Bklyn Sounds 7/17/2025—7/22/2025
This week's events include Tony Humphries all night long / Anelis Assumpção + Os Mutantes at Brasil Summerfest / Razor-N-Tape, all day and all night / SCRAAATCH / Meftah / cumbia / and much more
Feeling pretty down at the moment, struggling with the world—driving through Amerikkka, opening up its front pages, looking behind the curtain at the wizards guiding those front-pages (and apps) will do that to you. Now back and hoping that the music and the community provides a spiritual boost. Hope you are all doing OK.
THIS WEEK’S SHOWS:
After a couple of months off, Nu Jazz, purveyors of a unique punk-screamo take on fusion-meets-jam-rave and one of the city’s best bands, returns to its residency at Nublu with another great bill. It may feel like I’m writing about More Eaze pretty much every week at the moment, but between her multi-instrumental work with Wendy Eisenberg and claire rousay, participation in the bands Pink Must and Water Damage, alongside other occasional bursts of creative energy, Mari’s about as in-form and putting-it-all-out a musician as currently exists in NYC right now. What a great double-bill. Also: DJ Ogun (Thurs 7/17, 7p @ Nublu, Manhattan - $20-$25)
A cool film + live band + dance-music evening: King Klavé is Manhattan drummer/multi-instrumentalist Amaury Acosta, at the center of all the proceedings here. The evening opens with screenings of two films: Have You Ever Wondered, a “genre-blurring short” about Acosta’s musical journey, and La Clave, a cinematic solo drum performance shot in Hell’s Kitchen. Afterwards, there’s a live King Klavé show, and a DJ set by the just-got-back-from-Glastonbury, Toribio. (Thurs 7/17, 7p @ Dead Letter No.9, W’burg - FREE before 9p/$20-$25)
The legend of Os Mutantes, the avant-garde Brazilian psychedelic band founded in 1966 as a cornerstone of that country’s Tropicália movement, has long ago escaped esoteric music circles and solidified as global lore. With good reason: Though you can easily spot the “era” of their sound, Os Mutantes’ hooks and weird turns still jump out, musical surprises behind every corner. Only guitarist/vocalist Sérgio Dias remains of the original trio — Arnaldo Baptista retired, and Rita Lee passed away in 2023 — but a minor detail when myths are at play. (Thurs 7/17, 7:30p @ Damrosch Park, Lincoln Center - FREE)
Originally this show by Squanderers, the multi-generational, indie-art-improv, guitar-supergroup of Wendy Eisenberg, David Grubbs and Kramer, was supposed to play at LPR; but, nice though it may have been, that room feels coldly aspirational for this trio of underground legends. Whereas the anarchist bookstore fits just right. Squanderers will be potentially performing music from their second album of lovely melodic weirdness. The mighty Shahzad Ismaily opens. (Fri 7/18, 7p @ Property Is Theft, W’burg - $10)
L&SD’s Friday-evening electronic rhythm bills — kinda dance parties, kinda descents into deep listening (with beats) — have been some of my most surprising live listening experiences of this shitty shitty year. Here’s another. Relaxer (aka Daniel Martin-McCormick, co-founder of Black Eyes, Dripping Festival and one-time principal in Sustain-Release) makes crazed breaks-centric music worthy of WARP in the ‘90s, playing all of it live. Max in The World & Kroba is the duo of Maxwell Reid (electronics) and Zachary Koeber (saxophone, percussion), playing a spare, glacial deep house. DJ Raqx and Luke play records before and after. (Fri 7/18, 8p @ Light & Sound Design, Greenpoint - $20-$30 w/RSVP)
Numerous DJ legends of the original NYC clubbing golden years continue to haunt fair Gotham, yet among them, Tony Humphries sometimes gets regarded as an after-thought. In many ways, his genius corresponded most closely with Larry Levan’s in creating an NYC garage-house sound. (Albeit across the river, at Newark’s Club Zanzibar.) And it was his weekly Kiss-FM megamixes of the mid-’80s, that allowed many others (myself included) to discover the sound outside the clubs, before the tapes began traveling the world. Today Humphries is neither a nostalgist nor a recluse, but local appearances are at best occasional, so take advantage! Highest Recommendation! (Fri 7/18, 9p @ Signal, East W’burg - $15-$30)
Two great afternoon events that help tell a part of Bklyn’s pandemicine music history. Vale of Cashmere is a pair of small concentric lawns (one with an old dried-out fountain) hidden behind trees in the northeast quadrant of Prospect Park, just off Flatbush. During the pandemic summers of 2020-21, each lawn hosted numerous live events, at times simultaneously. Which is what’s happening on Saturday. The early kick-off goes to Sweet Kicks, an afternoon techno-house party by Miss Alicia Coleman, Rose Kourts and Karlala, a great community spirit prevails. (Sat 7/19, 2p @ Vale of Cashmere, Prospect Park - $uggested). The later start and later finish is on Latinoise 2025, a third annual gathering of local DIY Latinx artists that includes some of my favorite musicians in the city, including producer Saturn Lavender, tap dancer Melissa Almaguer, and electronic drum circle, A.B.E.L.A. (4p @ Vale of Cashmere, Prospect Park - $uggested) One of my favorite parts is always when the parties spill into each other, and communities expand. Highest Recommendation!
