this week in music

MIDNIGHT MOMENT CONCERT FOR DOGS: HEART OF A DOG BY LAURIE ANDERSON

Laurie Anderson has created a three-minute version of HEART OF A DOG that will be shown every night in January in Times Square — along with a special concert performance for dogs on January 4

Duffy Square, Times Square
Broadway between 46th & 47th Sts.
Monday, January 4, free, 11:00 pm
www.timessquarenyc.org
www.laurieanderson.com

Multidisciplinary performance artist Laurie Anderson has created a special three-minute version of her latest film, the poetic and deeply personal Heart of a Dog, that will be shown every evening from 11:57 pm to 12 midnight on fifteen signs throughout Times Square as part of the monthly Midnight Moment program, which turns the Crossroads of the World into an enormous digital art gallery courtesy of the Times Square Advertising Coalition and Times Square Arts. Her first full-length film since 1986’s Home of the Brave, Heart of a Dog, which is about the death of her beloved rat terrier, Lolabelle, and the loss of her husband, Lou Reed, has been shortlisted for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar; for Midnight Moment, Anderson has edited it down to a visual collage from a section about consciousness and The Tibetan Book of the Dead. “I love Times Square. It’s a dream,” Anderson said in a statement. “Desire, speed, the explosions of color, patterns and energy. What a great way to start the New Year! The ball drops and Heart of a Dog leaps onto all those massive screens at three minutes to midnight. Who could have predicted the unraveling dreams of my dog would be magnified up there like this? And sound too!” On January 4, Anderson will present the free, one-time-only “Midnight Moment Concert for Dogs,” a performance being held in honor of 9/11 first-responder canines; from 11:00 to 11:15 pm in Duffy Square, silent-disco headphones will be distributed to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. The audience will include dogs from the NYPD, MTA, and other city agencies, along with their handlers; the public is encouraged to bring their dogs as well. At 11:30, the concert will begin, broadcast through the headphones in addition to low-decibel speakers for the dogs. At 11:57, the three-minute version of Heart of a Dog will be shown, just as it will be every night in January. It should be another fascinating work from Anderson, who continues to test the boundaries of art, music, and film time and time again.

NEW YEAR’S EVE COUNTDOWN TO 2016

The seventh annual live webcast of the ball drop in Times Square will begin at 6:00 pm, kicking off more than six hours of commercial-free live music, celebrity interviews, and behind-the-scenes stories as 2015 turns into 2016. Host Allison Hagendorf will be joined by Maggie Rulli, Andrea Boehlke, and Jeremy Hassell, with performances by Daya (“Hide Away”), Maluma and La Banda with Becky G., and Jessie J, who will play throughout the webcast, including “Imagine” right before midnight. Up through 12:15 am, the webcast will follow four themes: “One World Revealed,” “The Story Behind the Show,” “Times Square,” and “Celebration, Reflection, and Renewal.”

STEVE EARLE WINTER RESIDENCY

Steve Earle will be joined by John Doe on January 19 at City Winery

City Winery
155 Varick St. at Vandam St.
January 2, 11, 19, 27, $45-$65, 8:00
212-608-0555
www.citywinery.com
www.steveearle.com

Singer, songwriter, actor, and activist Steve Earle returns to City Winery for his annual winter residency in January, teaming up with specially selected guests for one-of-a-kind experiences. He’ll be shuttling back and forth between the City Winery locations in Chicago, Nashville, and here in New York, where he will be performing January 2, 11, 19, and 27. On January 2, he’ll be joined by Aoife O’Donovan, the Massachusetts native whose second album, In the Magic Hour, is due January 22. On January 11, Earle will hang out with Nashville’s Nikki Lane, the self-described First Lady of Outlaw Country, whose sophomore record, All or Nothin’, came out in May 2014 and was produced by the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach. Earle was once considered the future of outlaw country himself, so they should make a good duo. On January 19, Earle will take the stage with the one and only John Doe of X and the Knitters for some high-falutin’ punkabilly fun. Earle’s residency concludes January 27 with Kevn Kinney from Atlanta’s Drivin’ n’ Cryin’, whose most recent album is 2012’s A Good Country Mile with the Golden Palominos. Earle fans might also want to check out Steve’s son, Justin Townes Earle, who will be playing City Winery on January 6 & 7, with Frankie Lee opening.

