by Jacob Blickenstaff

The Relatives @ Damrosch Park Bandshell

As any hard-living soul singer and Rebecca Black can tell you, after Saturday Night comes Sunday morning. Following the all-day Girl Group Extravaganza at Lincoln Center Out of Doors, it was time to take in some Family Day programming and Goin' to Church music. The afternoon program in Hearst Plaza on July 30th featured the Stax Music Academy and Vy Higgensen's Gospel for Teens choir. The Stax Academy tore through complex Jackson 5 songs and Stax-era staples, teaching the audience to dance the 'Funky Chicken' with delight. As for the Gospel For Teens Choir, you'll just have to check out the pics(below) to believe it. Family day did not equal 'kiddie music' by any means. Both the Stax and GFT groups displayed mature artistry via talent and determination.

The evening program featured recently rediscovered psych-funk gospel group The Relatives (who were a highlight of last year's Ponderosa Stomp) and headliner Mavis Staples who performed, one day after she appeared at Newport Folk Fest, a lengthy and thoroughly satisfying set which included a cover of Curtis Mayfield's 'This Is My Country'. Amen.

More pictures from Lincoln Center Out of Doors Sunday (day and night), below...

Continue reading "Mavis Staples, The Relatives, & 'Family Day' @ Lincoln Center Out of Doors (pics)"

If on you're way out of the subway in late July you happen to notice a busker that looks a helluva lot like Billy Bragg surrounded by an army of other guitar-weilding maniacs, don't be alarmed. The spectacle is just the opening act for the two+ week Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival, which will feature shows with Mavis Staples (as discussed), "Laurie Anderson and Friends", Bettye LaVette, a girl-group heavy Ponderosa Stomp, the 28th Annual Roots of American Music Festival, The Bar-Kays, and many, many others at the Damrosch Park Bandshell and other Manhattan locations from July 27th until its close on August 14th. The full schedule is below.

Billy Bragg leading The Big Busk in the UK

The Big Busk is the first performance scheduled (and it happens twice on July 27th), and will see Bragg leading a play-along concert flanked by an army of cue-cards detailing what chords he is playing. Check out a video from a 2008 'Big Busk' that took place in England, below.

Billy Bragg will also make up his cancelled dates from earlier this year around that 7/27 appearance. He'll play City Winery in NYC on 7/26 (tickets), 7/28 (tickets) and 7/29 (tickets).

All Lincoln Center festival dates and lineups, and all Billy Bragg tour dates are below.

Continue reading "Lincoln Center Out of Doors 2011 schedule announced, rescheduled Billy Bragg dates too"

photos by Chris La Putt

""Ladies and gentlemen get out of the ring or they will not play"" - Leia Jospe

""That's what i'm talkin about. Carnage. Total carnage. Up the punks!" -guy smoking inside @japanther show/riot/fail, lincolncenter" - Nina Mashurova

"What a mess. Japanther got stopped twice - lights on, music off, so floor could be cleared of moshers. People were booing and throwing shit." - Pamela Z

"Japanther gets shut down at Damrosche Park because it's a "security f**king circus."" - Rozalia Jovanovic

"A riot at the circus #2011" - Leia Jospe

"that was one of the craziest, oddest shows i've been to in a while. pandemonium broke loose. if tomorrow's day 2 even happens, that'll be the last time lincoln center opens its doors to rock bands. it was pretty fun till the very end. stupid kids, agro's for dorks."
[Anonymous | January 4, 2011 1:11 AM]

They probably shouldn't have booked Japanther at the "Rock & Roll Circus" if their goal was complete order. Not only that, Monday night's Lincoln Center-presented show under the Big Apple Circus big top was free. Things will surely be calmer for the ticketed Tuesday night show that Ariel Pink is headlining (assuming it is still happening). More about what happened later (with more pictures of all bands and the aftermath), but in the meantime, you can check out more pictures taken during Japanther's set, below...

