NYS Music 20​16

Author: Mike Bohuski

  • Jane’s Addiction Partner with Dinosaur Jr at the Capitol Theatre

    Alt-rock founding fathers Janes’ Addiction’s Sterling Spoon Tour is celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversaries of both the band’s sophomore studio LP Ritual de lo Habitual and Lollapalooza, the eclectic festival co-owned and directed by Jane’s frontman Perry Farrell. The tour will stop at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester on Sunday, July 17, with support from jangle-noise rockers Dinosaur Jr. The appearance will constitute the third consecutive night of NYC-metro area performances, following on the heels of tour stops at Coney Island and Asbury Park, NJ.

    Playing in or near New York City is always a sort of homecoming for Perry Farrell, who left his hometown of Queens after high school to pursue dreams of surfing the California coast. The band’s only live album aside from their 1987 self-titled debut was recorded in NYC in 2013.

    Jane’s and Dinosaur Jr both hail from the broad mid-80s world of independent, do-it-yourself music, but they represent opposite coasts and distinct stylistic leanings. Jane’s Addiction blazed a trail by combining heavy metal and post-punk sensibilities into an art-rock fusion music that retained its integrity even after being picked up by a major label. Dinosaur Jr made a name for themselves as the first notable indie band to infuse their songs with soaring guitar solos reminiscent of the seventies rock music that the punk movement had rebelled against. Thirty-plus years on from their formation, this pairing of bands offers audiences a chance to see two highly influential acts who are alike in having historically had difficulty staying together over the course of their respective careers but have recently been enjoying periods of stability and creative fruitfulness.

    The string of eight shows that Dino Jr is set to play with Jane’s Addiction comes just weeks in advance of the August 8 release of their eleventh studio album Give a Glimpse of What Yer Not. See Dinosaur Jr playing “Tiny” from the forthcoming album on The Late Show with Jools Holland:

    [embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwJN6Ac-dcE[/embedyt]

    See live video of Jane’s Addiction’s jammed out masterpiece “Three Days” from Ritual performed last month in London:

    [embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G0ZzaBadZU[/embedyt]

    The Capitol Theatre, famous as a venue for classic rock acts and performers who follow closely in their footsteps, is an apt place for Jane’s Addiction and Dinosaur Jr to prove that they too are part of the unified history of rock and roll.

  • Del the Funky Homosapien ‘Iller Than Most’ Tour Stops in Brooklyn

    Del the Funky Homosapien inhabits a world of his own. It’s a world in which George Clinton occupies a role like that of a creator-god and Del with the rest of the Hieroglyphics crew are on a mission to ensure that the forces of funk win over the forces of non-funk in a never-ending cosmic saga.

    Del the Funky HomosapienLuckily for the race of Homosapiens on Earth, Del’s world is accessible to us through his records and live shows. Three years after rebooting the futurist hip-hop group Deltron 3030, Del continues to perform occasionally with that group as well as on his own, performing original music stretching back to 25 years of underground emceeing.

    Del’s music is compellingly original. The rapper-producer has admitted in interviews that he listens to very little new music and spends his time working on his own. The result: an unheard of lyrical flow tightly woven over self-produced tracks; it’s a veritable rhythmic tour de force. To be in the presence of such a funky person is humbling. Del fans are dedicated and hang on every cadence that issues forth from the stage at his shows. The opportunity to be among them should not be considered lightly.

    Del the Funky Homosapien will manifest his far-out rhyming for one night only at the Brooklyn Bowl on May 7. DJ Shiftee and Sean Anonymous will kick off the show at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are available online through the venue’s website.

