this week in music

WHITE BELT YELLOW TAG and SPARROW AND THE WORKSHOP

White Belt Yellow Tag (above) and labelmates Sparrow and the Workshop hit NYC for two gigs this week

Monday, June 7, Union Hall, 702 Union St., $7, 7:30
Tuesday, June 8, Pianos, 158 Ludlow St., $8, 8:00
www.myspace.com/whitebeltyellowtag
www.myspace.com/sparrowandtheworkshop

UK-based label Distiller Records is bringing over two of its hottest British acts this week, with White Belt Yellow Tag and Sparrow and the Workshop teaming up for gigs Monday night at Union Hall in Brooklyn and Tuesday night at Pianos on the Lower East Side. Yorkshire’s WBYT, consisting of guitarist Justin Lockey, sampler and vocalist Craig Pilbin, and drummer Tom Bellamy, will be featuring songs from its debut album, the anthemic, hook-heavy METHODS. Meanwhile SATW will be playing tunes from their latest, CRYSTAL FALLS, filled with Gothic folk Westerns and lilting harmonies led by lead singer Jill O’Sullivan and Nick Packer. The two groups are nothing alike, which should be all part of the fun.

EGG ROLLS & EGG CREAMS

The Chinese and Jewish communities of the Lower East Side will come together for the tenth annual Egg Rolls & Egg Creams Festival on Eldridge St.

FESTIVAL & BLOCK PARTY
Museum at Eldridge Street
12 Eldridge St. between Canal & Division Sts.
Sunday, June 6, 12 noon – 4:00 pm
Admission: free
212-219-0302
www.eldridgestreet.org

The Lower East Side comes alive on June 6 for the tenth anniversary of the annual Egg Rolls & Egg Creams festival, celebrating Chinese and Jewish culture that go well beyond the Jewish tradition of having Chinese food on Christmas Day. This year’s free fete includes klezmer and cantorial music, lessons in Yiddish and Chinese, Chinese opera and acrobats, folk dancers, arts & crafts and workshops, mah jongg, and much more. In addition, the Museum at Eldridge Street will be conducting tours of the historic synagogue. Oh yeah, there will also be plenty of kosher egg rolls and egg creams for all.

FREE SUMMER DANCE 2010

ZviDance performed last year at the LMCC program Siteliines and will be at Celebrate Brooklyn! this summer

Some of New York’s most exciting dance companies will be presenting free performances this summer at such annual festivals as Celebrate Brooklyn!, SummerStage, CityParks Dance, River to River, and other special events. Among the companies scheduled to participate are Laura Peterson Choreography, Abakuá Afro-Latin Dance Company, Alice Farley Dance Theater, Armitage Gone! Dance, Deganit Shemy and Company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Paul Taylor II, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Lucinda Childs, and many more to be announced.

Saturday, June 5    Red Hook Fest – Back to Front: La Excelencia, Joseph Webb & Beautiful Fire, decadancetheatre, Cora Dance, M.U.G.A.B.E.E., and more, Louis J. Valentino Jr. Park and pier, 11:00 am – 7:00 pm

Saturday, June 5    Pathmark MultiCultural Festival: Casym Steel Drums, Sunrise Chinese Dancers, Niall O’Leary Irish Step Dancers, Samba Novo, and Zon del Barrio, South Street Seaport Pier 17, 12 noon – 4:00

Saturday, June 12
and
Sunday, June 13    Square One: i actually love this, rooftop dance, Hand & Foot at Available Space, 260 Butler St. between Nevins & Bond Sts., 7:30 & 9:30

Tuesday, June 22
through
Friday, June 25   River to River — LMCC Sitelines: Laura Peterson Choreography: Everyone, the Elevated Acre, 12:30

Saturday, June 26   CityParks Dance: Abakuá Afro-Latin Dance Company and Areytos Performance Works, St. Mary’s Park, 7:00

Thursday, July 1   Celebrate Brooklyn!: Zoom: ZviDance, Son Lux with Lottdance, Prospect Park Bandshell, 8:00

