this week in music

TARTAN WEEK: THE KELPIES

Andy Scott’s Kelpies will stand guard in Bryant Park through April 23 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Bryant Park, Fountain Terrace
Sixth Ave. at 41st St.
Sculptures on view through April 23
Festival runs through April 27 at multiple locations
www.thekelpies.co.uk
the kelpies slideshow

A pair of “proud equine guardians” have been posted at the Sixth Ave. and Forty-First St. entrance to Bryant Park, one at rest, head bowed, the other rearing up, neighing toward the sky. The fifteen-foot-high models, constructed of laser-cut steel plates, are the work of Scottish sculptor Andy Scott, smaller versions of the one-hundred-feet-high Kelpies — mythological waterborne equine creatures — he created for the Helix Parkland on the Forth & Clyde Canal near Falkirk, the artist’s father’s hometown, in central Scotland. The Kelpies, which will remain on view in Bryant Park through April 23, are part of the annual Scotland Week (Tartan Week) festivities, a celebration of Scottish culture taking place all over the city. On April 6, there will be a special Tartan Day Observance in Bryant Park at 12:30 with the New York Metro Pipe Band, the Highland Divas, and others, followed by a talk with Scott about the Kelpies at 3:00. That night, the Caledonian Collective will be hosting a concert at Webster Hall with the LaFontaines, Nina Nesbitt, Lau, and Hector Bizerk. Iona in Brooklyn will be presenting a Scottish fiddle workshop on April 7 with Katie McNally, followed by a Live Trad Session with McNally and Neil Pearlman; on April 8, Scottish Octopus with piper Andrew Forbes will be there, and on April 9 Troy MacGillivray will lead a Cape Breton fiddle workshop and a live session with Scottish Octopus. Also on April 9, Whisky Live takes place at Pier Sixty in Chelsea, with tastings, exhibitors, master classes, live music, and more. On April 10, Celtica will play Drom, while the Cape Breton Scots at Jalopy is highlighted by the work of musician and photographer Matt Diaz. Pop International Galleries is showing “As Others See Us” through April 10, and the 92nd St. Y is presenting “Scots Jews: Identity, Belonging, and the Future” through April 27, consisting of photos taken by Judah Passow. And you can see the double bill of Douglas Maxwell’s A Respectable Widow Takes to Vulgarity and Sabrina Mahfouz’s Clean performed by Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre Company through April 27 at 59E59.

TWI-NY TALK: LiV WARFIELD

LiV WARFIELD & THE NPG HORNZ
B. B. King Blues Club & Grill
237 West 42nd St. between Broadway & Eighth Ave.
Sunday, April 6, $35-$65, 8:00
212-997-4144
www.bbkingblues.com
www.livwarfieldmusic.com

Last August, Prince protégées LiV Warfield and Shelby J. tore up City Winery with a week of hot shows with the New Power Generation and the NPG Hornz, including one extremely late night in which they joined their mentor for a rip-roaring set. More recently, Warfield has been making a name for herself on the talk-show circuit in support of her brand-new solo record, The Unexpected (Kobalt, February 2014), knockin’ ’em dead performing “Why Do You Lie?” on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, “Soul Lifted” on The Arsenio Hall Show, and “BlackBird” on Sway’s Universe. (She’s also scheduled to appear on Late Show with David Letterman on April 4.) The Peoria-born singer takes a giant step forward with the explosive new album, the follow-up to her soulful, intimate 2006 debut, Embrace Me, the horn section lifting her to new levels on ten songs bookended by brief instrumentals. On the title track, which was written for her by His Most Royal Purpleness — Prince also cowrote the seven-minute “Your Show” with his former backup singer and serves as the album’s executive producer — Warfield and the NPG Hornz channel Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company; the record is also highlighted by the bold hooks of “Why Do You Lie?,” the foot-stomping blues of “BlackBird,” the pure funk of “Lena Blue,” and the jazzy grandeur of “Freedom.” Warfield will be headlining B. B. King’s on April 6 with the NPG Hornz in what promises to be an electrifying evening. She’ll also be sticking around after the show to meet fans and sign copies of her CD.

twi-ny: You were born and raised in Peoria, went to college and recorded Embrace Me in Portland, Oregon, and are now based in New York City. How has place made a difference in your life and career?

LiV Warfield: Every place that I have been has been so instrumental in who I am as an artist. Peoria provoked interest in music but Portland allowed me to free my talent and discover who I was musically. Now that I live in New York it has opened up so many doors for me and people have welcomed my music and artistry.

Prince protégée LiV Warfield steps out on her own with electrifying new album and tour

twi-ny: It’s been eight years between your first solo record, Embrace Me, and The Unexpected. Why so long?