  • The New Mastersounds Return to Brooklyn Bowl

    The New Mastersounds’ extensive U.S. tour is under way with the first of three concerts at the Brooklyn Bowl on Thursday, coming after a quick appearance at Wannee Festival. Opening a three-night residency on a Thursday gave fans a unique opportunity to see a band deliver a compelling show to a small weeknight crowd while also gearing up for the rest of a big weekend. The jazz-funk quartet from Leeds, UK, was supported by Brooklyn’s own Moon Hooch.tkenna_newmastersounds_bkbowl_35

    Moon Hooch put on an opening performance that was brimming with creativity and authenticity. Their music is a sort of new wave-influenced EDM brought to life with an arsenal of carefully selected acoustic and electronic instruments. The HN3A8280compositions are rooted in tight dance rhythms precisely metered out by drummer James Muschler. Mike Wilbur’s saxophone melodies typically take the lead while Wenzl McGowen produces womping bass lines using anything from a contrabass clarinet to a baritone sax to a woodwind MIDI controller. Song arrangements did vary in surprising ways, though, such as when
    Muschler sat down on the floor of the stage to provide some excellent tabla playing or when Wilbur delivered a dope rap verse. All three members of the trio proved themselves to be versatile and cleverly skilled. Moon Hooch’s set had a spiritual undertone throughout, made explicit at times by slowed down samples of Alan Watts and McGowen’s closing remarks about imaginal cells, which turn caterpillars into butterflies.

    The New Mastersounds kicked off their set with characteristic pep and never slowed down for a second. Their brand of bouncy, uptempo jazz riffing was infectious and immutable. Drummer Simon Allen propelled the band with giddy enthusiasm. Bassist Pete Shand was an endless fountain of rhythmic momentum and complex harmony. Some of the most ebullient soloing came from keyboardist Joe Tatton’s organ. Guitarist and bandleader Eddie Roberts defined the character of each tune with a steady cascade of jazz-funk techniques. The set consisted pretty much entirely of cheery, major key groovers. Whatever it may have lacked in emotional range, it more than made up for in intensity. The buzz that the band created was one of pure joy and vigor. Even as the Thursday night crowd began to thin towards the end of the performance, the remaining audience was huddled in front of the stage, soaking in every moment of what came to feel like a very intimate musical experience. The band seemed to be projecting a humble appreciation for the setting and to be gearing up for the remaining shows on Friday and Saturday. These weekend shows are likely to see larger turnout and even more fiery performances from The New Mastersounds.

  • The New Mastersounds to Headline 3-Night Weekend at Brooklyn Bowl

    The New Mastersounds have a simple mission: create and share an ebullient energy with a receptive audience. They’ve been accomplishing this swimmingly with their bouncy, funky instrumental grooves for a decade. New York City will have its chance to get down New Mastersounds-style for three consecutive nights at Brooklyn Bowl on April 14-16.

    In the UK where there are no John Scofields or Galactics to create a rich jazz-funk jam tapestry, The New Mastersounds started out as a band filling that void with free reign. Nowadays they run widely in the US festival circuit and collaborate with Mike Dillon, Grace Potter, Maceo Parker and Art Neville. Their music is fast and relentlessly euphoric.

    The Saturday date at Brooklyn Bowl will also include an afternoon family show for all ages beginning at noon, in addition to the show that evening. The matinee appearance has become a tradition for the band over their last two appearances in Brooklyn. The New Mastersounds first appeared at the Bowl in 2010, and three-night runs have occurred there at least once yearly since 2013. New York funk fans are doubtless hungry to have them back.

    Brooklyn’s own Moon Hooch will support The New Mastersounds on Thursday, April 14. Their primitive dance music played in sax-sax-drums power trio format is sophisticated and provocative. In a league with other contemporary artists who blur the line between live acoustic performance and sleek electronica production, Moon Hooch have an unprecedented sound and an attitude that’s always carrying them into new musical territory. Aficionados will want to be there at 8 PM when they get the party started at Brooklyn Bowl, kicking off a three-night weekend with The New Mastersounds.

  • Joe Russo’s Almost Dead Keeps Brooklyn Bowl Buzzing

    To an interloper who missed opening night, witnessing Joe Russo’s Almost Dead at Brooklyn Bowl on Friday, March 25, could have been a bit like waking up on top of Mount Everest without knowing how you got there. Usually concertgoers stay alert for the peak moments of concerts that become precious memories. Night two of this sold-out three-night run felt like one big peak of something larger.

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    As a general rule JRAD plays Grateful Dead songs with all the force of a careening steam engine about to jump the tracks. On this night the band proved that they don’t even require a recognizable song structure to reach that energy level, as the opening improvisation dialed right in to the crowd-animating zeal cooked up the previous night.

