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Sunday, December 31, 2023, 10:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Yotoco
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2023
10:00 PM
Barbès
376 9th Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn
$20
TICKETS + INFORMATION
If you insist on leaving your apartment on Amateur Night, Yotoco’s surprisingly successful Pan-Latin American dance-rock is a good bet.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Colombia in Park Slope. DUH.
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Sunday, December 31, 2023, 10:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Intima NYE 2024
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2023
10:00 PM
Market Hotel
1140 Myrtle Avenue, Bushwick, Brooklyn
$68.55-$80
TICKETS + INFORMATION
HYD will take you to Hyper-Pop heaven, while Evanora: Unlimited will answer the question, what happens when a raver does something like a rock band? Among the DJs are genderbending List faves TYGAPAW and Joni.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Cool Vietnamese at Little Mo.
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Sunday, December 31, 2023, 9:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Dysphoria One
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2023
9:00 PM
Secret Location (revealed upon ticketing), Ridgewood, Queens
$25
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Among the music this left-of-center night is the Aymaran electronics of Chuquimanani-Condori, the really good Nu R&B of Deuén (I mean REALLY good), and the Post-Pop-Rock of Couch Potatoes (better when she’s singing than when he is). The DJs include List Goddess James K.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Ridgewood is a pretty big neighborhood. But no matter how long you have to walk to get to the Venezuelan cachapas (and more) at Cachapas y Mas, it’ll be worth it.
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Saturday, December 30, 2023, 11:00 PM – 11:59 PM
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Saturday, December 30, 2023, 9:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Disco Tehran: End of Year
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2023
9:00 PM
The Sultan Room
234 Starr Street, Bushwick, Brooklyn
$52.75
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Listers will want to go for Tammy Lakkis’s Detroit beats. But they’ll stay for the New York Gypsy All-Stars’ extremely syncopated Gypsy Jazz. And they’ll hope the sweet Colombian Electropop duo Salt Cathedral is doing a live set instead of DJing.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Super souped-up Venezuelan hot dogs at Santa Salsa.
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Saturday, December 30, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Dorée / Drinking Bird / Wendy Eisenberg
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2023
8:00 PM
The Owl Music Parlor
497 Rogers Avenue, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn
$12
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Drinking Bird is sorta jazz, sorta pop, with strong melodies and spaced-out improvisations. Wendy Eisenberg is the kind of singer-songwriter we like here at The List: interesting textures, broad stylistic range extending to noise, and a sideline as an improviser. Dorée is the other kind.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Ham and wine at & Sons.
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Saturday, December 30, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
This Will Destroy You: Tunnel Blanket — 10 Year Anniversary Performance of the Full LP/Christopher Tignor
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2023
7:30 PM
(Le) Poisson Rouge
158 Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan
$26.78 advance; $25 + undisclosed fee day of
TICKETS + INFORMATION
This Will Destroy You and Christopher Tignor could almost be called Slowcore except Slowcore is stupid and they aren’t. Their droney bring-the-noise ambient-with-an-edge instrumental music draws you in and keeps you there.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Now that Tuscan charmer I Sodi has moved into a bigger new location, think it’ll be easier to get into? Me neither.
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Saturday, December 30, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
DANCE
30-30-30
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2023
7:00 PM
Dixon Place
161A Chrystie Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
$30-$90
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Thirty dance companies present pieces each lasting three minutes.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The Congee Village Dim Sum House for . . . oh, you know.
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Friday, December 29, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Cal Fish / Condorhouse / Qiujiang Levi Lu / Miniheartsbeating / Moonlit Wings
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2023
7:00 PM
Singers
30 Kosciuszko Street, Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn
Free
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Electronic music of various stripes, from skewed pop to almost classical-adjacent.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Amazingly good tortillas (and things to wrap in them) at For All Good Things.
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Thursday, December 28, 2023, 9:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Darling
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023
9:00 PM
Ore Bar
277 Graham Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Free
TICKETS + INFORMATION
A List supergroup! Wendy Eisenberg on guitar, Lester St. Louis on cello (maybe bass), and Ryan Sawyer on drums! And sometimes they even sing songs amidst the improvisation!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You wonder why Café Camellia isn’t better known for its excellent Gulf Coast cuisine. But then you think maybe it’s better for us if it isn’t. (Of course you’ll be drinking — pretty well — at Ore Bar.)
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Thursday, December 28, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
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Thursday, December 28, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Darian Donovan Thomas / Talk Bazaar / Kirin McElwaine
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023
8:00 PM
Please Y.S.
Address given after ticketing
Free ($15-$20 donation requested at show)
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Darian Donovan Thomas composes and plays (on many different instruments) droning yet communicative pieces that are good to listen to. Kirin McElwaine drones, too, on her cello — a little too portentously, if you ask me. Conversely, Talk Bazaar’s gleaming Pop is hard to resist.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: We don’t know where this is yet, do we?
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Thursday, December 28, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Aliya Ultan & Javen Lara/Windier/Older Brother/Early Worm
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023
8:00 PM
Alphaville
140 Wilson Avenue, Bushwick, Brooklyn
$11.33
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Aliya Ultan and Javen Lara are not your parents’ violin/cello duo. The rest of the bill’s Pop Punk and Post-Rock are fine as far as they go, but to This List’s taste Older Brother’s Post-Pop is something else again.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The best Birria in New York (and that’s saying A LOT) at Nene’s Deli Taqueria.
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Thu, Dec 28, 2023, 7:00 PM – Sun, Dec 31, 2023, 11:59 PM
PERFORMANCE
Asi Wind: Inner Circle
TUESDAY & THURSDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 26 & 28 – 31, 2023 (continuing through JANUARY 14, 2024)
7:00 PM TUESDAY & THURSDAY – SATURDAY
9:30 PM THURSDAY – SATURDAY
4:00 PM SUNDAY
The Gym at Judson
243 Thompson Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan
$110-$265
TICKETS + INFORMATION
I’d been sleeping on this magic show (probably its massive mainstream success shielded it from my view). But contrary to how things might appear, just because people like something doesn’t mean it can’t get Listed.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Classic Manhattan Red Sauce at Monte’s Trattoria.
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Thursday, December 28, 2023, 1:15 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Nathan Whittaker & Nathaniel Chase: The Odd Couple: Lindley and Dragonetti
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023
1:15 PM
Gotham Early Music Festival Midtown Concerts
St. Malachy’s Church In Person & Live Stream
239 West 49th Street, Midtown, Manhattan
Free
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Lindley and Dragonetti were a wildly popular cello/bass duo in the Classical-into-Romantic period in London. They delighted audiences with renditions of Corelli (hard to believe he was remembered then, when Bach was largely forgotten) and their own now largely forgotten compositions. Expert period instrumentalists Nathan Whittaker and Nathaniel Chase give us a glimpse into this appealing repertory.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In person, I’m not gonna even tell you what El Mil Sabores puts on their Torta Loca sandwich. You have to see it for yourself. Streaming at home, have a Buck’s Fizz: pour 2 oz. orange juice into a Champagne flute. Top with Champagne. Garnish with an orange twist.
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Wed, Dec 27, 2023, 7:00 PM – Sun, Dec 31, 2023, 11:59 PM
DANCE
Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca: Searching for Goya
WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 27 – 31, 2023 (continuing through JANUARY 16)
7:00 PM WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY
8:00 PM FRIDAY – SUNDAY
Second Floor Theater, 12CC
150 1st Avenue, East Village, Manhattan
$40-$70.31
TICKETS + INFORMATION
OK, let’s get hyperbolic for the New Year: Soledad Barrio is one of the greatest dancers in the world; her husband, Martín Santangelo, is a crisp if sometimes somewhat undisciplined visual imagineer. Their Noche Flamenca company produces, in New York City, Flamenco dance at least as good as anything now coming out of Spain. Their long-form works often seem to require a couple of years’ workshopping to reach fruition; this latest one, taking off on the black vision of Goya, has been through the process, and ought to be ready.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Foxface Natural is the best restaurant in New York City.
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Tue, Dec 26, 2023, 8:00 PM – Sun, Dec 31, 2023, 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Kenny Barron Quintet
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 26 – 31, 2023
8:00 & 10:00 PM
Village Vanguard
178 7th Avenue South, West Village, Manhattan
$40
TICKETS + INFORMATION
This is more mainstream than what usually gets Listed here. But uber-elegant piano legend Kenny Barron — a person I have never heard play a wrong note — and neo-Lester Young saxophonist Dayna Stephens is a match made in heaven (cliches: I gotta million of them!).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Really interesting — and really delicious — Unapologetic Southern Indian at Semma.
