Bklyn Sounds 8/13/2025—8/19/2025 + Blacktronika (+ 8/20/2025—8/26/2025)

This week's events include 'Blacktronika' in the parks (and otherwise) / 79.5 x 'Italomatic' / William Parker plays Ellington / Salar Ansari / Keleta & Super Yamba Band / Clipping / and much more

Clockwise from upper left: Kate Mattison & Lola Adanna of 79.5, Salar Ansari, Waajeed & King Britt, William Parker

First, a publishing announcement: There will not be a Bklyn Sounds newsletter going out next week, as I will be “gone fishing” with my family. This will mark only the second time in 157 weeks that I will not be publishing a list of events, and the first time that I am actually scheduling such a break. (The other non-publish week took place due to a family emergency.) I am going away to clear my head, before the battle begins anew.

But that doesn’t mean you won’t know what’s happening. At the bottom of this post—below this week’s shows and more recommended events, and, yes, past the paywall—you will find the long-lead events for the week of 8/20-26. The paywall is potentially a sign of things to come. (More on this after that head-clearing…) The longer leads may also be a preview of the future as well.

And while there will not be a Bklyn Sounds, that doesn’t mean that another missive won’t be hitting your inbox. Stay tuned! There’s a lot to say and I am still trying to find the right words for it, having been looking for them all summer.

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Second, a series of events is taking place Friday thru Sunday that warranted more than a long listing, or a “Highest Recommendation” shout. On IG Stories, I called them the shows of the summer, and I postponed my family vacation to stay in the city and witness some of them. The events surrounding King Britt’s Blacktronika festival, produced by Summerstage in Central Park on Saturday, and at Marcus Garvey Park on Sunday, will also include a Friday afternoon “Sonic World Building for Our Liberation” talk at the Apollo Theatre, and a pop-up DJ event at Joe Claussell’s great Cosmic Arts space on Friday night. Come for the incredible line-up, stay for the ideas and the camaraderie.

In many ways, King’s Blacktronika project is the best, currently available and grandest-scale realization of the “Rhythm Improvisation Community” ethos Dada Strain was founded upon. If it hasn’t been clear from the get-go (or from the kind of sounds and artists this newsletter primarily features), I largely learned this set of principles and ideas by listening to Black American music, and interacting with the people who make it, think about it and live it. King, a multi-faceted Philly DJ/producer I’ve followed for over 30 years, and known for over a decade, is among them; his wealth of experience informs Blacktronika not merely as the telling and curating of an important creative and sonic history, but as a basis for future social values worth imparting. Quite literally: since 2020, he has been teaching Blacktronika as a course at UC-San Diego, compiling a set of lectures and an interview archive that should make every RBMA stan jelz.

Last year I wrote a piece for Art Forum about how Blacktronika, and King’s old friend Waajeed’s Detroit-based Underground Music Academy, are important community-building exercises, continuing a tradition of intentional culture werk, that too-often manifests as merely “entertainment” in the popular sphere. Where in typical Detroit fashion, Waajeed’s UMA has remained focused on the local, King, with his panoramic vision, has been developing Blacktronika as a modular global program. In addition to Blacktronika music events in Southern California, he curated an on-theme film and art series on the San Diego campus, and Blacktronika programming has been realized as Big Ears, around the world, and of course, in our fair gotham.

After two day-long programs at Public Records, King has made the leap to Summerstage, with a pair of sprawling yet succinct, and exquisitely focused programs. Saturday in Central Park is a dance-party that features a Hall Of Fame-worthy bill of house and techno talent, with King, Waajeed and Claussell joined by Phuture, the Chicago crew who first “discovered” the “acid” setting on the Roland 303 in the ‘80s, by the great Detroit DJ Rimarkable, and by London’s Charlie Dark, who coined the word “blacktronika” for parties he threw at ICA South Bank 20 years ago. Sunday’s line-up at Marcus Garvey Park will give the musically unexpected and philosophically ready-for-battle, with a slew of world-class musicians who moonlight as influential academics to students of all ages. Moor Mother and partner Rasheedah Phillips’ Black Quantum Futurism project brings the verses and drones; pianist Vijay Iyer and drummer LaFrae Sci are joined by wordsmith Shana Redmond; bassoonist Joy Guidry and singer Niecy Blues will update the spiritual traditions; and new-to-me Bklyn crew Sonic Messengers mix instrumental prowess and heavy beats, and seem to be aligned with the Haus of ALTR camp. King Britt will be around too, of course.