Originally founded in 2012 as a disco-edits label, JKriv’s Razor-N-Tape has become a Bklyn Sounds listening cornerstone, consistently releasing great records by local (Prince of Queens, 79.5) and global (Felipe Gordon) artists. Yet Kriv is not only an excellent DJ/producer but a bass player (he co-founded the live jazz-house group Tortured Soul), and Razor-N-Tape has also been producing the best live-band-meets-DJs party in the city, Joyful Noise. which I’ve covered plenty. Saturday, it reaches an all-day/all-night peak, with an overwhelmingly great line-up: the all-star A Joyful Noise Band and the mighty DJ, Ge-ology, part of the afternoon attraction, and a DJ line-up that includes Glenn Underground, Jadalareign, Donis and JKriv himself, guiding the nighttime festivities. (Sat 7/19, 4p @ H0L0, Ridgewood - $18)
Among the great attractions of the two-week long Brasil Summerfest— taking place all over the city, though centered in various Lincoln Center venues—is the appearance by singer-funkateer Anelis Assumpção. Sao Paolo DIY music royalty, Anelis has followed in the footsteps of her father Itamar, who was a key figure in that city’s alternative music community, mixing funk, reggae and rock and political sentiments, before dying from cancer in 2003. (An exhibit devoted to Itamar Assumpção is at the New York Performing Arts Library at LC, thru the 27th.) Anelis’s music adds an extra layer of downbeat and samba, establishing a direct through-line not only to her father’s rebellious nature, but to Tropicalia’s radical combination of Brazilian traditions and the world. You can see her for free on the UWS… (Sat 7/19, 6p @ Rubinstein Atrium, Lincoln Center, Uptown - FREE) …or at a club on the later side. (10p @ Nublu, Manhattan - $20-$25)
One great musical things going round NYC the past few years seems to be More Cumbia— as DJ sets and raves, with more local bands popping up, and visiting cumbiaberos bringing their own local variations on the great Colombian (or is it Mexican?) beat. This week sees two prominent visitors: Yeison Landero is an accordionist from San Jacinto (Bolivar), grandson of the great Andres Landero (King of Cumbia), who’s made his own mark on the music. He’s playing alongside local Bolivar folklorists, Maraca Bruja. (Sat 7/19, 7:30p @ Drom, Manhattan - $25) Son Rompe Pera is the raucous CDMX quintet whose “Cumbia is the new punk” proclamation have been taking the Americas by storm since the pandemic. With the DJ crew, Discolocas. (Mon 7/21, 7p @ Elsewhere Rooftop, Bushwick - $25-$35)
Originally a drummer by trade, Omar Meftah is one in a “next” generation of Detroit DJs/producers making great music—loosely speaking, a jazz-influenced deep house full of lushness and occasional bite, but also under the spell of hip-hop—and beginning to find global community. While I've been listening to and writing about him for years, catching him DJ has been a chore. So it’s wonderful to see him booked on a Sunday night at the great little club on Flushing. With Akash Raje. (Sun 7/20, 8p @ Jupiter Disco, Bushwick - FREE)
