this week in music

FIRST SATURDAYS: WOMEN’S STORIES

Alison Elizabeth Taylor, “Security House,” wood veneer and shellac, 2008-10 (Gift of the Contemporary Art Acquisition Committee; © Alison Elizabeth Taylor)

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway at Washington St.
Saturday, March 1, free, 5:00 – 11:00 (some events require free tickets distributed in advance at the Visitor Center)
212-864-5400
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org

In 1982, the United States recognized the first official Women’s History Week, comprising seven days in March; five years later, the third month of the year became Women’s History Month, passed by a congressional vote of 100 to 9. The Brooklyn Museum will be celebrating Women’s History Month on March 1 in their free First Saturdays programs by examining women and art, music, publishing, poetry, and more. The evening will include an artist talk by Alison Elizabeth Taylor, an arts workshop demonstrating how Taylor uses wood in her pieces, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh discussing her anti–street harassment project “Stop Telling Women to Smile,” pop-up gallery talks in English and Spanish on specific works by women, the interactive performance “Sublime” by the South Asian Women’s Creative Collective, a martial arts workshop with ABADÁ-Capoeira, a talk by Toni Blackman about hip-hop and activism, live music by Zuzuka Poderosa, TECLA, and Venus X with live animation by Niky Roehreke, pop-up spoken-word poetry, a live performance combining music and spoken-word by Alixa Garcia and Naima Penniman of Climbing PoeTree, and a book club talk by members of the Feminist Press. In addition, the galleries will be open late, giving visitors plenty of opportunity to check out “Wangechi Mutu: A Fantastic Journey,” “Twice Militant: Lorraine Hansberry’s Letters to ‘The Ladder,’” “Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt,” “Life, Death, and Transformation in the Americas,” “Connecting Cultures: A World in Brooklyn,” and other exhibits.

VIDEO OF THE DAY: NPR MUSIC TINY DESK CONCERT BY ANGEL OLSEN

“Why am I not ashamed / while I am standing still?” midwestern singer-songwriter Angel Olsen asks on “Enemy,” one of eleven tracks on her brand-new album, Burn Your Fire for No Witness (Jagjaguwar, February 18). Standing still is not Olsen does a whole lot of. Born and raised in St. Louis, Olsen moved to Chicago when she was nineteen and now lives in Asheville, North Carolina. She continues to expand her sound, from her 2011 debut EP, Strange Cacti, to 2012’s widely praised Half Way Home, to Burn Your Fire, the music for which was mostly recorded live with drummer Josh Jaeger and bassist Stewart Bronaugh, along with producer John Congleton (Anna Calvi, the Black Angels, Xiu Xiu) on keyboards. Olsen’s often whispery voice and heartfelt lyrics reach deep down into your soul and never let go, especially on such new songs as “Unf*cktheworld,” “White Fire,” “Iota,” and “Forgiven/Forgotten.” “I wish I had the voice of everything,” she sings on “Stars,” continuing, “to scream the animals, to scream the earth / to scream the stars out of our universe / to scream it all back into nothingness / to scream the feeling till there’s nothing left.” The crowd should be doing a lot of screaming when Olsen headlines at (Le) Poisson Rouge on Thursday, February 20, with Cian Nugent and Jaye Bartell opening up.

THE MUSIC OF PAUL SIMON AT CARNEGIE HALL

Carnegie Hall
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
881 Seventh Ave. at West 57th St.
Monday, March 31, $48-$160, 8:00
www.carnegiepaulsimon.com

