Bklyn Sounds 1/23/2025—1/28/2025

This Week's Shows Include: Harriet Tubman with Graham Haynes + History Dog / Claire Rousay / Specter / Ches Smith at The Stone / 'Free Will and Testament: The Robert Wyatt Story' / much more

Clockwise from upper left: Ches Smith, Harriet Tubman (Brandon Ross, JT Lewis, Melvin Gibbs), Claire Rousay, and Specter.

First Off: for the foreseeable future, I will be leading all weekly listings with a link to the “For Los Angeles…” post which, towards the bottom, includes a running list of “"NYC Loves LA” benefit concerts. If you know of people prodigy other shows, or planning some, please email me at DadaStrainBklyn@gmail.com. Definitely foregoing personal aesthetic tastes for this to honor the community values of everyone’s endeavors, namely supportiveness, generosity and action. It’s the only way we’re getting through this next “era.”

This Week’s Shows:

For a kinda-ambient and waaaay-experimental composer/multi-instrumentalist, Claire Rousay has an impactful relationship with old-timey rhythm and folk songforms. Both are inherently present in her work, a quality Rousay shares with occasional collaborator, the mighty More Eaze. (The pair have a new album dropping imminently.) Rousay’s take is a synthetic softness, a faint propulsion, layered with unlikely sonics. For music as outwardly speculative as this, it is often warmly obvious and endearing on the inside. (Thurs 1/23, 7:30p @ TV Eye, Ridgewood - $15-$20)

And speaking of More Eaze, Mari, who is currently releasing new music at a sprightly clip, is also playing on Thursday night. Pink Must is her collaboration with the equally multi-instrumentalist Lynn Avery (aka Iceblink). The first two tunes available from the duo’s self-titled debut are gorgeous forays into what can almost be described as lo-fi alt-pop—though only if you think of, like, early Smog as pop. Also: Relatives + Nuria Graham. (Thurs 1/23, 8p @ The Owl, Prospect-Lefferts - $15suggested)

One reason I consider tap dancer Melissa Almaguer a prime candidate to break-through to the “civilians” in 2025 isn’t just the steady dazzle of her performances, but the diversity of her gigs, in terms of spaces, audiences and partners. Tonight, she’s on the tony star-making stage of The Public’s pub, flanked by harpist Charles Overton and double bassist Henry Fraser, two more musical heavyweights punching higher and higher. Seriously: watch Melissa’s space. (Thurs 1/23, 9:30p @ Joe’s Pub, Manhattan - $30+minimum)

For someone who spreads himself around so much far-flung music, it makes sense that electronics-savvy drummer/vibraphonist/composer Ches Smith’s residency at The Stone is stacked with great ensembles (all trios) whose very make-up is designed to travel deep and far. Thursday features composers Miya Masaoka (on the koto, a traditional Japanese zither) and Hans Tammen (on an artisanal electronics set-up called a “blippoo box”). Friday is with two “jazz” giants, pianist Craig Taborn and alto saxophonist Darius Jones. And Saturday is with the incredible (and radically different) improvising vocalists, Shara Lunon and Charmaine Lee. Highest Recommendation! (Thurs 1/23 - Sat 1/25, 8:30p @ The Stone, New School, Manhattan - $20)

In three short years, Improv Nights: A Tribute to Derek Bailey has become an essential late-January addition to the city’s annual improvised-music calendar. Initiated by John Zorn as a fund-raiser for The Stone, and a tribute to the late British guitarist’s ceaseless advocacy for global improvised music (HERE: Must-Watch), it’s now a unique gathering of NYC’s various communities, “a rotating kaleidoscope of musicians, who divide into smaller improvisational units.” Come for the large cast, stay for the unexpected combinations and directions. Highest Recommendation! (Thurs 1/23 - Sat 1/25, 8p @ Roulette, Downtown Bklyn - $25)

