Date: Wednesday, July 23rd Time: 12:30pm - 1:45pm Location: Bryant Park Reading Room (42nd Street side of the park bet. NYPL & 6th Ave) Cost: Free
Esteemed author, Princeton professor, and winner of the Common Wealth Award for Distinguished Service in Literature, Joyce Carol Oates discusses her latest release, My Sister, My Love: The Intimate Story of Skyler Rampike. "Likely to be Oates's most controversial novel to date, as well as her most boldly satirical, this unconventional work of fiction is a wry, captivating saga on a murder - inspired by an unsolved American true crime mystery."
Date: Wednesday, July 23rd Time: 6:30pm, 7:00pm, 7:30pm and 8:00pm Location: apexart (291 Church Street) Cost: Free
"Apexart will host free tours of its current exhibit, 'Nessie Does New York' led by expert Cryptozoologist, Doctor Alexis Macnab. Join us as she takes audience members on a journey from the wilds of South America to the depths of Loch Ness and recounts the
origins, symbolism and hoaxes that surround infamous cryptids such as Chupacabra, Bigfoot and The Loch Ness Monster. Guided tours start at 6:30, 7:00, 7:30 and 8:00 pm."
Date: Wednesday, July 23rd Time: 6:30pm - 9:30pm (doors, 6:00pm) Location: Tobacco Warehouse, Brooklyn Bridge Park (1 Main St, DUMBO) map Cost: Free
DUMBO's Music At the Bridge series continues tonight, where five Brooklyn performance spaces—each with a limited seating capacity, but impeccable taste and a lot of heart and personality— are invited to make the Tobacco Warehouse their home for the evening. This evening is curated by Red Hook's own Jalopy. Expect the evening to focus heavily on roots music and Americana as Rob Reddy's Tenfold, The Otis Brothers, and The Wiyos all perform. More info on the artists below. All Ages.
The Wiyos play and compose music inspired by the early American musical idioms of the 1920s and’30s. Gleefully subverting genre distinctions, their music comes from a time before commercial formatting separated blues from country, ragtime from gospel, and swing from hillbilly. With an instrumentation of washboard/harmonica/kazoo, resonator guitar/banjo, upright bass and three harmony vocals, The Wiyos’ live performance transports audiences back to an era before TV and mass–media were the main sources of entertainment.
Rob Reddy's Tenfold... Saxophonist/composer Rob Reddy and his ensemble, Rob Reddy's Tenfold, will perform his latest and most ambitious extended work, Episodes and Antinomies. Reddy's ten-piece ensemble features Douglas Yates (clarinets), John Carlson (trumpet), Mark Taylor (French horn), Charles Burnham (violin and mandolin), Rubin Kodheli (cello), Brandon Ross (guitars), Bryan Carrott (vibraphone and marimba), Dom Richards (double bass), and Pheeroan akLaff (drums). The music further explores many of the hallmarks of Reddy's most acclaimed musical projects, including a variety of time signatures, co-existing melodies, alternating through-composed and improvised movements, and the influence of genres ranging from traditional marches to modern rock to avant-garde jazz.
The Otis Brothers
If you’re looking for just some good old blues you’ll find them in The Otis Brothers. Hailing from Queens, Bob Guida and Pat Conte have been playing together since the mid 1970s. Light years away from the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple, The Otis Brothers will transport you to another place with their eclectic pre-blues, old-time, and gospel influenced sound.
Date: Wednesday, July 23rd Time: 7:00pm Location: Studio B (259 Banker St, Greenpoint) Cost: Free
Swedish/Caribbean singer Kissey Asplund with a few hundred of her closest friends, some free BBQ, and you! Featuring music by Kissey herself, Machinedrum, DJ OP, Barry King, Zilvinas & Yellowtail, plus the US debut of VJ Shantell Martin's 'HIDDEN ORA.' 21+
Date: Wednesday, July 23rd Time: 7:00pm Location: Brower Park and PS 289 Plgd (Saint Marks & Kingston avenues and Park Place, Brooklyn) Cost: Free
Philly represents today in Brooklyn as Bahamadia performs for free tonight at a CityParks Concert in Brower Park. "Bahamadia brings it pure with cut and polished hip hop lyrics and a strong, subdued delivery. Collaborating with artists like Talib Kweli and The Roots, Bahamadia keeps her style eclectic and evolving, but with a consistent passion"
Date: Wednesday, July 23rd Time: 7:00pm Location: Crotona Park (Fulton Avenue & Crotona Park, Bronx) Cost: Free
CityParks Concerts welcomes both Lisa Lisa and Tony Touch to Crotona Park tonight! "For most of the late eighties, Lisa Velez (Lisa Lisa) and her band, Cult Jam was a household name, releasing a string of hits, including, 'I Wonder If I Take You Home,' 'Head to Toe,' and 'Lost in Emotion.'" Tony Touch is a DJ, MC, B-boy, and producer. "Famous for his astounding repertoire of mix tapes, he is currently the host of 'Toca Tuesdays' on SIRIUS Satellite Radio. He is a globally known touring DJ and his music is known all over the world."
