvisational jazz/rockers 101 Crustaceans at Littlefield, 8 PM, $8

9/5, 9 PM la Pompe Manouche play gypsy jazz at Zebulon.

9/5 oldschool style Israeli roots reggae crew Moshav Band at Highline Ballroom, 9 PM, adv tix $15 rec.

9/6, 4 PM Raya Brass Band perform an “impromptu, off the cuff, free form circus, vaudeville show and musical performance” on the boardwalk at Coney Island in front of the Wonder Wheel (just listen – you’ll hear them)

9/6 the Jeff Fairbanks Jazz Orchestra at 9 PM – blending an original mix of modern jazz and traditional Asian folk music – at Tea Lounge in Park Slope

9/6 El Pueblo play psychedelic roots reggae and dub en Espanol at Rose Bar in Williamsburg, 9 PM.

9/7, 7:30 PM ferocious yet intricate and often atmospheric cello-metal rockers Blues in Space at the Tank, $10

9/7-11, 8:30/11 PM, Dave Liebman at Birdland: Dave Liebman (sax), Steve Kuhn (piano), Steve Swallow (bass), Billy Drummond (drums), $30 seating avail.

9/7, 9 PM delta blues guitarist/songwriter Ernie Vega at the Jalopy, $5

9/8 pianist Frank Kimbrough plays with his trio at the Jazz Standard 7:30/9:30 PM

9/8-10, 8:30 PM free jazz trombonist titan Steve Swell’s Nation Of We (aka NOW Ensemble) at Roulette, $15/$10 members.

9/8, 9 PM Pierre de Gaillande of the Snow’s hilarious, haunting English-language Georges Brassens cover band Bad Reputation at the smaller room at the Rockwood.

9/8, 9ish a killer country doublebill with the Rosy Nolan band followed at 10 by the period-perfect early 60s Bakersfield-style Dixons at Union Pool

9/8 hilarious, spot-on, sometimes satirical early 50s hillbilly band Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. at Rodeo Bar, 10:30 PM

9/9, 1 PM Amy Gustafson performs piano works by Soler, Chopin, Albeniz, Scriabin, and Ginastera at Trinity Church, free.

9/9, 8 PM this month’s Hipster Demolition Night at Public Assembly starts out with fiery, sometimes noir garage/paisley underground rockers Girl to Gorilla, Byrdsy janglemeisters Jay Banerjee & The Heartthrobs at 9, retro 60s garage icons the Grip Weeds at 10 and catchy powerpopsters Shakedown at the Majestic at 11, dirt cheap at $7

9/9, 8 PM cellist to the stars Dave Eggar leads his trio at the small room at the Rockwood

9/9, 8 PM at Barbes “String Wizards: an Evening of Rare Films and Live Performance celebrating the Great String Instrumentalists of the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. The Oscar-nominated Wizard of the Strings, a short biopic about Roy Smeck (1900-1994), a star of 1920s vaudeville and master of the guitar, banjo, Hawaiian steel guitar, and ukulele, introduced by its writer/producer, Alan Edelstein, with vintage jazz/pop/blues film clips to follow plus live music TBA.”

9/9, 9 PM ferocious Balkan stomps with Veveritse Brass Band at the Jalopy, $10

9/9 careening intense psychedelic art-rockers Norden Bombsight 9 PM at Matchless, $10 – way cheaper than the Roger Waters Wall tour and better too.

9/9 Khaled (the American Middle Eastern/world fusion player, not the rai icon) plays 9ish at Northern Soul 557 1st St. (Madison/Monroe), Hoboken

9/10-12 dozens of free September Concerts happen around town – schedules still being worked out, like a more disorganized Make Music NY – check the calendar, such that it is.

9/10 cleverly lyrical, surprisingly dark, multistylistic songwriter/piano star Lee Feldman plays a house concert, 3 PM, 805 E. 21 Street betw. Glenwood/Farragut, Midwood, Brooklyn, B/Q to Newkirk Ave.

9/10, 4:30 PM Balkan brass powerhouse Raya Brass Band in Washington Square Park

9/10, Piazzolla tango classics played by pianist Octavio Brunetti, cellist Christine Walevska and former Metropolitan Opera concertmaster Elmira Darvarova, 5 PM at Symphony Space, $20 adv tix rec.

9/10 horn-driven Brooklyn country band Yarn plays the Rocks Off Concert Cruise aboard the Half Moon boarding at 23rd St. and the FDR at 6, leaving an hour later, adv tix $20 highly rec.

9/10, 6:30 PM expansive, smart jazz pianist Vijay Iyer’s solo piano cd release show at le Poisson Rouge, $20.

9/10 at Theatre 80 St. Mark’s a benefit for the Howl festival starting at 7 with charismatic noir rocker LJ Murphy, followed by Chris Rael and Rima Fand’s new klezmer/Middle Eastern gand Lunas Atlas, then the Hilary Hawke band and their rustic country stylings, then delta blues goddess Mamie Minch at 10.

9/10, 7:30 PM innovative Canadian composer/performer Kyle Bobby Dunn and swirling, psychedelic avant-garde electric guitar quartet Dither at First Presbyterian Church, 124 Henry St., downtown Brooklyn, $10.

9/10, 8 PM retro girlgroup/garage punk band the Nouvellas, Boston retro pop band Jenny Dee & the Deelinquents and then former Crystals singer Lala Brooks at the Bell House, $15

9/10, 8 PM at Barbes it’s House of Stride: Allison Leyton-Brown – piano; Russ Meissner – drums; Jim Whitney – upright bass and special guest Daria Grace plays oldtimey piano blues songs followed by accordionist Rob Curto’s forro dance party at 10.

9/10 a killer dark Americana doublebill with lyrical, intense chanteuse Abbie Barrett at 9 at Pete’s followed at 10 by the eerily atmospheric Rescue Bird.

9/10-12 it’s the Brooklyn Country Music Festival at Southpaw. Best deal is the $30 three-day ticket, otherwise each concert is $15. 9/10 it’s Banjorama, Julia Haltigan, then one of those lame, sarcastic, richkid indie bands pretending to be “country”, then excellent, oldtimey headliners the Woes.

9/10-11 the Claudia Quintet at the Cornelia St. Cafe: Chris Speed , clarinet, tenor saxophone; Matt Moran , vibraphone; Ted Reichman, accordian; Drew Gress, acoustic bass ; John Hollenbeck, drums; Matt Mitchell, piano, 9 PM, $15

9/10, 9 PM the recently reconfigurated Golden Palominos with guests the Jim Campilongo Electric Trio and the Tony Scherr Trio at City Winery, $22 adv tix avail

9/10, 9:30ish Ice-T does his oldschool hip-hop thing at the Knitting Factory $20 adv tix highly rec.

9/10, 10 PM, deliriously danceable latin soul/bugalu revivalists Spanglish Fly at Rose Bar

9/10, 10:30 PM wild funk jams with Buzz Universe at the Mercury, $10

9/11 Sierra Leone’s Refugee All-Stars at the Knitting Factory, 7 PM, $25 adv tix highly rec. Their show at the Highline back in May was ecstatically fun.

9/11 Shellac at the Bell House is sold out.

9/11, 8 PM at Bargemusic a free 9/11 memorial concert featuring Bach, Beethoven, Bottoms, Brahms, Chopin, and Schubert including David Bottoms’ Variations on a Theme in Memory of 9/11/2001.

9/11, 8 PM, radical marching band Rude Mechanical Orchestra play followed by a screening of the documentary film Gasland at On the pier along the East River at Solar One, 2420 FDR Drive, Service Road East at 23rd Street and the East River. It was all started by Dick Cheney. “In 2005, Cheney’s secretive Energy Commission designed a bill that was able to overturn parts of various decades-old environmental-protection legislation, allowing for a relatively new process of gas drilling, invented by Halliburton. Commonly referred to as ‘fracking,’ in this new process, the mining companies inject a cornucopia of toxic chemicals deep into the ground and explode the rock beds. Companies across 38 states are doing this with almost no oversight or regulations, often operating within feet of homes, schools, streams, wells and aquifers. An EPA spokesmen describes the legislation as ‘Orwellian’ and ‘Un-American’….As the filmmaker chases the companies’ operations across the country, he encounters cats and horses losing their hair in clumps, men and women with sudden painful illnesses, and houses where you can literally light the tap water on fire.” Followed by a discussion and afterparty with open bar.

9/11 the Brooklyn Country Music Festival at Southpaw continues at 8 with the Roulette Sisters, Spirit Family Reunion, the Jack Grace Band, Jessica Rose & the High Life and Uncle Leon & The Alibis.

9/11 NYC ska/rocksteady/blues/soul legends the Slackers play the Rocks Off Concert Cruise aboard the Temptress departing 41st St. & the Hudson River at 8 PM, $25 adv tix at the Highline box ofc highly rec.

9/11 slinky, haunting Middle Eastern-inflected 1920s African dance music with Sounds of Taraab at Barbes 8 PM.

9/11, 9 PM dark, hypnotically jazzy southwestern gothic songwriter James Apollo at Pete’s

9/11 9ish wickedly lyrical Americana rocker Marcellus Hall (ex-Railroad Jerk and White Hassle) at Brooklyn Rod & Gun Club. He’s also at Union Pool at 9 on 9/15.

9/11, 9 PM NYC’s most exciting original blues guitarist, Will Scott at 68 Jay St Bar.

9/11, 9 PM eclectic Senegalese-flavored roots reggae with Meta & the Cornerstones at the 92YTribeca, $12

9/11, 9 PM oldschool soul/funk with the Dynamites featuring Charles Walker at the Brooklyn Bowl, $5.

9/11 Greek party music monsters Magges – with electric bouzouki and the amazing Susan Mitchell on viola – at Mehanata 9:30 PM.

9/11 blues crooner and kick-ass Chicago-style lead guitarist Johnny Allen at 10 at Terra Blues.

9/11, 10:30 PM, multistylistic country juggernaut M Shanghai String Band at the Jalopy, $10

9/11 psychedelic “funk orchestra” Turkuaz at the Mercury, 10:30 PM, $10.

9/11 Ice-T doing his golden age hip-hop act at midnight-ish at the Knitting Factory, $20 adv tix rec

9/12, 4 PM organist Kent Tritle plays a characteristically intense program incl. works by Buxtehude, J.S. Bach, Mendelssohn, and the Reger Fantasy on “Hallelujah! Gott zu loben”at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola on the upper east.

9/12, 4-7 PM at the Bell House, the Salsa Slam cookoff feat. 20 different recipes of free hot stuff, $4 Tecate tall cans, a mariachi band, $12 adv tix at the box ofc. rec

9/12, 7 PM toy piano specialist/composer Phyllis Chen at Barbes.

9/12, 7:30 PM 2/3 female, all original rockabilly/surf trio Catspaw at Otto’s

9/12 roots reggae legends Israel Vibration – now a duo – at B.B. King’s, 8 PM, $20 adv tix. rec.

9/12 the final night of the Brooklyn Country Music Festival at Southpaw starting at 8 has the Roulette Sisters, Brooklyn Jugs, Kristin Andreassen, Dock Oscar, Alex Battles and the Flanks.

