this week in music

SUPER SÁBADO: CARNAVAL!

carnaval

FREE THIRD SATURDAYS
El Museo del Barrio
1230 Fifth Ave. at 104th St.
Saturday, February 20, free, 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
212-831-7272
www.elmuseo.org

El Museo del Barrio celebrates carnaval with the February edition of its free third Saturdays Super Sábado program. There will be a Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concert featuring Nation Beat; a meet-and-greet with NYC family ambassador Dora the Explorer; an arteXplorers Family Corner activity card; Colorín Colorado . . . with Something Positive Inc. bringing the story “Come Dance with Me” to life with carnaval characters Jab Molassie and Dame Lorraine and a participatory procession; a Movement Workshop with dancers from Conjunto Nuevo Milenio teaching traditional dances from El Palenque; a Manos a la Obra art workshop in which kids can make their own vejigante mask; and guided tours of the exhibitions “The Illusive Eye” and “Figure and Form: Recent Acquisitions to the Permanent Collection.”

TIBET HOUSE US BENEFIT CONCERT 2016

Who: Artistic director Philip Glass, Basia Bulat, Dechen Shak Dagsay, FKA twigs, Foday Musa Suso, Gogol Bordello, Iggy Pop, Lavinia Meijer, Sharon Jones, the Patti Smith Band, Scorchio String Quartet, and more performers to be announced, with honorary chairs Chuck Close, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, and Arden Wohl
What: Twenty-sixth annual concert raising funds for the nonprofit Tibet House US, celebrating the Year of the Monkey and Tibetan New Year
Where: Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage, 881 Seventh Ave. at 57th St., 212-247-7800
When: Monday, February 22, $35-$200 (special packages with meet-and-greets and dinner reception start at $500), 7:30
Why: Tibet House US was founded in 1987 at the request of the Dalai Lama, “dedicated to preserving Tibet’s unique culture at a time when it is confronted with extinction on its own soil”; the annual benefit concert is always one of the cultural highlights of the year in New York City.

GUIDO VAN DER WERVE: NUMMER ZESTIEN, THE PRESENT MOMENT

Three-channel audiovisual installation by Guido van der Werve explores the id, ego, and superego in provocative ways (photo © Guido van der Werve / courtesy of the artist and Luhring Augustine, New York)

Luhring Augustine
531 West 24th St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.
Through February 17, free, 10:00 am — 6:00 pm
212-206-9100
www.luhringaugustine.com

Locations for Dutch artist, triathlete, and classically trained pianist Guido van der Werve’s previous films have included Mount St. Helens, the San Andreas Fault, the summit of Aconcagua in the Andes, the North Pole, and the Arctic Ocean, where he walked across an iceberg while being trailed by a huge ship. For his latest work, Nummer zestien, the present moment, making its debut at Luhring Augustine in Chelsea through February 17, van der Werve, a classically trained pianist who is based in Finland, Amsterdam, and Berlin, takes viewers inside his head, where he explores characters relating to his id, ego, and superego. The three-channel installation follows a trio of groups, one depicting older, naked men and women as they go through such daily activities of waking up, eating, and napping; a second consisting of a mixed-age collection of men and women barefoot and dressed in black, doing yoga and meditating; and the third comprising younger men and women (professional porn actors) engaging in ever-more-intimate acts of sex, with nothing (and we mean nothing) held back. In the center of the gallery is a player piano, which plays a lovely score written and performed by van der Werve, who is not appearing in one of his films for the first time; there’s not even a piano bench for visitors to contemplate his physical presence. The film is divided into twelve sections, each dedicated to a different sign of the zodiac and time of year; the camera movement on all three screens slowly traces the outline of the constellation in the sky. The action on each screen is set in a black room with a soft floor, a kind of visual psyche that highlights the whiteness of the all-Caucasian cast. In addition to relating to Freud’s theories about personality, Nummer zestien, the present moment also brings up issues of life and death as the three groups of people continue their own explorations of the mind and/or body. Van der Werve, who specializes in making films that portray durational activities, has created yet another involving, provocative work, one that will have you considering your own place in the universe, at the present moment.

