this week in music

FOUNTAIN ART FAIR 2011

Allison Berkoy will be back on board the Frying Pan in the Lackawanna Caboose with more of her creepy but fun multimedia, lifelike installations (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Pier 66 Maritime, the Frying Pan
West 26th St. at the Hudson River
March 3-6, $10 (March 4 VIP preview $25)
www.fountainexhibit.com

The sixth annual Fountain Art Fair, dedicated to exhibiting avant-garde works from small, independent galleries, is back on board the Frying Pan, displaying cutting-edge painting, sculpture, and installation from the most radical artists to be found during Armory Week. Following the March 3 VIP and press preview, Fountain will open its doors to the public on Friday at 12 noon with works from such galleries as What It Is, Christina Ray, Microscope, LambertArts, Cheap & Plastique, Temporary States, and, as always, the anarchist Murder Lounge down below (don’t say you weren’t warned), in addition to artists projects by Greg Haberny, Evo Love, Mark Demos, Mami Kotak, and Danni Rash & GILF! There will also be a large-scale street art installation that brings together Chris Stain, Faro, Gaia, Shark Toof, Clown Soldier, Love Me, Ellis G, Alessandro Echevarria, Lee Trice, Imminent Disaster, and Dickchicken!, and Boston’s experimental Mobius Collective will be holding four days of curated roaming and site-specific performance art pieces, called “Infiltrate!,” from Marilyn Arsem and Burns Maxey’s “Captain Burns and First Mate Arsem Discover a New Land” and Sandy and Jeff Huckleberry’s “Entrapment” to Anna Wexler and Catherine Tutter’s “Vessel for Haiti III,” Joanne Rice’s “Without,” and Alisia Lord Louise Waller’s “What Are You, Some Kind of Monster?”

Jason Douglas Griffin’s “We Have an Understanding” can be found at the Leo Kesting booth at Fountain (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Other special events include an opening-night reception with live performances by Gordon Voidwell, Tecla, and Generic and a Saturday-night Lomography Picture Party with Ninjasonik and NSR, all free with the standard admission price. This year, the show has a decidedly 1980s retro East Village feel; among the highlights are Jason Douglas Griffin’s painted door, “We Have an Understanding,” at Leo Kesting (the spray-painted lightbulb is part of the work but not the heater), Chris Smith’s “Rumblers Road Signs & Rusted Cars” at G-spot’s subtexture booth, JMR’s colorful live mural at Mighty Tanaka, Demos’s lighted, scratched, and pounded glass canvases, Victor Cox’s enticing small works in the enticing Murder Lounge, Carl Gunhouse’s photos of American real estate developments at Camel Art Space, and R. Nicholas Kuszyk’s delightful robot paintings and Morning Breath’s cool collages at McCaig-Welles. One of our Fountain favorites, Allison Berkoy, is back in the Lackawanna railroad car with “Another Night in the Caboose of Magical Light” (she was previously in the caboose in 2009, with Nuala Clarke there last year), a brand-new collection of captivating light and mirror projections that give life to inanimate objects, from dolls and rice to a bowl of soup, all featuring her face. Be sure to explore every nook and cranny of the 133-foot-long lightship, which was in operation from 1930 to 1965 and spent three years underwater before being rediscovered by salvagers. Fountain is the art fair for people who hate art fairs, where anything can happen — and probably will.

RAW SHOWCASE

Dawn Toledo Walsh will feed RAW artists to a hungry city on February 24 at 3Ten lounge on Bowery

RAW:natural born artists
3Ten lounge
310 Bowery
Thursday, February 24, $10, 8:00
www.rawartists.org
www.3tenlounge.com

Based in Southern California, independent nonprofit DIY organization RAW:natural born artists was founded in March 2009 by Heidi Luerra “to provide up-and-coming artists of all creative realms with the tools, resources, and exposure needed to inspire and cultivate creativity so that they might be seen, heard, and loved.” The grassroots collective travels across the country holding showcases, workshops, seminars, and other special events with handpicked local artists in the fields of film, fashion, music, art, photography, performing arts, hair and makeup, and design accessories. On February 24, Raw comes to the 3Ten lounge on Bowery for a multidisciplinary evening featuring film, live music and dance, a fashion show, and more, with such artists as JT Lotus Dance Company, Jessica Noe, Sarah Valeri, Ness Ros-Zeppelin, Aljosa Daumerie, Crayongirl, Brian DePinto, Lyle Thomas, Jon Epstein, Fabylosa, and others. Cocktail attire is suggested. “The city is hungry,” notes RAW New York City location director Dawn Toledo Walsh. “I intend to give it all it can eat.”

