No paywall this week to help you take advantage of an unbelievably rich week of musical goings-on in NYC. Just check the “More Recommended Events” section—it’s brimming. Nearly 50 shows overall. 😳
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Let’s Go Knicks!
On a night full of amazing live music by members of the community, this is probably the one you’ll be bragging about in a few years. Trombonist Kalia Vandever is one of Dada Strain’s all-timers, and it’s heartening to see their gorgeous ambient jazz find a cozy home at International Anthem, the label releasing the exquisite new Mana. To make this album release show even more special, Vandever will be joined by besties/regular collaborators: vocalist isabel crespo pardo, vocalist/keyboardist Eden Girma and pianist Micah Thomas. The force of nature that is Yuka Honda opens under her electronics-centric eucademix name. (Wed 6/10, 7:30p @ Le Poisson Rouge Manhattan - $20-$25adv/$25-$30)
Bassist Melvin Gibbs’ residency with the good folks of FourOneOne has been focused on the different aspects brought to the fore by Gibbs’ excellent book, How Black Music Took Over The World. The final live performance in the series is of an original piece that Gibbs composed with theoretical cosmologist Stephon Alexander specifically for this group: Melvin Gibbs Ensemble: Nzambici will feature an all-star quintet of alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, trumpeter Chris Williams, keyboardist deVon Russell Gray, bassist Luke Stewart and drummer Tcheser Holmes. (Wed 6/10, 8p @ Shapeshifter Lab, Park Slope - $20-$22)
FILM: Sonny Rollins left us a couple of weeks ago at the cool age of 95, among the last titanic survivors of the jazz eras that helped create “theee 20th century music.” Sonny was a sweet and complicated man, whose improvising inventiveness on the tenor saxophone was, to my amateur ears, less about harmonic path-breaking than helping extend the harmony of the people. The scenes I clearly remember from Robert Mugge’s excellent 1986 documentary on Rollins, Saxophone Colossus, are of Sonny leading his then-quintet through joyful party noises (like the one above). At this Sistas Place screening, organized by the excellent Alfreda’s Cinema, director Mugge will be speaking with Andrew Castillo, a programmer at the equally excellent Maysles Documentary Center. (Wed 6/10, 8p @ Sistas Place, Bed-Stuy - $25)
ART + MUSIC: From the beginning of her career a decade ago, London songwriter/producer Klein has been on a complicated creative ride. Her broad-ranging music—sensory-heavy with electronics, club-leaning one moment, and experimental, classical or ambient the next—continuously engages contemporary-world ideas, especially race as experienced by a Black Brit. It all betrays a multi-disciplinary artist who simply can’t stop putting new stuff into the world on her own terms. Last year, one of the things she made was a book, Rack It!, based on images, transcripts and personal reflections from Young Thug’s RICO trial, all of which were first presented as an art show. Now Klein has also made a film [redacted] that will be unveiled at the Rack It! exhibit opening at Amant on Friday. The opening will feature a live set by Yatta. (Fri 6/12, 6p @ Amant, East W’burg - FREE) The night before, Klein plays a live set as part of Edging, a music “laboratory” event produced by the artist Christelle Oyiri. Oyiri’s excellent current gallery-exhibit at Amant, Belief May Vary, is made up of sculptures and a video that confronts ideas of cultural rupture and rebirth in Black Memphis, and is musically centered on that city’s classic Southern rap sound. For the NYC version of Edging, Oyiri, who under the name Crystallmess is also an amazing DJ, invites Memphis’ DJ Zirk and NYC club mistress Daniro for DJ sets, and the Miami-based Haitian club duo BOYG1RL to play live. (Thurs 6/11, 8p @ Performance Space, Manhattan - $27-$$$)
I’ve been minorly obsessed with Jersey-turned-Bklyn producer JWords’ music for some time now. The fascination stems from how she plays with both songform, and stretched-out dancefloor ideas, both enmeshed in original synth melodies; from simultaneously hearing the kinda-hip-hop tracks she made for Nappy Nina and in H31R, JWords’ duo with rapper Maassai, but also the freeflowing tracks she plays (often her own unreleased shizz) on her monthly The Lot Radio show. Now JWords combines these on a debut solo album, Sound Therapy, which also includes new wave-ish spoken vocals and gorgeous beatless moments. It’s bubbly, young- and fresh-feeling music. For the album release show, JWords is supported by cry$cross, one of the best young house/techno DJs in NYC, and ATL’s stemlines. (Thurs 6/11, 10p @ Nightclub 101, Manhattan - $15-$20)