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Tue, Dec 26, 2023, 7:00 PM – Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 11:59 PM
THEATER
Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins: Appropriate
TUESDAY – SATURDAY, DECEMBER 26 – 30, 2023 (continuing through MARCH 3, 2024)
7:00 PM TUESDAY, THURSDAY & FRIDAY
8:00 PM WEDNESDAY & SATURDAY
2:00 PM WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY & SATURDAY
2nd Stage @ The Hayes Theater
240 West 44th Street, Midtown, Manhattan
$115-$199.50; $40 limited availability under 30 years; $25 student rush
TICKETS + INFORMATION
The author of the best American play so far this Century comes up with a family drama that you can bet isn’t going to be just a family drama. Wonder if the title has a long “a” or a short one?
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Westway Diner. Cuz it’s still there.
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Tuesday, December 26, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
PERFORMANCE
Asi Wind: Inner Circle
TUESDAY & THURSDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 26 & 28 – 31, 2023 (continuing through JANUARY 14, 2024)
7:00 PM TUESDAY & THURSDAY – SATURDAY
9:30 PM THURSDAY – SATURDAY
4:00 PM SUNDAY
The Gym at Judson
243 Thompson Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan
$110-$265
TICKETS + INFORMATION
I’d been sleeping on this magic show (probably its massive mainstream success shielded it from my view). But contrary to how things might appear, just because people like something doesn’t mean it can’t get Listed.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Classic Manhattan Red Sauce at Monte’s Trattoria.
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Tue, Dec 26, 2023, 4:30 PM – Sun, Dec 31, 2023, 11:59 PM
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Tue, Dec 26, 2023, 10:00 AM – Sun, Dec 31, 2023, 11:59 PM
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
Gelsey Bell & Joseph White: Meander
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 26 – 31, 2023 (ongoing)
10:00 AM – 3:30 PM
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
150 Eastern Parkway, across the street from Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
$18 SATURDAY & SUNDAY; $12 students/seniors SATURDAY & SUNDAY; pay what you wish weekdays; free children under 12
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Having created a wonderful sound walk through Green-Wood Cemetery, the dream team of Gelsey Bell and Joe White do the same for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (one of my favorite places on earth, if you want to know). The soundtrack is available on the BBG website.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The best pancakes in town (and other great stuff) at Tom’s Restaurant.
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Mon, Dec 25, 2023, 8:00 AM – Sun, Dec 31, 2023, 11:59 PM
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
Gelsey Bell feat. Joseph White: Cairns
MONDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 25 – 31, 2023 (ongoing)
8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
#stillHERE IRL
Green-Wood Cemetery, Sunset Park Entrance
35th Street at 4th Avenue, Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn
$7 or more for soundtrack
TICKETS + INFORMATION
One of the first shows that you could actually Go Out! to back in the days of The Lockdown (although it's not quite "live"). Gelsey Bell, that vocal star of NYC Alt Classical, has conceived of a piece that walks you around Green-Wood Cemetery (starting at the Sunset Park Entrance). You download the soundtrack on your phone beforehand (the Times complains about how hard it is to download from Bandcamp to an iPhone — trust me: if I can figure out how to do it, anyone can). Bell wrote the text and narrates, with a co-composing assist from the inimitable Joe White (whose terrific new album you really ought to hear). The Cemetery itself will do the performing. (You can also listen to the soundtrack at home and pretend you're walking around the Cemetery.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The Sunset Park entrance is only a short walk from Hometown BBQ Industry City (if you go over the weekend, you can get the fabulous pastrami).
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Mon, Dec 25, 2023, 6:00 AM – Sun, Dec 31, 2023, 11:59 PM
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
Ellen Reid: New York, New York
MONDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 25 – 31, 2023 (ongoing)
6:00 AM – 1:00 AM
New York Philharmonic
Central Park, Manhattan
Free
TICKETS + INFORMATION
What do you know? The New York Phil has gone and renamed Ellen Reid’s SOUNDWALK. Reid, one of the more soundscapey (and certainly one of the best) of today's many excellent young composers, put together a highly allusive soundtrack, played by members of the Philharmonic and a bunch of Alt Classical players about town. This walk isn't guided: you download an app that triggers sounds sent to your earphones from various cells around the Park as you wander. So you can do it over many times. (Speaking of wandering around Central Park, here's something that I, for one, never knew.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Delicious pan-African at Teranga.
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Saturday, December 23, 2023, 10:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Habbina Habbina: Mediterranean Surf
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2023
10:00 PM
Barbès
376 9th Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn
$20
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Dick Dale was half-Lebanese, and “Misirlou” was originally a Levantine tune. So Middle Eastern Surf music not only isn’t a stretch: it isn’t even a reach.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Pasta at Pasta Louise.
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Saturday, December 23, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
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Saturday, December 23, 2023, 6:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Snacky Taishogoto Quartet
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2023
6:00 PM
Barbès
376 9th Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn
$20
TICKETS + INFORMATION
A quartet of Taishōgotos — electric Kotos, essentially — play Krautrock, Psychedelic, and kitsch (I mean, Krautrock on an electric Koto sounds pretty kitschy to begin with).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The very non-kitschy Sushi Katsuei.
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Friday, December 22, 2023, 10:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Leila Adu Trio / Diamond Field
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2023
10:00 PM
Sleepwalk
251 Bushwick Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$14.73
TICKETS + INFORMATION
I always mean to ask Leila Adu whether she views her “classical” composing and her “pop” songwriting as fundamentally separate activities, the way Leonard Bernstein did a few generations ago, or (much more likely) she takes the Post-Modern view that it’s all writing music. Yeah, I’m sure it’s the latter. In any event, tonight’s show, showcasing her new single, will be the side that skews “pop”. As for Diamond Field, maybe it would be alright to tell them it’s not the ‘80s any more.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Anti-social ramen at Ichiran.
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Friday, December 22, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Michael Bates: Acrobat / ALTA String Quartet
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2023
8:00 PM
The Owl Music Parlor
497 Rogers Avenue, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn
$12
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Michael Bates’s Acrobat like to examine the music of 20th Century composers through the lens of jazz. They formed to do Shostakovich, but they’ve also done Lutosławski; they’ll do both tonight. The ALTA String Quartet will do Shostakovich straight (and also Prokofiev).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Ham and wine at & Sons.
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Friday, December 22, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Mehrnam Rastegari: A Yalda Celebration
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2023
8:00 PM
Barbès
376 9th Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn
$20
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Mehrnam Rastegari, master of the Iranian string instrument known as the Kamancheh (sort of a smaller, more nasal cello), plays a kind of Iranian folk-pop — and it is GORGEOUS. This show promises to be more trad, as Rastegari leads a slightly tardy celebration of the Persian solstice holiday Yalda.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Very hard not to tell you to hike the half hour across 6th Avenue to Sofreh for excellent Persian.
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Friday, December 22, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
SydeBoob Duo feat. Liz Pearse: soft bodies // hard music II
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2023
7:30 PM
Scholes Street Studio
375 Lorimer Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$17.85
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Visiting Yinzers Anna Elder (voice) and Sarah Steranka (flute), with added non-visiting vocalist Liz Pearse, perform pieces by, among others, Saariaho, Sofia Gubaidulina, and Chaya Czernowin.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Wonderful Venezuelan at Casa Ora.
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Friday, December 22, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Karachi Community Radio & Tarka: Slowspin / Heems
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2023
7:00 PM
Public Records
233 Butler Street, Gowanus, Brooklyn
$25.75
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Zeerak Ahmed (a/k/a Slowspin)’s Pakistani folktronica is great. Heems was in Das Racist: not ‘nuff said, because his solo music and art career has been um notable.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Eat Ethiopian with the angels at Ghenet.
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Friday, December 22, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
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Thu, Dec 21, 2023, 8:00 PM – Fri, Dec 22, 2023, 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Phill Niblock: 90th Birthday Winter Solstice: 24 Hours of Music & Film
THURSDAY & FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21 & 22, 2023
12:00 PM
Roulette In Person & Live Stream
509 Atlantic Avenue (entrance on Third Avenue), Boerum Hill, Brooklyn
$25 advance ; $30 door; $20 students/seniors (all tickets good for both days); free live stream
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Phill Niblock presents his annual Solstice concert, in which his droney music with accompanying visuals charts the annual movement of our planet (and ourselves). Except this year, in celebration of Niblock’s own 90th trip around the sun, the concert is two 12-hour shows (for a total of 24)!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In person, what is no longer a new bar around the corner from Roulette! The Little Pig. Streaming at home, have a Milk & Honey: pour 1-1/2 oz. Bénédictine into a goblet. Top with 4-6 oz. cold milk. Add ice. Stir. Garnish with an orange slice and a cinnamon stick.
