October 1, 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.

AHMED ABDULLAH, Sistas' Place, 456 Nostrand Avenue, entrance at Jefferson Avenue, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, (718) 398-1766. The trumpeter Ahmed Abdullah had a memorable niche in New York's underground jazz scene during the 1980's, as a free-jazz musician intrigued by rhythmic vamps that gave his work a cohesion. (He played briefly with the great drummer Ed Blackwell and with the tenor saxophonist David S. Ware.) Sets are tomorrow night at 9 and 10:30; admission is $20 (Ben Ratliff).

MONTY ALEXANDER TRIO, Smoke, 2751 Broadway, at 106th Street, Manhattan, (212) 864-6662. Mr. Alexander, a jazz pianist originally from Jamaica, has often refitted reggae songs and steel-drum sounds for a jazz-trio context; it's breezy, amiable stuff. Sets are tonight and tomorrow at 9, 11 and 12:30; cover charge is $25 (Ratliff).

* RYAN ADAMS/OLLABELLE, Beacon Theater, 2124 Broadway, at 74th Street, Manhattan, (212) 496-7070. Ryan Adams is steeped in the right 1960's songwriters — Van Morrison, Neil Young, Gram Parsons, Bob Dylan — and lately he has punched up his music with a touch of 1980's indie-rock. He's an unpredictable and ornery performer, but his songs can distill heartbreak, longing and rancor. Ollabelle, which gives bluesy updates to old gospel songs like "John the Revelator" and "Jesus on the Mainline." Tonight at 8; tickets are $36.50 (Jon Pareles).

ASYLUM STREET SPANKERS, Maxwell's, 1039 Washington Street, Hoboken, N.J., (201) 798-0406. Sex, drugs, booze, unplugged instruments and anachronistic swing are the makings of the Asylum Street Spankers, who bring an absurd sense of humor to songs that update the spirit of vaudeville. Sunday at 8:30 p.m.; tickets are $12 (Pareles).

JELLYBEAN BENITEZ/LITTLE LOUIE VEGA, Copacabana, 560 West 34th Street, Manhattan (212) 239-2672. Latin rhythms have always been a foundation of house music. Now a pair of disc jockey-producers — Jellybean Benitez, whose most famous client may be Madonna, and Little Louie Vega of Masters at Work — take over the dance floor at this Latin Club, with Judy Torres adding some live vocals. Tonight from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.; admission is $25 (Pareles).

THE BLACK KEYS, Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111. The Black Keys claim they never heard the White Stripes before starting their own blues-rocking, guitar-and-drums duo. They're far more of a throwback to straightforward 1970's boogie and blues outfits, like Savoy Brown or Ten Years After, than the White Stripes are. Tomorrow night at 1:30, with the Cuts at 11:30; tickets are $13. Sunday night at 11, with the National at 10 and the Cuts at 9; tickets are $13 in advance, $15 on Sunday (Pareles).

* CRISTINA BRANCO, Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, Manhattan, (212) 864-5400 or (212) 545-7536. The Portuguese songs called fado (fate) balance sorrowful melodies and lyrics about tragic destiny in a gleaming cat's-cradle of fingerpicked Portuguese guitars. It's music that frames a singer's voice while it mercilessly exposes every nuance of sorrow and determination. Cristina Branco is one of Portugal's most celebrated young fadistas. Tonight at 8; tickets are $30 (Pareles).

VINICIUS CANTUARIA, Satalla, 37 West 26th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-1155. Vinicius Cantuaria, whose songs have been recorded by major Brazilian hitmakers including Caetano Veloso, has lived in New York City since 1995 without leaving Rio de Janeiro behind. He is steeped in the bossa nova, and he knows it well enough to stretch the form without losing its essence. Tomorrow night at 8; admission is $23 (Pareles).

