March 12, 2004

Pop and Jazz Listings

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

* AFRO-LATIN JAZZ ORCHESTRA, Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500. A new band working under the umbrella of Jazz at Lincoln Center, led by the pianist Arturo O'Farrill; its stated mission is to play not only the work of the great Latin-jazz orchestras like Machito's and Tito Puente's, but also music from South America and elsewhere in the Caribbean. It's a big step for the recognition and canonization of Latin jazz. The project is starting off on the right foot: last year's inaugural concerts demonstrated intellectual power and used a band including many of the best Latin jazz musicians working in New York. Tomorrow night at 8; tickets are $25 to $60 (Ben Ratliff).

ERIC ALEXANDER QUARTET, Smoke, 2751 Broadway, at 106th Street, (212) 864-6662. A young tenor saxophonist with a beautiful sound, centering in the Coltrane-ish lower-middle register; if he is a little unabashedly entranced by a particular area of jazz's past, around 1955 to 1965, he does well by it. Tonight and tomorrow night at 9, 11 and 12:30; cover charge is $20 and a $10 drink minimum (Ratliff).

* ALTAN, Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, (212) 864-5400 or (212) 545-7536. Altan is one of Ireland's finest traditionalist groups, playing venerable jigs and reels with nuanced arrangements; before they let their fingers fly, they plan trajectories from lacework delicacy to steely dance drive. Altan also includes a superb singer, Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh, whose feathery voice holds reserves of tender melancholy. Tomorrow night at 8; tickets are $30, or $26 for World Music Institute members and Symphony Space members (Jon Pareles).

APOLLO SUNSHINE, Northsix, 66 North Sixth Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 599-5103. Apollo Sunshine is fond of tuneful 1960's pop but knows there's no going back. Its songs may start out with bouncy melodies, but pressure builds until they explode. Tonight at 9, with the Damn Personals and Read Yellow opening; admission is $10 (Pareles).

ESZTER BALINT, Joe's Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, East Village, (212) 539-8778 or (212) 239-6200. Best known as an actress in Jim Jarmusch films, Eszter Balint is also a songwriter who spins film-noir yarns akin to Tom Waits. Sunday night at 7; admission is $15 (Pareles).

DAN BERN, Joe's Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, East Village, (212) 539-8778 or (212) 239-6200. Dan Bern has the Dust Bowl nasality of the young Bob Dylan, a mobile face, a slyly quizzical demeanor and a gift for transforming off-center observations into telling insights. Some of his songs are topical numbers that will evaporate before the next show; others will linger. Sunday night at 9; admission is $20. The performance is sold out, but returns may be available (Pareles).

* JONATHA BROOKE, Anspacher Theater, Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, East Village, (212) 539-8778 or (212) 239-6200. Jonatha Brooke has dedicated herself to the well-made song, carving a career by releasing her own albums and building a loyal following on tour. She is raising her profile with her new album, "Back in the Circus," distributed by a major label (Bad Dog/Verve). Her songs are plainspoken visions of romantic setbacks — "You're gone/And there's another song" — with melodies the Beatles wouldn't disown. Tonight through Sunday night at 7:30; admission is $37 (Pareles).

RICHARD BUCKNER, Tap Bar, the Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3006. Richard Buckner's songs linger in the dark recesses where country desolation meets the stoic insights of Leonard Cohen, promising "Boys, the Night Will Bury You." He is constitutionally bleak, and he can be riveting. Tonight with Hannah Marcus and Little Kitten Spacegirl Trio, tomorrow night with the Sad Little Stars and Stephen Clair. Both nights at 8; admission is $15 (Pareles).

* KARAN CASEY, Washington Square Methodist Church, 135 West Fourth Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 998-3950. Karan Casey, a singer, spent four years as a member of the traditionalist Irish band Solas before starting a solo career. Setting her clear voice in arrangements that mix traditional and modern instruments, she maintains the taut, quivering ornamentation of old ballad style, singing tales of love, war and murder with a gentle gravity. Tonight at 9; admission is $15 (Pareles).

