this week in music

ECSTATIC MUSIC FESTIVAL

Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Center
129 West 67th St.
Monday, January 17, free, 2:00 – 9:00
Festival continues through March 12, $25 per concert, four-concert subscription $80
212-501-3330
www.ecstaticmusicfestival.com

Classical and pop combine in myriad ways during the Ecstatic Music Festival, which begins today with a seven-hour free marathon at Merkin Concert Hall, beginning at 2:00 and featuring performances by Buke and Gass with Victoire, Ne(x)tworks, Face the Music, So Percussion, the Chiara String Quartet, Missy Mazzoli, Gabriel Kahane, Hohn Matthias, NOW Ensemble, Julianna Barwick, Ashley Bathgate with Lisa Moore and Michael Gordon, Vicky Chow with Daniel Wohl, Nadia Sirota and Nico Muhly, and others. The festival continues January 19 with Chiara String Quartet, Nico Muhly, and Valgeir Sigurðsson, January 20 with So Percussion and Dan Deacon, January 22 with Craig Wedren, Jefferson Friedman, and ACME, January 30 with Alarm Will Sound and Face the Music, and February 19 with Roomful of Teeth with William Brittelle, Caleb Burhans, and Merrill Garbus before continuing into March.

MLK DAY 2011

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., would have turned eighty-one this month

In the aftermath of the assassination attempt on Arizona congresswoman Gabrilelle Giffords, today’s many tributes to the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., should take on added meaning. At BAM’s Howard Gilman Opera House, the twenty-fifth annual free event, beginning at 10:30 am, features a keynote address by writer Walter Mosley, live performances by the Persuasions and the Reverend Timothy Wright Memorial Choir of the Grace Tabernacle Christian Center, and a screening of NESHOBA: THE PRICE OF FREEDOM (Micki Dickoff & Tony Pagano, 2010). The Children’s Museum of Manhattan continues its Martin Luther King. Jr., Festival with “Raising Citizens: Make a Difference Medal” at 12 noon. At the newly reopened Museum of the Moving Image, associate producer Richard Kaplan will introduce a free screening of KING: A FILMED RECORD . . . MONTGOMERY TO MEMPHIS at 3:00. At Symphony Space, the fourth annual JCC in Manhattan program, “Artists Celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,” includes a keynote address by the Rev. Dr. Suzan D. Johnson Cook, live jazz from Craig Harris, Juel Lane performing choreographer Bridget Moore’s REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST, and singers Neshama Carlebach and Reverend Hambrick with members of the Green Pastures Baptist Church Choir, emceed by Ruth Messinger (free, 6:30). Tonight Jazz at Lincoln Center will present a Jazz Celebration featuring the Juilliard Jazz Ensemble, Cyrus Chestnut, and special guests ($20, 7:30 & 9:30).

CONTINENTAL REUNION SHOW

Murphy’s Law will be headlining early reunion show at the Continental Sunday night

Continental
25 Third Ave. between St. Marks Pl. & Ninth St.
Sunday, January 16, $10, 4:00, free after 7:00
212-529-6924
www.continentalnyc.com

After fifteen years of punk and hardcore shows, the Continental got rid of live music in September 2006, a sad thing especially in light of CBGB’s closing for good the next month. But last year Continental owner Trigger staged what was thought to be a one-time-only reunion of musicians who had played the club in the past. Fortunately, the gathering might become an annual event, as the second reunion show takes place Sunday, January 16, beginning at 4:00 with 2 Man Advantage and Murphy’s Law ($10), followed at 7:00 with a free show featuring Honor Among Thieves, CJ Ramone, Waldos, Sea Monster, Trigger’s Allstars, Bullys, the Bebe Buell Band, Threads, Charm School, Heap, Furious George, and Curtis Suburban.

MEET THE BEATLES

Saturday, January 15, Carnegie Hall, 881 Seventh Ave. at 57th St., $17.50-$80, 212-247-7800, 8:00
Saturday, January 15, 6:00, and Sunday, January 16, 12 noon, Brooklyn Bowl, 61 Wythe Ave. at North 11th St., $10
www.carnegiehall.org
www.1964thetribute.com
www.brooklynbowl.com

Back in May 1977, the Beatles took over Broadway. Well, not exactly. Actually, BEATLEMANIA opened at the Winter Garden, declaring itself to be “not the Beatles but an incredible simulation.” Beatlemania is back on the rise with the recent release of the Fab Four’s catalog on iTunes, and although a Beatles reunion is an impossibility, perhaps the closest you can come these days is “1964” . . . the Tribute. For nearly thirty years, “1964” has been re-creating every aspect of a Beatles concert, from the look and the sound to the feeling and the energy. The mop-topped quartet will be shaking it up, baby, at Carnegie Hall on Saturday night, but remember that this is 1964, so don’t go expecting to hear songs from SGT. PEPPER, ABBEY ROAD, the White Album, etc. For a very different kind of Beatles experience, Roger Greenawalt will be leading a host of musicians, including Nellie McKay, Danny Ross, the Ramblers, Thinking in Pictures, Nat & Alex Wolff, Julian Velard, Deni Bonet, Terry Radigan, and unannounced special guests, through the complete Beatles catalog on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon at Brooklyn Bowl — with all songs played on ukulele. If you have a uke and want to participate, just show up an hour before showtime and you get in free as part of the uke mob.