Still going strong after all these years, Newark-born singer-songwriter Paul Simon is currently on tour with Sting, singing their own tunes as well as each other’s, alone and together. The show will stop in New York City — where they both lived in the same building for an extended period of time — for a pair of hotly anticipated concerts at Madison Square Garden on March 4 & 6. But on March 31, even more people will be performing songs from throughout Rhymin’ Simon’s fifty-plus-year career at Michael Dorf’s annual benefit at Carnegie Hall, this year celebrating the music of one Paul Frederic Simon. In past years, Dorf, the owner of City Winery (and, previously, the Knitting Factory), has gathered together a vast array of talent to raise funds for music education and pay tribute to such all-time greats as Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John & Bernie Taupin, Prince, the Rolling Stones, Joni Mitchell, R.E.M., the Who, and others, with the guest(s) of honor sometimes making a surprise appearance. (In addition, the Music of Simon & Garfunkel commemorated the twenty-fifth anniversary of SummerStage with a special show in Central Park in 2010.) The roster honoring Simon on March 31 so far includes Josh Ritter, Joe Henry, Bob Mould, Ben Sollee, Dan Wilson, Bettye LaVette, Joy Williams, Madeleine Peyroux & Jon Herington, Allen Toussaint, Judy Collins, Isobel Campbell & Andy Cabic, and house band Antibalas. The benefit will raise money and awareness for the American Symphony Orchestra’s Music Notes, Church Street School for Music & Art, Young Audiences New York, Fixing Instruments for Kids in Schools, Little Kids Rock, and the Center for Arts Education. Regular tickets are $48 to $160, while various VIP passes range from $325 to $10,000 — the latter earns you a trip onstage during soundchecks and the encore. And be on the lookout for news about the live rehearsal, which takes place at City Winery the night before the big event and is open to the public.

NEW YORK CITY BEER WEEK: OPENING NIGHT BASH

Grand Central Terminal, Vanderbilt Hall
89 East 42nd St.
Friday, February 21, $75 in advance only, 7:00 – 10:00
New York City Beer Week runs February 21 – March 2
www.newyorkcitybrewersguild.com
www.grandcentralterminal.com

It is highly unlikely that Plato ever said, “He was a wise man who invented beer,” no matter what the internet says, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t have, because indeed, it was a very wise man who invented beer. The sixth annual New York City Beer Week, a celebration of all things suds (but not Plato), gets under way February 21 with an opening-night party in Grand Central’s historic Vanderbilt Hall. A $75 ticket, which must be purchased in advance, gets you a tasting glass and access to potent potables from more than three dozen breweries, including 508 Gastrobrewery, Brooklyn Brewery, Chelsea Brewing, City Island, Eataly Birreria, Gun Hill Brewing, Harlem Brewing, Sixpoint, Allagash, Dogfish, Finback, Ommegang, Shelton Brothers, Shmaltz, Smuttynose, and Wandering Star, along with snacks from Parmacotto, Murray’s Cheese, GUS, and Whole Foods and live entertainment from Music Under New York. Among the more than eighty restaurants hosting Beer Week specials between February 21 and March 2 are Atlantic Chip Shop, Barcade, Dinosaur BBQ, the Gate, the Kent Ale House, Spuyten Duyvil, Superfine, and Waterfront Ale House in Brooklyn, Amsterdam Ale House, Barcade, Blue Ribbon Bakery Kitchen, Blue Smoke Flatiron, Gramercy Tavern, Hospoda, Luke’s Lobster, Shorty’s, Swift Hibernian Lounge, Jimmy’s No. 43, and Waterfront Ale House in Manhattan, Austin’s Ale House, Alewife NYC, the Courtyard Ale House, Forest Hills Station House, Oliver’s Astoria, Rocky McBride’s, and Woodbines in Queens, and Bronx Alehouse and the Bronx Beer Hall in the Bronx.

In addition, the NYC Craft Beer Festival takes place February 28 and March 1 with three sessions at the Lexington Armory ($55-$125, food extra) in which attendees can get unlimited two-ounce tastings of approximately 150 American craft beers. New York City Beer Week concludes March 2 with a beer brunch at Houston Hall. New York City Beer Week is organized by the New York City Brewers Guild, whose mission, which we heartily endorse, “is to advocate for and promote awareness of its local brewing members; to increase the visibility of local beers through programs, events, and consumer education; and to foster a healthy, ethical, and growth-focused craft beer industry throughout the city.” Plato might not have commented on the invention of beer way back when, but he did claim, “No human thing is of serious importance,” and we strongly disagree with that statement, starting with the invention of beer, of course, which could not be any more significant in the annals of history.

