this week in music

ROSANNE CASH

New Yorker Rosanne Cash will be playing free July 4 concert on Governors Island

Governors Island
Free ferry from Battery Maritime Building
Sunday, July 4, free, 2:00
www.trinitywallstreet.org
www.rosannecash.com

Great live music on the Fourth of July is a tradition in New York City. Some of the best free concerts of the last twenty years have taken place on Independence Day, from Yo La Tengo and Dr. John in Battery Park to Sonic Youth and the Sun Ra Arkestra at SummerStage to many, many more. This year’s musical festivities include the one and only Rosanne Cash, who will be playing on Governors Island in a free show sponsored by Trinity Wall Street. Last year Cash followed up her emotional tribute to her late father, 2006’s outstanding BLACK CADILLAC, with THE LIST, an album of classic country, folk, and blues taken from a list of one hundred American songs Johnny had given to her when she was eighteen. She brought in such friends as Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Jeffy Tweedy, and Rufus Wainwright to help out on such songs as “Sea of Heartbreak,” “Heartaches by the Numbers,” “Long Black Veil,” and “Silver Wings,” in addition to eight other tunes, including “Motherless Children” and “Girl from the North Country.” She’s a terrific live performer who does not play in the city very often; we caught her at SummerStage a bunch of years ago and she was just beautiful. Cash will also be playing a sold-out show with Steve Earle and Allison Moorer at City Winery on July 8, and she will be releasing her memoir, COMPOSED, on August 10.

Rosanne Cash lets it all out at July Fourth gig on Governors Island (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Update: Longtime New Yorker Rosanne Cash made her first-ever foray onto Governors Island on July 4, as she played a rousing set to a crowd that laid itself out in a long V to keep out of the hot sun. Cash, along with husband John Leventhal on lead guitar, John Cowherd on keyboards, Tim Luntzel on bass, Rich Hinman on guitar and keys, and Dan Rieser on drums, offered a generous, wide-ranging selections of songs from throughout her career, from “Man Smart, Woman Smarter” off her 1979 record, RIGHT OR WRONG, to 1981’s “Seven Year Ache,” to her father’s “Tennessee Flat Top Box” (which she released on 1987’s KING’S RECORD SHOP), to the title track from 1993’s THE WHEEL, to a bevy of songs from her most recent discs, the excellent BLACK CADILLAC (“Burn Down This Town,” “Dreams Are Not My Home”) and last year’s THE LIST (“Motherless Children,” “Long Black Veil,” “Girl from the North Country”), taken from a list of one hundred songs she needed to know that her father gave her on her eighteenth birthday. She added what she thinks should be song 101, getting down with a bluesy version of Bobbie Gentry’s “Ode to Billie Joe.” (Speaking of Billie Joe, she even threw in a verse of Billie Joe Armstrong and Green Day’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” as part of a Fourth of July medley that also included “500 Miles” and “This Land Is Your Land.”) Cash could barely wipe the smile off her face the whole time, having a blast onstage, interacting with the musicians and even dancing a bit. You can check out our concert slideshow here.

KRISTEENYOUNG

Kristeen Young and Baby Jef White will get down and dirty at the Knitting Factory on July 5

Knitting Factory Brooklyn
Monday, July 5, $10-$12, 8:00
www.myspace.com/kristeenyoung
www.bk.knittingfactory.com

KRISTEENYOUNG — consisting of the eclectic duo of Baby Jef White on drums and percussion and Kristeen Young on vocals and keyboards — are coming back to town in support of their fifth full-length, the awesomely titled MUSIC FOR STRIPPERS, HOOKERS, AND THE ODD-ONLOOKER (Test Tube Baby, September 2009). On the record, Young croons such ditties as “Son of Man,” “That’s What It Takes, Dear,” and “He’s Sickened by Crude Emotion” as if she’s a burlesque punk Kate Bush on X, with the music soaring inside out and upside down around her while her lyrics get right to the point: “My pain is more abstract,” she explains on “The Depression Contest,” continuing, “Ha, ha, ha, ha and greater than yours. My tears are more nuanced . . . Ha, ha, ha, ha and deeper than yours.” And on “I Won’t Be Home for Christmas” she sings, “I won’t be home for Christmas / I’ve got better things to do with my time.” Everything comes together for the smashing rave-up “Comfort Is Never a Goal,” which grabs you by the neck and never lets go. The band reveals some of its many influences on the CD package, which includes photos of H.R. Pufnstuf and Dorothy Parker. Plus, the whole deal was produced by the one and only Tony Visconti and features guest spots by Fall Out Boy Patrick Vaughn Stump and head Pharmacist Ted Leo, so what’s not to love? KRISTEENYOUNG will be at the Knitting Factory on July 5, on a bill with Saadi and Alyson Greenfield.

ROCKIN’ THE RIVER CRUISES

Circle-Line 42
Pier 83, West 42nd St. & the Hudson River
July 8 – September 16
Tickets: $25-$50
www.rtrcruises.com

Formerly known as the New York City Blues Cruise, the New York City Rockin’ the River cruises, aboard the double-decker Circle Line, is celebrating its fifteenth anniversary with another diverse lineup of live music and dance parties. The Smithereens get things going on July 8, with other highlights including Canadian singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards on July 22, Grammy winner Raul Malo taking the wheel July 29-30, the Radiators letting loose August 5, Buckwheat Zydeco rolling on the river August 12, pianist Marcia Ball on August 26, and folk rockers Donna the Buffalo on August 27. We can’t wait for August 19, when Howlin’ for Hubert pays tribute to the great Hubert Sumlin with David Johansen, Jimmy Vivino, and other special guests. And the next night one of our faves, DJ Rekha, brings her Basement Bhangra Party to the Hudson. The season concludes as it started, on June 25, with a Floating Dance Party benefiting WFUV.

