this week in music

CHRISTIAN BOLTANSKI: NO MAN’S LAND

Christian Boltanski’s “No Man’s Land” will be open on Memorial Day (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Park Avenue Armory
643 Park Ave. at 67th St.
Tuesday – Sunday through June 13, 12 noon – 7:30 (Thursday 2:00 – 9:30) (open Memorial Day)
DAWN: June 2 at 6:00, June 3 at 7:30 (advance registration required)
Admission: $12 (children under twelve free)
347-463-5143
www.armoryonpark.org
www.mariangoodman.com
installation slideshow

French conceptual artist Christian Boltanski has filled the Park Ave. Armory’s Wade Thompson Drill Hall with thirty tons of clothing, laying them out in rectangular piles that evoke such tragedies as the Holocaust, the earthquake in Haiti, and the Katrina disaster, each shirt, jacket, dress, and pair of pants representing an anonymous person who might or might not be alive. The hooded sweatshirts are particularly eerie, especially when turned upside down. The rows and rows of clothing recall scenes from Alain Resnais’s Auschwitz-set NIGHT AND FOG documentary as well as news shots of people seeking refuge in the Superdome after the devastation of hurricane Katrina. In the center of the fifty-five-thousand-square-foot space, a sixty-foot-high crane scoops up and then drops individual items on top of a large mountain of clothing, like the children’s carnival game in which kids use a claw to pick up a toy, except in this case the crane is like the hand of God, deciding who will live and who will die. That feeling is amplified because of the location of the installation itself, in a military armory with walls containing plaques dedicated to men and women who died in the service of their country. Visitors can both wander through the rows to get a more personal view and also climb the stairs to see the massive piece as a whole, offering a different perspective.

Boltanski’s multifaceted, multimedia installation will feature special performances June 2-3 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

When people first walk into the drill hall, they are met by a long, rusted, monolithic file cabinet with numbers on small drawers, a card catalog of the dead similar to Boltanski’s “The Reserve of Dead Swiss,” except in the latter he collected photographs of the dead instead of the random, out-of-sequence numbers displayed here. As Boltanski, who was born at the end of the Nazi occupation of France, notes in one of the display’s accompanying hand-outs, “The question is about destiny — why one person and not another?” But it’s not all about death; “No Man’s Land” also includes the sound of an enormous heartbeat echoing through the cavernous space, demonstrating that life goes on. Boltanski has been collecting heartbeats for years, creating Les Archives du Coeur, which he plans to maintain on Japan’s isolated Teshima Island; visitors to “No Man’s Land” can add the sound of their own heartbeat in a temporary “doctor’s office” in the outer hallway. It takes only a few minutes, and for $3 you can bring home a CD of your heartbeat. In another room, Heinz Peter Schwerfel’s documentary LES VIES POSSIBLES DE CHRISTIAN BOLTANSKI gives great insight into the life and career of the enigmatic artist. And the gift shop is called “The Book as Witness,” offering rare copies of Boltanski’s artist books, going back to the early 1970s. Although the installation is usually closed on Mondays, it will be open on Memorial Day, a fitting way to honor the holiday. In addition, composer Franck Krawczyk’s DAWN will take place June 2-3 within “No Man’s Land,” performed by the Argento Chamber Ensemble conducted by Michel Galante; there will be a public rehearsal on June 2 at 6:00, followed by the premiere on June 3 at 7:30. Although the special musical event is free with general admission, advance registration is required.

LOWER EAST SIDE FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS

The Teabaggers will present “The TNC Tea Party” at this year’s Lower East Side Festival of the Arts (photo by Alex Smith)

Theater for the New City
155 First Ave. between Ninth & Tenth Aves.
Saturday, May 29, and Sunday, May 30
Admission: free
www.theaterforthenewcity.net

