James Murphy at Brooklyn Bazaar (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

It's benefit season, don't you know? MoMA's annual Party in the Garden is on Tuesday (5/22) with Santigold as the featured performer, and then the next night (Wed. 5/23) it's the Spring Gala Benefit at The Kitchen, one of New York's oldest not-for-profit performance spaces. It happens at Capitale (130 Bowery) and this year's guests of honor are video and performance artist Joan Jonas and minimalist composer Steve Reich. The evening features performances from David Cossin (Bang on a Can), Jason Moran and My Brightest Diamond's Shara Worden. The afterparty features a DJ set from James Murphy.

Tickets are still available, and will set you back anywhere from $500 - $25,000. If you just want to go to the afterparty, tickets start at $75. The proceeds will support artistic and production fees for The Kitchen's annual presenting season, which features experimental work by innovative artists, both emerging and established. Programs range from dance, music, and theatrical performances to video and media arts exhibitions to literary events, film screenings, and artists' talks.

If you can't make the Spring Gala then you can still catch James Murphy behind the decks at GoogaMooga this weekend. He'll headline the Pagoda Stage on 5/19 as part of the ExtraMooga portion of the program. Tickets for ExtraMooga are still available and the full schedule of events (with times) are up. Murphy will also DJ the upcoming Roots Picnic.

The National show in Prospect Park (more by Amanda Hatfield)

We already knew that 'Celebrate Brooklyn' is hosting an impressive lineup of ticketed Prospect Park Bandshell shows this summer: The Decemberists, Animal Collective, Sufjan Stevens, Bon Iver & Cut Copy. And we knew that the 33rd annual series of free shows would start with an Andrew Bird show on June 10th, and that BRIC is also hosting three free 'dance parties' in Brooklyn Bridge Park this summer too.

Now the entire 2011 lineup of "24 free performances, including 20 music concerts, two dance performances, two film screenings with live music, and a family concert" is here! You can check it all out (The Feelies, Real Estate, The Books, Junip, Doveman, Justin Townes Earle, Punch Brothers, Raekwon, Oumou Sangaré, Times New Viking, Ra Ra Riot, Delicate Steve, Buke & Gass and Hal Willner included), below...

Continue reading "Celebrate Brooklyn - complete 2011 Prospect Park show lineup"

by Andrew Frisicano

Steven Bernstein

Speaking of Colin Stetson, you can see him tonight at the Blue Note (2/25), where he plays with Steven Bernstein (trumpet), Vicente Archer (bass) and Dan Weiss (drums) as part of Spontaneous Construction, a new series put on by Search & Restore happening at the venue most Fridays (midnight doors, with a $10 cover). The idea is to pair up musicians that don't regularly play together into one-night combos, and the schedule for the next few months includes big names like Jason Moran, Bobby Previte, Ari Hoenig, Nasheet Waits and Dave King (with plenty TBAs too). All the sets will be recorded for Search & Restore's ongoing video project, which launched earlier this year. For a taste of the quality of those videos, check out their recording of the group Four Bags, posted below, with the Spontaneous Construction schedule thus far...

Continue reading "'Spontaneous Construction' Friday nights @ the Blue Note"

Prince Rama @ PS1 last Saturday (more by Andrew St. Clair)

today in NYC
* Whiplash @ UCB
* It Is It comedy @ Pianos
* Lazer Crystal @ Death By Audio??
* Bruce Brubaker, piano @ Le Poisson Rouge
* Logan Richardson Quartet @ Le Poisson Rouge
* Empire of the Sun, Juan Maclean (DJ set) @ Terminal 5
* Nite Jewel, Violens, Prince Rama, Silk Flowers @ Mercury Lounge
* Bad Dream, Dangerbird, Gholas (member of Deathbeds) & Dutchguts @ Lit Lounge
* .357 Lover, Sweet Soubrette, Amazing Amy, Carla Rhodes, Harlen Muir, Gabe Pacheco @ Knitting Factory
* Sam Cooper of Horse Feathers, Glass Anchors, Jack and The Pulpits @ Cake Shop
* Xray Eyeballs, Dubknowdub, These Days (Kronner Burger/Sto & Frankie's Birthday Bash) @ Bruar Falls (free)
* Packway Handle Band, Shinkoyo Night with Skeletons, Salamander Wool, Jenny Graff (Metalux), Blondes (DJ Set) @ Zebulon

