this week in music

“TO BE THE WAVES AND THE OCEAN: NEW SOUND SCULPTURES AND PAINTINGS” LIVE PERFORMANCE

Greg Glassman and Susan Jennings activate sound sculptures at Tanja Grunert’s Beatrix House gallery in Hudson (photo courtesy Tanja Grunert)

Who: Silver the Void with Susan Jennings
What: Live outdoor performance
Where: Tanja Grunert Salon
When: Monday, August 17, free, 7:30
Why: On Friday night during the golden hour, artist Susan Jennings and musician Greg Glassman teamed up for a live performance in conjunction with Jennings’s current exhibit at Tanja Grunert’s Beatrix House gallery in Hudson, with Glassman on trumpet and Jennings activating pieces from the show, “To Be the Waves and the Ocean: New Sound Sculptures and Paintings.” On Monday, August 17, at 7:30 (which just happens to be Grunert’s birthday), Silver the Void, which consists of Jennings, painter Alexander Ross, and Faye Ross, will perform on the sound sculptures and paintings. There will be no live audience; the event will be streamed live on Tanja Grunert’s social media platforms. You can watch a clip from the Friday-night performance here to get in the mood.

FROM THE ARCHIVE — COFFEEHOUSE CHRONICLES #139: HAIR 50th ANNIVERSARY (with live Q&A)

La MaMa is livestreaming it 2017 fiftieth anniversary celebration of Hair (photo courtesy La MaMa)

Who: Chris Kapp, Michal Gamily, James Rado, Galt MacDermot, Michael Butler, Annie Golden, Andre De Shields, Ellen Foley, Walter Michael Harris, Melba Moore, Natalie Mosco, Jill O’Hara, Peppy Castro, Dale Soules, Shaleah Adkisson, Lauren Elder, Shelley Ackerman, Debbie Andrews, Andy Berger, Richard Cohen, Dave D’Aranjo, Nina Machlin Dayton, Magie Dominic, Aaron Drescher, Merle Frimark, Ula Hedwig, Antwayn Hopper, Rev. Marjorie Lipari, Thayer Naples, Allan F. Nicholls, Robert I. Rubinsky, Charles Valentino, Balint Varga, Jared Weiss
What: Archival livestream of 2017 performance and live Q&A
Where: LaMaMa and Facebook Live
When: Saturday, August 15, free (donations accepted), 11:00 am
Why: On October 1, 1967, a little rock opera by James Rado, Gerome Ragni, and Galt MacDermot opened at New York City’s brand-new Public Theater, the first show by living artists that New York Shakespeare Festival founder Joe Papp produced. Known as the American Tribal Love-Rock Musical, Hair has propelled generations to stand together, challenge the status quo, celebrate multiculturalism, and work for peace. Fifty years after the Summer of Love, La MaMa, on January 21, 2017, gathered dozens of actors who had performed in the many iterations of the show, from the original off-Broadway version to productions around the world and the 1979 film, for a tribute concert as part of its Coffeehouse Chronicles series, which explores the history of off-off-Broadway.

The presentation featured such stars as Annie Golden, Andre De Shields, Ellen Foley, Walter Michael Harris, Melba Moore, Natalie Mosco, Jill O’Hara, Peppy Castro, and Dale Soules singing songs from the musical; the evening was hosted by Chris Kapp and Michal Gamily and included an interview with Rado and McDermot. On August 15 at 11:00 am, La MaMa will livestream that performance in its entirety — you can get a taste by watching videos of De Shields singing “I Got Life” and Moore performing “Aquarius” — followed by a live Q&A with the eighty-eight-year-old Rado. As revolutionary as Hair was, it’s a shame that so much of its narrative about such social ills as white male dominance, militarization and war, racism, homophobia, and government overreach is still so relevant today, but the music is so energizing and exhilarating, maybe it will spur you to keep fighting the good fight, now more than ever, while having a great time.

