New York City Live Music Calendar October – November 2011
Brand-new Nov-Dec calendar coming 11/1; in the meantime, daily updates here. For directions and other information on the venues where these shows are happening, check the exhaustive guide to over 200 New York live music venues at NYMD’s sister blog, Lucid Culture.
Times listed here are set times, not the time doors open – if a listing says “9ish,” that means it’ll probably run late. Always best to check with the venue for the latest information on set times and door charges, since that information is often posted here weeks in advance. Weekly events first followed by the daily calendar:
Starting 11/15 through 11/30 respected, adventurous jazz label Cuneiform Records is booking the Stone – 24 groups who record for Cuneiform including Ergo with special guest Jason Moran, and Ideal Bread, who’ll back Roswell Rudd. A full schedule for the two weeks is here.
Mondays at the Fat Cat the Choi Fairbanks String Quartet play a wide repertoire of chamber music from Bach to Shostakovich starting at 7.
Mondays starting a little after 7 PM Howard Williams leads his Jazz Orchestra from the piano at the Garage, 99 7th Ave. S at Grove St. There are also big bands here most every Tuesday at 7.
Mondays at the Jazz Standard it’s all Mingus, whether with the Mingus Orchestra, Big Band or Mingus Dynasty: you know the material and the players are all first rate. Sets 7:30/9:30 PM, $25 and worth it.
Mondays in October Butch Morris – inventor of conduction – leads the 19-piece Lucky Cheng Orchestra through his alternately ambient and abrasive improvisations downstairs at Lucky Cheng’s, sets 8/9:30 PM, $10. The music is a lot like Burnt Sugar’s big, shifting soundscapes.
Also Monday nights Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks, a boisterous horn-driven 11-piece 1920s/early 30’s band play Sofia’s Restaurant, downstairs at the Edison Hotel, 221 West 46th Street between Broadway & 8th Ave., 3 sets from 8 to 11, surprisingly cheap $15 cover plus $15 minimum considering what you’re getting. Even before the Flying Neutrinos or the Moonlighters, multi-instrumentalist Giordano was pioneering the oldtimey sound in New York; his long-running residency at the old Cajun on lower 8th Ave. is legendary. He also gets a ton of film work (Giordano wrote the satirical number that Willie Nelson famously sang in Wag the Dog).
Mondays at the Vanguard the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra – composer Jim McNeely’s reliably good big band vehicle – plays 9/11 PM, $30 per set plus drink minimum.
Mondays in October, 9:30ish Chicha Libre plays their home turf at Barbes. The world’s most vital, entertaining oldschool chicha band, they blend twangy, often noir Peruvian surf sounds with cumbia and other south-of-the-border styles along with swirling psychedelic jams and deep dub interludes. Show up early because they are insanely popular.
Also Mondays in October Rev. Vince Anderson and his band play Union Pool in Williamsburg, two sets starting around 11 PM. The Rev. is one of the great keyboardists around, equally thrilling on organ or electric piano, an expert at Billy Preston style funk, honkytonk, gospel and blues. He writes very funny, very politically astute, sexy original songs and is one of the most charismatic, intense live performers of our time. It’s a crazy dance party til past three in the morning. Paula Henderson from Burnt Sugar is the lead soloist on baritone sax, with Dave Smith from Smoota and the Fela pit band on trombone, with frequent special guests.
The first and fourth Tuesdays of the month at Central Synagogue (685 Lexington Ave. at 55th St.). there are free organ and sometimes chamber music concerts at half past noon, a great way to chill out if you can sneak away from work for about an hour. It’s a global mix of talent assembled by acclaimed organist Gail Archer.
Tuesdays in October clever, fiery, eclectic Balkan/hip-hop/funk brass maniacs Slavic Soul Party play Barbes at 9. Get here as soon as you can as they’re very popular.
Tuesdays in October the Dred Scott Trio play astonishingly smart, dark piano jazz at the smaller room at the Rockwood at midnight.
9/7 and following Wednesdays in October, free organ concerts resume at 1:10 PM sharp on at St. Ann’s Church on Montague St. in downtown Brooklyn.
Wednesdays in October, 7 PM ex-Dictator Andy Shernoff – the good kind of former dictator – works up some new material solo at Lakeside.
Wednesdays 10/26 through 12/7 the Panoply Performance Project invites the public to participate in the creation of their next cross-genre musical Nature Fetish: what is the nature of nature? Discussion/games/experiments, no prior performing experience reqd, open to all. At University Settlement, 184 Eldridge St., 7 PM, free.
Wednesdays in October Meah Pace, Rev. Vince Anderson’s slinky, poignant, powerful oldschool 1960s style soul singer, does her own set of originals and a few classics with the Rev’s longtime baritone sax star Paula Henderson upstairs at the National Underground, 9 PM
Wednesdays at 9 PM Feral Foster’s Roots & Ruckus takes over the Jalopy, a reliably excellent weekly mix of oldtimey acts: blues, bluegrass, country and swing.
Every Thursday the Michael Arenella Quartet play 1920s hot jazz 8-11 PM at Nios, 130 W 46th St.
Thursdays and Fridays in October at Mehanata it’s Bulgarian sax powerhouse Yuri Yukanov and the Grand Masters of Gypsy Music, 10 PM, $10.
Fridays in October at 9 Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens play oldschool 1960s style gospel at the Fat Cat.
Saturdays through November at 3 PM there are free concerts at Bargemusic. Usually it’s solo classical piano, with the occasional string ensemble. Note that these are billed as “family concerts” – it’s not known how the staff deal with screaming little brats. Early arrival is highly advised; doors are at 2:30.
Saturdays through November 19, 9:30 PM Tammy Faye Starlite stars in Nico: Chelsea Madchen at the Duplex. More of a straight-up, deadpan cover show (as befits the teutonic ice queen) than Tammy’s usual skewering of icons from across the genres (country, new wave and of course the Stones).
Saturdays eclectic compelling Brazilian jazz chanteuse Marianni and her excellent band at Zinc Bar, three sets starting at 10 PM.
Sundays there’s a klezmer brunch at City Winery, show starts around 11:30 AM – 2 PM, $10 cover, no minimum, lots of good bands.
Sundays from half past noon to 3:30 PM, bluegrass cats Freshly Baked (f.k.a. Graveyard Shift), featuring excellent, incisive fiddle player Diane Stockwell play Nolita House (upstairs over Botanica at 47 E Houston). Free drink with your entree.
Sundays at 5:15 PM through November 20 there are free organ concerts on the recently restored organ at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 110th St./Broadway by an A-list of international performers.
Sundays there are free organ concerts at 5:15 PM at St. Thomas Church, 5th Ave. and 53rd St. The big Skinner organ’s days are numbered: it’s a mighty beast, so see it before it’s gone. The weekly series (with breaks for holidays) features an extraordinary, global cast of performers.
Sundays at 7:30 at Theatre 80 St. Marks the world’s most socially aware “reverend” and activist, Rev. Billy and his wild, ecstatic 30-piece gospel Church of Earthalujah Choir, $10 cover but “no one turned away.”
Every Sunday the Ear-Regulars, led by trumpeter Jon Kellso and (frequently) guitarist Matt Munisteri play NYC’s only weekly hot jazz session starting around 8 PM at the Ear Inn on Spring St. Hard to believe, in the city that springboarded the careers of thousands of jazz legends, but true. This is by far the best value in town for marquee-caliber jazz: for the price of a drink and a tip for the band, you can see world-famous players (and brilliant obscure ones) you’d usually have to drop $100 for at some big-ticket room. The material is mostly old-time stuff from the 30s and 40s, but the players (especially Kellso and Munisteri, who have a chemistry that goes back several years) push it into some deliciously unexpected places.
Sundays in October at 9 gypsy guitar genius Stephane Wrembel plays Barbes. He’s holding on to the edgy, danceable spirit of Django Reinhardt while taking the style to new and unexpected places. He’s also very popular: get there early.
Every Sunday, hip-hop MC Big Zoo hosts the long-running End of the Weak rap showcase at the Pyramid, 9 PM, admission $5 before 10, $7 afterward. This is one of the best places to discover some of the hottest under-the-radar hip-hop talent, both short cameos as well as longer sets from both newcomers and established vets.
10/1 comedic, edgy surf/sci-fi music satirists Witches in Bikinis at Union Square to kick off Slutwalk 2011 to end sexual & domestic violence, rally starts at 11 AM, show at 1 PM.
10/1, 6 PM oldtime string band the Dust Busters followed at 8 PM the Four Bags – who blend jazz, classical and the Beatles with deadpan wit – at Barbes, followed at 10 by crazy rustic Mexican banda Banda Sinaloense de los Muertos.
10/1, 8 PM worldbeat dance supergroup Plastic Beast feat. members of Plastic Beef, Magpie, Tom Warnick & the World’s Fair, Paula Carino’s band and others plays Freddy’s.
10/1, 9 PM cutting-edge bluegrass band Straight Drive – fronted by the amazing Jen Larson – at the Jalopy, $10
10/1 legendary badass X-rated politically charged soul singer/filmmaker/renaissance man Melvin Van Peebles wid his band Laxative at BAM Cafe, get there by 8, show at 9, free
10/1, 9/10:30 PM postbop sax stars Dave Liebman and Sam Newsome play Steve Lacy and Thelonious Monk with Gregg August, bass; Otis Brown III, drums at Cornelia St. Cafe, $15.
10/1, 9:30 PM ambient/assaultive cello rockers Blues in Space at Tea Lounge in Park Slope
10/1, 9:30 PM legendary jazz drummer Chico Hamilton celebrates his 90th birthday and new album with a show at Drom leading a sextet with Nick Demopoulos (guitar), Paul Ramsey (fender bass), Evan Schwam (saxophone, flute, piccolo), Mayu Saeki (flute, alto flute, piccolo), Jeremy Carlstedt (percussion, drums), $12 adv tix highly rec.
10/1, 10ish long-runnning original punk-pop band the Vibrators at Union Hall – the venues keep getting smaller, they keep playing the nostalgia angle – $13 adv tix rec.
10/2 the world-class Greenwich Village Orchestra with guest cellist Na-Young Baek plays the Dvorak Cello Concerto plus the composer’s lively, upbeat Symphony #8 at Washington Irving HS Auditorium, 3 PM, reception to follow, $15 sugg. don.
10/2 noon-6 PM the Atlantic Antic outdoor festival with bands TBA, Atlantic Ave. from 4th Ave. to Hicks St. in Brooklyn.
10/2, 3 PM the Ariel String Quartet play Mozart, Brahms and Janacek at Bargemusic, $35/$30 srs/$15 stud.
10/2, 7 PM Tarras Band feat. longtime klezmer pioneer Dave Tarras sideman Pete Sokolow on piano as well as Dave Licht (drums), Jim Guttmann (bass), Ben Holmes (trumpet) and Michael Winograd (clarinet) at Barbes.
10/2, 8 PM pyrotechnic klezmer clarinetist David Krakauer and band play songs from John Zorn’s Book of Angels at Drom, $20 adv tix rec.
10/2-3, 9 PM multi-instrumentalist and longtime Aimee Mann collaborator Jon Brion makes songs out of loops, live, at le Poisson Rouge, $20 gen adm.
10/2 midnight-ish all-female noise-punk legends Erase Errata at Glasslands
10/3, Shellac at the Bell House is sold out, but $17 adv tix are still avail. for the 10/4 show.
10/3, 8:30 PM tenor saxophonist Geoff Vidal plays the cd release for his intense new album at Cornelia St. Cafe with drummer Makaya McCraven and bassist Linda Oh, $10
10/4, noon-4 PM pianists Adonis Gonzalez, Jed Distler, and Axel Tosca play Thelonious Monk at the World Financial Center, free.
10/4, 7 PM eclectic pianist Cory Smythe with special guest Phyllis Chen on a somewhat smaller piano (a toy one) at Barbes.
10/4-5, 7:30/9:30 PM Greg Osby – alto saxophone; Frank Kimbrough – piano; John Hebert – bass; Nasheet Waits – drums at the Jazz Standard, $25.
10/4, 8 PM Grammy-awardwinning klezmer violinist Lisa Gutkin leads a trio w/Pete Rushevsky and Remy Yulzari at 6th St. Synagogue, 325 E. 6th. St, $15
10/4, 8 PM the Antara Ensemble play world premieres by William Foster McDaniel & Cindi Hsu plus works by McDaniel, Samuel Barber and Edvard Grieg at Saint Peter’s Lutheran Church, 619 Lexington Ave at 54th St., $25/$20 stud/srs.
10/4-8, 8:30/11 PM the James Carter Organ Trio at Birdland, $30 seats avail.
10/5, 7 PM percussionist Gene Golden leads Afro-Cuban group Quinto Mayor in a free show at the Pregones Theatre, 575 Walton Avenue, Bronx, email for free tix.
10/5-6, 7:30 PM and 10/7 at 11 AM (yikes!) Alan Gilbert conducts the NY Phil playing Bach: Concerto for 2 violins; Berg: Violin Concerto; Brahms: Symphony #3 at Avery Fisher Hall, $31 tix avail.
10/5, 7:30/9:30 PM Vijay Iyer – piano; John Hebert – bass; Eric McPherson – drums play an Andrew Hill tribute at the Jazz Standard, $25.
10/5, 8 PM eclectic, edgy Turkish jazz pianist Fahir Atakoglu at Drom, $25 adv tix rec.
10/5, 8 PM Afrobeat with Zongo Junction and Toubab Crewe at le Poisson Rouge, $14 adv tix rec.
10/5, 9 PM gypsy punk night with scorching rockers Bad Buka, gorgeously atmospheric violin-driven dancefloor instrumentalists Copal feat. Sera Solstice, noir cabaret band Amour Obscur and the carnivalesque Ashia & the Bison Rouge at R Bar, 9 PM, $12
10/5, 9 PM two irrepressible, fearlessly funny tunesmiths: Susan Hwang & the Relastics at Sidewalk followed eventually at 11 by Nan Turner & the One Night Stands at Sidewalk.
