this week in music

LAURA CORTESE / FOREST FIRES

Laura Cortese will team up with the Forest Fires at Pete’s Candy Store

Pete’s Candy Store
709 Lorimer St.
Sunday, November 22, suggested donation $10, 10:30
718-302-3770
www.petescandystore.com
www.lauracortese.com
www.myspace.com/theforestfires

Boston-based singer-songwriter and fiddler Laura Cortese will team up with the Forest Fires for a different kind of show at Pete’s Candy Store in Williamsburg on November 22. Cortese, from such groups as Uncle Earl and the Anarchist Orchestra, and Pappas, of the Everyday Visuals, will perform separately and together throughout the evening, featuring songs from their respective albums as well as other tunes. Their month-long tour has taken them to Massachusetts, Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois, with the Brooklyn gig being their last, so expect something special.

CONTEST OF THE WEEK: BROADWAY BOUND

Tell us the first Broadway show you saw to win a copy of new book

LIGHTS ON BROADWAY: A THEATRICAL TOUR FROM A TO Z by Harriet Ziefert, illustrated by Elliot Kreloff, with an introduction by Brian Stokes Mitchell (Blue Apple, October 2009, $19.99)
Friday, November 20, 5:00, Barnes & Noble, 1972 Broadway at 66^th St., 212-595-6859
Sunday, November 22, 2:00, Books of Wonder, 18 West 18^th St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves., 212-989-3270
Admission: free
www.blueapplebooks.com
www.booksofwonder.com

“Welcome to my house, my home, my Broadway!” Tony-winning actor and singer Brian Stokes Mitchell writes in the introduction to the new picture book LIGHTS ON BROADWAY: A THEATRICAL TOUR FROM A TO Z. “As you take this very special tour, perhaps you too will be ignited by the incredible collaborative magic that gives life and light to the theater.” Written by Harriet Ziefert, playfully illustrated by Elliot Kreloff, and with an accompanying CD, LIGHTS ON BROADWAY has its own collaborative magic, taking children and adults on a colorful alphabetical journey through the Great White Way, from audition and actor to encore and improvisation, from orchestra and overture to rehearsal and roadshow. Along the way, there are classic quotes from such Broadway luminaries as Liza Minnelli, Joel Grey, Patti LuPone, Stephen Sondheim, and Harvey Fierstein as well as definitions of such theatrical terms as proscenium, curtain, wings, and fly space.

Mitchell, who also contributed an afterword and poetic postscript and sings “I Was Here” from THE GLORIOUS ONES on the CD, will be celebrating the release of the book with two local appearances with the TADA! Youth Theater, which has been entertaining children and families for twenty-five years. He’ll be reading from and signing copies of the book at the Lincoln Triangle B&N on November 20 at 5:00, followed by a party at Books of Wonder on November 22 at 2:00.

Tony winner Brian Stokes Mitchell will be on hand for two local events celebrating release of book

WIN A COPY OF THE BOOK

What was the first Broadway show you saw? Send your answer to contest@twi-ny.com by Monday, November 23, at 12 noon for your chance to win a free copy of LIGHTS ON BROADWAY, courtesy of Blue Apple Books. Two lucky respondents will be chosen at random.

Break a leg!

MAGNETIC CABARET

magneticcabaret

Bubble Lounge
228 West Broadway
Sunday, November 22, $15 (includes one free drink), 7:00 pm – 1:00 am
212-431-3433
www.bubblelounge.com

Burlesque cabaret is as hot as ever right now, and so the Magnetic Laboratorium, under the direction of Marisela La Grave, will present multimedia cabaret for the twenty-first century at the Bubble Lounge every two weeks through January 24. Curated by La Grave, Matthew Mohr, and Glen Rumsey and hosted by Shasta, the first event, being held on November 22, features such acts as Dirty Martini, Cou-Cou Bijoux, Lavinia Coop, Les Femmes de Danse, and Vagabond Ballroom.

SHERLOCK’S DAUGHTER

Sherlock's Daughter brings its mysterious sound to Piano's for two shows

Piano’s
158 Ludlow St.
Thursday, November 19, $10, 8:00
Wednesday, November 25, $8, 10:00
212-505-3733
www.myspace.com/sherlocksdaughter
www.pianosnyc.com

Australia’s Sherlock’s Daughter has been having quite a time in New York City, playing Goodbye Blue Monday and Bowery Electric last week and now taking up residency at Piano’s for two shows. Based in Sydney, the five-piece band, led by New Zealand vocalist Tanya Horo, is touring behind its self-titled five-song EP, which features beautiful harmonies, soothing melodies, and alluring rhythms. Guitarist Tim Maybury, bassist Liam Flanagan, electronics specialist Jonti Animal, and drummer William Russell create mysterious sounds that wrap around you with just the right amount of uneasiness to keep you slightly off balance but always wanting more on such welcoming tunes as “Sons and Daughters,” “Song for Old People,” and “Kids.” And they also have a way of making relatively mundane lyrics float wonderfully in the ether; on “In the End,” Horo sings, “In the end we will hold on to all that’s in our hearts / Don’t be sad or be frightened / We don’t need to part / Love can’t hurt us now,” and you believe every word of it. On November 19 at Piano’s , SD, who refer to themselves as the “love child of Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler (a character in the Holmes story “A Scandal in Bohemia” as well as the real name of X-Men villain Destiny), will go on at 8:00, followed by English Kills, the Black Fortys, and Goldspot, while on November 25 they will go on at 10:00, following Swedish popster Marit Bergman.