9/12, 3 PM Pianist Ludmil Angelov plays Chopin at Symphony Space, $20

9/12, 3 PM, the Queen’s Chamber Band with harpsichord play Farnaby, Frescobaldi, Bach and Scarlatti at St. Mark’s Church (2nd Ave./10th St.) $25, a cheap season series subscription for $65 is also available which comes out to about $13 a show.

9/12, 6:30 PM new music by composers Dylan Glatthorn, Eric Lemmon, Conrad Winslow, Pedro da Silva, Noam Faingold, Angélica Négron, Lucía Caruso at le Poisson Rouge, $10.

9/12 Fat Man & Small Boy – that’s Mark Rubin and Silas Lowe of hilarious grasscore legends the Bad Livers – make their NYC debut at Banjo Jim’s, 10 PM

9/13, half past noon, Samuel Barber’s String Quartet, Op. 11 performed by the Voxare String Quartet at Philosophy Hall, Columbia Univ., on the east edge of campus, north of 116th St./College Walk, east of Low Library and Buell Hall.

9/13, 4:45 PM Steven Hamilton plays an organ recital at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

9/13, 7 PM the New Collisions, whose new album The Optimist blends a sassy vintage new wave feel with potent lyrically-driven powerpop, at the Mercury.

9/13, 8 PM ex-Bowie guitarist Gerry Leonard does his ambient, dark Spooky Ghost project at the big room at the Rockwood.

9/13, 8 PM pianists Pascal Roge and Ami Hakuno Rogé play Ravel, Debussy, Saint-Saëns and Poulenc at Symphony Space, $30.

9/13, 8/10:30 PM Dave Liebman with drummer Michael Stephans’ Om/Shalom Project also featuring Marty Ehrlich, Uri Caine, and Scott Colley at the Blue Note.

9/13, 9 PM the Javier Arau Jazz Orchestra at Tea Lounge in Park Slope.

9/13, 10 PM sizzling, intense Mostly Other People Do the Killing trumpeter Peter Evans leads a quintet at le Poisson Rouge, $10

9/14, 6:30 PM innovative, haunting Iranian-Jewish siren Galeet Dardashti plays the cd release show for her new one The Naming at le Poisson Rouge, $12 adv tix rec.

9/14-15 the Marc Cary Focus Trio at the Jazz Standard, 7:30/9:30 PM. The pianist has a big buzz going among the cognoscenti, highly recommended.

9/14, 8:30/10 PM alto sax monster Jon Irabagon plays the cd release show for his new one Foxy at Cornelia St. Cafe with Barry Altschul on drums Peter Brendler on bass, $10.

9/14, 11 PM wild, funny western swing/honkytonk guitarist Wayne Hancock at Maxwell’s

9/15, half past noon Samuel Barber’s Cello Sonata, Op. 6 performed by Adrian Daurov, cello at Philosophy Hall, Columbia Univ., on the east edge of campus, north of 116th St./College Walk and east of Low Library and Buell Hall.

9/15, 7:30 PM saxophonist Paul Carlon leads his soaring, Brazilian-inflected Octet at Miles Cafe, $10

9/15, 8 PM the Newton Gang – part outlaw country, part careening paisley underground rockers – at 68 Jay St Bar.

9/15, 8 PM the New York Piano Quartet play Erich Korngold and other Austrian composers at Symphony Space, $30.

9/15, 8 PM Whisperado -who’ve moved from Dire Straits style rock to a more country-oriented sound with pedal steel – at Kenny’s Castaways, free

9/15, 9 PM the world’s funniest and arguably most ferocious free jazz combo, Mostly Other People do the Killing at Zebulon.

9/15, 9 PM powerhouse 90s style powerpop band Second Dan – like Oasis without the mischegas – in the big room at the Rockwood

9/15, 9:30 PM Dollshot at Caffe Vivaldi. They take classical art songs from throughout the 20th century, jam them out and give them an absolutely eerie edge. One of NYC’s most entertaining and unique bands.

9/16, 7:30 PM violinist Gil Morgenstern and pianist Jonathan Feldman play works by Bach, Ysaÿe, Carter, Bright Sheng, Gershwin, Kreisler and Prokofiev with Laurie Anderson reading selections by iconic Russian poet Anna Akhmatova., at WMP Concert Hall, 31 E 28th St., $25.

9/16, 10 PM edgy Americana-inflected songwriter Jessi Robertson plays her single release party at Bar 4 with her electric band.

9/16, 10 PM Steven Bernstein’s long-running, clever funk/jazz crew Sex Mob at 55 Bar.

9/16 eerie bluespunk band the Five Points Band at Rodeo Bar 10:30 PM.

9/16, 11 PM, charming country/oldtimey harmony stars Those Darlins at Bowery Ballroom, $13 adv tix rec.

9/16, 11 PM clever, funny acoustic Americana jam band Tall Tall Trees at the big room at the Rockwood.

9/17, 6 PM adventurous avant vocal jazz with the Becca Stevens Band at 55 Bar

9/17, 7 PM a killer Americana doublebill with the Maybelles and the Sweetback Sisters at Joe’s Pub, $15.

9/17, 8 PM imaginative darkwave improvisers Metalux plus the MV Carbon/Aki Onda duo, free, at Issue Project Room

9/17, 9 PM all-girl family band the Midriffs play oldtimey harmony tunes at the Jalopy, $10.

9/17, 9 PM the original post-Velvets psychedelic punks, Band of Outsiders at the Parkside followed at 10 by free jazz legend/impresario Dee Pop’s band Radio I-Ching

9/17, 9 PM goth-tinged, artsy pianist/chanteuse Kristin Hoffmann at Caffe Vivaldi, 9 PM

9/17, 9:30 PM arguably the best Ethiopian band in the US, Debo Band play Joe’s Pub, $15 adv tix rec.

9/17, 10 PM reliably romantic, charming oldtimey swing/Hawaiian band the Moonlighters at Barbes.

9/17 the rustic, sprawling, smartly bluesy Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds at the Rockwood, 10 PM

9/17, 10 PM ex-Cramps and Gun Club punk legend Kid Congo Powers and the Pink Monkey Birds at the Brooklyn Bowl, $5.

9/17 jazz sax luminary Dave Liebman plays the cd release show for his new small combo cd Dave Liebman Group “Live at 55″ –  Dave Liebman, Vic Juris, Tony Marino & Marko Marcinko, 10 PM/midnight, $12.

9/17-18 wickedly smart noir accordionist Marni Rice and the ferocious, charismatic Vera Beren’s Gothic Chamber Blues Ensemble present Songs of Misery and Love at the Greenroom Theatre, 45 Bleecker St. 11 PM til the wee hours, $15, beer/wine plus “mixers available for your flask.” Beren and Rice played one of the 20 best concerts of 2009; it’ll be a long night of oldschool dark artsy punk-infused intensity.

9/17, 11 PM if you like loud party music, this is your night: the ferocious Radio Birdman-inspired garage/punk Mess Around followed by the sick, hilarious X-rated faux-girlgroup punk of Cudzoo & the Fagettes at Trash

9/17 the Boss Guitars play classic and obscure surf music covers at Lakeside, 11 PM.

9/17, midnight, Emefe play psychedelic Afrobeat dance grooves at Sullivan Hall, $10

9/18, 6 PM a fundraiser for the feminist activist documentary film Walk With Me at the Shop, 290 Metropolitan Ave., Williamsburg with adventurous jazz/avant chanteuse Becca Stevens, alt-country rocker Jeremy Joyce and Ralph E. White (ex-Bad Livers).

9/18, 7 PM first-wave garage rock legend Paul Thornton of the Godz at Banjo Jim’s

9/18, 7 PM funny, entertaining Erin & Her Cello at the big room at the Rockwood

9/18 a killer triple bill at Caffe Vivaldi – tenor sax player Melissa Aklana and her band at 7, eclectic clarinet tango specialist Thomas Piercy at 8 and then cello/vibraphone duo Goli at 9:30.

9/18 sprawling rustic psychelic minor-key blues/klezmer/reggae/gypsy improvisers Hazmat Modine at Terra Blues 7:15 PM

9/18, 8 PM Microscopic Septet pianist (and Fresh Air theme composer) Joel Forrester & the Truth at Barbes

9/18, 8 PM at Merkin Concert Hall Ensemble 212 plays Beethoven: Coriolan Overture; Mohammed Fairouz: Symphony No. 2 (New York premiere); Double Concerto for Violin, Cello & Orchestra, “States of Fantasy” (world premiere) plus members of the Borromeo Quartet (Nicholas Kitchen, violin & Yeesun Kim, violoncello) performing Beethoven:The Creatures of Prometheus Finale; Mohammed Fairouz: Symphony No. 1 “Symphonic Aphorisms,” $35 tix avail.

9/18 NYC rock vets the Peaceniks’ CD release party (Barry Gruber, Moogy Klingman & Patti Rothberg w/Jim Satin & Cliff Hackford) at P & G Bar (78th and Columbus) on the upper west, 8 PM, free.

9/18, 9 PM acclaimed Persian classical music group Ensemble Raah makes its North American debut at Alwan for the Arts, $20 adv tix. very highly rec.

9/18, 9 PM the reliably psychedelic Budos Band – who have a new album just out – at Southpaw, $14

9/18, 9 PM smart, literate noirish Aimee Mann-inspired pianist/singer Krista Detor at City Winery, $15.

9/18, 9 PM Stacy Dillard – saxophones, Orrin Evans – piano, Eric Revis – bass, Nasheet Waits – drums – good band, huh? – at the Jazz Gallery, $10.

9/18, 9ish punk-infused banda music to celebrate Mexico’s independence day with Banda Sinaloense de Los Muertos feat. members of Slavic Soul Party, Raya Brass Band, Chicha Libre followed by the self-explanatory Cumbiagra at Littlefield, $10

9/18, 10 PM popular ska punks King Django play Shrine.

9/18 fiery, funny, oldschool style female-fronted East Village punk/Americana rockers Spanking Charlene play Lakeside 11 PM

9/19 Strings of the Black Sea: a Celebration of Lutes and Fiddles from Bulgaria, Ukraine, Crimea and Turkey, 3 PM at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Auditorium, $30 at the museum ticket windows.

9/19, 4–6 PM The Alabama Concerto by John Benson Brooks played by Charley Gerard, alto sax; John Carlson, trumpet; Jeffrey Levine, bass and Mike Baggetta, guitar at Iris Cafe, 20 Columbia Place off of Joralemon St., Brooklyn Heights. “A masterpiece of chamber jazz that was immortalized by a 1958 recording with Cannonball Adderley, Art Farmer, Barry Galbraith and Milt Hinton…found the original parts at the Institute of Jazz Studies. Brooks died in 1999. He never wrote anything as brilliant in his long career as a songwriter and arranger. It’s probably the first time the piece has been played in decades!”

9/19, 5 (five) PM pensive, anthemic, vintage 70 style art/folk rocker Spottiswoode at the big room at the Rockwood.

9/19, 5:30 PM at the Delancey sharply literate oldtime guitar god Lenny Molotov, sassy female-fronted ska band Across the Aisle at 6:30, the proggy Wounded Buffalo Theory at 7:30 and recently regrouped art/noise/funk juggernaut System Noise.

