Midlake, Allen Toussaint, Erin Markey, Lady Rizo and More Set for Joe's Pub, 7/16-27
By: BWW News Desk Jul. 14, 2014
Joe's Pub at the Public has announced its shows for the next two weeks, July 16 - July 27, 2014. Details below!
Wednesday, July 16 at 7:30 PM
$17.50
Bombadil, the whimsical, chamber/pop/folk North Carolina-based band, returns to Joe's Pub to celebrate the vinyl debut and re-release of Tarpits and Canyonlands (June 21, 2014). The highly-praised album, which has a sad, strange and triumphant story, was originally released in 2009. The band is James Phillips (drums), Stuart Robinson (piano, ukulele) and Daniel Michalak (bass, piano, harmonica). Tarpits was poised to be Bombadil's breakthrough album but major health problems for Michalak, the band's driving force, brought the trajectory to a standstill. After years of doctors and treatments, Michalak came back to music and performing. Since then, the band has been building up their momentum - releasing two full-lengths All That The Rain Promises (November 2011) and Metrics of Affection (July 2013), and a limited edition 7-inch Thank You (June 2012). Finally, Tarpits and Canyonlands gets a second chance.
Wednesday, July 16 at 9:30 PM
$16
Known for her absurdist humor and "magnetic diva aggression" (NYT), Erin Markey creates an at once riotous and unexpectedly moving performance about figuring out who you might be. Developed with Kenny Mellman (The Julie Ruin, Kiki and Herb, Our Hit Parade), original music and pop covers score the frailties of midwestern family life and salvation by Bible-Belt Christians, leotards, hurricanes and psoriasis. Kenny Mellman plays piano. Emily Bate (Potpurri of Pearls) plays guitar and sings back-up vocals.
Thursday, July 17 at 7:00 PM
$20
The incomparable "cabaret star" (NY Magazine) Lady Rizo is back for an unchaperoned evening of song and decadence. You may have seen her here at Joe's Pub with her "glam bottom baring dance troupe the Assettes" (Village Voice), in the monthly series Our Hit Parade, or midtown at the gothic Night Hotel co-hosting the weekly transnational lounge Foreign Affairs. Her seamless mix of baudy humor and elegance has been likened to Mae West but it's her vocal chops that have garnered recent attention: collaborating with both Yo-Yo Ma & Moby on albums this year, singing selections of the American Songbook in front of the internationally acclaimed 36 -piece orchestra The Knights, and at MOMA for a sold out cabaret for the Kirchner Exhibit. Let her lashes beguile you as she interprets an irresistible mix of popular songs from all eras backed by some of the finest musicians in New York City.
CIPHA SOUNDS AND LUKAS KAISER PRESENT THE MIRACLE MIX
Thursday, July 17 at 9:30 PM
$12
DJ Cipha Sounds, of Hot 97FM and Chappelle's show, has uncovered the ancient connection between Hip Hop and Improv. The powers that be have been trying to keep them separated for generations... We will risk our freedom to bring them back together. This show consists of a surprise Hip-Hop star mesmerizing the crowd with some amazing true life stories, and normal rapper shenanigans. This will then spark the creativity of some of the country's best improvisers to create a live comedy show on the spot... You will NOT be disappointed.
JILLETTE JOHNSON / GAYATHRI KRISHNAN
Friday, July 18 at 7:30 PM
$15
For Jillette Johnson the journey has been as integral to her musical experience as the destination. Jillette, who began taking music lessons and penning songs as a child, has been performing live since she was 12, captivating audiences with her sultry, thoughtful piano-driven tunes. The musician, now 24, has spent the last decade cultivating her sound and defining her unique perspective. When she moved to New York City from her small town of Pound Ridge, NY at 18, Jillette was already familiar with the city and its clubs, from Sidewalk Café to The Bitter End, To Rockwood Music Hall and now Joe's Pub.