    Perfectly in line with the band’s signature ability to tear the Dead’s material away from its original context and invigorate it with original spirit, a five-piece horn section appeared at the start of “Hard To Handle” to add unprecedented texture and heat to the tune. Having set the tone for a night of “big band” Dead music, the dynamic of the Otis Redding-cover opener was balanced out with more Garcia flavor in “Franklin’s Tower”. “Feel Like A Stranger” took an abrupt dive into a spacey, bass-driven groove that quickly became the foundation of a jazz piano exposé by Marco Benevento. A spicy hot trumpet solo was a highlight of “Help On The Way,” which gave way to a particularly outlandish and adventurous “Slipknot!” A very carefully executed transition brought “Althea” to the fore in place of “Franklin’s,” which had already appeared in inverted position earlier in the set.

    JRAD really showed Brooklyn Bowl what they’ve got as an original musical collective in the ensuing extended group improvisation, which called to mind Bitches Brew-era Miles Davis and was shaped by contributions from all band members. Lightning-fast fingerwork from Scott Metzger and trippy guitar skwonking by Tom Hamilton finally coalesced into an incredible whirlwind of a set-closing “The Other One”.

    The second set began with a pair of punchy rockers, the mid-’60s novelty “Cream Puff War” kicking things off and “I Need A Miracle” regaining that steamrolling momentum established in set one. The gentle majesty of “Lady With A Fan,” embellished on this evening by beautiful flute parts, asserted itself at this juncture. The presence of the horn section recalled the orchestral flourishes on the studio recording of “Terrapin Station,” but the arrangement was something new and in harmony with JRAD’s high-intensity approach to this anthemic song. The cathartic, celebratory mood prevailing at this point was given some funky motive force with “Dancing in the Street”. A full-throttle “Cumberland Blues” brought the set to an end. A “Sugar Magnolia” encore inspired both daydreaming about springtime sunshine and anticipation of the third and final show to come.

    The middle night of this Brooklyn Bowl run was notable for its expansive variety of soloists, with members of the guest horn section frequently stepping into the spotlight. Dueling exchanges of riffs between JRAD members heightened the ferocity of certain jams. Russo seemed determined to bolster every one of his nine fellow musicians onstage with muscular and relentless drumming, often accompanied by ecstatic facial expressions. The audience responded approvingly, to say the least, to this group as it payed homage to a legendary band with both humor and finesse. After an opening night featuring cover song debuts from outside the Grateful Dead repertoire and a follow-up show embellished with brass, it’s anybody’s guess what’s in store for round three.

    Setlist:
    Set 1: Hard To Handle > Franklin’s Tower > Feel Like A Stranger > Help On The Way > Slipknot! > Althea > The Other One
    Set 2: Cream Puff War > I Need A Miracle > Terrapin Station > Dancing in the Street > Cumberland Blues
    Encore: Sugar Magnolia

  • Joe Russo’s Almost Dead Freaks Ball XVI at Brooklyn Bowl

    49-atlgJoe Russo’s Almost Dead will kick off three sold-out nights at The Brooklyn Bowl on Thursday, March 24 for Freaks Ball XVI. This constitutes the band’s fourth run of shows at the venue where the world first heard former Furthur drummer Russo lead a new cast of characters through two raging sets of Dead tunes back in January 2013. Tom Hamilton (American Babies), Marco Benevento (The Benevento/Russo Duo), Scott Metzger (WOLF!) and Dave Dreiwitz (Ween) complete the quintet.

    JRAD is a band that is as unpredictable as it is unforgettable. The band’s Facebook profile contains the deceptively simple proclamation, “We’re a Grateful Dead cover band.” Anyone who has seen them or even heard a recording knows that their true nature is that of a daring group of close collaborators who project their musical friendship onto the Grateful Dead songbook in a way that no other band has. Their carefully crafted setlists defy expectations about how the songs can be interpreted and linked. As the frequency of their appearances in the live music world has increased over the past two years, JRAD has consistently delivered fresh, stellar performances of this music that means so much to so many people.

    These Brooklyn gigs are sure to be precious as JRAD performances become somewhat more rare going forward in 2016. All five band members are incredibly busy with diverse projects, and as Russo has revealed in a recent interview, he will be taking extra time off mid-year when his first child arrives. Those with tickets will be privileged to see Joe Russo’s Almost Dead lay it down at The Brooklyn Bowl this weekend.