Dither Quartet, the NYC-based electric-guitar quartet, presents a large-scale reading of Steve Reich's “Electric Counterpoint,” a 1987 piece originally recorded by Pat Metheny (or, lots of Pat Methenys in overdub), and has transgressed musical pigeon-holing largely thanks to The Orb’s use of it as the basis for its ambient-house classic, “Little Fluffy Clouds.” On its own, “Counterpoint” is a lovely bit of dynamic minimalism, and on this evening will be performed by an ensemble made up of, among others, Halo Duo (Brandon Ross & Hardedge), members of Editrix (including Wendy Eisenberg) and the Dithers. The bands will also play individual sets. (Fri 1/24, 7p @ Public Records, Gowanus - $25)

The steadfast Bklyn disco-house label Razor N Tape moves into Black Flamingo before the sun sets on that great little W’burg basement space with the bad-ass soundsystem. It’s a perfect match, with R-N-T founder J Kriv, one of its resident DJs Aaron Dae, and members of the mighty Underground System presenting a night of global machine-drum funk, and deep asides. (Fri 1/24, 10:30p @ Black Flamingo, Williamsburg - $10-15)

Over the course of Midwestern dance-music history, many DJs and producers have travelled the I-94 corridor, connecting the great sounds of Chicago house and Detroit techno; and over the past quarter century, Andres Ordonez, aka Specter, has been among the most steady and dedicated. Less well-known than many of his compadres in either parrish, he gets deep and delirious in the rabbit hole. Hence a Musicland all-nighter is, potentially, a great way to experience what he’s got to offer. (Which is the world…) (Fri 1/24, 11p @ Musicland, Ridgewood - RSVP+$35)

ART TALK UPSTATE: Film-maker/conceptual artist Steve McQueen’s Bass at Dia: Beacon is yet another great minimalist-music piece in the industrial-space museum’s huge basement. This afternoon, there will be a symposium discussing all the different elements of sonic place and meaning that Bass invokes, with, among others, Michael E. Veal, a Yale professor, acclaimed author (his Fela: The Life And Times Of An African Musical Icon is my book of choice on the co-founder of Afrobeat), and a bassist. Other smarties too. (Sat 1/25, Noon @ Dia:Beacon, Beacon - FREE with museum entrance, $12-$20)

The first NuJazz gig of the new year. I haven’t heard this great dub-jazz post-hardcore quintet since August, but trust they still make a deliciously idiosyncratic racket. Supported by the solo, bass-heavy, power-ambient songcraftiness of Drumloop. Also: Bowman (Sat 1/25, 7p @ Trans-Pecos, Ridgewood - $15)

Sofia Jernberg is an Ethiopian-born experimental vocalist, raised and residing in Sweden, whose voice-work pushes her towards improvisers fluent in fusions of global improvised traditions and song forms of individual cultures. She’ll be joined by cellist Tomeka Reid, keyboardist Craig Taborn and bassist Ole Morten Vågan. (Sat 1/25, 8p @ Brooklyn Music School, Downtown Bklyn - FREE)

The young Bklyn dance-music label Earth Dog makes its debut at the neighborhood techno club, booking a bill of great local techno-minded selectors and musickers. There’s Sepehr, whose Eden’s Desire is among my favorite Bklyn Sounds of 2024; Jenny DJ'J, co-founder of the willfully oddball (a compliment!) Incienso label; and Zarina, co-founder of the exceptional, empathetic Lifesavers party. Also: Earth Dog’s Gbar. (Sat 1/25, 11p @ Bossa Nova Civic Club, Bushwick - $TK)

Winter Song is a new Mama Tried series booked by singer-songwriter Zachary Cale, who also performs. Its second edition has a wonderfully folky and psychedelic framework. Steel-strings savant J.R. Bohannon is one of the city’s great lyrical instrumentalists, and tonight shares the stage with another wide-ranging guitars’n’things player, No Neck Blues Band’s Dave Shuford. There’s also a solo set by multi-instrumentalist Jeff Tobias, whose constant participation in myriad projects at the instrumental-jammie-fusion corner of Bklyn’s underground, always sparks my curiosity. (Sun 1/26, 7p @ Mama Tried, Sunset Park - $uggested)

