July 4, 2003

Pop and Jazz Listings

selective listing by critics of The Times of noteworthy pop and jazz concerts in the New York metropolitan region this weekend. * denotes a highly recommended concert.

* RYAN ADAMS AND THE PINKHEARTS, JESSE MALIN, Lawn at Battery Park, (212) 835-2789. Ryan Adams is steeped in the right 1960's songwriters — Van Morrison, Neil Young, Gram Parsons, Bob Dylan — and when he breaks free of their influences, he brings his own variations on heartbreak, longing and rancor. Jesse Malin, the former frontman of D Generation who has moved on to more introspective rock, is the opening act. Today at 4 p.m.; free (Jon Pareles).

BEST OF PUNJABI, WITH RDB, B21, INDY SAGU, LETHAL DHOLIS, MELT, B. B. King Blues Club and Grill, 243 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 997-4144. A night with some of the leading figures in bhangra, the Anglo-Indian mixture of Punjabi songs and dhol drumming and the D.J. culture of electronic beats, sampling and rapping. Tonight at 9:30; tickets are $25 and $40 (Pareles).

* BUSTA RHYMES, the Palladium, 595 Main Street, New Rochelle, N.Y., (914) 235-2442. Busta Rhymes must be the only rapper who grows more appealing with age. His albums can be rough going, but he keeps coming up with eccentric hit singles that are just about impossible to dislike. His current album, "It Ain't Safe No More" (J), has spawned two so far: "Make It Clap, Part II," a dancehall reggae confection featuring Sean Paul, and "I Know What You Want," a sly love song featuring Mariah Carey. Even better: he never fails to put on an exhilarating live show. Tonight at 10; tickets are $40 (Kelefa Sanneh).

C. J. CHENIER, Friends of the Arts, Planting Fields Arboretum, Planting Fields Road, Oyster Bay, N.Y., (516) 922-0061. The son of Clifton Chenier, the king of zydeco who died in 1988, picked up his father's accordion and his Red Hot Louisiana Band, carrying on the family tradition of bayou dance music laced with blues. Tomorrow night at 8; tickets are $25 to $40 (Pareles).

CONJUNTO TROPICAL, Smoke, 2751 Broadway, at 106th Street, (212) 864-6662. A new Latin-jazz sextet led by the Cuban singer, guitarist and percussionist David Oquendo. Tonight and tomorrow night at 9, 11 and 12:30; cover charge is $10 (Ben Ratliff).

OLU DARA, Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232. Mr. Dara, the cornetist, guitarist and singer, creates his own world, wafting up impressions of Southern blues and African music while keeping everything low key; he is playing new music for his next album. Tomorrow night and Sunday night at 7:30 and 9:30; cover charge is $25 tomorrow, $20 Sunday (Ratliff).

* D.J. LE SPAM AND THE SPAM ALL-STARS, S.O.B.'s (Sounds of Brazil), 204 Varick Street, at Houston Street, South Village, (212) 243-4940. D.J. Le Spam's regular club shows became a sensation in Miami, where he mixed the electronic rhythms of dance-club music with live musicians steeped in Cuban salsa. Now he's establishing a New York outpost. Tonight at midnight; admission is $12 (Pareles).

* JERRY DODGION AND THE JOY OF SAX, Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village, (212) 255-4037. Mr. Dodgion, the saxophonist who is a longtime jazz sideman, first on the West Coast and then in New York, finally steps out of the shadows to lead the members of a five-saxophone band, including Frank Wess, Brad Leali, Dan Block and Jay Brandford. Tonight through Sunday night at 9 and 11; cover charge is $30 tonight and tomorrow; $15 on Sunday (Ratliff).

* THE FALL, the Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3006. Just because Mark E. Smith slurs and mumbles and tosses away his lyrics doesn't mean they're not filled with cynical intelligence. His music has been the postpunk template for bands like Pavement, and his latest band will riff and grind behind him. Sunday and Monday nights at 8:30; tickets are $18 in advance, $20 at the door (Pareles).