Date: Wednesday, July 23rd Time: 7:00pm Location: Socrates Sculpture Park (31-01 Vernon Blvd, LIC, Queens) - directions Cost: Free
Now in its 10th year, Socrates Sculpture Park's Outdoor Cinema series combines performance, film, and food into a weekly, internationally-influences, sunset event. Tonight's celebrates the gold old US of A with a screening of Chop Shop... "A deeply affecting slice of urban neorealism, this Queens-made film, set in the Willets Point “Iron Triangle” near Shea Stadium, follows a 12-year-old orphan who ekes out an existence with his teenaged sister." There will be food for sale from Josephine's Soul Food Café and some good old American roots music from The Robe Crowe Situation. Trailer below. All ages.
Date: Wednesday, July 23rd Time: 7:00pm Location: Rockefeller Park - directions Cost: Free
"After Nickel Creek disbanded, mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile assembled the all-star quintet Punch Brothers. The new group issued a debut album, "Punch", in 2008, which was anchored by Thile's ambitious 40-minute, four-part suite "The Blind Leaving the Blind." In February, 2008, The Punch Brothers performed a sold-out concert for Lincoln Center's American Songbook series." All Ages.
Date: Wednesday, July 23rd Time: Dusk (around 8 or 8:30) Location: Pier 54 (14th st and the Hudson River) Cost: Free
On top of getting to watch movies outside on beautiful summer nights on the Hudson River, the other thing I like about River Flicks is every year they pick a central theme for their screenings. This year they take on the world of music in movies. Tonight's film is Purple Rain! "Purify yourself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka. Purple Rain, Purple Rain! – need we say more?" Seating is first come, first served, and as always the popcorn is free!
Date: Wednesday, July 23rd Time: 8:00pm Location: Herbert Von King Park (Greene, Marcy, Lafeyette, Tompkins avenues
Brooklyn Cost: Free
"Taking inspiration from the legendary speeches, interviews, and private notes of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the obscured history of his last days shine with new meaning in this powerful performance. The Last Year in the Life..., directed by Tom Ridgley, succeeds by adding new texture to the untold King history with soulful songs, pithy readings, and stunning performances that will rouse and inspire. Although Dr. King was known as a pacifist, this stunning re-enactment reveals the intensity and fiery determination behind the quiet storm that was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr."
Date: Wednesday, July 23rd Time: 8:00pm Location: McCarren Park Pool (Lorimer Street and Bayard Street, W'burg) Cost: Free but tickets can be reserved here
The Brooklyn-based theater company, Woodshed Collective presents Caridad Svich's Twelve Ophelias for free at McCarren Park Pool. "Twelve Ophelias centers on Hamlet's Ophelia coming back to life, out of the water, to try to overcome her history and forge a new destiny for herself. She finds herself in an Appalachian Elsinore, Denmark by way of Deliverance—where Gertrude runs a brothel, Hamlet and Horatio slum it, and nothing is what it seems. In this squarely American and gritty interpretation of the Hamlet myth, Twelve Ophelias asks how it is possible to break old cycles and start afresh when the past so completely permeates your life." Shows continue into August.
Date: Wednesday, July 23rd Time: 9:00pm Location: Fox & Fawn (112 Suffolk St) Cost: Free
Fox and Fawn a Lower East Side vintage clothing boutique and part time music venue invite you to a "secret show" tonight featuring Anti-Pop Consortium, the experimental hip hop foursome made up of M. Sayyid, High Priest, Beans and Earl Blaize. Should clothing and live music not be enough for you, the drinks are on them as well.
Date: Wednesday, July 21st Time: 10:00pm - late Location: Rebel (251 West 30th St bet. 7th & 8th Ave) Cost: Free with RSVP Open Bar: ???, 10-11
The Jump is back! After a blow out jam last month, a laundry list of the city's best are at it again with a open bar, no cover, free for all mid-week blowout. The Jump a culmination of a lot of conversations that have been going on over the last few months that usually go something like "Let's get all these dope DJs together with proper sound and lights, free booze, and do it up bigtime." Under the helm of GGlamm and Marc Alan Grey (Changez le Beat), you've got a night of serious party rockers including Eli Escobar, Pase Rock, Dominique Keegan (Plant Music), Nick Catchdubs (Fool's Gold). Plus, you've got some of nu-club's finest such as Jubilee, Cobra Krames, AC Slater, & Kids with Snakes. Hosts our the arse on this one so you know the cool kids are in the house and there are giveaways from Urb, Burning Angel, and WESC. Plus, open bar from 10-11 and it's free all night with RSVP. For serious, this one is not to be missed! 21+