LW: What took so long is that I had to learn a lot. I was given the opportunity to work with Prince not long after Embrace Me and he has taught me so much. I learned how to write, arrange, and really become a better artist. The wait was worth it to me and I honestly wouldn’t change a thing.

twi-ny: How has it been going from backup singer to being the central attraction again?

LW: Going from a background singer to the central attraction is definitely a different experience but I am now better prepared for what’s to come.

twi-ny: You have a justly celebrated powerhouse voice; why do you open the new record with an instrumental? Is that just a tease?

LW: I wanted to do something unexpected with the open and close. I also wanted it to be very musical and allow you to go on a journey with me.

twi-ny: In “Fly,” you sing, “People don’t define me / I need to be who I need to be.” As your career takes off, has it been difficult to break out of conventional categorizations, especially since your music embraces so many different genres?

LW: Yes, it has been difficult because people do want to box you in. I want to make good music for all to enjoy. I understand that people need categories but my hope is that people will be open and just enjoy it. There is something for everyone on The Unexpected.

twi-ny: What’s the coolest thing about working with and getting to know Prince?

LW: The coolest thing about working with Prince is that I can call him my mentor and I can talk to him whenever I want. I am so thankful for him and sometimes it’s hard to believe.

twi-ny: Is there a specific meaning behind why you capitalize the “V” in your first name (LiV)?

LW: There is significance to it. I work with an amazing group of musicians and I am part of a collective unit. It’s not just about me . . . it’s about the unit. The small “i” reminds me to keep things in perspective.

FIRST SATURDAYS: WITNESS

Philip Guston, “City Limits,” oil on canvas, 1969. (© The Estate of Philip Guston)

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway at Washington St.
Saturday, April 5, free, 5:00 – 11:00 (some events require free tickets distributed in advance at the Visitor Center)
212-864-5400
www.brooklynmuseum.org

For its April First Saturdays program, the Brooklyn Museum turns its attention on the fiftieth anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (which many Americans want to get rid of completely), in conjunction with the exhibition “Witness: Art and Civil Rights in the Sixties,” which features painting, sculpture, video, and installation by such artists as David Hammons, Philip Guston, Barkley L. Hendricks, Robert Indiana, Sam Gilliam, Norman Rockwell, Jae Jarrell, and Norman W. Lewis. The evening will include live music by Gedeon Luke & the People, Toshi Reagon and BIGLovely, and CharlieRED; Ping Chong + Company’s Brooklyn ’63 theater piece; a curator talk with Kellie Jones about “Witness”; a Hands-On Art workshop in which participants can make protest posters; pop-up talks on activism and art; Jennifer Scott discussing the Weeksville Heritage Center and oral history; a screening of Stanley Nelson’s 2013 film Freedom Summer, followed by a Q&A with the director; an interactive performance with Aisha Cousins, Ifetayo Cultural Arts Academy, and Yolanda Zama; Kevin Powell lecturing on “Civil Rights: Then & Now”; and a dance party with DJ Mursi Layne. In addition, the galleries will be open late, giving visitors plenty of opportunity to check out “Revolution! Works from the Black Arts Movement,” “Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt,” “Life, Death, and Transformation in the Americas,” “Connecting Cultures: A World in Brooklyn,” and other exhibits.

TAIWAN: A WORLD OF ORCHIDS

Queens Botanical Garden
43-50 Main St., Flushing Meadows Corona Park
Saturday, April 5, free with garden admission ($2-$4), 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Exhibit continues Tuesday – Sunday through
718-886-3800
www.queensbotanical.org

“Just as I wonder / whether it’s going to die / the orchid blossoms,” writes Sam Hamill in his poem “The Orchid Flower,” continuing, “and I can’t explain why it / moves my heart, why such pleasure / comes from one small bud.” The New York Botanical Garden isn’t the only local oasis celebrating the beautiful flowering plant that delivers such pleasure. (“The Orchid Show: Key West Contemporary” continues there through April 21.) On Saturday, April 5, in conjunction with the opening weekend of the garden’s seventy-fifth anniversary since being constructed for the 1939 World’s Fair and fiftieth anniversary since the 1964 fair, the special exhibit “Taiwan: A World of Orchids” will feature a host of special activities, presented with the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO-NY). Taiwan just happens to be the largest exporter of orchids in the world. “It is particularly appropriate that QBG is leading off its World’s Fairs Anniversary Season with ‘Taiwan: A World of Orchids,’” QBG executive director Susan Lacerte said in a statement. “Taiwan was the first nation to break ground on its pavilion at the 1964 World’s Fair and fifty years later, our friends at TECO-NY are celebrating the anniversary with us by sponsoring this exquisite event.” In addition to what promises to be a dazzling orchid display, there will be arts and crafts all day long, an appearance by “Techno Prince” Dancing Doll at 12:45, a garden tour at 1:00, a traditional tea ceremony and guqin performance at 1:45, Taiwanese snacks and giveaways, and more.