So, yes, the Highest Recommendation! But more importantly, infinite thanks to King Britt and all the participants, for the werk and the inspiration. This is music programming to recontextualize the past and present, and help imagine the possibility of a future diametrically different from the one running roughshod through the headlines and the feeds.

Blacktronika (Sat 8/16, 4p @ Rumsey Playfield, Summerstage, Central Park - FREE; Sun 8/17, 5p @ Marcus Garvey Park, Harlem - FREE)

THIS WEEK’s SHOWS:

Co/Function is a monthly focused on “live electronic music & visuals." This month they’ve brought in of my favorite producers currently working, the Tehran-born and Detroit-based Salar Ansari, whose drip of singles, EPs and mixtapes on his own Passed Out On a Persian Rug label, and hybrid DJ/live sets (as well as occasional live trio sets), constantly push the 313 techno paradigm. Also: Tim O'Keefe and Waterscape, plus Co/Function residents, Tj McAu + Taboh. (Wed 8/13, 9p @ H0L0, Ridgewood - $10-$12)

This early-ish evening at the great little upstairs room on Myrtle will feature some incredible global electronic sounds: The Ugandan producer and queer activist Authentically Plastic makes radical industrial techno that also sounds like quintessential African percussion, a consistently bright star in the Nyege Nyege/Hakuna Kulala constellation. Locally based Isaac Matük has been creating Afro-Colombian rhythms in a variety of party and freeform contexts, and here will tag-team with Fuge. The Amsterdam-based Awhlkuhn is devoted to the “creolization” sound/society. (Wed 8/13, 8p @ Earthly Delights, Ridgewood - FREE)

TALK: All the recent talk about local music-listings outlets has largely left out the young DIY showpaper GUNK. It’s celebrating a 2nd Birthday with a panel conversation about local DIY music and spaces, which will feature members of GUNK and Secret Riso Club, a “collaborative artist-run space and creative studio” in Bushwick. They’ll be joined by the mighty Liz Pelly and Hellgate culture editor Adlan Jackson. (Thurs 8/14, 6:30p @ Secret Riso Club, Bushwick - $5-$20suggested)

Gregory DJ Wawa is another of the many excessively talented constants in Bklyn’s DJing diaspora, playing thoughtful dubby, globally considered house-adjacent music, always broad enough to get potentially freaky. (Which Wawa does regularly on a monthly The Lot Radio show.) Which is to say: another spot-on selector for a deep Present Sounds listening session. (Thurs 8/14, 7p @ Light & Sound Design, Greenpoint - $20-$30)

There was a moment in time, over a decade ago, when LA’s experimental rap trio Clipping seemed like they could be the great indie offering to the insurgent hip-hop lane, with massive lyricism and SST-or-WARP-to-the-future soundscape beats. Then rapper Daveed Diggs joined a musical called Hamilton, casting all the great music that Clipping made afterwards in shadow. Still a great band though. Lotsa moments on this year’s Dead Channel Sky prove that. The mighty Fatboi Sharif and Cooling Prongs support. (Thurs 8/14, 7p @ Elsewhere, Bushwick - $35-$40)

Probably the Warm Up line-up I’ve looked forward to the most. Though UK drum’n’bass star Special Request is the main attraction, get there early for the great Ugandan producer Authentically Plastic (see above); and especially for Nguzunguzu, the resurfacing duo (still?) of Asma Maroof and Daniel Pineda, LA producers whose influence on the kitchen-sink sound of modern club music can not be understated; but whose art-school approach to club-meets-pop went layers deep (check the above mix, an all-timer, for proof). Also the lo-fi art electronic duo, NEW YORK. (Fri 8/15, 4p @ MoMA PS1, Long Island City - $22-$27)

Bassist, bandleader and one of NYC music’s great community elders, William Parker has long spoken of the reverence in which he holds Duke Ellington’s music, and Parker’s five-decades-plus career has numerous nods to the great man. Friday evening he presents "Ellington in Mourning," a tribute to the jazz giant. Expect tunes you know, but also interpretive twists and turns. Opening is vibraphonist Nikara Warren's Black Wall Street project, a blend of jazz, soul, hiphop and other flavors straight from the “we live in Brooklyn, bay-bee” camp. Highest Recommendation! (Fri 8/15, 6p @ Lena Horne Bandshell, Celebrate Bklyn, Prospect Park - FREE)