The composer Glenn Branca was among NYC’s great minimalists, yet because the tools and sounds of his trade (a roar made by an army of electric guitars) were decidedly maximalist, that’s not necessarily how he’s remembered. The legacy of Branca’s “classical” music—built on punk and No Wave’s collision with repetition and duration— is that it begat Sonic Youth (Thurston and Lee were members of his early-’80s ensemble), and opened a door for NYC’s guitart underground. Rarely performed since his 2018 passing, Branca’s symphonic works were spectacles for decidedly open spaces, requiring big gatherings and a mass of ears. Glenn’s partner, Reg Bloor, continues to spread his metallic, detuned gospel, and on Friday, Bloor conducts Branca’s “Symphony No. 13 (Hallucination City) for 100 Guitars” at one of the mausoleums of “classical” music, to see if the feedback can stir the ghosts. An unmissable NYC moment in the making. (Fri 6/12, 7:30p @ David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center, Uptown - choose what you pay)
Evicted from the Vale of Cashmere but not yet put down, Latinoise returns to a “secret” part of Prospect Park for a fourth installment, once again injecting sonic innovation into the city’s DIY vibes. In prior years, Latinoise has gathered young Latinx musicians from every crevice of NYC musicking, for a late afternoon/early evening party of rhythm and improvisation, noise and songform, of ideas still-forming in the ether. I am never familiar with all the acts on display: I can highly recommend whatever A.B.E.L.A. does (expect solo sets by members, and a collective set). I know iiisa has new music on the way, Rocio Sánchez will come armed with their cello and pedals; and solo Mira Mira live sets are always political performances and food for thought. But the main reason to come is to join in the community chant, to see what hasn’t been considered yet, and to support the unlikely. (Sat 6/13, 2p @ Prospect Park, DM for location - FREE) -
Big Saturday-night bill of Black electronic ambiance, techno adjacency and forever improvised glacial motion. Chris and Lester HxH create new worlds. Rena A Space For Sound brings the healing vibes. Shamar Bongowattz plays with the dub frequencies. And KG adds DJ’d narrative layers before-between-after. Do not call it a “new age”—call it a “remembered present.” (Sat 6/13, 7p @ Light & Sound Design Studios, Greenpoint - $20-$30 with RSVP)
From the “unexpected artist resurfaces” file: the Stereo Mandrax guys continue working their voodoo to bring back Dominatrix, a one-hit electro wonder. (But oh what a hit!) As warranted for such random royalty, the rest of the bill is wonderfully idiocentric and unfuckwithable: Texas synth/electro dude Bill Converse, Bklyn industrial-pop duo Parlor Walls, and Carlos Souffront, a Detroit-turned-Bay-Area DJ who is quietly better than almost any DJ I’ve ever written about here. An absolute gem of a show. (Sun 6/14, 7p @ Pianos, Manhattan - $20-$22)
Among the most popular dance-music producers and remixers in the world during the early ‘80s, a man who had a hand in Bambaata’s “Planet Rock,” New Order’s “Confusion” and was responsible for countless electro and freestyle classics (including “Dominatrix,” which he released), Arthur Baker is not so well-known as a DJ. Maybe for good reason. But as he’s in town for this weekend’s Vinylcon (more info below), and as the upstairs at Nublu is a helluva place to dip your toe for an unlikely set, this just might be the right-place/right-time vibes. You certainly can’t argue with the records. (Mon 6/15, 10p @ Studio 151, Manhattan - $TK)
There’s already tons of slap-dash “Coltrane at 100” programming around to celebrate Saint John’s Centennial. But the Isaiah Collier Plays Coltrane program at the Blue Note, wherein the fiery Chicago tenor tackles the classic songbook, has been cooking for a couple of years now, taking on a stream of unexpected tunes to fit in alongside the legendary workhorses. It’s also given Collier, who spent the first few years of his career ascension bearing the weight of Pharoah comparisons, time to find the introspective side of his horn. Which he most certainly has. (Tues 6/16—Wed 6/17, 8p & 10:30p @ Blue Note, Manhattan - $35-$$$)
Sun Ra Arkestra (Wed 6/10, 7:30p @ TV Eye, Ridgewood - $45) - the “new Grateful Dead” playing one of their “Fillmores”—never too late to start communing with Marshall.
