this week in music

CLEARWATER’S GREAT HUDSON RIVER REVIVAL

A MUSIC & ENVIRONMENTAL FESTIVAL
Croton Point Park, Croton-on-Hudson
Saturday, June 19, and Sunday, June 20
Tickets: One day $65 in advance, $80 at the gate, weekend pass $90 in advance, $115 at the gate, weekend plus camping $125
www.clearwater.org

Pete Seeger celebrated his ninetieth birthday last spring with a big bash at Madison Square Garden featuring so many luminaries performing live that it’s easy to see why this pioneer of folk music can truly be called an American folk icon. The stage set-up that night was nautically themed, suggesting an enormous replica of the sloop Clearwater, the boat that Seeger helped restore back in the 1960s to sail the waters of the Hudson River — in those days an environmental disater area contaminated beyond belief with the industrial run-off of corporate polluters. Making his home in the river town of Beacon for a good chunk of those ninety years, Seeger and a diverse group of local residents succeeded in building and launching the nineteenth-century-style sailing vessel, turning the Clearwater into a sustained presence on the water, offering day trips and spreading a message of education and environmental advocacy to generations of Hudson Valley natives and visitors.

The Felice Brothers will play the Rainbow Stage on the first day of the Clearwater Festival (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

A series of concerts hosted by Seeger to raise money for this venture — and the subsequent founding of the nonprofit Cleawater Foundation (full name: Hudson River Sloop Clearwater Inc.) — were held over the course of the following decade, eventually becoming an annual event consisting of folk music and its offshoots, held at the scenic Croton Point Park on the shores of the Hudson each June. In the decades since Clearwater’s launch, passage of key environmental legislation has had a profound effect on the cleanliness of the river, and the message of conservation and environmental awareness still rings out — like the proverbial bell in Seeger’s anthem “If I Had a Hammer” — all over the land (or at least up and down the Hudson.) The Great Hudson River Revival continues as a benefit for the foundation and as a textbook example of a green event, highlighting sustainable power, recycling, and a generally friendly atmosphere encouraging environmental awareness and social responsibility. In the wake of this type of successful event have come popular nationwide events like Denver’s Green Festival and North Carolina’s Festival for the Eno, and Clearwater still maintains a distinct homegrown flavor with local acts and artists exhibiting each year alongside performers of wider renown. And of course there is the man himself, Pete Seeger, still playing at ninety-one, always asking the audience to join in and sing along.

Hazmat Modine will get things shaking on the Rainbow Stage on Sunday (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

As for the scores of other acts on the bill, this year’s roster includes an especially strong and diverse lineup of entertainers from across the musical map. Singer/songwriter Steve Earle bridges the Americana gap between country, folk, and rock; David Bromberg is a folk legend; Railroad Earth meld bluegrass with great songcraft and aren’t afraid to explore improvisational journeys; Shawn Colvin is the reigning doyenne of Austin folk; Slavic Soul Party brings manic energy to a gypsy/klezmery horn-heavy mishmash; Buckwheat Zydeco is the eponymous master of his craft . . . and there are many, many more on tap, from virtuoso Kerouac contemporary David Amram to local folk-gospel legend Tom Winslow in addition to the next generations: Winslow’s daughter Thomasina, Woody Guthrie’s granddaughter Sarah Lee, and Seeger’s grandson Tao and goddaughter Toshi Reagon, creating a family vibe throughout the weekend. (Among the others on the massive bill are Hazmat Modine, Joan Osborne, Steve Forbert, Rhett Miller, the Subdudes, and Jonatha Brooke.)

This vibe extends to the grounds of the event itself, which is especially kid-friendly, expanding beyond music and art to offer dozens of other activities such as kayaking, song circles, storytelling, and environmental displays about the Hudson River and its aquatic inhabitants. And the ecological vibe is also evident in the food, the vendors, and the green -powered restroom and stage facilities. The festival, less than an hour from Manhattan, runs June 19-20, and tickets are significantly less expensive if you pick them up now instead of at the gate. Expect the sloop Clearwater to be on hand, along with the eternally young Pete Seeger, welcoming in a weekend a celebration and music for a great cause.