Bruce Brubaker will be playing the music of music of Nico Muhly (New York premiere), Philip Glass, John Cage, and Alvin Curran on pianos at Le Poisson Rouge tonight. It's an early show before: Logan Richardson Quartet with Nasheet Waits, Tarus Mateen, and Jason Moran at the same venue.

The free comedy lineup at Pianos tonight includes John Mulaney (SNL), Ali Waller (Late Night w/Jimmy Fallon, Julian McCollough (Comedy Central), and Kevin Bartini (Comedy Central).

Nite Jewel played a solo set at Cake Shop last night and continues her August NYC run with a show at Mercury Lounge tonight.

Prince Rama, who recently played PS1, is also on the Mercury Lounge bill (as is Violens).

Lazer Crystal played Cake Shop last night too and were supposed to play Death By Audio tonight but their show is no longer listed, so I don't know. Check out their video for Love Rhombus below.

Corn Mo and his band .357 Lover bring a cast of interesting characters to Knitting Factory tonight (Sweet Soubrette - Sweet Songs on the Uke, Amazing Amy - Contortionist from America's Got Talent, Carla Rhodes - America's Ventriloquist Girlfriend, and Harlen Muir - Accordion songman with Jason Trachtenburg). A video flyer is below.

Will Sheff is playing the Living Room on Tuesday.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Monday?"

By Andrew Frisicano

Jenny Scheinman & Jason Moran @ Winter Jazz Fest @ LPR

Winter Jazz Fest 2010 brought a diverse lineup of contemporary jazz to six Greenwich Village venues on Friday, January 8th and Saturday, Jan. 9th. The sheer number of compelling acts in one place made the fest a great primer for anyone interested the current state of the scene (a topic many of the reviews have addressed). By all accounts it was a big success, with an engaged and diverse crowd turning out. The gigs I went to were all well-attended, mostly-standing affairs (NY Times reports 2,500 attendees at the fest's sold-out Saturday night). The tight schedule (short 40-minute sets) and the closeness of the venues gave a definite festival atmosphere to the shows (like the LES during CMJ). Though some venues had lines waiting to get in (like the cozy Zinc Bar), it was still totally possible to see who you wanted to with a little planning. At each show I managed to find spots close to the stage as the previous crowd shuffled to their next destination.

On Saturday I got a late start and still caught six sets: Jenny Scheinman & Jason Moran at LPR, Claudia Quintet with Gary Versace at the Bitter End, Vijay Iyer Trio at LPR, and Mary Halvorson, Rudresh Mahanthappa and Tyshawn Sorey's bands, all trios, at Kenny's Castaways.

Tonight (1/19) you can catch Vijay Iyer and some of the other Winter Jazz Fest names (Lionel Loueke, Dr. Lonnie Smith) at (Le) Poisson Rouge's jazz-based Haiti benefit concert. The lineup (with special guests TBA) includes organizers Groove Collective, DJ Logic, Bernie Worrell, Roy Hargrove, Yatande Bwakaiman Vodou Drums and Swiss Chris, plus Loueke with Richard Bona, Smith and Iyer. Tickets are on sale. Proceeds go to Haiti Action, Hands Together, The Lambi Fund of Haiti and Grassroots International.

Benefits are also happening this month at City Winery and The Bell House.

Pictures of the above-mentioned WJF acts, videos and more words about the music are below...

Continue reading "Winter Jazz Fest 2010 in pics & words ++ LPR jazz Haiti Benefit (with some of the same people) tonight"