twi-ny recommended events

MAD. SQ. MUSIC: DAVID BROMBERG QUARTET

Bluesman David Bromberg will point the way with his quartet at Madison Square Park on July 14

Oval Lawn Series
Madison Square Park
23rd to 25th Sts. between Madison & Fifth Aves.
Wednesday, July 14, free, 7:00
Admission: free
www.madisonsquarepark.org
www.davidbromberg.net

The incomparable David Bromberg, who recently played a pair of shows at City Winery, returns to Manhattan for his last scheduled New York City gig this year, a free concert Wednesday night in Madison Square Park. On a bit of a resurgence since the release of his outstanding 2007 disc, TRY ME ONE MORE TIME, his first in seventeen years, Bromberg will be joined by Nate Grower on fiddle, Butch Amiot on bass, and Mitch Corbin on various stringed instruments. The guitar virtuoso and fine violin maker mixes folk, blues, ragtime, and bluegrass like nobody’s business, whether he’s playing solo, with the David Bromberg Quartet, the Bromberg Big Band, or the Angel Band. Bromberg, who will go solo September 4 at Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, is also staging a summer workshop this weekend at Ashokan Center in the Catskills, which includes a Friday-night concert and hands-on instructions from the master himself. We’ve caught Bromberg in several incarnations over the last few years, and he never fails to put on an entertaining show, so don’t miss this great chance to see him at a beautiful venue, and for free.

THE TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD BOOK CLUB

“Bardo: Tibetan Art of the Afterlife” looks at death at the Rubin Museum

Rubin Museum of Art
150 West 17th St. at Seventh Ave.
Wednesdays through August 25, $20 per session, 7:00
212-620-5000
www.rmanyc.org/bookofthedead

Last Wednesday the Rubin Museum of Art began its seven-part series on the THE TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD, led by Dr. Ramon Prats, by examining “Addiction and Attachments” with Dr. Gabor Maté. This week, the discussion of the eighth-century funerary text also known as PROFOUND DHARMA OF SELF-LIBERATION THROUGH THE INTENTION OF THE PEACEFUL AND WRATHFUL ONES turns to “The Near-Death Experience” with Prof. Lee W. Bailey and continues with future talks on “The Analysis of Dreams” with psychoanalyst Morgan Stebbins (July 21), “The Death of Death” with Rabbi Neil Gillman (July 28), “The Egyptian Book of the Dead” with Brooklyn Museum curator Edward Bleiberg (August 11), “Channeling the Dead” with medium Jesse Bravo (August 18), and “How to Die” with Roshi Enkyo O’Hara (August 25). Actually, just about everything at the Rubin right now is about death. “Memento Mori,” the Cabaret Cinema series of Friday night films (free with $7 bar minimum), begins this week with Jean-Luc Godard’s 1965 noir PIERROT LE FOU and also features Robin Hardy’s awesome 1973 horror classic, THE WICKER MAN (July 23), Ingmar Bergman’s very funny THE SEVENTH SEAL (July 30), Pier Paolo Pasolini’s IL DECAMERON (August 6) and IL FIORE DELLE MILLE E UNA NOTTE (August 20), Frank Capra’s LOST HORIZON (August 27), and Philip Kaufman’s excellent 1978 remake, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (September 3).

Several of the current exhibitions at the museum also take a fascinating look at the end of physical being. “Bardo: Tibetan Art of the Afterlife,” which runs through September 6, delves into the BARDO THODROL, aka THE TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD, with original illuminated manuscripts, ritual cards, and other items than take visitors into different worlds of existence. Through August 9, “Remember That You Will Die: Death Across Cultures” explores the art of death as seen in European Christianity and Tibetan Buddhism, including a topography of the afterlife, an intriguing video installation by Bill Viola, and paintings, sculpture, and ritual objects. (Also on view is the excellent “In the Shadow of Everest,” Tom Wool’s photographs taken in May 2001; the terrific “From the Land of the Gods: Art of the Kathmandu Valley”; and “Tradition Transformed: Tibetan Artists Respond,” featuring works by contemporary Tibetan artists.)

SUMMER FILM SERIES: ANDREI TARKOVSKY

A triple play of the work of Andrei Tarkovsky, including the original SOLARIS, will screen at the Philoctetes Center this month

The Philoctetes Center
247 East 82nd St.
Wednesday, July 14, 21, 28, suggested donation $5, 7:00
646-422-0544
www.philoctetes.org

Russian master Andrei Tarkovsky made only seven feature films in his too-brief career, as he died from lung cancer in 1986 at the age of fifty-four. But what a resume he compiled, creating his own visual language and style in such seminal works as THE SACRIFICE, NOSTALGHIA, STALKER, and IVAN’S CHILDHOOD. His three other films will be part of a summer series running this month at the Philoctetes Center for the Multidisciplinary Study of the Imagination. Prepare to be amazed.

