this week in music

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER TIME: CELEBRATING THE MUSIC OF “INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS”

Benefit concert will celebrate music of latest Coen brothers film, INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS

The Town Hall
123 West 43rd St. between Sixth Ave. & Broadway
Tickets on sale Wednesday, August 21, 12 noon
Concert takes place September 29, $75-$150, 7:30
212-840-2824
www.insidellewyndavis.com
www.the-townhall-nyc.org

In 2000, filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen teamed up with producer T Bone Burnett to create an award-winning soundtrack for their hit film O Brother, Where Art Thou? The 1930s-set movie featured a mix of traditional Americana, country, folk, and blues, including such songs as “Big Rock Candy Mountain,” “I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow,” “O Death,” and “Lonesome Valley” performed by such musicians as Norman Blake, Jerry Douglas, Alison Krauss, Ralph Stanley, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, and the Soggy Bottom Boys. In their latest film, Inside Llewyn Davis, which premiered at Cannes in May, the Coens tell the story of a week in the life of a 1960s Greenwich Village folksinger, with Burnett once again on board to steer the soundtrack. On September 29, the music of the film will take center stage at the Town Hall, when “Another Day, Another Time: Celebrating the Music of Inside Llewyn Davis” takes place, featuring an all-star lineup raising funds for the National Recording Preservation Foundation. The roster is unusually impressive, featuring the Avett Brothers, Joan Baez, Rhiannon Giddens, Lake Street Drive, Colin Meloy, the Milk Carton Kids, Marcus Mumford, Conor Oberst, the Punch Brothers, Secret Sisters, Patti Smith, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Willie Watson, and Jack White in addition to cast members Oscar Isaac, John Goodman, Carey Mulligan, and Stark Sands. The concert will include songs from the film in addition to 1960s tunes that inspired them. The film will screen at this fall’s New York Film Festival before opening in December. Tickets are $75 and $150 and go on sale August 21 at noon.

SPEAKEASY DOLLHOUSE

Immersive production re-creates shady tale in 1930s New York City (photo © Margee Challa, 2012)

102 Norfolk St.
First monthly Saturday and Monday, September 7 – December 14, $55 general admission, $145 VIP
800-838-3006
www.speakeasydollhouse.com

New York has gone crazy for immersive theatrical productions recently, as the audience interacts with the actors in various ways in such hit shows as Sleep No More at the McKittrick Hotel and Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 at the temporary Klub Kazino. Things go even further in Speakeasy Dollhouse, a flashy, lurid tale of murder and deception taking place in a series of rooms in an underground location on Norfolk St. Once you purchase your tickets — which just jumped from $30/$55 to $55/$145 — you start receiving e-mails from Cynthia von Buhler detailing the real-life murder of her grandfather Frank Spano and its cover-up, which reached all the way inside Tammany Hall. “My grandmother died in the 1980s and I never knew my grandfather,” one von Buhler missive explains. “He was mysteriously killed in 1935. He died on the very same day my mother was born. She told us that he was shot and nobody knew why. It was a secret. They boarded up the club and bakery after that.” Speakeasy Dollhouse re-creates that time period, acting out the events that led to the shooting, based on both facts and supposition, as von Buhler seeks to uncover the truth. Attendees are given a password and asked to dress in Prohibition-era costumes, which is a good idea, as the vast majority of people do so. Upon entering the nightclub, each person receives a piece of paper from the Fortune Teller (Jordana Rollerdazzler) giving them a specific role to carry out. For the next few hours, the cast, crew, and audience mingle as they travel from room to room and various plot elements are revealed, from an autopsy and a secret lovers tryst to back-room machinations and a card game.