* STEVE COLEMAN, Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, below Spring Street, South Village, (212) 242-1063. Since his strong beginnings in the 1980's, creating a new rhythmic language for jazz with his Brooklyn-centered M-BASE crew, Steve Coleman, the alto saxophonist, has become a kind of globe-trotting guerrilla rhythm researcher, getting into the music of Africa, Cuba and Brazil and influencing a lot of young musicians along the way. He often appears with musicians you haven't heard before or haven't thought of in a while, and together they make hard, odd-metered, funky music that feels good in the ear. Lately the Jazz Gallery has become a regular base of operations for him in New York. Tonight through Sunday night at 9 and 10:30; admission is $15 a set and $10 for Jazz Gallery members (Ratliff).

COMMANDER CODY AND HIS FLYING AIRMEN, Rodeo Bar, 375 Third Avenue, at 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 683-6500. While other late-1960's San Francisco bands were turning blues and country inside-out, a pianist named George Frayne renamed himself Commander Cody and decided that straightforward honky-tonk country music was psychedelic enough — especially when he revived winking old songs like "Hot Rod Lincoln" that allowed him to growl while tickling the 88's. Tonight, two sets beginning at 10:30; free (Pareles).

DJ 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. DJ 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 is establishing a New York outpost. Tonight at 12 and 2; admission is $12 in advance and $15 at the door (Pareles).

ANN DYER, Joe's Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, East Village, (212) 239-6200. A Bay Area jazz singer who has been turning out stylish, slightly postmodern reinterpretations of pop songs for about a decade now; she doesn't appear often in New York. Tonight at 7:30; cover charge is $15 (Ratliff).

BANNING EYRE, Cornelia Street Cafe, 29 Cornelia Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 989-9318. The guitarist Banning Eyre wrote a book, "In Griot Time," about his studies with the Malian guitarist Djelimady Tounkara, and he is a mainstay of Afropop Worldwide (www.afropop.org), the world-music radio program and knowledge base. At these performances, called "Picking Across Africa," he shows what his fingers have learned. Tomorrow night at 8:30 and 10:30; admission is $12 (Pareles).

* "FIESTA MEXICANA," Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 840-2824 or (212) 545-7536. Mexican music from both sides of the Rio Grande fills this quadruple bill. Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano has been a leading mariachi band for four decades; Mingo Saldivar is a lightning-fingered accordionist who plays Tex-Mex or norteño music with his band Los Cuatro Espadas. José Gutiérrez y Los Hermanos Ochoa plays jarocho music from Veracruz, Mexico, a driving dance style played on harps, and Marimba Chiapas plays plinking, lilting marimba pieces. Tonight at 8; tickets are $25 and $35, or $21 and $30 for World Music Institute members (Pareles).

JASON HWANG'S FAR EAST SIDE BAND, HENRY GRIMES TRIO, St. Nicholas of Myra Church, 288 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 696-6681. A double bill of string players: Jason Hwang, a violinist with a delicate, simmering group concept, incorporating Asian instruments into the improvisational mixture, and Henry Grimes, the wide-ranging jazz bass player of the late 1950's and early 60's, who recently began his career again. Tomorrow night at 8 (Far East Side Band) and 10 (Mr. Grimes); tickets are $12 (Ratliff).

INDIGO GIRLS, Radio City Music Hall, 1260 Avenue of the Americas, at 50th Street, (212) 247-4777. Guitar strumming, close harmonies, coffeehouse earnestness and songs about the perpetual struggle for love, self-affirmation and a clear conscience have made the duo of Emily Saliers and Amy Ray perennials for the collegiate at heart. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8; tickets are $39.50 to $44.50 (Pareles).

LOSER'S LOUNGE TRIBUTE TO VAN MORRISON, the Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3006. Van Morrison's blend of soul, jazz, Celtic music and everyday mysticism is the latest oeuvre to be scrambled by the pop archivists at the Loser's Lounge. Tomorrow night at 8 and 10; admission is $15 (Pareles).

KEVIN MAHOGANY, Le Jazz au Bar, 41 East 58th Street, Manhattan, (212) 308-9455. In Kevin Mahogany's sets, you hear a broad index of jazz singing, from Nat King Cole to Jon Hendricks to Joe Williams; he has a big voice with a wide range, and he is literate in the music's history. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8 and 10; cover charge is $50 (Ratliff).