9/19 soulful, intense siren Jo Williamson at Banjo Jim’s ,7/9:15 PM; Americana guitarist Craig Chesler of Tom Clark’s band plays at 8:30

9/19 iconic new wave klezmer band the Klezmatics at Galapagos, 8 PM, $30.

9/19 adventurous Greek-American blues guitarist Spiros Soukis at Lucille’s, 8 PM

9/20, 4:45 PM Louis Perazza plays an organ recital at St. Patrick’s Cathedral

9/20, 7 PM Balkan trumpet specialist Ben Holmes with his Trio at Barbes followed by Chicha Libre at 9:45ish.

9/20 the Brentano String Quartet plays Chou Wen-chung, 7 PM at the Greene Space, $10.

9/20, 7 PM a politically charged evening of good songs with Stephan Said, folk legend Pete Seeger and Ghanaian-American hip-hop artist Blitz the Ambassador at le Poisson Rouge, $20 adv tix rec.

9/20, 7:30 PM the Claremont Trio performs Beethoven, Op. 1, No. 3 in C minor; Faure, Opus 120 in D minor, and Brahms, Opus 8 (revised version) in B Major at the church at 2504 Broadway, NE corner of 93rd St.

9/20 the Wailers – what’s left of them, anyway – at B.B. King’s, 8 PM, $25 adv tix. rec.

9/20, 9 PM cutting-edge trombonist/composer/conductor JC Sanford leads his Orchestra at Tea Lounge in Park Slope.

9/20, 10 PM funeful, fun female-fronted garage-rock trio the Anabolics at Trash.

9/20 noir rock legend Sally Norvell & the Fabulous Disasters at Small Beast at the Delancey, 11 PM

9/21, 7 PM expat Argentinian clarinetist Gustavo Bulgach and his band Klezmer Juice at Barbes. If the Klezmatics at Galapagos is too rich for your blood, this will do the trick.

9/21 Tammy Faye Starlite does her hilarious, scandalous and politically incorrect Nico impersonation at the Theatre 80 St. Marks,8 PM, $10.

9/21 the most unique, compelling new voice in jazz singing, Sara Serpa with her Quintet incl. Andre Matos on guitar, Kris Davis on piano, Ben Street on bass at Cornelia St. Cafe, 8:30 PM, $10.

9/21 NYC powerpop legend George Usher at Lakeside 9ish

9/21 British folk-rock legends the Strawbs acoustic at BB King’s, 9:15 PM, $22.50 adv tix rec.

9/21, 10ish first-wave NYC punk legends the Sic Fucks feat. Tish & Shooky (Debbie Harry’s old bandmates from the Stillettoes) at Bowery Electric, $10.

9/21 fiery X-meets-Loretta Lynn Americana rockers Demolition String Band at 10 PM at Banjo Jim’s

9/22, 8 PM fiery, virtuosic Chicago-style blues guitarist Bobby Radcliff at P&G Bar on the upper west

9/22 Anti-Flag at the Bell House, 8 PM, all ages, $15 adv tix highly rec. Gotta love their awareness (“Depleted Uranium Is a War Crime”), wish they didn’t sound sooooo Warped Tour these days…

9/22 creepy cinematic psychedelic soundscapes with Mojo Mancini – whose new album is one of the year’s best – at 9 PM at the big room at the Rockwood, $10

9/22, 9 PM an excuse to stay in: Live From Lincoln Center’s PBS telecast of the New York Philharmonic’s Opening Night Gala, featuring the U.S. premiere of Wynton Marsalis’s Symphony No. 3, Swing Symphony. Music Director Alan Gilbert leads the New York Philharmonic, Wynton Marsalis, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

9/22, 10 PM second-wave glamrock with Spacehog at Maxwell’s, $15

9/22, 10:30ish intense, powerful southwestern gothic rock with And the Wiremen at Zebulon.

9/23 Cesar Reyes performs Mexican classical works for solo piano by Jimenez, Moncayo, and others, 1 PM at Trinity Church, free

9/23 and 9/25, 8 PM at Bargemusic – organ music adapted for piano: Bach/Schumann – Sonata for Violin and Piano in G minor, BWV 1001; Bach/Reger – Sonata for Violin and Piano in A major, BWV 1015; Reger – Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Bach, Op. 81, $35, $30 srs/$15 stud.

9/23-26 the Taylor Eigsti Trio with chanteuse Becca Stevens plus special guests Julian Lage (9/23), Gretchen Parlato & Gerald Clayton (9/26) doing the cd release show for their new one Daylight at Midnight at the Jazz Standard 7:30/9:30 PM.

9/23, 9 PM, Brian Landrus’ cd release show for his excellent new one with the composer playing baritone sax, bass clarinet & bass flute, plus Jason Palmer – trumpet, Nir Felder – guitar, Frank Carlberg – piano, Matthew Parish – bass, Rudy Royston – drums.at Tea Lounge in Park Slope. Wow.

9/23 quirky psychedelic golden age hip-hop with Digable Planets at SOB’s, 9 PM, $17 adv tix highly rec.

9/23 Junius bring their searing Joy Division-esque goth-metal to Southpaw, 9:30 PM, $10 adv tix highly rec

9/23 moody indie pop chanteuse Basia Bulat at the Mercury, 9:30 PM $12; also at Littlefield at 9 PM for $12 on 9/24.

9/23 composer Ljova Zhurbin’s witty, often transcendent eclectic Russian/tango/jazz string band Ljova & the Kontraband at Barbes, 10 PM

9/23 LES surf/soul/punk rock guitar legend Simon & the Bar Sinisters at Lakeside 10ish.

9/23, 10 PM the original post-Velvets punk band, Band of Outsiders at Bowery Electric followed by lead guitar legend Richard Lloyd, whose chops are better than ever.

9/23, 11 PM smart, literate, twangy alt-country rocker Chip Robinson at Banjo Jim’s

9/23, 11 PM bluegrass/Americana harmony sirens Those Darlins at Bowery Ballroom $13 adv tix highly rec.

9/23, midnight, retro 60s piano soul/R&B with the Brilliant Mistakes in the small room at the Rockwood.

9/24, 7 PM clawhammer banjo player/songwriter Abigail Washburn at Joe’s Pub, $15.

9/24 atmospheric, noirish Mexican rock siren Ely Guerra at le Poisson Rouge $25.

9/24 dark intense Argentinian composer/pianist Fernando Otero at le Poisson Rouge, 9 PM, $15

9/24 acclaimed Persian classical ensemble Homay and Mastan Ensemble at Avery Fisher Hall.

9/24 the Bronx Horns – who have a ton of Tito Puente alums, and are unbelievable live – at SOB’s. $15 after 9; ladies free before; guys and girls free before 7. “Complimentary garlic tostones.”

9/24, 8 PM slinky hypnotic fascinating vintage Egyptian film music revivalists Zikrayat feat. singer Adam Chawad plus special guest dancer Layla Isis at Moustache, 1621 Lexington Ave (corner of 102nd St), $15, rsvp highly rec.

9/24, 9 PM one of the most compelling voices in Americana music, Jan Bell at 68 Jay St Bar; her country harmony band the Maybelles are at Brooklyn Bridge Park down by the Tobacco Warehouse at 5 on 9/25.

9/24 soaring Americana chanteuse Rebecca Turner at 9 at the Jalopy followed at 10 by Brooklyn’s man in black, John Pinamonti, $10

9/24 the John McNeil/Bill McHenry Quartet play the cd release show for their new one at the Cornelia St. Cafe, 9 PM, $10

9/24 the Knights play a program that they excel at: Ives – The Unanswered Question; Saint-Saens – Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 33; Ljova Zhurbin – Garmoshka; Osvaldo Golijov – Night of the Flying Horses; Schubert – Symphony No. 3 in D major, D.200; Kayhan Kalhor (arr. C. Jacobsen) – Ascending Bird, at the College of Staten Island, 2800 Victory Blvd.

9/24, 10 PM fiery, literate Americana/delta blues guitar god Lenny Molotov and band at the Parkside

9/24, 10 PM at Drom clarinet intensity featuring the cool Miles Davis-esque Selim Sesler pairing off against the ferociously wild Ismail Lumanovski, backed by the NY Gypsy All-Stars, $20 adv tix rec., or free with the $30 weeklong festival pass.

9/24 Jah N I play roots reggae at Shrine, 11 PM

9/24 the Alien Surfer Babes (a spinoff of the delightful, surfy Witches in Bikinis) with the Octomen at Bowery Poetry Club, 11:30 PM

9/24, midnight, Nashville gothic rockers Ninth House play the cd release show for their new and possibly final album 11 Cemetery and Western Classics at UC 87 Lounge 87 Ludlow St. (Delancey/Broome).

9/25 the Dumbo Arts Festival kicks off at the Brooklyn Bridge Tobacco Warehouse starting at 3 PM with the Strung Out String Band, country crooner Jesse Lenat at 4, smart, soaring Americana siren Jan Bell at 5, country/hillbilly band the Shotgun Party at 6 and hypnotic Misissippi hill country bluesman Will Scott headlining at 7.

9/25, 5 PM a new music extravaganza to end all extravaganzas: the Respect Sextet, avant piano powerhouse Kathleen Supové, Ethel violinist Todd Reynolds, Newspeak, Wet Ink, mesmerizing psychedelic guitar quartet DITHER (whose new album kicks ass), Mantra Percussion, Ensemble de Sade, Matthew Welch, MIVOS Quartet, and hypnotic acoustic guitarists Threefifty Duo at the Irondale Center, 85 South Oxford Street, Brooklyn, $15 cover includes 2 drinks. C to Lafayette Ave., or any train to Atlantic Ave.

9/25 the North American debut of the crazy, intense Ukrainian band Tecsoi Banda at the Ukrainian National Home on 2nd Ave., 7 PM

9/25, 7 PM blue-eyed soul siren Meg Braun followed by her equally smart, even more eclectic Red Molly multi-instrumentalist pal Carolann Solebello at Caffe Vivaldi.

9/25, 7 PM NYC’s most original bluesman, Will Scott plays the Brooklyn Bridge Tobacco Warehouse as part of the Dumbo Arts Festival

9/25, 8 PM this fall’s Brooklyn County Fair at the Jalopy starts with Sassy Jenkins at 8, the Buddy Hollers at 9, the ferocious paisley underground rock and outlaw country of the Newton Gang at 10,the Calamity Janes at 11 and the soaring bluegrass harmonies of the NYCity Slickers at midnight.

9/25, 8 PM pianist Matthew McCright plays works by Minnesota composers James Marentic, Justin Rubin, Adam Wernick, Paul Cantrell, Daniel Nass and Kirsten Broberg at Merkin Concert Hall, $20 tix highly rec. His new cd is a surprising and very soulful collection including some contemporary ragtime.

9/25, 8 PM the NYC premiere of Pauline Oliveros’ Primordial/Lift at Issue Project Room, $20.

9/25, 8 PM the Eels at Terminal 5, $27.50 adv tix rec.

