MusicMarch 2016Highly Selective Listings
Brooklyn Rail Highly Selective Music Events
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Venue
March 2016
New York
March 2016
New York
- March: Vijay Iyer residency at The Met Breuer. The old Whitney is the new Met Breuer, and along with an intriguing exhibition on unfinished art, drawn from the Museum’s collection, Vijay Iyer has his own residency in the Tony and Amie James Gallery, off the ground floor entrance. While the museum doesn’t open to the general public until March 18, Iyer’s curation will be available to members from March 8 through March 17. There will be two screenings per day of a film Iyer scored, Radhe Radhe: Rites of Holi; Fit (The Battle of Jericho), and live performances from Iyer and other musicians and ensembles he’s engaged. The schedule is nothing but highlights, and the most intriguing sets should be Vicky Chow playing Tristan Perich’s Surface Image on March 10, Iyer and trumpeter Adam O’Farrill on the 11th, and Iyer with Teju Cole, Patricia Franceschy, and Linda Oh on the 13th and 18th. All details available at the Museum’s site.
- March 6: Sunwatchers, Nick Millevoi’s Desertion, Glockabelle, Dan Friel at Palisades. Undoubtedly one of the most exciting groups in the city today, Sunwatchers is a Brooklyn four-piece featuring former members of Dark Meat, NYMPH, and many others. The band plays brilliant, ecstatic music, a mixture of punk energy and free jazz meditation. A Sunwatchers concert is an exercise in transcendental joy. The March 6 show celebrates the release of their self-titled debut record.
- March 6: Microscopic Septet at Shapeshifter Lab. Part of a generous triple bill that includes the Joe Fiedler Trio and Andy Biskin’s 16 Tons, the Micros have become a linchpin of post-modern nostalgia, a throwback to when there were East Village squats, a thriving downtown music scene, and talented musicians could occasionally hit the mid-time, in this case with the theme for Terry Gross’ Fresh Air.
- March 8: Mary Halvorson with Ambrose Akinmusire and Craig Taborn at Roulette. The woman with the skronky, thumb-heavy guitar meets the man with the gorgeous, lyrical trumpet tone and the other man, one of the most probing jazz pianists. Something awesome this way comes.
- March 10: Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society at National Sawdust. Appearing as part of the venue’s Spring Revolution Festival, Argue will be bringing in, Tensile Curves, which he describes as a “40-minute meditation on Duke Ellington’s ‘Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue.’ Sold.
- March 11: Yonatan Gat, Sunwatchers, VBA, Heliotropes at the Studio at Webster Hall. The former guitarist for wild garage rockers Monotonix, Gat has come to take a less frenetic approach on his last few records. The Israeli guitarist and his trio take a diverse mix of Spanish, African and Mediterranean styles and send it through a punk prism. Plus, if you missed Sunwatchers at Palisades, you can catch them here.
- March 12: Craw at St. Vitus Bar. This will be a short, sharp return for this stimulating and abrading band. Back on the cultural landscape due to Northern Spy’s magnificent archival release from late last year, Craw is going to jangle ears and nerves. No standing around gazing at your smart phone, if you value your sensibilities.
March 15: Ryan Keberle at Jazz Standard. This is the release show for Keberle’s new album, Azul Infinito, a tight and rocking integration of hard bop, minimalism, latin music, and songs, with more than a little funk. It’s one of the best jazz records of the year so far, and the band kicks ass.
- March 18: Akio Suzuki: Conceptual Soundwork at ISSUE Project Room. Akio Suzuki presents four pieces dating back to his series of performances in Paris in the late 1970s. Suzuki’s work explores the unique sound environment of any given venue; the show on Friday the 18th will take place in ISSUE’s home theatre on Boerum Place, a brief return before further renovations.
- March 18–19: Tillery at the Jazz Gallery. Tillery is three exceptional singers, Rebecca Martin, Gretchen Parlato, and Becca Stevens. Together they create an absolutely personal and fluid blend of jazz, pop, folk, and great American songcraft.
- March 20: Fellow Travelers Showcase at National Sawdust. Fellow Travelers is a new opera from composer Gregory Spears, who has an exciting talent for making music that is both lovely and dramatically powerful. This is a piano-vocal showcase of his new work, based on Thomas Mallon’s novel of the same name about closeted homosexual lovers in McCarthy era Washington D.C. Spear’s last opera here, Paul’s Case, was a powerhouse, expect the same.
- March 20 & March 23: Ross Hammond and Sameer Gupta at Spectrum and Barbes. Guitarist Hammond and tablaist Gupta have made a record, Upward, that is a dazzling set of songs and improvisations that get at the global, human roots of the blues. With just two instrument, the two make incredibly rich, driving, and soulful music that reaches into the gut. New, ancient, unclassifiable, powerful, fantastic.
Lesley Flanigan at UT Austin (excerpt 1) from Lesley Flanigan on Vimeo.