VIDEO OF THE DAY: “MARS” BY JON LANGFORD

“The subtext of the album is maybe the things our civilization thinks of as fixed and immovable might actually be redundant/obsolete/discredited and it’s up to us to question and find new rocks to be washed up on,” musician and painter Jon Langford says about his latest release, Here Be Monsters (In De Goot, April 1). Through four decades, the Welsh-born, Chicago-based Langford has been questioning and finding new rocks in such bands as the Three Johns, the Waco Brothers, the Pine Valley Cosmonauts, Wee Hairy Beasties, and, primarily, the Mekons, one of the greatest bands in the history of the planet. On April 4, Langford will be playing the Bell House in support of Here Be Monsters, joined by his touring band, Skull Orchard, which first recorded with him back in 1998. (The current lineup features Jim Elkington on guitar and keyboards, Alan Doughty on bass, and Joe Camarillo on drums.) “When they didn’t know quite what was there, they put ‘Here Be Monsters,’” Langford says of the album’s title, referring to cartographers of long ago. “When I think of where my career has gone over the last thirty-five years, it’s usually in that area — off the map.” Langford continues going off the map on the new disc, a collection that shows off his unique melding of alt-country folk and punk rock, taking on governmental profiteering in the sea shanty “What Did You Do in the War?,” political secrets in “Weightless,” stealth warfare in “Drone Operator,” religion in “Don’t Believe,” and a future that ranges from bleak in “Summer Stars” to somewhat more hopeful in “Sugar on Your Tongue.” And oh, that melody on “Mars.” (You can download “Mars” and a trio of album demos here.) There’s also a visual component to the record, as Langford has created an individual piece of art for each song. And as great a songwriter as he is, he’s a sensational live performer as well, in all his incarnations, where just about anything can happen. (In addition, Langford will be releasing the seven-inch single “Days & Nights” b/w “Here’s What We Have” as a Record Store Day exclusive on April 19.)

VIDEO OF THE DAY: PIĘTNASTKA

The fourth annual Unsound Festival, which highlights cutting-edge experimental electronic music from around the world, features more than two dozen artists who will be playing such venues as Issue Project Room, Cameo Gallery, the First Unitarian Church, Experimental Intermedia, BAMcinématek, and the Wick from April 2 to 6. Among the performers are Evol, Phil Niblock, Kapital, Håkon Stene, Stara Rzeka, and, opening night at Issue, Oren Ambarchi with Sinfonietta Cracovia Quintet & Friends. In addition to ticketed performances, there are several free events: the multimedia olfactory “Ephemera” art exhibition at AVA on the Lower East Side; “Lixiviation,” a collaboration between Suzanne Ciani and Neotrantrik on April 3 at 7:30 at Lincoln Center’s David Rubenstein Atrium, with Piętnastka opening; and a Listening Session with Porter Ricks’s Thomas Köner on April 5 at 1:30 at the Goethe-Institut, followed by a conversation between Ciani and Andy Votel at 3:00 and the panel discussion “Network Theory — an Intro into ICAS (International Cities of Advanced Sound)” at 4:30 with Mat Schulz, Oliver Baurhenn, Malcolm Levy, and Martin Craciun, moderated by Andy Battaglia.

TWI-NY TALK: RAYYA ELIAS

Rayya Elias and Elizabeth Gilbert will be at powerHouse on April 2 for launch of HARLEY LOCO paperback (photo by Bill Miller)

RAYYA ELIAS IN CONVERSATION WITH ELIZABETH GILBERT
powerHouse Arena
37 Main St. at Water St., Brooklyn
Wednesday, April 2, free (advance RSVP appreciated), 7:00
718-666-3049
www.powerhousearena.com
www.rayyaelias.com

“This book is the story of my life,” Rayya Elias writes in the first chapter of the painfully poignant yet ultimately inspiring Harley Loco: A Memoir of Hard Living, Hair, and Post-Punk, from the Middle East to the Lower East Side (Penguin, March 2014, $16). “This is my truth, and it may not be pretty, but I own it.” Pretty it isn’t, as the Syrian-born Elias details her battles with drug addiction, her time in prison, her struggles with sexual identity, and her eventual recovery from a shocking rock bottom. Clean since August 1997, Elias is a gregarious woman with an infectious personality that lights up a room. She “always wanted to be the center of attention,” she notes in the book, and she’s spent much of the last year doing just that, promoting Harley Loco — the title refers to her Rikers Island nickname — around the world. A musician, filmmaker, hair stylist, and major football fan, Elias will be at Brooklyn’s powerHouse Arena on April 2 for the launch of the paperback edition of her memoir. She will once again be joined by her close friend Elizabeth Gilbert, the bestselling author of such books as The Signature of All Things and Eat, Pray, Love who wrote the introduction to Harley Loco. Last fall, we appeared on Elias’s sports-and-fantasy podcast, “Football Riffs and Chicks,” and now she is returning the favor, answering intimate questions for a very personal twi-ny talk.

twi-ny: You just lost your pitbull, Ricky. How are you doing?