9/25, sepulchrally gorgeous minimalist psychedelic chamber/baroque rock instrumentals with Redhooker – whose new album is one of our top ten this year – at 9 followed by Scott Matthew and his band at 10 and then avant composer Kelli Rudick with Andie Springer on violin and Peter Hess on bass clarinet at 11 at Littlefield, $10

9/25 NYC’s best blues guitarist, Mississipppi hill country-style Will Scott at 68 Jay St. Bar, 9 PM.

9/25 at Bowery Electric, 9ish, catchy retro 60s/70s Britpop maven Edward Rogers plays songs from his reputedly sensational new album Sparkle Lane. Also on the bill: wickedly lyrical retro 60s psychedelic pop band McGinty and White.

9/25 completely off-the-wall and deliriously fun noiserock band Bad Cop at Don Pedro’s, we’re guessing 10ish.

9/25 alt-country’s greatest female voice, Laura Cantrell at Barbes, 10 PM.

9/25 reliably imaginative, bracing trombonist/composer Josh Roseman’s Joshua 3 at the big room at the Rockwood, midnight feat. Peter Apfelbaum (sax, bass organ), Barney McAll (keys), Jonathan Goldberger (guitar), and Ted Poor (drums) – what a great band!

9/26, noon, free, Sunday’s Dumbo Arts Festival show begins with sprawling, literate rockers Balthrop Alabama at Galapagos followed at 1 by eclectic Greek guitarist Avram Pengas’ group, at 4 the cd release for the amazing NYFA Collection 5-cd album featuring an A-list of NYC avant-garde and jazz luminaries, then at 6:30 sultry, charming French chanson revivalists les Chauds Lapins and at 8 janglerock legend Tom Verlaine playing with a trio, with Irish rockers the Prodigals headlining the festival at 10.

9/26 the Atlantic Antic – bands all over Atlantic Ave. and thereabouts- watch this space or just take a walk starting at about 4th Ave

9/26, 3 PM at Central Park Summerstage: the Black Sea Roma Festival featuring Mahala Rai Banda, Tecsoi Banda, Selim Sesler & the NY Gypsy All-Stars and the Yuri Yunakov Ensemble.

9/26, 5 PM Conjunto Guantanamo at the Brooklyn Bridge Tobacco Warehouse

9/26, 9 PM dark intense literate lefty guitar goddess/rock siren Randi Russo and her band at Rock Shop in Gowanus.

9/27, 7:30 PM the world premiere of Jazz Talmud ft. Jake Marmer (poetry), Frank London (trumpet), and Greg Wall (saxophone/clarinet) along with the Ayn Sof Orchestra & Bigger Band playing pieces by their phenomenal lineup: Frank London, Pam Fleming, Reut Regev, Uri Sharlin, Paul Shapiro, Eyal Maoz, Greg Wall and others at the Cell Theatre, 338 W 23rd St., $15/$12 stud.

9/26, 9:30 PM hilarious and haunting noir cabaret legend Little Annie at Joe’s Pub, $15 with Baby Dee on piano.

9/27, 9 PM the Jamie Begian Big Band – whose new album Big Fat Grin is a ton of fun – at Tea Lounge in Park Slope

9/27 charming oldtimey swing and hillbilly sounds with Daria Grace & the Prewar Ponies at Rodeo Bar, 10:30 PM.

9/27 Jack Grace – whose new album Drinking Songs for Lovers is a honkytonk classic – at the small room at the Rockwood, 11 PM

9/28, 8 PM Bryan & the Haggards play sick satirical jazz covers of Merle Haggard songs at Branded Saloon, 603 Vanderbilt Ave, Ft. Greene, Brooklyn and at Rodeo Bar on 10/10 at 10:30.

9/28, 9 PM punky, fun Japanese girl-rockers the Hard Nips at the Knitting Factory followed at 10 by jangly, quirky legends Shonen Knife, $12

9/28, 9 PM vintage dancehall reggae with Capleton plus special guests at B.B. King’s – yeah mon! Adv tix $25 rec.

9/28 spiky, fun, virtuosic hokum blues with the Second Fiddles at Rodeo Bar, 10:30 PM.

9/28, 11ish noir guitar monster Steve Ulrich with his longtime rhythm player Itamar Ziegler and special guest Philip Glass collaborator Mick Rossi at Rose Bar in Williamsburg. Now that Ulrich is done with writing the score to the HBO series Bored to Death, he can do his fun gig. Part Mingus, part Morricone with a savage wit.

9/29, 7 PM Malian duskcore chanteuse Khaira Arby and her amazing guitar-fueled band at Joe’s Pub, $17.

9/29 the Jazz Passengers with Debbie Harry at the Jazz Standard 7:30/9:30 PM.

9/29, 8:30 PM jangly anthemic gothic Americana rock with Lorraine Leckie & Her Demons playing the cd release show for her new one in the big room at the Rockwood

9/29, 8:30 PM Cairo-born sax player/composer Alexandra Grimal and her Quartet: Alexandra Grimal, tenor/soprano saxophone; Thomas Morgan, bass; Todd Neufeld, guitar; Marcus Gilmore, drums at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.

9/29, 9 PM a great country/Americana doublebill with the Lonely Samoans and then Alana Amram & the Rough Gems at Zebulon.

9/29, 9 PM the Tin Roof Trio play gypsy jazz at Bar Reis in Park Slope

9/29 rousing girl/guy bluegrass harmonies with the NYCity Slickers at Rodeo Bar, 10:30 PM.

9/30 Becky Lu performs the complete Études of Claude Debussy, 1 PM at Trinity Church, free.

9/30, 7 PM a phenomenally fun oldtimey doublebill: Miss Tess & the Bon Ton Parade play her ep release show followed eventually at 9:30 by Lake Street Dive doing theirs at the big room at the Rockwood

9/30-10/3 the Joshua Redman Trio at the Jazz Standard – whose trio shows at this venue have lived up to the hype, 200% – at 7:30/9:30 PM $35.

9/30, 8 PM noir chamber rock vets Elysian Fields at le Poisson Rouge, $15.

9/30, 8 PM at Drom the NY Gypsy Festival continues with flamenco/Middle Eastern/gypsy guitar band Espiritu Gitano, $15, free with $30 weeklong pass

9/30, 8 PM, eclectic latin songwriter Marta Topferova – who never met a style from south of the border that she couldn’t do with flair and imagination – at Barbes followed at 10 by advenurous jazz guitarist Mary Halvorson’s Quintet’s cd release show ($10 cover)

9/30, 8:30 PM Canta Libre – harp, flute and strings quintet with chamber music of late 19th and early-20th century Paris – at the Atrium at Lincoln Center, free, get there at least a half hour early.

9/30, 8:30 PM Marika Hughes plays solo cello at Roulette, $15/$10 stud.

9/30, 9 PM artsy lyrical pop songwriter Elaine Romanelli at Desmond’s – if there’s anybody in town who can sing her way over the PA at this dump, it’s her – woman vs. machine?

9/30 sweet Memphis soul revivalists the One and Nines – who sound like a less funk-oriented Sharon Jones – at Sullivan Hall 9 PM; on 10/2 they’re outdoors at the Jersey City festival, corner of 4th Street & Merseles St., 4 PM.

9/30, 9 PM big anthemic 90s style Britrock with the Royal Chains at Bruar Falls

9/30 creepy and beautiful classical art song improvisers Dollshot at the Stone, 10 PM

9/30 menacing, charismatic punk ghoulabilly and retro rock with the Reid Paley Trio at Rodeo Bar, 10:30 PM.

10/1, 6 PM the Becca Stevens Band play adventurous avant vocal jazz at 55 Bar.

10/1 Branford Marsalis and Terrence Blanchard at Dizzy’s Club, 8 PM, $30 tix avail.

10/1 tuneful alt-country crew the Basement Band at the Brooklyn Rod & Gun Club, 9 PM

10/1, 9/10:30 PM the Mike Baggetta Quartet: Mike Baggetta , guitar; Jason Rigby, tenor saxophone; Eivind Opsvik, bass; George Schuller, drums at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.

10/1, 10 PM the self-explanatory, popular Jug Addicts at Barbes

10/1, 11 PM eclectic world music band Delhi 2 Dublin at Drom, $15 adv tix rec. or free with $30 weeklong festival pass.

10/2, 7 PM Missy Mazzoli’s intriguing, hypnotic art-rock band Victoire play the cd release show for their brilliant new one at Joe’s Pub, $14.

10/2, 7 PM dark garage/Americana rocker Lorraine Leckie with her excellent band at Banjo Jim’s.

10/2, 7:30 PM soaring art-rockers/chamberpopsters Clare & the Reasons – who have an excellent new live album out – at the Bell House, $25.

10/2, 8 PM bass clarinet hellraisers Sqwonk and cutting-edge new music string/reed/piano quartet Redshift play a “power program of music by Marc Mellits, Cornelius Boots, James Holt, Aaron Novik, Ryan Brown, David Heuser, and Philip Glass” at Greenwich House Music School/Renee Wiler Concert Hall, 46 Barrow Street, $15.

10/2, 8 PM tango nuevo/jazz bassist Pedro Giraudo leads his Sextet at Barbes.

10/2, 9 PM sultry, ferociously lyrical, hilarious oldtimey siren Kelli Rae Powell at the Jalopy with her band followed by the ever-popular country crew M Shanghai String Band at 10

10/2, 9 PM indie jangle with Electric Engine, indie guitar blaze with Cementhead and catchy Britpop-flavored lyrical ferocity with Special Patrol Group at Coco 66.

10/2, 9 PM at Drom the highest intensity night of the NY Gypsy Festival starts with Veveritse Brass Band and continues at 11ish with the founders of East Coast Balkan brass madness, Zlatne Uste, $15 adv tix highly rec. or free with weeklong $30 pass.

10/2, 9 PM at Otto’s Unsteady Freddie’s monthly surf show starting at 9 PM with Cool Kittie & the Square Cats, Blue Wave Theory at 10, the Sea Turtles at at 11 and the Supertones at midnight.

10/2 slyly funny, sometimes noir-ish Americana crooner Sean Kershaw at Hill Country, 9:30 PM.

10/2 haunting, emotionally riveting syrian-American chanteuser Gaida and her excellent band at Joe’s Pub, 9:30 PM, $20.

10/2 gypsy punk hellraisers Bad Buka at Mehanata, 10 PM

10/2 soulful, spiritual roots reggae with Anguile & the High Steppers at 10 at Shrine followed by the Hard Times playing ska and reggae at 11.

10/2 Tammy Faye Starlite’s hilarious, spot-on, satirical Blondie cover band the Pretty Babies at Lakeside 11 PM.

10/2, 11 PM anthemic, atmospheric, socially aware Radiohead-influenced art-rockers My Pet Dragon at the Rockwood; 10/8 they’re at Trash at 10.

10/2, 11 PM first-generation British punk/pop with the Vibrators at the Bell House, $12.

10/3, 6:30 PM the music of Julia Wolfe played by JACK Quartet, Robert Black and the Hartt Bass Band and Matthew Welch at le Poisson Rouge, $15.

10/3, 7 PM a Django Reinhardt tribute will get very original and even livelier than the guy they’re celebrating with Stephane Wrembel followed by Balval at Drom, $15 or free with $30 weeklong festival pass

10/3 accordionist and Nashville gothic songwriter Mark Growden at the Rockwood, 7 PM. Reputedly he’s very intense live.