CULINARY KIDS FOOD FESTIVAL

New York Botanical Garden hosts family-friendly culinary food fest February 17-23

New York Botanical Garden
Dining Pavilion behind the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory
2900 Southern Blvd.
February 17-23, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
All-Garden Pass: adults $20, children two to twelve $8
718-817-8700
www.nybg.org

The New York Botanical Garden is taking advantage of the February school break by hosting a family-friendly culinary food festival February 17-23, part of its Edible Academy programming, which focuses on “the important connections between plants, gardening, nutrition, and the benefits of a healthful lifestyle.” The weeklong event, which takes place in the Dining Pavilion behind the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, will offer cooking demonstrations, food tastings, tips and recipes from local chefs and garden staff, workshops, hands-on activities, and live entertainment. Parents and children can stop by the Tip-Top Pickle Shop, the Cheesemonger’s Shop, the Bakery, and Spice Adventures to learn about specific parts of the food-making process and can also create seed packets to grow their own basil. On February 21 to 23, Janice Buckner will put on a food-related puppet show, and on February 23 the Bronx Arts Ensemble Family Concert will present Hansel and Gretel, in which two kids nearly end up on the menu. In addition, the garden, which should be looking lovely with all the snow, has several exhibitions on view, including “Tropical Paradise,” “Close: The Photography of Allan Pollok-Morris,” and “Four Seasons,” as well as the self-guided Winter Walk in the Forest, Seasonal Conifer Explorations, a Winter Plant & Tree Tour, and more.

VIDEO OF THE DAY: “GHOST MAN” BY BLUE & GOLD

Back in the day, we spent our fair share of time at the Blue & Gold dive bar in the East Village, crying in our PBRs as we lamented our loneliness and fading youth. But this Valentine’s Day, you’re more likely to find us at Brooklyn Night Bazaar, checking out an awesome lineup of hard rockin’, soulful, bluesy indie pop bands that includes Brooklyn’s own Blue & Gold. “We definitely have frequented Blue & Gold in the East Village,” B&G told us the other day, “and it may or may not be where our band name came from….” The group’s four-track debut EP is a fiery collection of love songs about romance gone both good and terribly wrong, with each tune highlighted by shrieking guitar solos. “I don’t want to see you leave / But I love watching you go,” Chloe Raynes sings on “Your Love,” while on “It’s Only You” Alex Kapelman opines, “It’s only you could break my heart / Forget the rest, I don’t wanna be apart.” And through it all, GG Gonzalez pounds away frenetically on the drums, taking the beats to new heights. Blue & Gold is part of a too-cool bill Friday night at Brooklyn Night Bazaar with Team Spirit, the Liza Colby Sound, Hard Nips, Lowell, and DJ Pegasus Warning.

VIDEO OF THE DAY: “SLOW BLUES” BY ALBERT CUMMINGS

On Monday night, February 10, City Winery is hosting a night of the blues, with two great coheadliners. Blues legend John Hammond, son of the Columbia Records executive who signed Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and Leonard Cohen and organized the “From Spirituals to Swing” concert at Carnegie Hall in 1938, will be celebrating the release of his new live album, Timeless (Palmetto, January 2014). Recorded at Chan’s in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, the disc pays tribute to his fifty-year career with such tracks as Jimmy Rodgers’s “Going Away Baby,” Lightnin’ Hopkins’s “Last Night,” Skip James’s “Hard Times,” Tom Waits’s “No One Can Forgive Me But My Baby,” and Hammond’s own “Heartache Blues.” Sharing the bill is Massachusetts-born singer-songwriter Albert Cummings, who was on the bluegrass trail until he discovered Stevie Ray Vaughan, turning to the blues when he was twenty-seven. An electrifying guitarist with a strong voice, Cummings has examined his life and let his six-string rip on 2002’s From the Heart, 2004’s True to Yourself, 2006’s Working Man, 2008’s live Feel So Good, and his most recent disc, 2012’s No Regrets, several of which feature Vaughan’s Double Trouble. Cummings will be opening with a full set at City Winery, so be sure to get there early; you might also want to order a specially produced bottle of Albert Cummings Zinfandel, which is described as “a fruit-driven, zesty Zinfandel from Lodi, CA. Red fruit with hints of spice & smoke, powerful and youthful, with an abundance of fresh red cherry, plum, and blackberry characteristics. Palate is big and boisterous, with red fruit offset by bright mouth feel.” That description fits Cummings as well, an engaging shredder with a unique approach to the blues.