COLONEL CLAYPOOL'S BUCKET OF BERNIE BRAINS, Roseland Ballroom, 239 West 52nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800. That's Les Claypool from Primus on bass and vocals, Buckethead from (briefly) Guns N' Roses on guitar, Bernie Worrell of Parliament-Funkadelic on keyboards and Brain on drums, in swampy, deep-riffing funk jams with some grim cackling about the state of the world. Tonight at 7, with Gabby La La opening; tickets are $32 (Pareles).

RAVI COLTRANE QUARTET, Iridium, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street, Manhattan, (212) 582-2121. With a slightly withdrawn, low-affect style, making his way expertly through his band's rhythmic twists, the saxophonist Mr. Coltrane has grown a great deal as a bandleader in the last few years. The band includes Luis Perdomo on piano, Drew Gress on bass, and E. J. Strickland on drums. Sets tonight at 9, 11 and 12:30; tomorrow night at 8, 10 and 11:30; and Sunday at 9 and 11 p.m. Cover charge, $30; minimum, $10 (Ratliff).

DEAD MOON, Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street, at Ludlow Street, Lower East Side (212) 260-4700 and Maxwell's, 1039 Washington Street, Hoboken, N.J., (201) 798-0406. In "Sorrow's Forecast," on an album Dead Moon released last year, Fred Cole sings "I could have made the right moves/been a smooth pop singer." That seems unlikely. His voice quavers and swoops like that of Pere Ubu's David Thomas, and the three-piece band he started in 1987 — with his wife, Toody, on bass — plays songs that sound as if they came from 1966, when garage-rock was turning psychedelic. At Mercury Lounge tonight at 11:30, with Antietam at 10:30, Blood on the Wall at 9:30 and Dynasty at 8:30; admission is $12. At Maxwell's tomorrow night at 9:30, with the Little Killers and the Ribeye Bros. opening; admission is $12 (Pareles).

RAMATAOU DIAKITE, Satalla, 37 West 26th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-1155. Ramatou Diakite is a singer from the Wassoulou region of Mali, where women have a tradition of singing to entertain and instruct. The songs mix elements of Arabic and sub-Saharan Africa, with driving triple-time rhythms behind her fervent voice. Tomorrow night at 10, with disc jockeys playing African music till 4 a.m.; admission is $20 (Pareles).

* FRANZ FERDINAND, Roseland Ballroom, 239 West 52nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800. A sly, stylish Scottish band in love with well-tailored bass lines and stiletto-sharp guitars. The group's self-titled debut album (which recently won Britain's prestigious Mercury Music Prize) is full of taut, trebly songs that reduce new-wave to its skin-and-bones essentials. A highlight of the album — and of the band's live show — is "Michael," a raucous (and not-exactly-earnest) gay love song, where singer Alex Kapranos gasps, "Michael, you're the boy with the leather hips/Sticky hair, sticky stubble on my sticky lips." Sunday night at 6:45, with the Delays; tickets are $22.50 (Kelefa Sanneh).

* ROBERT GLASPER TRIO, Sweet Rhythm, 88 Seventh Avenue South, above Bleecker Street, West Village, (212) 255-3626. Mr. Glasper, from Houston, is a young pianist with an excellent trio that's been gathering strength in New York clubs over the past five years. He brings out student enthusiasms: big Errol Garner chords, Herbie Hancock harmony, Keith Jarrett group-improvisation tactics, Oscar Peterson speed. But his group has its own crisp, skittering cooperation, with hiphop in its bounce, reaffirming swing and destabilizing it in equal measures. Sunday night at 8 and 10; cover charge is $15 and there is a $10 minimum (Ratliff).

* COLEMAN HAWKINS CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION WITH LEW TABACKIN, ERIC ALEXANDER, JOE LOVANO, DEWEY REDMAN, Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212) 475-8592. Coleman Hawkins is the other titan having a 100th birthday this year, and as the starting place, more or less, for the tenor saxophone in jazz, he's directly responsible for a lot of the best players we hear today. An excellent crew will do him honor: Mr. Lovano, gusty and discursive; Mr. Alexander, blues-edged and Coltrane-inspired; Mr. Redman, a musician with a poetic, smoky style; and Lew Tabackin, a super-elegant narrative improviser and the most Hawkinslike of the lot. Sets through Sunday night are at 8 and 10:30; cover charge is $$30 at the tables with a $15 minimum, $20 at the bar with a one-drink minimum (Ratliff).