Femi Koleoso pres. Situation Dance (Wed 6/10, 10:30 @ Cafe Erzulie, Broadway & Myrtle - FREE with RSVP) - the drummer of the excellent Ezra Collective has been throwing these parties intimate dance parties all over the world, expect the sound of Black London
Heads Happening: Sloppy Heads + Gray/Smith & Speer + “special guest” (Thurs 6/11, 7p @ Mama Tried, Sunset Park - $uggested) - one of NYC’s choogliest garage bands, return to their warm-weather outdoor monthly, armed with a pair of excellently heady trios, one of which legendarily so. Pray for no rain…
dead prez (Thurs 6/11, 8p @ Lincoln Center, Uptown - FREE) - forever the city’s post-Public Enemy political hip-hop conscience, stic.man and M-1 have somehow found themselves at on the LC plaza. The world is a weird place.
Derrick Carter + Mike Servito (Thurs 6/11, 9p @ Green Room, East W’burg - FREE before 11:30 with RSVP/$17-$23) - a legendary DJ double-bill as ‘90s Chicago and Detroit fight for supremacy.
Gilles Peterson all night long (Thurs 6/11, 10:30p @ Public Records, Gowanus - $30) - how stacked is this newsletter that these last two DJ gigs are in the “More…” section
Salty Brine: “How Strange It Is (The Neutral Milk Hotel Show)” (Thurs 6/11, 7p & Fri 6/12, 9:30p @ Joe’s Pub, Manhattan - $42+minimum) - a cabaret artist has who has written a show fusing In the Aeroplane Over the Sea and Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl
Cause & Effect (Fri 6/12, 5p @ Honeys, Bushwick - FREE) - the long-running party has moved to the Honeys rooftop at Happy Hour, and features the mighty Ali Berger.
Odunsi (The Engine) (Fri 6/12, 5p @ SOB’s, Manhattan - $25) - Lagos, Nigeria producer of both pop afrobeats shlock and slinky club melters makes his NYC debut.
World of Percussion Re-Imagined (Fri 6/12, 7p @ Bryant Park, Manhattan - FREE) - World Music Institute welcomes eight great global rhythmialists: Cyro Baptista, Sunny Jain, Pedrito Martinez, Suphala, Adam Rudolph, Kaoru Watanabe, Glen Velez and Batalá
Dada-Dub (Fri 6/12, 8p @ “message for address,” Uptown - $15adv/$20) - with a name like that, how could I pass up mentioning this uptown DIY evening of “glitch-pop, action art and dub” featuring Subatomic Sound System and legendary performance artist Jessica Higgins.
79.5 (Fri 6/12, 8:30p @ Pianos, Manhattan - $22) - among the city’s great disco-songs bands, dance music and great tunes.
BeBop Porú with Garo + Afroqbano (Fri 6/12, 10p @ Friends & Lovers, Crown Heights - $5 with RSVP before 11p/$10) - Mickey Perez’s party lands in the great Crown Heights backroom, with guest, Luchando Music’s main man, and Chicago’s ambassador of Cuban vinyl culture.
Brooklyn Guitar Festival (Fri 6/12, 7p @ Warsaw, Greenpoint & Sat 6/13, noon @ Arlo Hotel, Williamsburg) - excellent two-day “jazz” guitar program, featuring the likes of Frisell, Scofield and Vernon Reid.
FILMS: “Nuestra Escena: Punk Across Latin America” (Fri 6/12—Thurs 6/18 @ BAM Cinema, Downtown Bklyn - $12-$17) - nine films about the manifestation of punk culture throughout the Latin American archipelago, both fiction and documentary.