The long, meditative ANDREI RUBLEV kicks off Tarkovsky series at the Philoctetes Center

ANDREI RUBLEV (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1966)
Wednesday, July 14, suggested donation $5, 7:00
www.kino.com

Andrei Tarkovsky’s marvelous — and very long, at nearly three and a half hours — study of Russian religious painter and monk Andrei Rublev is breathtaking in its epic scope and sublime beauty. Anatoli Solonitsyn stars in this primarily black-and-white tale that has the look and feel of an old classic Russian film from the 1930s (or earlier). It is about faith, about the earth, and about as slow moving as a film can get. The section about the bell is unforgettable. As with several of Tarkovsky’s films, it was cowritten by Andrei Konchalovsky, who made an attempt at Hollywood in the 1980s, churning out such terrible fare as HOMER & EDDIE and TANGO & CASH following a decent start with MARIA’S LOVERS and RUNAWAY TRAIN.

SOLARIS (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972)
Wednesday, July 21, suggested donation $5, 7:00
www.kino.com

Natalya Bondarchuk and Donatus Banionis star in the Russian 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, in which something strange is going on in outer space that is unexplainable to both the characters in the film and the people in the audience. Banionis plays Chris Kelvin, who is sent to the Solaris space station to decide whether to put an end to the solaristics project that Burton (Vladislav Dvorzhetsky) complicated twenty years before. What he discovers is one death, two possibly insane men, and his supposedly dead wife (Bondarchuk). Ambiguity reigns supreme in this gorgeously shot (in color and black and white) and scored film that, while technically sci-fi, is really about the human conscience, another gem from master Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky (IVAN’S CHILDHOOD, ANDREI RUBLEV, NOSTALGHIA). See it whether or not you checked out Steven Soderbergh’s underrated remake with George Clooney and Natascha McElhone.

THE MIRROR completes Tarkovsky hat trick at Philoctetes Center

THE MIRROR (ZERKALO) (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1975)
Wednesday, July 28, suggested donation $5, 7:00
www.kino.com

”Words can’t really express a person’s emotions. They’re too inert.” So says Andrei Tarkovsky in his dream-filled, surreal masterpiece THE MIRROR, which features long scenes with little or no dialogue. Tarkovsky turns the mirror on himself and his childhood to tell the fragmented and disjointed story of WWII-era Russia through his own personal experiences with his family. Tarkovsky was obsessed with film as art, and this nonlinear film is his poetic masterpiece; he even includes his father’s poems read over shots that are crafted as if paintings. Many of the actors play several roles; have fun trying to figure out who is who and what exactly is going on at any one moment.

LAURIE ANDERSON: ANOTHER DAY IN AMERICA

SONGS FROM THE NEW ALBUM HOMELAND & OTHER STORIES
(le) poisson rouge
158 Bleecker St.
Tuesday, July 13, $35, 10:00
212-228-4854
www.laurieanderson.com
www.myspace.com/lepoissonrougenyc

This fall, innovative multimedia artist Laurie Anderson will perform the New York premiere of her 2010 Vancouver Olympics commission, DELUSION, as part of the BAM Next Wave Festival. But Anderson fans don’t have to wait until then to see the experimental guru, who will be celebrating the release of her latest album, HOMELAND (Nonesuch, July 2010), with a special intimate concert at le poisson rouge on July 13. Consisting of Anderson’s trademark violin-based soundscapes and talk-singing, the record features such poetic tales as “Transitory Life,” “Strange Perfumes,” “Flow,” and “Bodies in Motion.” HOMELAND’s guest roster includes Lou Reed, Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons, and the great Kieran Hebden, also known as Four Tet; the CD/DVD package comes with a thirty-six-page book and a forty-two-minute art documentary.