Wednesday, July 7
and
Thursday, July 8   River to River — LMCC Sitelines: Yoshiko Chuma: A-C-E ONE, LentSpace, Canal and Varick Streets, 5:30 and 7:30

Thursday, July 8   River to River: Alice Farley Dance Theater, HellGate Love Letter, World Financial Center Plaza, 12:30

Thursday, July 8   Celebrate Brooklyn!: Itutu: Armitage Gone! Dance featuring Burkina Electric, Prospect Park Bandshell, 8:00

Friday, July 9   River to River: Alice Farley Dance Theater, HellGate Love Letter, One NY Plaza, 12:30

Friday, July 9 Passport Fridays: South Africa (World Cup Edition), with dance by S.A.G.A., live music by Tuelo Minah, and screening of STREETBALL (Demetrius Wren, 2010), Queens Museum, 6:30

Saturday, July 10   River to River: Rochester City Ballet, Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts, 2:00

Sunday, July 11 MoonDance: David Berger Jazz Festival, Hudson River Park Pier 54, dance lessons 6:30, concert 7:00

Monday, July 12
through
Thursday, July 15    River to River — LMCC Sitelines: Deganit Shemy and Company: 2 kilos of sea, John St. United Methodist Church, 44 John St., 12:30

Friday, July 16   CityParks Dance: Seewe African Dance Company and BalAfroHop, Queensbridge Park, 8:00

Friday, July 16
through
Saturday, August 14   River to River: Paul–André Fortier: Solo 30×30, One New York Plaza, 12 noon

Friday, July 16 Passport Fridays: Colombia & Ecuador, with dance by Estampas Negras, live music by GeoPro and ACES and Diego Obregon & Grupo Chonta, and screenings of WE PAINT HOUSES, WITH PAINT! (Celectivo El Deposito & Juan Zabala, 2008), THE HOUSE OF THE STIFF CAT (Nancy Burneo Salazar, 2009), and FREKUENCIA KOLOMBIA (Vanessa Goksch, 2009), Queens Museum, 6:30

Saturday, July 17   CityParks Dance: THE DANCE OF LIGHT, choreographed by Vernard J. Gilmore and Abdur-Rahim Jackson, Queensbridge Park, 7:00

Sunday, July 18   MoonDance: Los Hermanos Colon, Hudson River Park Pier 54, dance lessons 6:30, concert 7:00

Sunday, July 25   MoonDance: Nu D’Lux, Hudson River Park Pier 54, dance lessons 6:30, concert 7:00

Thursday, July 29   Lincoln Center Out of Doors: Ansanm (In Love We Stand), Emeline Michel, Beethova Obas, BélO, Zili Misik, and Peniel Guerrier in collaboration with the Mikerline Dance Company Damrosch Park Bandshell, 7:30

Friday, July 23 Passport Fridays: South Korea, with dance byVongKu’s Traditional Korean Drum & dance Troupe, live music by the Blue & White, and screening of CASTAWAY ON THE MOON (Lee Hae-jun, 2009), Queens Museum, 6:30

Friday, July 23
and
Saturday, July 24     SummerStage: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Rumsey Playfield, 8:00

Friday, July 30    CityParks Dance: Creative Outlet Dance Theater, Kyle Abraham and Abraham.in.Motion, Jackie Robinson Park, 7:00

Friday, July 30 Passport Fridays: Taiwan, with dance by Sun Son Theater, live music by the Formosa Chamber Music Society, and screening of ORZBOYZ! (Ya-che Yang, 2008), Queens Museum, 6:30

Friday, July 30     Lincoln Center Out of Doors: Nona Hendryx, Nicholas Leichter Dance with Monstah Black: THE WHIZ: Over the Rainbow, Damrosch Park Bandshell, 7:30

Saturday, July 31     CityParks Dance: Earl Mosely’s Institute of Dance, Motion Theater Lab, Jackie Robinson Park, 7:00