After a decade being one of Bklyn’s best local secrets—as both rock venue and diverse-as-f*ck dance-party space—plus a couple of weeks of good-bye shows after a campaign to save it failed, Our Wicked Lady, the wonderful rooftop club on Morgan Avenue, will shut its doors on Monday night. So Zach and Keith are inviting everyone for one last hang. Bring tissues. (Mon 7/21, 6p @ Our Wicked Lady, East W’burg - FREE)
SCRAAATCH is the electronic DJing-meets-live duo of MHYSA and Chuki, whose artfully experimental, almost-decade-long approach to club sounds feels like it's hitting another wonderful stride. Since December, I’ve seen them slay a warehouse party, create audio-visual drones in a gallery space, and join Joy Guidry in an electronic improvisation quartet, each experience hitting next levels. Monday they’re helping kick off a new monthly pżarty, Sound on Sound, at the great Ridgewood DIY space. Alongside poetry by Puffin (Riona Garcia-Taylor) and more music by Michael King. (Mon 7/21, 7p @ Intercom, Ridgewood - FREE)
One of the city’s pedal-steel impresarios, J.R. Bohannon, is starting an improvising night at the great Ridgewood club he occasionally does sound for, and oh what an opening bill: Duets Vol.1 sees pairings of Luke Stewart & Ka Baird, Keith Fullerton Whitman & Bohannon, plus C Spencer Yeh & Ryan Sawyer. All veterans of NYC’s improvising circles, all ambitious experimentalists in sound, rhythm and texture. Highly motivated for this one. (Tues 7/22, 7:30p @ Cassette, Ridgewood - $15)
Bathe used to call their sound “surf R&B” back when they recorded one of my favorite laidback summertime anthems; but the vocalists/multi-instrumentalists, Corey Smith-West and Devin Hobdy, have more recently switched to “daydream R&B,” which continues to fit Bathe’s “music as balm for the anxieties of modern life” approach. They’re starting a mini-residency at Erzulie, flanked by Halima, a Lagos- and London-raised singer currently based in NYC, whose own sinewy, rhythmic approach to R&B reflects the communities she grew up in. Watch her space too - if you aren’t already. (Tues 7/22, 7p @ Cafe Erzulie, Broadway & Myrtle - $25-$30)
MORE RECOMMENDED EVENTS:
Kaleta & Super Yamba Band (Thurs 7/17, 5p @ Dumbo Archway Plaza, DUMBO - FREE) - on their own, the Yambateers are among the hardest working bands in the city, but when they’re joined by veteran highlife singer-guitarist Kaleta, the group become Afrofunk world-beaters.
Brandee Younger Trio (Thurs 7/17, 5:30p @ Guggenheim Museum, Uptown - $30, free with museums entrance, Discount Promo Code is: JULY5) - the mighty jazz harpist has an excellent new album, Gadabout Season, playing here in support of Rashid Johnson’s current Guggenheim retrospective. Performance is free with museum entry for which the discount code applies.
The Mekons (Thurs 7/17, 8p @ Bowery Ballroom, Manhattan - $40adv/$45) - one of the greatest punk-country-folk-garage bands of all-time, the Leeds-to-Chicago ramblers of the Mekons are celebrating their 50th anniversary. Long may they run on booze, banter and bravado.
Marcus Gilmore: Journey to the New (Thurs 7/17 - Fri 7/18, 7:30p & 9:30p @ Jazz Gallery, Manhattan - $35-$45) - massive New York jazz drummer playing music from his first album as leader, with a sick band: David Virelles (piano), Emmanuel Michael (guitar), Rashaan Carter (bass), and Joel Ross (vibes).
