Joe's Pub Presents Make Music New York at Astor Place Cube, 6/21

On June 21st from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., as part of Make Music New York, Joe's Pub will present performances at the Astor Place Cube located at Cooper Sq at Lafayette St. In its fourth year, Make Music New York (MMNY) is a unique festival of free concerts in public spaces throughout the five boroughs of New York City. MMNY takes place simultaneously with similar festivities in more than 327 cities around the world - a global celebration of music making.

Joe Iconis kicks off the morning from 10 a.m. to 10:40 a.m. Joe Iconis was nominated for two Drama Desk Awards for his work on Bloodsong Of Love: The Rock ‘n' Roll Spaghetti Western, which recently completed its world premiere run at Ars Nova. Joe is the recipient of the Ed Kleban Award and the Jonathan Larson Award and is a proud alum of the NYU Graduate Musical Theater Program. He is the author of The Black Suits (book co-written by Robert Maddock), ReWrite, The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks, and Things To Ruin. The Things To Ruin cast album and the "The Joe Iconis Rock and Roll Jamboree" album will be out soon on Sh-K-Boom Records. Joe is greatly inspired by Dunkin Donuts, Robert Altman, Sardi's, Dolly Parton and the family of artists that he frequently collaborates with.

From 10:55 a.m. to 11:35 a.m., Gabriel Kahane performs. Born in Los Angeles in 1981, composer and performer Gabriel Kahane is a peerless musical polymath, invested equally in the worlds of concert, theater and popular music. As a performer, Kahane moves with ease between musical realms. His self-titled debut album, featuring performances by Sam Amidon, Sufjan Stevens and Chris Thile, was released in 2008 and will be followed up by a second LP in the fall of 2010. Among his various credits as a performer, he has appeared with Rufus Wainwright on Elvis Costello's Spectacle, sung lieder with pianists Jonathan Biss and Jeremy Denk, and has, as a pianist, joined bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff in recital throughout Europe. The spring of 2010 finds Kahane on a tour of his own music with multi-instrumentalist Rob Moose and the ensemble yMusic, beginning and ending in New York City on Lincoln Center's acclaimed American Songbook series and later in a live broadcast from Merkin Hall for WNYC's New Sounds Live.

Shrive Alives hits the pavement from 11:50 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Shrive's original inspiration as a guitarist was Jimi Hendrix, but he has since invoked other classic rock guitar greats along with blues and be-bop musicians to develop his style. He has spent valuable time in Mississippi with Fat Possum Records, working with greats like R.L Burnside and T-Model Ford. This trio will feature Shrive along with Fred Cash on bass and Greg Gonzalez on drums.

Next, from 12:45 p.m. to 1:25 p.m, The XYLOPHOLKS perform. They are a dynamic group of musicians who mostly play novelty ragtime music from the 1920's (featuring the xylophone). They do so while wearing furry animal costumes. The XYLOPHOLKS wish to make people happy and perhaps even dance.

Electric Junkyard Gamelan perform from 1:40 p.m. to 2:20 p.M. Terry Dame & Electric Junkyard Gamelan perform original groove driven music on invented instruments. Hypnotizing melodies and syncopated strings float over funky bass lines and layers of interlocking rhythms all performed on Dame's original musical contraptions such as the Kachapitar, the Rubarb, Terraphone and Clayrimba.

From 2:35 p.m. to 3:15 p.m., The Bill Murray Experience change the beat with their tunes. They are a New York City based ensemble specializing in early American roots and jazz music. The core of the group features Jessy Carolina on Vocals and washboard, Jay Sanford on double bass, and Horatio Baltz on lead guitar. The group is augmented by a changing rhythm section member; currently Blind Boy Paxton on piano, guitar, and bones. The band's heavy string instrumentation makes for unique and intimate arrangements. The Bill Murray Experience pulls most of its material from the American songbook, playing early jazz standards from the first half of the 20th Century, as well as more obscure and forgotten tunes that were apart of early American popular culture.

Balthrop, Alabama rocks out from 3:30 p.m. to 4:10 p.m. In 2006, Alabama-born songwriter-siblings Pascal and Lauren Balthrop moved to New York City to start a band and ended up founding a town. Balthrop, Alabama, population 11 or so, is their bustling folk rock township. Musically, the band straddles the fine line between antebellum and antifolk, reconstructing indie pop with songs of love, dead people, and dead people in love. One fan described the town's genre as "barnyard epic indie rock."

Following them, Black Sea Hotel perform from 4:25 p.m. to 5:05 p.m. Rooted in the tradition of Bulgaria's women's choirs, Black Sea Hotel invokes the shimmering, angelic harmonies made famous by Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares, even as they create their own inimitable gutsy sound, with driving, rhythmic melodies and harmonies that come together in a vocal blend that is emotionally raw and haunting. The quartet creates their own unique arrangements of folk songs, calling on sources as varied as archival field recordings, Master Singers, and large choral compositions. With deep reverence to other arranging styles in the canon, they've found new ways to use melody, harmony and rhythm to tell ancient stories.

Pearl and the Beard brings an interesting musical mix from 5:20 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Pearl and the Beard is three voices, one cello, one guitar, two glockenspiels, one melodica, several drums, one accordion, ninety-six teeth, and one soul. Former strangers Jocelyn Mackenzie, Emily Hope Price, and Jeremy Styles were united in the great city of New York. Each had migrated there from a far corner of the nation with naught but food in their pockets and money in their bellies. Each had the same true love. Since then the three nested, and their unique brand of brightly melodic song craft continues to blossom of its own accord.

Somi ends the evening from 6:15 p.m. to 6:55 p.m. East African singer/songwriter Somi's latest album If The Rains Come First debuted at #2 on Billboard's World Chart and "glistens with the sheen of an almost impossibly perfect cosmopolitanism" according to The Boston Globe. Somi's dynamic live performance showcases her whimsically clever songwriting & pure vocal beauty against electro-acoustic soundscapes that offer a modern look at classic soul and Africa's future.

Between each set, the Whiskey Boys will perform. They are an innovative traditional fiddle/guitar duo based in Boston. David Delaney's sweet powerful melodies teamed with Mark Kilianski's rich, driving rhythm have been described as producing some of New England's most creative and dynamic acoustic music today.

Other events at Joe's Pub include Leonid Fedorov on June 25th at 7:00 p.m with a $25 cover. Lady Rizo: unescorted later that night 9:30 p.m with a $15 cover. Toh Kay performs at 11:30 p.m. also on June 25th. It's $10 in advance and $12 at the door.

Kristine Train performs on the 26th at 7:00 p.m. with a $14 cover. KISTEHÉN goes out later that evening at 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $17 in advance and $20 at the door. At midnight, there is This Year's Girls: The Return of Elvis Costello Burlesque which costs $15 to enter.

Tickets for performances and events at Joe's Pub can be purchase online at www.joespub.com, over the phone at (212) 967-7555, or in person at Public Theater box office from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. or the Joe's Pub box office from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., both located at 425 Lafayette St. 

For table reservations please call 212-539-8778. Purchase of tickets does NOT guarantee a table reservation; patrons must call to reserve seats. Seating, as well as standing-room, is available only on a first-come, first-served basis for all shows without a dinner reservation. Two drink or $12 food minimum per person is standard.