Grand Street's slightly bizarre theme bar with two DJ spaces keeps the bookings mad-interesting. This Friday it’s hosting a rarer-than-it-should-be set from Jovonn, a Bklyn underground house legend forever-ever, who just keeps making and releasing great records. Jovonn’s support ain’t bad either: D'Sean of the nice Signature Cuts crew; and, all night in the second room, the mighty Greg Caz, whose records knowledge is beyond next-level. (Fri 8/15, 9p @ Dead Letter No.9, W’burg - FREEw/RSVP-$20)

Two great tastes: It’s wonderful that 79.5’s first local gig in a minute is at the Italomatic party. If you aren’t familiar, the former is a long-running and -evolving NYC disco-meets-R&B-songwriting (currently) quintet led by singer-composer Kate Mattison and singer-rapper Lola Adanna. The latter is the Italo-Disco party run by Andi, Facets and Rok One, whose sound keeps giving hooks and sequencer energy rooted in the ‘80s but blasting into the future. (Sat 8/16, 3p @ H0L0, Ridgewood - $18)

Super Yamba Band is merely one of the city’s top Afro-rock/-funk ensembles, with regular appearances at LunAtico and Barbés, always marking a great time. But when the Yambateers are joined by their occasional front-person Kaleta—i.e. Leon Ligan-Majekodunmi, a Benin-born singer-guitarist who played in both Fela’s Egypt 80 and King Sunny Ade’s Juju Beats—they become one of the best bands in the city, full stop! Six years removed from their excellent sole full-length together (a time during which Kaleta also made a dope LP with the Colombian producer Bosq), I hope more is coming. In the meantime, luxuriate to the live sound. Highest Recommendation! Also: DJ Charlie Chimi. (Sat 8/16, 7p @ Union Pool, W’burg - $15-$20)

A pair of massive free-minded improviser trios: The early set features punk-jazz pioneer, the drummer William Hooker, flanked by bassoonist Claire DeBrunner and pianist Mara Rosenbloom. The late set is all firebrands, with Blacks’ Myths drummer Warren “Trae” Crudup, Baltimore reeds player Jamal Moore, and the mighty Marta Sánchez on piano. Sparks will fly. (Sat 8/16, 8p @ iBeam, Gowanus - $20)

Nice Saturday night PR takeover by a slew of low-key great DJs, locals/ex-locals, less already-stars than in-the-knows, smarties who have records and direction, and are willing to guide. Bklyn’ite Shawn Dub pairs with Lisbon’s Chima Isaaro in the Sound Room. Funk and house lifer JT Donaldson, pairs with the young mighty Angeleno Salenta in the Atrium, and Darker Than Wax don Marco Weibel holds down upstairs. (Sat 8/16, 11p @ Public Records, Gowanus - $22-$32)

​Cadenas is a night of two improvised groups at the neighborhood anarchist bookstore, most contemporary luminaries, as far as I’m concerned. Bassist Brandon Lopez leads the first, a trio, with percussionist Dennis Sullivan and electric guitarist Chuck Roth. The other is a quartet starring percussionists Matt Moran and Lesley Mok, saxophonist David Leon and cellist Mariel Roberts. Can’t imagine this not being magnificent, at least in parts. (Sun 8/17, 6p @ Property Is Theft, W’burg - $uggested)

One of the last shows I saw pre-lockdown was a duo set at the Blue Note that featured the legend-in-our-time guitarist Bill Frisell and the young but then-already tipped trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire. They played music by turns focused and floating, with cross-generational interactions as natural as those of old friends. Where Frisell’s story is at permanent apex—his ability to weave classic folks melodies and the most free music imaginable, with an eclectic guitar tone all his own, remains unparalleled—the ensuing years have seen Akinmusire’s saga continuing to grow. When Ambrose sits in with Frisell now, as he does with his trio at the cathedral of jazz next week, they are on more even critical footing. Based on their playing, the mutual wonder likely remains. (Tues 8/19—Sun 8/24, 8p & 10p @ Village Vanguard, Manhattan - $40)