WOW Summer Festival (Thurs 7/17 - Sat 7/19, 7:30p @ iBeam, Gowanus - $30per night) - three-day showcase of some of NYC’s great improvising groups, three sets per night, will include Tony Malaby Trio, LOPEZ-LAUBROCK-RAINEY, Patricia Brennan Trio, Chet Doxas/Tomas Fujiwara Duo, and others
PS1 Warm Up (Fri 7/18, 4p @ MOMA PS1, Long Island City - $25) - the kick-off to what is prolly my favorite of NYC’s summer music series—new music, highly electronic/dance-oriented, experimental, always curated to include folks I have never heard of, forever undergoing tweaks and changes. Now on Friday evenings? Opening night includes MikeQ, DJ Empress, Alex Zhang Hungtai & Tashi Dorji and LYDO.
Smith Taylor + Carmen Quill (Fri 7/18, 8p @ The Owl, Prospect-Lefferts - $15suggested) - two incredible young musicians you should look out for sharing a bill: Taylor is a Cleveland transplant playing blues guitar and singing, solo and in the massive Black Lazarus; Quill is a bassist and songwriter who also plays/sings in the wonderful tilt.
Fergus Jones + Purelink (Fri 7/18, 9:30p @ Night Club 101, Manhattan - $22-$30) - on-the-up-and-up Scottish/Danish electronic producer Jones, meets the newly arrived “ambient boy band,” a proper “It” show with great potential. (As long as Night Club 101’s sound-bleed doesn’t destroy the quiet subtleties of their music, the way it did the other night for poor Briana Marella.)
BUNTOPIA with Honey Bun & DJ Shannon (Fri 7/18, 10p @ Mood Ring, Bushwick - FREE before 11p/$10 + deals) - two excellent Bklyn house DJs with knowledge, records and chutzpah, in a great small club: note that you are entering a queer space.
EL-30: 30 Years Of EL-B (Fri 7/18, 11p @ The Meadows, Bushwick - $30) - one of the London producers who built the garage-to-dubstep bridge, legendary in bass continuum circles.
Johnny Osbourne + Smif-N-Wessun + Chip-Fu + Bush Babees + Ayanna Heaven (DJ) + GabSoul (DJ) + DJ Gringo (Sat 7/19, 4p @ Brower Park, Crown Heights - FREE) - BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn brings a massive line-up (reggae legend + classic NYC hip-hop + excellent NYC Djs) to Crown Heights.
DJ Rekha’s Basement Bhangra Beyond: Rashmeet Kaur + Tara Lily + Sonny Singh & guests (Sat 7/19, 6p @ Flushing Meadows-Corona Park - FREE) - Rekha’s annual outdoor Basement Bhangra banger of South Asian-centered beats and traditions, with singers Kaur and Lily, veteran NYC trumpeter Singh, and more.
Anish Kumar (Sat 7/19, 10p @ Good Room, Greenpoint - $10-$20) - a young South Asian Brit who’s been making wonderful disco-house, and beyond, with break-out potential.
Tropical Past & Future feat. Alex Figueira (Sat 7/19, 11p @ El Santo, Bushwick - $TK) - the great occasional party helmed by three sets of NYC ears I trust on tropical and cumbia beats— Adrian is Hungry, Little Dynasty, Prince of Queens—welcome Figueira, a Venezuelan-Portugueses collector of records of some renown.
The Roots + DJ Scratch (Sun 7/20, 7p @ Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens - FREE) - no-brainer - they may be overexposed but they’re still great band, and Black Thought keeps aging in a way we always hoped an MC could.
Sexmob (Sun 7/20, 8p @ The Owl, Prospect-Lefferts - $15suggested) - trumpeter Steven Bernstein’s long-running downtown-jazz-meets-camp-repertoire band, comes to the deep outer boroughs.
gabby fluke-mogul & Paula Sanchez (Mon 7/21, 6:30p @ Downtown Music Gallery, Manhattan - FREE) - a special Monday night at the DMG to host the improvising meeting between great violinist fluke-mogul, and the visiting cellist Sanchez.
Celebrating Geri Allen and Mary Lou Williams (Tues 7/22, 7:30p @ 92Y, Uptown - $40) - the uptown institution salutes two of the great pianist-composers in jazz with an excellent line-up that includes vocalist Vanisha Gould, saxophonist Nicole Glover, pianist Aaron Diehl, Yasushi bassist Nakamura, and guided by the great Terri Lyne Carrington on drums.
This week is stacked. Hope folks get out there and musick they asses off!