this week in music

CHARLIE PARKER JAZZ FESTIVAL

Charlie Parker Jazz Festival honors legendary Bird with Strings sessions

Friday, August 24, Marcus Garvey Park, free, 7:00 – 9:00
Saturday, August 25, Marcus Garvey Park, free, 3:00 – 7:00
Sunday, August 26, Tompkins Square Park, free, 3:00 – 7:00
www.cityparksfoundation.org

Always one of the highlights of the summer, the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival also comes near the end of the season, signaling that Labor Day is not far off. For its twentieth anniversary, the festival, which honors the legendary saxman who was born in Kansas City and made a name for himself here in New York City, has put together several exciting free programs taking place this weekend. On Friday night in Marcus Garvey Park, Bird with Strings teams the Revive Music Group with Miguel Atwood-Ferguson for specially commissioned compositions that reimagine Bird’s 1949 and 1950 sessions that featured a classical string section. The evening will begin with a spoken-word performance of “On the Wings of Yardbird” by Daniel Carlton, set to such Bird classics as “Ornithology.” On Saturday from 3:00 to 7:00 also in Marcus Garvey Park, poets Edwin Torres and LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs will honor Parker’s legacy, followed by musical performances by Jamire Williams and ERIMAJ, Derrick Hodge, Rene Marie’s Experiment in Truth, and the amazing Roy Haynes. On Sunday, the festivities move downtown to Tompkins Square Park, with spoken-word artists Jon Sands, Sheila Maldonado, and Nikhil Melnechuk and live performances by Gregory Porter, Patience Higgins’s Sugar Hill Quartet, Andy Milne & Dapp Theory, and Sullivan Fortner.

AFRO-PUNK FESTIVAL

TV on the Radio headlines the second day of the free Afro-Punk Festival in Brooklyn (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Commodore Barry Park
Park Ave., Navy St., Flushing Ave. & North Eliot Pl., Brooklyn
Saturday, August 25, and Sunday, August 26, free, 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
www.afropunkfest.com
www.nycgovparks.org

After the disappointment of last year’s Afro-Punk Festival being canceled at the last minute because of Hurricane Irene, we can’t wait for this year’s free celebration in Commodore Barry Park in Brooklyn. Taking place August 25 & 26, the eighth annual fest features another stellar lineup of rap, hip-hop, R&B, indie, alternative, and hot DJs, with Saturday’s roster including Radkey, the Skins, the Joe Jordan Experiment, Sinkane, Toshi Reagon, Alice Smith, Purple Ferdinand, the Memorials, and Erykah Badu with the Cannabinoids on the Green Stage and Ninjasonik, Oxymorrons, Cerebral Ballzy, Spank Rock, and Das Racist on the Red Stage. On Sunday, the Green Stage will host Inky Jack, Tess, Phony Ppl, Gordon Voidwell, Body Language, Reggie Watts, Toro y Moi, and TV on the Radio, with Flatbush Zombies, Bad Rabbits, Straight Line Stitch, Gym Class Heroes, and Janelle Monae on the Red Stage. Fifteen food trucks will fill out Bites & Beats, with such favorite mobile eateries as Mexicue, Jamaican Dutchy, Bian Dang, Fishing Shrimp, Korilla BBQ, Kelvin Natural Slush, and Van Leeuwen Ice Cream. More than eighty local artisans will be selling their goods at the Spin Thrift Market, while BaJa Ukweli, RIP Josama, Nelson Cekis Rivas, Coby Kennedy, Rob Fokused, See One, and David RIMX Sepulveda will show their stuff on the Art Wall. Amateur skaters from all over the country will participate in the Nike Battle for the Streets, hosted by Alex Corporan and Billy Rohan and judged by Shawn Powers, Danny Supa, Ray Mate, and others, while a dozen custom bikes will fight it out for best in show in Brooklyn Rhapsody. There’s nothing quite like the Afro-Punk Festival, which is doing all it can to make up for last year with one helluva program this weekend.

ZEROBRIDGE

Rockwood Music Hall
196 Allen St.
Thursday, August 23, free, 10:30
212-477-4155
www.rockwoodmusichall.com
www.myspace.com/zerobridge

At the end of June, we raved about Brooklyn-based band Zerobridge as they were in the studio, rehearsing new songs with Strokes and Ryan Adams mentor JP Bowersock producing and playing guitar. Some of the results of this collaboration can now be heard here, including such propulsive pop songs as “In for a Quick Garden,” “Waiting in the Sun,” and “Run.” “Got a feeling / Can’t deny it / In the city of hills / there are no cheap thrills for sale,” lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist Mubashir Mohi-ud-Din (Din) sings on “In for a Quick Garden,” but there should be plenty of cheap thrills and more on August 23, when Zerobridge will be playing a free show at Rockwood Music Hall at 10:30, preceded by the Kin at 9:30 and followed by Emergency Service at 11:30.