MORE RECOMMENDED EVENTS:

• King Klavé & friends (Wed 8/13, 8p @ Dead Letter no.9, W’burg - FREE w/RSVP) - Cuban-American drummer/producer Amaury Acosta sessioning at the W’burg theme bar with the good bookings

• Jazz on the Plaza: Marcus Gilmore: Journey to the New (Thurs 8/14, 12:30p @ St. Peter’s Church Plaza, Manhattan - FREE) - one of the city’s best drummers brings his own project to an excellent Midtown lunchtime concert series

• Caroline Davis Quartet (Thurs 8/14, 6p & 7:30p @ Smalls, Manhattan - $35) - one of the city’s musical GOATs takes her crack band—pianist Julian Shore, bassist Chris Tordini and drummer Allan Mednard—into straight-ahead jamland.

• Ravi Coltrane (Thurs 8/14, 8p @ Lowlands Bar, Gowanus - $uggested) - the scion, at the neighborhood free-jazz watering hole

• SCRAAATCH (Fri 8/15, 7p @ Light & Sound Design, Greenpoint - $20-$30) - MHYSA and chuki’s duo is consistently the most interesting electronic-art dance music in the city atm, now they’re at one of its best venues.

• Sunny Jain’s Wild Wild East + Gamelan Dharma Swara (Fri 8/15, 7p @ Bryant Park, Manhattan - FREE) - excellent local global rhythmalists play the opener of World Music Institute 40th (!) season.

• Hiatus Kaiyote (Fri 8/15, 7p @ Brooklyn Paramount, Downtown Bklyn - $$$) - Australian jazz-funk superstars following in Dilla and FlyLo footsteps.

• Eli Escobar + Mike Simonetti (Fri 8/15, 10p @ Bossa Nova Civic Club, Bushwick - $TK) - the flier says “get there early” and yes, expect a mob scene. But also two of the tri-state area’s best, hardest-working and longest-running dance-music DJs

• Takuya Nakamura presents: Cosmic Jungle (Sat 8/16, 7p @ Public Records, Gowanus - $31) - the Japanese expat trumpeter and drum’n’bass producer’s live show is one of the city’s best fusions.

• Laraaji + Saapato (Sat 8/16, 7p @ Stone Circle Theatre, Ridgewood - $20-$23) - massive double-bill of experimental ambiance, and new age vibes

• Nick Hakim + Karriem Riggins (DJ) (Sat 8/16, 7p @ Lena Horne Bandshell, Celebrate Brooklyn, Prospect Park - FREE) - closing Celebrate Brooklyn’s 46th season is one of New York’s favorite current sons, the great young singer Hakim, and a DJ set by Detroit drummer who knows his way around hip-hop, soul and jazz.

• Time Wharp + Arian Shafiee (Sat 8/16, 7p @ Light & Sound Design, Greenpoint - $20-$30) - wonderful ambient-folk singer-songwriter Time Wharp shares the bill with one of the founders of crazed upstate psychedelic punks Guerilla Toss (playing with an “ensemble”).

• Mickey Perez (Sat 8/16, 10p @ Earthly Delights, Ridgewood - $10-$12) - BeBop Poru/Public Service DJ goes all night long

• Hard Quartet (Sun 8/17, 2p @ Union Pool, W’burg - FREE) - indie-rock super-group with the massive twin lead guitar action (Malkmus + Sweeney) for free in the Union Pool backyard.

• Juan Atkins (Sun 8/17, 4p @ LoHi Rooftop, East W’Burg - $20) - the Godfather of Detroit techno on an East W’burg rooftop.

• Beres Hammond + Marcia Griffiths (Sun 8/17, 7p @ Coney Island Amphitheater - $$$) - massive classic reggae double-bill—one of the progenitors of Lovers Rock + the music’s greatest selling female singer of all-time—near the beach. A little pricey though.

• Soul Purpose: Felix Ames + shiv + Quinnette (Tues 8/19, 7p @ Nublu, Manhattan - $19-$23) - Quinnette’s long-running monthly moves to an earlier time-slot with two excellent young soul singers: Ames, a recent Milwaukee-to-Bklyn transplant, and the Zim-born shiv.