KISS-FM CLASSIC SOUL, Manhattan Center, 311 West 34th Street, Manhattan; Ticketmaster, (212) 307-7171. Soul oldies from Cuba Gooding (of the Main Ingredient), the Intruders, the Persuaders and Force MD's. Tomorrow night at 7; tickets are $45 to $75 (Pareles).

JASON LINDNER'S JLECTRIC, Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, South Village, (212) 242-1063. A new band for a young pianist whose projects have ranged around from big bands to Latin music to electric fusion; the band includes the bassist Avishai Cohen, the saxophonist Jacques Schwartz-Bart, and the singer Claudia Acuña. Sets are tonight and tomorrow night at 9 and 10:30; admission is $15 a set, members, $10 (Ratliff).

LOSER'S LOUNGE TRIBUTE TO DAVID BOWIE, Fez (downstairs at the Time Cafe), 380 Lafayette Street, at Great Jones Street, East Village, (212) 533-2680. The many guises and huge song catalog of David Bowie are grist for the fond and sardonic pop archivists in the Loser's Lounge, returning to one of their favorite repertories. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8; tickets are $20 tonight, $25 tomorrow (Pareles).

STEVE MCKAY'S RADON/BARBEZ/NIK TURNER AND SPACESEED, Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, near Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212) 358-7503. Steve McKay was the free-jazz saxophonist who honked wildly through the 1970 album by Iggy and the Stooges, "Funhouse," and he's leading his current band. Nik Turner, also a saxophonist, was a founding member of Hawkwind. Barbez, a group that includes a theremin and a marimba, brings a whiff of tango and cabaret to a repertory that encompasses Kurt Weill and the Residents. Tonight at 8; admission is $10 (Pareles).

* BRAD MEHLDAU QUARTET, Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village, (212) 255-4037. Mr. Mehldau's trio is one of the quintessential jazz groups of the day; it goes a long way in defining the current devices for group improvisation, and the music has a neat aesthetic frame around it, consistently offering a streamlined sound, full of precise dynamics. This week the group is joined by the tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, whose command of harmony and astringent, focused improvising has created many admirers over the last decade. Sets through Sunday night are at 9 and 11, with a 12:30 set tonight and tomorrow night; cover charge is $30 (Ratliff).

TIFT MERRIT, Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111 and Southpaw, 125 Fifth Avenue, at Sterling Place, Park Slope, Brooklyn (718) 230-0236. Somewhere between Emmylou Harris and Lucinda Williams, Tift Merritt sings country-rock that can be plaintive and compassionate or dip into Rolling Stones riffs; she knows her way around heartache. At Bowery Ballroom tonight at 11, with the Damnwells at 10 and Chris Stamey at 9; tickets are $15. At Southpaw Sunday night at 8:30, with Chris Stamey opening; tickets are $10 (Pareles).

* DANILO PÉREZ TRIO, Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232. Mr. Pérez is one of the most rhythmically and harmonically sophisticated pianists in jazz, and his collaborations in the last few years with Wayne Shorter and Steve Lacy, as well as his own ambitious solo records, have been worth hearing. Sets through Sunday night are at 7:30 and 9:30, with an 11:30 set tonight and tomorrow night; cover charge is $25 and $20 on Sunday (Ratliff).

RJD2, Northsix, 66 North Sixth Street, Williamburg, (718) 599-5103. As a disc jockey and producer, RJD2 has made a mark in underground hip-hop with productions and remixes for Aceyalone, Aesop Rock, El-P and Cannibal Ox, as well as his collaboration with the rapper Blueprint in Soul Position. He likes crisp funk drum breaks overlaid with brooding chords for a mixture of heft and introspection. He's billed on his own tomorrow night at 9, with Diplo and Rob Sonic opening; tickets are $13 in advance, $15 tomorrow (Pareles).