Evidence is presented as SPEAKEASY DOLLHOUSE seeks to find answers to real-life murder (photo © Margee Challa, 2012)

The story revolves around the killing of club owner Frank Spano (Russell Farhang) by barber John Guerrieri (Silent James), which soon involves such figures as Detective Thomas Crane (Justin Moore), mobster Dutch Schultz (Travis Moore), Tammany Hall party boss Jimmy Hines (Charley Layton), and Magistrate Hulon Capshaw (Scott Southard). To further the atmosphere, there are a series of live performances by burlesque singers and dancers and the Howard Fishman Quartet. Meanwhile, a cash bar serves drinks and a bakery offers cannoli and other pastries. Originally planned as a one-time-only presentation, Speakeasy Dollhouse is now playing the first Saturday and Monday of each month through December, with each show centering on a different theme investigating the possible motive behind the killing; on October 26, there will be a special Halloween performance only for people who have previously attended a show, complete with zombies, werewolves, vampires, and unicorns. The production captures the feel of 1930s New York City, but the allowance of photography detracts a bit from the overall experience; the producers might want to have pictures spread all over social media, but there weren’t really many iPhones back in those days. Still, the more you immerse yourself in Speakeasy Dollhouse, the more fun you’re going to have. And there’s a whole lot of fun to be had as von Buhler, who appears as herself, keeps trying to get to the bottom of what happened to her family.

VIDEO OF THE DAY: “USE ME” BY LIV WARFIELD, SHELBY J, AND NEW POWER GENERATION AT CITY WINERY

Over the years, Prince has put the spotlight on a series of musical protégés, from Wendy and Lisa, Sheila E., and Vanity to Apollonia 6, Carmen Electra, and Sheena Easton. City Winery will be celebrating His Most Purpleness’s newest up-and-comers as current backup singers Shelby J and Liv Warfield take center stage, with the NPG Hornz, for a series of hotly anticipated shows. The Purple Week festivities begin on August 19 with a free screening (advance RSVP required) of Albert Magnoli’s 1984 film Purple Rain, in which Prince stars as the Kid, performing such classic tracks as “Let’s Go Crazy,” “Darling Nikki,” “When Doves Cry,” and “I Would Die 4 U.” The movie will be preceded by a set by Prince tour DJ Dudley. Then Shelby J, Liv Warfield, and the New Power Generation Hornz will play two shows a night August 21, 22, 23, and 25 ($75 – $150), with special unannounced guests at each show. Will TAFKAP himself show up? He currently is not out on the road, so who knows. In any case, it should be one funky week.

SOUL DOCTOR: JOURNEY OF A ROCK STAR RABBI

Shlomo Carlebach (Eric Anderson) and Nina Simone (Amber Iman) develop an unusual friendship in SOUL DOCTOR (photo by Carol Rosegg)

Circle in the Square Theatre
1633 Broadway at 50th St.
Tuesday – Sunday through October 13, $39 – $135
www.souldoctorbroadway.com

The new Broadway musical Soul Doctor follows the unusual relationship between a gentle, soft-spoken Orthodox rabbi and a vivacious chanteuse who wind up having a lot more in common that either would ever think. Eric Anderson stars as Shlomo Carlebach, the real-life Singing Rabbi whose family left Nazi-occupied Vienna when he was a boy, making a new life in New York City. While trying to find his place in America, Carlebach meets singer and activist Nina Simone (Amber Iman), and the two develop a long-term friendship, becoming each other’s muse. As Simone goes on to become the High Priestess of Soul, Carlebach turns away from the rigid rules of his Orthodox background, which severely disappoints his rabbi father (Jamie Jackson), his worried mother (Jacqueline Antaramian), and his devout brother (Ryan Strand), who has fallen under the influence of Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Schneerson (Jackson). But soon Carlebach, the King of Kosher Music, has a hit record, is playing in nightclubs, and forms his own, unique temple, the House of Love and Prayer, in hippie-era San Francisco. But he’s constantly trying to prove to himself and his family that what he is doing matters, that it is all part of the expansion of the Jewish faith.

The King of Kosher Music preaches love and peace in San Francisco temple (photo by Carol Rosegg)