WARM UP

Prepare for some massive crowds at weekly PS1 Warm Up (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

MoMAPS1
22-25 Jackson Ave. at 46th Ave.
Saturdays from 2:00 to 9:00, July 3 – September 4
Tickets: $15 (free for Long Island City residents)
718-784-2084
www.ps1.org/warmup

One of the hottest, sweatiest weekly dance parties of every summer will get people moving and grooving beginning on July 3 when Warm Up returns to PS1 in Queens. The series features live bands and DJs from all over the world, including Spain, Sierra Leone, France, Sweden, Canada, and Brooklyn, playing in the shadow of Solid Obectives — Idenburg Liu’s “Pole Dance,” winner of the annual Young Architects Program and displayed in the courtyard. The opening-day lineup is a mere taste of things to come, with live sets from Delorean, Janka Nabay and the Bubu Gang, and Glasser, with John Talabot and Korallreven manning the turntables. On the horizon are Kalup Linzy and JD Samson on July 24, Animal Collective DJ’ing on July 31, a DFA showcase with James Murphy and Pat Mahoney on August 7, DJ ?uestlove and These Are Powers on August 14, and Holy Ghost!, House of House, and DJ Mehdi on closing night, September 4. And don’t forget to check out the expansive “Greater New York” exhibition. PS1 is one of the treasures of New York City, with something to see and do in every little nook and cranny, so be prepared for anything and everything.

FIRST SATURDAYS: AMERICAN ICONS

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway
Saturday, July 3, free, 5:00 – 11:00 (some events require free tickets distributed at the Visitor Center)
212-864-5400
www.brooklynmuseum.org

The Brooklyn Museum’s monthly late-night party goes silver instead of red, white, and blue on July 3, paying tribute to the late Andy Warhol with a screening of Mary Harron’s 1996 flick I SHOT ANDY WARHOL, gallery talks on the new exhibit “Andy Warhol: The Last Decade,” Society HAE’s dance party “The Factory 2010,” a workshop in which participants can make a Warhol-like print, and “15 Minutes of Fame,” an art battle between Antony Zito, Lexi Bella, Concep, and Marthalicia Matarrita. In addition, the museum will be showing Alan Parker’s 1980 film FAME, and Brooklyn bands Analogue Transit and Dynasty Electric will perform live.

ROCKS OFF: MR. SCRUFF

Mr. Scruff will be rocking the boat July 2 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

ROCKS OFF CONCERT CRUISES
Pier 81, 41st St. & the West Side Highway
Friday, July 2, $25, 8:00
www.rocksoff.com
www.myspace.com/mrscruffofficial

Manchester-based DJ Andy Carthy, better known as Mr. Scruff, will be rocking the boat like mad on July 2 when he unleashes his thumping jazzy repertoire aboard the Temptress. Back in October 2008, the self-described “DJ, Producer, Cartoonist & Tea Drinker” released the digital-download-only NINJA TUNA on his Ninja Tune label, his first full-length album in six years, featuring such tunes as “Test the Sound,” “Hairy Bumpercress,” and “Give Up to Get.” Then, last year, he put out a tenth anniversary special remastered edition of his breakthough record, KEEP IT UNREAL, featuring such previously unreleased tracks as “Vibraphone Boogie,” “Sky Blue,” “and “Ambiosound.” Mr. Scruff, who is somewhat obsessed with fish (making this venue rather perfect), has created some ridiculously adorable cartoon characters over the years, which he projects on screens during his shows, which often can go on for six hours or more, although there’s a three-hour limit on the cruise. Alcohol and food are served aboard the boat, but don’t expect to find any pickled spider.

LUKE JERRAM: PLAY ME, I’M YOURS

Anyone can tickle the ivories at pianos placed throughout the city (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Multiple locations in all five boroughs
Through Monday, July 5
Admission: free
www.streetpianos.com/nyc2010

Sing for Hope, a nonprofit arts activist organization that brings music to schools, hospitals, and communities with underserved youth, has teamed up with multidisciplinary British artist Luke Jerram to present “Play Me, I’m Yours.” The interactive installation consists of sixty pianos placed throughout the five boroughs, in such locations as Lincoln Center, Joyce Kilmer Park, the Staten Island Zoo, the Coney Island boardwalk, the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, Tompkins Square Park, and Chelsea Market, where people can sit down and just play away, like they have previously done in São Paulo, London, Sydney, and Barcelona. Not many New Yorkers have pianos in their apartments, and they might not be good enough to get a gig at Carnegie Hall, but they can sit down on these benches and tickle the ivories to their heart’s content, bringing music to intersections, public parks and plazas, and other mostly outdoor spots, giving mini-concerts and inviting strangers to sing along. As Jerram notes on the official website: “Disrupting people’s negotiation of their city, the pianos are also aimed to provoke people into engaging, activating, and claiming ownership of their urban landscape.” The last few days will feature many special events, including, on July 1, a London–New York link in Times Square at 11:00 am, Ragtime Rick Pedro dashing from Greeley Square to Herald Square to Bryant Park to Times Square for successive lunchtime appearances, and That Guitar Man from Central Park, David Ippolito, joining pianist George Wurzbach at the Naumburg Bandshell at 1:00. The project comes to a close with Sing for Hope performances July 1-4 at Chelsea Market at 6:00, with the grand finale taking place on the four pianos at Lincoln Center from 2:00 to 6:00 on July 5, with special guest artists from across the musical spectrum.