1. Bad Names w. MIRTHKON, MOETAR & AUDIO COLLISION
Date: Monday, August 13, 2012
Time: 8pm
Venue: PIANOS (158 Ludlow St., New York, NY 10002
Ticket: $8
Genre: indie rock
Bad Names are touring this summer in the US in support of their new EP. Bad Names are a four piece from London whose music recaptures the energy and passion of the 70s, spiced up with modern Brit Rock. Their style channels the roguish charm of the Rolling Stones, the glamour of T-Rex and the attitude of Oasis. They make 21st century rock n roll that echoes the sounds of the classic British bands.
BAD NAMES 11pm, MIRTHKON 10pm, MOETAR 9pm and AUDIO COLLISION 8pm
2. Dafnis Prieto Proverb Trio
Date: Tuesday and Wednesday, August 14 and August 15, 2012
Time: 7:30 & 9:30pm
Venue: JAZZ STANDARD (116 East 27th Street, New York, NY 10016-8942, 212 576-2232)
Ticket: $20
Genre: nu jazz
Sohrab post about Prieto here.
This week, the powerhouse drummer Dafnis Prieto returns with something completely different: the Proverb Trio, which combines his explosive drumming with Jason Lindner’s rhythmically intense electronic keyboards and Kokayi’s freestyle singing, rapping, and vocal percussion. The Proverb Trio’s self–titled debut album, issued via the drummer’s own Dafnison Music, is Prieto’s first recording since being awarded a MacArthur Fellowship (the so–called “genius grant”) in 2011. “Everything was improvised,” says Dafnis Prieto. “We did the entire album in six hours!” The result is not merely a set of sprawling jams, but concise structures and infectious grooves created collectively and on the fly, based on poetry that is as improvised as the instrumental parts.
3. CHES SMITH AND THESE ARCHES
Date: Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Time: 8pm
Venue: Barbes (376 9th Street, Brooklyn, NY)
Ticket: $10
Genre: Jazz/improve
CHES SMITH AND THESE ARCHES. Drummer Ches Smith (Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog, Secret Chiefs 3, Tim Berne’s Snakeoil) and his working band play music from their upcoming record HAMMERED, as well as experimental new pieces.
Tim Berne–alto sax; Tony Malaby–tenor sax; Mary Halvorson–guitar; Andrea Parkins–accordion and Ches Smith–drums.
4. Les Ambassadeurs du Mandingue
Date: Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Time: 10pm
Venue: Barbes (376 9th Street, Brooklyn, NY)
Ticket: $10
Genre: Guinean music
In the 1960’s and 1970’s, the government of Guinea engaged in a campaign known as Authenticité. It was a drive to create a new musical movement that would be specifically Guinean, but would include the modern wonders that were the electric guitar, the electric bass and the drumset. Musicians were given instruments and orchestras were formed. Surprisingly, the results proved mesmerizing and a myriad new bands were born. Many of them would go on to have a profound and lasting impact on African music. Mamady Kouyate was one of those pioneers. He played in various bands – his own band, Les Ambassadeurs du Mandingue, being one of them – but is probably best known as the guitarist in the classic Bembeya Jazz National. Kouyate, who now lives in NY, has reformed the Mandingo Ambassadors, updating the sound of his youth, but keeping it very close to the standard of Authenticité. The new All-Star band includ es Ismael Kouyate – vocals; Mamady Kourouma – guitar; Oran Etkin – tenor sax & clarinets; Sylvain Leroux – flute, tambin and alto sax; Andy Algire – drums; Nick Cudahy – bass and Mamady Kouyate – guitar. “dazzling vocal and guitar patterns over a rhythm section that is like a perfect system” Ben Ratliff, NY Times.
5. PROJECT FUKUSHIMA! NYC — A benefit for Japan
Date: Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Time: 10pm
Venue: The Stone (is located at the corner of Avenue C and 2nd Street)
Ticket: $10
Genre: no genre music
The benefit concert is hosted by three bands (20 minutes each) which dedicate all its proceeds to “Project FUKUSHIMA!” in Japan.
Participating units: Kaoru Watanabe (fue, taiko), Shanir Blumenkranz (bass, oud), Yuka (voice, taishogoto, ukulele, electronics), Pet Bottle Ningen w. Dave Scanlon (guitar), Nonoko Yoshida (sax) and Dave Miller (drums), Aya Nishina + Miho Hatori’s NEW OPTIMISM w. Miho Hatori (vocal), Timo Ellis (bass), Shoko Nagai (key), Ahmed Gallab (drums), Aya Nishina (piano).
PROJECT FUKUSHIMA website: http://www.pj-fukushima.jp/index.html
Special Notes from Otomo Yoshihide and Ryoichi Wago
On August 15 we will hold a festival in Fukushima. We will organize numerous events before and after the festival, and carry out projects in and out of Fukushima under the name Fukushima! for a continuous and long-term basis.