A MUSICAL MEDITATION AND CELEBRATION OF RADICAL HEALING

Who: Nona Hendryx, Nubian Q.U.E.E.N.X., Monique Wilson, Hope Masike, Sara Curruchich English, Lebo Mashile, iskwē | ᐃᐢᑫᐧᐤ, Rosa Chávez, Liza Jessie Peterson, Be Steadwell, Angela Davis, Divinity Roxx, Sophia Ramos, Cyndi Lauper, Phylicia Rashad, Billie Jean King, Joy Harjo
What: Global virtual music and activism event
Where: StreamYard and Zoom
When: Friday, August 14, $8 – $250, 4:00
Why: On August 14 at 4:00, musician, writer, actress, activist, and legendary powerhouse Nona Hendryx will host an epic virtual concert in support of women’s collective power for social justice. Held in conjunction with feminist organization JASS, “Radical Healing” will feature an international lineup of singer-songwriters, activists, and spoken-word artists celebrating multiracial and multicultural transformation. “By radical healing, we’re acknowledging the power of music to lift our spirits and connect us across all our differences,” Hendryx said in a statement. “We recognize that we can’t build and sustain strong movements for the long haul with broken people who bear the brunt of crises and violence. We need moments of shared joy and connections as much as information and strategy. Some of the most amazing music ever created has been birthed from struggle.” Hendryx will be joined by Monique Wilson, Hope Masike, Sara Curruchich English, Lebo Mashile, iskwē | ᐃᐢᑫᐧᐤ, Rosa Chávez, Liza Jessie Peterson, Be Steadwell, Angela Davis, Divinity Roxx, Sophia Ramos, Nubian Q.U.E.E.N.X., Cyndi Lauper, Phylicia Rashad, Billie Jean King, Joy Harjo, and others, participating from five continents. General tickets are $25 ($8 for students) and $250 to gain access to a Zoom Q&A with the artists.

JON LANGFORD AND SALLY TIMMS

Mekons members Jon Langford and Sally Timms will play livestreamed gig from Chicago club on August 14

Who: Jon Langford, Sally Timms
What: Livestream concert
Where: Hideout online
When: Friday, August 14, suggested tip $15, 8:00
Why: The Mekons are one of the greatest bands of the last fifty years. Formed in 1976, the British punks have continued to make fab records and tour relentlessly, but they’ve been sidelined because of the coronavirus pandemic. However, that doesn’t mean they’ve gone silent. On April 6, founding frontman Jon Langford, who’s been very busy during the Covid-19 crisis, performed a livestreamed concert on the back of a pickup truck for Chicago club FitzGerald’s, driven through the streets of Berwyn, Illinois, playing to people on sidewalks and porches. And on June 19, the group released its latest album, Exquisite, based on the concept of the exquisite corpse; the liner notes explain it “was recorded in lockdown on mobile phones, broken cassette recorders, clay tablets & other ancient technologies in Aptos, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York & Devon,” featuring the nom de plumes Baron Von Munchio, Comteboy de Langreamont, Honeyman Ray, Luanora Carrington (ex-Lubu Roi), the Marquis Tomato de Ironingboard, Ricmedios Bellvaro, Sallyvador Dolly, and St. Yves Pantalon-Mécanique adding music and lyrics one at a time. (Did I mention they have a wicked sense of humor?)

On August 6, Langford and vocalist Sally Timms, who teamed up for a show at the Hideout Inn in Chicago on January 19, played outdoors at the Virtue Cider Taproom in Fenville, Michigan; on August 14, the duo will return to the Hideout, but this time they will perform without an audience, as the concert will be livestreamed from an empty club; admission is free, but a $15 tip-jar donation is suggested. (Langford will be back at the Virtue lawn on August 20 with John Szymanski and play solo on the patio of FitzGerald’s on August 26.) Describing the show, the Hideout points out, “Jon Langford and Sally Timms are punk rock refugees from across the pond. Mostly they play music with fundamentalist Punk Rock icons the Mekons but have other hobbies which usually involve cross-dressing, pirate songs, and sitting round at the Hideout Tavern in Chicago defying the forces of time, entropy, and Corporate Capitalism.” Don’t miss it.

CANCELED: TICKET ALERT: AN EVENING OF WORDS AND MUSIC WITH PATTI SMITH

Who: Patti Smith, Tony Shanahan
What: Patti Smith’s only live, staged appearance in 2020
Where: Murmrr Theatre
When: Now canceled: Friday, September 4, $30, 9:00
Why: In her follow-up to the hugely successful Just Kids and M Train, poet, punk goddess, and visual artist Patti Smith writes in her latest memoir, Year of the Monkey (Penguin Random House, September 1, $16):

“I decided on the Waterfront for dinner but went the opposite way and passed a wall covered in murals, Chagall-like scenes from Fiddler on the Roof, floating violinists amidst tongues of flame that produced a disconcerting sense of nostalgia. When I finally circled back and entered the Waterfront, I thought I had made a mistake. The layout looked totally different than in the afternoon. There was a pool table and nothing but fellas of all ages with baseball caps and huge glasses of beer with slices of lemon. Several looked at me as I entered, an unthreatening alien, then went about the business of drinking and talking. There was a hockey game on a big screen with no sound. The din, the drone, was all male, amiable male, laughing and talking, broken only by the tapping of a ball with a cue stick, the ball dropping into the pocket. I ordered coffee, a fish sandwich and salad, the most expensive plate on the menu. The fish was small and deep-fried, but the lettuce and onions were fresh. The same starfish mug, the same brew. I laid my money on the table and went out. It was raining. I put on my watch cap. Passing the mural, I nodded to the Yiddish fiddler, commiserating an unspoken fear of friends slipping away.”

