this week in music

HISTOIRE DU SOLDAT

Galapagos Art Space
16 Main St., DUMBO
Wednesday, March 23, $10-$40, 7:30 & 9:00
718-222-8500
www.galapagosartspace.com

An all-star lineup has teamed up for a one-night-only presentation of a new English-language production of Igor Stravinsky’s Histoire du Soldat (The Soldier’s Tale) on March 23 at Galapagos Art Space in DUMBO. The 1918 work, based on a parable about a Russian soldier who makes a deal with the devil, will be conducted by flutist Ransom Wilson for his Le Train Bleu ensemble, which will be making its highly anticipated debut. The choreography is by Lars Lubovitch and lighting by Jennifer Tipton, with New York City Opera stage director A. Scott Parry serving as dramaturge. Le Train Bleu consists of Brian Ellingsen on double bass, Alexey Gorokholinsky on clarinet, Shelley Monroe on bassoon, Hugo Moreno on trumpet, Jennifer Griggs on trombone, Ian Rosenbaum on percussion, and Tim Fain on violin. The world-premiere production features Lars Lubovitch Dance Company members Reid Bartelme as the soldier, Nicole Corea as the princess, and Attila Csiki as the devil, with Reed Armstrong acting the part of the devil and John Arnold the soldier; William Ferguson will serve as narrator. Histoire du Soldat will be performed at 7:30 and 9:30, with tickets ranging from $10 for students to $40 for reserved Island Seating that comes with an open bar. In addition, Friend tickets ($140/$100 tax deductible) include a preshow reception, while Patron tickets ($500/$460 tax deductible) include a postperformance reception with the artists as well, benefiting the Lars Lubovitch Dance Company.

CONCERT FOR JAPAN

Japan Society
333 East 47th St. at First Ave.
Tickets available beginning Tuesday, March 22, 11:00 am
Event takes place Saturday, April 9, $5-$100, 11:00 am – 11:00 pm
212-715-1258
www.japansociety.org

As the horrific devastation continues in Japan, people around the world are gathering together to help. Here in New York City, many institutions are holding benefits and donating proceeds to disaster relief. Japan Society has already raised nearly a million and a half dollars, and on April 9 they will host one of the biggest charity events yet, the twelve-hour Concert for Japan. The show centers around two $100 gala blocks, featuring Philip Glass with Hal Willner and the trio of Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, and John Zorn at 1:00 and a solo performance by Ryuichi Sakamoto and Bill Laswell with gigi band at 6:00. Admission at other times is only five dollars at the door, first come, first served, with all proceeds going to the Japan Earthquake Relief Fund. Scheduled to appear are Masayo Ishigure, Mutsumi and Masumi Takamizu, James Schlefer, Sadahiro Kakitani, Taikoza, Taka Kigawa, and Yumi Kurosawa playing traditional Japanese instruments and music, in addition to such bands as Echostream, Hard Nips, the Suzan, and Me & Mars, with many more to be announced. There will also be special activities all day long, including ticketed classes in basic Japanese, origami, and calligraphy, Kamishibai storytelling, and the splendid new exhibit “Bye Bye Kitty!!! Between Heaven & Hell in Contemporary Japanese Art” will be open until 8:00. Tickets for the gala blocks and classes go on sale this morning at 11:00 am, limited to two per person. They’ll go quickly, so don’t hesitate to help while seeing a great show as a bonus.

