this week in music

THE MUSIC OF FELA KUTI

The music of Fela Kuti will be performed at free concert at St. Ann’s Warehouse on October 4

St. Ann’s Warehouse
38 Water St.
Monday, October 4, 6:30 (doors open at 6:00)
Admission: free
www.brooklynbridgepark.org
www.felaonbroadway.com

FELA! has been a runaway Broadway hit, celebrating the life and career of influential Nigerian singer and activist Fela Anikulapo Kuti. On October 4, FELA! star Sahr Ngaujah will perform a free concert version in St. Ann’s Warehouse (moved from Brooklyn Bridge Park because of the weather), backed by the Broadway band, which includes members of Brooklyn’s Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra. The musical, which was nominated for eleven Tony awards, features such Kuti songs as “Sorrow, Tears and Blood,” “Zombie,” “Shuffering & Shmiling,” “I.T.T. (International Thief Thief),” and “Coffin for Head of State.” Doors open at 6:00 and the concert begins at 6:30, but you’re going to have to get there a lot earlier to guarantee yourself a decent seat.

UNSILENT FILM SERIES: BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN

Matt Darriau’s Paradox Trio will play a live score to Eisenstein’s classic BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN at (le) poisson rouge

(le) poisson rouge
158 Bleecker St.
Sunday, October 3, $10-$12, 10:00 pm
212-228-4854
www.lepoissonrouge.com

Sergei M. Eisenstein’s classic BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN has had its fair share of scores over the years, and on Sunday night it will be getting the Paradox Trio treatment as part of (le) poisson rouge’s Unsilent Film Series. Matt Darriau, Brad Shepik, Rufus Cappadocia, and Seido Salifoski will be playing such instruments as the kaval, the gaida, Balkan strings, and dumbeks to Eisenstein’s dramatic tale of revolution in Russia. In addition, Vision Fugitive composers Elias (Constantopedos), Lydia (Ainsworth), and Shruti (Kumar) will play live to scenes from René Laloux’s 1973 animated film LA PLANÈTE SAUVAGE (FANTASTIC PLANET).

BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN (Sergei M. Eisenstein, 1925)
Sergei M. Eisenstein’s BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN might be a seminal silent classic that changed the nature of filmmaking, but it is also still a vastly entertaining movie regardless of its cinematic influence and worldwide importance. Divided into five episodes — Men and Maggots, Drama at the Harbour, A Dead Man Calls for Justice, The Odessa Staircase, and The Rendez-vous with a Squadron — the film tells the based-on-fact story of a mutiny on board a sailing vessel, the result of unfair treatment of the workers, a microcosm of the Russian Revolution of 1905 that later led to the bigger revolution of 1917. The film is like an editing primer, its approach to montage causing its own revolution at the time, particularly during the unforgettable Odessa Steps sequence, in which Eisenstein’s cuts manipulate the action in powerful, emotional ways that were new to cinema. The film also features the best mustaches in the history of movies.

ART IN ODD PLACES: CHANCE

Paul Notzold’s “TXTual Healing” will project audience texts onto a 14th St. building as part of Art in Odd Places public art festival

14th St. between the Hudson & East Rivers
October 1-10
Admission: free
www.artinoddplaces.org