Laurie Anderson featured songs from her new album, HOMELAND, at intimate show at (le) poisson rouge (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Update: Laurie Anderson burst onto the music scene in 1981 with the surprise success of “O Superman,” an experimental song dedicated to composer Jules Massenet that had all the markings of a one-off novelty hit. But in fact Anderson was a well-connected innovative performance artist who was soon presenting large, multimedia productions around the world, including “United States I-IV,” “Songs and Stories for Moby Dick,” and “Homeland,” incorporating stunning visuals and unique instrumentation (tape-bow violin, talking stick, and various voice filters) into her complex narratives. At the center of it all, however, outside of all the bells and whistles, is the music itself, as she proved at an intimate packed house at (le) poisson rouge on July 13. For ninety minutes, Anderson let the music do the talking, playing a stripped-down version of her brand-new album, HOMELAND, with Material’s Bill Laswell on bass, Rob Burger on keyboards and accordion, Antibalas’s Colin Stetson on various saxes and other brass, and a three-man team supplying backing vocals. Playing keyboards and violin and regularly channeling alter ego Fenway Bergamot, Anderson, in her trademark white shirt and thin black tie, delighted the crowd with splendid versions of “Only an Expert,” “The Beginning of Memory,” “Another Day in America,” “Falling,” and other tunes from HOMELAND, as well as bonus songs “Pictures and Things” and “Mambo and Bling,” commenting on the state of the nation, delving into politics, the economy, environmentalism, and other societal concerns. After the main set, Anderson came out for two encores, each time performing a virtuoso violin instrumental, then departing with a big smile on her face. (You can find more photos from the show on our flickr site here.)

FREE TATTOO? AND FREE CRUISE TIX?

Rocks Off Concert Cruises
Promotion continues through July 31
Participation: free
www.rocksoff.com

Back in April, we conducted a twi-ny talk with Jake Szufnarowski, the multitattooed musical mastermind behind the Rocks Off Concert Cruises. Then, last month, we offered free tickets to any of the shows running through September. Now Szuf Daddy has combined those two elements for a unique giveaway in honor of the tenth anniversary of Rocks Off. Through the end of July, anyone who gets a tattoo of the Rocks Off pirate fish or lettered logo, seen above, from New York Hardcore Tattoos will also get a pair of free tickets to the following five shows: the Pietasters on July 30, Cro-Mags on August 11, Murphy’s Law on August 12, H2O on August 22, and the Slackers on September 11. Hardcore is the only way to go, as the famous tattoo parlor is owned by Jimmy Gestapo of Murphy’s Law and Vinnie Stigma of Agnostic Front (who fought it out in one of the best battle of the bands ever at the Guggenheim in Matthew Barney’s awesome CREMASTER 3). And one lucky tattoo boy or girl who takes on the challenge will win one ticket to any Rocks Off cruise ever for the rest of eternity. Just make sure you coordinate in advance with Sancho Dominguez at sancho@rocksoff.com, otherwise it might be all for naught. And that wouldn’t be any fun, although it would still be pretty hardcore.

IMAGENATION OUTDOOR FILM & MUSIC FESTIVAL

Chris Hair takes a look at African American style in GOOD HAIR, which opens the ImageNation Outdoor Film & Music Festival on July 12

St. Nicholas Park
135th St. & St. Nicholas Ave.
July 12- August 16, music at 7:30, film screening at 8:30
212-340-1874
www.imagenation.us

The ImageNation Outdoor Film & Music Festival begins July 12, kicking off eleven free programs of live music and film screenings held over five weeks, several nights of which are also part of the Historic Harlem Parks Coalition Film Festival. ImageNation, which “fosters media equity, media literacy, solidarity, cross-cultural exchange, and highlights the humanity of Pan-African people worldwide,” will be pairing live performances with select films, held primarily in St. Nicholas Park, in addition to one special evening in Marcus Garvey Park. The series gets under way tonight with Black Sheep, followed by Jeff Stilson’s award-winning 2009 documentary GOOD HAIR, in which Chris Rock examines African American hairstyles, and continues with such duos as STILL BILL, Damani Baker and Alex Vlack’s 2009 doc about Bill Withers, with Jeremy Jones performing live July 15 in Marcus Garvey Park; Stanley Nelson’s FREEDOM RIDERS with Nokie Henry; DJA-RARA playing on July 28 before Jeremy Robins’s 2008 documentary, THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WATER, about the Haitian band; and the Bandroids rocking out prior to the August 15 screening of Bill Guttentag and Don Sturman’s SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION.

SUMMER RESTAURANT WEEK

Café Boulud is one of more than 250 dining establishments participating in Summer Restaurant Week

Multiple locations
July 12-25; extended through September 6
Lunch $24.07, dinner $35
www.nycgo.com/restaurantweek

The summer edition of NYC Restaurant Week begins July 12, so you better act fast if you want to get that coveted table at some of the city’s hottest dining establishments. Among the more than 250 participating eateries serving $24.07 lunches and $35 dinners are 5 Ninth, Adour Alain Ducasse, Asiate, Café Boulud, Capsouto Freres, Gotham Bar & Grill, I Trulli, Les Halles, Mercer Kitchen, Nice Matin, Oceana, the Palm, Quality Meats, the River Café, Spice Market, Tabla, Tao, and Water’s Edge. Be sure to check your desired location online, since many of the restaurants post exactly what the special menu consists of so you know just what treats you’re in for. (Note: Summer Restaurant Week has been extended through September 6.)