TWI-NY TALK: RICHARD THOMPSON

Richard Thompson will reach into his bottomless bowl of tricks tonight at Zankel Hall (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

WFUV LIVE AT ZANKEL HALL
Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall
Fifty-seventh St. at Seventh Ave.
Saturday, March 19, $42-$48, 10:00
Series concludes April 8
www.carnegiehall.org
www.wfuv.org/event/zankel
www.richardthompson-music.com

Over the last decade, masterful British musician Richard Thompson has played all over New York City, from the cozy confines of Joe’s Pub and City Winery to the pouring rain of Prospect Park, from the Town Hall and Irving Plaza to the shores of the Hudson and East Rivers. Tonight, one of folk rock’s greatest singer-songwriters and guitarists heads uptown to play a solo set as part of the annual WFUV Live at Zankel Hall series. “I’ve never been to Carnegie Hall, and certainly not played it, but it does have an international reputation, and I’m thinking some of that cachet should rub off on the lesser Zankel,” Thompson told twi-ny. “It seems an exciting prospect, and I really look forward to it.” The series, curated by longtime radio host and WFUV music director Rita Houston, began with the Indigo Girls on October 23, followed by Martin Sexton’s Solo Holiday Show on December 11; it concludes April 8 with Edie Brickell and her new band, the Gaddabouts. Thompson, a founding member of Fairport Convention and half of the seminal Richard & Linda Thompson duo, is touring behind his latest album, Dream Attic (August 2010, Shout Factory), primarily playing in the Richard Thompson Electric Trio, with bassist Taras Prodaniuk and drummer Michael Jerome. But he’ll be going it alone tonight. “I’ve played very little solo in the last six months, so I don’t have a ‘plan’ at this point, but I hope the set will be a reflection of the last forty-five years — selections from the decades, and a few newer things,” he explained. Thompson has quite an old kit bag of songs to choose from; he’s released more than fifty albums, including 1000 Years of Popular Music, which takes listeners on a stirring journey through the centuries, not just the decades. The first two hundred ticket holders to show up tonight will get a free drink as part of Late Nights at Zankel Hall, with doors opening at 9:00.

ECHOSYSTEM: PROTECTING OUR WATER

The Great Hall of the Cooper Union
7 East Seventh St. at Third Ave.
Saturday, March 19, $15, 8:00
212-362-4745
www.ensemble-pi.org

Ensemble Pi’s Sixth Annual Peace Project concert, Echosystem: Protecting Our Water, will once again look to the environment for inspiration. Introduced by investigative journalist Karen Charman, the evening will feature performances of George Crumb’s 1971 “Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale)” for three Masked Players, the world premiere of Kristin Norderval’s “Echo Systems,” inspired by the BP and Exxon Valdez environmental disasters, Karl Kramer’s new arrangement of Pete Seeger’s 1971 ecology-minded “Rainbow Race,” and Christopher Kaufman’s multimedia “Hudson Valley,” which incorporates sound and image from the Hudson River Valley. Since 2005, Ensemble Pi has been hosting the Peace Project concert, seeking to combine music with eco-conscious issues. The 2011 event will include Norderval on voice and laptop, Airi Yoshioka on violin, Idith Meshulam on piano, Clair Bryant on cello, Kramer on French horn, Barry Crawford on flute, and Nick Gallas on clarinet.

D. CHARLES SPEER (& THE HELIX)

D. Charles Speer is touring both solo and with the Helix (photo by Victor Harshbarger)

Sunday, March 13, Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston St., $10, 7:00
Saturday, March 19, Ding Dong Lounge, 929 Columbus Ave. at 105th St., 8:00
Tuesday, March 22, Bruar Falls, 245 Grand St. between Driggs & Roebling, $8, 8:00
Saturday, April 16, the Bell House, 149 Seventh St. between Second & Third Aves., Brooklyn, $20, 7:00
Thursday, April 21, Glasslands, 289 Kent Ave., $10, 8:30
www.myspace.com/dcharlesspeer