  • Sister Sparrow Celebrates Live Album Release in Brooklyn

    Friday nights at the Brooklyn Bowl typically carry a heightened sense of expectation for a combination of sights and sounds that so reliably induce ecstasy. And the New York City-based funky soul-rock ensemble Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds made Friday, March 4, one to remember.

    arleigh jackson 2

    The early crowd was welcomed onto the dance floor by the Suitcase Junket, a one-man band performing original songs on a junkyard guitar and an arrangement of foot-operated percussion instruments, including a circular saw blade. The dedication that went into perfecting such rich and yet simple instrumentation rang through clear, and the set ended with strong crowd participation on the refrain of “Wherever I Wake Up.”

    Follow-up act Wild Adriatic could perhaps be likened to Upstate New York’s version of the Black Keys. Their musical territory, that of the hard-rock trio, is well trodden, but they inhabit it with purity of intention, as if there is no one to compete with. Frontman Travis Gray led the band through a set of speaker-frying blues and pop-rock driven by big, hot riffs and punctuated with psychedelic solos that shone with the emotion of personal soliloquies. Rich Derbyshire’s boxing-glove basslines bounced and jabbed all over drummer Maceo Vosganian’s pounding beats. Gray expressed thanks to the headliner and acknowledged Sister Sparrow’s common upstate heritage, giving a sense of cohesion and solidarity to the evening’s lineup.

    arleigh 2

    The Dirty Birds began to unleash something fierce with their uptempo opener “We Need A Love.” From the get-go, the band projected a swagger that spoke of power, growth and change. In the most mundane sense, the band has changed its personnel with the recent addition of drummer Dan Boyden and the departure of founding trombonist Ryan Snow. But Sister Sparrow and her crew are evolving in a more profound sense that is impeccably documented on the live double-LP Fowl Play and showcased unadulterated at this Brooklyn Bowl gig, which also functioned as the release party for the aforementioned album. The past two years have seen this band undertake an exercise in the live recreation of a classic rock masterpiece (Led Zeppelin’s IV performed at Irving Plaza in January 2014) and a cycle of songwriting that resulted in their third studio effort The Weather Below, released last year, plus more songs debuted live since that release. The focus now seems to be on upping the ante in the live sphere. Hence the decision to drop a live disc at this juncture.

    The experience at Brooklyn Bowl last Friday night must have been similar in terms of energy and execution to the Fairfield, CT, New Year’s Eve shows that were captured on Fowl Play just two months ago. At the Bowl, the Birds were dishing out cuts from their latest studio record, playing other newer songs to boot, and sounding more musically in command of their older material than ever. Elements of improvisation hitherto unseen from this band were present throughout the handful of tunes that have been in heavy rotation over the past few years. In staples like “Don’t Be Jealous,” “Sugar” and “Mama Knows,” songwriter and vocalist Arleigh Kincheloe impressively varied the melodic inflections and rhythmic delivery of her compositions; she added an unprecedented new layer of nuanced personal expression to these tunes, which already resonate as autobiographical and sincerely heartfelt. Also present were new extended passages showcasing the band’s instrumental soloists and pushing the songs to the 10-minute mark.

    If you have ever been excited about Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds in the past (and many New Yorkers rightfully have been by now), now is the time to get even more excited. Ever the relentless touring band, the Sparrow and crew will make their way across the country between now and mid-April, delivering refined rock prowess to their loyal party fowl and hopefully reaching new ears at every show.

  • Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds Returning to Brooklyn Bowl

    Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds make you feel like you’ve stumbled upon the real deal. Like eight vibrant, youthful individuals arrayed across the stage who would be your friends if they only knew your name, but in lieu of that, simply pour their hearts out musically just to see you smile. Almost a year to the day since their last appearance at Brooklyn Bowl, vocalist Arleigh Kincheloe and crew will once again be giving New Yorkers something to shake their tail feathers to on Saturday, March 4. Following recent appearances around Colorado, this Brooklyn gig lies just after the start of a 9-date East Coast tour running through the month of March.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJcFr4Vygeo

    The Dirty Birds are a soul-blues-gospel-rock band supporting a singer-songwriter vocal powerhouse whose songs ride the line between inwardly self-aware and personal and outwardly party oriented. The band’s current LP, The Weather Below, released last year, was recorded at the famous Bear Creek Studio near Seattle with producer Ryan Hadlock (Brandi Carlile, The Lumineers), who brought Kincheloe’s latest material to life with the greatest feeling of directness and transparency thus far achieved on any Dirty Birds recording. Several of the songs on this album are autobiographical in terms of Kincheloe and her band and have been staples of their live sets in recent years.