MARAH, Sin-e, 148 Attorney Street, Lower East Side, (212) 388-0077. Marah, a band from Philadelphia, can't avoid comparisons to songwriters like the early Bruce Springsteen, but for good reasons: its articulate songs are doused in greasy, sweaty rock. Tonight at 10, with Andy Friedman at 9 and Cary Hudson at 8; admission is $10 (Pareles).

JOHN MAYALL AND THE BLUESBREAKERS, B. B. King Blues Club and Grill, 243 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 997-4144. John Mayall was a mentor and talent scout for 1960's British rock, remaining a blues purist as members of his Bluesbreakers went on to play with Cream, Fleetwood Mac and the Rolling Stones. At 69 he is still singing and tootling his harmonica. Tomorrow night at 8 and 10:30; tickets are $20.50 in advance, $25.50 tomorrow (Pareles).

* THE MEKONS, JOHNNY DOWD, Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111; Maxwell's, 1039 Washington Street, Hoboken, N.J., (201) 798-0406. The Mekons have survived since England's original punk era by never seeking commerciality, but they have become proficient in spite of themselves. Jon Langford and Tom Greenhalgh shout, while Sally Timms serenely croons, in songs that touch on rock and country fundamentals as they examine history, politics and the paradoxes of the late 20th century. At Maxwell's they're doing a show billed as "Club Mekon: An Evening of Songs and Readings." Johnny Dowd applies his stoic Texas twang to songs about passion, sin and death; his band plays a version of honky-tonk that sounds as if it has been dragged through a swamp and encrusted with misfiring electronics. At the Bowery Ballroom tonight, with Neil Cleary opening at 9; admission is $15. At Maxwell's tomorrow night at 10; admission is $15 (Pareles).

* BETTE MIDLER, Continental Airlines Arena, the Meadowlands, Route 120, East Rutherford, N.J., (201) 935-3900. Her hits like "Wind Beneath My Wings" and "From a Distance" have been unabashedly sentimental, but onstage Bette Midler is still the sassy cabaret diva who leaves no emotion untwisted. Tomorrow night at 8; tickets are $45 to $250 (Pareles).

* JAMES MOODY QUARTET, Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Manhattan, (212) 581-3080. One of the original bebop saxophone players, James Moody kept his ears open, incorporating the new complex harmony long after the end of his great early period in jazz. He is a singular American musician. Tonight and tomorrow night at 9 and 11; cover charge is $30 (Ratliff).

* PAUL MOTIAN'S ELECTRIC BEBOP BAND, Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village, (212) 255-4037. After 13 years, the group still seems totally fresh: two tenor saxophones, two guitarists, drums and electric bass, playing bebop repertory as well as Mr. Motian's own tunes. Known early on to the jazz world by his involvement in the early-60's Bill Evans trio, Mr. Motian, the drummer, now in his 70's, follows the path of constant surprise; he phrases the rhythm differently in every single measure and leaves acres of open space in his sound. He is constantly grooving; he is also constantly improvising. He's the real thing. Tonight through Sunday night at 9 and 11, with a 12:30 set tonight and tomorrow; cover charge is $30 (Ratliff).

* ORGAN SUMMIT: JIMMY McGRIFF, DR. LONNIE SMITH AND JOEY DeFRANCESCO, Iridium, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street, (212) 582-2121. The sound of Hammond B-3 organ, tenor saxophone and guitar has aged well, as it turns out: no matter how tightly it clings to its own clichés, it is a durable American music, an effective R&B-ization of the jazz repertory and a jazz-ization of the R&B repertory. These are organists from two generations: Jimmy McGriff and Lonnie Smith started out in the early 60's and Joey DeFrancesco about 20 years later, long after the Hammond Organ Company had given up on producing its famous B-3. Here they go up against one another, wringing earthy soul out of their instrument. Tonight through Sunday night at 8:30 and 10:30, with a midnight set tonight and tomorrow; cover charge is $30 tonight, $32.50 tomorrow and Sunday, with a $5 drink minimum (Ratliff).

JACKIE PARIS, Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232. A bebop singer who started finding a new audience in the 80's, Jackie Paris sometimes accompanies himself on guitar, and his repertory can reach back to the swing era and before. Tonight through Sunday night at 7:30 and 9:30, with an 11:30 set tonight and tomorrow; cover charge is $25, $20 on Sunday (Ratliff).