After the disaster, Japan was faced not just with the damage from the earthquake and the tsunami, but also with the accident at a nuclear power plant for which solutions are nowhere in sight. Some may feel that this is no time for holding a festival, given that many people are faced with the potential loss of their hometowns, schoolyards are unusable due to elevated radiations levels, and many evacuees are not allowed to go back to their own homes. But we have not given up on Fukushima by any means. Even if some places have been made uninhabitable, we want to believe in Fukushima’s rebirth. That is why we need a festival. We need music. We need a place where people can gather to converse. We need hope, a motivation to live. In order to prevent Fukushima from being forgotten, and to retain Fukushima’s connection with the outside world, we want to make the festival a stepping-stone for the future. — Otomo Yoshihide (musician)
We are Fukushima. We won’t give up on Fukushima. The light of Fukushima, the clouds of Tohoku, the history, the lives, the kindheartedness, the fathers and mothers, the Abukuma river, the twinkling of the stars, the smiles of children… we believe in all those “Fukushimas”. 3.11. In order to seize “Fukushima” back from that day, we shall come together in the middle of August to make a declaration to the world. We will not give up our dreams, we will not give up on ourselves, we will not give up on Fukushima, we will not give up on Japan. Let us look up to the blue skies of Fukushima. To the light and the clouds and the lives. To father sky. To mother earth. In the fields of Fukushima, in the grounds of Fukushima, for the heartbeat of Fukushima, for you, we will be waiting. — Ryoichi Wago
6. Diblo Dibala
Date: Friday, August 17, 2012
Time: 10pm
Venue: The Shrine (2271 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd, NY)
Ticket: donation
Genre: Zairean guitar music
Called “The greatest Zairean guitarist of the Afro-Parisian era,” (Village Voice), Diblo Dibala’s virtuosic approach to the guitar has made him one of the top instrumentalists of modern African music, with scorching lead guitar lines that leave audiences breathless. After Dibala’s 1980s recordings with soukous vocalist Kanda Bongo Man made him an international star, Diblo formed his own band, Loketo (which means ‘hips’, as in ‘shake your…’), and became the in-demand soukous session man in Paris.
7. GERALD CLEAVER & BLACK HOST
Date: Saturday, August 18, 2012
Time: 9pm & 10:30pm
Venue: The Cornelia Street Cafe (29 Cornelia St., NY, NY 10014)
Ticket: $10
Genre: jazz/improve
Drummer Gerald Cleaver, born and raised in Detroit, is a product of the city’s rich music tradition. He has performed or recorded with a wide variety of artists: Roscoe Mitchell, Tommy Flanagan, Matt Shipp, William Parker, Eddie Harris, Kevin Mahogany, Charles Gayle, Ralph Alessi, Jacky Terrasson, Muhal Richard Abrams, Joe Morris, Dave Douglas, Tim Berne, Jeremy Pelt, David Torn and Miroslav Vitous, among others. Cleaver currently leads the bands Violet Hour, NiMbNl, Uncle June and Farmers By Nature with Craig Taborn & William Parker.
8. Jonas Braasch’s Microcosm: Sonic Territories
Date: Saturday, August 18, 2012
Time: 10pm
Venue: The Stone (is located at the corner of Avenue C and 2nd Street)
Ticket: $10
Genre: electronics
Jonas Braasch (soprano sax, arturia moog synthesizer pedal, live audio/video electronics) Microcosm is Jonas Braasch’s new project. Expanding from his solo work, Microcosm is — in a nutshell — in a band with Jonas on the soprano saxophone, his alter ego on the Arturia Moog foot pedal, and Caira, an intelligent agent who improvises autonomously with the trio using auditory scene analysis techniques, machine listening, and logic-based reasoning. The agent is currently being developed through support from the National Science Foundation, together with team members Doug Van Nort, Pauline Oliveros, and Selmer Bringsjord. The Microcosm project was conceived to cross traditional boundaries between arts and science, and was conceptualized out of the desire to perform with an inspiring ensemble that can follow and provide musical cues very quickly. The concert will include adaptations from Jonas’ previous works: “Global Reflections”, “Sonic Territories”, and “Quartet for the End of Space”, which were released on Deep Listening and Pogus.
9. Makane Kouyate’s Denbaya
Date: Saturday, August 18, 2012
Time: 10pm
Venue: The Shrine (2271 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd, NY)
Ticket: donation
Genre: Music from Mali
Featuring Malian singer and percussionist Makane Kouyate, Denbaya (which means family in Bambara) performs captivating, original compositions that defy easy categorizations. Steeped in the West African rhythmic and musical tradition, Denbaya plays tunes with influences that range from jazz and rock to reggae while remaining true to the spirit of Malian music.. The band includes singer, and djimbe player Makane Kouyate, pianist John Austria, saxophonist Marco Chelo, guitarist Keith Gamble, balaphone player and arranger Balla Kouyate, drummer Vince Warren, and percussionist Jose Rosario.
10. Jahbaba from Benin
Date: Sunday, August 19, 2012
Time: 10pm
Venue: The Shrine (2271 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd, NY)
Ticket: donation
Genre: afro jazz
Nigerian music star Abiala Oladipo Bolarinwa, also known as Jah Baba, who has carved a niche for himself in both music scenes in Nigeria and Benin, and has performed on a number of music platforms. “I chose music as a profession because I felt I have to educate the people on issues affecting them through music. I have a passion for music and it is my duty to use music to bring people together as one family. My passion for afro jazz music is very strong. A lot of people have been re-energized through afro jazz music. I am happy that I am out with my first album”.