Continue reading "the Japanther show @ Big Apple Circus didn't go so well (pics)"

DeVotchKa at Bowery Electric (more by Toby Tenenbaum)

DeVotchKa will play Damrosch Park with Angus & Julia Stone and "special surprise guests" at Lincoln Center as part of CMJ on 10/23. Tickets are now on sale (online and at Other Music). The show is part of a sprinkling of dates for Devotchka, who will hit Chicago, Philly, Grand Rapids, and Colorado on the trek.

The show, in addition to being part of CMJ, will be the kickoff of a new series of "Sideshows". More details TBA.

Australian duo Angus & Julia Stone, currently on a massive tour, also play a CMJ show at the Bell House on 10/22 (tickets) and Maxwell's in Hoboken on 10/24 (tickets).

Everyone's tour dates and some videos, below...

Continue reading "DeVotchKa playing a 'Sideshow' @ Damrosch Park for CMJ w/ Angus & Julia (and other tour dates) "

photos by Benjamin Lozovsky, words by Andrew Frisicano

Michael Rother and friends performed an entrancing set of music by Neu! and associated acts at Lincoln Center Damrosch Park Friday night (8/6), after a Maxwell's set earlier that week. With support from Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley and Tall Firs bassist Aaron Mullan, both dependably on track, Rother's buzzy guitar cut through the atmospheric haze, as the pieces, each about 10 minutes, entered slowly, built up and faded. The maestro worked with a number of sounds, from a shred-worthy roar to subtley layered harmonics. Under that, a backbeat of laptop clacks and synths (and something that sounded like a gurgling faucet) drove along the pieces. Only a few minutes into the opening number Shelley burst into the late Klaus Dinger's trademark 'motorik' beat, to cheers from the crowd.

With the rhythm up front, the music was infinitely danceable. But nearing the one hour mark, frankly, the scene was a bit dire. The crowd, many of whom were just passing by, or attending for the night's curious opening act, Brazilian jazz fusion bandleader Hermeto Pascoal, seemed to be leaving in swarms. And many that stayed were vocal about their ambivalence ("And now for something completely different" heckled one senior, in reference to the Hallgallo's steadily-paced songs. "It's not unpleasant," said another before shuffling off into the night. Others just conversed loudly on about their day, or the Arcade Fire show the night before. Before the show, Steve Shelley explained to one clueless inquirer: "Neu! is this band from Germany...they were very influential to what would become indie rock, and bands like Sonic Youth and Stereolab." [pause] "Oh maybe, I'll stay," she said, clearly not intending to.)

It was also right around the one hour mark, during the set's extended last jam, that a small crowd started gathering near the front of the stage and down the aisles. A few pogoed, some bounced around, and even more just joined the group to make their presence felt, an appropriately warm gesture to end the night.

Michael Rother and band are done with this round of shows (until ATP NY in September) but they'll be on WFMU Tuesday (today), 3-6pm on the Brian Turner show. Guitarist Bill Orcutt visited the same show on August 3rd, and performed in WFMU's 4th Floor bathroom. His full set is up at the Free Music Archive, and a video of it is below.

More Neu!/Hallogallo 2010 pictures are below too...

Continue reading "Hallogallo 2010 (Neu!) played Lincoln Center w/ Hermeto Pascoal (pics), is appearing on WFMU (today)"

photos by Chris La Putt

"Magic was in the air outdoors at Lincoln Centre when the Fela cast joined Femi Kuti on stage" - Steven Hall

Femi Kuti and the Positive Force headlined Monday night's Midsummer Night Swing show at Damrosch Park. Associate choreographer of FELA! the musical, Maija Garcia, was scheduled to give the dance lessons that come before the show, but she couldn't make it so actual FELA! cast members did the job instead. More pictures from the whole night, below...