* SLIDE HAMPTON TROMBONE ALL-STARS, Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212) 475-8592. See Jerry Dodgion, above: by strange coincidence, Mr. Hampton, the trombonist and sideman par excellence, has had a similar idea, putting together a group with five trombones and a rhythm section. The trombonists include Benny Powell, Bob Brookmeyer, Bill Watrous and Steve Davis. Tonight through Sunday night at 8 and 10:30 p.m.; cover charge is $15 at the bar, $25 at tables, plus a $5 minimum (Ratliff).

* RICHIE HAWTIN, P.S. 1, 22-25 Jackson Avenue, at 46th Avenue, Long Island City, Queens, (718) 784-2084; Arc, 6 Hubert Street, near Hudson Street, TriBeCa, (212) 226-9212. Richie Hawtin loves to strip down techno to its bare-bones minimum; the effect can be intoxicating, or exhausting, or both. Tomorrow from 3 to 9 p.m. at P.S. 1, with Magda, a like-minded local D.J.; admission is $6. Tomorrow night at 11 at Arc; admission is $25, or $20 with a ticket stub from the P.S. 1 performance (Sanneh).

LOUIS HAYES'S CANNONBALL ADDERLEY TRIBUTE BAND, Iridium, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street, (212) 582-2121. Cannonball Adderley's music of the late 1950's and early 60's was some of the most appealing hard bop ever released; it had the signature macho power of the genre, but was tempered by the gospel sweetness that came from Adderley's saxophone. This group tries to carry on those qualities, and the alto-saxophone chair is held by Vincent Herring, who comes close to Adderley's sound. Tonight through Sunday night at 8 and 10; cover charge is $25, plus a $10 minimum (Ratliff).

JETS TO BRAZIL, Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111. Blake Scharzenbach, formerly the guitarist and songwriter in Jawbreaker, now leads Jets to Brazil, and he still believes in the promise of indie rock: that sinewy guitar lines, oblique but articulate lyrics and unabashedly anthemic choruses can move an audience. The songs are forthright about their intelligence and their emotion. Tonight, Jets to Brazil performs at 11, with Carmelize at 9 and the Love Scene at 10. Tomorrow night, Jets to Brazil performs at midnight with Cardia at 10 and Retisonic at 11. Tickets are $15 (Pareles).

* CHAKA KHAN, Central Park Summerstage, midpark at 69th Street, (212) 360-2777. Chaka Khan's voice can be tart or welcoming as she gets sassy or reaches for gospel heights. She moved from the rock-funk band Rufus, where she sang memorable songs like "Tell Me Something Good," to a full-fledged solo diva career with songs like "I'm Every Woman." She performs at Summerstage with her daughter Indira Khan as opening act and, in between, music from the house-music disc jockeys who have loved her for decades: Timmy Regisford, Little Louie Vega (with his band Elements of Life), Phil Asher, Jazzy Jeff and Sting International. Tomorrow afternoon at 3; free, with a suggested donation of $10. Club Shelter, 20 West 39th Street, Manhattan, (212) 719-4479, is having a 22-hour after-party with barbecue, breakfast and brunch for dance marathoners, featuring the afternoon's D.J.'s along with Danny Krivit, Frankie Feliciano, Marques Wyatt, D.J. Spinna and others on two floors, tomorrow night at 7 to Sunday at 5 p.m. Admission is $25 (Pareles).

KITTIE, L'Amour, 1545 63rd Street, Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, (718) 837-9506. A three-woman band from Canada, Kittie plays unregenerate metal and hard rock, hurling a female perspective back in the face of a testosterone-soaked genre. It tops a bill that begins tomorrow night at 8 and includes Carnival of Souls, Die Verse, With Vengeance, the Witching Hour, One in the Chamber, Tenebrae, Flaw Factor, Dead Emotion and D-Faced. Tickets are $18.50 (Pareles).