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Thursday, December 21, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Concert in the Dark
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2023
8:00 PM
Scholes Street Studio
375 Lorimer Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Pay what you wish
TICKETS + INFORMATION
In celebration of the longest night of the year, improvisers improvise in the dark.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Nice Venezuelan at Casa Ora.
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Thursday, December 21, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Dada Strain: Holiday Mixer & Coat Drive
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2023
8:00 PM
Sisters
900 Fulton Street, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
$10 or donation of winter clothing
TICKETS + INFORMATION
The music Dada Strain supports is the music this List supports. So whoever plays at this party is going to be eminently Listable.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You can eat and drink perfectly well at Sisters.
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Thursday, December 21, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Caroline Davis: Portals
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2023
7:30 & 9:30 PM
The Jazz Gallery In Person & Live Stream
1158 Broadway (entrance on West 27th Street), NoMad, Manhattan
$23-$33.50 in person; $22 live stream
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Saxophonist Caroline Davis says that her intent with this fabulous band is to texturalize mourning and ancestral communication. But what’s amazing is that this music sort of actually does that.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In person, hand rolls at KazuNori. Streaming at home, have a Morning Glory: pour 1 oz. each of Rye and Cognac, 1/2 tsp. Grand Marnier, 1/8 tsp. Absinthe, and 1 tsp. Simple Syrup, with 2 dashes of Angostura bitters (or Boker’s, if you happen to have some), into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Highball glass. Top with club soda. Express a lemon twist into the drink and throw in as a garnish.
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Thursday, December 21, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
OPERA
John Adams: El Niño: The Nativity Reconsidered
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2023
7:30 PM
AMOC
Cathedral of St. John the Divine
1047 Amsterdam Avenue, Morningside Heights, Manhattan
$5-$125
TICKETS + INFORMATION
This chamber version of John Adams’s Latinx-focused Nativity oratorio, with the diffuse book winnowed down by Julia Bullock (who will also grace us with her fabulous singing, as will the also fabulous Anthony Roth Constanzo and Davóne Tines), can’t be called a reduction: everyone who’s seen it seems to agree it’s better than the sprawling original (you can make the comparison yourself when the MET puts on the full original version next year).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It’s hard to look at its menu without yawning, but Marlow Bistro is fine.
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Thu, Dec 21, 2023, 7:00 PM – Sun, Dec 24, 2023, 11:59 PM
THEATER
ONEOFUS: Sleeping Beauty
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 21 – 24, 2023
7:00 PM THURSDAY & FRIDAY
4:00 PM SATURDAY
1:00 PM SUNDAY
Abrons Arts Center
466 Grand Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
$46.87
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Julie Atlas Muz and Mat Fraser, legends in their own right, continue their program of bringing the Christmas Panto tradition to their Lower East Side neighborhood. These shows are uproariously funny, incredibly fun, totally endearing — and, in the end, rather uplifting. (Oh no they’re not!) (Oh yes they are!)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Thursday and Friday, OF COURSE you’re going to Ernesto’s for great Basque. Saturday and Sunday, daytime Malaysian at Kopitiam.
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Thu, Dec 21, 2023, 7:00 PM – Sat, Dec 23, 2023, 11:59 PM
PERFORMANCE
Asi Wind: Inner Circle
THURSDAY – SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21 – 23, 2023 (continuing through JANUARY 14, 2024)
7:00 PM THURSDAY – SATURDAY
9:30 PM THURSDAY & FRIDAY
4:00 PM SATURDAY
The Gym at Judson
243 Thompson Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan
$110-$265
TICKETS + INFORMATION
I’d been sleeping on this magic show (probably its massive mainstream success shielded it from my view). But contrary to how things might appear, just because people like something doesn’t mean it can’t get Listed.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Classic Manhattan Red Sauce at Monte’s Trattoria.
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Thursday, December 21, 2023, 6:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Concordian Dawn: Selections from Medieval Song, Aristotle to Opera
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2023
6:00 PM
Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library, New York Public Library
455 Fifth Avenue, Midtown, Manhattan
Free
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Busy day for Concordian Dawn! This show draws on companion performances that the ensemble did to a book by literary scholar Sarah Kay that argues that medieval song is best understood not as words set to music to be considered separately, but as comprehensive whole in which song is a way of sounding words. This leads to a very dramatic — Kay calls it operatic — style of performance, as you can hear this evening.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Excellent Sichuan at Cafe China.
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Thursday, December 21, 2023, 1:15 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Concordian Dawn: Veni, Redemptor Gencium
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2023
1:15 PM
Gotham Early Music Festival Midtown Concerts
St. Malachy’s Church In Person & Live Stream
239 West 49th Street, Midtown, Manhattan
Free
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Christmas in the Middle Ages.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In person, I’m not gonna even tell you what El Mil Sabores puts on their Torta Loca sandwich. You have to see it for yourself. Streaming at home, have a Mead.
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Wednesday, December 20, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Satellite 27: Bookworms & Lester St. Louis: Black Rennaisance Fair
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2023
8:00 PM
Bar Laika
224 Greene Avenue, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
$10
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Bookworms and Lester St. Louis — now there’s an exciting duo — examine what type of music would be played at a Black Rennaisance Fair? Would it be beaty, or droney? Is this a stupid question? If Afro-Futurism explores an imagined future, they say, this project explores an imagined past.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Very good food, very good wine at Place des Fêtes.
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Wednesday, December 20, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
PERFORMANCE
Cirkus Moxie
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2023
7:30 PM
Brooklyn Art Haus
24 Marcy Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$29.89
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Circus!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Great great wine and actually good food at Four Horsemen.
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Wednesday, December 20, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
Crossing Boundaries: gamin x yuniya edi kwon: OO / LL / IM
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2023
7:00 PM
Abrons Arts Center
466 Grand Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
$35.83; $24.28 students/seniors
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Two consistently interesting and affecting musician/performers with Korean roots — winds player gamin and violinist (and that’s not the half of it) yuniya edi kwan — create a healing ritual.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Austrian at Cafe Katja.
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Wednesday, December 20, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
Thorgy Thor: Queen of the Night: Holiday Extravaganza
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2023
7:00 PM
The Greene Space In Person & Live Stream
44 Charlton Street, Soho, Manhattan
$35 in person; free live stream
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Drag violinist Thorgy Thor — who points out that Mozart and Haydn also knew how to rock a wig — celebrates the Holidays with a variety show.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In person, Basque at Haizea. Streaming at home, have a Thor’s Forest: muddle 1/4 lemon and 2 sprigs of rosemary at the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Add ice. Pour in 1 oz. each of Gin and Brennivin. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a rosemary sprig.
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Wed, Dec 20, 2023, 4:30 PM – Sun, Dec 24, 2023, 11:59 PM
PERFORMANCE
Lightscape
WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 20 – 24, 2023 (continuing through JANUARY 1, 2024)
4:30 – 8:15 PM WEDNESDAY – SATURDAY
4:30 – 7:15 PM SUNDAY
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
990 Washington Avenue, across the street from Crown Heights, Brooklyn
WEDNESDAY: $39.69 adult; $21.60 children 3-12; free babies 0-2
THURSDAY – SUNDAY $44.87 adult; $23.67 children 3-12; free babies 0-2
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Because this is Brooklyn, what you’d normally expect to be a corny set of light sculptures strewn throughout the Garden actually turns out to be kind of great.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Fine fine New Orleans at Lowerline.
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Tuesday, December 19, 2023, 9:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
Body Work
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2023
9:00 PM
Performance Space New York
150 1st Avenue, East Village, Manhattan
$45-$1200
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Queer Hyper-Pop from HYD. Queer Drag/Dance Music from Kevin Aviance. Queer performance/Alt Hip-Hop from Mykki Blanco.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Get your momo working at Lhasa.