With songs that range from evocatively low rumbling and moody ambiences to brutal and intense anthemic melodies, independent singer/songwriter Gayathri Krishnan's voice is her identity. Reigning from Dubai, a champion of the independent movement with a growing and active fan base, her debut album 'The Unknown' is the result of a highly successful crowd-funding campaign. One of the highest rated unsigned artists to date by RollingStone ME, Gayathri spent the last year touring Asia & Middle East playing festivals and renowned music venues, achieving milestones along the way such as becoming a TEDx performer and speaker as well as collaborating with Grammy-winning artist Joss Stone.
BLACK ROCK COALITION ORCHESTRA PRESENTS STATE OF GRACE
A Grace Jones Retrospective, featuring Gordon Voidwell
Friday, July 18 at 9:30 PM
$25
The Black Rock Coalition Orchestra (BRCO) presents State Of Grace, a freak-flag waving retrospective of the unparalleled artist Grace Jones - the musical genius behind such enduring anthems as 'Pull Up To The Bumper', 'My Jamaican Guy', 'Slave To The Rhythm', among many others. Gordon Voidwell, whose latest project, Bad Etudes, has been drawing universal critical raves, will serve as creative director. Expect booties to shake and minds to shimmy in this sultry, sonic salute to the larger-than-life siren whose appeal crosses genres and generations alike.
The Orchestra has been the official performance arm of the Black Rock Coalition since 1986. Through its ever-evolving, ever-revolving incarnations, some of the most accomplished progressive artists of color have paid homage to significant bodies of work by noted progressive artists in some of the world's most respected venues and festivals-honoring such artists as Nina Simone, Curtis Mayfield, Betty Davis, Santana, Gil Scott-Heron and others. The BRC is the nation's only non-profit, member-supported organization founded to facilitate the maximum empowerment, exposure and expression of Black alternative musicians as artists.
Friday, July 18 at 11:30 PM
$15
El Caribefunk is an exotic fusion of Salsa, Funk, and Reggae, where undeniable rhythm and poetry express intense color and feeling and inspire "alegría." This band of Colombians has built a fervent underground following with several years of non-stop touring in South America. They've headlined festivals with acts like Bomba Estereo and Herencia de Timbiqui, played live on Colombian National Radio and performed on numerous national TV programs including TeleAntioquia and RadioUno. But they can still be found playing in the plaza after a show or jamming with street musicians. El Caribefunk's rhythm and positive energy will have you on your feet and dancing from the first note.
Karikatura makes life-affirming, body-shaking music that moves people around the world. While the band has toured everywhere from Japan to Brazil, NYC is home. With bright horns, socially conscious lyrics and booty-bouncing beats, Karikatura delivers real songs that transcend style and genre. An organic synthesis of all the music heard blasting out of car windows and shops onto the streets of NYC, Karikatura lives where cumbia meets hip-hop, reggae meets klezmer and indie-rock meets afrobeat. Neither purist nor revivalist, this is music of the present and for the future. The band is about to release its debut full-length album, Eyes Wide, on Ropeadope Records, following two EPs and international tours.
Saturday, July 19 at 7:00 PM
$12 adv / $15 door
Raised in an eclectic musical household, Natalie Cressman continues to diversify and expand her musical universe. The early twenty-something trombonist/composer/vocalist has assimilated the full range of her sonic influences into a startlingly mature, strikingly original voice that melds the sophistication of modern jazz with captivating storytelling and intoxicating melodies reminiscent of indie rock's most distinctive songwriters. Cressman has spent much of the last four years touring the jam band circuit with Phish's Trey Anastasio, while also performing with jazz luminaries Nicholas Payton, Wycliffe Gordon, and Peter Apfelbaum. Those varied experiences are reflected on her gorgeous second release, Turn the Sea. Anastasio calls the album "a beacon of light in an increasingly cold and mechanized era of music. Natalie is standing on the precipice of an incredible life in music, and if this album is any indication of where she's headed, then I'll be listening every step of the way."
Saturday, July 19 at 9:30 PM
$12
Real beats, real rapping, real champagne, real realness. Champagne Jerry closes out his yearlong monthly residency with the release of his album For Real, You Guys. The self-proclaimed Greatest Rapper in the World paired each show to a thematic single, culminating in the release of this album. Champagne Jerry, also known as Neal Medlyn, is a rapper and performance artist who, along with his main producer, Max Tannone and his onstage entourage, the Champagne Club, seek to transform the world every single time they hit the stage.