* PATTI SMITH/TELEVISION, Roseland Ballroom, 239 West 52nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800. Harking back to CBGB circa 1976, this concert pairs the punk-rock pioneers who didn't repudiate hippie memories. Love, death, transfiguration and pushy guitars have been Patti Smith's staples in the quarter-century since she turned her poetry into punk-rock. Always unpredictable, she still seeks shamanic revelation with every gig. Television revolves around Tom Verlaine's imagistic lyrics, the entwined guitar riffs he shares with Richard Lloyd and modal jams that can lead to places punk-rock never returned to. Tomorrow night at 6:45 ; tickets are $35 in advance, $40 tomorrow (Pareles)

SUPERGRASS, Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village (212) 353-1600. Glam-rock yearning meets some punk propulsion in the songs of Supergrass, an English band now celebrating its 10th anniversary that can often sound like it was formed in 1972. Tomorrow night at 7, with the Twenty Twos opening; tickets are $25 (Pareles).

GRADY TATE, Sweet Rhythm, 88 Seventh Avenue South, above Bleecker Street, West Village, (212) 255-3626. Grady Tate has been a swinging, audience-pleasing jazz singer since the 1960's, and a drummer as well. Sets are tonight and tomorrow night at 8, 10 and midnight; cover charge is $20 and there is a $10 minimum (Ratliff).

* THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS, Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800. They Might Be Giants, the songwriting team of John Flansburgh and John Linnell (est. 1982), are masters of the bouncy tune and the unlikely, nerd-friendly topic: presidents, palindromes, thermostats, loud clubs, Dr. Evil. Their latest works, once available by extremely low-fi answering machine, are now on www.dialasong.com. With their television themes, movie songs, albums, commercials, concerts and children's book, they are among the busiest acts in pop, and they are playing two different sets for their two-night stand. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, with Demetri Martin opening tonight and Travis Morrison opening tomorrow; tickets are $25 in advance, $30 on the day (Pareles).

* VIA TANIA, Pianos, 158 Ludlow Street, near Rivington Street, Lower East Side, (212) 505-3733. Last year, this South Africa-born, Australia-based singer released "Under a Different Sky" (Chocolate Industries), laying breathy, insinuative songs atop filigreed beats and shimmering textures. For "In the Deep," she chose a diffracted jazz groove to match her murmurs; "I Dream Again," with the alt-hip-hop producer Prefuse 73, starts with an angular beat that slows and stops just before she starts singing. Tonight at 8, with Astronauts of Antiquity, Kristeen Young and Heidi Saperstein; tickets are $8 (Sanneh).

LIZZ WRIGHT, Joe's Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 539-8770. The singer Lizz Wright is only in her mid-20's, and her repertory, as of now, includes some originals, some songs by the drummer and composer Brian Blade, and some spirituals, theater songs and jazz standards. You can find her first album, "Salt," in the jazz department of record stores because it's on a jazz label (Verve) and because jazz musicians (including the pianist Jon Cowherd, her musical director) play in her band. But she doesn't show much evidence of being any sort of traditional jazz singer — rhythmically, gesturally, technically. She's a pop-gospel-folk-R & B kind of person, with a voice that abhors overstatement. Sunday night at 7:30 and 9:30; cover charge is $30 (Ratliff).

* YERBA BUENA, Southpaw, 125 Fifth Avenue, at Sterling Place, Park Slope, Brooklyn (718) 230-0236. Yerba Buena meshes rumba rhythms, and other Afro-Cuban and Caribbean styles, with gutsy, distorted guitars to create pan-American party music with deep roots. Tonight at 8:30, with Pacha Sound System featuring DJ Nova and DJ Greg Caz; tickets are $15 (Pareles).