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Tuesday, December 19, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Standing on the Corner feat. Chelsea Randall
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2023
8:00 PM
Elsewhere
599 Johnson Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$29.92
TICKETS + INFORMATION
The expansive Art-Funk-Free Jazz collective Standing on the Corner is/are one of the great things in NYC music. You can only imagine what it’ll be like when they’re joined by pianist Chelsea Randall, who specializes in digging up music by Black American classical composers who were undeservedly marginalized.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Korean-American pub grub at Nowon Bushwick.
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Tuesday, December 19, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Brooklyn Maqam: Year End Fundraiser & Jam
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2023
8:00 PM
Sisters
900 Fulton Street, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
$20
TICKETS + INFORMATION
A bunch of Brooklyn Maqam regulars ring out the old year with energetic, exquisite Arabic music.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You can eat and drink perfectly well at Sisters.
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Tue, Dec 19, 2023, 8:00 PM – Sun, Dec 24, 2023, 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Kenny Barron Quintet
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 19 – 24, 2023
8:00 & 10:00 PM
Village Vanguard
178 7th Avenue South, West Village, Manhattan
$40
TICKETS + INFORMATION
This is more mainstream than what usually gets Listed here. But if you aren’t immediately compelled by the perfect combination of alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins and piano legend Kenny Barron, then I just don’t know.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Really interesting — and really delicious — Unapologetic Southern Indian at Semma.
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Tuesday, December 19, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Mari Okubo: East West Harmolodic Opera Groove
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2023
8:00 PM
Zürcher Gallery
33 Bleecker Street, NoHo, Manhattan
$20
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Songs/arias written for vocalist Mari Okubo by none other than Ornette Coleman.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Southern (U.S., that is)/Korean mash-up at C as in Charlie.
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Tue, Dec 19, 2023, 7:30 PM – Sat, Dec 23, 2023, 11:59 PM
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Tue, Dec 19, 2023, 7:00 PM – Sat, Dec 23, 2023, 11:59 PM
DANCE
Jenn Freeman & Sonya Tayeh: Is It Thursday Yet?
TUESDAY – SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19 – 23, 2023
7:00 PM TUESDAY – SATURDAY
2:00 PM SATURDAY
PAC NYC
251 Fulton Street, World Trade Center, Manhattan
$48-$86
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Dancer/choregrapher Jenn Freeman was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder at age 33. And then suddenly, in retrospect, a lot of things in her life began to make sense. Music, List readers will want to know, by Holland Andrews.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Eat and drink on top of a skyscraper at Manahatta.
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Tue, Dec 19, 2023, 7:00 PM – Thu, Dec 21, 2023, 11:59 PM
PERFORMANCE
Sasha Velour: The Big Reveal Live Show!
TUESDAY – THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19 – 21, 2023
7:00 PM
La MaMa
66 East 4th Street, East Village, Manhattan
$40; $35 students/seniors; 20 $10 tickets per show
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Sasha Velour puts on a live show inspired (in part) by her new drag manifesto.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Vegan Soul Food sounds like an absurdity. But people who’ve eaten at Cadence sure don’t think so.
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Tue, Dec 19, 2023, 7:00 PM – Thu, Dec 21, 2023, 11:59 PM
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
Justin Vivian Bond: Icing
TUESDAY – THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19 – 21, 2023 (continuing through JANUARY 7, 2024)
7:00 PM
Joe’s Pub, Public Theater
425 Lafayette Street, NoHo, Manhattan
$82.50
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Viv on the Solstice.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Kenka, an izakaya as colorful as this show.
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Tuesday, December 19, 2023, 6:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
DMG FREE WEEKLY IN-STORE MUSIC SERIES
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2023
6:30 PM
Downtown Music Gallery
13 Monroe Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
Free
TICKETS + INFORMATION
More of the usual Free Jazz stuff.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Modern-Korean-inflected Golden Diner.
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Tue, Dec 19, 2023, 10:00 AM – Sun, Dec 24, 2023, 11:59 PM
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
Gelsey Bell & Joseph White: Meander
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 19 – 24, 2023 (ongoing)
10:00 AM – 3:30 PM
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
150 Eastern Parkway, across the street from Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
$18 SATURDAY & SUNDAY; $12 students/seniors SATURDAY & SUNDAY; pay what you wish weekdays; free children under 12
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Having created a wonderful sound walk through Green-Wood Cemetery, the dream team of Gelsey Bell and Joe White do the same for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (one of my favorite places on earth, if you want to know). The soundtrack is available on the BBG website.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The best pancakes in town (and other great stuff) at Tom’s Restaurant.
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Monday, December 18, 2023, 10:00 PM – 11:00 PM
THEATER
Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins: Appropriate
WEDNESDAY – SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20 – 23, 2023 (continuing through MARCH 3, 2024)
8:00 PM WEDNESDAY & SATURDAY
7:00 PM THURSDAY & FRIDAY
2:00 PM WEDNESDAY, SATURDAY & SUNDAY
2nd Stage @ The Hayes Theater
240 West 44th Street, Midtown, Manhattan
$115-$199.50; $40 limited availability under 30 years; $25 student rush
TICKETS + INFORMATION
The author of the best American play so far this Century comes up with a family drama that you can bet isn’t going to be just a family drama. Wonder if the title has a long “a” or a short one?
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Westway Diner. Cuz it’s still there.
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Monday, December 18, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
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Monday, December 18, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
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Monday, December 18, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Darian Thomas / Julia Easterlin / Drinking Bird
MONDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2023
7:00 PM
Nublu 151
151 Avenue C, East Village, Manhattan
$22.66
TICKETS + INFORMATION
A nice program of performers weaving in and out of songform. Darian Donovan Thomas composes and plays (on many different instruments) droning yet communicative pieces that are good to listen to. Julia Easterlin does attractive Chamber-Pop with interesting structures. Drinking Bird is sorta jazz, sorta pop, with strong melodies and spaced-out improvisations.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Go to Kafana. Bring cash cuz they don’t take plastic. Bring a hunger cuz their Serbian food is HEARTY. Bring a thirst because their appre le lettre Natural wine list is extensive.
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Mon, Dec 18, 2023, 7:00 PM – Tue, Dec 19, 2023, 11:59 PM
PERFORMANCE
Dream Music Puppetry: Puppet Parlor
MONDAY & TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18 & 19, 2023
7:00 PM
HERE
145 6th Avenue (entrance on Dominick Street), Soho, Manhattan
$25; $10 10 tickets each night
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Puppets! Curated by Basil Twist! With an appearance by Joey Arias who, strictly speaking, isn’t a puppet!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Sicilian at Piccolo Cucina Osteria.
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Monday, December 18, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Lily Konigsberg / Cal Fish / Dream Tx /Multiple People / Liam
MONDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2023
7:00 PM
Stone Circle Theater
59-14 70th Avenue, Ridgewood, Queens
$17.84
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Sound artist Cal Fish does whimsical sonic explorations. Meanwhile, don’t anybody tell Lily Konigsberg it’s not the ‘90s anymore: she does that Indie Pop-Rock thing really well.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Appealing Cuban at Benny’s Cuban Café.
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Monday, December 18, 2023, 6:00 PM – 11:59 PM
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Mon, Dec 18, 2023, 8:00 AM – Sun, Dec 24, 2023, 11:59 PM
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
Gelsey Bell feat. Joseph White: Cairns
MONDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18 – 24, 2023 (ongoing)
8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
#stillHERE IRL
Green-Wood Cemetery, Sunset Park Entrance
35th Street at 4th Avenue, Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn
$7 or more for soundtrack
TICKETS + INFORMATION
One of the first shows that you could actually Go Out! to back in the days of The Lockdown (although it's not quite "live"). Gelsey Bell, that vocal star of NYC Alt Classical, has conceived of a piece that walks you around Green-Wood Cemetery (starting at the Sunset Park Entrance). You download the soundtrack on your phone beforehand (the Times complains about how hard it is to download from Bandcamp to an iPhone — trust me: if I can figure out how to do it, anyone can). Bell wrote the text and narrates, with a co-composing assist from the inimitable Joe White (whose terrific new album you really ought to hear). The Cemetery itself will do the performing. (You can also listen to the soundtrack at home and pretend you're walking around the Cemetery.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The Sunset Park entrance is only a short walk from Hometown BBQ Industry City (if you go over the weekend, you can get the fabulous pastrami).
