Music listings – 12/27 through 1/2/2011

1. Avant Garde Invasion at The Mercury Lounge! W. John Wagner Group, Matagawa, Centipede and Earth People

Date: Monday, December 27, 2010
Time: 8pm
Venue: Mercury Lounge (217 East Houston St., New York, NY 10002)
Price: $7
Genre: free rock & Jazz/improve/electronics

Schedules: John Wagner Group (7pm), Matagawa (8pm), Centipede (9pm) and Earth People (10pm)

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Deeply rooted in almost every major musical tradition, ancient and modern, the free-form collective Earth People have combined to create “the new new music, an up-to-date message from the jazz avant-garde.” (Wetzel, All About Jazz) Assembled by drummer/percussionist André Martinez Reed (former Cecil Taylor collaborator), Earth People crosses boundaries between jazz, latin, world music, rock, electronic, free, funk, classical and the unclassifiable. The group plays music that is inspirational and timeless, while capturing the soul of the moment, the spirit of the people, and the beat of the city.
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Centipede consists of a core of four, Steve Ovendon on Drums, David Strahl Bass, Tom Burnett Keys and Eddy Martinez guitars. They take the listener on an improvisational journey through shades of rock, jazz, psychedelia, experimental electronic, subconscious murmurings and more. Always incorporating guest musicians into their sets, they will be joined by Phila. sax legend Elliot Levin.
André Martinez – drums, Doug “grand pepper of reality” Principato – guitar, Jason Candler – alto sax, Francois Grillot – bass, Mark Hennen – keys, Brian Groder – trumpet, Elliott Levin – tenor sax, flute.
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Mata Gawa (Samuel T Lohman, dr & Edward J Ricart, gui.) is an improvising drums+guitar duo hailing from Washington DC. Building with time and texture, their music is deeply connected to the methods and spirit of jazz, while retaining the electric backbone of creative rock music. Loosely translated, MATTA GAWA means river of moments- an apt description for their spontaneously composed flow of singing guitars, free-form drumming, howling feedback, sub-blasting bass, stagger-stepped odd-time signatures, polyrhythmic beatrock + guitar solos.

2. ANNUAL END OF THE YEAR IMPROV BENEFIT FOR THE STONE

Date: Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Time: 8pm & 10pm
Venue: The Stone (is located at the corner of Avenue C and 2nd Street)
Ticket: $20 each set
Genre: improve

Three nights of exciting cutting edge improvisations featuring some of the best improvisers out of the downtown scene and many special guests. Please support The Stone!!  John Zorn (sax), Billy Martin (percussion), Cyro Baptista (percussion), Dave Douglas (trumpet), Brandon Ross (guitar), Jim Staley (trombone), Peter Evans (trumpet), Raz Mesinai (electronics), Erik Friedlander (cello), Sylvie Courvoisier (piano), Matt Wilson (drums), Ned Rothenberg (sax), and many SPECIAL guests!!

3. Anders Nilsson & Juancho Herrera

Date: Tuesday through Thursday, December 28 through 30, 2010
Time: 10pm
Venue: Watty & Meg’s back room (248 Court Street at Kane Street, Cobble Hill, Brooklyn)
Ticket: $15 cover includes performance & glass of wine or draft beer
Genre: guitar duo/improve

Hailing from Eslöv, Sweden, Anders Nilsson – otherwise known as “Andy Hot” – studied at Malmö Academy of Music before beginning his free-lance career throughout Scandinavia. He moved to New York in 2000, and he has collaborated with artists such as Ken Filiano, Michael Evans & Sabir Mateen. Nilsson’s distinct style is influenced by rock, metal & American blues with a tendency towards improvisation. To read more stories about “The Adventures of Andy Hot” and his projects, including “Ax to Grind” & “Slipping Through The Matrix,” visit his website AndyHot.com.
 
Juancho Herrera’s vibrant, tropical-funk jazz has its roots in Caracas, Venezuela where the artist began his studies at Ars Nova School of Music in 1990. He has since studied at Berklee School of Music and holds quite the curriculum vitae of performances at venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York, Teatro Municipal in Santiago de Chile, The Kennedy Center In Washington, D.C., as well as performances with artists such as Grammy Award Winner Lila Downs & Jazz artist Claudia Acuna – just to name a few. Herrera is currently promoting his latest album “Buscando”. His website is juanchoherrera.com.

4. ReBirth Brass Band with special guests  w/ Rubblebucket

Date: Wednesday, Dcember 29, 2010
Time: 8pm
Venue: Le Poisson Rouge (158 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012, ph: 212- 505-3474)
Ticket: $30
Genre: New Orleans brass/pops

The Rebirth Brass Band is a New Orleans institution. Formed in 1983 by the now infamous Frazier brothers, the band has evolved from playing the streets of the French Quarter to playing festivals and stages all over the world. Rebirth is committed to upholding the tradition of brass bands while at the same time incorporating modern music into their show. Their signature brand of heavy funk has not only won over several generations of music lovers, it has become the soundtrack to an entire city.
 

Rubblebucket sounds like a kaleidoscope looks — a continually changing pattern of ebullient drum beats, harmonies and horn exclamations, led by the buoyant vocals and saxophone of Kalmia Traver and the hyperkinetic energy of trumpet player Alex Toth.  The musical couple formed Rubblebucket in 2007 after finding like-minded players at an art opening in a defunct milk bottling plant in Burlington, VT. Discontent with playing the typical accompanying roles so often assumed by horn players, the two built an eight-piece band with a vision to create pop-friendly music that embraces skill, complexity and atypical arrangements of their sound.  

5. Tuelo Minah w/ guests

Date: Thursday, December 30, 2010
Time: 8pm
Venue: The Shrine (2271 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd, NY)
Ticket: donation
Genre: African singer / songwriter

Tuelo Minah is a unique musician who brings her native South African sound to the pace of rock, and blues. She is accompanied by her guitar, and belts out songs that remind her of her childhood. She started her career as a backup singer for Hugh Masekela, in New York city , and she is now one of the voices heard in Angelique Kidjo’s current album OYO. She was also music director for Juxtapower S.A.Dance and Song and has recently undertaken the task as music director of our DUMA(Chant Series). Her main influences are from South African Choral and gospel music, and classic rock. Though she writes and sings primarily in English, a whole show cannot go without Tuelo singing in her native toungue the transic songs in Setswana.

6. A New Year’s Eve Felabration!

Date: Friday, December 31, 2010
Time: 10pm
Venue: The Knitting Factory (361 Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11211, Tel: 347-529-6696)
Ticket: $60-$70
Genre: Afrobeat

With the FELA! Band (featuring members of Antibalas), Sahr Ngaujah (FELA) and the FELA! Dancers.