The fifteenth annual Lower East Side Festival of the Arts continues on Saturday on Sunday with two days of free live performances both inside the Theater for the New City and outside, where a cultural fair will be held. On Saturday from 2:00 to 5:00, magicians, musicians, dancers, and more will entertain children in the Johnson Theater, anchored by Supercute playing at 4:30. Adult entertainment takes over after that, with the Alpha Omega Theatrical Dance Company, Bleecker Street Opera, David Amram, Joe Franklin, and others. Meanwhile, Yana Schnitzler’s Human Kinetics Movement Arts will perform a site-specific installation in the lobby beginning at 7:00. Films will run from noon to midnight in the Cabaret Theater, including Rome Neal’s BANANA PUDDIN JAZZ, Buck Heller’s THROUGH THEIR EYES, and Roger Corman’s BUCKET OF BLOOD. And the outdoor street festival will feature live music, poetry readings, performance art, dance, and comedy by Jessica Delfino, the Drama Bums, Domingo’s Dominion, the Vox Pop Players, Jessica Friedlander, and others. On Sunday night, KT Sullivan, Tammy Grimes, the Silvercloud Singers & Drummers, Phoebe Legere, Penny Arcade, and Tokyo Penguin are among those scheduled in the Johnson Theater, with theatrical performances taking place in the Cabaret Theater. In addition, the Community Space Theater will host a poetry program at 4:00 with special guest Joan Durant and nearly fifty participants. And all weekend long, the lobby will be home to visual art curated by Carolyn Ratcliffe. It’s a great festival that has something for everyone, and, yes, it’s all free.

THALIA ZEDEK

Thalia Zedek will be at the Knit on May 29

Knitting Factory
361 Metropolitan Ave.
Saturday, May 29, $10-$12, 9:00
347-529-6696
www.myspace.com/thaliazedek
www.bk.knittingfactory.com

Boston-based singer and guitarist Thalia Zedek, who previously was part of such bands as Dangerous Birds, Live Skull, and Come before branching out on her own a decade ago, is back in New York City touring behind her most recent album, 2008’s brash, brawling LIARS AND PRAYERS. A former heroine addict who evokes the sounds of Marianne Faithfull, Patti Smith, P. J. Harvey, and Kim Gordon, Zedek holds nothing back as she examines the wreckage left behind by eight years of the Bush administration. “Does the fear make you stay inside?” she asks on “lower allston.” A searing guitar solo drives the eight-minute epic “Next Exit,” in which Zedek declares in her raspy, worn voice, “There is now way out but out.” She has expanded the size of her band, adding David Curry on viola and Mel Lederman on piano to her regular rhythm section of Winston Braman on bass and Daniel Coughlin on drums, resulting in a richer, more emotional landscape, particularly on such songs as “We Don’t Go,” which features a beautifully haunting piano line, and “Body Memory,” which includes a long, stirring instrumental break. Zedek will be at the Knitting Factory on May 29, on a bill with the Chrome Cranks and Clockwork Mercury.

NICK JAINA

Nick Jaina brings his unique stylings to New York City for two free gigs (photo by Thomas Patterson)

Friday, May 28, Bar 4, 444 Seventh Ave., Brooklyn, 9:00
Saturday, May 30, Rockwood Music Hall, 7:00
www.myspace.com/nickjaina
www.myspace.com/barfour
www.rockwoodmusichall.com

Born in California and based in Portland, Oregon, troubadour Nick Jaina is coming to New York City for a pair of shows, highlighting songs from his fine new release, A BIRD IN THE OPERA HOUSE (HUSH, April 2010). The very first notes of the album’s opening song, “Sebastopolo,” features a bassline reminiscent of Van Morrison’s “Astral Weeks,” and although that is lofty company indeed, the album is pristinely recorded, with Jaina’s clear voice front and center throughout the twelve songs, mixing pop, folk, and jazz elements. From the guitars on “Sleep Child” and “Officer Shoppe” to the building strings of “Theresa” and the strong, steady drumbeat of “Strawberry Man,” Jaina creates compelling musical moods, telling his stories of love, mistrust, and murder, slipping in a little Simon & Garfunkel and Sting here, some R.E.M.-like background vocals there. On the road with William Joersz on upright bass, Nathan Langston on violin, Scott Magee on drums and clarinet, John Whaley on trumpet, and Thomas Paul on guitar, pianist-guitarist Jaina will be at Brooklyn’s Bar 4 on May 29 with Meng Tian and Foreverinmotion and at Rockwood Music Hall on May 30 with the Callen Sisters, Dallin Applebaum, and others.