ONE STEP BEYOND WITH MATT AND KIM

Matt and Kim will play a DJ set at the American Museum of Natural History’s Friday night One Step Beyond party (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

American Museum of Natural History
Rose Center for Earth and Space
Western Pavilion, Columbus Ave. at 79th St.
Friday, January 14, $25, 9:00
www.myspace.com/mattandkim
www.amnh.org

Technically, the Ecstatic Music Festival gets under way next week, but it’s going to be hard to find a more ecstatic event than the January edition of the monthly One Step Beyond dance party at the American Museum of Natural History. Held in the Rose Center for Earth and Space, the festivities include drinks, dancing, live bands, and DJs beginning at 9:00, twenty-one and over only, please. The stars underneath the stars for Friday’s gathering are Brooklyn darlings Matt and Kim, who generally have about as much fun in their public performances as is legally and humanly possible. Although Matthew Johnson will not be behind the keyboards and Kimberly Schifino will not be at or on top of her drum kit, the Pratt pair will be manning the DJ table, blasting out hot sounds on a cool night. Also on the bill are twenty-one-year-old Dipset producer and MPC master AraabMUZIK; Nacey, known for his Nouveau Riche parties in DC; and One Step Beyond faves Activaire DJs.

AMERICAN SONGBOOK 2011

The Carolina Chocolate Drops will dip into the American Songbook at Lincoln Center on February 2

The Allen Room, Frederick P. Rose Hall
Broadway at 60th St.
January 13 – February 20, $35-$75
212-721-6500
www.americansongbook.org

Lincoln Center’s annual celebration of American music takes place January 13 – February 20 at the Allen Room, featuring sixteen performances that range from cabaret, folk, and jazz to pop, alternative, and opera. The Low Anthem will turn things up on January 13, followed by “Lance Horne: First Things Last” on January 14, an evening of musical theater with Horne, Alan Cumming, and Cheyenne Jackson. The diverse schedule also includes Mary Chapin Carpenter (January 15), Bebel Gilberto (February 3), Raul Esparza (February 18), and Herb Alpert and Lani Hall closing the series on February 20. Among the other highlights are “The Songs of Shara Worden” (of My Brightest Diamond) on January 27, “John Doe: Americana” on January 28, the always exciting Carolina Chocolate Drops on February 2, Joan Osborne performing “Love and Hate — A Song Cycle” on February 4, and “Stephanie Blythe: We’ll Meet Again — The Songs of Kate Smith” on February 16.

THE ENGLISH BEAT

Dave Wakeling leads the English Beat through a groovy gig at Webster Hall last summer (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Highline Ballroom
431 West 16th St. between Ninth & Tenth Aves.
Sunday, January 9, $30, 8:00
212-414-5994
www.myspace.com/officialbeatspace
www.highlineballroom.com

We have to admit that we were forced to catch the English Beat last August at Webster Hall, figuring them to be just another once-hot ’80s retread living off the past, playing warmed-over versions of ancient hits, with only one original member in tow. Damn, were we wrong. Instead, we had a rollicking good time as Dave Wakeling led the Beat through a thirtieth-anniversary celebration of their seminal album I JUST CAN’T STOP IT, along with a few covers and even a new song. The dance party never stopped as a comfortable and relaxed Wakeling shared funny stories about crazy nights in New York City way back when and how most of the band now downs coconut milk in lieu of the harder stuff, referring to Rhythmm Epkins on drums, Wayne Lothian on bass, Matt Morrish on sax, Raynier Jacildo on keyboards, Musashi “Moose” Lethridge on guitar, and Antonee taking the First Class Toaster part made famous by Ranking Roger. The generous setlist ran the gamut from such EB classics as “I Confess,” “Can’t Get Used to Losing You,” “Twist & Crawl,” “Hands Off, She’s Mine,” “Stand Down Margaret,” “Tears of a Clown,” and “Mirror in the Bathroom” to a cover of the Staples Singers’ “I’ll Take You There.” Running long, Wakeling cut a General Public tune, making a sly jab at RR. The Birmingham native, long since relocated to California, also added a snippet of Pearl Jam’s “Better Man” to “Save It for Later,” just as Eddie Vedder has been adding a snippet of “Save It” to PJ’s performances of “Better Man” for years. The band also featured the new “The Love You Give Lasts Forever,” part of a benefit project for Acoustic for Autism; in fact, they’re readying the first English Beat studio album since 1982’s SPECIAL BEAT SERVICE, so don’t be surprised to see other fresh tracks tonight, when EB plays the Highline Ballroom with the Brooklyn Rundfunk Orkestrata, Toubab Krewe, and the Lost Fingers. Tickets are half price if you bring in an unemployment stub and present it at the box office. You know you want to go. So just go. Plus, it’s Sunday night, so what else do you have to do?