Everyday life in New York City is built around the idea of chance — risk as well as luck, both good and bad — as residents, tourists, workers, and other visitors are all part of a daily maelstrom filled with expected and unexpected encounters with friends and strangers, taxis and buses, parks and skyscrapers. If the city is its own massive museum, then its streets are like individual galleries, and with that in mind, curators Yaelle Amir and Petrushka Bazin have taken over 14th St. from October 1 to 10. “Chance” is the latest presentation from Art in Odd Places, which seeks to stretch the limits of public art. Playing off the themes of “proposition, luck, randomness, risk, and opportunity,” Amir and Bazin have gathered together more than two dozen site-specific projects that run the length of 14th St. from the Hudson to the East River, as passersby will come upon live music, dance, sound installations, interactive sculpture, and other participatory events. Perhaps you’ll find one of Sheryl Oring’s “To a Young Poet” envelopes, inside of which is an excerpt from Rainer Maria Rilke and a request for you to respond. Or maybe your movement will be incorporated into Simonetta Moro’s “Chance Drawing: Reverse Window Shopping” at Rags-a-Gogo. Make sure you have proper identification if you want to take one of notary public Carrie Dashow’s “Great Oaths.” Go ahead and answer that ringing phone, as it could be Christopher Dameron and Annika Newell’s “Silent Call” on the other end. Be brave and enter Einat Amir’s “Enough About You,” in which you’ll be put in a room with a stranger and then have a conversation. Although it might be raining anyway, you won’t want to get wet from BroLab Collective’s “Pump 14,” which will be transporting water down 14th St. via a manual bucket filtration system. Watch to see if Irvin Morazan, munching on Cheez Doodles while dressed in a Mayan-inspired headdress, is able to hail a cab in “Taxi!! Taxi!! Taxii!!” If someone is waving at you from across the street, be sure to wave back, because it’s probably part of Flux Factory’s “Sign a Waver.” And if three women suddenly start telling you stories on a street corner, it could very well be Jessica Ann Peavy’s “Two Lies and a Truth,” and it’s up to you to decide which rumor is real. Some of the events will continue all week, while others will take place only tonight, so check the schedule at the above website if you’re interested in a specific performance.

CHILE PEPPER FIESTA

Brooklyn Botanic Garden
900 Washington Ave.
Saturday, October 2, $10-$15, 12 noon – 6:00 pm
718-623-7200
www.bbg.org

Things are going to get mighty spicy at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden on Saturday as the annual Chile Pepper Fiesta arrives, ready to burn through an afternoon of special events galore. There will be fiery cooking demonstrations by Dave Schuttenberg of Cabrito (12:30), Corwin Kave of Fatty Crab and Fatty ’Cue (2:00), Karthik Kumar of Brick Lane Curry House (3:30), and Simon Glenn of Tchoup Shop (5:00), along with plenty of tantalizing tastings that should go well with cocktails prepared by spicy mixologist Kara Newman, who will also be signing copies of her recently published book SPICE & ICE. Chocolate lovers can participate in the Brooklyn Chile Chocolate Takedown and partake of particularly peppery chocolate desserts, hot cocoa, and chocolatey beer. The Chile Goddess will be offering gardening tips at the Lily Pool Terrace (1:00 – 5:00), and tours of the garden’s chile plants are scheduled for 3:00 and 4:00. Live music, featuring bands from international regions that love their chile peppers, will run all day on the Cherry Esplanade Stage, with Mandingo Ambassadors (West Africa, 12:15), Red Baraat! (North India, 1:45), Atlas Soul (North Africa / Middle East, 3:15), and Boukman Eksperyans (Haiti, 4:45). Dawn Drake & Zapote (12 noon & 3:15) and the Ukuladies (1:15 & 4:15) will grace the Chile Chocolate Stage at the Meadow. Rain or shine, it should be one helluva hot time.

VICTOIRE

Victoire will celebrate release of their debut CD at Joe’s Pub on October 2

Joe’s Pub
425 Lafayette St. between East Fourth St. & Astor Pl.
Saturday, October 2, $14, 7:30
212-967-7555
www.myspace.com/victoiremusic
www.joespub.com