INSPIRATIONAL BROADWAY

A bevy of Broadway favorites will gather at B. B. King’s to benefit BIV on February 15

Who: Michael McElroy & the Broadway Inspirational Voices with special guests Billy Porter, Joshua Henry, Marcus Paul James, Adam Pascal, Telly Leung, Jarrod Spector, La Chanze, Lindsay Mendez, Chad Kimball, and Norm Lewis
What: All-star benefit for Broadway Inspirational Voices
Where: B. B. King Blues Club & Grill, 237 West 42nd St. between Broadway & Eighth Ave., 212-997-4144
When: Monday, February 15, $30-$175, 7:30
Why: Founded in 1994, Broadway Inspirational Voices is a nonprofit dedicated to “providing hope to inspire and transform youth in need through music and the arts.” On Presidents Day, B. B. King Blues Club & Grill will host a benefit for the organization’s outreach programs; the evening will be led by BIV founder Michael McElroy (Big River) and members of the BIV choir ensemble, joined by a sensational group of special guests comprising Tony winners, nominees, and other Broadway favorites. The diverse cast features Billy Porter (Kinky Boots), Joshua Henry (The Scottsboro Boys), Marcus Paul James (Motown the Musical), Adam Pascal (Rent), Telly Leung (Allegiance), Jarrod Spector (Beautiful), La Chanze (The Color Purple), Lindsay Mendez (Wicked), Chad Kimball (Memphis), and Norm Lewis (Porgy & Bess), performing Broadway, Gospel, pop, and rock songs under the musical direction of James Sampliner (Honeymoon in Vegas).

TICKET ALERT: BRYAN FERRY AT THE BEACON

Who: Bryan Ferry
What: Avonmore Tour
Where: Beacon Theatre, 2124 Broadway between West 74th & 75th Sts.
When: Wednesday, July 27, and Friday, July 29, $59.50 – $200
Why: Tickets go on sale Friday, February 12, at 12 noon to see one of the most stylish men in the history of rock and roll. The one and only Bryan Ferry is returning to New York City for two shows in July at the Beacon, extending his tour behind his latest album, November 2014’s Avonmore. Over the last few years, the former leader of Roxy Music has been reinventing himself as a Jazz Age crooner, singing standards as well as cool takes on old solo and Roxy classics. Avonmore goes back to the sound that made Ferry famous, from haunting ballads to his unique brand of highly literate dance pop, including such originals as “Soldier of Fortune,” “One Night Stand,” “Midnight Train,” and “A Special Kind of Guy” in addition to covers of “Send in the Clowns” and Robert Palmer’s “Johnny and Mary.” Judging by setlists from last fall, you’re in for quite a treat if you can grab tickets to these shows and catch this very special kind of guy.

LUNAR NEW YEAR 4714: THE YEAR OF THE MONKEY

lunar new year 4714

Sara D. Roosevelt Park and other locations
East Houston St. between Forsythe & Chrystie Sts.
February 8-28, free – $200
www.betterchinatown.com
www.explorechinatown.com

Gōng xǐ fā cái! New York City is ready to celebrate the Year of the Monkey this month with special events all over town. The seventeenth New Year Firecracker Ceremony and Cultural Festival will explode in and around Sara D. Roosevelt Park on February 8 at 11:00 am, with live music and dance, speeches by politicians, drum groups, lion, dragon, and unicorn dancers making their way through local businesses, and more than half a million rounds of firecrackers warding off evil spirits and welcoming in a prosperous new year. Also on February 8, China Institute will host “A Taste of Chinese New Year” (free, 12 noon – 5:00 pm) featuring Mandarin classes, a China Ink workshop, and more; on February 13 (free, 12 noon – 5:00), China Institute invites everyone back for a family celebration including lion dances, kung fu demonstrations, arts & crafts, and dumplings.