10/3, 8 PM low-register (baritone sax, baritone guitar, tuba and bass) vintage latin specialists Gato Loco at Bowery Poetry Club

10/3, 8:30 PM sprawling, jangly, lyrical Americana-inflected rockers Balthrop Alabama at the big room at the Rockwood.

10/3, 8:30 the Bill Ware Vibes Quartet at at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.

10/3 charming oldtimey swing band Christabel & the Jons at Banjo Jim’s, 9 PM.

10/3 acoustic Americana jamband Tall Tall Trees at 9 PM at the Jalopy followed by the oldtimey Wiyos, $15. The Wiyos are also at Joe’s Pub on 7/22 at at 7 for $15 also.

10/3 the NYCity Slickers play bluegrass at Rodeo Bar, 10:30 PM; they’re also at Banjo Jim’s on 10/19 at 9 and back here on 10/24.

10/4, 8 PM Norwegian shoegaze rockers Serena Maneesh at the Knitting Factory, $12 adv tix rec.

10/5 eclectic jazz violin powerhouse (and Americana chanteuse) Jenny Scheinman at Barbes, 7 PM sharp. She’s also here on 10/12 at 7.

10/5-10 powerhouse jazz pianist Kenny Barron leads a quintet at Dizzy’s Club, 7:30/9:30 PM, $30 tix avail.

10/5, 8 PM Sarah Kirkland Snider and Missy Mazzoli together with a chamber ensemble performing three New York City premieres, including Snider’s “Shiner” and “The Reserved, The Reticent” – a solo cello piece to be performed by Clarice Jensen of ACME – as well as Mazzoli’s “Death Valley Junction,” at Galapagos.

10/5, 8 PM clever garage rock with Handsome Dick Manitoba’s supergroup the Master Plan and then Australian cult heroes the Hoodoo Gurus at the Bell House, $15 adv tix rec.

10/5 the reliably exhilarating klezmer violinist Alicia Svigals plus pianist Uli Geissendorfer at the Sixth St. Synagogue, 8:30 PM, $15 includes a drink

10/5 free jazz saxophonist John Tchicai’s Six Points at Roulette, 8:30 PM, $15/$10 stud.

10/5 Americana and sea chanteys with the Mercantillers at the Brooklyn Rod & Gun Club, 9 PM.

10/5 a killer rock/ska en Espanol doublebill with Callejera at 10 followed by Karikatura at 11 at Fontana’s.

10/5, 11 PM punk klezmer with Yid Vicious at Otto’s.

10/6 Paolo Bordignon plays the 1830 Appleton organ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the balcony past the musical instruments section, 3:30 PM, free

10/6 hypnotic otherworldly rustic Kyrgyz folk music ensemble Ordo Sakhna at the Rubin Museum of Art, 8 PM, $18.

10/6, 9 PM noir Americana chanteuse/songwriter Jessie Kilguss at Goodbye Blue Monday

10/6 Americana chanteuse Karen Hudson at Banjo Jim’s, 9 PM

10/6 the Dave Liebman Big Band at Iridium playing the cd release show for their bracingly atmospheric new one As Always.

10/6, 9 PM tuneful powerpop with the Mikal Evans Band at Spike Hill.

10/6 gypsy punk trio the Stumblebum Brass Band at Otto’s, 11 PM; they’re at the Mercury the following night the 7th at 11 PM for $10

10/7, 7 PM east village free jazz legend Dee Pop’s band Radio I Ching plays dub jazz at Otto’s

10/7 intense, literate psychedelic 60s pop revivalists McGinty & White (that’s Joe McGinty on keys and Ward White on guitar) at 8 PM at Bowery Electric playing their own set and then backing East Village new wave legend Kristian Hoffman, who is Rufus Wainwright’s musical director and was a longtime Klaus Nomi collaborator

10/7 a killer gypsy music night with Balval at 8 followed by Raya Brass Band at 10 at Barbes.

10/7, 8 PM hip-hop predecessor/lyrical genius Gil Scott-Heron at B.B. King’s.

10/7-9 alto sax titan Kenny Garrett at Iridium, 8:30/10:30 PM, $30

10/7 adventurous new bluegrass behemoth Frankenpine at Lakeside 9:15ish.

10/7, 10 PM wild Taiwanese instrumental metal-tinged art-rock with the Hsu-Nami at Arlene’s.

10/7, 10:30 PM eerie electric bluespunk with the Five Points Band at the Jalopy, $10

10/7 eclectic Brazilian/New Orleans/funk/surf band Nation Beat at Rodeo Bar, 10:30 PM.

10/8 Pierre de Gaillande’s hilarious, sometimes haunting Georges Brassens cover band Bad Reputation at Barbes at 8 followed by Rob Curto’s forro dance party at 10

10/8 Americana soul band the Smooth Maria’s cd release show at the Rockwood.

10/8 smart, diverse alto saxophonist/composer Jacam Manricks at the Bar Next Door, 8:30 PM.

10/8, 9 PM Zanzibar chanteuse Alsarah and the Nubatones followed by her usual haunting, slinky, danceable band Sounds of Taraab at Alwan for the Arts, $20/$15 stud/srs.

10/8, 9 PM dark female-fronted newschool pop/rock with Impostor Syndrome at Arlene’s.

10/8, 9 PM trumpeter Steven Bernstein’s always popular Sex Mob at the Jalopy, $10

10/8, 9ish Eli Paperboy Reed plus oldschool Gulf Coast soul survivors Don Gardner, Vernon Garrett & Barbara Lynn at the Bell House, $20 adv or $40 2-day pass rec.

10/8 Americana/surf/punk/rockabilly guitar legend Simon & the Bar Sinisters at Lakeside, 10:15ish; they’re also at Rodeo Bar at 10:30 PM on 10/28.

10/8, 10 PM the Brooklyn Boogaloo Blowout at 55 Bar featuring the nucleus of creepy soundtrack machine Mojo Mancini.

10/8 fiery punk-inspired Americana with Demolition String Band at Rodeo Bar, 10:30 PM.

10/8 intense, charismatic, wildly improvisational rock siren Katie Elevitch at Banjo Jim’s, 11 PM

10/8, 11 PM Wanda Jackson at the Knitting Factory, $15 adv tix rec.

10/9 darkly gypsy-tinged, hypnotically swaying, rustic acoustic rockers Kotorino at 8 followed by the Jack Grace Band at 10 at Barbes

10/9, 8 PM phenomenally energetic horn-driven all-purpose noir ska/rock/blues band Tri-State Conspiracy at Bowery Poetry Club.

10/9, 8 PM the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble – one of the most kick-ass bands in the universe, with a fat tuba groove, soul horns and live hip-hop beats – at Highline Ballroom, $12 adv tix rec.

10/9, 8 PM socially aware songwriters Jim Page and Dave Lippman at the People’s Voice Cafe, $15 sugg. don.

10/9, 8 PM the MV Carbon and Brian Chase darkwave duo at Issue Project Room, free; part 2 of the performance is “MV Carbon with sculptural instrument.”

10/9, 8:15 PM hypnotic Middle Eastern violin grooves with Copal at Caffe Vivaldi.

10/9, 9ish Eli Paperboy Reed plus oldschool soul singers Betty Harris, Harvey Scales, Renaldo Domino and the Sweet Divines at the Bell House, $20 adv or $40 2-day pass rec.

10/9, 9:30ish tuneful, quirkily smart garage rock duo the Fools followed by noir garage/punk rockers the Dead Sextons at Goodbye Blue Monday

10/9, 10:30 PM clever acoustic Americana jamband Tall Tall Trees at the Postcrypt

10/10 Reverend Billy + The Life After Shopping Gospel Choir do their hilarious, intensely apt, politically relevant punk-flavored gospel reunion show at Highline Ballroom, 1:30ish

10/10 deviously multistylistic, virtuosic all-female klezmer band Isle of Klezbos at the Eldridge St. Synagogue, 4:30 PM, $20/$15 stud/srs.

10/10, 7 PM at Barbes: “Asmira Woodward-Page. The Australian violinist will present works for solo violin as well as with the Momenta Quartet. The program will draw from a wide variety of composers with an emphasis on contemporary composers and a special focus on Indonesian music.”

10/10 Bryan & the Haggards play sick, funny, virtuosic jazz versions of Merle Haggard classics at Rodeo Bar, 10:30 PM.

10/11 at Barbes 7 PM: “Adela y Lupita….is Mireya Ramo (violin/bass/vocal), and Shae Fiol (vocals/guitar/vihuela). They are Inspired by classic Mexican duets such as Las Hermanas Huertas or Lena y Lola but unlike their illustrious models, the two women are also phenomenal instrumentalists. While indebted to the the folk traditions, Adely y Lupita also draws from their background in contemporary music.” Followed by our favorite chicha band Chicha Libre at 9:30ish

10/11 80s British reggae-pop legends UB40 at B.B. King’s, 8ish.

10/11, midnight the Jack Grace Band at the Ear Inn, playing what the club’s calendar describes as “Weirdo Country Music from the Martini Cowboy.”

10/12 pianist Benjamin Moser plays Ravel, Debussy and Chopin at Merkin Concert Hall, 3 (three) PM, $16.

10/12 Carolyn Mark backed by the Jack Grace Band at Lakeside 7 PM; they’re also at Rodeo Bar at 10:30 PM on 10/14 and at Banjo Jim’s at 7 on 10/20.

10/12, 7:30 PM April Smith and the Great Picture Show bring their swinging juke joint sound to Joe’s Pub, $14

10/12 Indian jazz group Namaskar play the cd release show for their new one at Aaron Davis  Hall uptown.

10/13, 7:30 PM the John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble – whose compositions lately have been as smart and memorable as his live shows – at Littlefield. Check this out – all ages: over 21: $14 (+$6 drink min.), under 21: $10 (+$3 drink min.)

10/13, 8 PM west coast Americana chanteuse (and Neko Case pal) Carolyn Mark at 68 Jay St Bar.

10/13, 9 PM lyrical southwestern gothic rocker Tom Shaner at Lakeside

10/13, 9:30 PM Thirteenth Assembly at Issue Project Room: cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum, guitarist Mary Halvorson, violist Jessica Pavone, and drummer Tomas Fujiwara, $10.

10/13 Susquehanna Industrial Tool and Die Co. at Rodeo Bar 10:30 PM.

10/14, 7 PM Carol Lipnik’s new project with piano genius Matt Kanelos, Ghosts in the Ocean at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $10 cover includes a drink

10/14, 7:30 PM smartly lyrical songwriter Kirsten Williams with the reliably phenomenal Andy Mattina on bass followed at 8:30 by Liza Garelik and Ian Roure, brain trust of the Larch (whose latest album Larix Americana is one of the year’s best) at the Parkside

10/14-16, 7:30 PM Evan Ziporyn’s new gamelan opera A House in Bali feat. 16-piece Balinese Gamelan Salukat and New York’s iconoclastic electric chamber ensemble Bang on a Can All-Stars.at BAM, $30 tix. avail.

10/14-17: the Apex (Rudresh Mahathappa and Bunky Green) cd release show: Rudresh Mahathappa – alto saxophone; Bunky Green – alto saxophone; Jason Moran – piano; Francois Moutin – bass; Damion Reid – drums at the Jazz Standard 7:30/9:30 PM.