Antibalas (Sat 6/13, 3p @ Lena Horne Bandshell, Prospect Park - FREE) - one of the city’s great contributions to the global legacy of Afrobeat, now performing on Celebrate Brooklyn’s “Family Day.”
La Manga (Sat 6/13, 8p & 10p @ Terraza 7, Elmhurst - $20) - a quartet of lady percussionists playing Cumbia Colombiana (A.B.E.L.A. roots).
Danse Le Freak (Sat 6/13, 10p @ Rodeo Bar, Crown Heights - FREE) - DJ Still LIfe brings his global records to the Rodeo Bar backroom.
David Leon (Sat 6/13, 11:30 @ CloseUp, Manhattan - $25) - excellent local saxophonist/composer Leon enlists pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and drummer Tomas Fujiwara for a trio set…and an open jam afterwards
RECORDS + DJs: VinylCon (Sat 6/13 & Sun 6/14, 10a @ Industry City, Sunset Park - $12-$37) - it’s a record convention, BUT…it’s got an insane accompanying DJs line-up too: Arthur Baker, Edan and Large Professor headline, but it’s classic all the way down the bill.
Public Service (Sun 6/14, 2p @ Herbert Von King Park, Bed-Stuy - FREE/$uggested contribution) - Cesar + Mickey + Kerala + Mario + you… The best park jam in the city keeps getting bigger. Please act appropriately.
Channel One Sound System (Sun 6/14, 3p @ Public Records, Gowanus - $30) - Dub-Stuy presents the annual visit by one of the great dub crews around.
Radio City: WFMUnion Pool Showcase (Sun 6/14, 5p @ Union Pool, W’burg - FREE w/RSVP) - Co-Sign’s annual New York Music Month spotlight on local independent radio features an incredible bill—Saha Gnawa, Caroline Davis, Ava Mendoza and Human Hair—promo’d by the biggest indie broadcaster in the tri-state area.
William Parker/Rob Brown/Jeremy Carlstedt + Michael Foster and Chuck Roth Duo (Sun 6/14, 6p @ Property Is Theft, W’burg - $20notaflof) - massive free-jazz double-bill at the anarchist bookstore.
Sandbox Percussion performs Steve Reich’s “Drumming” (Mon 6/15, 1p @ Tishman Auditorium, The New School, Manhattan - FREE) - amidst all the bullshit taking place at the New School right now, their music program continues to impressively combine education with repertoire.
Brandee Younger (Mon 6/15, 8p & 10:30p @ Blue Note, Manhattan - $35-$$$) - great jazz harpist back in the tourist jazz club for a one-nighter.
Steve Lehman, Joel Ross, Chris Tordini & Jeff “Tain” Watts (Tues 6/16, 7:30p & 9p @ CloseUp, Manhattan - $30) - alto saxophonist Lehman leads an all-star quartet into the best new jazz club in the city.
Vision Festival (Tues 6/23—Sun 6/28 @ Abrons Art Center, Manhattan - $$$) - The city’s great “free jazz” and creative music festival, celebrating its 30th year, heads back to Manhattan to the Abrons Arts Center, on the Lower East Side. Opening night will honor the guitarist Joe Morris, the rest of the week has its typical share of great highlights. Stay tuned for a full breakdown on the week of.
Love Injection listening party (Thurs 6/25, 8p @ Cosmic Arts, Bushwick - FREE w/RSVP) - Barbie Bertisch and Paul Raffaele are set to drop 10 Years of Love Injection: A Declaration of Universal Love, an amazing new comp on BBE, for which I was honored to write the liner notes. They are debuting the whole thing with a listening party—and party/party—the night before it drops, at Joe Claussell’s great record-shop/clubhouse in Bushwick. Join us!
Party Line: Ge-ology + Deon Jamar (Fri 6/26, 10p @ secret location, Bklyn - $40) - One of New York’s great “warehouse” dance-parties also celebrates a ten-year anniversary. This edition presents one of Bklyn’s recent house/hip-hop dons, and one of Detroit’s young princes. WILL SELL OUT!
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