this week in music

JANUARY PERFORMANCE FESTIVALS

Who: COIL
What: Interdisciplinary festival featuring dance, theater, music, art, and discussion, organized by PS 122
Where: Baryshnikov Arts Center, Chocolate Factory, Vineyard Theatre, Invisible Dog Art Center, the Swiss Institute, Asia Society, Parkside Lounge, New Ohio Theatre, Danspace Project, Times Square
When: January 2-17, free – $30
Why: Dancers and choreographers Molly Lieber and Eleanor Smith in Rude World; Temporary Distortion’s durational multimedia live installation My Voice Has an Echo in It; Faye Driscoll’s extraordinary, interactive Thank You for Coming: Attendance; Alexandra Bachzetsis’s Diego Velázquez-inspired From A to B via C

Who: Under the Radar Festival and Incoming!
What: Interdisciplinary festival featuring dance, theater, music, and art, organized by the Public Theater
Where: The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St., and La MaMa, 74 East Fourth St.
When: January 7-18, free – $40
Why: Daniel Fish’s A (radically condensed and expanded) Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again based on audio recordings of David Foster Wallace; Marie-Caroline Hominal’s The Triumph of Fame, a one-on-one performance inspired by Petrarch’s “I Trionfi”; Taylor Mac’s A 24-Decade History of Popular Music: 1900-1950s; Toshi Reagon’s Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower: The Concert Version; Reggie Watts’s Audio Abramović, in which Watts will go eye-to-eye with individuals for five minutes

Who: American Realness
What: Interdisciplinary festival featuring dance, theater, music, art, conversation, discussion, readings, and a workshop, organized by Abrons Arts Center
Where: Abrons Arts Center, 466 Grand St.
When: January 8-18, $20
Why: World premiere of Jack Ferver’s Night Light Bright Light; Cynthia Hopkins’s A Living Documentary; Tere O’Connor’s Undersweet; Luciana Achugar’s Otro Teatro: The Pleasure Project; My Barbarian’s The Mother and Other Plays; Dynasty Handbag’s Soggy Glasses, a Homo’s Odyssey

Who: Prototype
What: Festival of opera, theater, music, and conversation
Where: HERE, St. Paul’s Chapel, La MaMa, St. Ann’s Warehouse, Park Ave. Armory, Joe’s Pub
When: January 8-17, $22-$75
Why: The Scarlet Ibis, inspired by James Hurst’s 1960 short story; Carmina Slovenica’s Toxic Psalms; Bora Yoon’s Sunken Cathedral; Ellen Reid and Amanda Jane Shark’s Winter’s Child

winter jazzfest

Who: Winter Jazzfest NYC
What: More than one hundred jazz groups playing multiple venues in and around Greenwich Village
Where: The Blue Note, (le) poisson rouge, Judson Church, the Bitter End, Subculture, Bowery Electric, others
When: January 8-10, $25-$145
Why: Catherine Russell, David Murray Infinity Quartet with Saul Williams, Jovan Alexandre & Collective Consciousness, Marc Ribot & the Young Philadelphians with Strings, So Percussion Feat. Man Forever, Theo Bleckmann Quartet with Ambrose Akinmusire, and David Murray Clarinet Summit with Don Byron, David Krakauer, and Hamiet Bluiett

VIDEO OF THE DAY: “THE DREAM’S IN THE DITCH” BY DEER TICK

Who: Deer Tick
What: Six-night residency playing full cover albums and original songs in honor of band’s tenth anniversary
Where: Brooklyn Bowl, 61 Wythe Ave., 718-963-3369
When: December 26-31, $25
Why: 12/26 — NRBQ’s Tiddly Winks, DT’s War Elephant; 12/27 — Lou Reed’s Transformer, DT originals; 12/28 — the Beatles’ Meet the Beatles, DT originals; 12/29 — Devo’s Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, DT originals; 12/30 — Elvis Costello’s My Aim Is True, DT originals; 12/31 — fan-chosen set

VIDEO OF THE DAY: “AFRAID” BY AMEL LARRIEUX

Who: Amel Larrieux
What: Amel Larrieux: A Blissful Holiday
Where: City Winery, 155 Varick St., 212-608-0555
When: Friday, December 26, $24-$45, 8:00
Why: An activist, a self-described “urban chanteuse by birth,” and cofounder of Groove Theory, Amel Larrieux has released such solo records as Infinite Possibilities, Morning, and Ice Cream Everyday; “when i wrote ‘Danger’ for my latest project,” she recently blogged, “i truly did not expect i would be dedicating it to anyone so soon….”

VIDEO OF THE DAY: “LEKHA DODI” BY JOSHUA NELSON AND THE KOSHER GOSPEL CHOIR

Who: Joshua Nelson and the Kosher Gospel Choir
What: Christmas Day concert melding Jewish lyrics with gospel music
Where: Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Pl., 646-437-4202
When: Thursday, December 25, $35, 1:00 & 3:30
Why: Joshua Nelson is the Prince of Kosher Gospel, having recorded unique versions of “Adon Olam,” “Hine Ma Tov,” and “Lekha Dodi,” among other favorites; in addition, the museum is open, featuring such exhibits as “Against the Odds: American Jews and the Rescue of Europe’s Refugees, 1933-1945” and “A Town Known as Auschwitz: The Life and Death of a Jewish Community”

VIDEO OF THE DAY: “EAST JERUSALEM / WEST JERUSALEM” BY DAVID BROZA

Who: David Broza and friends
What: Nineteenth annual Not Exactly Christmas Eve Concert
Where: 92nd St. Y, Kaufmann Concert Hall, 1395 Lexington Ave. at 92nd St., 212-415-5500
When: Wednesday, December 24, $59-$92, 7:30
Why: Israeli superstar troubadour David Broza performs on Christmas Eve in New York City with guitarists Julio Fernandez and Yonatan Levi, saxophonist Jay Beckenstein, bassist Uri Kleinman, and drummers Yoni Halevi and Yuval Lion in support of his latest album, East Jerusalem / West Jerusalem (S-Curve, January 14, 2014) and the forthcoming documentary about the making of the record

THE GAITS: A HIGH LINE SOUNDWALK

Free smartphone app turns High Line walk into an audio adventure

Free smartphone app turns High Line walk into audio adventure

Who: Composers Laine Fefferman, Jascha Narveson, and N. Cameron Britt and software developer Daniel Iglesia
What: Make Music Winter festival
Where: The High Line, Gansevoort & Washington Sts. to West 30th St.
When: Sunday, December 21, free, 5:00 – 6:30 pm
Why: Free downloadable app turns walk along the High Line into an unusual soundscape; portable speakers encouraged (first one hundred participants can borrow a wearable speaker for free); among the other free Make Music Winter events on December 21 are Tom Peyton’s “Bell by Bell,” the Nick Horner Family’s “Flat Foot Flatbush,” J. C. King’s “Kalimbascope,” Hiroya Miura’s “Lightmotif,” Malcolm J. Merriweather’s “Pilgrimage,” James Holt’s “Prelude,” Daniel Goode’s “Soho Gamelan Walk,” and Nissim Schaul’s “Wheels”