THE HEAVY

British band the Heavy are back in town for two more gigs at the Bowery Ballroom (photo by Will Cooper-Mitchell)

Bowery Ballroom
6 Delancey St.
Monday, June 14, and Wednesday, June 16, $15, 8:00
212-533-2111
www.boweryballroom.com
www.myspace.com/theheavy73

Read any article or review about British band the Heavy and you’ll be hit with a flurry of musical references, from the White Stripes, Massive Attack, and Sam Cooke to PFunk, Bo Diddley, and James Brown, from the Stooges, Tom Waits, and Little Walter to Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Jimi Hendrix, Gnarls Barkley, and, believe it or not, Bing Crosby. But this foursome from Noid, England — lead singer Swaby, guitarist Dan “T” Taylor, bassist Spencer “Big Daddy Spence” Page, and drummer Chris Ellul — are no mere human jukebox regurgitators. They burst onto the indie scene with 2007’s GREAT VENGEANCE AND FURIOUS FIRE, which featured such groovy hits as “Coleen” and “That Kind of Man,” and followed it up with another rousing sonic blast, THE HOUSE THAT DIRT BUILT (Counter, October 2009), ten songs that will blow your mind while you shake your booty and get plenty filthy. Tunes such as “Oh No! Not You Again!,” “Sixteen,” and “Cause for Alarm” channel garage rock, R&B, funk, blues, rap, hip-hop, and reggae, attacking your senses while satisfying your soul. The Heavy, who passed our way in January, is back on the road, supporting Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, but they are also headlining their own gigs, including June 14 and 16 at the Bowery Ballroom; Wednesday night’s show with Mount Carmel is sold out, but there are still some tickets left for Monday night with Penguin Prison and the Black Hollies, but you better get them quick.

RACHID TAHA

Rachid Taha wows ’em at SummerStage back in 2008 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Highline Ballroom
431 West 16th St.
Sunday, June 13, 8:00
Tickets: $20
www.myspace.com/taharachid
www.highlineballroom.com

Algerian star Rachid Taha defies categorization, playing an exciting mix of North African instruments, power pop, French cabaret, punk, techno, and raï folk to create his own intriguing sound. As evidenced by his July 2008 performance at SummerStage, in which he was deluged with love from an adoring fan base who knew the words to every one of his songs, he is an ultracool, hip, compelling melding of Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Serge Gainsbourg, Charles Aznavour, and Frank Sinatra. He arrives at the Highline Ballroom on June 13 touring behind his latest album, the solid if overly melodramatic BONJOUR (Knitting Factory, June 2010), which features such tunes as “Je T’Aime Mon Amour,” “Mabrouk Aalik,” and “It’s an Arabian Song” GlobeSonic DJ Fabian Alsultany opens the show.

YIDDISH CLASSICS AND YIDDISH CLASSICAL

Symphony Space Peter Jay Sharp Theatre
2537 Broadway at 95th St.
Sunday, June 13, $25, 4:30
212-864-5400
www.symphonyspace.org
www.thejppc.org

The Jewish People’s Philharmonic Chorus will play a special performance at Symphony Space on June 13, consisting of such classic Yiddish songs as “Avremele melamed” and “Lomir ale zingen a zemerl” in addition to classical pieces by Handel, Mendelssohn, Shostakovich, and Tchaikovsky — in Yiddish. Originally known as Freiheit Gezang Farein upon its formation in 1922, the JPPC features more than forty members, between the ages of fifteen and eighty-five, and is conducted by Binyumen Schaechter. The two-hour concert, which will highlight soloists Joshua Breitzer, Matthew Klein, Shinae Kim, and Temma Leeba Schaechter, will also include works by Ben Yomen, Bialik, Goldman, Lapin, Posner, Rauch, Reisin, Ronch, and Teitelbaum, with English translations of all the lyrics.