Saturday, July 31
and
Sunday, August 1    River to River — LMCC Sitelines: Phil Soltanoff: SIT, STAND, WALK, LIE DOWN…, Governors Island, 3:30

Sunday, August 1    MoonDance: Hector Del Curto’s Eternal Tango Orchestra, Hudson River Park Pier 54, dance lessons 6:30, concert 7:00

Monday, August 2
through
Thursday, August 5    River to River — LMCC Sitelines: Christopher Williams: The Voyage of Garbhglas (excerpt), Irish Hunger Memorial, Battery Park, 12:30

Thursday, August 5    Lincoln Center Out of Doors: Paul Taylor Dance Company: 80th Birthday Celebration, Damrosch Park Bandshell, 8:00

Friday, August 6 Target Passport Fridays: Middle East, with dance by Sramzi El-Edlibi Dabke Dance Group, live music by Salaam Middle Eastern Music Ensemble, and screening of AMREEKA (Cherien Debis), Queens Museum, 6:30

Sunday, August 8    MoonDance: George Gee Swing Orchestra, Hudson River Park Pier 54, dance lessons 6:30, concert 7:00

Monday, August 9
through
Thursday, August 12   River to River — LMCC Sitelines: LoVid: Trichrome Navigation, location to be announced, 12:30

Tuesday, August 11   SummerStage: Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Dancin’ Downtown Contest Winners, Rumsey Playfield, 8:00

Thursday, August 12   Lincoln Center Out of Doors: Chinese American Arts Council: Lion Dance, Josie Robertson Plaza, 7:00

Friday, August 13 Passport Fridays: Brazil, with dance by Carioca Capoeira, live music by Quenia Ribeiro, and screening of THE MAN WHO BOTTLED THE CROWDS (Liro Ferreira, 2000), Queens Museum, 6:30

Friday, August 13   CityParks Dance: Paul Taylor II and Naganuma Dance, East River Park, 7:00

Saturday, August 14   CityParks Dance: Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Wideman, Davis Dance, East River Park, 7:00

Saturday, August 14    Complexions Contemporary Ballet + Wideman/Davis Dance, East River Park, 7:00

Sunday, August 15    Lincoln Center Out of Doors: Lucinda Childs: Dance, Brian Brooks Moving Company: Motor, Damrosch Park Bandshell, 7:00

CINE FEST PETROBRAS: BRASIL – NY

Music legend Bezerra da Silva, the father of Gangsta Samba, is profiled in Márcia Derraik and Simplício Neto’s documentary STRAIGHT TO THE POINT at the Brazilian Film Festival at Tribeca Cinemas

BRAZILIAN FILM FESTIVAL
Tribeca Cinemas
54 Varick St. at Laight St.
June 5-12
212-941-2001
www.tribecafilm.com
www.brazilianfilmfestival.com

The eighth annual Brazilian Film Festival takes place at Tribeca Cinemas June 5-12, featuring fifteen films that both celebrate and take a hard look at Brazil and its vibrant history and culture. Felipe Hirsch and Daniela Thomas’s SUNSTROKES portrays unrequited love, Fernana Tornaghi and Ricardo Bruno’s QUEEN OF BRAZIL follows a small-town boy’s attempt to become Miss Gay Brazil, Jorge Bodanzky’s WITHIN THE RIVER, AMONG THE TREES heads into the Alto Solimões region to bring photography workshops to the native people, and José Joffily’s BLUE EYES delves into the growing worldwide immigration problem and racial profiling. Throughout the festival, DJ Marcelo Brasil will be spinning tunes in the Lounge Inffinito, with the free June 12 closing night and awards show being held at SummerStage in Rumsey Playfield, with live music and more.