10/5, 9 PM Paul Shapiro’s brisk klezmer/jazz band Midnight Minyan at 6th St. Synagogue, 325 E. 6th. St, $15
10/6, 7:30 PM Portland, Maine bluegrass banjoist/songwriter Putnam Smith followed by bouzouki-led oldtime Americana band Spuyten Duyvil at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 81 Christopher St, $15.
10/6 an oldschool 1960s style night of improvisation with J.D. Parran – saxophones; Marty Ehrlich – alto saxophone; Ron Horton – trumpet; Frank Kimbrough – piano; John Hebert – bass; Eric McPherson – drums, 7:30/9:30 PM at the Jazz Standard, $25.
10/6 charismatic eclectic intense keyboardist/chanteuse Rachelle Garniez at Barbes, 8 PM followed by gypsy song maven (and Berthold Brecht descendent) Sanda Weigl at 10. Rachelle is also here on 10/11 at 7 in a collaboration with violinist Jenny Scheinman.
10/6 gypsy jazz violin virtuoso Kim Angelis plays the cd release for her new one, Prophecy, with her band at Drom, 8 PM,$10 adv tix highly rec.
10/6, 8 PM if there’s any conductor alive who GETS the towering angst of the Russian Romantics, it’s Valery Giergiev. He conducts the Mariinsky Orchestra playing Tschaikovsky’s Symphonies #1 and #6 at Carnegie Hall, $24 tix supposedly available. They do the rustic, intense 2nd and 5th Symphonies at 2 PM on 10/9, the playful, animated 3rd and 5th at 8 on 10/10 and on 10/11 at 8 they’ll have pianist Danil Trifonov playing Prokofiev: Three Selections from Romeo and Juliet; the completely angst-driven Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 and the ambitious and totally enjoyable Shostakovich Symphony No. 1 written when the composer was 19.
10/6, 8ish an excellent, high-energy eclectic bill with bluegrass monsters Thy Burden, followed by ska from the Rudie Crew & the Times at Union Hall, $8.
10/6, 8 PM a marathon concert of new art-songs by Lisa Bielawa, Christopher Berg, Tom Cipullo, Christina Courtin, Mohammed Fairouz, Renée Favand-See, John Glover, Ricky Ian Gordon, Yotam Haber, Daron Hagen, Gabriel Kahane, Gilda Lyons, Jorge Martín, Russell Platt, Glen Roven, Matt Schickele, Richard Pearson Thomas, Christopher Tignor, Aleksandra Vrebalov, and Scott Wheeler at Galapagos, 8 PM, $20 adv tix rec.
10/6, 8:30/10:30 PM lyrical alto saxophonist Patrick Cornelius with Linda Oh on bass and Paul Wiltgen on drums at the Bar Next Door.
10/6, 9 PM Hazmat Modine’s blues guitar powerhouse Michael Gomez’ Wormwood at Brooklyn Rod & Gun Club
10/6, 10 PM Hannah Vs. the Many play gorgeously jangly, menacing, jazz-tinged powerpop followed at 11 PM by the self-explanatory, deviously funny Toys & Tiny Instruments at Cake Shop, $8. Bad segue, great show.
10/6, 10 PM pioneering, catchy, edgy latin rockers Aterciopelados at Highline Ballroom, $25 adv tix rec.
10/7, 6 PM the raucous East River String Band plus the Jalopy Theatre’s dj spinning old 78 RPM vinyl at the American Folk Art Museum, free w/museum adm.
10/7, 7 PM country chanteuse Drina & the Deep Blue Sea at Lakeside.
10/7, 7 PM historically aware, edgily comedic oldtimey songwriter Poor Baby Bree at Bowery Poetry Club.
10/7-9 B3 grooves with Larry Goldings – organ; Peter Bernstein – guitar; Bill Stewart – drums at the Jazz Standard, 7:30/9:30 PM, $30 ($25 Sun).
10/7, 8 PM hilarious oldtimey song satirizer and blues scatologist Al Duvall at the Way Station in Ft. Greene.
10/7, 9 PM surf rock with Rumblefoot at Sycamore Bar, $10
10/7, 9 PM ageless British country punks the Mekons at the Bell House, $18 adv tix. rec.
10/7, 9/10:30 PM pianist John Escreet leads a trio with John Hebert on bass and Tyshawn Soren on drums at the Jazz Gallery, $20
10/7 literate, plaintive, female-fronted acoustic Americana group the Sometime Boys at Branded Saloon in Ft. Greene, 10 PM; they’re at Goodbye Blue Monday at 6 PM the following night, free.
10/7, 10 PM electro-acoustic improvicompositional dreamscapes with trombonist Ben Gerstein and bassist Garth Stevenson at Tea Lounge in Park Slope.
10/7, 11 PM the Reid Paley Trio at the Parkside. If you missed his show earlier this month at the Delancey – and let’s face it, you did – you missed a monster event. OMG – give this guy some room and let him do his assaultive noirabilly thing. It’s one of the most intense shows you’ll see this year.
10/7, 11 PM scorching all-female noiserock trio Out of Order at Tommy’s Tavern in Greenpoint, free. Too bad they’re playing opposite Reid Paley – they’d make a good doublebill.
10/7, 10 PM the pretty self-explanatory Brooklyn Boogaloo Blowout at 55 Bar
10/7, 10:30 PM soulful organist Jared Gold and trombonist David Gibson lead a quintet at the Fat Cat
10/7, 11 PM the Charanga Habana All-Stars brass band makes a rare appearance outside their native Cuba at Drom, $20 adv tix. a must (ticket includes a free beer).
10/7-8, 1 AM (actually wee hours of 10/8 and 10/9), bracingly tuneful melodic jazz by Roberto Occhipinti, bass; Cristiano Arcelli, alto saxophone; Manuel Valera, piano; Dafnis Prieto, drums at Dizzy’s Club, $10 seats avail.
10/8, 6 PM timelessly charming harmony-driven Hawaiian swing band the Moonlighters at Barbes.
10/8, 7 PM Mimesis Ensemble (choir with piano) perform a promising program of contemporary composers: Thomas Adès: Five Eliot Landscapes (1990) Gabriel Kahane: Craigslistlieder (2006 – this is that comedic suite about internet dating you may have heard of ); Mohammed Fairouz – five poems set to music at Tenri Cultural Institute, 43 West 13th St., $20 adv tix rec.
10/8, 7:30/9:30 PM Jared Gold on B3 organ with Dave Stryker on guitar and McClenty Hunter on drums at the Bar Next Door.
10/8, 8 PM, free, Mos Def with the Brooklyn Phil Chamber Players conducted by Alan Pierson at 1368 Fulton St., Brooklyn: compositions include Mos Def arr. Derek Bermel, “Life in Marvelous Times” (2008) and other songs incl. Frederick Rzewski’s Coming Together.
10/8, 8 PM sensational eclectic Luminescent Orchestrii violinist Sarah Alden with her band at 68 Jay St. Bar.
10/8 gypsy guitar jazz machine Gaucho at Zebulon, 8 PM
10/8, 8 PM reggae/worldbeat with the politically aware Roots of Creation followed by the Aggrolites’ ska-punk at Highline Ballroom, $12 adv tix rec.
10/8 and again on 10/28 terse, soulful expat Chicago blues guitarist Irving Louis Lattin at Lucille’s, 8 PM.
10/8, 8 PM well-loved obscure 1970s horn-driven blue-eyed soul band Lydia Pense & Cold Blood play a rare reunion show at B.B. King’s, $22 adv tix rec.
10/8, 8 PM, free, challenging avant vocal music performed by Invisible Circle Choir: Paul Pinto’s “Anyone’s Story;” Panoply Performance Lab (selections from “Institute_Institut”); and curator Dave Ruder’s Choral Piece, at Exapno, 33 Flatbush Ave. around the corner from BAM.
10/8, 8:30 PM oldtime string band the Hollows at the Jalopy followed at 10 by M Shanghai String Band, $10.
10/8, 9 PM legendary former Near Eastern Music Ensemble frontman Youssef Kassab sings Mohammed Abdel Wahab classics backed by slinky retro 50s levantine band Zikrayat at Alwan for the Arts, $20/$15 stud/srs.
10/8, 9/10:30 PM the Alan Ferber Big Band at the Jazz Gallery, $20.
10/8 literate, anthemic retro 80s rockers Overlord at Rock Shop, 9 PM, $8
10/8, 9/10:30 PM bassist Petros Klampanis leads a killer, eclectic, potentially very dark jazz group with Gilad Hekselman, guitar; Lefteris Kordis, piano; John Hadfield, percussion; Greg Osby, alto saxophoe; Sara Serpa, voice; Andre Matos, guitar at Cornelia St. Cafe, $15.
10/8, 9:30 PM an acoustic Americana party with the Woes and O’Death at the Bell House, $12.
10/8, 10 PM the Mekons at City Winery. They’re just doing this one for the booze. $22 standing room avail.
10/8, 10:15ish rockabilly/punk/surf guitar legend Simon & the Bar Sinisters at Lakeside.
10/8, 11 PM a rare NYC show by artsy goth/Americana legends Ninth House at Uncle Mike’s (the former Orange Bear space), 57 Murray St., $10
10/9, 4:45 PM organist Benjamin Kolodziej plays a recital at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
10/9, 7 PM the Enso String Quartet at Barbes, free, program TBA.
10/9, 7:30 PM hilarious innuendo-driven punk/soul/new wave band Custard Wally at Otto’s
10/9, 8 PM a first-class improvisationally-inclined new jazz bill with the Ken Filiano Trio feat. Michael Attias on saxes, followed at 9 by FPMMT – Josh Sinton (bari sax, bass clarinet); Brad Farberman (guitar); Dominic Lash (bass); Devin Gray (drums) and at 10 by the sensational George Schuller’s Circle Wide with Peter Apfelbaum (saxophones); Brad Shepik (guitar); Tom Beckham (vibes); Dave Ambrosio (bass) and bandleader Schuller (drums) at Local 269, $10.
10/9, 8/10 PM Peter Mazza on guitar with Jacam Manricks on saxes plus Rogerio Boccato on percussion at the Bar Next Door
10/9, 8:30 PM stark rustic Russian/Georgian tinged jazz with Ilusha Tsinadze, guitar, vocals; Rob Hecht, fiddle; Liam Robinson, accordion; Chris Tordini, bass; Richie Barshay, drums; Jean Rohe, vocals at Cornelia St. Cafe, $15
10/9, 9 PM Al Stewart plays an acoustic duo show at City Winery, $30 tix avail. Reputedly his chops (pretty sensational back in the 60s when he was an acoustic folk guitarist) are better than ever – and he reputedly plays a lot of the oldschool stuff along with Year of the Cat and Time Passages, ad infinitum. Wonder what he thinks of City Winery’s hideous homemade wine.
10/9, 10:30 PM Balkan jam band Bad Credit No Credit at the Manhattan Inn in Greenpoint, free.
10/9, 11 PM torchy jazz keyboardist/chanteuse Abby Payne at the small room at the Rockwood
10/10, 7 PM Jake Schepps’ Expedition Quartet plays Bartok at Barbes.
10/10 smartly intuitive, terse, vivid piano jazz with David Kikoski backed by James Genus – bass; Jeff “Tain” Watts – drums, 7:30/9:30 PM at the Jazz Standard, $25.
10/10, 8 PM powerpop songwriter Mikal Evans at the big room at the Rockwood
10/10, the jangly Big Star-esque Nu-Sonics at Rock Shop, 9 PM, $8.
10/10, 10 PM atmospheric/noir Bee & Flower bandleader/bass goddess Dana Schechter’s solo project, Insect Ark upstairs at the Delancey
10/11, 8/10 PM Dark Loft play the record release show for their new one at Iridium, $25. Pensive, sometimes hypnotic backbeat-driven Americana-tinged lyrical rock with an improvisational edge – like a teens update on the Wallflowers with psychedelic overtones
10/11, 8 PM clarinet/dulcimer klezmer duets and duels by Joel Rubin and Pete Rushevsky at 6th St. Synagogue, 325 E. 6th. St, $15.
10/11-15, 8/10:30 PM New Orleans trumpeter Nicholas Payton leads his band at Birdland, $30 seats avail.
10/11, 8:30 PM reedwoman/composer Jessica Valiente’s Los Mas Valiente feat. Rick Faulkner, trombone; Anna Milat-Meyer, bass; Yasuyo Kimura, congas; Victor Rendón, drums; Chiemi Nakai, piano at at Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.
10/11, 8:30 PM Jared Gold – organ; Ed Cherry – guitar; McClenty Hunter – drums at Smalls
10/11, 9 PM noirish atmospheric soul/rockers Shenandoah & the Night at the Cameo Gallery, $5.
10/11, 9 PM celebrate Canada Day with jazz at Korzo featuring Harris Eisenstadt, Nate Wooley, Matt Bauder, Chris Dingman and Garth Stevenson
10/11, 10 PM bassist Francois Moutin leads a trio including first-rate pianist Jim Ridl at 55 Bar
10/12, 7 PM the eminence grise of the noirish downtown NYC rock anthem, Willie Nile with his band at Joe’s Pub, $TBA
10/12, 7 PM, free at the World Financial Center, Mos Def with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, dynamically eclectic chanteuse Mellissa Hughes and other special guests joining members of the Brooklyn Philharmonic for an adventurous bill including Derek Bermel’s arrangements of Mos Def’s original songs, 19th century shape note singing and works by David T. Little, Frederick Rzewski, and Ljova Zhurbin.
10/12 cellist Inbal Segev featured in a septet including Anna Stoytcheva & Lora Tchekoratova playing Martinu’s Bergerettes for piano, violin and cello; Ravel’s Sonata for violin and cello; Dvorák’s Piano Quintet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 81, 7:30 PM at Carnegie Hall, $30 adv tix avail.
10/12, 8 PM eclectic, sometimes haunting, plaintive Americana chanteuse Jan Bell at 68 Jay St. Bar
10/12, 8 PM a solid oldtimey Americana doublebill: the Calamity Janes followed by Crooked Still at the Bell House, $16 gen. adm.