CENTENNIAL BEE-DAY PARTY

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden will be celebrating its one hundredth b-day on June 12 with a slate of free programs

Brooklyn Botanic Garden
900 Washington Ave.
Saturday, June 12, free, 12 noon – 6:00 pm
www.bbg.org/visit/beeday

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden is turning one hundred years old, and it’s celebrating the anniversary with a free, all-day birthday party featuring special activities, live performances, film screenings, workshops, and more. Among the performers are the Hiten Marimba Duo, Mecca Bodega, Stephane Wrembel: the Django Experiment, the Persuasions, Paul Mueller, and the Sweet Divines with the Legendary Maxine Brown, while the activities and tours include “Native Bees and Native Plants,” “Heirloom Annuals for the Home Gardener,” “Beekeeping Boot Camp,” “Fruit Tree Pollinators,”and boos signings with Rose-Lynn Fisher and Mary Ann Hoberman.

FUTURE ISLANDS

Baltimore-based trio head to Queens for latest area show (photo by Abram Sanders)

The Silent Barn
915 Wyckoff Ave. at Weirfield
Saturday, June 12, 8:00
www.myspace.com/futureislands
www.myspace.com/thesilentbarn

Melding post-punk and new wave in what they refer to as post wave, Future Islands play gliding songs built on sweeping synthesizers and steady drumbeats. Formed in Greenville, North Carolina, and based in Baltimore, the band consists of J. Gerrit Welmers on synths and programming, William Cashion on bass, and Samuel T. Herring on vocals. The trio has just released IN THE EVENING AIR (Thrill Jockey, May 2010), eight post-wave songs centered by Herring’s gruff voice singing about “the weight of the world,” along with the brief, gentle title-track instrumental, as if giving Herring a short break right in the middle of the record. Future Islands will be at the Silent Barn in Queens on June 12, on a bill with Lower Dens and Sensual Harassment.

BIG APPLE BBQ

Be prepared for ridiculously long lines at annual Big Apple BBQ in Madison Square Park (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Madison Square Park
23rd to 26th Sts. between Fifth & Madison Aves.
Saturday, June 12, and Sunday, June 13
Admission: free; $8 per plate
www.bigapplebbq.org

If you think the lines for the Shake Shack are long, just wait till you see how many people queue up for barbecue at the eighth annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party in Madison Square Park this weekend. On Saturday and Sunday, more than one hundred thousand BBQ lovers are expected to sample Joe Duncan’s St. Louis-style ribs from Dallas, Garry Roark’s pulled pork shoulder from Ubon’s Barbecue of Yazoo, Mike Mills’s baby backs from the 17th St. Bar & Grill in Murphysboro, Ed Mitchell’s whole hog from the Pit in Raleigh, Drew Robinson’s homemade smoked sausage from Jim ’N Nick’s Bar-B-Q in Birmingham, Ken Bosley’s BBQ mutton and burgoo from the Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn in Owensboro, Myron Mixon’s beef brisket and baked beans from Jack’s Old South in Udadilla, and other slow-cooked delicacies from pitmasters from Charleston, St. Louis, Martinsville, Decatur, and right here in New York. (We’re still trying to figure out why people line up for something they can get any day of the year at Blue Smoke, Hill Country, Wildwood, and other city joints.) Each plate is eight bucks (proceeds go to the Madison Square Park Conservancy), and the portions tend to be on the small size. The only way to do it, if you’re determined to go despite the chaos, is to gather a bunch of friends and have each one wait on a different line at the same time and then meet up by the stage to eat while checking out some hot live music from Secret Country, the Derailers, Charles Bradley & the Menahan Street Band, and other groups. (There are also book signings, cooking demonstrations, panel discussions, and even a short film screening.) The $125 FastPass, which gives access to express lines that keep getting longer every year, are already sold out, but we don’t like their existence anyway; Danny Meyer and his Union Square Hospitality Group always speak of egalitarianism and fairness, but the FastPass reaks of exclusivity and can kiss our grits.