FIRST SATURDAYS: BROOKLYN CHIC

Ronald K. Brown and his Evidence company are part of First Saturdays at the Brooklyn Museum on June 5

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

On June 5, the Brooklyn Museum’s monthly First Saturdays program celebrates, well, Brooklyn. And why not? The J. C. Hopkins Biggish Band will be playing at 5:00, Ronald K. Brown’s awesome Evidence a Dance Company will be performing at 5:30 (followed by a Q&A with Brown), chief curator Kevin Stayton will discuss “American High Style: Fashioning a National Collection” at 7:00, Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire will put their dancing shoes on for a screening of Stanley Donen’s FUNNY FACE also at 7:00, Keanan Duffy will give a book club talk on his latest, REBEL, REBEL: ANTI-STYLE, at 9:00, the House of Ninja’s Archie Burnett hosts a vogue dance contest at 9:00, and Friends We Love’s DJ Moni will get everyone’s mojo working at the always hot and sweaty dance party (9:00 – 11:00). All of the exhibitions will be open, including “Kiki Smith: Sojourn,’ “Healing the Wounds of War: The Brooklyn Sanitary Fair of 1864,” and “Body Parts: Ancience Egyptian Fragments and Amulets.” Everything’s free, although some of the events require advance ticketing available an hour ahead of time, and the lines do get long, so be prepared.

NANA GRIZOL

Athens, Georgia band Nana Grizol will celebrate RUTH in Queens on June 4

Silent Barn
915 Wyckoff Ave. at Weirfield
Ridgefield, Queens
Friday, June 4, $7, 9:00
www.myspace.com/nanagrizol
www.facebook.com/silentbarn

Coming out of the Elephant 6 collective, Nana Grizol is pretty much just what they advertise on their MySpace page: “a bunch of friends having a whole lot of fun making the music they love with each other.” The brainchild of Theo Hilton, the Athens, Georgia, band has recently released its sophomore disc, the engaging, infectious RUTH (Orange Twin, January 2010), the follow-up to their DIY 2008 debut, LOVE IT, LOVE IT. “Cynicism isn’t wisdom / It’s a lazy way to say that you’ve been burned / It seems, if anything / you’d be less certain after everything you ever learned,” Hilton sings in the album opener, “Cynicism,” but there’s little that’s cynical about Nana Grizol. Heck, several of the members even run a 155-acre conservation community that’s seeking self-sustainability. Composed of a changing roster of musicians from such bands as Neutral Milk Hotel, Hot New Mexicans, the Music Tapes, and Elf Power (with whom they run Orange Twin Records), Nana Grizol is like the Hold Steady without the Springsteenian bombast, Arcade Fire without the orchestral pomposity. Hilton writes poetic, personal lyrics about the beauty of love, the inevitability of death, and sleep filled with dreams on such folk-punk gems as “Blackbox,” Gave On,” “For Things That Haven’t Come Yet,” and “Sands.” Jared Gandy, Robbie Cucchiaro, Matte Cathcart, Laura Carter, and Patrick Jennings are among those who add often unique and unusual instrumentation, taking the songs into another dimension. “The best trapeze artists perform with no nets / No one ever won a jackpot on a gentleman’s bet / Yeah, you wake up from your best dream just to find your bed wet / What life ever comes without a hint of regret?” Hilton asks on “Grady and Dubose.” You’re likely to regret it if you don’t catch Nana Grizol tonight at the Silent Barn in Queens, with DJ Bees Knees, What Cheer? Brigade, Greg Mullen, and the Eskalators.

FUTUREX: RECORD PARTY

Punk trio Futurex will debut new album June 4 at the Local 269

The Local 269
269 East Houston St. at Suffolk St.
Friday, June 4, free, 7:00
www.myspace.com/futurexnyc
www.thelocal269.com

Longtime CBGB regulars Futurex have emerged from the Kennel (recording studio) with their latest album, a twenty-six-minute epic featuring such songs as “Basement,” “Monotone,” and “Road Closed.” With ex-wives Sue on guitar and Mary on bass, along with Paul on drums, the trio will premiere the disc in its entirety at a record release party on June 4 at the Local 269 on East Houston St., where they’ll be giving away a four-song sampler they’re calling “Guzzinta.” We’re big fans of their oldie but goodie “Shit Blue Van,” so we’re looking forward to checking out the new stuff, and so should you.