10/14, 8 PM Chicha Libre play the cd release show for the surfy, psychedelic Peruvian music anthology The Roots of Chicha 2 – arguably the best album of 2010 –  at Zebulon.

10/14, 8 PM the Reformed Whores: Marie Cecile Anderson on ukulele and Katy Frame on accordion, like Sarah Silverman meets June Carter, at Rose Bar in Williamsburg.

10/14, 8 PM powerpop legend George Usher at Banjo Jim’s.

10/14 So Percussion, Tristan Perich and Corps Exquis playing a bill of new music at Galapagos, 8 PM.

10/14, 8ish ska night at Otto’s with Small Axe and the Hard Times.

10/14 Metropolitan Klezmer, the world’s most stylistically diverse klezmer band – ecstatic experts in film music, latin music, dirges, freilachs, you name it – 8:30 PM at the Atrium at Lincoln Center, free, get there at least a half hour early or get shut out.

10/14, 9 PM Mary Gauthier followed by Laura Cantrell at City Winery, $22 standing room tix avail.

10/14, 10:30 PM Balkan madness with Veveritse Brass Band at the Jalopy, $10

10/15, 7 PM Clash collaborator and Paradise by the Dashboard Light girl Ellen Foley at Lakeside; also here on 10/29 at 7.

10/15 ferociously literate, anthemic, Americana-based rockers Wormburner at the Mercury, 8:30 PM, $10

10/15, 8 PM soulful and haunting Greek oud virtuoso/scholar Mavrothi Kontanis at Barbes.

10/15-16 the Cookers: Billy Harper, Eddie Henerson, James Spaulding, David Weiss, Geri Allen (sitting in for George Cables), Cecil McBee & Billy Hart – who have a killer new album out – at Iridium, 8:30/10:30 PM, $30

10/15, 9 PM, joyously sprawling, funny, theatrical New Orleans soul/funk band Brother Joscephus & the Love Revival Revolution Orchestra at the Brooklyn Bowl, $5.

10/15, 10 PM Southern Culture on the Skids at the Bell House $15 adv tix rec.

10/15 the DKs at Irving Plaza is not the original band – no Jello, which is like the Beatles w/o Lennon.

10/15 King Kahn & the Shrines play garage rock at Santos Party House, 8 PM, $15. They’re also at the Bell House on 10/16 for the same price.

10/15 free jazz luminaries Secret Orchestra: Yuko Fujiyama, Clif Jackson, David Gould – at Roulette, 8:30 PM, $15/$10 stud.

10/16 starting at 2 PM at Issue Project Room: the Drone Marathon. “Electric Temple will present a day-long musical event focusing on contemporary performers working with long sustained tones and sounds. The program will feature six musicians curating segments of the event.”

10/16, 6 PM Sarah Kirkland Snider’s cd release show for her new one feat. Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond at le Poisson Rouge

10/16, 7 PM Iconoclast cd release show at Bowery Poetry Club with Julie Joslyn (alto saxophone, violin, live electronics, vocals) and Leo Ciesa (drums)

10/16, 8 PM the world’s most popular early music choir, Stile Antico make their NYC debut at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, 145 W. 46th St., 8 PM, $35 and worth it.

10/16, 8 PM hypnotic Persian classical and folk tunes with the Shanbehzadeh Trio at Symphony Space, $32.

10/16, 8 PM the first day of this year’s Django festival at the Jalopy starts at 8 with the Hot Club of Hell’s Kitchen, followed by the Hot Club Thing, Luke Hendon Trio, Stephane Wrembel and then at midnight the Blue Plate Special, $TBA

10/16 the closest thing to the Pogues we still have, Shilelagh Law at Connolly’s 9 PM

10/16 oldtimey fun with the 2 Man Gentlemen Band’s cd release show at Southpaw

10/16 a killer reggae triplebill at Shrine starting at 9 with Finotee, followed by Zion Judah at 10 and then East Village Pharmacy’s hypnotic dub/reggaetone sounds at 11.

10/16, 10 PM Japanese gypsy punks Kagero at Mehanata

10/16, 11 PM goth/art-rock cello legends Rasputina at the Knitting Factory, $15 adv tix rec.

10/16 Spanking Charlene at Lakeside 11 PM

10/17 the Chiara String Quartet play Chou Wen-Chung: Streams; Gabriela Lena Frank: Milagros (New York Premiere); Alberto Ginastera: String Quartet No. 1 at le Poisson Rouge, 7:30 PM, $15.

10/17, 8 PMish a killer night of smart songwriting with the soul-influenced Jo Williamson, the Americana sounds of the Bowmans and art-rock keyboard genius Greta Gertler at Banjo Jim’s.

10/17, 8 PM second night of this year’s Django festival at the Jalopy starts at 8 with Jack Soref, the Hot Club of DC, Franglais Gypsy Jazz, Jason Anick and then a jam, $TBA

10/18 powerhouse pianist Tamir Hendelman and his Trio at Dizzy’s Club, 8 PM, $20/10 stud.

10/18 ferociously literate Aimee Mann-ish art-pop pianist/songwriter Krista Detor at City Winery

10/19-20 the Tia Fuller Quartet: Tia Fuller – saxophone; Shamie Royston – piano; Mimi Jones – bass; Rudy Royston – drums at the Jazz Standard, 7:30/9:30 PM.

10/19 an intense, out-of-the-box jazz-inclined set starting at 8 PM with Shane Endsley & the Music Band, noir Waits-ish Gutbucket, and reliably savage, satirical alto sax monster Jon Irabagon with drummer Mike Pride doing their I Don’t Hear Nothin’ but the Blues project at Littlefield, $8 adv tix rec.

10/19-24 vibraphone jazz with “The New Gary Burton Quartet” feat. guitarist Julian Lage, bassist Scott Colley, and drummer Antonio Sanchez at the Blue Note, sets 8/10:30 PM.

10/19, 8:30 PM the Klez Dispensers & SUNY Purchase World Music Ensemble, led by trumpet monster Frank London at the Sixth St. Synagogue, $15 includes a drink

10/20 a killer triplebill at the Rodeo Bar starting at 8 with the Jack Grace Band followed by the Jim Campilongo Electric Trio at 10 and then Bill Kirchen at 11.

10/20,8 PM fascinating, tuneful jazz with the Satoko Fujii Min-Yoh Ensemble: Satoko Fujii, piano; Natsuki Tamura, trumpet; with trombonist Curtis Hasselbring and accordion player Andrea Parkins.

10/20, 8:30 PM the Paul Shapiro Ribs & Brisket Review: Paul Shapiro, sax, clarinet, vocals; Cilla Owens, vocals; Glenn Turner, vocals; Dan Rosengard, piano; Booker King, bass; Mo Roberts, drums at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.

10/21, 8 PM French southwestern gothic rocker Marianne Dissard – whose latest album Paris One Takes is one of our favorites of 2010 – at Barbes followed at 10 by jazz guitar god Matt Munisteri

10/21, 8 PM percussionist Jerome Cooper and pipa adventurer Min Xiao-Fen at Roulette, $15/$10 stud.

10/21 the charming but biting oldtimey swing sounds of Miss Tess & the Bon Ton Parade at Rodeo Bar, 10:30 PM. She’s also at Barbes on 10/22 at 8

10/22 charismatic oldtime Americana/hillbilly hellraisers the Wiyos at Joe’s Pub, 7 PM, $15

10/22 the Toneballs (feat. members of Blow This Nightclub and Love Camp 7) play wickedly guitar-driven, Richard Thompson-ish literate rock at the Parkside, 8 PM.

10/22, 8 PM Ensemble East play works by Matsuura Kengyo, Tadao Sawai, Michio Miyagi, Hikaru Sawai, and James Nyoraku Schlefer at Bargemusic, $25/$20 stud/srs.

10/22 terse Chicago expat blues guitarist Irving Louis Lattin at Lucille’s, 8 PM

10/22 NYC’s iconic oldtimey harmony band, the Moonlighters at Barbes, 10 PM.

10/22, 10:30 PM killer Americana guitar rock with Tom Clark & the High Action Boys at Banjo Jim’s.

10/22, 11 PM soulful lyrical rock songwriter Elisa Flynn plays her stately, wryly haunting 6/8 songs at Building on Bond, 112 Bond St., Brooklyn. She’s also at the Loving Cup Cafe in Williamsburg on 11/12 at 8:30

10/22, 11 PM the Boss Guitars play surf classics and obscurities at Lakeside.

10/23, 1 PM, a free concert at Bargemusic, early arrival advised – piano music or string trio most likely

10/23, 5:30 PM Japanese jazz luminaries Satoko Fujii on piano and Natsuki Tamura on trumpet play Miles Cafe.

10/23, 7 PM soaring, artsy Irish folk-rock legend Pierce Turner at Joe’s Pub, $23.

10/23, 8 PM, catchy, driving Boston jangle/garage rockers Aloud play Lit – be aware this is a CMJ show, the club may be full of losers with badges.

10/23, 8ish, ramshackle Americana juggernaut the Woes at Littlefield, $10 adv tix rec. Be aware this is a CMJ show, there may be losers in the house.

10/23 clever avant/rock/folk band Elizabeth & the Catapult at the Rockwood

10/23, the North American debut of Norwegian darkwave band S K L S, 8:30 PM at Issue Project Room, $10.

10/23, 9 PM A-list fiddler Diane Stockwell’s Freshly Baked Bluegrass followed by the reliably amazing Nashville expat Greg Garing and band at 10:30 at the Jalopy

10/23, 9 PM rustic acoustic Americana roots with the Manhattan Valley Ramblers at Banjo Jim’s.

10/23, 9:30 PM wry tongue in cheek oldschool country with Miller’s Farm at Hill Country

10/23, 10 PM hypnotic hip-hop/funk/downtempo grooves with Thousands of One at Shrine.

10/23, 10 PM legendary klezmer underground trumpeter Frank London at Mehanata

10/23, 10 PM Liliana Araujo, frontwoman of Nation Beat leads Forro Da Madame, her own band at Barbes.

10/23, 11 PM, smart, funny, intense, literate piano rocker Tris McCall at Maxwell’s

10/24 NYC’s own mesmerizing, competitive community gamelan Gamelan Dharma Swara at the Fat Cat, 8 PM

10/24, 8:30 PM the amazing big band Satoko Fujii Orchestra New York at Roulette, $15/$10 stud.

10/24, 10 PM the Peaceniks feat.Patti Rothberg and Moogy Klingman at P&G Bar on the upper west

10/25, 7 PM the Tiptons Sax Quartet with drums: Amy Denio – alto sax, voice; Jessica Lurie – alto & tenor sax, voice; Sue Orfield – tenor sax, voice; Tina Richerson – baritone sax, voice and Lee Frisari – drums at Barbes

10/25, 7:30 PM subversive comedienne/chanteuse Tammy Faye Starlite’s latest sick cover night: Chelsea Madchen – Ein Deutscher Evening Mit Nico, at Joe’s Pub, $15.

10/25 charming oldtimey swing and Americana with Daria Grace and the Pre-War Ponies at Rodeo Bar, 10:30 PM.

