this week in music

MURAKAMI MUSIC: STORIES OF LOSS AND NOSTALGIA

Baruch Performing Arts Center
Engelman Recital Hall
55 Lexington Ave. between Lexington & Third Aves.
Saturday, November 1, $25, 8:00
www.baruch.cuny.edu
www.eunbikimmusic.com

One of the greatest living novelists in the world, Japanese author Haruki Murakami’s intoxicating prose flows like music. A jazz aficionado, he even named one of his earliest books Norwegian Wood, after the Beatles song, while the massive IQ84 is like an opera itself. The title of his latest novel, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage (Knopf, August 2014, $26.95), is in part inspired by Franz Liszt’s Years of Pilgrimage suite. As Haida and Tsukuru listen to Liszt’s “Le mal du pays,” Tsukuru asks, “Who’s the pianist here?” to which Haida responds, “ A Russian, Lazar Berman. When he plays Liszt it’s like he’s painting a delicately imagined landscape. Most people see Liszt’s piano music as more superficial, and technical. Of course, he has some tricky pieces, but if you listen very carefully to his music you discover a depth to it that you don’t notice at first.” The same can be said for Murakami’s books; many of his protagonists give mini-dissertations on music, and while The Wind-up Bird Chronicle and Kafka on the Shore are more difficult narratives, the deceptive simplicity of Norwegian Wood and After Dark contains layers of complexities. On November 1 at 8:00, New York City-based pianist Eunbi Kim will bring “Murakami Music: Stories of Loss and Nostalgia” to the Baruch Performing Arts Center, a multidisciplinary evening of music based on Murakami’s writings, along with excerpts from his work performed by actress Laura Yumi Snell. Part of Kim’s Murakami Music Project, the sixty-minute show, presented by the Long Island City art gallery Resobox, is directed by Kira Simring and includes performances of Schumann’s Forest Scenes, Op. 82; “Norwegian Wood”; Chopin’s Etude, Op. 25, No. 1; Mozart’s Sonata in B flat Major, K. 333; Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 2 in d minor, Op. 14; Nat King Cole’s “South of the Border” and “Pretend”; Grieg’s Norwegian Dance, Op. 35; and Kim’s own “Kafka on the Shore.” Kim will be joined by David Kjar on saxophone and Jeff Koch on upright bass. Meanwhile, Murakami fans are in for an extra treat this year, as his next album — er, book — the illustrated short story The Strange Library, is due from Knopf on December 2, featuring another marvelous album cover — er, book design — by Chip Kidd.

FIRST SATURDAYS: CROSSING BROOKLYN

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway at Washington St.
Saturday, November 1, free, 5:00 – 11:00
212-864-5400
www.brooklynmuseum.org

For its November edition of its free First Saturdays program, the Brooklyn Museum is looking at its home borough. Crossing Brooklyn will feature live performances by the PitchBlak Brass Band, Meridian Lights, John Robinson & PVD, and Norte Maar; a screening of the UnionDocs collaborative web documentary the Living Los Sures about the south side of Williamsburg; a book reading and talk by Bridgett M. Davis, author of Into the Go-Slow; a collage workshop; and a talk by assistant curator of contemporary art Rujeko Hockley on the exhibition “Crossing Brooklyn: Art from Bushwick, Bed-Stuy, and Beyond.” In addition, you can check out such other exhibitions as “Judith Scott — Bound and Unbound,” “Revolution! Works from the Black Arts Movement,” “Killer Heels: The Art of the High-Heeled Shoe,” and “Judy Chicago’s Feminist Pedagogy and Alternative Spaces.”

REVENGE OF THE MEKONS

Sally Timms and Jon Langford fight the curse of the Mekons in stirring documentary

REVENGE OF THE MEKONS (Joe Angio, 2013)
Film Forum
209 West Houston St.
October 29 – November 4
212-727-8110
www.mekonsmovie.com
www.docnyc.net