TWI-NY TALK: PHIL HARTMAN OF TWO BOOTS

Phil Hartman and his son, Leon, will be celebrating the silver anniversary of Two Boots on August 23 in East River Park

TWO BOOTS 25th ANNIVERSARY CONCERT: AN EVENING OF FREE LIVE MUSIC, PERFORMANCE ART, POETRY, AERIALIST, AND FOOD
East River Park Amphitheater
FDR Drive between Grand & Jackson Sts.
Thursday, August 23, free, 5:00 – 9:00
www.twoboots.com
www.summerstage.org

Twenty-five years ago, New York native Phil Hartman and Doris Kornish opened Two Boots in the East Village, a pizzeria with a distinct Cajun flavor. In the ’90s they began expanding, adding a movie theater that screened alternative and foreign films while introducing pizzas named after fictional and real pop-culture figures. Today there are more than a dozen Two Boots restaurants, across Manhattan as well as in Brooklyn, New Jersey, Baltimore, and Los Angeles, selling specialty pies named for such favorite characters as Mr. Pink from Reservoir Dogs,, Andy Kaufman alter ego Tony Clifton, Newman from Seinfeld, Larry Tate from Bewitched, No. 6 from The Prisoner, Dr. John, Bella Abzug, Bette Midler, and Charlie Parker as well as the Village Vanguard. On August 23, Hartman and his son, Leon, who also works in the business, will host a free concert in East River Park in honor of Two Boots’ silver anniversary, featuring performances by Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars, Mamarazzi, Odetta Hartman, Himalayas, the Whiskeyhickon Boys, Lady Circus, and the Magic Beans; the event will also include poetry from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe (Caroline Rothstein, Mahogany Browne, and Marshall “Soulful” Jones ) and the City Lore/Bowery Poetry Club’s POEMmobile, live art and painting by Lizzy Grandsaert and Kat Carrot Flower, the Homespun Mini-Merry-Go-Round, and informational booths from the Lower Eastside Girls Club, the Lower East Side Ecology Center, and Time’s Up. The festivities will be emceed by actor Luis Guzmán, for whom the Luisaida pie is named after, and there will be free samples of the Newman and the Larry Tate. Phil discussed Two Boots, the revitalization of the Lower East Side, and more in our latest twi-ny talk.

twi-ny: What were the initial expectations when you opened your first pizza place twenty-five years ago?

Phil Hartman: Doris Kornish (my original partner) and I had two principal motivations: we badly needed funds to finish postproduction on our first film, No Picnic, which would go on to receive an award at Sundance in 1988, and we’ve always operated under this premise at our restaurants — don’t try to cater to an imaginary audience, just do something that we really love and hope that other people agree with us.

twi-ny: How did the idea for naming pies after famous fictional characters get started? Do you need to get permission to use the names? If so, has anyone ever turned you down?

Phil Hartman: The character names didn’t start until eight years in — beginning with Larry Tate, Mr. Pink, and Newman. I’ve always loved second bananas, oddballs, and the overlooked and underappreciated. And we’ve never been turned down — we just figure we’re honoring these characters and they would be proud of it.

twi-ny: What is your personal favorite slice?

Phil Hartman: The Bayou Beast (andouille, crawfish, jalapeños, mozzarella, and sauce), which combines the best of both worlds (Italy and Louisiana) is my fave — though as their parent, you know I love all the slices.

twi-ny: Is there a specific combination that you really wanted to work but it just couldn’t come out quite right?

Phil Hartman: My biggest disappointment is that we never really made our Pizza Piazza work — Mike, being one of our all-time idols (we’re enormous Mets fans); the pie was too soupy but will be resuscitated when he enters the Hall of Fame next year!

twi-ny: On August 23, you’ll be celebrating your twenty-fifth anniversary with a free concert in East River Park. How did the lineup come together?