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Mon, Dec 18, 2023, 6:00 AM – Sun, Dec 24, 2023, 11:59 PM
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
Ellen Reid: New York, New York
MONDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18 – 24, 2023 (ongoing)
6:00 AM – 1:00 AM
New York Philharmonic
Central Park, Manhattan
Free
TICKETS + INFORMATION
What do you know? The New York Phil has gone and renamed Ellen Reid’s SOUNDWALK. Reid, one of the more soundscapey (and certainly one of the best) of today's many excellent young composers, put together a highly allusive soundtrack, played by members of the Philharmonic and a bunch of Alt Classical players about town. This walk isn't guided: you download an app that triggers sounds sent to your earphones from various cells around the Park as you wander. So you can do it over many times. (Speaking of wandering around Central Park, here's something that I, for one, never knew.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Delicious pan-African at Teranga.
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Sunday, December 17, 2023, 10:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Bilal
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2023
10:00 PM
Elsewhere
599 Johnson Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$40.79
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Bilal was great in the hayday of Neo-Soul, and he’s still chugging along now.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Really nice New American (and a great vibe) at Otis.
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Sunday, December 17, 2023, 8:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Isle of Klezbos
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2023
8:30 PM
Joe’s Pub, Public Theater
425 Lafayette Street, NoHo, Manhattan
$32.50
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Celebrating 25 years of klesbian lezmer.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Incendiary Hunanese at Chef Tan.
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Sunday, December 17, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Hans Tammen - Shelley Hirsch - Ken Filiano
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2023
7:30 PM
Scholes Street Studio
375 Lorimer Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$20
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Guitar, voice, and bass — all out at the edge.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Very satisfying Peruvian at Warrique Garden.
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Sunday, December 17, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
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Sunday, December 17, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Sō Laboratories: Bergamot Quartet feat. Jake Harpster & Steven White
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2023
7:00 PM
20 Grand Avenue, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
$15 suggested donation
TICKETS + INFORMATION
The Bergamot Quartet and two percussionists play new stuff I’m not familiar with — but we can trust them.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Stylish Cambodian at Lula Mae.
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Sunday, December 17, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Brooklyn Raga Massive: Ragini Ensemble Winter Solstice Celebration
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2023
7:00 PM
Fotografiska
281 Park Avenue South, Gramercy, Manhattan
$40
TICKETS + INFORMATION
A few days early for the Solstice — but the day will still be plenty short. The Rāgīni Ensemble will brighten things up with their exploration of the music of the Indo-Carribean diaspora.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Sunday prime rib at Hawksmoor!
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Sunday, December 17, 2023, 5:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Paradise Laboratory: Beyond Flute Trio
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2023
5:00 PM
White Room, CRS (Center for Remembering and Sharing)
143 Fourth Avenue, NoHo, Manhattan
$20; $10 students/seniors
TICKETS + INFORMATION
This flute-electronics-percussion trio formed remotely during the Lockdown and has never played together physically in the same room. Until now.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Thai dishes you probably haven’t seen before at Soothr.
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Sunday, December 17, 2023, 4:00 PM – 11:59 PM
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Saturday, December 16, 2023, 10:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Zemog el Gallo Bueno
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023
10:00 PM
Barbès
376 9th Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn
$20
TICKETS + INFORMATION
This Art-Roots post-Salsa with all kinds of psych and even experimental influences is exactly what Barbès is good for.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Jamaican with a chance of Trinidadian at Stella’s.
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Saturday, December 16, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Suzanne Langille: An Improvisational Symphony
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023
8:00 PM
ISSUE Project Room @ First Unitarian Congregational Society
116 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn
$21
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Seemingly most of the improvising musicians in New York City assemble to improvise a “symphony” at the direction of vocalist Suzanne Langille.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The annual game festival is proceeding at Henry’s End.
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Saturday, December 16, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Unheard-of//Dialogues: David Crowell
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023
8:00 PM
Alchemical Studios
50 West 17th Street, Chelsea, Manhattan
Free
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Unheard-of plays a new piece by composer/saxophonist/guitarist David Crowell, and then a set by the serene electroacoustic duo Crowell has with Unheard-of’s cellist, Eco|Tonal.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Portale for cheffed-up Italian.
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Saturday, December 16, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
JACK Quartet feat. Tyshawn Sorey
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023
7:30 PM
Buttenweiser Hall, 92nd Street Y In Person & Live Stream
1395 Lexington Avenue, Upper East Side, Manhattan
$48; $31 live stream
TICKETS + INFORMATION
The miraculous composer/percussionist Thyshawn Sorey joins with the mighty JACK Quartet to give the local premiere of a piece whose title unites Sorey’s jazz tendencies with his Morton Feldman tendencies: For Grachan Moncur II (Everything Changes, Nothing Changes II) (and is this List ever gratified that Sorey appears to be as huge an admirer of the great and greatly underappreciated trombonist/composer as we are here!).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In person, fun South African food and wine at Kaia Wine Bar. Streaming at home, have a Bone: pour 2 oz. Rye and 1 tsp. each of lime juice and Simple Syrup, with 3 dashes of Tabasco Sauce (I’d swap in Crystal myself), into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled rocks glass.
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Sat, Dec 16, 2023, 7:30 PM – Sun, Dec 17, 2023, 11:59 PM
PERFORMANCE
Nicky Paraiso: Christmas in Nickyland 2023: The Return
SATURDAY & SUNDAY, DECEMBER 16 & 17, 2023
7:30 PM SATURDAY
5:00 PM SUNDAY
La MaMa
66 East 4th Street, East Village, Manhattan
$10-$70
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Everyone who’s played La MaMa recently whom you want to see again converges for a holiday cabaret.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Great Burmese at Little Myanmar.
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Saturday, December 16, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
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Saturday, December 16, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
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Saturday, December 16, 2023, 4:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Gamelan Kusuma Laras: Klenengan
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023
4:00 & 7:00 PM
Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia
5 East 68th Street, Upper East Side, Manhattan
$15
TICKETS + INFORMATION
More Gamelan!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The relocated and revived Café Boulud: an actual big deal.
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Saturday, December 16, 2023, 3:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
ModernMedieval Voices: A Midwinter Feast
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023
3:00 PM
Fuentidueña Chapel, The Cloisters
99 Margaret Corbin Drive, Fort Tryon Park, Manhattan
$70
TICKETS + INFORMATION
The Attack Of The Former Anonymous 4s continues with ModernMedieval Voices, who like mix up Early Music with Contemporary. This afternoon they bring us 800 years of Christmas Music.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Elsa la Reina del Chicharron towers over all other Dominican restaurants in the City to an extent that’s almost shocking. You will not believe how good this food is.
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Saturday, December 16, 2023, 2:00 PM – 11:59 PM
DANCE
The Bang Group: Nut/Cracked
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023
2:00 & 7:00 PM
92nd Street Y
1395 Lexington Avenue, Upper East Side, Manhattan
$48-$58; $10 students
TICKETS + INFORMATION
David Parker’s Camp Art Tap often seems too cute. But ‘tis the season.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Lovely neighborhood Italian at Sfoglia.
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Saturday, December 16, 2023, 2:00 PM – 11:59 PM
DANCE
Catie Cuan & Ken Goldberg: Breathless: Catie and the Robot
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023
2:00 PM
National Sawdust
80 North 6th Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$19.14 2:00-5:00 PM & 5:00-8:00 PM; $31.25 8:00-11:00 PM
TICKETS + INFORMATION
An eight-hour duet between a dancer/robotcist and a robot arm that seeks to replicate the experience of a workday.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Before or after the early or afternoon shifts and before the late shift, very good French bistro at Le Crocodile. After the late shift, drinks at Creatures of All Kind.
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Friday, December 15, 2023, 9:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Four Tet
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2023
9:00 PM
Warsaw
261 Driggs Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
I have no fucking idea what tickets cost; ask Adam Smith
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Is Four Tet this List’s ATF Electronica artist? Yeah I think he is.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It's very hard for me to recommend that you do anything other than buy some delicious (and ridiculously cheap) Polish specialties from the nice ladies inside the venue. Drink there, too.
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Friday, December 15, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
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Friday, December 15, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Darian Donovan Thomas /Naima / Talk Bazaar / Kirin McElwaine
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2023
8:00 PM
Please Y.S.
Address given upon ticketing
Free ($15-$20 donation requested at show)
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Darian Donovan Thomas composes and plays (on many different instruments) droning yet communicative pieces that are good to listen to. Kirin McElwaine drones, too, on her cello — a little too portentously, if you ask me. I wish Naima’s Alt R&B were a bit better. But even a sourpuss such as myself finds it hard to resist Talk Bazaar’s gleaming Pop.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: We don’t know where this is yet, do we?