CONVEYOR: PRIME RECORD RELEASE
Saturday, July 19 at 11:30 PM
$12
Brooklyn-based band Conveyor is T.J. Masters (vocals, guitar), Alan Busch (vocals, guitar), Evan Garfield (backing vocals, drums) and Michael Pedron (backing vocals, bass). The band has released a string of self-released EPs, a cassette, a full-length album and a number of 7" singles. The music is best described as melodic, harmonic, rhythmic and predominantly major-key.
Sundays, July 20 - August 10 at 12 Noon
$30
New Orleans musicians laid the cornerstone for a large swath of American music, and Allen Toussaint is among the city's most gifted players. As a composer, arranger, producer, pianist and singer, Allen has created an enduring body of work that includes local hits by Irma Thomas and Lee Dorsey; songs covered by Glen Campbell, the Rolling Stones and Robert Plant & Alison Krauss; national hits by Ernie K-Doe and LaBelle; and collaborations with Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello, all in addition to his own recording career. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, and was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Obama in July, 2013.
CLARA SANABRAS: SONGS OF SPANISH EXILE ALBUM RELEASE
Sunday, July 20 at 7:00 PM
$14
Sioux and Gypsy blood runs through Clara Sanabras's veins. Born in France, raised in Barcelona, now a Londoner, her enigmatic voice and multi-instrumentalism can be heard in Hollywood soundtracks for films like The Hobbit, The Hunger Games, and Snow White and The Huntsman. With her new album "El Vol Dispers", she returns to her roots with an elegy to exile - a visionary, musically expansive voyage. Produced by Harvey Brough and recorded by Peter Schwier, the album is in Spanish, Catalan, French and English, and features stellar guests including Eliseo Parra, Cobla Sant Jordi, The Elysian Quartet.
Sanabras has appeared internationally at Glastonbury to Sydney Opera House and collaborated with artists including Jarvis Cocker, James Horner (Titanic), Nigel Kennedy, The Count & Sinden, Natacha Atlas, Nizlopi, The Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain, 21st century orchestra, Cobla Sant Jordi. She is also the featured vocalist in Simon Schama's recent BBC2 documentary "The Story of the Jews" and her song "Nada Igual", as heard in "La Reina del Sur" was no. 1 in the iTunes charts of Mexico.
MELISA LE RUE LIVE: DEBUT EP RELEASE
Sunday, July 20 at 9:00 PM
$25
From a lost soul to the zippy, breezy "Let's Go," Melisa Le Rue playfully captures the thrill of letting go and seeking adventure. The song comprises of simple chords and a poppy bounce, with lyrics that are in parts cheeky ("do it al fresco in the sun"), social critique ("the men in suits how they prostitute their souls to the city so they can buy pretty girls") and transcendent ("give birth to new experience, see the world and feel it's essence"). The breadth of Le Rue's open-ness to the planet's possibilities comes from childhood. Her parents, an English Quaker father and Filipino Catholic mother, fostered teenagers including asylum seekers from Zimbabwe and Afghanistan, opening the musical child to experiences and sounds from across the world.
Monday, July 21 at 7:30 PM
$20
Musician Kyle Riabko performs his original songs along with selections from the Bacharach catalogue which were featured in his acclaimed Off Broadway show "What's It All About? Bacharach Reimagined" earlier this year. Named "One of the Year's Best" by The New York Times, the show received nominations for Drama Desk Awards, Outer Critics Circle Awards, and Lucille Lortel Awards for which Riabko was nominated as Best Actor in a Musical. The New York Times wrote, "Riabko searches out the emotional layers of the songs with impressive precision," and New York Magazine said, "Riabko is the wonderfully appealing star". Riabko previously appeared on Broadway in both "Spring Awakening" and "Hair", and in his teen years, recorded an album of original material for Sony/Aware Records and performed as an opening act for such artists as BB King, James Brown, John Mayer, Buddy Guy, Keb Mo, Jason Mraz, and Maroon 5, among others.
