1. Melvin Gibbs Elevated Entity

Date: Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Time: 10:30pm
Venue: Le Poisson Rouge (158 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012, ph: 212- 505-3474)
Ticket: $15 (Special offer: two pairs of give away tickets. Please mail the names to sohrab.saadat@gmail.com by Wednesday 12 noon)
Genre: afro beat alternative funk hip-hop

Listening to Melvin Gibbs’ Elevated Entity and their new album Ancients Speak (LiveWired Music) is like walking down the street in New York and unexpectedly falling into a manhole, only to discover there is an African-American underground music scene where the African diaspora has knocked down all barriers between genres, placing creativity on equal status with groove. Afrobeat is rubbing against Hendrix-style guitar solos, hip hop has gone to Bahia and come back with the most primal electronic beats. Afro-Cuban spirits intermingle with the Holy Spirit. It’s a riotous gathering of all things African.

The line up:

Amayo (lead singer of Antibalas) – lead vocal
Kokayi – rap/lead vocal
James Hurt – keyboards
Dende – percussion
J.T. Lewis – drums
Melvin Gibbs – bass/electronics

2. Bern Nix Trio

Date: Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Time: 8pm & 10pm
Venue: Iridium (1650 Broadway New York, NY 10019, 212-582-2121)
Ticket: $25
Genre: nu jazz

Bern Nix is a jazz guitarist. He has recorded and performed with Ornette Coleman, notably playing alongside fellow guitarist Charlie Ellerbee in Coleman’s Prime Time group on their key recordings from Dancing in Your Head in the mid-1970 to In All Languages in 1987.

Line up: Bern Nix –  guitar, Francios Grillot – bass, Reggie Sylvester – drums and Matt Lavelle – trumpet

3. KAZAAM!: LOVE SONGS, RECOLLECTIONS, AND CONTEMPORARY IMPROVISATIONS

Date: Thursday, July 26, 2012
Time:  6pm
Venue: Cornelia Street Cafe (29 Cornelia Street, New York, NY)
Ticket: $10
Genre: Jazz

Multi-wind virtuoso Demetrius Spaneas and pianist Jeffrey Goldberg celebrate and transcend musical genres such as jazz, klezmer, classical, avant-garde and other world musics in their unique blend of rewoven traditions and cutting-edge explorations into the unknown. A roller-coaster rollicking riveting ride across the musical gamut to the mysterious center: the human heart.

4. Ilhan Ersahin’s WONDERLAND  Feat. Husnu Senlendirici

Date: Friday, July 27, 2012
Time:  8pm
Venue: Drom (85 Avenue A, NY, NY 10009, 212- 777-1157)
Ticket: $15
Genre: Turkish Jazz/Gypsy

Seasoned musician ILHAN ERŞAHIN is known for his leftfield jazz, improv and electronic projects like Wax Poetic, Istanbul Sessions, as well as birthing the Nublu scene, a club he owns on the Lower East Side. On his latest project WONDERLAND, he adds oriental instruments like the kanun, darbuka and clarinet to jazz music’s more conventional trio – saxophone, bass and drums – to create a world fusion of the highest order, alongside heavyweight clarinet maestro, HÜSNÜ ŞENLENDIRICI who adds a Gypsy touch to Erşahin’s urban music stylings.

5. 2012 Istanbulive 4

Date: Saturday, July 28, 2012
Time: 6:30 PM to 10:00 PM
Venue: Damrosch Park Bandshell’s Lincoln Center (W. 62nd Street, b/w Amsterdam & Columbus Aves, NY)
Ticket: free
Genre: from Turkish pops to traditional music to Jazz

Presented by Serdar Ilhan and Mehmet DedeSupported by the Turkish Ministry of Culture & Tourism

Istanbulive is back for a fourth year this summer. Istanbulive IV will debut at Lincoln Center Out of Doors on Saturday July 28, 2012.

Read more about this festival here.

6. Elikeh

Date: Saturday, July 28, 2012
Time: 9:30pm
Venue: Joe’s Pub (425 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10003, 212-967-7555)
Tickets: $14
Genre: afro beat/ Togo music

Elikeh mixes Afro-beat with traditional Togolese polyrhythms to produce captivating tunes that are as listenable as they are danceable. Although based in indigenous traditions, Elikeh’s music has no borders, exploring global themes and personal odysseys.

Please check  ELIKEH’s previous concert review here.

7. Nucomme’s Multimedia Tribute: Betty’s Story…The Official Birthday Celebration

Nucomme presents a multimedia musical tribute to Betty Mabry Davis—ex-wife and muse of Miles Davis, contemporary of Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone, and most notably, innovator of jazz funk fusion. Raunchy, raw, outrageous, Betty was decades ahead of her time in the early ‘70s, when she released three critically acclaimed albums steeped in sexual energy and in your face takes on love, power, and gender roles. While she disappeared from the music scene in the mid-‘70s, her musical and stylistic influence reverberates on Miles Davis’ classic Bitches Brew and is still evident in artists like Madonna and Prince. Nucomme tell Betty’s story through her music, narration, recordings, dance, and photos.

Performers Nucomme- Vocals Guitar- Kyle Christian Bass- Robert (Red) Daniels Keys- Chris Rob Drums- Ramsey Jones Percussion- Shawn Banks
Go Go- Jessica Elaine Watson Burlesque- Bianca Dagga Featuring Brown Girls Burlesque Dancer- Chicva Honeychild

8. New York Alliance Band

Date: Sunday, July 29, 2012
Time: 8pm
Venue: ShapeShifter Lab (18 Whitwell Pl, between Carroll St & 1st St, Brooklyn, NY 11215, 646-820-9452)
Ticket: $10
Genre: Jazz