The New York Philharmonic gets into the party spirit with Long Yu conducting a multimedia Chinese New Year Concert at David Geffen Hall on February 9 ($35-$110, 7:30) with violinist Maxim Vengerov and harpist Nancy Allen performing Li Huanzhi’s “Spring Festival Overture,” Chen Gang and He Zhanhao’s “The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto,” Kreisler’s “Tambourin Chinois,” and Tan Dun’s “Nu Shu: The Secret Songs of Women.” The Flushing Lunar New Year Parade takes place February 13 at 9:30. Dr. Hsing-Lih Chou has again curated a Lunar New Year Dance Sampler at Flushing Town Hall on February 14 (free, 12 noon). The seventeenth annual Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade and Festival will wind its way through Chinatown, Sara D. Roosevelt Park, and Columbus Park on February 14 starting at 1:00, with cultural booths in the park and a parade with floats, antique cars, live performances, and much more from China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, and other nations. The annual family festival at the Queens Botanical Garden is set for February 20 ($2-$4, 1:00 – 3:00). The New York Chinese Cultural Center will present a Lunar New Year program with folk dances, paper cutting, calligraphy, and lion dances at the Bronx Museum of the Arts also on February 20 (free, 2:00 – 4:00).

The Museum of Chinese in America celebrates the holiday with its annual Lunar New Year Family Festival on February 20 ($10, 11:00 am – 4:00 pm) with live music and dance, demonstrations and workshops, storytelling, arts and crafts, and more. One of our favorite restaurants, Xi’an Famous Foods, will be hosting a Lunar New Year Festival concert at Terminal 5 on February 20 ($60-$200, 5:30) with Far East Movement, Kimberley Chen, Soft Lipa, and Kina Grannis, benefiting Apex for Youth. There will be a Hao Bang Ah Monkey Puppet Show by Chinese Theatre Works, calligraphy workshops, a zodiac-themed scavenger hunt, and arts & crafts at the Prospect Park Zoo and the Queens Zoo on February 27-28 ($6-$8). And finally, the Lantern Festival is set for February 28 (free, 11:30 am – 3:30 pm) in Sunset Park on Eighth Ave. between Fifty-Third & Fifty-Fifth Sts.

DAVE STEWART IN CONVERSATION WITH MICK ROCK

Dave Stewart will discuss his new memoir at B&N on February 10 with Mick Rock

Who: Dave Stewart and Mick Rock
What: Conversation about new book
Where: Barnes & Noble, 150 East 86th St. at Lexington Ave., 212-369-2180
When: Wednesday February 10, free, 7:00
Why: “I love Dave’s constant creative search and his passion for making music; I love the fact that he’s constantly pushing the boundaries of what we think is possible,” Mick Jagger writes in the foreword to Dave Stewart’s memoir, Sweet Dreams Are Made of This: A Life in Music (New American Library, February 9, $27.95). “He creates a fertile environment in which it’s almost impossible not to be creative and innovative. This environment includes a compulsory martini at seven thirty in the evening, although by ten thirty, no one has gone home and everyone in the control room is dancing.” British songwriter, musician, and producer Stewart will be at the 86th St. B&N on February 10 to discuss his brand-new book, which details his life and times from a small child through his glory years with Annie Lennox in the Eurythmics to his collaborations with such superstars as Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, George Harrison, Stevie Nicks, Tom Petty, Jagger, and so many others. “I’ve had the chance to experience this wonderful state of being in the moment with some of the greatest artists on the planet,” Stewart, who also delves into his battle with pheochromocytoma, explains in the introduction. Legendary photographer Mick Rock, who has shot such musicians as Syd Barrett, Joan Jett, David Bowie, Alicia Keys, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Queen, Ellie Goulding, the Sex Pistols, Snoop Dogg, the Killers, Michael Buble, and Daft Punk, will host the conversation. Preferred seating is available for this wristband event with the purchase of the book at the store; no word yet on whether martinis will be served.