10/12 amusing, period-perfect early 50s style band Susquehanna Industrial Tool and Die Co. at Rodeo Bar, 8:30ish
10/12, 9 PM the Bebe Buell Band at Hiro Ballroom -whose powerpop tunefulness transcends any starfucker associations you might have in mind – $20 gen adm.
10/12 a great dark atmospheric doublebill at the small room at the Rockwood with the Grey Race at 10 followed at 11 by Morricone Youth.
10/13-14 Greta Gertler’s debut musical “Willow’s One Night Stand” – a dark collaboration with playwright Alexandra Collier – stars actors Pearl Rhein and Matt Steiner, directed by Ben Vershbow is being staged in a “secret location” with live music by Gertler’s excellent art-rock band the Universal Thump with Gertler herself on Wurlitzer, co-conspirator Adam D Gold on drums and blender, Ian Riggs on double bass. There’ll be wine, email for logistics.
10/13, 7:30 PM Madeleine Shapiro plays recent works for cello and electronics including several premieres at the Tank, $10
10/13, 8:30 PM singer/composer Sara Serpa leads her potent third stream-ish quintet feat. André Matos, guitar; Kris Davis, piano; Ben Street, bass; Ted Poor, drums playing the cd release show for her terrific, innovative new album Mobile at Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.
10/13-14, 8:30 PM avant garde lutenist Jozef Van Wissem – ancient instrument, new ideas – at Issue Project Room’s new semi-official digs at 110 Livingston St. in collaborations with Jim Jarmusch, Sir Richard Bishop, Loren Connors and others, $15. The show goes at least til midnight and possibly beyond.
10/13, 8:30 PM desert blues with Sidi Toure at the Lincoln Center Atrium, free, early arrival advised. He’s at BAM Cafe on 10/14 at 9.
10/13, 8:30 PM Suzy Sellout at Caffe Vivaldi. The tunes are a little behind the comedy but the comedy is pretty fierce.
10/13, 9 PM dark, thoughtful, improvisational Balkan band Which Way East at the Jalopy with Veveritse Brass Band at 10:30, $10.
10/13, 9 PM oldtime trombone/uke maven J. Walter Hawkes at Brooklyn Rod & Gun Club
10/13 oldschool country harmonies and tunesmithing with the Maybelles at Rodeo Bar, 10ish
10/13, 10ish Jon Spencer Blues Explosion at Maxwell’s, $15.
10/13, 10 PM a funky doublebill with Little Shalimar followed by Smoota at the Cameo Gallery, $20.
10/13, 11 PM dark Cat Power-ish acoustic soul band MotherMoon at Pete’s
10/14, 6 PM the Brooklyn Wind Symphony at Brooklyn Fire Proof.
10/14, 7 PM pianist Nathaniel LaNasa plays Shostakovich, Tower and Granados at Third St. Music School Settlement, free
10/14, 7:30 PM a rare set by accordionist Nathan Koci followed by the Mivos Quartet playing “Salt” by Tristan Perich, “17” by Samson Young, and “Stone Guitars” by Richard Carrick at First Presbyterian Church (Brooklyn Heights) 124 Henry St., 2/3 to Clark St., F/R to Jay St. or 4 to Borough Hall, $10.
10/14, 7:30 PM Glass Farm Ensemble play Nils Vigeland’s Five Nocturnes (1980-2002), Sylwia Zytynska’s Shadow of Sounds (world premiere), and Yvonne Troxler’s Susurrus (world premiere) at Symphony Space, $20
10/14, 8 PM jangly, surfy, jazz-tinged all-female Norwegian band Razika at the Cameo Gallery, $10. Sometimes chirpy, sometimes apprehensive, always tuneful.
10/14, 8:30 intense, smart, dark acoustic duo Kerri & Bill followed eventually by ramshackle, rustic, oldtimey/indie acoustic group Hope for Agoldensummer at the Jalopy, $10. Otherworldly two-sister harmonies, alternately stark and lush, spacious, acoustic Americana songs. Kinda like the Handsome Family with better vocals and a less gloomy vibe.
10/14, 9 PM insanely funny metal spoof Mighty High at the Gutter in Williamsburg $5
10/14, 9ish a killer indie classical doublebill with yMusic and My Brightest Diamond playing the album release show for MBD’s new All Things Will Unwind at Littlefield, $15.
10/14, 9 PM, the Pricks, Smoke DZA, Big KRIT, Curren$y and Method Man at the Nokia Theatre, $32.50 adv tix rec. They call this the “smokers tour.”
10/14, 9 PM trumpeter Steven Bernstein’s Millennial Territory Orchestra plays the cd release show for MTO Plays Sly Stone at the 92YTribeca, $TBA.
10/14, 10 PM catchy, smart, socially aware acoustic rock band Left on Red at Caffe Vivaldi.
10/14 high-energy Americana rock vets Tom Clark & the High Action Boys at Lakeside, 11 PM.
10/14, 11 PM imaginative garage rock/country/psychedelic band Those Darlins at the Bell House, $13 adv tix rec.
10/14, midnight psychedelic funksters/Afrobeat band Mammarazzi at the big room at the Rockwood.
10/15, 4 (four) PM Majid Khaliq – violin , Gilad Hekselman – guitar , Charlie Porter – trumpet , Willerm Delisfort – piano , Jonathan Michel – bass , Kenneth Salters – drums at Smalls. At 7:30 PM there’s an equally good, similarly inclined Middle Eastern-inspired jazz trio with Armen Donelian – piano , David Clark – bass , George Schuller – drums
10/15, 6 PM terse, tuneful concert harpist/songwriter Petaluma Vale followed eventually at 8:30 by hypnotic, psychedelic cello/marimba duo Goli at Caffe Vivaldi.
10/15, 6:30 PM charismatic NYC noir rock legend LJ Murphy at Otto’s
10/15, 7 PM the fun, furry-suited Xylopholks followed at 8 by art-rockers the Universal Thump’s record release show for the third installment of their ongoing album; the sepulchrally twangy, gorgeously harmony-driven Las Rubias Del Norte play afterward at 10.
10/15, 7:30 PM shapeshifting new music chamber ensemble Eighth Blackbird play new works by Timo Andres, Bruno Mantovani, Amy Beth Kirsten, Mayke Nas, Fabian Svensson, Dan Visconti and Caleb Burhans at the Miller Theatre at Columbia, $25 adv tix rec.
10/15, 7:30/9:30 PM Middle Eastern/jazz guitarist Gilad Hekselman leads a trio at at the Bar Next Door.
10/15, 8 PM Americana roots night with the paradigm-shifting bluegrass band the Dixie Bee-Liners, the alternately fiery and brooding paisley underground rockers the Newton Gang, Sons of Fathers and Gangstagrass at Southpaw, $10.
10/15, 8 PM the Do-Overs feat. Bobtown’s intense rhythm guitarist/singer Karen Dahlstrom followed by country hellraiser couple Jack and Daria Grace in a rare duo show at 68 Jay St. Bar.
10/15, 8 PM a good ska-punk quadruplebill at Goodbye Blue Monday of all places with Eastern Standard Time, Mr. T-Bone, Bigger Thomas and the Rudie Crew, $7
10/15, 8 PM oldschool salsa from Aurora Flores y Zon Del Barrio with special guest Yomo Toro – the Puerto Rican Dick Dale – at Flushing Town Hall, $25
10/15, 8 PM oldschool soul belter Nisha Asnani at the 92YTribeca, $10 adv tix rec.
10/15, 8 PM the NYU Symphony Orchestra at the Loewe Theatre, 35 W 4th St., program TBA.
10/15 9 PM gypsy punk/latin/dub rockers Karikatura at Mehanata, $10
10/15, 9 PM clever steampunk/gypsy rock band Not Waving But Drowning at Spike Hill, $5 cover.
10/15 9:30ish eclectic, rustic soul/jazz chanteuse Cal Folger Day’s trio Rayvon Browne with Morgan Heringer and bassist Joel Kruzic at Cafe Orwell in Bushwick, $5
10/15 ferociously tuneful, funny, politically aware punk/soul rockers the Brooklyn What at Trash, 10 PM
10/15, 10 PM hilarious oldschool country/rockabilly parody band Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. at Otto’s
10/15, 10:45 PM a seriously good dance bill: Afrobeat party band Ikebe Shakedown followed by sprawling funk orchestra Turkuaz’s cd release show at the Mercury, $10
10/15 reliably fearless, tuneful, amusing, ungentrifiable Americana punk rockers Spanking Charlene at Lakeside, 11 PM
10/16, 11:30AMish cutting-edge, mostly female, eclectic downtown band Isle of Klezbos plays klezmer brunch at City Winery, $10 all ages, no minimum.
10/16, noon to midnight, $25, a Bang on a Can-style new music marathon at the Miller Theatre at Columbia Univ. with the Jack Quartet, Talea Ensemble, Young People’s Chorus of New York City and others playing a laundry list of good up-and-coming and established composers, vastly too many to list here, the whole shebang is here.
10/16, 2 PM eclectic string ensemble Trio Tritticali plays an adventurous mix of originals, Latin, jazz, and pop/rock arrangements at Linger Cafe and Lounge, 533 Atlantic Ave (3rd/ 4th Aves), Brooklyn, free
10/16 pianist Peter Hill plays Bach, Messiaen and Takemitsu at le Poisson Rouge, 6:30 PM, $20 adv tix rec.
10/16 bassist Ben Allison leads a trio outdoors at the Abrons Arts Center on Grand St. on the LES, time TBA.
10/16, 7:30 PM an eclectic roots music evening with Hawke & Owl (Hilary Hawke & John Dyer), amazing worldbeat violinist Rima Fand, a solo set by Dyer and then M Shanghai String Band’s excellent original oldtime country songs at Theatre 80 St. Marks, 80 St. Marks Place, $15
10/16, 8 PM this era’s finest retro country singer, Laura Cantrell opens for Son Volt’s Jay Farrar at City Winery, $22 standing room avail.
10/16, 9 PM the Throwing Muses at Bowery Ballroom, $20 gen adm., adv tix rec. available at the Mercury til 7 PM weekdays. Hmmm…see how many original members are left, and how much Kristin and Tanya still have in the tank.
10/16, 9:30 PM jangly, thematic, smart Chicana rockers Pistolera at Joe’s Pub, $15.
10/16, 10 PM fearlessly political acoustic punk Paranoid Larry & His Imaginary Band at Otto’s
10/17, 2 and 7:30 PM, the Jupiter Symphony players perform Smetana – From My Homeland; Gyrowetz – Divertissement in A Major; Suk – Piano Quartet in A Minor; Brahms – String Sextet in B Flat at Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church, 152 W 66th St. out back of Lincoln Center, $10 tix avail.
10/17, 7:30 PM new music ensemble Either/Or plays new works by Raphaël Cendo, Hans Thomalla, Richard Carrick, Erin Gee, Keeril Makan and Jonny Greenwood at the Miller Theatre, 116th St/Bwy., $25.
10/17, 9 PM dark Americana chauteuse Kerry Kennedy’s haunting, intense southwestern gothic band Ghostwise at Spike Hill
10/17, 9 PM former Scholars frontman Whiting Tennis – master of Pacific Northwest gothic – at Pete’s.
10/17, 10 PM first class improvisers: Ari Hoenig – drums , Jean-Michel Pilc – piano , Johannes Weidenmuller – bass at Smalls.
10/17, 10 PM the Ross Kratter Jazz Orchestra at Miles Cafe, $20 includes drink & “snacks”
10/18 is the start date of this year’s Colossal Musical Joke, the smallest one ever: maybe next year the remaining morons with badges will disappear and never come back!
10/18, 7 PM Brazilian ensemble Camerata Aberta performs new works by Marcilio Onofre, Valeria Bonafe, Tatiana Catanzaro, Matthias Pintscher, Joao Victor Bota, John Orfe, Clint Needham and Igor Maia at the Americas Society, 680 Park Ave., free w/rsvp at www.americas-society.org, tix avail. starting 10/13/11.
10/18-19 Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey Plays “The Race Riot Suite” with special guests Peter Apfelbaum, Steven Bernstein and Mark Southerland, 7:30/9:30 PM at the Jazz Standard, $25. “In 1921, Tulsa, Oklahoma was home to Greenwood – perhaps the most powerful and affluent African–American community in the country before the rise of Harlem. (Greenwood’s commercial center was known as “The Black Wall Street.”) On May 31, in one of the most destructive racial conflicts in the nation’s history, white mobs invaded the district. 35 city blocks were destroyed by fire, and there were at least 40 fatalities. Some 6,000 Greenwood residents were arrested; over 800 were admitted to local hospitals, and an estimated 10,000 were left homeless. Composed by Chris Combs and recorded in Tulsa, The Race Riot Suite – the new album by the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey – is a long–form musical work that tells the story of the evolution and destruction of an American cultural epicenter in one of the least understood atrocities of the Jim Crow era. Joining the JFJO for this special two-night run is the horn section of Peter Apfelbaum, Mark Southerland and Steven Bernstein.”
10/18, 8 PM Australian new chamber music ensemble Exhaust at Galapagos, program TBA, $20 adv tix rec.
10/18, 8 PM Latvian/Belarussian klezmer with Dmitri Slepovitch’s Litvakus at 6th St. Synagogue, 325 E. 6th. St, free
10/18, 8 PM composer/pianist Michael Hersch plays the NY premiere of his piece From the Vanishing Pavilions – which confronts vanishing living space in New York – with Miranda Cuckson, viola and Julia Bruskin, cello at Merkin Concert Hall, $20.
10/18, 8:30 PM perennially enjoyable, tuneful indie powerpop band Palomar at Rock Shop, $8.
10/18, 9 PM Cuddle Magic at Sycamore Bar, $10. Clever, quirky chamber pop group with impeccable jazz cred (they’ve collaborated with noir legend Ran Blake) and have developed an inimitable style.