Continue reading "Femi Kuti & Fela! cast members helped people dance @ Lincoln Center (pics) "

Midsummer Night Swing 2009 @ Lincoln Center (more by Gabi Porter,)

Lincoln Center's Midsummer Night Swing Festival will be happening at Damrosch Park (W 62nd St b/w Columbus and Amsterdam Aves) from June 29th to July 17th. The shows run every night Tuesday-Saturday, with the exception of Tuesday, July 13th. That's because Femi Kuti's previously mentioned Monday, July 12th NYC show will be at Damrosch Park and part of the festival. Other styles they'll be hosting include salsa, swing, disco, tango and bhangra.

Tickets to all the shows are on sale. Six-night and season-long passes are on sale too.

Pictures from last year's Chubby Checker show are here. The full schedule is below...

Continue reading "Lincoln Center's 2010 Midsummer Night Swing schedule "

words & photos by Gabi Porter, additional words by Andrew Frisicano

I go to a lot of amazing shows, but it's rare to go to a show in New York where the audience makes the show better. Midsummer Night Swing has a built in crowd of people who love to dance in a know-the-steps kind of way, and the energy that creates is so infectious. It makes you realize how sick you are of irony and arms-crossed-head-nodding shows, and makes you want to be more sincere and enjoy yourself unselfconsciously. What also set this show apart from others was the age range, there were times when you could look around and see that children, parents and grandparents were all in attendance. A svelte Chubby Checker looked and sounded fantastic, and it made me wonder why we don't see stacks and stacks of re-issues of his memorable catalog, and why we haven't seen a fresh new project, championed by a hot young producer, from Chubby Checker. The man is ripe for a reverent re-invention from a visionary like ?uestlove, like he did for Al Green. This is the man who, arguably, invented the Twist for chrissakes, and last night when he played the Hank Ballard's "The Twist" there were - literally - 13 year old kids twisting in the bushes. It's a rare rare thing to see that much joy on the Upper West Side on a Wednesday night.

Last night's concert/dance party was a celebration of 50 years of Lincoln Center, in the 21st year of Midsummer Night's Swing. And the size of the crowd and the quality of the music reflects Bill Bragin's leadership in bringing fresh programming to one of New York's anticipated summer series. -Gabi

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Chubby Checker played last night (7/8) as part of this week's kick off for Midsummer Night Swing Festival happening at Lincoln Center's Damrosch Park through July 25th. Kermit Ruffians played on the first night, July 7th. Each night of the fest is geared towards a particular danceable genre. So, for example, the Checker show on Wednesday, July 8th featured 'Rock n Roll' dancing. Check out a video of some crowd members up on stage doing "The Fly," below.

The Woody Herman Orchestra brings swing to the park on July 9th. Also in the fest's first week is the West/Central African music of Occidental Brothers Dance Band International paired with East African singer Samba Mapangala and his band Virunga on Friday, July 10th.

As previously reported, the Ponderosa Stomp hosts two nights, of soul/R&B and Rockabilly, respectively, on Thursday, July 16th and Friday, July 17th. They're also presenting another Lincoln Center gig, "A Tribute to Wardell Quezergue," at Alice Tully Hall on July 19th.

Other nights include Big Bad Voodoo Daddy on Wednesday, July 22nd and a closing set by Harlem Renaissance Orchestra with special guest Houston Person on July 25th. Tickets to all the upcoming shows are on sale.

The full schedule, with more pictures and video from Chubby Checker, below...

Continue reading "Chubby Checker played Lincoln Center's Midsummer Night Swing Festival (pics & full upcoming schedule) "

Lincoln Center Damrosch Park bandshell - August 2008 (miro.m)