TICKET ALERT: STEVE MARTIN

One of the many sides of the multitalented Steve Martin will be showcased at the Highline Ballroom on March 14

Highline Ballroom
431 West 16th St. between Ninth & Tenth Aves.
Monday, March 14, $35, 8:00
212-414-5994
www.stevemartin.com
www.highlineballroom.com

Actor, comedian, playwright, Oscar host, musician, and writer Steve Martin has followed up his previous short novels, the highly praised Shopgirl (2000) and The Pleasure of My Company (2003), with the more substantial An Object of Beauty (Grand Central, November 2010, $26.99). Tracing the career path of a none-too-shy wannabe gallerist mover and shaker, the book is an insightful and cynical examination of the art market over the course of the last two decades, as seen through the eyes of an art critic, Daniel, who narrates the story of Lacey Yeager, who never met a canvas she couldn’t undress. Martin shows a deft knowledge of the art world, from the fancy, established Upper East Side galleries to the more conceptual spaces in Chelsea, supplementing his wry tale with color images of many of the real paintings and sculptures mentioned in the tome. Martin has spoken about the book at the 92nd St. Y, and he will be at the Highline Ballroom on March 14 to — oh, wait. Actually, Martin will not be discussing his literary career at this event; instead, he will be looking back at his performances on television and in the movies, which started with appearances on the Tonight show with Johnny Carson and SNL and led to such successful films as The Jerk (Carl Reiner, 1979), All of Me (Carl Reiner, 1984), Planes, Trains & Automobiles (John Hughes, 1987), and — um, well, ah, wrong again. Martin will actually be at the Highline Ballroom with the Steep Canyon Rangers, in what is being billed as “An Evening of Bluegrass & Banjo.” They’ll be featuring songs from their second album, Rare Bird Alert (Rounder Records, March 15), the follow-up to 2009’s The Crow. The new disc contains such Martin originals as “Yellow-Backed Fly,” “Best Love,” “Hide Behind a Rock,” and a new version of the classic “King Tut.” In regard to touring, “I enjoyed once again something I had once grown to loathe: The Road,” he writes in the liner notes. “Traveling around America in bluegrass mode, I’ve met many remarkable musicians and have been thrilled, humbled, charged up, and encouraged.” Please, whatever you do, do not show up looking to get books and DVDs signed, then demand your money back when Martin takes the stage with his band and starts playing bluegrass music.

SUPER SABADO: CARNAVAL

FREE THIRD SATURDAYS
El Museo del Barrio
1230 Fifth Ave. at 104th St.
Saturday, February 19, free, 11:00 am – 8:30 pm
212-831-7272
www.elmuseo.org

One of our favorite ongoing parties takes place the third Saturday of every month, when El Museo del Barrio welcomes visitors for a free day of art, live performances, and other special events. On February 19, the museum will be celebrating Carnaval with ArtExplorers family tours of the “Voces y Visiones” exhibition of works from the permanent collection, gallery tours of that and the “Luis Camnitzer” retrospective, a Colorín Colorado storytelling presentation of Elisabeth Balaguer’s My Carnival / Mi Carnaval with the Bilingual Birdies, the Say Quesoooo! photo booth, a vejigante cape-making workshop, the live music and dance show “Afro-Caribbean Carnaval: The Legacy Circle, Alma Moyo & Kalunga,” followed by a Q&A with the artists, the Oh, Snap! Young Powerful Voices at Work spoken word workshop with Caridad de la Luz “La Bruja,” and more.

BNLX

BNLX will bring its fuzzy synth pop to Fontana’s on Thursday night and rock the Rock Shop on Friday (Photo by Christian Erickson)

Thursday, February 17, Fontana’s, 105 Eldridge St., 212-334-6740, $7, 8:00
Friday, February 18, Rock Shop, 249 Fourth Ave., 718-230-5740, $10, 8:00
www.myspace.com/bnlxmusic

Whenever a new pop band emerges from the shadows, the music industry rushes to pigeonhole them, but some groups defy categorization. The mysterious BNLX, who surfaced in 2010 in Minneapolis by releasing a quartet of four-track EPs in plain brown cardboard packages, is one such band. Just a look at the songs they covered on BNLX4 makes you scratch your head in wonder: Can’s “Soul Desert,” Rhianna’s “Shut Up and Drive,” Black Flag’s “Rise Above,” and a smokin’ version of fellow Minneapolis native Prince’s “When Doves Cry.” Led by husband-and-wife-team Ed Ackerson and Ashley Ackerson, who run the Minneapolis label Susstones, BNLX plays joyful pop built around groovy synths and fuzzy guitars, evoking such forerunners as X, the B-52s, Norman Greenbaum, and Cracker in such rave-ups as “Do Without,” “Where Is the Love,” and “Frogger.” The impossibly infectious “Blue and Gold” is one of the most beautifully crafted pop songs of 2010; when Ed sings, “I’ve been here before,” you might think you have too, but you haven’t. If John Hughes were still alive and was going to remake The Breakfast Club in London, BNLX could handle the soundtrack all by itself. The quartet, officially billed as e.a., a.a., knobby, and blinky, will be at Fontana’s on February 17 with the Setup and Dream Job and at the Rock Shop in Brooklyn on February 18 with Hard Light, hopefully premiering songs from the upcoming BNLX5.