A massive intergenerational double-bill of noisy great Black music. The instrumental power trio Harriet Tubman (guitarist Brandon Ross, drummer J.T. Lewis and bassist Melvin Gibbs) consists of New York legends, forever tying together metallic blues, harmolodics and dub swing; and on this night, joined by an old friend, another great NYC sound connector, the cornet player Graham Haynes. Opening act History Dog’s uproar is more contemporary, guided by fuzzy electronics; but the way vocalist Shara Lunon, drummer Lesley Mok, trumpeter Chris Williams and bassist Luke Stewart (who will be missing tonight) face the future and the past makes them kin to their evening compatriots. Highest Recommendation. (Sun 1/26, 7:30p @ Sultan Room, Bushwick - $25)

FILM: A screening of director Mark Kidel’s 2002 documentary Free Will and Testament: The Robert Wyatt Story put together by Sukhdev Sandhu’s crucial events program, The Colloquium for Unpopular Culture. For those unfamiliar with Wyatt, the septuagenarian musician (now supposedly retired) was the drummer in the late-‘60s version of the London psychedelic band Soft Machine; but whose ensuing solo work combined a jazz sensibility, an experimental-music mindset, and a pop songwriter’s concern, unlike just about anybody else working. He is a deity to many musickers. (Mon 1/27, 6:15p @ 7th Floor Immersion Room, NYU Bobst Library, Washington Square - FREE/Non-NYU guests must RSVP)

One-time member of lysergic industrial giants Coil and Psychic TV, Scottish expat New Yorker Drew McDowall has continued creating beautifully unnerving longform electronic music, bewildering and symphonic. McDowall, plus the equally goth and synthy Axine M make for a heady double-bill at Union Pool’s last Free Tuesdays in January show. (Tues 1/28, 7p @ Union Pool, W’burg - FREE)

MORE RECOMMENDED SHOWS:

• Cisco Swank (Thurs 1/23, 7:30p @ Rubinstein Atrum, Uptown - FREE) - pianist bringing together hip-hop and jazz

• PINK SIIFU'S 'BLACK'!ANTIQUE' THE ALBUM LISTENING EXPERIENCE feat. Daniro + HiTech + Kal Banx + Stonie Blue (Thurs 1/23, 10p @ Good Room, Greenpoint - $20-35) - A rapper, Siifu is masterful at bringing together the falsely segregated strands of Great Black American musics. This is, maybe, part listening party, part party-party.

• Flight into Egypt: Zekkereya El-magharbel (Fri 1/23, 3p & 7p @ Metropolitan Museum of Art, Uptown - FREE w/museum entrance, FREE-$30) - Trombonist El-magharbel gathers an incredible band (Lesley Mok, Selendis Sebastian Alexander Johnson and Caleb A. Smith) to present “Landscapes of the Northeast,” a new batch of paintings-graphic scores inspired by Islamic mosaics, as part of the Met’s exhibit.

• Deem Spencer (Fri 1/24, 7:30p @ Ki Smith Gallery, Manhattan - $25) - Queens indie rapper in the basement of a Lower East Side art space.

• Stereo MCs (Fri 1/24, 8p @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, W’burg - $$$) - Relive that early ‘90s moment when rave and hip-hop connected in the UK, and got MTV airplay.

• The Burnt Sugar SmokeHouse (Fri 1/24 - Sat 1/25, 7:30p @ Rubinstein Atrium, Uptown - FREE) - Members of the Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber diaspora play together and separately in a revue stylee.

• Monty Alexander (Fri 1/24 - Sat 1/25, 7:30p @ Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Uptown - $42-$$$) - Jamaica jazz legend forever combining rocksteady and bop. Expensive AF though.

• Alex Harding Quartet (Sat 1/25, 8p & 9:30p @ Sistas Place, Bed-Stuy - $30adv/$35, must RSVP) - Veteran Detroit-born, Bklyn-based baritone saxophone player who gets free, like no one’s business.

• Dan Weiss with Peter Evans, Patricia Brennan, Miles Okazaki (Sat 1/25, 8p & 9:30p @ Bar Bayeux, Prospect-Lefferts - One drink + $uggested) - drummer Weiss leads a next-level jazz quartet in a lovely Nostrand Ave cocktail bar.

• Homecoming with Toribio (Sun 1/26, 4p @ a private loft, Ridgewood - RSVP+ $45) - a private Ridgewood loft, one of the best DJs working in the city, a spectacular soundsystem.