Atmosphere is everything when it comes to Victoire, and what an atmosphere they create. Led by Brooklyn-based keyboardist and composer Missy Mazzoli, Victoire is a five-piece all-woman avant-garde chamber ensemble that tests the limit of classical music by incorporating elements from a myriad of genres, along with haunting vocal samples and pure noise. Mazzoli, violinist Olivia de Prato, clarinetist Eileen Mack, keyboardist Lorna Krier, and double bassist Eleonore Oppenheim have followed up their 2009 EP, A DOOR INTO THE DARK, with their debut full-length, CATHEDRAL CITY (New Amsterdam, September 2010), a stunning collection of eight forays into the unknown. Throwing in a hint of jazzy percussion in the title track, some German Expressionism with Irish tinges in “A Song for Mick Kelly” (featuring the National’s Bryce Dessner on guitar and soprano Mellissa Hughes on vocals paying tribute to the American peace activist) and more than a touch of Coldplay-esque piano in “A Door into the Dark,” Victoire glides along on a cloud of mystery. Things turn rather melancholy on “I am coming for my things,” while “India Whiskey” ends the record in an exciting blur of experimentalism. CATHEDRAL CITY is like a journey through the dark, daring world of the Brothers Quay. Victoire will be celebrating the release of the new record with a launch party at Joe’s Pub on October 2, promising that there will be “special secret guests.” The band will also be playing at the Brooklyn gallery Smack Mellon on November 4 at 7:00. (In addition, “Missy Mazzoli and Sarah Snider: A Night of Chamber Music” will take place October 5 at Galapagos in Brooklyn, featuring the New York premiere of Mazzoli’s “Death Valley Junction,” performed by the MIVOS Quartet.)

VOLLMOND (FULL MOON)

Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch returns to BAM without their fearless leader (photo by Jan Szito)

Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch
BAM Howard Gilman Opera House
30 Lafayette Ave. between Ashland Pl. & St. Felix St.
September 29 – October 9, $25 – $85
718-636-4100
www.bam.org
www.pina-bausch.de

Back in 1984, Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch performed at BAM for the first time, presenting DAS FRÜHLINGSOPFER and LE SACRE DU PRINTEMPS, and over the years the insanely entertaining German troupe has returned with such memorable evening-length pieces as DANZÓN, MASURCA FOGO, NEFÉS, and last year’s BAMBOO BLUES. And for Bausch, evening-length really means evening-length, as many of her productions run between two and a half and three hours, and they rarely if ever lag. Instead they’re filled with offbeat humor, playful dialogue, unusual props, wild stage designs, and, of course, creative movement. Bausch died in June 2009 at the age of sixty-eight, so this will mark Tanztheater Wuppertal’s first BAM appearance without their endlessly innovative and always elegant director and choreographer. VOLLMOND (FULL MOON) will run at the Howard Gilman Opera House from September 29 through October 9, but tickets are already scarce, so act quickly, whether you’re a fan of contemporary dance or not, because you’ll find lots to love regardless. Bausch’s twelfth show at BAM features set design by Peter Pabst, costumes by Marion Cito, and musical collaboration by Matthias Burkert and Andreas Eisenschneider, with an eclectic score that includes songs by Magyar Posse, Cat Power, Amon Tobin, René Aubry, Alexander Balanescu, Tom Waits, Siegfried Ganhör and to rococo rot, Jun Miyake and Sublime, and others. There will also be a lot of water.

BELLE & SEBASTIAN

Belle & Sebastian will headline an outdoor show along the Williamsburg Waterfront on September 30

Williamsburg Waterfront
North Eighth St. & Kent Ave. at the East River
Thursday, September 30, $37.50, 5:30
www.myspace.com/thebandbelleandsebastian
www.openspacealliancenb.org

Belle and Sebastian, those kings of twee pop led by Stuart Murdoch and Stevie Jackson, are attempting to return to relevancy with a new album, BELLE & SEBASTIAN WRITE ABOUT LOVE (Matador, October 12), and a slew of tour dates, including a show September 30 at the Williamsburg Waterfront. The band’s recent setlists have leaned heavily on tracks from their 1996 breakout masterpiece, IF YOU’RE FEELING SINISTER, which features such songs as “Like Dylan in the Movies,” “The Stars of Track and Field,” and “Me and the Major,” along with their 2003 self-proclaimed comeback album, DEAR CATASTROPHE WAITRESS, which was produced by former Buggles and Yes singer Trevor Horn. On the new disc, their first album since 2006’s THE LIFE PURSUIT, they make such pronouncements as “I Want the World to Stop,” “I Didn’t See It Coming,” “I Can See Your Future,” and “I’m Not Living in the Real World,” with special appearances by Norah Jones and Carey Mulligan. (Is that a return to relevancy? We’ll have to be convinced.) For the Brooklyn show, they’ll be joined by fellow Glaswegians Teenage Fanclub, who are touring behind their first record in five years.