NEW YORK OPERA SOCIETY: A TRIBUTE TO PAUL ROBESON

The New York Opera Society will pay tribute to the great Paul Robeson on Wednesday night at the World Financial Center

World Financial Center Winter Garden
220 Vesey St.
Wednesday, February 16, free, 7:00
212-417-7050
www.artsworldfinancialcenter.com
www.newyorkoperasociety.com

Describing his first trip to the Soviet Union in 1934, Paul Robeson (1898–1976) noted, “Here I am not a Negro but a human being. Before I came I could hardly believe that such a thing could be. Here, for the first time in my life, I walk in full human dignity.” The Princeton-born Renaissance man was an influential stage and screen actor, bass-baritone singer, civil rights activist, writer, and football star. In honor of Black History Month, the New York Opera Society, led by founder and executive director Jennifer Cho, will perform a musical tribute to Robeson, the son of slaves who went on to appear in such films as The Emperor Jones (Dudley Murphy, 1933), Show Boat (James Whale, 1936), and King Solomon’s Mines (Robert Stevenson, 1937) and played Othello on Broadway opposite Uta Hagen and José Ferrer. The free event, taking place in the World Financial Center Winter Garden, will feature performances of such Robeson classics as “Ol’ Man River,” “Song of the Volga Boatmen,” “All Through the Night,” and Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy,” among other spirituals and songs of freedom.

TWI-NY TALK: KENNY WHITE

Kenny White will be playing a Saturday-night residency at the Café Carlyle

Café Carlyle
35 East 76th St. at Madison Ave.
Saturdays, February 19 – March 12, general seating $40, bar $30, 10:45
212-744-1600
www.myspace.com/kennywhitemusic
www.thecarlyle.com

In the liner notes to his fourth full-length solo album, 2010’s COMFORT IN THE STATIC, Kenny White explains, “There are days when you play the lead character in your life, but as an observer.” Although he was referring specifically to “Out of My Element,” the first song written but last recorded for the disc, he could have been talking about his professional career. He started writing songs when he was eight and has spent much of his life as a writer and producer of pop tunes and commercials for other artists, ranging from Gladys Knight, Linda Ronstadt, and Dwight Yoakam to Shawn Colvin, Marc Cohn, and Peter Wolf. He released his first solo album, UNINVITED GUEST, in 2001, and followed that up with 2005’s SYMPHONY IN 16 BARS and 2006’s NEVER LIKE THIS. On February 19, he’ll begin a four-week Saturday-night residency at the Café Carlyle, where he’ll play his ironic, cynical, highly engaging songs at a venue where performers such as Barbara Cook, Barbara Carroll, the late Bobby Short, and Woody Allen & the Eddy Davis New Orleans Jazz Band usually rely on familiar standards. But White will be in good company on those nights, following Judy Collins, who will be at the Carlyle February 15 – March 12, playing Tuesdays through Saturdays with musical director Russell Walden; Collins is the founder of Wildfllower Records, White’s label since 2005. White discussed Collins, the Carlyle, playing out of his element, and Palookaville in our latest twi-ny talk.

twi-ny: Last summer you played one of Levon Helm’s Midnight Rambles. What was that experience like?

Kenny White: Any time you can get to share a stage with one of the architects of rock & roll, it’s a memorable occasion. The event itself shows that the magnetic pull of intimate, organic soul music is still plenty powerful, despite obituaries to the contrary. And to be a part of that experience . . . that’s just icing on the cake. Right down to singing the first verse of “The Weight” directly in front of the man who gave the song its heart. Then the added bonus of having Donald Fagen on the other side of the stage. A deeply fulfilling evening for me and my band.

twi-ny: The Café Carlyle on the Upper East Side is very different from the Midnight Ramble in Woodstock. How do you think your unique brand of ironic, cynical songwriting, particularly on COMFORT IN THE STATIC, will go over in a venue used to more traditional cabaret and jazz?

Kenny White will be featuring songs from his latest album, 2010's COMFORT IN THE STATIC, at the Carlyle

Kenny White: I guess we’re going to find out! My songs, even though not widely known, seem to resonate with folks who are looking for lyrics to which they can relate. People who have been around the block once or twice can be satisfied with “unrequited love” or “poor me” songs for just so long. The Café Carlyle has long been a watering hole for the worldly and discerning. And I believe what they’re looking for does not need to be defined by musical genre. If it’s good, they’ll like it. If it’s not . . . Palookaville!

twi-ny: Since 2005, you’ve been part of the Judy Collins Wildflower family, which also includes such artists as Amy Speace, Wes Charlton, and Ralston Bowles. What has that meant to your career?

Kenny White: It means a support system for what could otherwise be a very isolated line of work. Wildflower Records was established by an artist, which, right away, gives it a head start. All the above artists are in touch with each other and are always mutually encouraging and inspiring. And Judy, along with [label president] Katherine DePaul, has an innate understanding of the temperament of the artist. Especially one that started out a couple of minutes past what might be considered the “video friendly” hour.