10/26 Belgian barroom accordion music hellraisers Musette Explosion at Barbes, 8 PM.

10/26, 8:30 PM Susan & Elaine Hoffman Watts, who have “the deepest bulgar groove on the planet” make a rare appearance outside their native Philadelphia at the Sixth St. Synagogue, $15 includes a drink. This is sort of the klezmer equivalent of a Carter Family visit to New York. Elaine is one of the world’s great drum legends and a repository of centuries of klezmer knowledge, early arrival a must, this will sell out.

10/26, 8:30 PM horror movies with new soundtracks at the Tank: Whitney George leads her chamber orchestra though her scores to the 1928 films The Curiosity Cabinet, The Fall of the House of Usher, and The Tell-Tale Heart, Jay Vilnai’s Vampire Suit does Nosferatu (great choice of composer!!!) and “Nicholas Nelson will present an all electronic score to the 1938 short ‘How to Undress in Front of Your Husband.'” $10 adv tix highly rec.

10/26, 9 PM, grand guignol steampunk intensity with Not Waving But Drowning at Spike Hill

10/28 the Dresden Staatskapelle and the Westminster Choir sing Brahms’ German Requiem at the Atrium at Lincoln Center, free, get there an hour early (7 PM) if you’re going.

10/28, 8 PM stomping, smart, catchy rock en Espanol with New Madrid at Spike Hill. They’re also here on 11/11

10/28 Michael Franti & Spearhead, 9 PM at Terminal 5, $35 adv tix avail.

10/28, 9 PM Askold Buk & los Calcetines play “acid Americana” at Banjo Jim’s.

10/28, 10 PM low-register vintage latin band Gato Loco at Barbes.

10/29 the Wayne Escoffery Quartet at the Rubin Museum of Art, 7 PM $18 adv tix rec.

10/29, 8 PM third-wave ska with the Pietasters & Toasters at B.B. King’s.

10/29 fiery, eclectic Chicago blues guitarist Bobby Radcliff at Lucille’s, 8 PM.

10/29, 9 PM Alloy Orchestra play a new live score to accompany Fritz Lang’s silent classic Metropolis at the 92YTribeca, $20 adv tix rec.

10/29, 9:30 PM tuneful, swinging, witty oldtimey band Roosevelt Dime at Hill Country

10/29 NYC’s own #1 latin soul revivalists Spanglish Fly at Barbes, 10 PM

10/30 Susan McKeown at Symphony Space playing songs from her new album Singing in the Dark featuring lyrics by “poets who’ve struggled with depression, mania, and substance abuse.”

10/30, 7:30/9:30 alto sax powerhouse Jaleel Shaw leads a trio at the Bar Next Door

10/30, 8 PM gypsy punk madness with Bad Buka at LIC Bar in Long Island City, $10

10/30, 8 PM Cypress Hill at the Nokia Theatre, $36.50 – almost as expensive as a bag of weed – did we just say “substance abuse?”

10/30, 9 PM a steampunk big ban doublebill with Drew Nugent & the Midnight Society followed by Michael Arenella & the Dreamland Orchestra playing a pre-Halloween show at the Green Building, 450 Union St. in Brooklyn, $20, F/G to Carroll St.

10/30 the Bush Tetras 9 PM at Bowery Electric.

10/30, 10 PM the Roulette Sisters’ Annual Halloween Costume Ball at Barbes

10/30, midnight, up-and-coming roots reggae star Taj Weekes & Adowa at Joe’s Pub, $14.

10/31, 3 PM and 9 PM (2 separate sets) World Inferno at the Brooklyn Bowl, $15 adv tix rec.

10/31 at Bargemusic, 3 PM Jesse Mills, violin; Chris Gross, cello; Steven Beck, piano play CPE Bach Sonata in F# minor for Violin and Keyboard, Wq. 80 “Empfindungen”; Mauricio Kagel Piano Trio No. 2; Rachmaninoff 6 Études-tableaux, Op. 33; Beethoven Piano Trio No. 5 in D major, Op. 70 No. 1 “Ghost.”

10/31 System Noise play Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust album all the way through at the 45 Bleecker Theatre – these shows are legendary and this one will sell out, adv tix highly rec.

10/31, 9 PM vintage obscure Egyptian film music revivalists Zikrayat with singer Youssef Kassab at Alwan for the Arts, $20 adv tix rec., $15 stud/srs.

10/31, 9 PM songwriter Adam Stevens followed by the Felice Bros. at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, $20.

11/2-7 at Birdland the Django Reinhardt Festival feat. legendary gypsy guitarist Dorado Schmitt, , top gypsy guitarist Kruno Spisic, bassist Xavier Nikq, violinist Pierre Blanchard plus Schmitt’s teenage guitarist phenom son Amati plus special guests harpist Edmar Castaneda, clarinetist Anat Cohen and others at Birdland, $30 seats avail.

11/2 Clinic do their newfound chamber pop thing at Bowery Ballroom, $15. They’re at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on 11/3 for the same price. Adv tix available at the Mercury.

11/4 bluegrass band Hot Rize play their first NYC show in ten years at B.B. King’s.

11/4 Victoire at Smack Mellon Gallery in Dumbo, free.

11/4, 10 PM the Black Angels – who absolutely ripped up the Orensanz Center a month ago – at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, $20

11/5, 8 PM at Dave Liebman and Randy Brecker with the Manhattan School of Music Jazz Philharmonic Orchestra performing John Coltrane’s “Meditations Suite” arranged by Gunnar Mossblad at Manhattan School of Music, 120 Claremont Avenue (Broadway and 122nd St).$10 adults; $5 srs/stud.

11/5, 9 PM the Dandy Warhols at the Bell House, $27 adv tix avail. starting 7/23 at the box office.

11/6 Ameranouche play gypsy jazz at 68 Jay St. Bar, 8 PM.

11/6 the most eclectic and entertaining klezmer revivalists on the planet, Metropolitan Klezmer at the Brooklyn Museum, free, 9 PM

11/8 Natacha Atlas – who’s reinvented herself as a Fairouz-class chanteuse, playing stuff from her amazing new cd Mounqaliba – at le Poisson Rouge

11/10, 8ish at Littlefield the Anat Cohen Quintet. All ages: over 21 $14 (+$6 drink min.), under 21: $10 (+$3 drink min.)

11/10 Deer Tick at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, 9 PM, $17 adv tix. rec. at the Mercury box office.

11/10 grasscore pioneers Slim Cessna’s Auto Club at the Mercury, 10:30 PM, $10

11/11, 8 PM dark, gritty rock legend Ian Hunter at Highline Ballroom, adv tix $27 rec.

11/11 9 PM Toots & the Maytals at the Brooklyn Bowl $26 adv tix rec.

11/11, 8:30 PM and 11/13-14 8 PM the Cypress String Quartet in their NYC debut at the Tenri Cultural Institute, 43A W 13th St., releasing their last cd of the late Beethoven quartets in 2011

11/12, 8 PM oldtimey stars the Asylum Street Spankers play their farewell NYC show – for real – at Highline Ballroom, $25 adv tix rec.

11/12-13 Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society at the Jazz Gallery, $20

11/12 Man or Astroman – the original band – at Bowery Ballroom, 9 PM, $15. They’re also at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on 11/13 for the same price, adv tix available at the Mercury.

11/13 soaring, sharply literate, slyly amusing Americana chanteuse Robin Aigner at Barbes with her band.

11/13, 11 PM dark nuevo garage rockers Obits at the Knitting Factory, $13 adv tix rec.

11/14, 3 PM the Greenwich Village Orchestra play Bruch – Violin Concerto no. 1 in G Minor, with special guest 12-year-old violin sensation Alice Ivy Pemberton (whom we’ve seen, and is the real deal); and Vaughan Williams – Symphony No. 2 “A London Symphony” at Washington Irving HS Auditorium, Irving Pl./17th St., $20 don., a steal.

11/14, 9 PM Nick Cave’s noisy power trio Grinderman at the Nokia Theatre, $37.50

11/17 charming, boisterous Americana harmony trio Red Molly at City Winery 8 PM.

11/18 the Hot Club of San Francisco at the Atrium at Lincoln Center, 7:30 PM arrival advised

11/18, 7:30 PM, “The second concert of this season’s Reflections Series takes us inside the celebrated Parisian salon of famed salonière Winnaretta Singer, heiress to the Singer Sewing Machine fortune. Music to be performed includes works commissioned by her, dedicated to her, or premiered at her salon by Ravel, Fauré, Stravinsky, Debussy, de Falla, Satie and Percy Grainger. Soprano Deborah Selig and pianist Donald Berman will join violinist Gil Morgenstern for this performance,” at WMP Concert Hall, 31 E 28th St., $25.

11/20, 1 PM a free concert at Bargemusic, early arrival advised, piano or string quartet most likely

11/20, 8 PM NY Polyphony sing a program titled Giants of the Flemish Renaissance at Church of St. Mary the Virgin, 145 W 4th St., $35 tix avail.

11/20, 9 PM Irish-American punk/literate rock legends Black 47 at Connolly’s; they’re also here on 12/11

11/20, 9 PM Charles Bradley & the Menahan Street Band followed by Lee Fields & the Expressions at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, $17 adv tix rec.

11/21 the JC Hopkins Big Band open for Mose Allison at City Winery, 8 PM, $30 tix avail.

11/21 pianist Bobby Avey’s cd release show for his brilliant new one A New Face at the Cornelia St. Cafe, shows 8:45/10 PM, $10.

11/23-28 the Maria Schneider Orchestra at the Jazz Standard.

11/30, 9 PM the original steampunk songwriter, Dan Hicks at City Winery, $28 tix avail.

12/10, 8 PM the Chelsea Symphony play Dai: The Night Before Christmas; Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 5 at St. Paul’s Church, 315 W 22nd St., $20 sugg don.

12/11, 8 PM Nellie McKay playing stuff from her new one Home Sweet Mobile Home at Highline Ballroom, $20 adv tix rec.

12/12, 8 PM and repeating 12/13 at 2 PM Gamelan Dharma Swara play their annual holiday concert featuring music from this year’s Bali concert tour/competition at the Indonesian Consulate, 5 East 68th St. between 5th and Madison. The program will include “‘a performance of Kebyar Legong, the famously challenging 30 minute dance work of the virtuosic kebyar repertoire, the first time the complete work, composed in the 1920s by I Wayan Wendres, will be performed outside of Bali’” These concerts sell out fast, get your tickets now.

12/16, 8:30 PM Balthrop Alabama play a Xmas show at the Atrium at Lincoln Center, free, get there at least a half hour early or get shut out. Just letting you know a little ahead of time.

12/19, 3 PM the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra plays Saint-Saens: La Muse et Le Poete with Judy Spokes, violin and David Cho, cello followed by Dvorak: Symphony #6 at St. Ann’s Church in downtown Brooklyn

Top Ten Songs of the Week 8/31/10

This is sort of our weekly, Kasey Kasem-inspired luddite DIY version of a podcast. Every week, we try to mix it up, offer a little something for everyone: sad songs, funny songs, upbeat songs, quieter stuff, you name it. We’ve designed this as something you can do on your lunch break if you work at a computer (and you have headphones – your boss won’t approve of a lot of this stuff). If you don’t like one of these songs, you can always go on to the next one: every link here will take you to each individual song. As always, the #1 song here will appear on our Best Songs of 2010 list at the end of the year.