This year's Lincoln Center Out of Doors (LCOOD), three weeks of FREE music and dance on the plazas of Lincoln Center, will run from August 5 through August 23. The 39th annual edition of the festival will present a wide range of music and dance events by dozens of international, U.S. and local artists, highlighted by New York, U.S. and world premieres and debuts and special commissions. Out of Doors opens Wednesday, August 5 with the worldwide debut of the Asphalt Orchestra, a new marching band developed by Bang on a Can, premiering works commissioned for Lincoln Center's 50th Anniversary from Goran Bregovic, Tyondai Braxton (of Battles), and Stew and Heidi Rodewald. The band will also perform original arrangements of iconoclastic rock, jazz, and classical material--all to movement created by MacArthur Fellowship winning choreographer Susan Marshall. Asphalt Orchestra will kick-off the first five consecutive nights of Out of Doors at 7 p.m., performing in different locations across Lincoln Center's campus, with a varying playlist each night. The opening night concert at the Damrosch Park Bandshell at 7:30 is a double-bill with Out of Doors alum The Dave Brubeck Quartet (marking the 50th Anniversary of the landmark album Time Out) with guest soloist, oud virtuoso Simon Shaheen, and Iraqi-American jazz trumpeter Amir ElSaffar leading the New York debut of his Two Rivers Large Ensemble.]

The Asphalt Ochestra shows also include "world-premiere arrangements of works by: Björk, Meshuggah, Charles Mingus, Colon Nancarrow, Frank Zappa."

And Lincoln Center and Wordless Music are again planning a performance of Rhys Chatham's Crimson Grail for 200 Electric Guitars. It'll be happening Saturday, August 8th at Damrosch Park. Let's hope they've secured a rain location, or this could be an annual thing. Section leaders include David Daniell, John King, Seth Olinsky (Akron/Family) and Ned Sublette. The fest is taking applications to volunteer as a guitarist or bassist for the event. Also on the bill for that is "seminal funk-punk band Liquid Liquid."

Other highlights on the schedule are "a pairing of Malian singer-songwriter Rokia Traoré with Raul Midón", The Derek Trucks Band, and Slavic Soul Party.

Closing out the festival will be the 26th Annual Roots of American Music Festival at the Damrosch Park Bandshell, an event that'll touch on the blues (Four Women: A Tribute to Odetta, Miriam Makeba, Abbey Lincoln and Eartha Kitt), Creole music (The Louisiana Renegades), country (Texas Tornados: Tribute to Doug Sahm), and "Mazel Tov, Mis Amigos: The Lost World of Latin-Jewish Sound" with Afro-Jazz bandleader Arturo O'Farrill.

Full schedule below...

Continue reading "Lincoln Center Out of Doors 2009 lineup - another attempt at Rhys Chatham's 200 Electric Guitars included "

photos by heartonastick

Gétatchèw Mèkurya with The Ex @ Damrosch Park, 8/20/08

More pics from last night's show below.....

Continue reading "Gétatchèw Mèkurya, The Ex, Mahmoud Ahmed, Alèmayèhu Eshèté & The Either/Orchestra played NYC - pics"

photos by Jason Bergman

Rhys Chatham: A Crimson Grail (2008) for 200 Electric Guitars (Outdoor Version) (World Premiere)
Commissioned by Lincoln Center for Lincoln Center Out of Doors

Next, composer Rhys Chatham and section leaders John King, Ned Sublette, David Daniell, and Seth Olinsky (Akron/Family) lead an oversized orchestra of 200 volunteer guitarists and electric bassists in the world premiere of A Crimson Grail for 200 Electric Guitars (Outdoor Version) performed not on the Bandshell stage but along the sides of the audience at Damrosch Park, to heighten the work's polyphonic effect. The work, originally composed for Paris' famed Sacré-Coeur, has been extensively revised to suit the dynamics of the Park's outdoor acoustic.

That description describes 1/3 of tonight's free show called "Wordless Music: 800 Years of Minimalism - The Spiritual Transcendent" at Damrosch Park (August 15) (part of the Lincoln Center Out of Doors series). Last night there was a rehearsal at the St. Paul of the Apostle church at 60th and Columbus. Jason stopped by and took a few pictures...

Continue reading "Rhys Chatham & 200 guitars is tonight ++ pics from rehearsal"

Check out Lincoln Center's website for this year's Midsummer Night Swing schedule. Running through July 26th, this year's free shows that take place in Damrosch Park include 'A Loser's Lounge Night at the Disco', The Budos Band, Boban i Marko Markovic Orkestar, Spanish Harlem Orchestra and tonight's show (July 9) which is Chuck Brown.