    Attendees of this show can expect to see ebullient original horn arrangements and soloing, the electronically processed harmonica virtuosity of Jackson Kincheloe, potential covers of Michael Jackson and Led Zeppelin or the like and a whole lot of original rock music in a range of styles and moods generally catered to the dance floor.

    Albany-based power trio Wild Adriatic and one-man gritty blues band The Suitcase Junket will open the show. Doors open at 6 pm and the music starts at 8 pm.

  • Catey Shaw Ends Tour at Knitting Factory

    For those hardy enough to brace for the biting cold wind blowing through the streets and alleys of Brooklyn on Saturday February 13, the Knitting Factory was one haven where one could duck in and enjoy some quality homegrown live music in an intimate atmosphere. Locally based rising pop star Catey Shaw was the headlining entertainer, but openers Gillian and Memoryy were just as much a part of the experience for anyone present early enough to catch them.

    Gillian is a band that sounds like it came together as the result of getting just the right alt-rock junkies with just the right record collections together at just the right time in just the right place. They unabashedly own the stage, the band members emphatically traversing in every direction while projecting their tight and polished riff and vocal hook driven pop rock to an attentive audience. Despite all this confidence and cohesion, they don’t come across as trying to be anything more than what they are: a Brooklyn band well worth seeing. Over the course of their 45-minute set, Gillian demonstrated impressive versatility, nimbly navigating tempo changes and dynamic shifts and integrating a guest two-piece horn section into their lineup. The switching off between male and female lead vocals and use of rough-and-ready harmonies kept one guessing at just where this band draws its inspiration but indicated that these fun loving musicians are more than schooled in rock and roll history and infused with the spirit of the same. Gillian’s primary goal in performing music seems to be to have a great time. Warming up the Knitting Factory stage on Saturday, they took several dozen folks along for the ride and set the tone for an engaging evening of rocking and dancing, holed up out of the cold in this cozy little hole-in-the-wall club.

    Next up the curly haired synth-pop maestro Shaun Hettinger, a.k.a. Memoryy, stepped onstage with his 5-piece band. Hettinger’s unassuming demeanor and almost self-deprecating nonchalance as he introduced his band and bantered throughout their set may have allowed one to overlook his understated passion for warm electronic pop if one wasn’t paying close attention. A sense of ’80s nostalgia pervaded Memoryy’s music, but there was also kid-in-a-candy-shop innocence and the plainly personal sentimentality of a 21st century workaday musician who hasn’t been able to help writing songs as a reflexive habit since childhood. Working in his preferred medium with a band he put together years ago under another name and just now reassembled for the first time in a while, Hettinger could barely contain his passion for this project enough to keep his fingers in contact with the keys as his body jerked about in much the same way as some of his more enthusiastic fans on the floor. This particular Memoryy set had an added layer of significance as it marked Hettinger’s final performance as a Brooklyn resident, and he made sure to point out just how special it felt to be playing again with the same four guys he first played with in New York City. The packed room showed Memoryy a lot of love.

    At 11 PM the lights dimmed for the third time, and a trio of clean-cut fellows clad in mod suits ambled on to the stage. After situating themselves behind instruments and striking up a punchy rhythm, Catey Shaw appeared at the back corner of the stage dressed for the weather in a full-length off-white fur coat. Shuffling up to the microphone without much pomp, it was clear from the get-go where the artist wanted the audience’s attention to be focused: on the songs. No distracting choreography, props or other visuals were provided that could have taken away from the raw presentation of the songs that Shaw clearly takes a lot of pride in. The hour-long set consisted of all but one of the tracks from The Brooklyn EP plus a few more recently released singles. The still-small repertoire of this budding pop chanteuse holds together pleasingly onstage as it spans from folksy to bubblegum to synthpop revival.