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Friday, December 15, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
JACK Quartet: World Premieres by Zara Ali, Seare Farhat & Rishin Singh
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2023
7:30 PM
Ernst C. Stiefel Concert Hall, New School
55 West 13th Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan
Free
TICKETS + INFORMATION
New pieces by composers — and a filmmaker — the great JACK Quartet is mentoring.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Strip House certainly has its fans.
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Friday, December 15, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
Eartheater: Powders Tour / Concrete Husband
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2023
7:30 PM
Elsewhere
599 Johnson Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$45.94
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Eartheater made two great albums of noisy electronic experimental pop, and then one great album of noisy acoustic pop (with electronics). And now there’s a new one. Concrete Husband does good electronic dance and music and good electronics-enhanced flute music.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Korean-American pub grub at Nowon Bushwick.
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Friday, December 15, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
ARTEK Ensemble: Byrd, Battles and Bells
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2023
7:00 PM
St. Ignatius of Antioch Episcopal Church
552 West End Avenue, Upper West Side, Manhattan
$18.50-$55
TICKETS + INFORMATION
The Byrd quatercentenary death bash continues with a concert that looks so appealing I can almost taste it: a candle-lit two-keyboard recital, on chamber organs, harpsichords, muselars, and virginals.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Folks in the neighborhood really like Italian standby Celeste.
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Fri, Dec 15, 2023, 7:00 PM – Sun, Dec 17, 2023, 11:59 PM
PERFORMANCE
Sasha Velour: The Big Reveal Live Show!
FRIDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15 – 17, 2023 (continuing through DECEMBER 21)
7:00 PM FRIDAY & SATURDAY
2:00 PM SUNDAY
La MaMa
66 East 4th Street, East Village, Manhattan
$40; $35 students/seniors; 20 $10 tickets per show
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Sasha Velour puts on a live show inspired (in part) by her new drag manifesto.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Vegan Soul Food sounds like an absurdity. But people who’ve eaten at Cadence sure don’t think so.
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Friday, December 15, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Fred Moten & Brandon Lopez
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2023
7:00 PM
P.I.T.
411 South 5th Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$10
TICKETS + INFORMATION
We don’t usually go in for spoken word much here at The List (Rap is NOT spoken word). But Fred Moten has such a good mind that when he speaks, we’ll listen. Especially when the musical support comes from someone as stand-alone interesting as bassist Brandon Lopez.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Pizza!
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Friday, December 15, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Ruth Cunningham & Electric Diamond: Celestial Song & Ambient Soundscapes
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2023
7:00 PM
St. Frances Cabrini Shrine
701 Ft. Washington Avenue, Washington Heights, Manhattan
$22 advance; $25 door
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Ruth Cunningham started as a founder of Anonymous 4 but after she left she went more New Age. Tonight’s music channels Mother Cabrini’s meditations on Mary.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Enjoyable surroundings but unserious drinks at Monkey Room.
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Fri, Dec 15, 2023, 6:30 PM – Sat, Dec 16, 2023, 11:59 PM
OPERA
Nico Muhly: Third Bird
FRIDAY & SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15 & 16, 2023
6:30 PM
Guggenheim Museum
1071 Fifth Avenue, Upper East Side, Manhattan
$41-$106
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Another Isaac Mizrahi fairy-tale music-theater piece with choreography by John Heginbotham (a very winning combination). This time with music by Nico Muhly (which should be more winning still).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Light Viennese at Café Sabarsky.
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Friday, December 15, 2023, 6:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
WAKE!
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2023
6:00 PM
Stone Circle Theater
59-14 70th Avenue, Ridgewood, Queens
$28.14; $17.84 students/seniors
TICKETS + INFORMATION
A long evening of spoken word, film, and music — the music provided by, among many many others, Anthony Coleman, Bob Bellerue and Katie Porter, and Nepenthae.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Appealing Cuban at Benny’s Cuban Café.
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Thursday, December 14, 2023, 9:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Trina Basu & Arun Ramamurthy feat. Special Guests
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2023
9:00 & 10:15 PM
LunÀtico
486 Halsey Street, Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn
$10
TICKETS + INFORMATION
These two superb violinists create a lush, transporting South Indian fusion.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You should at least buy some drinks from the venue. But if you want some more interesting and substantial food than LunÀtico serves, nice pizza and tapas at Saraghina.
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Thursday, December 14, 2023, 8:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Su$hi / Wild Strawberries / Webb Crawford / Yvonne Rogers
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2023
8:30 PM
Footlight Underground @ The Windjammer
552 Grandview Avenue, Ridgewood, Queens
$11.89-$22.45
TICKETS + INFORMATION
A strange rat’s nest of a bill — but a nice rat’s nest. Su$hi is another way for Gían Pérez to make noise on his guitar. Guitarist/luthier Webb Crawford, opening, starts with Piedmont finger-picking and goes very Far Out. Yvonne Rogers’s tinkly Cocktail Jazz-cum-Minimalism is either diverting or annoying, depending on your mood. If Wild Strawberries is the Canadian Pop band from the ‘90s, I’ll be very surprised — but it would make this program even stranger.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Drink at The Windjammer, but be sure to pick up some German (by way of Slovenia) beer and sausage at Gottscheer Hall before or after.
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Thursday, December 14, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
My Tree
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2023
8:00 PM
The Owl Music Parlor
497 Rogers Avenue, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn
$84
TICKETS + INFORMATION
If you’re curious to hear saxophonist Caroline Davis sing, and not just sing but sing song-form pop . . . well, here’s your chance.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Ham and wine at & Sons.
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Thursday, December 14, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Eric Della Penna: Byzantine Stompers
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2023
8:00 PM
Barbès
376 9th Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn
$21.95
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Improvisations on compositions derived from recovered shards of Byzantine music.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Time to not get into Indian smash Masalawala & Sons again.
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Thursday, December 14, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
William Basinski / claire rousay & LEYA
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2023
8:00 PM
Pioneer Works
159 Pioneer Street, Red Hook, Brooklyn
$35.83 advance; $48.63 day of
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Another show that’s almost too good to be true. William Basinski’s nostalgia-for-the-future Old Technology electronic music never fails to fascinate. Claire rousay makes ambient/electronic music that’s personally expressive without being simpy — and she’ll be continuing her fruitful collaboration with the droney violin/harp duo LEYA.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Great burger, really great shrimp cocktail, at Red Hook Tavern.
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Thursday, December 14, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
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Thu, Dec 14, 2023, 8:00 PM – Sun, Dec 17, 2023, 11:59 PM
THEATER
Leonie Bell & Local Grandma: SchmidtSmithSchmidt
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14 – 17, 2023
8:00 PM THURSDAY – SATURDAY
2:00 PM SUNDAY
The Brick In Person & SUNDAY Live Stream
579 Metropolitan Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$22-$52 in person; free live stream
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Leonie Bell’s antic Post-Epic Theater is exactly the kind of thing This List was created for: people who think they don’t like This Kind Of Thing would love this — if only they’d go. GO!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In person, Roman pinsa at Montesacro. Streaming at home, have a Glühwein: zest and then juice 1/2 an orange; reserve. Boil 3/4 cup water and 1/4 cup sugar until sugar has completely dissolved. Add 20 whole cloves, 2 cinnamon sticks, and 2 whole star anise, along with the reserved orange zest and orange juice. Simmer until syrupy. Pour in a bottle of red wine. Lower the heat and let it barely simmer for 20 mins. to 3 hours (really 1/2 hour is fine). (I’m not telling you to drink this all at one sitting — but I’m not telling you not to, either.)
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Thursday, December 14, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
OPERA
Catán: Florencia en el Amazonas
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2023
8:00 PM
Metropolitan Opera
30 Lincoln Center Plaza, Upper West Side, Manhattan
$37-$400
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Zachary Woolfe complains in the The Times that Florencia en el Amazonas has Puccini’s melodies and harmonies without Puccini’s dramatic/emotional thrust. Well, the reason I can enjoy Florencia and can’t abide Puccini is precisely that lack of infantilizing emotional manipulation and constant overwrought melodramaticization. For once, you can enjoy those melodies and harmonies (advanced when Puccinni employed them, retrogressive when Catán did, sure) without feeling overborne and without feeling that the whole enterprise is basically stupid. Hear for yourself.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Spend a lot of money on very good fancy Italian food at The Leopard at des Artistes.