Rayya Elias: Well, the grief comes and goes. It’s only been a few days since he passed, so I’m still in shock, I think. Ricky was my kid and companion for thirteen years, so there is a huge gaping hole in my heart. We were meant for each other; he was beaten up quite dramatically (used as a bait dog), and he had the scars to prove it, yet he was so good inside. We did quite a bit of healing together.

twi-ny: For the last year, you’ve spent a lot of time on the road promoting your memoir. What’s that experience been like, especially as you have to keep going back over some very difficult times in your life?

Rayya Elias: Writing the book was the ultimate cathartic experience for exercising those demons. Sometimes, when I was in the midst of working on the book, I doubted my own memory because it was almost too much to grasp. It got pretty deep.

twi-ny: What’s been the best part of the tour?

Rayya Elias: When I was on the road promoting it, it became like a testimonial. My favorite part was that people came out of the woodwork to tell me their stories, whether it was an eighteen-year-old child who had gone missing due to drugs or a gray-haired lady who related to being fat as a kid or being bullied as a teenager. So many people wanted to be heard because they related to many parts of my story. That’s what really kept me in the zone.

twi-ny: How about the worst?

Rayya Elias: There is no worst. Honestly, I love all of it. It’s something I’ve longed for, so I’m taking it all in, the hotels, the road food, even the airports, and especially when friends I haven’t seen in years show up at a reading/performance, I love it.

twi-ny: Is there a question that you’ve been surprised you haven’t been asked yet?

Rayya Elias: Not really; people have pretty much dissected it. I was really happy that a college radio station in Brisbane, Australia, asked about methadone detox. No one in the States really bothered giving that one any thought. I was pretty grateful, as I have a strong opinion about it!

twi-ny: You’re very good friends with Elizabeth Gilbert. How did the two of you meet?

Rayya Elias: Liz and I have been friends since the year 2000. She came into my studio and needed an intervention. Not a drug intervention like I was used to, but a hair intervention. I cut her hair and we told each other stories. She was writing for GQ at the time and asked me to style a story that Mary Ellen Mark was shooting. We clicked on a level that neither of us really understood. It was deep, and very real, and she became a part of my life. Then, many years later, she bullied me into writing my memoir. Ha!

twi-ny: Do you want to offer a sneak peek at the powerHouse event? For example, will you have your guitar with you?

Rayya Elias: I will absolutely have my guitar, and I will play a few songs. A new one is called “Touch the Ground,” inspired by Liz’s book The Signature of All Things. I recorded it, and with Barb Morrison producing, it sounds amazing.

twi-ny: Last November, we appeared on “Football Riffs and Chicks.” That was a lot of fun. Will there be another season?

Rayya Elias: I loved having you and Ellen on “FR&C”; it was so much fun. Yes, I will definitely do it again; this year I will concentrate a little more on fantasy, I think.

twi-ny: Your fantasy football team, which is named the Pittbulls, after Ricky, finished in a three-way tie for the best record in our fantasy football league. Were you happy with your team’s performance?

Rayya Elias: I’m never happy with my team’s performance unless I win. My guys were getting hurt every week, so I really had to study and pick up the next best available athlete for the position. It was hard going. I can’t imagine what the real live sport is like for the coaches. That’s why I’m in awe of the game.

twi-ny: You were born in Syria and still have family there; how has the political situation there affected them and you?

Rayya Elias: It’s been extremely difficult. The country is torn, my family is torn, my heart is broken for the Syria I visited just four years ago. I spent Christmas and New Year’s with family in Aleppo and Damascus. Now they are struggling and I haven’t heard from some of them in quite some time. No one saw it coming because the country seemed to be on the verge of a tourism breakout and everything seemed to be going well.

twi-ny: Okay, so you’re a writer, musician, hair stylist, podcast host, filmmaker, and big-time football fan; what’s next for you?

Rayya Elias: I’m wrapping my head around a new book, a novel of sorts. I’ve never tried to write fiction, but I’m gonna give it a whirl. Music is something that is constant in my life, so that’s a given. The rest is up to what inspires me. I’m the type of person who loves to be involved in creative endeavors and make stuff. Once an idea enters my head and my heart, it starts to take over my being, and once it’s too much to hold in, then I gotta let it out. If I can’t keep it in, I gotta let it out!