Bklyn Sounds: 2/7/2023 - 2/13/2023

Butch Morris Conduction with Vernon Reid + Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber / Immanuel Wilkins + Laraaji / Salenta + Topu / Charles Webster / "Dope From Hope" / "Signal Route" / and more...

This week’s shows:

Two of my favorite humans, the mighty team Love Injection (DJs/’zine publishers/label-runners/musickers Barbie Bertisch and Paul Raffaele) are launching a Kickstarter for a book they wanna publish. “Dope From Hope” will compile all the sound+acoustics newsletters written by Tom Klipsch, the polymath speaker-maker whose Klipschorns became the sound of The Loft, and whose philosophy of amplification influenced David Mancuso, plus many other discerning soundsystem builders. Love Injection is launching the campaign at Head-Hi, a bookstore across from the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The flier recommends “bring your own Klipsch jams” so I can see this being a round-robin DJ potpourri too. (Tues 2/7, 7p @ Head-Hi Books 146 Flushing Ave, Navy Yard - FREE)

A Trans-Pecos “Open Sets” program stocked with incredible local musicians playing solo or duo sets. Including drummer Tcheser Holmes, guitarist Wendy Eisenberg, flutist Laura Cocks, the piano+cello+electronics duo Salenta + Topu, multi-instrumentalist Julia Santoli and artist Laura Duval. The format: “experiments followed by a 30 minute collective collaborative contrapuntilization of elements musical & nonmusical within the space & within the ‘space.’” (Tues 2/7 7p  @ Trans-Pecos 9-15 Wyckoff Ave. Ridgewood - $10-$20 sliding scale)

In 2022, the Chicago-heavy trio of saxophonist Dustin Laurenzi, drummer Jeremy Cunningham and bassist Paul Bryan released A Better Ghost, a wonderful album of lovely, out-minded playing, augmented by deep electronics. Specifically, it includes “The Way We Remember,” an ambient-folk wonder sung by Katie Ernst, that’s one of my favorite songs in recent memory. Not sure if Katie’s around for this rare NYC gig by musicians who spend more time playing other people’s music (check their insane collective credits), but it will be a blessing to hear them present their own. Also on the bill: Suss (Wed. 2/8, 7:30p @ public records 233 Butler St. Gowanus - $22)

Butch Morris’ conductions — an organized system of collective improvisation in a large ensemble — were a central aspect of Manhattan’s Just Above Midtown Gallery, which is the subject of a current exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. To celebrate, the museum is staging three nights of conduction led by one-time Morris student, guitarist Vernon Reid, and featuring Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber, a band founded by one-time Just Above Midtown intern Greg Tate. (New York’s cultural history is incredible.) There’s hella-guests too: James “Blood” Ulmer and David A. Barnes (Feb. 9), Beans and DJ Logic (Feb. 10), and Brandee Younger (Feb. 11) (Thurs 2/9, Fri 2/10, Sat 2/11, 8p @ Museum of Modern Art 11 W. 53rd St. Manhattan - FREE with RSVP)

My favorite kind of gig: good small neighborhood bar, overwhelmingly great band. Over the next two weeks, the psychedelic, free electronic jazzers in Sun of Goldfinger (guitarist David Torn, saxophonist Tim Berne, drummer Ches Smith) are doing at least a couple of gigs at Lowlands, a dark spot on Third Avenue just before the expressway. Full of possibilities. (Thurs 2/9, 8:15p @ Lowlands Bar 543 Third Avenue, Gowanus - FREE/pass the hat)

I’ve written about how Oscar Noriega Crooked group’s Friday Happy Hour at Barbes is one of Brooklyn’s great neighborhood-music treasures. But what happens when Oscar is not there? Well, you have a monster piano trio. Though when Marta Sanchez is behind the keys, the drummer is Jason Nazary and the bassist is Chris Tordini, just calling them a piano trio feels like some sort of dumbing down. (Fri 2/10, 5p @ Barbes 376 9th St. Park Slope - $20suggested)

An evening of moody, at times deeply noisy abstraction - just off the shores of the Gowanus. The guitar duo of Loren Connors and Chris Cochrane rep the city’s improvisational no wave-meets-roots heritage, Connors decades into approaching six-string downtown godhead, Connors doing the work almost as long, if less well-known. The trio of violinist Gabby Fluke-Mogul, trumpeter Stephen Hayes and bassist James Ilgenfritz are younger by comparison, but veterans of collectively pushing music boundaries. (Fri 2/10, 8p @ iBeam 168 7th St. Gowanus - $20)

It’s taken me a minute to process that “Signal Route” is the promotion/party name of the great dance-music happenings that Sweater on Polo and Aleanudio have been throwing around the city. On Friday they not only move into one of my favorite small dance rooms in Bushwick, they bring in Russell E.L. Butler and Camille BWR to head the great line-up of DJ selectors. Black techno-house-beats weirdness with proper energy. (Fri 2/10, 10p @ Jupiter Disco 1237 Flushing Ave. Bushwick - FREE before 11p/$10)

A novel pairing whose sound I am not gonna be able to wrap my head around until I hear it. Young alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins’ sphere of connection just keeps growing. Last week he showed up with the Black Monks (at New Museum), and this week he holds down a residency at The Stone, where one bill is better than the next. Though the one that’s become an imaginary earworm since the announcement is Saturday’s pairing with the new age legend Laraaji. WTF is that gonna sound like? (Sat. 2/11, 8:30p @ The Stone, New School, 55 W. 13th St. Manhattan - $30)

Not sure who else is touring as part of drummer Kahil El Zabar’s Ethnic Heritage Ensemble (trumpeter Corey Wilkes seems a fixture), but the Chicago drummer’s last few New York appearances with his quartet have been spiritual-groove epiphanies, with all the players in a zone. And the fact that this one is taking place at Bed-Stuy’s magical Sista’s Place, away from the “jazz” “industry” glare, among the Black community that’s always been the primary focus for El Zabar, potentially gives this night ever more agency. Don’t forget to call for a reservation - or you won’t get in. (Sat. 2/11, 9p & 10:30p @ Sista’s Place, 456 Nostrand Ave. Bed-Stuy - $25)

Paul Nickerson brings the Dope Jams crew vibe from Upstate for the inaugural Valentine's Day Ball, with bonus attraction: It’s been a while since British DJ/producer Charles Webster has graced the city’s decks with his soulful, banging house music, but there’s no doubt that he’ll be putting the public records system to good use. Here’s hoping that Paul’s freewheeling way with ‘90s New York classics, pushes some of Webster’s buttons too. (Sat 2/11, 11p @ public records 233 Butler St. Gowanus - $30)

The “Take Two” series, in which great local musicians interpret their favorite albums, returns to its “private loft” confines, and this time goes a little high-minded. Boston-based Israeli composer and pianist Moshe Elmakias leads a trio that includes legendary drummer Billy Hart through the movements of Claude DeBussy’s Children's Corner. Always a wonderful listening experience - now in a great Greenpoint loft, rather than in Bushwick. (Sun 2/12, 8p @ “secret location,” Greenpoint - $25)