Tickets are now on sale to watch Smith’s live, virtual, one-time-only show on September 4, in which she will read excerpts from Year of the Monkey, which comes out in paperback on September 1, and other writings and perform songs with longtime bassist Tony Shanahan. The live performance, held in conjunction with the Community Bookstore in Park Slope, will take place at an empty Murmrr, the Brooklyn club at the historic Union Temple by Grand Army Plaza. The livestream will be filmed by cinematographer Matthew Schroeder with multiple cameras; it will be Smith’s only stage appearance of 2020. Tickets are $30 and include a copy of the paperback. [Ed. note: This event has been canceled as of 8/14.]

DIGITAL DISCOVERY FESTIVAL — ROBERT WILSON: LECTURE ON NOTHING

Robert Wilson’s adaptation of John Cage’s Lecture on Nothing will stream August 12 as part of National Sawdust’s Digital Discovery Festival (photo © Lucie Jansch)

Who: Robert Wilson
What: “Innovation”: Volume 14 of National Sawdust’s Digital Discovery Festival
Where: Live@NationalSawdust, Facebook Live
When: Wednesday, August 12, free, 6:00
Why: Bold and daring theater and opera impresario Robert Wilson has been creating cutting-edge works since the late 1960s, from The Black Rider, Faust, Woyceck, and The Life and Death of Marina Abramović to Alice, Einstein on the Beach, Hamletmachine, and Letter to a Man. He’s a master of combining stunning visuals with ingenious audio in mind-blowing productions that push the boundaries of what theater can be. So he’s a natural choice to take part in National Sawdust’s fourteenth volume of its Digital Discovery Festival, the theme of which is “Innovation.”

On August 12 at 6:00, the Williamsburg-based club will present Texas native Wilson’s Lecture on Nothing, his adaptation of John Cage’s 1950 text, in honor of the twenty-eighth anniversary of Cage’s passing on August 12, 1992, at the age of seventy-nine. The hourlong piece debuted in August 2012 at the Ruhrtriennale Festival in Germany, with Wilson dressed in all-white clothing and makeup, surrounded by textual excerpts from the work and a cluttered floor. “I am here and there is nothing to say,” Cage’s speech begins. “If among you are those who wish to get somewhere, let them leave at any moment. What we re-quire is silence; but what silence requires is that I go on talking.”

The Digital Discovery Festival has previously featured such themes as “Spirituality,” “Social Change,” “Rebellion,” “Activism,” and “Virtuosity,” with new and archival concerts and master classes with Vijay Gupta, Vijay Iyer, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Sxip Shirey, Tania León, and others. “Innovation” runs August 10-14 and also includes concerts and/or conversations with Jenny Hval, Trimpin, and Matthew Whitaker. All shows are free and are archived if you miss the livestream.

THE COMMUNITY MEDITATION CENTER: A VIRTUAL BENEFIT CONCERT

Who: Rufus Wainwright, Stephen Salters, Krishna Das, Amy Burton, John Musto, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Sharon Salzberg, Dan Harris, Shirley Hunt, Krysty Swann, Joseph Goldstein, R. Carlos Nakai
What: Live virtual benefit concert
Where: Community Meditation Center online
When: Sunday, August 9, $25 – $1,000, 7:00
Why: Since 2007, the Community Meditation Center has been “supporting each individual’s efforts to alleviate suffering, stress, and discord in themselves and in the world. CMC objectives oppose the destructive forces of greed, hatred, and delusion by cultivating generosity, compassion, and wisdom.” On August 9 at 7:00, the Upper West Side institution will be holding its annual gala online, benefiting CMC in addition to the Black Lives Matter Global Network and First Nations Development Institute. The all-star lineup features singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, kirtan chanter Krishna Das, Met Opera stars Anthony Roth Costanzo and Krysty Swann, soprano Amy Burton and pianist John Musto, cellist Shirley Hunt, baritone Stephen Salters, and Native American flutist R. Carlos Nakai, with Insight Meditation Society cofounders Joseph Goldstein and Sharon Salzberg, hosted by Dan Harris. Donations begin at $25 to attend the benefit and go up to $1,000 with copies of several of the participants ’ books and CDs.