10/18, 9 PM legendary Detroit proto-punk band Death at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, two sets including intermission with hip-hop artists, $10 adv tix. avail. at the Mercury weekdays til 7.
10/18, 9ish anthemic, intense drummer-led latin rockers New Madrid at Bowery Electric.
10/18, 9 PM bluesy, smart banjoist/songwriter Andrew Vladeck at Fontana’s, $10.
10/18, 9:30 PM dark, anthemic, edgy, literate Irish songwriter Lisa Hannigan at the Bell House. Inspired by Irish folk but she’s not a slave to tradition – sort of a Celtic Nina Nastasia? 10/21 she’s at the Hiro Ballroom at 8:30
10/18, 11 PM catchy keyboard-driven indie pop band the Secret History at Lit, $7.
10/19, 4 (four) PM wryly clever funksters Shayna Zaid and the Catch at the small room at the Rockwood followed eventually at 9 by brilliantly eclectic, jazz-tinged guitarist and powerpop songwriter Charlene Kaye.
10/19, 7 PM violinist Michi Fuji leads a jazz quartet at Miles Cafe, $20 includes drink & “snacks”
10/19, 8 PM virtuoso clarinetist Thomas Piercy and pianist/composer Mika Tanaka play innovative new works by Japanese composers at the Gershwin Hotel, $10 – it’s quite possible that many of these are North American premieres.
10/19, 8 PM performing artist/composer Milica Paranosic blends sounds gathered from Hunts Point in the Bronx for the premiere of A Bronx Tale, a work for found sounds, live vocals and electronics at the Point CDC, 940 Garrison Ave in the Bronx, free.
10/19, 8:30 PM the marvelous improvicompositional jazz trio Minerva with Carlo Costa on drums, JP Schlegelmilch on piano and Pascal Niggnekemper on bass at Caffe Vivaldi.
10/19 generally CMJ shows are clusterfucks of talentless posers, but Caveman just hits you with one killer three-minute tune after another. It’s powerpop for shoegazers and it can be very creepy. Here’s their Dives of NY Tour: 10/19 at 9 at Santos Party House, then at half past midnight at the Canal Room; 10/21, 4:30 PM at the Delancey and then at 10ish at Glasslands; and 10/22 at 4 PM at Fontana’s.
10/19, 9 PM dark pensive goth-tinged songwriter Nina Nastasia at the Mercury, $12.
10/19, midnight-ish hypnotic dreampop/shoegaze instrumentalists the Big Sleep play Party Xpo in Bushwick as part of a good idea – the Un-CMJ.
10/20, 7 PM the Erica Seguine/Shannon Baker Jazz Orchestra at Miles Cafe, $20 includes drink & “snacks.” Elegant but shapeshifting original compositions and a quirky sense of humor (and a Bach tang0), a pleasant change from your usual big band fare.
10/20, 7 PM worldbeat percussionists Herve Samb and Daniel Moreno play the album release show for their trancey but explosive new one Kharit at the Pyramid, free.
10/20, 11-piece big band Ingrid Jensen + Brass featuring Kenny Wheeler, 7:30/9:30 PM at the Jazz Standard, $25.
10/20, 8 PM intense, often haunting New Orleans oldtimey noir band El Radio Fantastique – “part rumba band in purgatory, part cinematic chamber group and part shipwrecked serenade” – play Drom, $5 with rsvp, OPEN BAR for first fifty people inside.
10/20, 8 PM devious jazz guitar virtuoso Matt Munisteri followed at 10 by incomparably fun, low-register retro Cuban band Gato Loco at Barbes.
10/20, 8ish the filthy, hilarious Dan Band at the Gramercy Theatre, $35 gen adm; they’re also here on 11/17.
10/20, 8 PM International Contemporary Ensemble play what looks like a crazy cool bill including works for percussion and winds by by Marcos Balter, Du Yun, Steve Lehman, Phyllis Chen, Nathan Davis, and Mario Diaz de León at the Kitchen, $15; on 10/21 the Edgar Varese-inspired program includes NYC premieres of recent ICE commissions by experimental trumpet virtuoso Peter Evans and sound-sculptor Alvin Lucier, plus guest cellist Fred Sherry’s incendiary performance of Jason Eckardt’s A way [tracing] for solo cello, and Eckardt’s Aperture from his song cycle, Undersong.
10/20, 8:30 PM drummer Flin Van Hemmen leads a kick-ass, thoughtful quartet with Kris Davis, piano; Eivind Opsvik, bass; Todd Neufeld, guitar at Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.
10/20, 9 PM the charmingly oldtimey Roulette Sisters’ ferociously smart, sultry frontwoman Mamie Minch followed at 10 by Carol Lipnik & Spookarama – the queen of Coney Island phantasmagoria – at the Jalopy, $10
10/20, 9 PM the garage-rocking A-Bones open for surf guitar legend Dick Dale at Maxwell’s, $20, you know this will sell out, tix in Manhattan available at Other Music.
10/20 and 10/27, 9 PM oldschool Williamsburg jazz mini-orchestra the Old Rugged Sauce at Brooklyn Rod & Gun Club
10/20 devious oldschool country crooner Jack Grace at Rodeo Bar, 10ish.
10/20, 10 PM America’s #1 dark psychedelic cumbia surf rockers, Chicha Libre play a relatively rare gig off their Barbes home turf at the logistically convenient, sonically excellent SOB’s, $10 adv tix rec.
10/20, 11 PM clever, amusing, banjo-led acoustic jamband Tall Tall Trees at the small room at the Rockwood.
10/21, 7 PM pianist Daniela Bracchi plays Barber, Beethoven and Brahms at Third St. Music School Settlement, free.
10/21, 7 PM cellist Zuill Bailey plays Bach solo pieces at PS 321 (180 7th Ave., Brooklyn), $15
10/21-22 towering, anthemic, socially aware big band jazz with the John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble feat. Kenny Wheeler at the Jazz Standard, sets 7:30/9:30 PM, $30.
10/21, 8 PM pan-Americana rock songwriter Dina Rudeen at the Jalopy with her band. Oldschool soul voice, a terse vintage 60s Dylan tunefulness and a pure New York lyrical edge.
10/21, 8 PM psychedelic pop maven Damien Quinones followed by edgy jazz guitarist Jon Lundbom & Big Five Chord at Freddy’s
10/21, 8 PM Afrobeat guitar virtuoso Banning Eyre followed at 10 by the incomparable, intense Balkan uproar of Ansambl Mastika at 10 at Barbes.
10/21, 8 PM the NYCity Slickers play original harmony-driven bluegrass at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center, $15
10/21, 8 PM, the NYU Philharmonia at the Loewe Theatre, 35 W 4th St., program TBA. They’re also here on 12/5.
10/21-23, 8 PM adventurous new music pianist Vicky Chow in a program TBA at the Gershwin Hotel, $10.
10/21, 8:30 PM kindred spirits in inspired, sometimes hostile shredding: Jon Irabagon, tenor sax; Barry Altschul, drums; Mark Helias, bass at Cornelia St. Cafe, $15.
10/21, 8:30 PM noir guitar maven Marc Ribot’s trio with Henry Grimes & Chad Taylor at Zebulon, note that there is a $10 cover
10/21, 9 PM chanteuse Rosalie Kaplan’s chamber jam band Dollshot radically, creepily reinterpret Schoenberg, Poulenc, Ives and play similarly playful, intense originals at Douglass St. Music Collective, 295 Douglass St., Gowanus, $10 sugg don.
10/21, 9ish two first-class singers: the Russian-inspired Alina Simone followed eventually around 11 by former Rainer Maria frontwoman Caithlin De Marrais, who just gets more and more gently intense, at Littlefield, $10
10/21, 9 PM dark ornate retro 80s songwriter Kristin Hoffmann at Caffe Vivaldi.
10/21-22, 10 PM EJ Strickland – drums , Marcus Strickland – tenor , Brian Hogans – alto , Luis Perdomo – piano , Luques Curtis – bass at Smalls.
10/21, 10 PM smart, pensive lyrical indie pop band Elizabeth & the Catapult at the small room at the Rockwood. They’re at Rock Shop at 11 on the 22nd.
10/21, 11ish scorching, intense, Radio Birdman-influenced garage-punk rockers the Mess Around at Don Pedro’s
10/21, 11 PM classic and obscure surf covers with Mr. Action & the Boss Guitars at Lakeside.
10/21, midnight, Afrobeat band Emefe celebrate Fela Kuti’s birthday with a show at Joe’s Pub, $10
10/21, half past midnight (actually wee hours of 10/22), imaginative, tuneful Americana jazz saxophonist Jeremy Udden leads a small combo at the Blue Note, $10.
10/22, 3 PM blistering Balkan improvisers Raya Brass Band at the hostel at 891 Amsterdam Ave, btwn 103rd and 104th Sts., free, it’s sort of a backyard cookout with the grill going, munchies and beer available.
10/22, 7 PM new Brooklyn Balkan supergroup Sherita (named for the pink dinosaur at the corner of Atlantic and Classon) makes their debut at Barbes: Greg Squared on reeds; Renee Bergan on percussion, Rima Fand on violin, viola and voice, and Adam Good on guitar, oud and tambura.
10/22, 7 PM the American Composers Orchestra plays New York premieres of music by Ruby Fulton, Paul Yeon Lee, Ryan Gallagher, Andrew Norman, and Suzanne Farrin at the World Financial Ctr., free.
10/22, 7:30 PM Drina & the Deep Blue Sea at Otto’s. Out of nowhere, they’re suddenly one of NYC’s best bands, sort of where Neko Case was ten years ago, both tunewise and influence-wise: country, soul and blues all figure into it, but it’s all original, and Drina’s voice could melt an asteroid.
10/22, 7:30 PM bandurist Julian Kytasty and chanteuse Eva Salina Primack lead a Ukrainian band playing wild traditional party music on the theme of “After the Wedding: Ballads of Marital Mayhem,” at the Ukrainian Museum, 222 E 6th St. (2nd/3rd Aves), $15.
10/22, 7:30 PM sizzling acoustic Americana/bluegrass innovators the Hollows at Hiro Ballroom
10/22, 8 PM Villa Delirium play “disturbed songs for disturbed times” w/ Tine Kindermann, John Kruth, Kenny Margolis and Doug Wieselman at Barbes followed at 10 by Pierre de Gaillande’s Bad Reputation English-language Georges Brassens cover project celebrating what would be Brassens’ 90th birthday!
10/22, 8 PM, repeating on 10/23, 3 PM the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony plays Beethoven/Britten and Richard Strauss’ Death and Transfiguration at All Saints Church, 230 E 60th St, $20/$10 stud., adv tix rec.
10/22, 8 PM Beefheart cover band Admiral Porkbrain, hilarious faux French garage rockers les Sans Culottes and Irish acoustic punks Box of Crayons at Freddy’s, ostensibly a play about Elvis is also part of the deal – ?
10/22, 8 PM funk orchestra Bearstronaut followed eventually at 11 by catchy indie powerpop tunesmiths Palomar at Kenny’s Castaways.
10/22, 8 PM popular Americana chanteuse Gillian Welch at the Beacon Theatre, $35 tix avail.
10/22, 8 PM the Chelsea Symphony play Kiah: TBA (World Premiere); Elgar: Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85; Hanson: Symphony No. 2 “Romantic” at St. Paul’s Church, 315 W 22nd St., $20 sugg. don.
10/22, 8 PM noir cabaret crooner Shayfer James at the Delancey.
10/22, 8 PM guitarists Maria Krupoves and Gerard Edry lead a group with cello and erhu playing haunting and uplifting Balkan and Middle Eastern traditional songs with an interfaith focus, at Park Ave. Christian Church, 1010 Park Ave at 85th St., $25 seats avail.
10/22, 8:30 PM Of Earth at Local 269 – a rare chance to see this amazing dark ornate metal band outside of a big arena.
10/22, 8:30ish atmospheric, anthemic Radiohead-influenced rockers My Pet Dragon at the Mercury, $12
10/22, 8:30 PM Dutch avant garde percussion troupe Ensemble Klang at Issue Project Room in Gowanus, $15.
10/22, 9 PM Alessandra Belloni’s trance-inducing Tarantella percussion/dance project makes it downtown to Mehanata, $10 – perfect for this venue!
10/22, 9 PM big anthemic new oldschool country band Yarn at Hiro Ballroom, $15, tix avail. at the Highline Ballroom box ofc.
10/22, 9:30 PM Romanian group East Gipsy Band play Drom, $15 adv tix. a must, this will sell out.
10/22 sultry soul belter Vera Sousa’s oldschool Memphis-style band the One & Nines play the release show for their latest 7″ vinyl single at Maxwell’s, 9:30 PM. Also on the bill: the Old Wives – a good keyboard-driven soul band that needs a singer – and the awesomely noir jazz/cinematic band Beninghove’s Hangmen. If you like Ribot’s noir stuff, these guys will hook you up.
10/22, 10ish an eclectic golden age and golden age-inspired hip-hop bill with Smif N Wessun, Jean Grae, Buckshot, Pharaohe Monche and Talib Kweli at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, $25 adv tix. available at the Mercury weekdays til 7.
10/23, half past noon up-and-coming saxophonist/composer Noah Preminger leads a quartet with Dan Tepfer – piano; John Hebert – bass; Matt Wilson – drums at the Blue Note, $24.50 admission (includes ticket, meal & a drink).
10/23, 3 PM haunting, lyrical oldschool Greek rembetiko/Smyrniki band Maeandros Ensemble with oud genius/composer Mavrothi Kontanis at at 6th St. Synagogue, 325 E. 6th. St, $10.
10/23, 3 PM polka legends the Jimmy Sturr Orchestra play the Brooklyn Bowl, $10 adv tix rec., expect the entire Greenpoint/Williamsburg Polish posse to be there.