    The energy was ratcheted up early in the set with the fiery “Walks All Over You,” a pre-Valentine’s warning to all those prone to being played for fools by a blazing beauty. The anthemic “Brooklyn Girls,” which was met with some criticism upon its release in 2014, was nonetheless delivered with confidence and zest by Shaw after she announced that this hometown gig was also the culmination of her seven-date east coast tour. Coasting off the pep of the preceding party-starter tunes, the crowd swayed to the dreamily optimistic “Revolution” and continued to ride the decreasing tempos until Shaw put on a slightly more earnest face and sang the poignant ballad “Show Up,” with the studio track’s piano replaced by gentle, clean electric guitar.

    The remainder of the set was a string of Shaw’s danciest and most satisfying material. A cover of Drake’s spacey R&B jam “Hold On, We’re Going Home,” was received with a surge of enthusiasm from all the dancers on the floor. Shaw’s two newest singles, the Maroon-5-esque “Tell Everyone” and the deep and bouncy “The Ransom,” came up next. These sleek and heavily ’80s-influenced ragers were full of glistening, icy guitar, but the triggered synth lines that make these tunes so fresh on record added a sense of incongruity in the concert setting where a live keyboardist could have achieved more depth and balance. The band did play these songs for all they were worth, the guitarist and bassist breaking away from their rigidly held positions onstage to feed off of each other and rock out, leaning back with knees in the air and fingers working their instruments so as to squeeze as much excitement out of them as possible in these penultimate moments of the performance. Shaw picked up her ukulele and brought the set to a close with “Human Contact,” the most reliable tune in her arsenal. Not quite ready to let the show end there, she quickly reemerged with uke still in hand after the band quit the stage to give a solo encore performance of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love,” hearkening back to her days busking on the subway. Catey Shaw was happy to be back home in Brooklyn, and well over 200 Brooklyners were happy to be there with her at the Knitting Factory.

    Setlist: Walks All Over You, Brooklyn Girls, Revolution, Night Go Slow, Show Up, Outerspace, Hold On We’re Going Home (Drake cover), Tell Everyone, The Ransom, Human Contact

    Encore: Whole Lotta Love (Led Zeppelin cover)

  • Catey Shaw Coming to Knitting Factory Brooklyn

    Rising pop star Catey Shaw will headline a triple bill this Saturday, Feb. 13 at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn. The lineup will feature three locally based performers dishing out plenty of synth-driven music to dance to, plus a healthy dose of indie rock.

    Shaw is still fairly new to the pop world, but her distinctive voice is showcased on two EPs and several singles, the earliest of which, “Family,” earned her a performing spot on The Queen Latifah Show back in 2013. Having started out playing in New York City subway stations, Shaw is now touring the country. The creative instrumentals produced by Jay Levine for Shaw’s studio recordings are brought to life by the live band she is touring with. Fans will see Shaw alternately strumming a ukulele and howling over the slap-bass and gritty synths backing her catchy hooks. Catey Shaw has been recording since 2012 and is currently seeing new success with singles “Tell Everyone” and “The Ransom.”

    Supporting Shaw this Saturday night will be Memoryy, the moniker used by Shaun Hettinger for his self-released electro/synthpop musical output. When not writing film scores and music for television commercials, Hettinger pours his love of ’80s synth giants Depeche Mode and New Order and more recent inspirations like Cut Copy into his own brand of pop that accomplishes everything from ruminating on falling in love to setting the tone for summer pool parties. Memoryy will warm up the Knitting Factory stage, perhaps giving attendees a taste of his slick new take on Blue Öyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper,” just released last month.

    Brooklyn-based indie-rock five-piece Gillian will open the show. The bright and upbeat riff-driven pop tunes on their most recent EP Colorize make this band a natural fit for the evening’s lineup. Vocalist Kym Hawkins’ strong, rich voice is a rival to that of Best Coast’s Bethany Cosentino. Check out Gillian’s music on Bandcamp.

    Doors at the Knitting Factory open at 8 p.m. this Saturday, and the show starts at 9 p.m.