Bklyn Sounds 8/15/2023 - 8/21/2023

Thank You + Shows: Tomeka Reid's Hemphill Stringtet / Chief Adjuah / DJ Spinna's Journey Boat Ride with DJ Tara + Toribio + Kenny Dope / Janette Beckman's "Hip-Hop 50" / Diamond D / more

Out of pocket this week, so apologies for the day late and the dollar short. No feature atop this week’s Bklyn Sounds, but I expect to make it up to you very shortly.

Because last week’s piece on “The Crisis in (Local) Music Media” generated a healthy response and a flow of new subscribers, I moved the show-listings from behind the paywall this week too. Here’s hoping that a few of you would be interested enough in the picks — and the music that accompanies them — to pay for the service, and the point of view. Other paid-subscriber perks “in development.”

For those interested in the ongoing conversation about local media, and especially on how it affects local arts coverage, there’s a pretty good conversation that just went up on Emilie Friedlander and Andrea Domanick’s The Culture Journalist site. They talk to Adlan Jackson and Katie Way, two editors of Hellgate NYC, one of the more culturally astute sites that’s popped up in the city’s newsscape post-lockdown. It’s a worthwhile listen.

Thanks for reading, listening, subscribing and musicking!

This Week’s Shows:

Like many New York DJs in the ‘90s, Max Glazer came up on hip-hop before mutating with his Federation Sound crew to become one of the city’s most consistent players of all sorts of reggae/dancehall rhythms. He then graduated to become Rihanna’s touring DJ to take his skills to much bigger audiences. But Glazer remains one of the best selectors around, and him playing a freebie at Brooklyn Library Plaza is a win. (Wed 8/16, 7p @ Brooklyn Central Library Plaza - FREE)

Cellist Tomeka Reid is a card-carrying member of the AACM and a MacArthur Fellow, which not only makes her a knowing musical trailblazer but institutionally recognized as such. Chances are each of her four residency nights at The Stone will be massive  — the Friday night, flanked by Nicole Mitchell and Mike Reed, seems destined to be — but for me it’s hard not to point out Wednesday’s “Hemphill Stringtet” evening, with violinists Curtis Stewart and Sam Bardfeld, and violist Stephanie Griffin. The repertoire will almost surely consist of string-quartet arrangements that the mighty Julius Hemphill created for Charles Mingus pieces, and there will likely be a nod to Hemphill’s long-time cello-playing confidant and partner Abdul Wadud, who is experiencing a bit of a posthumous renaissance — thanks, in no small part, to Ms Reid herself. Highest Recommendation. (Wed 8/16, 8:30p @ The Stone, New School, Manhattan - $20)

PHOTOS & MUSIC: Most hip-hop 50 events are coming fast and furious, and being sufficiently covered elsewhere. This celebration at the South Street Seaport is not star-studded, but it does highlight the work of one of the culture’s best photographers of the past 40 years, the Brit expat Janette Beckman, whose photo exhibit “Hip-Hop at 50” is installed throughout the Seaport (and will be up thru October 31st). Thursday night will feature a musical component: “Block Party at the Seaport: JB’s Picks” will include music DJ’d by Operator Emz, with selections by Ms. Beckman. (Thur 8/17, 5p @ The Seaport, Garden Bar, Manhattan - FREE with RSVP)

A potentially great Friday night, free-improv meeting of local minds and out-of-towners in Red Hook: The pairing of saxophonist Caroline Davis and guitarist Wendy Eisenberg should excite anyone who likes music that’s high and outside, yet grounded in tradition. I have no idea what to expect from the duo of Detroit drummer (and Milford Graves student) Ben Hall and young trumpeter Lemuel Marc (aka Your Biggest Hater), but their announced objective is to “Superimpose a Piano Quintet on Gentrification,” which is the best artist statement I’ve read in a minute. Also: guitarist Aaron Rubinstein. (Fri 8/18, 8p @ 360 Record Shop - $10-15)  