Phil Hartman: We’ve always loved African pop music, and given that Fela Kuti is no longer with us, we had the chance to reach out to the Sierra Leone Refugee All-Stars and grabbed it. Mamarazzi is an amazing local Afro-funk band, with lots of our friends in it; Odetta, our daughter, just recorded her first album, and is bringing together her band and lots of special guests; Himalayas is an awesome Brooklyn marching band, which will rock the crowd, from within the crowd; Whiskeyhickon Boys are one of our house acts — gangsta folk at its best; plus Lady Circus from House of Yes, Nuyorican Poets Cafe all-star poets, live art by 4heads Art Collective, a mini-merry-go-round, and lots more.

twi-ny: When the first Two Boots opened back in 1987, the Lower East Side was a very different place. Since then, you’ve been at the center of the neighborhood’s transformation, adding such events as the Howl! Festival and leading an influx of new restaurants, music venues, and other institutions in addition to a revitalized Tompkins Square Park. How would you compare the Lower East Side of the 1970s and ’80s to the way it is now?

Phil Hartman: We’ve lost a lot of the color and complexity, but there still are a lot of great folks and great organizations carrying on the countercultural tradition here. It’s a lot less scary, which is good if you’re raising three kids here (like I have), but also a lot more tame (which is a shame!).

VIDEO OF THE DAY: “NINJAS IN PARIS” BY PORTLAND CELLO PROJECT

For nearly five years, Portland Cello Project has been revitalizing cello music, melding pop, rap, heavy metal, classical, movie soundtracks, hardcore, country, folk, experimental, and other genres, playing with just cellos or as part of larger orchestras with wind instruments, brass, percussion, and choirs. On their latest record, Homage, they take on hip-hop, reimagining such songs as Lil Wayne’s “She Will” and “Lollipop,” Kanye West and Jay-Z’s “That’s My Bitch,” “Ni**as in Paris,” and “H*A*M,” Talib Kweli’s “Get By,” and OutKast’s “Hey Ya!” before concluding with Osvaldo Golijov’s operatic “Lua Descolorida.” PCP combines sparkling wit with mad skillz in these highly entertaining songs, part of the group’s mission to show that the cello is much more than just an old-fashioned classical string instrument primarily used in chamber music. Earlier this summer, PCP hosted the two-night Extreme Dance Party in their hometown of Portland, where they teamed up with local friends at the Doug Fir Lounge. On August 22, they’re be bringing their nine-hundred-song repertoire, which also features tunes by Justin Timberlake, Pantera, Arvo Pärt, Britney Spears, and many others, to City Winery, headlining a bill with Brooklyn electroacoustic duo Live Footage.

HARLEM WEEK

Harlem Week pays tribute to Jamaica and Bob Marley on Saturday and South Africa, Japan, and Don Cornelius on Sunday

West 135th St. and St. Nicholas Ave.
Saturday, August 18, and Sunday, August 19, free
harlemweek.com

Harlem Week offers a wide range of free programs this weekend, from health and education to sports and music and more. Saturday’s theme is “Summer in the City,” with the NY City Children’s Festival, a live broadcast of Stephen A. Smith’s ESPN radio show, a senior citizens swimming demonstration by the Harlem Honeys and Bears, the Historic College Fair & Expo, a Dancing in the Street salute to Jamaica’s fiftieth anniversary hosted by Dahved Levy, the Fabulous Fashion Flava Show, an international vendors village, Great Jazz on the Great Hill with Wycliffe Gordon, Alyson Williams, Steve Kroon, and Brianna Thomas, an Uptown Saturday Nite tribute to Harry Belafonte and Bob Marley, and an outdoor Imagenation screening of the documentary Marley. On Sunday, “Harlem: Where the World Meets the World” honors South Africa and Japan, including such seminal figures as Nelson Mandela, Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, and Don Cornelius, the legend behind Soul Train. The festivities feature the Upper Manhattan Auto Show, the NY City Health Village, the Upper Manhattan Small Business Expo & Fair, Tri-State Junior Tennis Clinics, the NY City Back to School Children’s Festival, and a live concert.

VIDEO OF THE DAY: THE WOODEN SKY

Every Child a Daughter, Every Moon a Sun, the third full-length by Toronto country-folk collective the Wooden Sky, is a beautiful, heartfelt record built around compelling, elegantly arranged narratives. Started by Gavin Gardiner in his bedroom, the Wooden Sky also features Andrew Wyatt on bass, Simon Walker on guitar and keyboards, and Andrew Kekewich on drums, who effortlessly come together on such emotionally honest songs as “Child of the Valley,” “Angelina,” and “It gets old to be alone.” At times the Wooden Sky evokes such troubadours as Neil Young, Steve Earle, and Bruce Springsteen; just try listening to “Your fight will not be long.” without thinking of “Racing in the Street.” The Wooden Sky will be playing the back room at Public Assembly on August 17 with the Drinkers Themselves, Kid Casanova, and Alex P and the Shoestring Revue.