TALES OF THE GRATEFUL DEAD AND NEW YORK

Dennis Larkin and Peter Barsotti, “Radio City Music Hall poster Oct. 22-31, 1980” (courtesy Grateful Dead Archive)

THE BERNARD AND IRENE SCHWARTZ DISTINGUISHED SPEAKERS SERIES
Thursday, May 27, New York Society for Ethical Culture, 2 West 64th St., $20, 6:30
“Grateful Dead: Now Playing at the New-York Historical Society” exhibition continues through July 4, 2 West 77th St., $12
212-873-3400
www.nyhistory.org

Although they are most closely aligned with their hometown of Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco, the Grateful Dead had a special relationship with New York City. Every year, usually in the fall in the 1980s and ’90s, the psychedelic, free-flowing rock band would come to Radio City, Madison Square Garden, and other local venues for extended stays as Dead Heads came out of the woodwork to join in the annual celebration of life and music. So it is not nearly as strange as it might first appear for “The Grateful Dead: Now Playing at the New-York Historical Society” to be held at the venerable Upper West Side institution. The small but concentrated exhibit focuses on the group’s interaction with their dedicated fans through film, video, photographs, ticket stubs, concert posters, backstage guest lists and passes, and other cool paraphernalia. The display includes the group’s first record contract, a tour rider, designs for their 1974 Wall of Sound speaker system, the life-size marionettes used in their breakthrough “Touch of Grey” video, Dick Latvala’s notebooks evaluating specific shows (some of which would later be released as a Dick’s Pick), and dozens of envelopes people decorated when sending in ticket requests. Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, and other Dead members were way ahead of the curve when it came to dealing with their fans, creating a human social network well before Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, although they were always on the cutting edge of technology as well. Music continually flows through the exhibit, and you can take a break by grabbing a seat and watching clips from 1977’s THE GRATEFUL DEAD MOVIE.

On May 27 at 6:30, longtime progressive rock deejay Pete Fornatale and “Tales from the Golden Road” radio host Gary Lambert, along with surprise guests, will participate in “Tales of the Grateful Dead and New York,” an intimate look at the band’s unique ties to the city, which include appearances at such legendary venues as the Fillmore East in addition to Tompkins Square Park, Central Park, and other locations. The event will take place at the New York Society for Ethical Culture; tickets are $20.

FLEET WEEK

The Intrepid serves as home base for annual Fleet Week celebration (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
Pier 86, 12th Ave. & 46th St.
May 26 – June 1
Admission: adults $22, children three to seventeen $17
www.intrepidmuseum.org

All ashore that’s going ashore! The Navy, Army, and Coast Guard sail into New York Harbor today for the annual Fleet Week celebration, a week of special activities based at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum on the far West Side. The festivities get under way this morning with the Parade of Ships and continue with pier displays from the American Red Cross, the Air Force Global Strike Command, the FDNY, and many others. There will be tours of Army Boat Vessel LSV-1, demonstrations by the Coast Guard Search & Rescue team, competitions including the tug of war and inflatable jousting, the Memorial Day flyover and Three Volley Salute, a Broadway showcase hosted by the ladies of LEND ME A TENOR, and live performances by the Northeast Navy Show Band, the West Point Band, the Rockettes, Miss Babs & the Kickin’ Boogie Band, and Reckon So, and much more.

WALLACE

Wallace will play with fire at Rockwood Music Hall on May 22

Rockwood Music Hall
184 Allen St. between Houston & Stanton Sts.
Saturday, May 22, free, 7:00
212-477-4155
www.myspace.com/wallaceonfire
www.rockwoodmusichall.com

On his self-released album PLAYING WITH FIRE, the one-named Wallace exposes his demons in snarls worthy of Jim Morrison and Eddie Vedder over acoustic guitar lines reminiscent of Neil Young and Jerry Garcia, looking deep within himself on such brooding songs as “All for Tonight” and “Out of My Head.” Wallace, who was born and bred in New England and is now based in Brooklyn, breaks out the harmonica for the bluesy “So Long” and goes a little country on “A Pity.” “Woke up to another day / Can’t seem to shake the hate / Talking to my heart in vain / Then tried to cover the pain,” he sings on “The Lies.” We’re guessing you shouldn’t expect a lot of uplifting pop ditties when  Wallace comes to the Rockwood Music Hall on May 22 at 7:00, following Stephen Brock and Jeremy Parise and preceding Will Knox.