A DARLENE LOVE CHRISTMAS: LOVE FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Darlene Love brings her annual Christmas show to B. B. King’s December 23 & 26 and January 2

Who: Darlene Love
What: Annual Christmas show
When: Wednesday, December 23, Saturday, December 26, and Saturday, January 2, $45-$50, 8:00
Where: B. B. King Blues Club & Grill, 237 West 42nd St. between Broadway & Eighth Ave., 212-997-4144
Why: If you’re like us, one of the saddest parts of David Letterman’s retirement was not ever being able to see the one and only Darlene Love tear down the Ed Sullivan Theater again performing her rousing rendition of “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home).” But you don’t have to miss out, as you can catch the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer at B. B. King’s, playing her annual holiday show at the Times Square music palace, which will be experiencing its first Christmas without its founder, who died in May at the age of eighty-eight. Love will be mixing in songs from throughout her career, from 1960s hits (“He’s a Rebel,” “He’s Sure the Boy I Love,” “Da Doo Ron Ron”) to holidays faves (including “Marshmallow World” from A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector) to tunes from her latest release, September’s Introducing Darlene Love, which was produced by Steve Van Zandt and features new and old tunes by Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Linda Perry, Jimmy Webb, Joan Jett, and others.

RONNIE SPECTOR’S BEST CHRISTMAS PARTY EVER

Ronnie Spector will celebrate a musical Christmas at City Winery on December 22 & 23

Ronnie Spector will celebrate a musical Christmas season at City Winery on January 5 & 12

Who: Ronnie Spector
What: “Ronnie Spector’s Best Christmas Party Ever”
Where: City Winery, 155 Varick St. between Spring & Vandam Sts., 212-608-0555
When: Tuesday, January 5 & 12 (rescheduled from Tuesday, December 22, and Wednesday, December 23), $50-$75, 8:00
Why: Spanish Harlem native Ronnie Spector’s traveling show, “Ronnie Spector’s Best Christmas Ever,” which was scheduled to come to City Winery on December 22 & 23, has been postponed till January 5 & 12, when Spector will be celebrating the holiday season as only the self-described “Bad Girl” and former Ronettes singer can. Spector will be featuring songs from her 2010 Christmas EP, which includes “My Christmas Wish,” “It’s the Time (Happy Holidays),” “Light One Candle,” “Best Christmas Ever,” and “It’s Christmas Once Again,” in addition to favorites from 1963’s classic A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector, on which the Ronettes famously sing “Frosty the Snowman,” “Sleigh Ride,” and “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.”

DIVA JAZZ ORCHESTRA CELEBRATES ELLA FITZGERALD’S SWINGIN’ CHRISTMAS

DIVA Jazz Orchestra will pay tribute to Ella Fitzgerald Christmas album at JALC this weekend (photo by Lawrence Sumulong)

Who: The DIVA Jazz Orchestra with vocalists Camille Thurman, Christine Fawson, and Sue Giles
What: Holiday concerts
Where: Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Broadway & 60th St., fifth floor, 212-258-9595
When: December 18-20, $40-$45 cover charge, 7:30 & 9:30
Why: The twelve-piece, New York-based, all-woman DIVA Jazz Orchestra, led by drummer Sherrie Maricle, pays tribute to the fifty-fifth anniversary of Ella Fitzgerald’s Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas by playing selections from that classic album, which features such seasonal favorites as “Jingle Bells,” “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “Winter Wonderland,” and “White Christmas.”

GOTHAM HOLIDAY SWING

Buster Poindexter hosts third annual Gotham Holiday Swing at the Town Hall

Who: Henry Butler, Steven Bernstein & the Hot 9, Madeleine Peyroux, Raul Midon, Mercury Rev, Hal Willner, Carole Bufford, Basya Schechter, Terry Reid, Lee Fields, and Basya Schechter, hosted by Buster Poindexter
What: Third annual Gotham Holiday Swing variety show
Where: The Town Hall, 123 West 43rd St. between Sixth Ave. & Broadway, 212-997-6661
When: Friday, December 18, $45-$65, doors at 7:30
Why: Buster Poindexter hosts an evening of old and new holiday favorites melding the jazz-soul sounds of New York City and New Orleans at the Town Hall, where he will be joined by an impressive gathering of vocalists, producer extraordinaire Hal Willner, experimental band Mercury Rev, and house band Butler, Bernstein & the Hot 9, a new collaboration between Henry Butler and Steven Bernstein. The show is part of a food drive in which the Town Hall is partnering with City Harvest; attendees are encouraged to donate dried food and food in boxes, cans, and bottles the night of the performance.