Monday, July 21 at 9:30 PM
$18
Based on Anton Chekhov's The Seagull, Bluebird is a story of whiskey-soaked nights and hangover dreams in Nashville's country music scene. Country music star Tammy Trip returns to the bar she was discovered in years ago, to help launch her son Dean's burgeoning songwriting career. But she may be doing more hurt than help. At the crossroads where chart-toppers become has-beens, and country hits are tested below dim lights and sticky floors, Kimmel and Pritchard's play is a raw and acoustic look at a community of creative people, fueled on talent, passion and booze.
Tuesday, July 22 at 7:30 PM
$25
The NYC and L.A based Mary McBride Band, which has toured 22 countries in the past three years, will be playing its first hometown gig since 2011. Powerhouse singer McBride and her band, featuring John Kengla on guitar, Greg Beshers on bass, Jon Spurney on keyboards, and Kenny Soule on drums, take the audience on a rollercoaster ride with their fiery blend of country, gospel, blues and old school rock 'n roll. AMERICAN SONGWRITER calls her live show, "impassioned and inspirational," and HOUSTON PRESS adds, "McBride has huge pipes, writes a mean song, and comes with a band that's rock-ready."
WAKE UP MADAGASCAR FEATURING JAOJOBY & RAZIA + SPECIAL GUESTS SARAMBA & CHARLES KELLY
Tuesday, July 22 at 9:30 PM
$30
Singer, songwriter and environmental activist Razia Said spent her childhood in the vanilla-growing region of Madagascar's northeast coast. After years of living abroad, she returned to discover her country's landscape ravaged by illegal logging, slash and burn agriculture and the impact of climate change. In an effort to raise awareness at the local and international level, Razia organized the Mifohaza Masoala (Wake Up Masoala) music/environmental festival, which took place at the edge of the Masoala Rainforest in October 2011. The concert featured some of Madagascar's most exciting performers, and the festival was a huge success. The participants agreed that the next step was to take the music and the message to the world, resulting in the Wake Up Madagascar tour.
The tour, which went to the US and Canada with great success, showcased the same outstanding musicians and dancers who create an uplifting celebration of Malagasy music. They are back with the music that makes Madagascar dance with its heart pounding rhythms, rippling guitars, lush vocal harmonies, bouncy accordion and hip-shaking dance moves. This music represents the soul and spirit of the island. The featured artists of Wake Up Madagascar 2 will be supported by an all-star lineup.
MIKE DAISEY: OUR MAN IN HAVANA
Wednesday, July 23 at 7:00 PM
$30
Mike Daisey travels to a mysterious world located just 90 miles from America-the island nation of Cuba, a world frozen in the American imagination and burned from our memories by embargoes and blockades, where communism still rules and a ballet dancer is paid the same as a surgeon or a farmer. Daisey brings his shrewd and scathing outsider's eye to the gloriously decaying streets of Havana, using this changing landscape as a window to speak about the true legacies of American imperialism, and what it means for us to live in a world that only recognizes capitalism and corporatism as a way of life.
Wednesday, July 23 at 9:30 PM
$15
Casuarina, who celebrates their 13th anniversary in 2014, is one of the most respected samba bands of Brazil. Originally from the Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of Lapa, the band plays their repertoire all over the world, including Angola, Cuba, France, Holland, Israel, Italy, Portugal, the U.K. and more. In addition to their own compositions, Casuarina creates original, sophisticated and virtuosic arrangements to an old repertory of classic sambas by legendary composers such as Paulinho da Viola, Dorival Caymmi, Martinho da Vila, Adoniran Barbosa, Baden Powell, Joa?o Nogueira, Noel Rosa, and more. The modern and beloved samba group conquered the music scene in Brazil and abroad with their irreverence and innovative outstanding quality of arrangements.