Called “the most revolutionary group in the history of rock ‘n’ roll” by Lester Bangs, the Mekons have been making some of the best music on the planet for more than thirty-five years. But despite a rabid fan base and constant critical adoration, the band, which formed at the University of Leeds back in 1977, has never quite made the big time. Joe Angio captures the wild, DIY spirit of this unique music and art collective in the stirring documentary Revenge of the Mekons. Angio (How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company [and Enjoy It]) follows the self-deprecating band — the members of which are quick to joke about their lack of financial and popular success, especially when they’re onstage and learn from fans that an upcoming gig has been canceled — as they celebrate their thirtieth anniversary and record their most recent excellent album, Ancient and Modern. Angio talks with the current Mekons lineup, which includes cofounders Tom Greenhalgh and Jon Langford along with Susie Honeyman, Rico Bell, Lu Edmonds, Sarah Corina, Steve Goulding, and Sally Timms, as well as such former members as Kevin Lycett, Mark “Chalkie” White, Andy Corrigan, and Dick Taylor, as they recount the band’s rollicking history, beginning with its Leeds days as a socialist punk band battling over shows with Gang of Four through its mid-1980s transformation into alt-country folk rockers.

Mekons doc is one heckuva wild and crazy show

Mekons doc is one helluva wild and crazy ride, just like their long career

Angio mixes in amazing raw footage from the 1970s with more contemporary scenes as the Mekons, with their usual reckless abandon and utter joyfulness, play such songs as “Where Were You,” “The Hope and the Anchor,” “Ghosts of American Astronauts,” “Millionaire,” “Hello Cruel World,” “Hard to Be Human,” “Memphis, Egypt,” and “The Curse.” Sharing their love of all things Mekons are such wide-ranging pundits as Jonathan Franzen, Greil Marcus, Gang of Four’s Hugo Burnham and Andy Gill, Will Oldham, Greg Kot, Craig Finn, Luc Sante, Mary Harron, and performance artist Vito Acconci. Back in October 2011, we wrote that “a world that includes the Mekons is just a better place for everyone,” and that still holds true. So start by watching this wonderfully crazy documentary, about a group of crazy characters who have formed a crazy kind of family, then go out and pick up such seminal records as Fear and Whiskey, The Mekons Honky Tonkin’, So Good It Hurts, The Mekons Rock‘n’Roll, Natural, Ancient Modern, etc., and be sure to catch them live when they come anywhere near your town. Revenge of the Mekons had its world premiere last November as part of the “Sonic Cinema” section of the annual DOC NYC festival and opens October 29 at Film Forum. Angio, Langford, and Goulding will be on hand for the 7:15 screening on opening night, with Angio and Langford back the next night at 9:30. Craig Finn of the Hold Steady will introduce the 7:15 show on November 1, while Sante will do the same on November 3 at 7:15 and Marcus on November 4 at 7:15. In conjunction with the U.S. theatrical release of the film, there will be an opening-night after-party concert with Langford at the Bell House in Brooklyn ($10, 9:00), followed the next night at 7:30 by a free Mekons Symposium at Columbia University’s Buell Hall, Maison Française on October 30 with Langford, Acconci, Harron, Franzen, Marcus, and Sante.

MET MUSEUM PRESENTS MALI NOW: BASSEKOU KOUYATÉ

Metropolitan Museum of Art
Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium
1000 Fifth Ave. at 82nd St.
Thursday, October 30, $35-$45, 7:00
212-570-3949
www.metmuseum.org
www.bassekoukouyate.com

Malian ngoni master Bassekou Kouyaté and his band, Ngoni ba, will conclude the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “Mali Now” series with an acoustic concert October 30 in the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium. The group has released three albums, 2007’s Segu Blue, 2009’s Grammy-nominated I Speak Fula, and the latest, last year’s Jama Ko, which was recorded during the 2012 coup d’état and includes such dramatic songs as “Ne Me Fatigue Pas,” “Wagadou,” and “Segu Jajiri.” The Garana-born Kouyaté, who has been playing the ngoni, also known as a spike lute, since he was twelve, has performed with Taj Mahal, Toumani Diabate, Paul McCartney, Damon Albarn, and others. “Mali Now” previously featured a concert by Salif Keita and a three-part talk by Henry Louis Gates Jr. on the cultural, historical, and political legacy and future of the African nation. If you haven’t been following the influx of terrific Malian music over the last few years, highlighted by Tinariwen, the Touré family, Oumou Sangaré, Salif Keita, and Amadou and Mariam, this show at the Met is a great place to start.