10/23, 4:45 PM organist Douglas Kostner plays a recital at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
10/23, 5:30 PM a festival of Colombian jazz and jazz-inspired Colombian music at le Poisson Rouge with a whole truckload of A-list performers: Edmar Castañeda , Pablo Mayor’s Folklore Urbano Orchestra , Sebastián Cruz Cheap Landscape Trio , Gregorio Uribe Big Band , Samuel Torres Group , Alejandro Flórez Tibaguí , Andrea Tierra , Martin Vejarano-Chia’s Dance Party , Jam , Nilko Andreas Guarin, guitar , Juan Andrés Ospina , Jonathan Gómez y su Papayera la Original , Daniel Rojas , Lucia Pulido and special guests Daniel Fetecua & Pajarillo Pinta’o, $25 adv tix rec.
10/23 ride the waves with surf rock legend Dick Dale aboard the Jewel, boarding at the heliport at 23rd St. and the FDR at 6, leaving at 7, adv tix $30 avail. at the Highline Ballroom box ofc.
10/23, 6 PM energetic jazz improv by saxophonist Louie Belogenis, bassist Dan Fabricatore and drummer Federico Uighi at Downtown Music Gallery, free.
10/23, 7 PM Vlada Tomova’s rustic, intense Balkan Tales project followed by Macedonian wood flute virtuoso Theodosii Spassov at Symphony Space, $30.
10/23, 7 PM the New York Chamber Virtuosi play Culturefix, program TBA, sugg.don
10/23, 7:30 PM a massively good latin rock night with Veritas Vos Liberabit,Changala, Kofre, Venezuelan ska-punks Big Mandrake and Argentine punk band Cadena Perpetua, at Highline Ballroom, $20 gen adm.
10/23, 9 PM charismatic dark garage and garage-punk with X-Ray Eyeballs followed by the K-Holes at the Mercury, $10
10/23 Washington classical harpist/chanteuse Katie Brennan plays her smart, lyrical, artsy Americana/country songs at Rodeo Bar, 10ish.
10/23, 10:30 PM warmly torchy, downtempo/trip-hop/soul trio Mattison plays the Manhattan Inn in Greenpoint
10/24, 7 PM too good not to list: Kanye Twitty – with Oran Etkin: reeds; Vinnie Sperazza: drums; Jason Sypher: bass; Ross Martin: guitar and Raphael McGregor: steel guitar. Who knows what they do, but you gotta love the name.
10/24, 7:30 PM Trio Con Brio – Soo-jin Hong, violin; Soo-kyung Hong, cello; Jens Elvekjaer, piano – play Haydn, Tschaikovsky and Ravel at Music Mondays at Advent/ Broadway Church, 2504 Broadway at 93rd St., free.
10/24, 8:30 PM pianist Sachiko Kato plays Bach’s Goldberg Variations at Cornelia St. Cafe, $10. Then on the 28th at 6 PM Lara Downes plays them here too!
10/24, 8:30/10:30 PM the Manhattan School of Music Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra conducted by Bobby Sanabria at Dizzy’s Club, $20.
10/24 charming oldtime ukulele swing with Daria Grace and the Pre-War Ponies at Rodeo Bar 10ish.
10/24, 10 PM the Tim Ries Group with special guests from Budapest – the East Gypsy Band: Tim Ries – tenor; Gusztav Balogh – vox, Lajos Sarkozi – violin , Jozsef Balazs – piano , Elemer Balazs – drums , Norbert Marius – bass at Smalls. Wow!
10/25, 8 PM Ljova & the Kontraband followed at 10 by Slavic Soul Party at Barbes
10/25, 8 PM ferociously eclectic minor-key band Jim Guttman’s Bessarabian Breakdown – whose latest klezmer/Balkan album is killer – at at 6th St. Synagogue, 325 E. 6th. St, $10.
10/25, 9 PM the original roots reggae Family Man, Denroy Morgan at SOB’s, $TBA
10/25, 9:45 PM dark haunting intense rocker Randi Russo – whose new album Fragile Animal might be the year’s best – at Sidewalk.
10/25, 10ish legendary 70s reggae harmony trio Mighty Diamonds at Sullivan Hall, $20 gen adm.
10/25 smart, torchy jazz songwriter/chanteuse Abby Payne at Pete’s, 11 PM.
10/26, 7 PM Boston songwriter Arthur Nasson – who juxtaposes wickedly tuneful powerpop in the Raspberries vein with disquieting atonal avant-garde compositions – at Sidewalk, of all places.
10/26, 7:30 PM the Lincoln Trio play all female composers – Lera Auerbach, Stacy Garrop, Laura Elise Schwendinger, Joan Tower, Augusta Read Thomas, and Jennifer Higdon – at le Poisson Rouge, $15.
10/26, 8 PM noir torch songs with Evanescent feat. Bliss Blood and Al Street at 68 Jay St. Bar
10/26, 9 PM a dark, smoking klezmer rock doublebill with Yoshie Fruchter’s surf-metal band Pitom and Aram Bajakian’s haunting, stark, Armenian-flavored Kef at 6th St. Synagogue, 325 E. 6th. St, $15.
10/26, 9 PM awful segue, good show: charming Boston oldtimey band Lake Street Dive followed by crazy surf band Los Straitjackets at Highline Ballroom, $15 adv tix rec.
10/26, 9 PM innovative, intense, entertaining jazz pianist Gerald Clayton plays a rare duo show at Dominion opening for jazz trumpet vet Wallace Roney and his combo, $15 adv tix rec. There’s also a $40 three-day pass available for all of Roney’s three upcoming shows here.
10/26, 9:30 PM tuneful soul-rocker Sam Sherwin at Sullivan Hall $10.
10/26, 10 PM keyboardist Matt Dundas’ dark, tuneful new band the Devil’s Broadcast at Trash
10/27, 1 PM the Bela Horvath and David Lisker Violin Duo, program TBA at Trinity Church, free.
10/27, 7 PM noirish literate acoustic tunesmith Adam Masterson at the small room at the Rockwood
10/27, 7 PM baritone saxophonist Claire Daly and pianist Steve Hudson team up with their band for a homage to Daly’s second cousin, Mary Joyce, who made a 1,000 mile solo dogsled journey from Juneau to Fairbanks, Alaska in 1935/36. At the Gershwin Hotel, $10
10/27, 7:30 PM innovative improvisationally inclined jazz guitarist Soren Raaschou leads his Trio with guest Travis Laplante on tenor sax at Drom, $10 adv tix rec.
10/27, 8 PM the reliably adventurous Threeds oboe trio play the cd release show for their new one at the big room at the Rockwood
10/27, 8 PM sultry noir songwriting with Evanescent feat. Bliss Blood and Al Street at Freddy’s
10/27, 8 PM klezmer/bluegrass legend Andy Statman at Barbes for $10 followed at 10 by haunting, hypnotic, eclectic oldschool Middle Eastern ensemble Layali El Andalus.
10/27, 8 PM drummer Rob Garcia plays the cd release show for his new one with a smoking band: Noah Preminger, tenor sax; Dan Tepfer, piano; John Hebert, bass at Cornelia St. Cafe, $10
10/27, 8:30 PM dark Americana-tinged lyrical songwriter Jessi Robertson at Southpaw, $10.
10/27, 8:30 PM dark Jewish big band jazz with the Ayn Sof Arkestra and Bigger Band at at 6th St. Synagogue, 325 E. 6th. St, $15.
10/27, 8:30 PM retro 60s soul belter Nisha Asnani – like Sharon Jones, she is the real deal – at Caffe Vivaldi.
10/27, 9 PM former Norden Bombsight frontwoman Raquel Bell – who does an excellently mysterioso, sometimes menacingly noir Americana thing – at Goodbye Blue Monday.
10/27, 9:30ish dark garage rock with the 13th Floor Elevators-influenced Living Kills followed by the even creepier, swirling, SW gothic-ish Wailin Storms at Union Hall, $7
10/27, 10 PM multistylistic, entertaining new music and worldbeat songs with the all-female Real Vocal String Quartet at Drom, $10 adv tix rec. – they’re sort of the happy Rasputina.
10/27, 11 PM sarcastic, amusingly satirical, theatrical duo the Reformed Whores at Pete’s
10/27, 11 PM guitarist Steve Schiltz’ atmospheric, plaintive shoegaze/anthem band Hurricane Bells at the Mercury $10.
10/27, 11 PM Afrobeat with Zongo Junction at the Knitting Factory
10/28, 6 PM quietly captivating Americana tunesmith Kelley Swindall at the American Folk Art Museum on 66th St. followed by the considerably darker and equally captivating Lorraine Leckie
10/28, 7 PM the Real Vocal String Quartet at Barbes followed by Allison Leyton-Brown’s stride piano trio at 8.
10/28 a twisted cover band Halloween party with the Gypsy West as Talking Heads, Peck as the Plastic Ono Band, the Sometime Boys as Jefferson Airplane and Bangladeafy as Nintendo at Trash, 8 PM, $8 ridiculously cheap incl. open bar on PBRs and wells from 8-9 PM.
10/28, 8ish carnivalesque gypsy punk rockers World Inferno at Irving Plaza, $27 gen adm.
10/28, 8:30 PM gypsy funk party band SisterMonk at Caffe Vivaldi.
10/28, 9 PM fearless, darkly retro 30s songwriter/chanteuse Julia Haltigan plays the small room at the Rockwood
10/28, 9 PM twangy noir guitar soundscapes with Jim Campilongo followed by alt-country siren Alana Amram at the Gutter bowling alley in Williamsburg, $5.
10/28, 9 PM the Tarantinos NYC play cinematic, eclectic surf music and film themes at Shillelagh Tavern, 47-22 30th Ave, Astoria, $5
10/28, 9 PM the Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra (who play salsa versions of indie rock songs) followed by eclectic psychedelic oldschool salsa band Bio Ritmo’s album release show for their new one, La Verdad at Southpaw, $10
10/28, 10 PM the Twisted Standard Jazz Trio – Judith Insell- viola; Reut Regev- trombone; Thomas Ulrich- cello at Tea Lounge in Park Slope.
10/28, midnight 8-piece funk jamband The Uptown Party Down play a “disco funk Halloween” at the Cameo Gallery, $11 w/costume (your choice)
10/29, 2 PM Eugene Marlow’s Heritage Ensemble play their unique, gripping blend of latin jazz and traditional Jewish melodies at the Brooklyn Heights Library, 280 Cadman Plaza West @ Tillary St., free
10/29, 6 PM smartly lyrical, historically aware Americana siren Robin Aigner followed at 10 by the Brooklyn Qawwali Party – who are basically an Indian-flavored funk orchestra – at Barbes.
10/29, 7 PM hypnotic sintir grooves by the Hassan Hakmoun Ensemble followed by the equally hypnotic Qawal Najmuddin Saifuddin & Brothers at the Rogers Auditorium at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, $35
10/29, 7:30 PM dark atmospheric intense noir rockers Elysian Fields at the newly reopened Joe’s Pub, $15
10/29, 7:30/9:30 PM Jon Irabagon on saxes plus John Benitez on bass and Rudy Royston on drums at the Bar Next Door.
10/29, 8 PM new reggae extravaganza with the shapeshifting Ilamawana and the hydroponic Giant Panda Guerrilla Dub Squad at the Brooklyn Bowl, $10 adv tix rec.
10/29, 8 PM the original haunting, quirky, politically aware cello rockers, Rasputina play their annual Halloween show at Highline Ballroom, $17 adv tix rec.
10/29, 8ish acoustic Americana helraisers the Wiyos play songs from their ongoing Wizard of Oz song cycle at the Gramercy Theatre,
10/29, 8 PM harpsichordist Kenneth Weiss leads and Gotham Early Music Society play Versailles court music by Clerambault, Couperin, Francouer, Marais and Rameau at Smith Auditorium, 417 E 61st St between First and York, reception to follow, $25/$15 stud/srs/Columbia Univ staff
10/29, 8:30 PM Simon Shaheen, who may be this era’s greatest oud player, plays Middle Eastern classics by Mohammed Abdel Wahab, the Rahbani Bros. and Farid Al-Atrache with special guest vocalist Nidal Ibourk and the Near Eastern Music Ensemble at Roulette, $25, early arrival advised.
10/29, 9 PM fiery paisley underground/country band the Newton Gang at 68 Jay St. Bar.
a10/29, 9 PM garage rockers Mighty Fine play the album release show for their new one followed by the Jay Vons at 10 and the ageless Waldos at 11 at Don Pedro’s, $5
10/29-30, 9 PM kick-ass new garage/psychedelic rock with Spindrift and the Black Angels at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. 10/31 the Black Angels play there at 11 PM, $20 adv tix. avail. at the Mercury box office 5-7 PM M-F.
10/29, 9 PM the Infamous Stringdusters and Yonder Mountain String Band at the Nokia Theatre, $25 adv tix rec.
10/29 the entertaining, pretty self-explanatory Toys & Tiny Instruments at Littlefield, 9 PM
10/29, 9:30 PM cumbia satanica with the crew who are Manhattan’s most charismatic band, Escarioka at Mehanata, $10.
10/29, 10ish dark garage rockers Oh No & the Tiger Pit – who come from the Stoogier side of the Lyres – followed by 11ish dark garage/jangle band the Encantados at Union Hall, $8. Catchy, anthemic, scruffy, a lot of fun.
10/29 smart, lyrical retro 90s Britrock band Special Patrol Group at Lakeside, 11 PM
10/29, 11ish sardonic dark garage/punk rockers Obits at Glasslands.
10/29 the Midnight band play roots reggae at SOB’s at…guess…midnight! $27.
10/30, 5 PM the Brooklyn Phil Chamber Players perform music of Prokofiev and Shostakovich along with readings of Soviet dissident defector Sergei Dovlatov’s 1970s New Yorker stories at the Shorefront Y, 3300 Coney Island Avenue, $15
10/30, 6 PM saxophonist Jeremy Carlstadt and drummer Brian Settle improvise followed by duelling bassists Pascal Niggenkemper and Sean Ali at Downtown Music Gallery, free
10/30, 8 PM Frankenpine hosts a murderously good night of murder ballads at the Jalopy, with “Master of medicine shows Doc Mamie Minch; the twisted twang of Allen Lee and the Whiskey Bumps; the harrowing harmonies of Weal and Woe; the gothic ghosts of Bobtown; mad scientist Brian Dewan; Brooklyn’s most wanted outlaws, the Newton Gang; the undead old-time of The Keeps; and the fearsome Frankenpine!” $5 with costume, $10 w/o.