ABDOU MBOUP AND WAAKAW, Joe's Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 539-8778 or (212) 239-6200. The Senegalese percussionist and kora (harp-guitar) player Abdou Mboup, who has been a sideman for Angelique Kidjo, Randy Weston, Pharoah Sanders and Tom Tom Club, leads his own sextet. Tomorrow night at 9:30; admission is $12 (Pareles).

INGRID LUCIA AND THE FLYING NEUTRINOS, Rodeo Bar, 375 Third Avenue, at 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 683-6500. Ingrid Lucia pours on the Crescent City charm, with slinky vocals, a neo-swing band and tales of zoot-suited dancers, love and New Orleans. Sunday night at 10; free (Pareles).

* NELLIE McKAY, Fez , 380 Lafayette Street, at Great Jones Street, East Village, (212) 533-2680. Nellie McKay, a whizkid teenage songwriter, plays piano and riffles through styles from Tin Pan Alley to hip-hop. Tomorrow night at 10; admission is $10 (Pareles).

IAN MOORE, Joe's Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 539-8778 or (212) 239-6200. Ian Moore is a songwriter whose moods swing from bluesy stomps to ethereal romance. Tonight at 7:30. Tickets are $15 (Pareles).

PAUL OAKENFOLD, Centro-Fly, 45 West 21st Street, Flatiron district, (212) 627-7770. Paul Oakenfold's recent album, "Bunkka" (Maverick/Warner Brothers), didn't earn him the mainstream success he may have been hoping for. But he remains one of the world's most effective D.J.'s, although not one of the world's most interesting: his muscular rhythms and jagged melodies and wooshing synthesizer lines never fail to get people dancing, and keep them dancing. Tonight after midnight; admission is $20 in advance, $25 at the door (Sanneh).

* ONELINEDRAWING, Downtown, 190 Main Street, Farmingdale, N.Y., (516) 293-7700. Jonah Matranga leads Onelinedrawing, a punk-inflected band that specializes in sharp, epigrammatic love songs. Sometimes he is accompanied by a bassist and a drummer, and sometimes the rhythm section consists of nothing but an iPod. Sunday night at 7; tickets are $10 (Sanneh).

* ORCHESTRA BAOBAB, SIERRA MAESTRA, Central Park Summerstage, midpark at 69th Street, (212) 360-2777. Cuban music with African roots and African music with Afro-Cuban charms share this double bill. Orchestra Baobab was formed in 1970 in Senegal when the Cuban and Congolese music that had been taken up across Africa was giving way to local styles; it reunited in 2001. Its 1982 recordings reissued as "Pirates Choice" (Nonesuch) reveal a band that eased through Cuban-style songs alongside crackling Senegalese rhythms, and its reunion album, "Specialist in All Styles" (Nonesuch), reaches into reggae, Senegalese mbalax and hybrids of its own, with vocalists who draw on styles from rumba to griot songs. Onstage, the guitarist Barthelemy Attisso is a head-turning soloist. Sierra Maestra, from Cuba, held on to the elegant style of the classic Cuban son through lean years, then triumphed as the core of the band behind the Buena Vista Social Club. Sunday afternoon at 3; free, with donations requested (Pareles).

FELICE ROSSER, THE BLOOD GROUP, Sin-é, 148-150 Attorney Street, below Houston Street, Lower East Side, (212) 388-0077. Felice Rosser, who played bass and sang in the rock and funk band Faith, has a new trio that delves into dub reggae and dance-club rhythms. The Blood Group plays pensive, after-hours rock. Tomorrow night, with the Blood Group at 10 and Ms. Rosser at 11, followed by A Bunstin Philharmonic at midnight; admission is $7 (Pareles).

HILTON RUIZ, Sweet Rhythm, 88 Seventh Avenue South, above Bleecker Street, West Village, (212) 255-3626. One of the best Latin-jazz players in New York since the 1970's, Mr. Ruiz, the pianist, keeps popping up with bands using different kinds of New York musicians. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8 and 10; cover charge is $15, plus $10 minimum (Ratliff).

SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY AND THE ASBURY JUKES, GARY U.S. BONDS, Stone Pony, 913 Ocean Avenue, Asbury Park, N.J., (732) 502-0600. While his friend Bruce Springsteen left the Jersey Shore behind and went on to write all-American anthems and parables, Southside Johnny Lyon stuck to the old bar-band basics: rolling R&B vamps and raspy-voiced, good-natured soul plaints, complete with horn section. Gary U.S. Bonds sang the original "Quarter to Three," a favorite Springsteen encore; Mr. Springsteen returned the favor by producing (with Steve Van Zandt) a comeback single for him, "Daddy's Come Home." Tomorrow afternoon at 4; admission is $20 (Pareles).

STEEL PULSE, PETE FRANCIS, Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800. The close harmonies and steadfast reggae beats of Steel Pulse have carried righteous sentiments about topics including revolution, dancing, Rastafarianism and racist taxi drivers. Pete Francis (who calls himself Pete Heimbold as a member of Dispatch) puts some reggae backbeat into his introspective folk-rock. Tomorrow night at 9; tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door (Pareles).

* TRIBUTE TO IRVING STONE, Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, near Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212) 358-7501. Irving Stone, who died last week at 80, was a familiar face at Tonic (and before that, the Knitting Factory and Roulette): he'd be sitting with his wife, Stephanie, imparting sweet and grumpy wisdom to whoever was sitting next to him. As possibly the only person who had seen Charlie Christian, Charlie Parker and John Zorn, he was an important source of information, and sometimes the Stones' presence at a gig gave the show extra cachet, even for those performing. He will be remembered all day tomorrow at Tonic, starting at 1 p.m. with two hours of open mike, in which people will unload their memories of him. From 3 to midnight, an extraordinary list of musicians will play, including John Zorn, Marc Ribot, Susie Ibarra, Marty Ehrlich, Charles Gayle, Angie Sanchez and Tim Berne. It will be recorded for a CD on Tzadik records, and proceeds from the show will go to an Irving Stone trust, providing annual awards to selected musicians. Tomorrow from 1 p.m. to midnight; suggested donation is $10 (Ratliff).

JAMES TAYLOR, Jones Beach Theater, Wantagh, N.Y., (516) 221-1000. The Mr. Nice Guy of baby-boom pop, James Taylor is all mild-mannered vocals and gentle guitar, turning memories of fire and rain into baby-boomer lullabies. Tomorrow night at 8; tickets are $42.50 to $67.50 (Pareles).

* CUCO VALOY, NUEVA ERA, Celebrate Brooklyn, Prospect Park Band Shell, Ninth Street and Prospect Park West, (718) 855-7882, extension 45. Cuco Valoy, from the Dominican Republic, has a pan-Caribbean repertory; he can sing sweet Cuban ballads and robust salsa. Nueva Era performs bachatas, the syncopated guitar ballads that came out of the Dominican countryside to the Latin charts. Tomorrow night at 7:30. Free, with a $3 donation requested (Pareles).

* THE WILD MAGNOLIAS, B. B. King Blues Club and Grill, 243 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 997-4144. Wearing tall, glittery, feathered and beaded costumes, the Wild Magnolias, a group of American Indians that parades during Mardis Gras in New Orleans, sing what used to be fight songs: taunts for rival tribes that they would battle on Mardi Gras morning. Now the costumes and songs have sublimated the street fights, while the drums and tambourines have been supplemented by a funk band, turning battle chants into party music led by Big Chief Bo Dollis. Sunday night at 8; admission is $15 (Pareles).

* JOHN ZORN'S ELECTRIC MASADA, Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, near Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212) 358-7501. Masada is a collection of klezmer-tinged tunes by John Zorn, who oversees ensembles that play them. Less fragmented and more melodic than most of Mr. Zorn's music, Masada finds connections to Jewish tradition everywhere, and Electric Masada — with Mr. Zorn on alto saxophone, Marc Ribot on guitar, Cyro Baptista on percussion, Jamie Saft on keyboards and pedal steel guitar, Trevor Dunn on bass, Kenny Wollenen on drums — brings out their rowdy side. Tonight at 10; admission is $25 (Pareles).