PAPER MUSIC: A CINÉ CONCERT BY PHILIP MILLER AND WILLIAM KENTRIDGE

Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall
881 Seventh Ave. at 57th St.
Monday, October 27, $44-$52, 7:30
www.carnegiehall.org

For more than twenty years, South African visual artist William Kentridge has been collaborating with South African musician and composer Philip Miller, from such short films as Felix in Exile, Monument, and Weighing and Wanting to such multimedia installations as “Breathe Dissolve Return” and “The Refusal of Time.” On October 27, Kentridge and Miller will present their latest work, “Paper Music: A Ciné Concert,” at Zankel Hall as part of Carnegie Hall’s UBUNTU Music and Arts of South Africa festival. The evening will be introduced by Kentridge and consist of screenings of several short films with live accompaniment by vocalists Joanna Dudley and Ann Masina, pianist Idith Meshulam, and Miller as the gramophone DJ (on electronic sampler and Foley). Among the works being shown are Felix in Exile, Tide Table, and Other Faces along with suites from Carnets d’Egypte, The Refusal of Time, and Paper Music, which features excerpts from Kentridge’s marvelous 2012 Norton Lectures. In the program notes, Kentridge promises, “New music for old drawings. Recent music with recent films. New music written for films yet to be made,” while Miller explains, “The animated films of Kentridge allow a composer the space to suggest alternative narratives — emotions that may not even have been in his thought process when he drew these images. This gives an exhilarating but challenging sense of freedom not often found in the collaboration between composer and artist.” The UBUNTU festival continues through November 5 with performances by Kesivan and the Lights, Dizu Plaatjies and Ibuyambo, Angélique Kidjo and Friends in a tribute to Miriam Makeba, an exhibition of Kentridge’s works at the nearby Marian Goodman Gallery, and a satellite exhibition at David Krut Projects in Chelsea with works by Kentridge, Diane Victor, Stephen Hobbs, Senzo Shabangu, Vusi Khumalo, and Sam Nhlengethwa, among other events.

CMJ 2014: DAY FIVE

The thirty-fourth annual CMJ Music Marathon comes to a roaring close on Saturday with a full slate of shows beginning at noon and running well past midnight. One of the highlights is the BirdDog Promo Showcase at Piano’s with Roman a Clef (7:00), Orchestra of Spheres (7:45), Little Racer (8:30), Native America (9:15), Future Punx (10:00), Beverly (10:45), Splashh (11:30), and the Love Supreme (12:15 am). Another hot one should be the free Sounds Australia Aussie BBQ, featuring three dozen bands and DJs playing the Delancey from 2:00 pm to 4:00 am, including the Cairos, Bad//Dreems, the Lazys, the Delta Riggs, Dune Rats, and Goodbye Motel. Below are other suggestions to fill up your Saturday calendar.

Red Baraat, Le Poisson Rouge, 7:30
Heliotropes, Cake Shop, 7:45
Cymbals, Piano’s Upstairs, 9:00
Team Spirit, Brooklyn Bowl, 9:15
The Shackeltons, Muchmore’s, 10:15
Paws, Knitting Factory, 11:00
Simian Ghost, Arlene’s Grocery, 11:30
Julia Weldon, Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3, 12 midnight
A Place to Bury Strangers, Rough Trade, 1:30

CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY HALLOWEEN PARADE AND PUMPKIN FLOTILLA

Central Park Pumpkin Flotilla will float along Harlem Meer at dusk on October 26

Charles A. Dana Discovery Center
Inside the park at 110th Street between Fifth & Lenox Aves.
Sunday, October 26, free, 3:00 – 6:00
212-860-1370
www.centralparknyc.org

The annual Halloween Parade and Pumpkin Flotilla returns to Central Park on Sunday, offering an afternoon of family-friendly activities celebrating All Hallows’ Eve. In order to participate in the flotilla, you need to bring a precarved pumpkin, with top, that is approximately eight pounds, is no bigger than a soccer ball, and contains no artificial materials such as paint, glitter, marker, or food dye. (Be advised that you don’t get your pumpkin back once it makes its way across Harlem Meer.) There will also be live music, spooky storytelling, pumpkin carving demonstrations, and a costume parade.