10/30, 8:30 PM imaginatively versatile, reliably tuneful baritone saxophonist Brian Landrus plays the cd release show for yet another new one with Nir Felder, guitar; Frank Carlberg, piano; Lonnie Plaxico, bass; Warren Smith, drums at Cornelia St. Cafe, $15
10/30, 9:30 PM clever, entertaining surf/sci-fi parody band Witches in Bikinis at Drom.
10/30 the Dysfunctional Family Jazz Band at Rodeo Bar 10ish
10/31, 2 and 7:30 PM, the Jupiter Symphony players perform a killer (ha ha) program including Stravinsky’s playful Histoire du Soldat; Saint-Saens – Danse Macabre; Moussorgsky – Songs & Dances of Death; Rimsky-Korsakov – Piano Trio in C Minor at Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church, 152 W 66th St. out back of Lincoln Center, $10 tix avail.
10/31 there are some excellent bands in this year’s Halloween Parade (which is reputedly only going as far as 16th St!) – your viewing gets better the further north you go
10/31, 7:30/9:30 PM Venuezuela’s Simón Bolivar Big-Band Jazz series launches on October 31 at Dizzy’s Club with the latest edition of the group from La Sistema, playing classics from across the decades. They’re at the Harlem Stage Gatehouse on Nov 1 at 7 hosted by Arturo O’Farrill; Nov 3 at the Casita Maria Center in the Bronx at 7:30 and 11/4 at the NYU Skirball Center at 8
10/31 downstairs at the Delancey genre-smashing cellist Valerie Kuehne has booked a characteristically eclectic and intense night starting at 8 and including Borts Minorts, Pendulum Swings, Girls and God, Cracked Vessel, Yva Las Vegass, and Brad Henkel, free, just show up, you’ll probably hear something interesting.
10/31, 8 PM Gato Loco – who play oldtime Cuban son on low-register instruments, and also write their own incredibly fun, bouncy, catchy, psychedelic low-register music – at Ideya, 349 W Broadway in Soho, free
10/31, 8 PM surreal big band jazz with the Sun Ra Arkestra – who, under the direction of Marshall Allen and his shredderphone (or whatever he he calls that contraption) still slay after all these years – at Drom, $15
10/31, 8:30 PM eclectic worldbeat chamber ensemble Karavika: Trina Basu, violin; Amali Premawardhana, cello; Perry Wortman, bass; Avi Shah, tabla at Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.
10/31, 9 PM Mieka Pauley, Andy Stack, Little Embers and My Pet Dragon tackle Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust album cover to cover at LIC Bar – how will this stack up against System Noise’s version?
10/31 NYC’s best Halloween show is at Small Beast at the Delancey. The TarantinosNYC play eclectic, fun surf and movie instrumentals at 9, the Lone Vein noir/glam duo play at 10 and then the incomparable, charismatic, menacing Vera Beren’s Gothic Chamber Blues Ensemble at 11, and it’s free.
10/31, midnight-ish wild gypsy punk band Bad Buka at Mehanata, $10. They’re also here on 11/5 at 9ish
10/31, midnight creepy minor-key harmonica blues with Stringbean & the Stalkers at the Ear Inn.
11/1, 7:30 PM violinist Mikhail Simonyan plays the record release show for his new one solo at le Poisson Rouge, $15.
11/1 Jonathan Coulton at the Bell House
11/1-6, 8/10:30 PM the annual Django Reinhardt Festival at Birdland features an A-list of gypsy jazz and straight-up jazz players from around the world: guitar legend Dorado Schmitt playing with a diverse cast including: 11/1 saxophonist Ken Peplowski 11/2 trumpeter Dominic Farinacci; 11/3 saxophonist Jorge Continentino; 11/4 cellist Borislav Strulev; 11/5 and 6 Colombian jazz harp sensation Edmar Castaneda. $30 seats avail. but res. recommended, this tends to sell out fast.
11/1, 8 PM klezmer with Lisa and Sruli’s Family Band feat. Zach Mayer at 325 E. 6th. Synagogue, $15 incl. a drink
11/1-6 the Three Cohens Sextet with Avishai Cohen, Anat Cohen Yuval Cohen, Aaron Goldberg, Omer Avital, Johnathan Blake at the Vanguard, sets 9/11 PM, $25.
11/2, 6:30 PM chamber pop band Lacrymosa, piano hip-hopster Alyson Greenfield, art-rock geniuses Greta Gertler and Rachelle Garniez play a benefit show for upstate teen girls at Joe’s Pub, $12. Note: the scheduled headliner’s songs are putrid, you might wanna scooby before she goes on.
11/2, 7 PM Iraqi poet Sinan Antoon reads from his new English translation of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish’s monumental, elegaic In the Presence of Absence with musical performance by brilliant multi-instrumentalists Georges Ziadeh and Zafer Tawil at Alwan for the Arts, free.
11/2-3, 7:30 PM the NY Phil and Philip Glass Ensemble play Glass’s live soundtrack for the 1982 Godfrey Reggio film Koyaanisqatsi along with a screening of the movie at Avery Fisher Hall, $35 tix avail.
11/2, 7:30/9:30 PM adventurous postbop jazz explorations with Rudresh Mahanthappa – alto saxophone; David Gilmore – guitar; Rich Brown – bass; Damion Reid – drums at the Jazz Standard, $20
11/2, 8 PM Shelby Lynne at Highline Ballroom, $35.
11/2, 8 PM the CUA Orchestra plays the premiere of Robert Sirota’s Ecstatic Sunrise (the upbeat companion piece to his iconic, macabre 9/11 Triptych) at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall plus works by Handel, Mozart, Prokofiev and Vanhal, $25
11/2, 8:30 PM guitarist Mike Baggetta leds a stellar quartet with Jason Rigby, tenor sax; Eivind Opsvik, bass; George Schuller, drums playing the cd release show for his latest one at at Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.
11/2, 9 PM legendary klezmer underground trumpeter Frank London and band at the 6th St. Synagogue, 325 E. 6th. $15 incl. a drink.
11/2, 9 PM powerhouse melodic jazz pianist Orrin Evans leads his quintet at Dominion opening for Wallace Roney and his combo, $15 adv tix rec,time TBA
11/2, 10ish quietly intense, plaintively torchy singer Caithlin De Marrais plays the record release show for her new one at Union Hall, $10, a show organized by the WalmartFreeNYC coalition of residents, activists, and elected officials committed to protecting local businesses, creating jobs and supporting artistic communities.
11/2, 10 PM sophisticated, charismatic Americana chanteuse Drina Seay and her excellent band at Otto’s
11/3, 7:30 PM, the Brooklyn Philharmonic plays racy cartoon scores by Shostakovich and Vyacheslav Artyomov accompanying those cartoons (with live Russian voiceovers) at the Millennium Theater, 1029 Brighton Beach Ave., Brooklyn, $10 tix avail.
11/3, 8:30 PM ecstatic, intense gypsy/Balkan/Mediterranean brass band Mucca Pazza at the Lincoln Center Atrium, free but early arrival advised. They’re at the Broooklyn Bowl at midnight the next night for $5 in advance.
11/3, 9ish St. Vincent at Webster Hall, tix $30ish (venue doesn’t say)
11/3, 9:30 PM Jim Lauderdale (from Elvis Costello’s band) at Hill Country, $12.
11/3 the Happy Problem at the Delancey, 9:30 PM. Dunno what to make of this catchy female-fronted punk-pop power trio. They’re funny and they don’t like posers, which is great – on the other hand, some of their songs sound like Katy Perry with loud guitars.
11/3 9:45 PM clever, lyrically brilliant psychedelic pop band McGinty & White at Local 269
11/3, 10 PM charismatic intense sometimes haunting gypsy/skaragga band Escarioka at Bowery Electric. They’re at Fontana’s on 11/26 at 11.
11/3 ferociously intense, politically aware, tuneful female-fronted noiserock/punk band Bugs in the Dark play the cd release show for their new one at Bruar Falls.
11/3, 10 PM bass clarinetist/reedman Joris Roelofs leads a trio with Matt Penman , bass; Ted Poor, drums at Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.
11/4-5, 5 PM all-star Middle Eastern group the Alwan Arab Music Ensemble – George Ziadeh, oud, vocals; Tareq Abboushi, buzuq, vocals; Sami Shumays, violin, vocals; Johnny Farraj, riqq, vocals; Zafer Tawil, qanun, violin, vocals; and Amir ElSaffar, santur, vocals – play Egyptian, Syrian and Persian classics at the Great Hall Balcony Bar at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, free w/museum adm.
11/4, 7 PM pianist Valentina Lisitsa plays Liszt at PS 142 Auditorium, 100 Attorney St, $15.
11/4, 8 PM composer Dave Liang’s electroacoustic band the Shanghai Restoration Project with special guest virtuoso double violin player Gingger Shankar at the Asia Society, 725 Park Ave. at 70th St., free w/rsvp at tickets.asiasociety.org
11/4, 8 PM two generations of free jazz: Marty Ehrlich and his group plus the Peter Evans Quintet at Roulette, $15.
11/4, 9 PM imaginative original Turkish sounds with Ahmet Erdogdular- vocals, percussion and tanbur; Ömer Erdogdular – ney; Mavrothis Kontanis – oud at Alwan for the Arts, $20/$15 stud.
11/4, 9 PM the Wyld Old Souls at Drom, $10 adv tix highly rec. “Female fronted psychedelic folk with Indian and medieval influences.”
11/4, 9ish unstoppable, snidely amusing oldschool Williamsburg punk/garage rockers the Live Ones followed by retro stoner metal power trio the Brought Low at Union Hall, $8.
11/4, 10 PM psychedelic pop maven Damian Quinones at Fifth Estate, 506 5th Ave., Park Slope
11/4, 10 PM new country funnyman Hayes Carll at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, $16 adv tix avail. at the Mercury til 7 weekdays.
11/4, 11 PM cleverly lyrical Nashville gothic with Maynard & the Musties at Lakeside.
11/5, 8 PM young musicians from Duhok and Suleimaniya in Iraqi Kurdistan: Rebin Ali, Honar Ali, Aram Almzori, Alan Mohammed, and guest Middle Eastern guitar virtuoso Gerard Edery perform little-known traditional and classical songs and instrumental music from across the Kurdish diaspora at at Park Ave. Christian Church, 1010 Park Ave at 85th St., $20 gen adm.
11/5, 8 PM novelist and singer/composer Amit Chaudhuri’s Indian-flavored art-pop band plus Kunqu opera star Qian Yi, reenacting a segment from Slaying of the Tiger General set to music by composer/keyboardist Du Yun with Min Xiaofen (pipa), Brad Henkel (trumpet) and Theo Metz (drums) at the Asia Society, 725 Park Ave. at 70th St., free w/rsvp at tickets.asiasociety.org
11/5, 8 PM day one of the always entertaining Vital Vox Festival – which has moved to Roulette’s new digs in Brooklyn – features works for voice and keys including ‘Vor an Sicht’ by Judith Berkson; ‘Scaling’ performed by Gelsey Bell (creator of Bathroom Songs) and Paul Pinto; ‘{kaleid-o-phone}’ performed by electro-acoustic singer Dafna Naphtali.
11/5, 8 PM bassist Michael Formanek does double duty in a solo show and one with pianist Paul Kelly, flutist Michael Gentile and drummer Rob Garcia at the Brooklyn Conservatory, 58 7th Ave., Park Slope, $10
11/5, 8:30 PM a killer underground and oldschool roots reggae bill with Anthem Band backing Kool Johnny Kool, Songbird Simone, Coozie Mellers, Oshan Deya, Major Daps, followed by Rasta drummers Ancient Vibrations; the philosopher king of the reggae ballad, I-Wayne; Jamaica’s #1 1970s hitmaker, Big Youth and Dubtronic Crew, at Nazarene HS Auditorium, 475 E 57th St., (Ave. D/Clarendon Rd.), Flatlands, Brooklyn, 2/5 to Church Ave., $30 adv tix an absolute must available at Nicholas Variety, 5 E 125th St. plus Tiger’s Reggae Hut, 1092 Nostrand Ave., Brooklyn, both Topaze restaurants, plus many other locations, check the event page.
11/5, 9ish a good original bluegrass doublebill with the Whistling Wolves followed by the Third Wheel Band at Union Hall, $8
11/5 Boston’s eclectic powerpop/punk-pop/ska crew the Have Nots at the Knitting Factory.
11/6, 4 PM ambitious classical sextet An Die Musik play Mendelssohn, Mozart, and Schubert plus Aesop fables musicalized by Jerzy Sapaiyevski (but not by Rachelle Garniez?!?) at Merkin Concert Hall, $13.
11/6, 4:45 PM organist Stephen Davies plays a recital at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
11/6, 7 PM the Water Is Rising traditional music and dance collective from the Oceanic nations of Kiribati, Todelau and Tuvalu – whose existence depends on putting an end to global warming – at the Skirball Center at NYU, $25 tix avail.
11/6, 7:30 PM saxophonist Jeremy Udden’s plaintive, evocative Americana jazz group Plainville followed by lyrical pianist Danny Fox’s trio and then the similar Opsvind Jennings with trumpet, organ and drums as well at Littlefield, $10
11/6, 8 PM first-rate third-wave ska with Royal City Riot, Obi Fernandez and the Toasters at Highline Ballroom, $12 adv tix rec.
11/6, 8 PM charismatic, literate, frequently hilarious oldtimey songwriter/chanteuse Kelli Rae Powell at the Jalopy
11/6, 8 PM day two of the Vital Vox Festival at Roulette’s new digs in Brooklyn features works for vocals and strings includes ‘Wood in the Wind’ performed by Iva Bittova; Toby Twining Music (Toby Twining & Malina Rauschenfels); SoCorpo (Sasha Bogdanowitsch & Sabrina Lastman).