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Thu, Dec 14, 2023, 8:00 PM – Sun, Dec 17, 2023, 11:59 PM
DANCE
Seán Curran Dance Company & Darrah Carr Dance: Céilí
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14 – 17, 2023
8:00 PM THURSDAY – SATURDAY
3:00 PM SATURDAY & SUNDAY
Irish Arts Center
726 11th Avenue, Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan
$25-$55
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Seán Curran, a Post-Modern choreographer/dancer from New York who is fond of his roots, teams up with Darrah Carr, a leading Professional Irish Dancer (from actual Ireland), for trad Irish dance-off. A clue to the nature of the proceedings is provided by the choice of accompanying musicians: Dana Lynn & Kyle Sanna, an instrumental and compositional duo who have two feet in contemporary Alt-Pop/Classical and the other two in Trad Irish.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Ardesia Wine Bar, still one of the City’s most pleasant.
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Thu, Dec 14, 2023, 8:00 PM – Fri, Dec 15, 2023, 11:59 PM
OPERA
George R. Miller: Love Songs
THURSDAY & FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14 & 15, 2023
8:00 PM
Pageant
70 Graham Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$10.29-$30.87
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Early Expressionist songs by Schoenberg, interspersed with ‘60s folk-rock from Schoenberg’s final home, LA.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Mexican snacks and mad desserts at Maya’s Snack Bar.
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Thursday, December 14, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Laura Ortman feat. gabby fluke-mogul
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2023
7:30 PM
e-flux
172 Classon Avenue, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
$15
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Two of the more interesting and distinctive violinists in New York City play together.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Credible cocktails, nice vibe at The Emerson.
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Thu, Dec 14, 2023, 7:30 PM – Sat, Dec 16, 2023, 11:59 PM
PERFORMANCE
Radical Acts
MONDAY & THURSDAY – SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11 & 14 – 16, 2023
7:30 PM
JACK
20 Putnam Avenue, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
$22.40
TICKETS + INFORMATION
A performance festival. You could almost pick any night at random. Or look at the rundown and pick what intrigues you.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Good wine, good food at Place des Fêtes.
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Thursday, December 14, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Ahmed Abdullah: Diaspora / Isaiah Collier: The Chosen Few
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2023
7:30 PM
Blank Forms @ Church of St. Luke & St. Matthew
520 Clinton Avenue, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
Free
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Free Jazz with a dose of conciousness.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Pizza and (if you’re lucky) burgers at Emily.
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Thursday, December 14, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Jjjjjerome Ellis
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2023
7:30 PM
National Sawdust
80 North 6th Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$32.27
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Multi-instrumentalist/stuttering raconteur JJJJJerome Ellis is as engaging a musician/performance artist is there is in New York City.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Cheffed-up Thai at Kru.
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Thu, Dec 14, 2023, 7:30 PM – Sat, Dec 16, 2023, 11:59 PM
DANCE
Koma Otake: You
THURSDAY – SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14 – 16, 2023
7:30 PM
Danspace Project
St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery
131 East 10th Street, East Village, Manhattan
$20
TICKETS + INFORMATION
A rare outing by the dancer-choreographer who was once half of Eiko & Koma, who made some of the most sheerly transfixing art of the last half-century.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Foxface Natural is the best restaurant in New York City right now.
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Thursday, December 14, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Anarko/Elektro: Asha Sheshadri / Honeychild Coleman
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2023
7:00 PM
P.I.T.
411 South 5th Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$10
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Asha Sheshadri’s sonic assemblages are too spoken-wordy for this List. Which is not a problem anyone has ever had with Honeychild Coleman’s great Punk.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Persian tapas at Masquerade.
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Thu, Dec 14, 2023, 7:00 PM – Sun, Dec 17, 2023, 11:59 PM
PERFORMANCE
Asi Wind: Inner Circle
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14 – 17, 2023 (continuing through JANUARY 14, 2024)
7:00 PM THURSDAY – SUNDAY
9:30 PM FRIDAY
4:00 PM SATURDAY
The Gym at Judson
243 Thompson Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan
$110-$265
TICKETS + INFORMATION
I’d been sleeping on this magic show (probably its massive mainstream success shielded it from my view). But contrary to how things might appear, just because people like something doesn’t mean it can’t get Listed.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Classic Manhattan Red Sauce at Monte’s Trattoria.
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Thursday, December 14, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Eteri Andjaparidze: Georgia: Theme and Variations
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2023
7:00 PM
Baryshnikov Arts Center
450 West 37th Street, Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan
$35-$70
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Georgian classical music of the 20th and 21st Centuries.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: A $75 ticket also buys you a wine tasting — which in the case of the great wine of Georgia could almost be worth it. I wish there were a good Georgian restaurant I could send you to in the neighborhood. You’ll have to console yourself with pan-regional Chinese with a focus on Sichuan at Chi.
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Thursday, December 14, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
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Thu, Dec 14, 2023, 4:30 PM – Sun, Dec 17, 2023, 11:59 PM
PERFORMANCE
Lightscape
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14 – 17, 2023 (continuing through JANUARY 1, 2024)
4:30 – 8:15 PM
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
990 Washington Avenue, across the street from Crown Heights, Brooklyn
THURSDAY: $39.69 adult; $21.60 children 3-12; free babies 0-2
FRIDAY – SUNDAY $44.87 adult; $23.67 children 3-12; free babies 0-2
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Because this is Brooklyn, what you’d normally expect to be a corny set of light sculptures strewn throughout the Garden actually turns out to be kind of great.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Fine fine New Orleans at Lowerline.
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Thursday, December 14, 2023, 1:15 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Artis Wodehouse: Music in the 19th-century American Parlor: The Melodeon and Cottage Organ
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2023
1:15 PM
Gotham Early Music Festival Midtown Concerts
St. Malachy’s Church In Person & Live Stream
239 West 49th Street, Midtown, Manhattan
Free
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Nineteenth Century parlor music played on the harmonium. Should be very attractive — if weezy.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In person, I’m not gonna even tell you what El Mil Sabores puts on their Torta Loca sandwich. You have to see it for yourself. Streaming at home, have an Old Fashioned: saturate a sugar cube at the bottom of an Old Fashioned glass with 3 dashes Angostura bitters. Muddle. Pour in 2 oz. Rye. Add ice. Stir. Express an orange peel in to the drink and then toss in the peel as garnish. Garnish also with a cocktail cherry if you want.
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Wed, Dec 13, 2023, 8:30 PM – Sun, Dec 17, 2023, 11:59 PM
MUSIC
The Stone Residencies: Ikue Mori
WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13 – 17, 2023
8:30 PM WEDNESDAY – SATURDAY
5:00 PM SUNDAY
The Stone
WEDNESDAY – SATURDAY: Glass Box Theater, The New School
SUNDAY: Steifel Hall, The New School
55 West 13th Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan
$30
TICKETS + INFORMATION
It should come as no surprise that Downtown drums/electronics goddess Ikue Mori gets fabulous people to play with her at each show. Sunday is a special concert celebrating Mori’s 70th Birthday.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: No one better to take over the old Café Loup space than NYC Front of House vet Michael Cechhi-Azzolina with his American Bistro Cecchi’s.
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Wednesday, December 13, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Infrequent Seams Dual Album Release: Lily Guarneros Maase y Curandera / Ben Richter
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2023
8:00 PM
Scholes Street Studio In Person & Live Stream
375 Lorimer Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$5 or more
TICKETS + INFORMATION
You just have to tell this List that Ben Richter is showcasing a new piece for accordion in just intonation and we’re ON IT. Lily Guarneros Maase y Curandera sound like they’re going to be folkie shit with an agenda, but no: they take their sources and make something fresh.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In person, nice Venezuelan at Casa Ora. Streaming at home, have an Accordion: pour 1-1/2 oz. Brandy and 1/2 oz. each of dry and sweet Vermouth, with 2 tsp. Cointreau, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Wed, Dec 13, 2023, 8:00 PM – Sat, Dec 16, 2023, 11:59 PM
PERFORMANCE
Tiraseas: Cryptochrome
WEDNESDAY – SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13 – 16, 2023
8:00 PM
the cell theatre
338 West 23rd Street, Chelsea, Manhattan
$20-$30
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Tiresias, the queer oracle of the Underworld, does a mulitimedia exploration of animal perception.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I'm going to keep sending you to Qanoon: their home-style Palestinian is SO good.