There aren’t many more fascinating musicians these days than David Charles Shuford. The Atlanta native, who has been based in New York City for nearly twenty years, can morph into several different personas that you would never think could come from the same brain. A former longtime member of the No Neck Blues Band, the artist better known as D. Charles Speer is currently touring in support of two very different records from Thrill Jockey. Arghiledes, now available in a vinyl-only limited edition of five hundred, is a one-man wonder, a seven-song acoustic tribute to Greek music in general and Markos Vamvakaris’s Piraeus Quartet specifically, with Speer playing such instruments as trichordo bouzouki, baglamas, worry bead percussion on whiskey glass, zills, and other strings and percussion. A combination of instrumentals (“Markos’s Cave,” the jazzy “Lost Dervish”) and songs sung in Greek (“O Sinachis”) and English (“Wildlife Preserve”) — in addition to throat singing (“Harmanis”) — Arghiledes is an acoustic delight, a splendid trip to another world; don’t hesitate to start belly dancing if you feel the urge. The final two songs on Arghiledes, “Wildlife Preserve” and “The Heavy Heart of Ando-Yeap,” are rooted more in Americana folk, blues, and psychedelia, terrific lead-ins to Speer’s other major project, D. Charles Speer and the Helix, which is set to release its third full-length album, Leaving the Commonwealth, on April 12. Joined by Hans Chew on piano, Marc Orleans on pedal steel and electric guitar, Ted Robinson on bass, Steven McGuirl on drums, and Margot Bianca on background vocals, Speer unspools nine super-cool tracks reminiscent of Workingman’s Dead-era Grateful Dead, sung in a voice that mixes Pigpen with Jerry and Bob. From “Razorbacked” and “Cumberland” through “Alamoosook Echoes” and “Battle of the Wilderness,” the band takes its time exploring tunes that meander this way and that, coming together to form an intoxicating concoction of alt-country folk-rock swagger. Speer will be playing solo sets March 13 at Mercury Lounge on a bill with the Megaphonic Thrift, Endless Boogie, and Arbouretum, March 19 at the Ding Dong Lounge as part of a joint record release party with Ed Askew and Gary Higgins, and March 22 at Bruar Falls with William Tyler. Then he’ll back in town with the Helix for full-band shows April 16 at the Bell House with Eleventh Dream Day and Come and April 21 at Glasslands with CSC Funk Band and Endless Boogie.

JOE BOYD AND ROBYN HITCHCOCK: CHINESE WHITE BICYCLES

LIVE AND DIRECT FROM 1967
(le) poisson rouge
158 Bleecker St.
Friday, March 11, $25-$30, 6:30
212-228-4854
www.robynhitchcock.com
www.joeboyd.co.uk
www.myspace.com/lepoissonrougenyc

Since the mid-1970s, acerbic singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock has been regaling the world with philosophical, intellectual, and downright funny tales as a solo performer and with such bands as the Soft Boys, the Egyptians, and the Venus 3. His live shows, documented in Jonathan Demme’s 1998 documentary, Storefront Hitchcock, are always unusual and immensely entertaining, anchored by his often hysterically rambling between-song chatter in addition to his immense talent at writing a damn good tune. Always up to something different — in June he’ll team up with the Imaginary Band to play a one-off UK tribute to the recently deceased Captain Beefheart, performing the seminal album Clear Spot in its entirety — he’ll be at (le) poisson rouge on Friday night with longtime friend Joe Boyd, the legendary American producer who has worked with everyone from the Incredible String Band, Pink Floyd, Fairport Convention, Nick Drake, Bob Dylan, and Kate and Anna McGarrigle to Toots and the Maytals, Richard Thompson, Billy Bragg, R.E.M., and ¡Cubanismo! Hitchcock and Boyd are in the midst of a brief tour dubbed “Chinese White Bicycles: Live and Direct from 1967,” in which Boyd reads passages from his recently rereleased memoir, White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s (Serpent’s tail, December 2010, $14.95), Hitchcock plays songs by the groups mentioned in the book, the music that influenced him when he was growing up in London, and the two just talk about stuff. “Joe had a hand in creating a world that revolutionised mine,” Hitchcock notes on his website. “If he is Dr Frankenstein, then I’m his monster. Or one of them…” Get ready for what should be one very groovy night.