1. Paula Carino – The Great Depression

One of the sharp literate janglerocker’s catchiest songs, from her new cd Open on Sunday, strong contender for best album of 2010.

2. Bern & the Brights – Sleepless Aristotle

Propulsive, fun, artsy guitar-and-violin rock from this unique band – it’s a live showstopper.

3. Tin Pan – Brooklyn of Old

Oldtimey anti-gentrification rant – absolutely brilliant.

4. Kuan – J

Groove-driven noiserock from Austin. Cool stuff.

5. The Spytones – Vendetta

Surf/spy instrumental menace from Finland. They’re at Otto’s on 9/4 at 10.

6. Darker My Love – She Lives in a Time of Her Own

Garage rock – as the title would imply, not the lite stuff.

7. The Devil Makes Three – For Good Again

Original bluegrass – funny as hell, recorded live on Daytrotter.

8. The Romany Rye – Brother

Genuinely pretty Neil Young-style Americana rock with a killer guitar solo – another Daytrotter session.

9. The Blaggards – Theme from a Summer Rental

Twisted surf cover of another theme you might know.

10. Alice J Austin – Everybody Loves a Narcissist Especially You

Like the first New Pornographers album – funny and cool.

Williamsburg’s Best Dance Party

The idea of a dance party in Williamsburg might sound like an oxymoron, but there is one and it’s great fun. To the uninitiated, Rev. Vince Anderson might seem like an unlikely host, but to his fans – who packed Union Pool Monday night to the point where it was hard to move – he puts on the best party in town. Anderson has reinvented himself as many times as Bowie or Madonna, and the keyboardist/showman’s latest incarnation is as the leader of a deliriously slinky gospel-flavored groove orchestra. Which makes sense: he’s got the rhythm section from Chin Chin, Paula Henderson (late of Moisturizer) on baritone sax, and Dave Smith of Smoota and the Fela pit band on trombone, who all know something about getting a crowd to move. Monday night Anderson also had a dynamite girl backup singer along with Jaleel Bunton (known to some as the drummer in TV on the Radio) on fiery, noisy funk guitar, and longtime Stevie Wonder and David Bowie drummer Dennis Davis celebrating his birthday by sitting in on a couple of numbers. As Anderson has been doing for years, he jams out all the songs for sometimes as much as twenty minutes or more. This time, there wasn’t much sermonizing (the Rev. is a real minister): he was in too good a mood to do much more than play, sing, leap up on the bar, send the chandeliers overhead swaying ominously, and jump from the stage to surf on the outstretched arms of the crowd.

Anderson’s new songs are also a lot different from his older material. Throughout the first set, he stuck with a darkly reverberating, sometimes piercing electric piano tone, playing incisive funk lines worthy of Billy Preston (one of his idols). He opened the set with a long oldschool disco vamp to get the crowd energized, and it worked. The band followed that with a sultry, sexy, fast funk groove where Henderson and then Smith both blasted through a verse and then straight through the turnaround, they were having so much fun.

Anderson then flipped the script with a long, dynamically charged song that sounded like a murder ballad, reaching a roar as the chorus finally kicked in. From what managed to cut through the PA, the lyrics seemed to be directed at someone who’d be the kind of person to just stand and watch Jesus struggle all the way up to Golgotha. Davis joined them for a couple of numbers, bringing back the ecstatic dance vibe. Then Anderson launched into a doo-wop flavored soul song about having a hard time saying goodnight to a girl, which served as the springboard for some searing, bluesy electric piano cascades. They wrapped up the set with a long singalong on This Little Light of Mine, which continued on the dance floor and in the entryway to the back room after the band had left the stage. At half past one in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, it was kind of weird seeing a bunch of white kids who’ll never have to work a day in their lives singing along to an old gospel song written by slaves their great-great-grandparents possibly owned. But there was also something undeniably heartwarming about it. Rev. Vince Anderson plays every Monday night at Union Pool starting around 11.

Album of the Day 9/1/10

New NYC live music calendar for September and October coming later today! In the meantime, every day, we count down the 1000 best albums of all time all the way to #1. Wednesday’s album is #881:

New Model Army – Raw Melody Men

The missing link between the Clash and Midnight Oil, British rockers New Model Army have built a thirty-year career on the fiery, uncompromising, anthemic, politically aware songwriting of frontman Justin Sullivan: they’ve literally never made a bad record. This 1992 double live album captures the band at the peak of their majestic art-rock fury (they’ve been through many different phases: currently, they’re just as likely to whip out a gentle acoustic folk-rock number as a straight-up punk stomp). The swirls of electric violin and occasional keyboards here add an eerie ambience above the din of the guitar. Sullivan doesn’t confine his razor-sharp critiques to globalization or the evils of monopoly capitalism: there are few more astute critics of the left, especially coming from a progressive point of view. This one has most of the band’s early 90s concert favorites: the anguished escape anthem Get Me Out; the eco-disaster atmospherics of White Coats; the spot-on examinations of leftwing cliquishness Purity and Better Than Them; and the towering, Middle Eastern inflected majesty of Lurhstaap, a warning in the wake of the fall of the Berlin Wall that “You can buy a crown/It doesn’t make you king/Beware the trinkets that we bring.” Over the years, a NMA “family” has sprung up, sort of a more conscious Deadhead crew whose common passions happen to be intransigence and defiance of rightwing authority rather than drugs. New Yorkers can look forward to New Model Army’s latest appearance at 8 PM at the Bell House in Brooklyn on September 3 and 4.

Ran Blake and Sara Serpa Make the Ultimate Noir Vocal Jazz Album

This is what David Lynch was going for with Angelo Badalementi and Julee Cruise but never quite managed to nail. Sara Serpa’s expertise is vocalese, a style at which the Portuguese-born chanteuse is ideally suited, yet it’s something she only utilizes on a couple of numbers on her new album Camera Obscura. Her English accent may not be perfect yet but her interpretation of the arrangements here, and her teamwork with her former New England Conservatory teacher, the legendary noir jazz pianist Ran Blake, is extraordinary. She approaches these songs with a devastating clarity and vulnerability: her delivery is completely unadorned, yet absolutely resolute and ultimately fearless. This is arguably the best album so far this year in jazz, or for that matter any style of music, every bit as original as Blake’s landmark 1961 collaboration with Jeanne Lee, The Newest Sound Around. A cynic might say that it’s what Hilary Kole should have done on her album with Brubeck and Hank Jones and all those other legends but didn’t.

Nat King Cole’s When Sunny Gets Blue gets a characteristically understated, minimalist treatment. As she does throughout the album, Serpa brings the most minute details of the lyrics vividly to life, particularly the disquieting ones. When she sings, “She lost her smile, changed her style, somehow she’s not the same,” a subtle downturn takes on the weight of an earthquake. Janet McFadden’s playful Our Fair Cat introduces a furry friend who is a murderer in theory – and in practice as well, Blake juxtaposing a blithe bounce with a grim gleam, Serpa taking it solo all the way up to the top of her range, completely deadpan, then Blake launches into a twisted little waltz. Folhas (Leaves), an original setting of a poem by Eugenio de Andrade offers something of a respite from the brooding intensity.

The Short Life of Barbara Monk is a spellbinding noir jazz waltz by Blake. Serpa’s wounded vocalese makes a chill-inducing contrast with Blake’s sinister music-box tinges – and takes the anguish up a notch when Blake turns on a dime and shifts into a fast Mingus-esque swing groove. A second Nat Cole cover, I Should Care, clocks in at a brief minute forty-two, dedicated to Monk and as to the point as it can be considering its murky ambience. A tune by Monk himself, Nutty has Serpa carrying the rhythm over jagged incisions by Blake. Driftwood is a terrifically apt Chris Connor homage, Serpa warmly remembering the beach in summer – and suddenly Blake hits an ominous chord, then leaves her out to dry, and the result is spine-tingling. The version of Cole Porter’s Get Out of Town follows in the same vein. “I care for you much too much” is laden with regret rather than a celebration, Serpa’s voice taking on a desperate tinge as the piano picks up the pace. “Be good to me please -” she stops just short of imploring. “We touch too much,” she asserts with a knowing roll of the eyes. They end the album with April in Paris, which starts out more like the dead of winter and stays like that most of the way, a far cry from the conventionality of the Sinatra hit. Together these two have raised the bar for jazz singing – and accompaniment – to an absurdly high level.

Bryan and the Haggards Pull Some Laughs in Park Slope

Bryan and the Haggards’ debut album Pretend It’s the End of the World is a collection of twisted instrumental covers of Merle Haggard songs, and it’s as funny as anything Ween ever did. Because its satirical bite sometimes goes completely over the top, it wasn’t clear how the band – a bunch of free jazz types – would approach the songs live. At Bar 4 in Park Slope on Monday night, tenor saxophonist and bandleader Bryan Murray wore a faded red Hag baseball hat; Jon Irabagon, the “heavyweight of the alto sax,” as Murray sardonically called him, sported a rare Bryan and the Haggards t-shirt. From the first few bars of the first song, what was most obvious, and unexpected, was that they’re a genuinely good straight-up country band if they want to be – for a few bars, until they start messing with the songs. Country music isn’t everybody’s thing, but it’s a lot of fun to play, and that fun comes intuitively to this crew. Guitarist Jon Lundbom would go deep off the jazz end at times, but he’s got a bag of C&W licks; bassist Moppa Elliott looked like he was having more fun than anybody else in the band even though he was mostly playing the simplest lines possible, one-five, one-five, and drummer Danny Fischer, whose leaden pulse is responsible for a lot of the humor on the album, gave the songs a jaunty swing when he wasn’t acting out. Which he did, a lot, and cracked everybody up, especially his bandmates. He began his first solo by stopping cold, followed by a pregnant pause: Elliott tried easing him in, but Fischer wouldn’t budge, finally doing a neanderthal Fred Flintstone impression all the way around his kit.

On Lonesome Fugitive, Elliott joined him in disfiguring the time signature while Lundbom took a long, incisive jazz solo, holding steady to the 4/4 even as he ran long, snaky passages, deadpan and seemingly oblivious to the joke. A slow, swaying 6/8 number with countrypolitan tinges – Miss the Mississippi and You, maybe? – featured a warmly melodic solo excursion from Murray that finally took on an insistent postbop intensity as he went for the upper registers. Likewise, it was nothing short of exhilarating to watch Irabagon – whose new album Foxy is due out this month – make short work of an endless series of razorwire glissandos. And maybe predictably, it was one of his solos, a mealymouthed, weepily retarded, off-key stumble during their opening number, that was the funniest moment in a night full of many.

Fischer had assembled some pint glasses behind his drums, a primitive marimba that he’d plink on or even use to add a little melody. When he took another lengthy pause during a solo, Lundbom asked him if he wanted another beer. The answer was no: for whatever reason, he didn’t need it. A crowd trickled in as the band played: patrons looked around quizzically, then smiled when they realized what was happening. There would have been a lot more of those looks, and a lot more audible laughter, had it been later in the evening. But that was just the first set.