BLACKLIST

Brooklyn's Blacklist channels the '80s on new album (photo by Scott Irvine)

Thursday, November 19, Death by Audio, 49 South Second St. between Wythe & Kent, $7, 8:00
Monday, November 23, the Studio at Webster Hall, 125 East Eleventh St. between Third & Fourth Aves., free, 8:00
www.myspace.com/deathbyaudioshows
www.listofblack.com
www.websterhall.com

Listening to Brooklyn’s Blacklist, you might start looking around for Molly Ringwald, Andrew McCarthy, Emilio Estevez, and the rest of the Brat Pack, thinking you’ve just stepped into a John Hughes movie. Lead singer and guitarist Josh Strawn, guitarist James Minor, bassist Ryan Rayhill, and drummer Glenn Maryansky, who cite Johnny Walker, Omar Khayyam, and Michelangelo Antonioni as influences in addition to Wire, Killing Joke, and My Bloody Valentine, have seemingly also been influenced by the Psychedelic Furs, Dead or Alive, the Cult, the Cure, and Simple Minds. On their debut album, MIDNIGHT OF THE CENTURY (Weird, May 2009), their big sound blasts through eleven tracks, kicking off with “Flight of the Demoiselles,” which features an Edge-like guitar line and, yes, the word “vainglorious” in the lyrics. “No regrets / no sad songs / every day / pure joy in my heart” Strawn sings. Other stand-outs include “Shock in the Hotel Falcon” and “The Believer.” Blacklist will be at Death by Audio on November 19 with Veil Veil Vanish, Phantasm, and Bella Noir, then play the Studio at Webster Hall as part of No Cover Mondays on November 23 with Atlantic Pacific and Dave Walsh (of the Loved Ones playing an acoustic set).

BLAKE IN POETRY AND SONG: AN EVENING WITH PATTI SMITH

Patti Smith will celebrate the legacy of William Blake at the Morgan Library (photo by Angelo Cricchi)

The Morgan Library & Museum
225 Madison Ave. at 36th St.
Thursday, November 19, $35, 7:30
212-685-0008
www.themorgan.org
www.pattismith.net

In 2004, Patti Smith wrote, “In my Blakean year / Such a woeful schism / The pain of our existence / Was not as I envisioned / Boots that trudged from track to track / Worn down to the sole / One road is paved in gold / One road is just a road.” On her Web site, the full lyrics to this song, “In My Blakean Year,” from her TRAMPIN’ album, link to William Blake’s poem “The Divine Image,” which includes the opening quatrain “To Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love / All pray in their distress, / And to these virtues of delight / Return their lovingkindness.” The eclectic, iconic, iconoclastic Smith, joined by her daughter Jesse, will be celebrating the legacy of the British artist, writer, and anarchist in a special program of music and poetry at the Morgan Library on November 19, held in conjunction with the exhibit “William Blake’s World: ‘A New Heaven Is Begun’” (which continues through January 3).

William Blake, “Behemoth and Leviathan” (Book of Job, no. 15), pen and black and gray ink, gray wash, and watercolor, over faint indications in pencil, on paper, ca. 1805–10

More than 350 years after his birth, Blake remains a worshiped figure with a lasting influence, particularly on the Beat Generation and its descendants. Discussing “In My Blakean Year” with Rolling Stone in 2004, Smith said, “What I learned from William Blake is, don’t give up. And don’t expect anything. . . . I have a great life. I’ve seen dark times too and have had, in certain times of my life, nothing. No material things, not much prospects – except my own imagination. But if you perceive that you have a gift, you already have life.” Smith, recently named one of the 400 most influential New Yorkers by the Museum of the City of New York, has suffered great personal tragedy as well as critical and popular success throughout her career; she is not afraid to bare her soul in public, so the event at the Morgan promises to be moving and emotional in addition to celebratory. The performance begins at 7:30, with the exhibition open at 6:30 for ticket holders to get in the mood.

DESTINATION GUADELOUPE

King of Zouk Luc Leandry comes to NYC for Guadeloupe festival (photo by Saint-Prix)

Multiple venues
November 18-22
www.destination-guadeloupefestival.com/ushome.html

The French Caribbean archipelago of Guadeloupe, which was named by Christopher Columbus, brings its art and culture to the city for five days of special events in the second annual Destination Guadeloupe festival. On Friday, Gwo-ka drummer François Ladrezeau will perform at Zinc Bar and Jeff Joseph and Panik play S.O.B.’s; on Saturday, Kriyolio hits Zinc Bar; and on Sunday, all of those groups, along with King of Zouk Luc Leandry and the Divas of Zouk, Joëlle Ursull and Jocelyne Labylle, will come together for the festival’s main event at S.O.B.’s, with cuisine prepared by chef Georges Césarin and a special raffle. Throughout the five days, the art of Joel Nankin will be on view at Casa Frela Gallery. “The island pays a short visit with its unique music, art, and cuisine,” said one of the event’s producers, Alex Boicel, in a statement, “and we intend to make New Yorkers hungry for more.”