Anderson, who left the Kinky Boots ensemble to reprise the role of Carlebach, which earned him a Drama Desk nomination for last year’s presentation at New York Theatre Workshop, brings a sweet innocence to the mild-mannered Rock Star Rabbi, displaying the kind of charm that established Carlebach’s success and reputation. And Iman is a force as Simone, dominating the stage with her bold, brash style. The book, by director Daniel S. Wise, glosses over too many details, including Carlebach’s relationship with follower Ruth (Zarah Mahler), and just skips over others, leaving too many unexplained holes, and Carlebach’s never-ending battle with his childhood teacher and later cantor, Reb Pinchas (Ron Orbach), who he calls the “holy heckler,” grows repetitive and tiresome. The script is filled with such platitudes as Carlebach telling Pinchas, “If I had two hearts, I could use one to love and one to hate. But I only have one heart, so . . . I use it to love!” Despite less-than-inspiring choreography by former Cedar Lake artistic director Benoit-Swan Pouffer, the musical numbers, from the Carlebach tunes (“Rosh Hashanah Rock,” “Ki Va Moed,” “Yerushalyim,” “Am Yisrael Chai”) to new songs with lyrics by David Schechter, are mostly a lot of fun, with the exuberant cast, dressed in Maggie Morgan’s period costumes, often running up and down the aisles. Mahler turns in a strong solo near the end, “I Was a Sparrow,” that will have audiences wondering why she wasn’t featured more. Although you don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy the show, those who attend High Holiday services will be thrilled to hear many familiar liturgical melodies that were written by Carlebach. But Soul Doctor does more than merely preach to the converted, instead exploring a fascinating figure in American folk music.

NEW YORK METS SOCIAL MEDIA NIGHT

Mets media guru Jay Horwitz will be honored with his own Mini Me bobblehead at Social Media Night benefit for Shannon Forde

NEW YORK METS vs. DETROIT TIGERS
Citi Field
123-01 Roosevelt Ave. at 126th St.
Friday, August 23, $35, 7:10
www.newyorkmetscom

When we were at a Mets spring training game in Port St. Lucie back in March, we saw a surprising sight. A large group of autograph seekers were gathered around a schlubby older man, thrusting baseballs, photos, shirts, hats, and other items at him for his John Hancock. Two men approached us and asked who the guy was. We told them that it was Jay Horwitz, the team’s longtime PR guru, and they got all excited and immediately sped over to join the crowd like they were Mookie Wilson dashing for home. Horwitz, the Mets’ vice president of media relations, has been the team’s mouthpiece since April 1980, and he is now a Twitter sensation, with more than twenty-five thousand followers. He posts numerous times a day, writing about how the team is doing (“Gonzalez Germen impressive on and off mound. First save and did great job in doing his post game interview in English.”), pointing out odd stories (“Meet the only elephant who is a Mets fan at the San Diego Zoo. His name is Horace. Big fan since 1978. pic.twitter.com/0TeUYyF3d1”), answering questions directly, and joining the debate about recently being caught on camera with his finger in his nose (“Plan to appeal my nose case to Supreme Court. Judge Roberts saw game and said it was a scratch not a pick. Says I have the votes.”) On August 23, the Mets will honor Horwitz, who just turned sixty-eight, with his own bobblehead as part of Social Media Night, which is also a benefit for Shannon Forde, the team’s forty-one-year-old senior director of media relations and married mother of two who has been battling Stage 4 breast cancer since last August. Fans who buy $35 tickets through this link will receive the bobblehead, which Horwitz has dubbed Mini Me (“After an extra inning game and a two hour bus trip to SD, Mini Me sleeps in today. Have to get up soon. pic.twitter.com/fLcuyjNfBU”), with a portion of the proceeds going to Hope Shines for Shannon. In addition, the interleague game against the first-place Detroit Tigers will be followed by a concert by Third Eye Blind (“Semi-Charmed Life,” “Graduate”). When asked by NY Sports Dog back in 2008 what his secret was, Horwitz said, “Never lie. You can’t lie in New York with all the exposure here. Be up front with people even in the worst of times.” Clearly, it also helps to have a wacky sense of humor, especially as a member of the Mets franchise.

GUITAR INNOVATORS: IN SEARCH OF BLIND JOE DEATH: THE SAGA OF JOHN FAHEY / APPROXIMATELY NELS CLINE

The life and career of iconoclastic musician and composer John Fahey is investigated in new documentary

IN SEARCH OF BLIND JOE DEATH: THE SAGA OF JOHN FAHEY (James Cullingham, 2012)
Cinema Village
22 East 12th St. between University Pl. & Fifth Ave.
Opens Friday, August 16
212-924-3363
www.johnfaheyfilm.com
www.cinemavillage.com