TOM PAXTON, Westchester County Center, 198 Central Avenue, White Plains, N.Y., (914) 995-4050. Tom Paxton, a stalwart of the 1960's folk revival, has written songs like "The Last Thing on My Mind" that are so unassumingly right they seem traditional. But he also writes children's songs and topical songs with quick reflexes and wry insights. Tomorrow night at 8; tickets are $22 (Pareles).

* BOGDAN RACZYNSKI, SOUNDMURDERER, Volume, 99 North 13th Street, at Wythe Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Laptops will be ratcheting, sputtering and blipping with hyperactive glee on this bill of avant-electronica drawing on the rosters of Kompakt and Rephlex Records. Bogdan Raczynski and Soundmurderer will be performing live sets, and there will be disc-jockey sets from Superpitcher, Michael Mayer, Marcos Cabral, Miss Kittin, DJ Rephlex Records, DJ Markone and DJ Plasticman. Tomorrow night from 9 to 4 a.m.; tickets are $15 in advance, $18 at the door (Pareles).

SMOKEY ROBINSON, Westbury Music Fair, 960 Brush Hollow Road, Westbury, N.Y., (516) 334-0800. In the 1960's Smokey Robinson was the sweetly imploring voice and songwriter of "Tears of a Clown," "You Really Got a Hold on Me," "Ooo Baby Baby" and "The Tracks of My Tears," as well as the songwriter behind other Motown hits including "My Guy" and "Get Ready." In the 1970's he named a radio format with his album "A Quiet Storm" and gave it material with songs like "Cruisin'." His suave vulnerability and graceful metaphors are still being imitated. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8; tickets are $66.50 (Pareles).

SUZZY AND MAGGIE ROCHE, Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, (212) 864-5400. The two Roche sisters, whose songs tell sly stories, connect with the WNYC radio show "The Next Big Thing" for a concert dedicated to the interplay between music and literature. They'll introduce new songs and sing some old ones; the novelist Meg Wolitzer will be a guest, along with the radio host Dean Olsher. Tonight at 7:30 and 9:30; admission is $21, $18 for students and the elderly and $16 for Symphony Space members. Performances are sold out, but returns may be available at the box office (Pareles).

TANTRIC, Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800. Guys feeling sorry for themselves are a post-grunge cliché, but Tantric livens up the troubled confessions with a limber rhythm section that has clearly been listening to the Police. Tonight at 8, with Silvertide opening; tickets are $18 (Pareles).

JAMES BLOOD ULMER, Northsix, 66 North Sixth Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 599-5103. James Blood Ulmer, the guitarist who seemed such exciting news for jazz when he arrived in the mid-1970's, has been making blues records lately; his unusual, slashing technique, letting a lot of open strings ring and clash, can work a spell in a club. Tomorrow night at 9; cover charge is $15 (Ratliff).

THE WITNESSES, Sin-e, 148 Attorney Street, Lower East Side, (212) 388-0077. Boisterous mid-1960's garage-rock returns with the Witnesses, who yowl and jump around as if they'd just discovered the first Rolling Stones albums. Sunday night at 11, with Early Man at 8, the Fame at 9 and Blue Sparks at 10; admission is $7 (Pareles).

THE WOBBLIES, Pianos, 158 Ludlow Street, at Stanton Street, Lower East Side, (212) 505-3733. Post-punk goes barreling forward in the Wobblies' songs, with guitars churning in odd-meter patterns behind testimonies of alienation and fury. Tomorrow night at midnight, with Snowden at 8, Younger at 9, Dynasty at 10 and Blank Stares at 11; admission is $8 (Pareles).

STEVE WYNN AND THE MIRACLE 3, Sin-e, 148 Attorney Street, Lower East Side, (212) 388-0077. Steve Wynn, who led the psychedelic-revival band the Dream Syndicate in the 1980's, puts a California film-noir angle on folk-rock's drones and metaphysical musings. Tomorrow night at 11, preceded by the Teenage Prayers at 8, Pale Horse and Rider at 9 and Newborn Naturals at 10; admission is $10 (Pareles).