Thursday, July 24 at 7:00 PM
$30
Mike Daisey tackles what we don't like talking about: how our world is built on the subjugation and ownership of women, and how men perpetuate that violence every day. Rejecting simple catchphrases and rote thinking, Daisey doesn't try to speak for women-instead he interrogates his own history and choices as a way of framing a human discussion about how it could be possible to live an authentic life where we actually see one another. Gender, sex, violence, and passion mix together with dark humor as he does his best to try and tell an untellable story.
Thursday, July 24 at 9:30 PM
$20
Billy Lewis Jr. is an emerging singer/songwriter from NYC (by way of Long Island). While Billy has a solid history as a stage performer, this marks his debut live performance as an independent, original recording artist. Billy's self-titled debut EP is produced by Jack Daley (Beyonce, Lenny Kravitz, Joss Stone) and features the supreme talent of several world-class musicians including Steven Wolf, Marc Copely, Dave Eggar and Pete Levin. Also featured are local guitar heroes, Erik Rudic, Al Street and Marc Ribler. With a unique mixture of driving beats, intricate and sometimes thrashing guitars, a bluesy-undertone, addictive hooks and relatable lyrics, this debut EP makes a powerful introduction to Billy as a songwriter, a uniquely soulful vocalist, and a captivating live performer.
Friday, July 25 at 7:00 PM
$20
Take a blustery brass lineup, layer it over a rhythm section led by a Fats Waller-style stride-piano virtuoso, and tie the whole thing together with a magnetic, one-of-the-boys frontwoman whose voice recalls another era, and you have the Hot Sardines, an NYC outfit (with a tap dancer) that's been called "consistently electrifying live" (Popmatters). The Sardine sound - wartime Paris via New Orleans, or the other way around - is steeped in the kind of music Louis Armstrong, Django Reinhardt and Waller used to make: Straight-up, foot-stomping jazz. Pianist-bandleader Evan "Bibs" Palazzo and Paris-born singerMiz Elizabeth (who owe their collaboration to meeting via Craigslist) describe their band as "born in the 1920s, but raised in the '00s," reflecting a philosophy that hot jazz, dixieland and Tin Pan Alley tunes are all pop music, not historical artifact to be handled with kid gloves.
BRASIL SUMMERFEST PRESENTS MONDAY MICHIRU
Friday, July 25 at 9:30 PM
$15
Classically trained on flute, Monday Michiru is credited as one of the forefront pioneers of the early '90s acid jazz movement in Japan and known for "crafting danceable but artistically significant Brazilian flavored acid-jazz and soul with an underground flair."Monday's significant solo work is only surpassed by her featured collaborations with prestigious international DJs, bands and artists, including Louie Vega (Elements of Life and Masters at Work), Kyoto Jazz Massive, Mondo Grosso, Lisa Ono, Da Lata, Jazztronik, Blaze, and many others. Known for her "unique talent" and "genre-blurring musical skills," her most recent releases, Soulception (Adventure Music, 2012) and Brasilified (Billboard Japan, 2013) focus on her love of Brazilian music. While Monday has appeared in festivals and clubs worldwide as a solo artist, this is her first time performing in NYC since 2008. She will be performing repertoire from Brasilified,which was voted best new jazz release of 2013 by Echoes Magazine UK and Soul Brother Records.
Friday, July 25 at 11:30PM
$25
Freestyle Love Supreme is a stage show like no other. Five performers take the crowd on a non-stop hip hop improv ride, spinning cues from the audience into instantaneous riffs and fully realized musical numbers.
Saturday, July 26 at 7:30 PM
$20
An antiphon is a call-and-response style of singing, from Gregorian chants to sea shanties. In the case of Denton, Texas' favorite sons Midlake, it is the perfect title for a bold response to a new phase in the band's illustrious career, with a re-jigged line-up and a newly honed sound as rich and symphonic as it is dynamic and kaleidoscopic. Those familiar with Midlake's preceding albums will recognize some constituent parts of Antiphon: the quirky psychedelia of their 2004 debut Bamnan and Slivercork, the '70s soft-rock strains of breakthrough album The Trials Of Van Occupanther and the Brit-folk infusion of 2010's The Courage Of Others. But their fourth album is another fascinating departure, but also a logical progression. The sound is simultaneously familiar and changed.