11/6, 8:30 PM intense tuneful female-fronted noiserock band Bugs in the Dark play the record release show for their new one Hang It on the Wall at the Mercury
11/6, 9:30 PM legendary jazz drummer Chico Hamilton celebrates his 90th birthday and new album with a show at Drom leading a sextet with Nick Demopoulos (guitar), Paul Ramsey (fender bass), Evan Schwam (saxophone, flute, piccolo), Mayu Saeki (flute, alto flute, piccolo), Jeremy Carlstedt (percussion, drums), $12 adv tix highly rec.
11/7 eerie, edgy, harmony-driven UK janglerock trio Peggy Sue at the Knitting Factory
11/7, 2 and 7:30 PM, the Jupiter Symphony players perform Mendelssohn – Konzertstück No. 1 in F Minor; Schumann – String Quartet No. 2; Chopin – Piano Concerto No. 1 at Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church, 152 W 66th St. out back of Lincoln Center, $10 tix avail.
11/7, 7:30 PM the Miro Quartet – Daniel Ching, violin; Will Fedkenheuer, violin; John Largess, viola; Joshua Gindele, cello play Haydn: String Quartet in E-flat Major, op. 33, no. 2 “The Joke;” Philip Glass: String Quartet No. 5; Brahms: String Quartet in C minor, op. 51, no. 1 at Advent/ Broadway Church, 2504 Broadway at 93rd St., free.
11/7, 8 PM Adela y Lupita sing plaintive, hypnotic, haunting classican Mexican songs from decades past at Ideya, 349 W Broadway in Soho, free
11/7, 8:30 PM Americana songwriter/banjoist Abigail Washburn at the Bell House, $15.
11/8, 7 PM great guitars with Tim Heap & Homeboy Steve Antonakos at Local 269; they’re also there on 10/28 at 7 followed by Americana chanteuse Drina Seay at 8.
11/8, 7:30 PM a Henryk Gorecki memorial concert performed by Ensemble Signal with Brad Lubman and the JACK Quartet at le Poisson Rouge, free with rsvp.
11/8 carnivalesque indie megaband Balthrop Alabama plays the release show for their latest single at Joe’s Pub, time/price TBA
11/8, 8 PM paradigm-shifting, brilliantly tuneful klezmer group Isle of Klezbos at the 6th St. Synagogue, 325 E. 6th. $15 incl. a drink
11/8, 8 PM powerful yet chillingly subtle chanteuse Melissa Fogarty with pianist Marc Peloquin perform excerpts from their new program Despite and Still at Church of Saint Luke in the Fields in the west village, free.
11/8, 9:30 PM artsy, theatrical, noir Americana indie rockers Balthrop Alabama at Joe’s Pub, $TBA
11/8 grasscore pioneers Slim Cessna’s Auto Club at the Mercury, 10 PM, $10.
11/9, 7 PM amazingly eclectic, jazzy/tangoish/darkly Russian string band Ljova & the Kontraband at the Brooklyn Public Library main branch at Grand Army Plaza, free
11/9 ghazal chanteuse Kiran Ahluwalia – who moves from desert blues to worldbeat – plays the album release show for her new one at Drom with her band, 7:30 PM, $20 adv tix rec.
11/9, 7:30/9:30 PM expansive jazz pianist Helen Sung leads a diversely talented quintet with Donny McCaslin – tenor saxophone; Yosvany Terry – alto saxophone; Dezron Douglas – bass; Obed Calvaire – drums at the Jazz Standard, $20
11/9, 8 PM the March Fourth Marching Band at the Brooklyn Bowl, $7 gen adm.
11/9, 9 PM original female-fronted dark rockabilly/surf band Catspaw at Otto’s
11/9, 9 PM jazz drummer EJ Strickland leads a quintet with his bro Marcus on saxes at Dominion opening for Wallace Roney and his combo, $15 adv tix rec
11/9, 10 PM Her Vanished Grace play “power dream pop” at Union Hall, $8
11/9, 11 PM eclectic powerhouse soul/Americana singer Bethany St. Smith & the Gun Show at Fontana’s.
11/10, 1 PM the Aaron Diehl-Dominick Farinacci jazz piano-trumpet duo at Trinity Church.
11/10, 7 PM klezmer soul guys the Michael Winograd Trio open for sizzling Albanian group Merita Halili and the Raif Hyseni Orchestra at Temple Beth Emeth, 83 Marlborough Rd (at Church St.), Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, B/Q to Church Ave., $10 gen adm., what a bargain!
11/10-13, 7:30/9:30 PM Karrin Allyson leads her quartet playing Bill Evans, Ellington, Monk and others at the Jazz Standard, $25 ($30 Fri/Sat), reserve now!
11/10, 7:30 the NY Ska Jazz Ensemble at Kenny’s Castaways, $10
11/10, 8ish first and third-generation garage rock at the Bell House with the 5-6-7-8’s, Phantom Surfers, Dexter Romweber Duo, Alarm Clocks and Gaye Blades, probably in reverse order, $25. Note that the 11/11 show with Andre Williams and the Sonics show on 11/13 are both sold out.
11/10, 8 PM smart, socially conscious Soul-funk-dub-hip hop band Thousands of One plays the record release party for their new one at SOB’s
11/10, 8:30 PM three of the smartest players in town – Ingrid Laubrock, tenor sax; Kris Davis, piano; Tyshawn Sorey, drums join forces in free improv at Cornelia St. Cafe, $10
11/10, 8:30 PM Jewish jazz with the New American Quartet at the 6th St. Synagogue, 325 E. 6th., $10
11/10, 9 PM British retro soul sensations Fitz & the Tantrums at Terminal 5, $35, all ages, adv tix available at the Mercury box ofc 5-7 PM weekdays.
11/11 8 PM a Spinal Tap tribute with some of NYC’s best at Rock Shop in Gowanus: Ward White does Big Bottom which is worth seeing all by itself
11/11, 8 PM New York’s very own hypnotic, psychedelic, competitive Balinese percussion orchestra, Gamelan Dharma Swara at le Poisson Rouge, $20 adv tix rec.
11/11, 8 PM rustic Americana with the Weal & the Woe followed by anthemic, historically aware art-rock band Pinataland at 10 at Barbes.
11/11, 8 PM Melissa Fogarty sings songs from her new album Despite and Still accompanied by pianist Marc Peloquin. The program features Samuel Barber’s little-known “Despite and Still,” set to poems by Robert Graves, Theodore Roethke and James Joyce, along with other selections from the CD. The program also includes Leonard Bernstein’s cycle “I Hate Music!,” and Tom Cipullo’s cycle “Another Reason I Don’t Keep A Gun in the House,” among others at St. Luke in the Fields, 487 Hudson St., free.
11/11, 8 PM the Jasper String Quartet plays works by Aaron Jay Kernis (a specialty at which they excel – they have an ongoing collaboration with the composer) at Church of Saint Catherine of Siena, 411 E 68th St at 1st Ave, $20/$15 stud/srs.
11/11, 8 PM charming country/folk guy/girl duo the Do-Overs at Freddy’s
11/11, 8 PM the New Amsterdam Symphony plays Bach’s Concerto for harpsichord No. 1, conducted from the piano by Guerguan Tsenov, along with Beethoven’s 5th Symphony at Symphony Space, $20.
11/11, 8:30 PM Rachelle Garniez plays the cd release show for her new one at Dixon Place, Christie (Rivington/Delancey), $18 adv tix highly rec, this will sell out.
11/11, 9 PM buzuq virtuoso Tareq Abboushi’s Shusmo – “a secret passageway that winds past all the barriers dividing Arabic maqam from down-and-dirty funk, Latin spark, and swinging jazz” and who have a fantastic new album out, at Alwan for the Arts, $20/$15 stud.
11/11, 9 PM alternately growling and lushly tuneful, sometimes ornate, sometimes minimal postrock/shoegaze band Luff play the cd release show for their intriguing new ep at Union Hall, $10 includes a copy of the ep
11/11, 9 PM darkly literate songwriter Erin Regan at Sidewalk.
11/11, 9ish irresistibly assaultive, eardrum-peeling noiserockers the Sediment Club at Goodbye Blue Monday
11/11, 10 PM Heather Flynn at Caffe Vivaldi. Dreamy, hypnotic, atmospherically melancholy, jazz-tinged songs: a sort of Mazzy Star/Bjork blend.
11/11, 10:30ish P-Funk organ genius Bernie Worrell and band at Bowery Electric, $17.
11/11, midnight, eclectic Turkish pop crooner Ege with his surprisingly edgy band at Drom, $20 adv tix highly rec., this will sell out fast.
11/12 the Losers Lounge series of cover nights devoted to a single artist can be erratic, but this one is very promising: Joe McGinty and Amy Miles leading a tribute to Kate Bush, “an original and sometimes polarizing artist” at le Poisson Rouge, 7 PM
11/12, 9 PM Black 47 at Connolly’s. They’ve been singing songs of freedom for 20+ years and now with the crowds downtown closing in on Wall Street, these amusingly literate, ecstatically anthemic, politically-charged Irish-American rockers’ time has come again. They never gave up hope and neither will you once you see them.
11/12, 9/10:30 PM bassist Michael Bates plays the record release show for his new one, “music for and by Shostakovich” with a group including Chris Speed, sax, clarinet; Russ Johnson, trumpet; Russ Lossing, piano; Tom Rainey, drums at Cornelia St. Cafe, $15
11/12, 10ish ghoulabilly with the Cryptkeeper 5 followed by noir ska/punk/swing band Tri-State Conspiracy’s cd release show at Webster Hall, $15 adv tix avail. at the Irving Plaza box ofc.
11/12, 10ish trippy atmospheric cinematically swirling synthpop band Aislyn at Union Hall, $5
11/13, 4 PM organist Larry Long plays Bach and his contemporaries incl. Böhm, Bruhns and Buxtehude at Church of the Epiphany, 1393 York Ave at 74th St, $25/$15 stud/srs/Columbia Univ staff.
11/13, 10ish dark chamber pop band Winterpills at the Mercury
11/14 intense, noirish literate rock with Randi Russo and her band at Death by Audio
11/15, 7:30/9:30 PM up-and-coming powerhouse melodic jazz: Ben Williams & Sound Effect with Marcus Strickland – tenor saxophone; Matthew Stevens – guitar; Gerald Clayton – piano; Ben Williams – bass; Jamire Williams – drums at the Jazz Standard, $20
11/15, 8 PM Klezmerfest with sax rabbi Greg Wall and klezmer drummer Aaron Alexander at 6th St. Synagogue, 325 E. 6th. Synagogue, $15 incl. a drink
11/15-20 intense, cutting edge tenor saxophonist JD Allen leads his Quartet at the Vanguard, sets 9/11 PM, $25.
11/16, 7:30 PM violinist Gil Morgenstern’s Reflections Series – this time out in a duo performance with pianist Benjamin Hochman – explores diverse sources of inspiration in classical music with a characteristically eclectic program: Bach’s Adagio from his G Minor Solo Sonata, Kurtag’s Hommage à J.S. Bach and his Perpetuum Mobile, and Bach’s Fugue from his G Minor Solo Sonata; Kurtág’s Fanfare Im Volkston (Népdalféle), Foss’ “Early Song” from Three American Pieces, Kurtág’s Carenza Jig, and Foss’ “Composer’s Holiday” from Three American Pieces; Webern’s Four Pieces for Violin and Piano, Op.7; Brahms’ Sonata No. 3 for Violin and Piano, Op. 108 in D Minor. At WMP Concert Hall, $35, these tend to sell out fast, adv tix rec
11/16, 7:30/9:30 PM a killer lineup gets together to recreate Coltrane’s Ascension album: Donny McCaslin, Sabir Mateen, Vincent Herring, Jeremy Pelt, Josh Roseman, James Weidman, Ben Allison, Matt Wilson at the Jazz Standard, $25
11/16, 8 PM a killer melodic jazz doublebill: edgy guitarist Lage Lund followed by powerhouse vibraphonist Warren Wolf & Wolfpack at the 92YTribeca, $12 adv tix rec.
11/16, 8 PM bandleader/saxophonist/pianist Travis Sullivan does double duty with his excellent jazz quartet and then leading the Bjorkestra at the Bell House, $10 adv tix highly rec.
11/16, 8:30 PM So Percussion and pianist Lisa Moore combine their talents to play the album release show for their version of Martin Bresnick’s postminimalist opus Caprichos Enfaticos at Roulette, $15
11/16, 9 PM klezmer with Kohane of Newark at the 6th St. Synagogue, 325 E. 6th. $15 incl. a drink
11/16, 10 PM Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad at Highline Ballroom, $15 adv tix rec.
11/16 oldtime country and blues with American String Conspiracy, 10 PM at Freddy’s
11/17 well-loved harmony-driven Americana trio Red Molly – whose new lineup is just as captivating as the previous one – at the big room at the Rockwood, 7:30 PM.
11/17-20 11/17 – 11/20,7:30/9:30 PM tenor sax vet George Coleman’s Organ Quintet with Russell Malone – guitar; Larry Goldings – B–3 organ; George Coleman, Jr. – drums; Daniel Sadownick – percussion at the Jazz Standard, $25/$30 Fri-Sat.
11/17, 8 PM blue eyed soul maven Don Piper and band open for Edward Rogers, who’s playing the cd release show for his absolutely killer new literate/glam/powerpop album Porcelain at the new Cutting Room, 44 E 32nd St (Park and Madison).
11/17 and also on 12/22, 8:30 PM the phenomenal, dark, majestic, explosive Ayn Sof Arkestra and Bigger Band at the 6th St. Synagogue, 325 E. 6th. $10
11/18, 7 PM pianist Nnenna Ogwo plays Bach, Chopin and Granados at Third St. Music School Settlement, free
11/18, 7:30 PM the Ekmeles vocal ensemble with Katelyn Clark on harpsichord play at First Presbyterian Church (Brooklyn Heights) 124 Henry St., 2/3 to Clark St., F/R to Jay St. or 4 to Borough Hall, $10.
