Sunday, January 04, 2009

Upcoming January: Live Music...JACKPOT!!

Wow, OK, the New Year is bringing some promising musical tidings. Some of this is the result of the annual Association of Professional Arts Presenters (APAP) conference which results in a deluge of arts bookers from around the US, and sometimes other countries as well, descending on NYC to check out various musicians playing their hearts out (and butts off) in specially arranged showcases at various venues across the city. If between January 9-13, you notice your favorite hot spot having a greater number of different shows in an evening, then you know they're probably hosting a showcase. The show may be shorter, but it'll be one hot show as artists work to seduce audiences and bookers alike--hopefully securing a number of advance engagements and allowing for a less tenuous economic picture for the upcoming year.

So get out there and support artists you admire and love! Show that love to the bookers so those artists can keep working.

A few showcases of interest are happening the same night (JazzFest & Mondo Music Fest--what happened there??), but not everyone is playing at the same time:

• Friday, January 9, 2008 •
Export NOLA @ Sullivan Hall
8pm Paul Sanchez, John Boutte & Leroy Jones
9:20pm Jonathan Batiste Trio
10:40pm Christian Scott Quintet 11:40pm Big Sam's Funky Nation* (bandleader Big Sam Williams pictured right, courtesy Monstersandcritics.com)
Followed By A Late Night NOLA Jam!
Sullivan Hall
214 Sullivan Street (between Bleeker & W. 3rd St.)
Evening starts @ 8pm
Tix $18

*Noted music writer/musician Ned Sublette just gave BSFN's new release Peace, Love & Understanding a rave (but don't expect any Elvis Costello covers on the CD).

•••
• Saturday, January 10 •

• MONDO MUSIC FESTIVAL •
Melvin Gibbs' Elevated Entity (w/ John Medeski, Vernon Reid and Amayo of Antibalas)
The amazing bassist/composer Melvin Gibbs (Harriet Tubman, Rollins Band, Sonny Sharrock, etc.; pictured right playing with Cindy Blackman and Jean-Paul Bourelly ©Dargan Tasic) plays with his group as part of the Mondo/Mundo Music Festival presented by Highline Presents (a project of the Highline Ballroom) at the Hiro Ballroom. The festival line-up includes:

Groupo Fantasma
Melvin Gibbs' Elevated Entity
Nation Beat
SoCalled

Hiro Ballroom at the Maritime Hotel
371 W 16 St.
New York, NY 10011
A, C, E, and L lines
Doors open @ 7pm Bands go on @ 8pm, 9pm, 10pm, 11pm (order TBD)
Tix $17 in advance, $20 day of the show

• 2009 NYC WINTER JAZZ FEST •
For complete info go to the JazzFest site.
$25 Winter JazzFest pass
$45 THE WATTS PROJECT + Winter JazzFest pass (pictured right, Jeff "Tain" Watts, photo ©R.Cifarelli©phocus)

Here's the schedule in brief:

(Le) Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker Street (btwn Sullivan & Thompson)
6p: Claudia Acuña
7p: Gary Bartz-Ommas Keith Project (Jill Newman Productions)
8p: Jason Moran's Bandwagon

9p: Dafnis Prieto Sextet

10p: Don Byron Ivey-Divey Trio

12:00am The Watts Project
feat. Jeff 'Tain' Watts, Terence
Blachard, Christian McBride, Prometheus Jenkins



Sullivan Hall, 214 Sullivan (between Bleecker & W. 3rd St.)
7:20pmTheo Bleckmann 'Berlin-Las Vegas'
w/ Todd Reynolds String Quartet

8:20pm
Jonathan Batiste Trio
9:20pm
Toshi Reagon & BIGLovely (pictured right)
10:20pm
Marco Benevento Trio
11:20pm Will Calhoun Native Land ExperienceGroup
12:20am
Robert Glasper Trio
1:20am
Sarah Morrow 'Elektric Air'
2:00am
Aaron Parks


Kenny's Castaways, 157 Bleecker Street (between Sullivan & Thompson): 6:30pm-3am
6:40pm Ayelet Rose Gottlieb
7:40pm By Any Means
8:40pm Sex Mob plays Sexotica
9:40pm Lafayette Gilchrist
10:40pm Tar Baby
11:40pm Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey
12:40pm Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber**
1:40am Taylor Ho Bynum Positive Catastrophe

**This should be a great show. The line-up includes: Jared Michael Nickerson: electric bass, Karma Mayet Johnson: vocals, Moist Paula Henderson: baritone sax, Will Martina: cello, Ben Tyree: guitar, Greg Tate: conduction, among a host of stellar performers. (pictured right, Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber)
•••

• Sunday, January 11th, 2009 •
Export NOLA @ Sullivan Hall
8pm Kirk Joseph's Backyard Groove feat. Big Chief Monk Boudreaux
9pm DJ Soul Sister
9:50pm
Christian Scott Quintet
11pm Big Sam's Funky Nation @
Meet-And-Greet
with New Orleans Treats
(Gumbo, Hubig's Pies, Pralines, and more!)
w/ DJ Soul Sister Spinning - 7pm


Sullivan Hall
214 Sullivan Street (between Bleeker & W. 3rd St.)
Evening starts @ 7pm
Tix $15
•••

• Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 •
Yes, INAUGURATION DAY, and for those not traveling to Washington, D.C. (Le) Poisson Rouge is hosting:
The Inauguration Concert
featuring:
Apollo Heights
24-7 Spyz
HR (of Bad Brains)
(perhaps this booking is an acknowledgement of Rob Field's February 2007 assertion: "Barack Obama is Black Rock"?

(Le) Poisson Rouge
158 Bleecker (btwn Sullivan & Thomson)
Doors open @ 7:30pm, show @ 8pm
Tix $15
•••

And if all that black rock retro-to-the-future nostalgia isn't enough for you, here's some more, also at (Le) Poisson Rouge:

• Saturday, January 24, 2009 •
ESG (aka "the legenday South Bronx Scroggin Sisters no wave, post-punk, hip-hop beat goldmine band" pictured right, photo courtesy Soul Jazz Records)
(Le) Poisson Rouge
158 Bleecker (btwn Sullivan & Thomson)
Show @ 10pm
Tix $20

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