“He created a new language, modally speaking, harmonically speaking,” Pete Townshend says about guitarist and composer John Fahey at the beginning of In Search of Blind Joe Death: The Saga of John Fahey. “And if that’s not an iconoclast, I don’t know what is, really,” the Who axman continues, comparing Fahey to William S. Burroughs and Charles Bukowski. Those are apt comparisons for the so-called American primitive guitarist who did things on his instrument that no one has done before or since. Decemberists guitarist Chris Funk then calls the multifaceted Fahey, who was born in Washington, DC, in 1939, an “independent label owner, like maybe the first; record collector, musicologist, alcoholic, hobo, thrift store master.” Unfortunately, the documentary, directed by James Cullingham, spends the rest of its nearly sixty minutes cutting between amazing archival footage of Fahey, particularly in an early television interview with Laura Weber in which he shyly talks about his work, uses his guitar as an ashtray, and plays, which is mesmerizing to watch, and various experts trying to describe what might just be indescribable. The documentary never quite flows like a Fahey composition, instead going through fits and starts as talking heads (including Fahey college friend Barry Hansen, better known as Dr. Demento) discuss his influence, which turns out to be more interesting, perhaps, for Fahey purists than for general music fans. However, the scene with record collector Joe Bussard is a riot. Throughout the film, Cullingham, who met Fahey in 1982, dryly reads from Fahey’s writings and regularly returns to images of a turtle, a major Fahey symbol, but the director might have been better served by incorporating more archival footage of Fahey, who never did what was best for his career and today languishes in relative obscurity, twelve years after his death at the age of sixty-one.

Guitarist Nels Cline displays his chops and teams up with an eclectic group of musicians in studio-set documentary

APPROXIMATELY NELS CLINE (Steven Okazaki, 2013)
www.farfilm.com
In Search of Blind Joe Death: The Saga of John Fahey is part of a “Guitar Innovators” double feature that also includes Steven Okazaki’s lovely little Approximately Nels Cline, in which the multinominated director goes inside the studio to capture guitarist Nels Cline reimagining a pair of Irish folk songs with an eclectic group of musicians. Cline, a philosophy major who has played with Wilco, the Bad Plus, Mike Watt, Thurston Moore, Elliott Sharp, and his own Nels Cline Trio and Nels Cline Singers in addition to so many others, speaks eloquently about his process in a friendly, personable manner that makes him instantly likable. The sessions are a joy to watch, performed with violinist and vocalist Carla Kihlstedt, bassist Devin Hoff, trumpeter Ron Miles, Cibo Matto keyboardist Yuka Honda, clarinetist Ben Goldberg, and drummer Matthias Bossi. Oscar winner Okazaki (Days of Waiting, Troubled Paradise) primarily lets the music do the talking, from experimental noise to jazzlike improvisation to carefully orchestrated sections. “It’s really important if you feel something that’s really sensitive, and that’s really transporting, whether it’s a chord or if it’s a sound, I just try to process that and manifest it in a way that’s personal,” Cline explains. The only drawback is that the film is a mere twenty-seven minutes; we would have loved to see and hear more. In Search of Blind Joe Death: The Saga of John Fahey and Approximately Nels Cline open August 16 at Cinema Village, with Cullingham and Nels Cline producer Jeff Wood participating in Q&As following the 8:45 screenings on Friday and Saturday night.

VIDEO OF THE DAY: “SAVE OUR SHIP” BY CATHERINE IRWIN

It’s been ten years since Catherine Irwin’s debut solo album, Cut Yourself a Switch, and as her sophomore Thrill Jockey release, 2012’s Little Heater, so clearly displays, that has been way too long. On the 2012 disc, the Connecticut-born Irwin, who cofounded the alterna-country band Freakwater with Eleventh Dream Day’s Janet Beveridge Bean a quarter-century ago, continues her exploration of folk, country, and American roots music, combining lovely melodies and lilting harmonies with stark, incisive lyrics. Recorded in Woodstock, the album features such gorgeous tracks as “Mockingbird,” “Sinner Saves a Saint,” “The Whole of the Law,” and the swamp-blues “Piss to Gin.” You can catch Irwin at Union Pool in Brooklyn on August 15, playing with the Phantom Family Halo and Old Baby. In addition, you can stream all of Little Heater here.