Saturday, July 26 at 9:30 PM
$15
BaianaSystem explores new sound possibilities for the "guitara baiana." The sound of this unique instrument - a mini electric guitar popularized in Salvador's Carnival -- is reinvented with influences of Brazilian, African and Jamaican musical styles. In the hands of Robertinho Barreto, the little guitar harmoniously dialogues with the syncopations of Afro beat and percussive rhythms of Bahia together with the psychedelica of dub and electronica. The band's distinctive voice, with the words and vocals of Russo Passapusso, explores new pitch possibilities and interactions with the bass culture of the sound systems. Combining influences of dance-hall, rap and dub-step with Brazilian samba and "repentista", the resulting language grooves within the "collage" philosophy of the sound systems, rebuilding and renovating what already exists, creating something completely new and different.
Sunday, July 27 at 7:00 PM
$16
Join Cynthia Hopkins for an intimate evening of songs new and old, drawn from her extraordinary legacy of live performance works. For this special event, Hopkins will also share experiments in storytelling, including an excerpt from her new adventure in filmmaking, the Alcoholic Movie Musical.
Sunday, July 27 at 9:30PM
$14
Dahka Band's music can be described as world music sound with a modern approach. We infuse traditional music from Algeria, Nigeria, and Turkey and make it into something new by mixing rock, funk, etc. Our lyrics are in Arabic, Berber, West African Yoruba, and English. We sing to rock instrumentation, like electric and bass guitars, tenor saxophone, drums, African and Latin percussion. The result is truly unique and borderless. Coming together in New York City, our music is in essence "melting pot" music, where you bring what you are and make something special and newly American. Dahka Band's founding members include Eli Fola and Fathi Tabouche.
Visit us at joespub.com for a complete list of shows or to purchase tickets, or call 212-967-7555, or visit in person at The Public Theater Box Office, 425 Lafayette Street, NYC.
ABOUT JOE'S PUB AT THE PUBLIC Named for Public Theater founder Joe Papp, Joe's Pub at The Public debuted in 1998 and plays a vital role in The Public's mission of supporting young artists while providing established artists with an intimate space to perform and develop new work. In 2013, Joe's Pub celebrates 15 years of the best in live music and performance nightly, continuing its commitment to diversity, production values, community and artistic freedom. It received a top-to-bottom renovation in 2011, leading to improved sightlines, expanded seating capacity and a new menu from acclaimed Chef Andrew Carmellini. With its intimate atmosphere and superior acoustics, Joe's Pub presents talent from all over the world as part of The Public's programming downtown at its Astor Place home, hosting approximately 800 shows and serving over 100,000 audience members annually.
ABOUT THE PUBLIC THEATER AT ASTOR PLACE Under the leadership of Artistic Director Oskar Eustis and Executive Director Patrick Willingham, The Public Theater is the only theater in New York that produces Shakespeare and the classics, musicals, contemporary and experimental pieces in equal measure. The Public continues the work of its visionary founder, Joe Papp, by acting as an advocate for the theater as an essential cultural force, and leading and framing dialogue on some of the most important issues of our day. Creating theater for one of the largest and most diverse audience bases in New York City for nearly 60 years, today the Company engages audiences in a variety of venues-including its landmark downtown home at Astor Place, which houses five theaters and Joe's Pub; the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, home to its beloved, free Shakespeare in the Park; and the Mobile Unit, which tours Shakespearean productions for underserved audiences throughout New York City's five boroughs. The Public's wide range of programming includes free Shakespeare in the Park, the bedrock of the Company's dedication to making theater accessible to all, new and experimental stagings at The Public at Astor Place, and a range of artist and audience development initiatives including its Public Forum series, which brings together theater artists and professionals from a variety of disciplines for discussions that shed light on social issues explored in Public productions. The Public Theater is located on property owned by the City of New York and receives annual support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. The LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust provides leadership support for The Public Theater's year-round activities.
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