Robyn Hitchcock gets down to the Lovin’ Spoonful’s “What a Day for a Daydream” at (le) poisson rouge show with Joe Boyd (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Update: It did indeed turn out to be one groovy night, as Joe Boyd told great stories about hanging out with such seminal figures as Zal Yanovsky and Joe Butler of the Lovin’ Spoonful, Robin Williamson and Clive Palmer of the Incredible String Band, Paul Butterfield (with Boyd suggesting he add Mike Bloomfield to the Blues Band), Nick Drake (not looking forward to his songs being overproduced), and Fairport Convention (as they decided to eschew American folk rock and turn to the English tradition after fearing they could never create something as special as the Band’s Music from Big Pink). He talked about putting together a Syd Barrett tribute that ultimately involved Pink Floyd, about losing out on a one-night stand to Bob Dylan, and about Maria Muldaur and Eric Muldaur falling in love. He gave the show a decidedly New York bent, mentioning many of the haunts they used to go to that were just around the corner from (le) poisson rouge; “This is the beating heart of the sixties,” he said of the city. He also apologized for convincing LPR that he and Robyn Hitchcock should perform in the round, resulting in their backs to much of the audience, which boasted Rufus Wainwright. After each tale, Hitchcock introduced and played a song by the respective musicians, including the ISB’s “Way Back in the 1960s,” Dylan’s “All I Really Want to Do,” the Spoonful’s “What a Day for a Daydream” (flat on his back), Fairport Convention’s “Reynardine,” Drake’s “River Man,” and the Floyd’s “Bike.” The encore was a riveting tale of Boyd being at the center of Dylan going electric at Newport, as the evening concluded with Hitchcock offering up Bob’s spiteful “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” followed by Boyd and Hitchcock signing books, CDs, and posters. (For a slideshow of the event, click here.)

MI AMI

Now a duo, Mi Ami’s Daniel Martin-McCormick and Damon Palermo will play a series of DJ sets and bands shows this month (photo by Lili Schulder)

Thursday, March 10, Shea Stadium, 20 Meadow St.
Friday, March 11, Pianos, 158 Ludlow St., $10, 11:00
Saturday, March 26, Glasslands, 289 Kent Ave. $8-$10, 8:00
Sunday, March 27, Public Assembly, 70 North Sixth St.
www.myspace.com/miamiamiami

Okay, we have to admit that we’re confused here too. Tonight the Miami Dolphins are going to be at Shea Stadium, with a major roster change to boot. Oh, wait a minute; now we get it. Actually, the Baltimore duo Mi Ami, formerly a trio, will be playing a DJ set at the tiny Brooklyn music club Shea Stadium, the first of four area appearances this month. In February 2009, we wrote that on Watersports, guitarist Daniel Martin-McCormick, bassist Jacob Long, and drummer Damon Palermo “rail against the pervasive fear that lies at the heart of America’s psyche, offering a much-needed scream of release,” and in April 2010 we called their follow-up, Steal Your Face, “a thirty-seven-minute freak-out of massive proportions.” But now, with Palermo having left the band, Martin-McCormick and Long have delved deep into the techno-disco part of their sound on their new release, Dolphins (Thrill Jockey, March 15, 2011). Available in a vinyl-only limited edition of 750 copies (with free digital download), the record consists of four extended-length electronic dance tunes, “Hard Up,” “Dolphins,” “Sunrise,” and “Echo,” that take listeners on a space-age ride fueled by computer samples, drum machines, keyboards, and screeching vocals. Of course, by naming the album Dolphins, Mi Ami don’t do themselves any favors; search on “Mi Ami Dolphins” and see how long it takes before they come up. (And Steal Your Face was not exactly a unique name either, as Dead Heads are well aware.) Fortunately, they seem to have quite a sense of humor. The reinvented Mi Ami will be playing a DJ set with members of Jonas Reinhardt tonight (as DJ Magic Touch) at Shea Stadium on a bill with Sex Worker, Big Gold Belt, and Darius, followed by a live band performance March 11 at Pianos with Darius again, Innerglaze, and Wolff. Then they’ll be back in town March 26 for a full show at Glasslands with Laurel Halo and Psychic Reality and another DJ set March 27 at Public Assembly.