11/18, 7:30 PM jazz bassoonist Daniel Smith leads a quintet featuring Sol Yaged on clarinet at the Brooklyn Conservatory, 58 7th Ave., Park Slope, $15
11/18, 8 PM eclectic psychedelic oldschool salsa band Bio Ritmo’s album release show for their new one, La Verdad at SOB’s, $10 adv tix rec.
11/18, 9:30 PM punkish rockers the Hard Nips open for lovable Japanese lo-fi legends Shonen Knife at the Bell House, $12..
11/18, 10 PM the hip-hop-inspired Pitch Blak Brass Band at Southpaw, $10.
11/19 Either/Orchestra at the New School Schimmel Auditorium on 12th St. time TBA, free, RSVP req, watch this space
11/19, 7 PM noted veteran Nuyorican percussionist Gilberto “Pulpo” Colon leads a classic style salsa band in a free show at Hostos Center for Arts and Culture, 450 Grand Concourse, Bronx, for free tickets call 718-518-6700 or go to www.hostos.cuny.edu/culturearts.
11/19, 8 PM the March Fourth Marching Band play their brass band ska-punk at the Brooklyn Bowl, $7
11/19, 8 PM guitarishly and harmonically sizzling urban Americana duo the Kennedys at First Acoustics Coffeehouse in downtown Brooklyn, $25 adv tix rec.
11/19, 8 PM melodic jazz with the Renee Rosnes Quartet (with Peter Washington on bass and Lewis Nash on drums) at the Miller Theatre, 116th/Broadway, $25.
11/19, 9/10:30 PM Mark Shim , tenor sax, wind controller; Vijay Iyer , piano, Rhodes; Carlo De Rosa, bass; Justin Brown , drums at Cornelia St. Cafe, $15.
11/19, 9 PM psychedelic Afrobeat rockers Toubab Crewe at Littlefield, $15.
11/20, 2 PM brilliant marimba player Makoto Nakura plays the world premiere of Robert Paterson’s Forest Shadows at Park Avenue United Methodist Church, 106 E 86th St, $20/$10 sts/$5 stud.
11/20, 3 PM the world-class Greenwich Village Orchestra plays a literally picturesque program: Humperdinck — Hansel and Gretel Overture; Elgar — Sea Pictures; Mussorgsky/Ravel — Pictures at an Exhibition at Washington Irving HS Auditorium, 3 PM, reception to follow, $15 sugg. don.
11/20, 3 PM, selections from Robert Paterson’s vivid, bright The Book of Goddesses performed by MAYA (John Hadfield, percussion; Bridget Kibbey, harp; Sato Moughalian, flute) at the beautiful Temple Emanu-El, Beth-El Chapel, 65th St./5th Ave., free, early arrival highly advised, this will sell out.
11/20, 4 PM the Clarion Society under the direction of Steven Fox sing “sacred music for secret services” and madrigals by Renaissance Jewish-Italian composer Salamone Rossi at Shearith Israel, 8 W. 70th St, $25/$15 stud/srs/Columbia Univ staff
11/20, 8 PM Anaïs Mitchell’s surreal, darkly edgy musical Hadestown with Michael Chorney and the Hadestown Orchestra at le Poisson Rouge, $15 adv tix rec.
11/20, 8 PM Bulgarian gypsy music saxophone titan Yuri Yunakov and band celebrate his new status as the first Romani to receive a NEA fellowship at Drom, $10 adv tix rec.
11/20, 8:30ish smart, politically aware, tuneful “metrobilly” oldtime style country band band 2/3 Goat play the album release show for their new one Stream of Conscience at Bowery Electric. They’re taking a tough stand against the mountaintop clearcut mining that’s destroying the Appalachians
11/21, 2 and 7:30 PM, the Jupiter Symphony players perform Frohlich – Serenade in D Major; Clara Schumann – 3 Romances; Kirchner – Piano Quartet in C minor; Brahms – String Quintet No. 1 at Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church, 152 W 66th St. out back of Lincoln Center, $10 tix avail.
11/21, 5-9 PM a symposium on the future of Romani/gypsy music and culture led by Univ. of Oregon prof. Carol Silverman – author of the new Romani Routes: Cultural Politics and Balkan Music in Diaspora – at NYU’s Silver Center Room 220, 24 Waverly Place (corner with University Place/Washington Square East, 2 blocks West of Broadway) concluding with a concert by Raklorom along with dance, music and spoken word performances by Papusha Nikolai, Yani Nikolai and Helena Safarova, free and open to the public
11/22, 1 PM gypsy guitar jazz paradigm-shifter Stephane Wrembel at Trinity Church, free.
11/22, 7 PM mesmerizing, frequently haunting ambient Middle Eastern and Asian-flavored chillout soundscapes with chanteuse Azam Ali at CUNY’s Elebash Hall, 365 5th Ave.,
11/22-23 and 11/25-27 the perennially tuneful Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra at the Jazz Standard, sets 7:30/9:30 PM, $35
11/22, 8 PM klezmer pianist Pete Sokolow at 6th St. Synagogue, 325 E. 6th. Synagogue, $15 incl. a drink
11/22, 8 PM, free, the Mannes Orchestra plays Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, Ben Ringer conducting, and Prokofiev’s Suite No. 1 from Romeo and Juliet, Ester Yoon conducting, at Symphony Space.
11/22, 8:30 PM Taksim feat. Souren Baronian, sax, clarinet, duduk, kavai; Haig Manoukian , oud; Lee Baronian , daruka, percussion; Mal Stein , drums; Sprocket Royer, bass play Middle Eastern/Armenian-tinged jazz at Cornelia St. Cafe, $10
11/22-27 cutting-edge melodic piano jazz with the Gerald Clayton Trio at the Vanguard, sets 9/11 PM, $25
11/22, 9 PM AA Bondy at Bowery Ballroom, $15.
11/22, 9 PM oldschool Brooklyn hardcore hip-hop with Mobb Deep at B.B. King’s
11/23 unstoppable Irish party band Shilelagh Law record a live album at Connolly’s, 9 PM. Good grief. A good thing because none of the drunks will remember the show.
11/23, 9 PM Israeli surf/stoner metal guitarist Eyal Maoz and band at the 6th St. Synagogue, 325 E. 6th. $15 incl. a drink.
11/23, 11 PM a late one at B.B. King’s – golden age hip-hop with Black Rob, Black Sheep, Special Ed, Black Moon, Ghostface Killah and EPMD
11/25, 8 PM entertaining melodic jazz crew Dead Cat Bounce play the cd release to their characteristically fun, devious new album Chance Episodes at the Stone, $10.
11/26, 6:30 PM tuneful, brilliantly and often hilariously lyric-driven rock/powerpop songwriter Walter Ego at Otto’s. Like a more Beatlesque, considerably more venomous and funnier version of the New Pornographers’ Carl Newman.
11/26 Nellie McKay’s surreal, subtly twisted “musical death row revue” I Want to Live! about the execution of Barbara Graham, the third woman to die in the gas chamber at San Quentin (and who may have been innocent) at Hiro Ballroom, time/$TBA
11/29 the latest Malian desert blues guitar sensation, Bombino plays le Poisson Rouge, time/$ tba
11/29, 8 PM intense reedman Matt Darriau’s Shabbes Elevator – this must be his sloooooooooow songs project – at 6th St. Synagogue, 325 E. 6th. Synagogue, $15 incl. a drink
11/29-12/4 well-respected bassist Christian McBride & Insight Straight at the Vanguard, sets 9/11 PM, $25
11/30, 8 PM Basya Schechter’s Songs of Wonder – which sets the powerful, philosophical, socially aware poetry of civil rights era Rabbi Abraham Heschel to the Divahn frontwoman’s edgy Middle Eastern tinged music – at Highline Ballroom, $12 adv tix rec.
11/30, 9 PM jazz rabbi Greg Wall’s Later Prophets at 6th St. Synagogue, 325 E. 6th. Synagogue, $15 incl. a drink
12/1, 7:30 PM brilliantly tuneful and lyrical acoustic songwriter Carolann Solebello (ex-Red Molly) at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 81 Christopher St, $15.
12/4, 2 PM harpist Bridget Kibbey and violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins play music by Sebastian Currier, Piazzolla and Saint-Saëns, and unveil a new duo by Jeffrey Mumford at Church of Saint Catherine of Siena, 411 E 68th St at 1st Ave, $20/$15 stud/srs.
12/4, 2 PM young avant garde ensemble Face the Music play a program TBA at PS 69Q, 7702 37th Ave., Jackson Heights, Queens, $15.
12/4, 7 PM technically dazzling indie classical ensemble YMusic plays the record release show for their new one Beautiful Mechanical at the big room at the Rockwood
12/5, 2 and 7:30 PM, the Jupiter Symphony players perform a program of obscure French Romantic treats: Reicha – Wind Quintet in E minor; Farrenc – Quintet No. 1 in A minor; Saint-Saens – Piano Quartet in Bb Major at Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church, 152 W 66th St. out back of Lincoln Center, $10 tix avail.
12/6, 8 PM the Michael Winograd Trio at 6th St. Synagogue, 325 E. 6th. Synagogue, $15 incl. a drink
12/6-7, 9 PM Sharon Jones at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, $25 adv tix avail. 10/7 at the Mercury til 7 weekdays, both nights will probably sell out.
12/7, 9:30 PM a smart, imaginative southwestern rock doublebill: Ani Cordero opens for Giant Sand’s Howe Gelb at Littlefield, $20
12/8, 7:30 PM Nicole Atkins and band at Symphony Space, $30 includes a glass of wine
12/9, 7:30 PM composers Molly Thompson and Lukas Ligeti and supporting cast TBA at First Presbyterian Church (Brooklyn Heights) 124 Henry St., 2/3 to Clark St., F/R to Jay St. or 4 to Borough Hall, $10.
12/9, 8 PM John Zorn gets one of those Miller Theatre “composer portraits,” with an absurdly good cast of classical and Stone types – cellist Fred Sherry, violinist Jennifer Koh, drummer Kenny Wollesen, pianist Stephen Gosling, the Talea Ensemble and others playing a bill of world premieres, 116th St/Bwy., $25.
12/12, 7:30 PM the Brentano Quartet play an amazing program of old and newer classics with Schubert: Quartettsatz; Haydn: String Quartet, op. 103; Louis Andriessen: …miserere…; Debussy; String Quartet at Music Mondays at Advent/ Broadway Church, 2504 Broadway at 93rd St., free
12/13, 8 PM pianist Christian Zacharias plays C. P. E. Bach’s Sonata in A Minor and his Rondo in C Minor; Brahms’ Klavierstücke, Op. 119; Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat Major, Op. 110; and Schubert’s Piano Sonata in D Major, D. 850 at Carnegie Hall, $15.50 seats avail.
12/13, 8 PM klezmer with Joanne Borts at 6th St. Synagogue, 325 E. 6th. Synagogue, $15 incl. a drink.
12/14, 9 PM dark, cinematic, gypsyish instrumental band Barbez at 6th St. Synagogue, 325 E. 6th. Synagogue, $15 incl. a drink. Their Paul Celan homage album from last year is off the hook.
12/15-16, 8:30 PM in the wake of the premiere of the monumental civil rights opus Ten Freedom Summers, a Wadada Leo Smith 70th bday celebration at Roulette with a phenomenal bunch of global talent: 12/15 with String Quartet Plus, Mbira with pipa virtuoso Min Xiao-fen and his Golden Quartet; 12/16 with his Silver Orchestra, Golden Quintet and Organic.
12/16, 7 PM Alan Gilbert conducts the NY Philharmonic playing Alexandre Lunsqui: Fibres, Yarn, and Fabric (world premiere); Magnus Lindberg: Gran Duo; HK Gruber: Frankenstein! at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, $35 adv tix rec. The program repeats on 12/17 at 8 at Symphony Space, $21 adv tix rec.
12/17, 8 PM Talea Ensemble plays microtonal works from over the decades by Ivan Wyschnegradsky, Dean Drummond, Enno Poppe, Toby Twining, Tristan Murail and Anthony Cheung at Merkin Concert Hall, $10.
12/18, 4 PM wildly popular Renaissance choir Stile Antico at Corpus Cristi Church, 59 W 121st St., $27.50 tix avail. but this is selling out fast.
12/18, 7 PM eclectic, hypnotically intense, lushly Romantic songwriter Jenifer Jackson plays the cd release show for The Day Happiness Found Me at the Rockwood with Jason Mercer on bass and Matt Kanelos on piano.
12/20, 8 PM a klezmer doublebill with Yale Strom’s Hot Pstromi and Aaron Alexander’s Midrash Mish Mosh at 6th St. Synagogue, 325 E. 6th. Synagogue, $15 incl. a drink
12/21 it’s Make Music Winter. Inspired by Phil Kline’s famous Gulf War-era interactive antiwar composition Unsilent Night, the Make Music NY organizers are working to schedule another citywide day/night of interesting, free live music. Pure genius. Watch this space for updates.
12/21, 9 PM a classic lineup from the Tonic era: Ned Rothenberg solo plus Marty Ehrlich and Hankus Netsky at 6th St. Synagogue, 325 E. 6th. Synagogue, $15 incl. a drink
12/22, 8:30 PM eclectic composer/viola virtuoso Ljova Zhurbin plays on a cinematic bill featuring amazing gypsy band Romashka and guests at the Lincoln Center Atrium, free but early arrival a must.
New Years Eve Black 47 at Connolly’s, 9ish.
Winter Jazzfest is coming up in January: too many acts to list, stay on top of it with the organizers’ constantly updated calendar!
1/9/12 Lunasa, Les Chauds Lapins and the Klezmatics at Highline Ballroom
2/9/12 Anthony B at B.B. King’s
2/18-19/12 this year’s Music from Japan festival at Merkin Concert Hall features an eclectic mix of new works by Japanese composers and a special dedication to the areas rendered uninhabitable by the Fukushima holocaust.
New York Music Daily 