More not-so-secret-but-under-wraps Hip-Hop 50 celebration shizzz. “Shake!”, the great monthly party Monk One and DJ Prestige (Flea Market Funk) throw at Friends and Lovers, will not only feature special guest Diamond D, the DJing co-founder of New York’s legendary Diggin In The Crates (DITC) crew, but they’ll be spinning an all-vinyl set. Which means that if you want a classic New York hip-hop-soul-funk dance party, you should head to Crown Heights - and maybe get there early.  (Fri 8/18, 10p @ Friends and Lovers - $5 with RSVP before 11p/$10)

A coming together of NYC house perennials. Brandon and Craig musclecars have been setting the world alight all summer long, and are back in the city for a few special late-August and September gigs. Jacky and Kat Analog Soul have also been spreading New York’s great current vibes throughout Europe. These dynamic duos are going long in the Silo all night. (Fri 8/18, 10p @ Silo - $17-20) 

Saxophonist Billy Harper has one of the most quietly spectacular bodies of “jazz” compositions of the past 50 years, which has only started to be celebrated as music by under-appreciated giants of the early 1970s has begun to be embraced. Unsurprisingly, this has also made his gigs more plentiful. On Saturday, Harper’s Quintet is headlining the Inwood Jazz Festival, alongside sets by drummer Annette Aguilar and Francesco Melo, trumpeter Melvin Vines, and others.   (Sat 8/19, 2p @ Inwood Hill Park - FREE) 

UPSTATE NEW YORK: Opus 40, a quarry-turned-sculptural-installation by the late Harvey Fite on the outskirts of Saugerties, is an incredible place to see a summer show; and the folks behind the Hudson Valley concert producers, Chosen Family, have put together a very Dada Strain offering for Saturday night. Three Upstate-based electronics-minded experimentalists and composers — Tyondai Braxton, Jefre Cantu-Ledesma and Ben Vida — will play in a trio; followed by a solo set by another incredibly talented local electronic improviser, Photay. The makings of a unique evening. (Sat 8/19, 6p @ Opus 40, Saugerties, NY - $15adv/$20)

Chief Adjuah is the recently adapted stage name of New Orleans trumpeter and bandleader Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, taken on since his recent appointment as Big Chief of the Xodokan Nation of NOLA Black Indians. (Xtian’s uncle and grandfather were big chiefs as well.) Adjuah’s newest album, Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning, reflects his new community role. Instead of a horn, Xtian plays a bow harp he designed himself, while singing songs rooted in his hometown’s Mardi Gras Indians traditions. It’s an incredible work, and knowing the power of Adjuah’s live shows, will only sound better in performance. Highest Recommendation. (Sat 8/19, 7:30p @ Le Poisson Rouge - $35adv/$40)

Free Beach Party Alert! The good folks at Peer Pressure NYC and the Sweet Kicks crew are coming together at Riis Park to throw a mid-August jam that also doubles as a birthday celebration for the builder of the best roving sound system in fair gotham, the mighty Karlala Sound. Music will be provided by Karl, Miss Alicia, That Matt and special guest from Chicago, Mister Bisher! (Sun 8/20, 2:30p @ Riis Beach Cooperative - FREE)  

I do not usually recommend boat raves for a variety of reasons — from cost, to the ickiness of being trapped at a party you can’t leave. But I make an exception for DJ Spinna’s Journey Boat Ride. Not just because the tag-team of DJ Spinna b2b Kenny Dope is a dream pairing of New York’s naturalist house x hip-hop sounds. But because the rest of the line-up features two of Bklyn Sounds’ favorite DJs — DJ Tara and Toribio — as well as the excellent Mari Ella, and a live set by the house vocalist Lady Alma Horton. Highest Recommendation (for those who can stomach the boat). (Sun 8/20, 7p @ Circle Line, Pier 83, Manhattan - $35-55)