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Wednesday, December 13, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Kali Malone / François J. Bonnet & Stephen O’Malley / Kali Malone & Drew McDowall
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2023
8:00 PM
Pioneer Works
159 Pioneer Street, Red Hook, Brooklyn
$35.83 advance; $43.52 day of
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Electro-acoustic music, sometimes accompanied by film. These people are all great.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I’m still bursting with excitement over the new Piemonte-leaning Bar Mario.
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Wed, Dec 13, 2023, 8:00 PM – Fri, Dec 15, 2023, 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Aaron Parks: Little Big
WEDNESDAY – FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13 – 15, 2023
8:00 PM
ShapeShifter Lab
837 Union Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn
$20 advance; $25 door
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Pianist Aaron Parks with his smart, somewhat rock-inflected jazz.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Who’d have thought one of the better and more distinctive Thai restaurants in New York City would be in Park Slope? Bangkok Degree.
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Wednesday, December 13, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
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Wed, Dec 13, 2023, 7:00 PM – Sun, Dec 17, 2023, 11:59 PM
THEATER
Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins: Appropriate
WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13 – 17, 2023 (continuing through MARCH 3, 2024)
7:00 PM WEDNESDAY – FRIDAY & SUNDAY
2:0 PM SATURDAY & SUNDAY
8:00 PM SATURDAY
2nd Stage @ The Hayes Theater
240 West 44th Street, Midtown, Manhattan
$115-$199.50; $40 limited availability under 30 years; $25 student rush
TICKETS + INFORMATION
The author of the best American play so far this Century comes up with a family drama that you can bet isn’t going to be just a family drama. Wonder if the title has a long “a” or a short one?
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Westway Diner. Cuz it’s still there.
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Wed, Dec 13, 2023, 7:00 PM – Sun, Dec 17, 2023, 11:59 PM
THEATER
ONEOFUS: Sleeping Beauty
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14 – 17, 2023 (continuing through DECEMBER 24)
7:00 PM THURSDAY & FRIDAY
4:00 PM SATURDAY & SUNDAY
Abrons Arts Center
466 Grand Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
$46.87
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Julie Atlas Muz and Mat Fraser, legends in their own right, continue their program of bringing the Christmas Panto tradition to their Lower East Side neighborhood. These shows are uproariously funny, incredibly fun, totally endearing — and, in the end, rather uplifting. (Oh no they’re not!) (Oh yes they are!)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Thursday and Friday, OF COURSE you’re going to Ernesto’s for great Basque. Saturday and Sunday, daytime Malaysian at Kopitiam.
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Tuesday, December 12, 2023, 10:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
The Sway Machinery: Branches of Light: The Sway Machinery’s Holiday Ball
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2023
10:00 PM
Nublu 151
151 Avenue C, East Village, Manhattan
$22.66
TICKETS + INFORMATION
You might not have known that what you need for Hanukkah is a mashup of Jewish Cantorial music, Afropop, and country blues. But I’m telling you, it is.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Go to Kafana. Bring cash cuz they don’t take plastic. Bring a hunger cuz their Serbian food is HEARTY. Bring a thirst because their appre le lettre Natural wine list is extensive.
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Tuesday, December 12, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
gabby fluke-mogul: AM/FM
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2023
8:00 PM
Roulette In Person & Live Stream
509 Atlantic Avenue (entrance on Third Avenue), Boerum Hill, Brooklyn
$25 advance; $35 door; $20 students/seniors; free live stream
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Did violinist gabby fluke-mogul set up a duo with guitarist Ava Mendoza only so they could call it AM/FM? In any event, should be great.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In person, eclectic New American at As You Are. At home, have a Dante’s Garibaldi: pour 1-1/2 oz. Campari and 4 oz. orange juice into a Highball glass over ice. Stir. Garnish with an orange wedge.
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Tuesday, December 12, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Luisa Muhr, Daniel Carter & Jessica Pavone: In Trialogue
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2023
8:00 PM
Zürcher Gallery
33 Bleecker Street, NoHo, Manhattan
$20
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Three improvisers — voice/movement, wind, viola — with very different styles. As always with concerts of this kind, anything could happen
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Southern (U.S., that is)/Korean mash-up at C as in Charlie.
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Tuesday, December 12, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
The Daxophone Consort / Christina Gionnone / Strugglin / Cole Blauin
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2023
8:00 PM
Trans-Pecos
915 Wyckoff Avenue, Ridgewood, Queens
$12 advance; $15 door
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Can’t get enough daxophone.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Before the show, gorge on Bosnian at Bosna Express.
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Tue, Dec 12, 2023, 7:30 PM – Sun, Dec 17, 2023, 11:59 PM
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Tue, Dec 12, 2023, 7:00 PM – Sun, Dec 17, 2023, 11:59 PM
DANCE
Jenn Freeman & Sonya Tayeh: Is It Thursday Yet?
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12 – 17, 2023 (continuing through DECEMBER 23)
7:00 PM TUESDAY – SATURDAY
2:00 PM THURSDAY & SATURDAY
3:00 PM SUNDAY
PAC NYC
251 Fulton Street, World Trade Center, Manhattan
$48-$86
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Dancer/choregrapher Jenn Freeman was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder at age 33. And then suddenly, in retrospect, a lot of things in her life began to make sense. Music, List readers will want to know, by Holland Andrews.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Eat and drink on top of a skyscraper at Manahatta.
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Tuesday, December 12, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
animals & giraffes
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2023
7:00 PM
Chocolate Factory
38-33 24th Street, Long Island City, Queens
$13-$292
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Animals & giraffes is a project in which poet/critic Claudia La Rocco and saxophonist Phillip Greenlief join with a floating band of others for verbal, sonic, and other kinds of improvisation. Tonight they’ll be joined by two dancers and Chocolate Factory honcho Brian Rogers on electronics.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Speaking for myself, I am positively jonesing right now for the Tacos de Chiloria and the Tacos Machaco con Huevo at Cielito. I can taste it.
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Tue, Dec 12, 2023, 7:00 PM – Sat, Dec 16, 2023, 11:59 PM
DANCE
Big Dance Company: The March
TUESDAY – SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12 – 16, 2023
7:00 PM TUESDAY
8:00 PM WEDNESDAY – SATURDAY
3:00 PM SATURDAY
PAC NYC
251 Fulton Street, World Trade Center, Manhattan
$58-$103
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Big Dance Theater leader Annie-B Parson shares choreographic duties with Tendayi Kuumba and Donna Uchizono in what promises to be nothing less than a three-part exploration of massed human motion.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Fancy Peruvian at Artesano.
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Tuesday, December 12, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Serious Music: Lester St. Louis / Mehlan-Morgan-Naqvi Trio / Baird-Lu Duo
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2023
7:00 PM
Sundownstairs, Sundown Bar
68-38 Forest Avenue, Ridgewood, Queens
$17.30
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Ho-hum, another night chockful of luminaries of the NYC experimental improvisational field.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You’re in a bar with a pretty good cocktail program. For something more solid, more than cachapas at Cachapas y Mas.
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Tuesday, December 12, 2023, 6:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
DMG FREE WEEKLY IN-STORE MUSIC SERIES
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2023
6:30 PM
Downtown Music Gallery
13 Monroe Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
Free
TICKETS + INFORMATION
This week we’re gonna highlight the trio of Dafna Naphtali (voice/electronics), Katie Porter (clarinets), and Ras Moshe (sax).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Modern-Korean-inflected Golden Diner.
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Tue, Dec 12, 2023, 10:00 AM – Sun, Dec 17, 2023, 11:59 PM
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
Gelsey Bell & Joseph White: Meander
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12 – 17, 2023 (ongoing)
10:00 AM – 3:30 PM
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
150 Eastern Parkway, across the street from Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
$18; $12 students/seniors; free children under 12
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Having created a wonderful sound walk through Green-Wood Cemetery, the dream team of Gelsey Bell and Joe White do the same for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (one of my favorite places on earth, if you want to know). The soundtrack is available on the BBG website.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The best pancakes in town (and other great stuff) at Tom’s Restaurant.
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Monday, December 11, 2023, 9:00 PM – 11:59 PM
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Monday, December 11, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Assembly #12: Quijiang Levi Lu / Nate Wooley: Mutual Aid Music / Heru Shabaka Ra: Basquiat Blues
MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2023
8:00 PM
Sisters
900 Fulton Street, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
$20
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Heru Shabaka-ra does spoken sound and trumpet — which he has played in the Sun Ra Arkestra! Quijiang Levi Lu does fascinating electronic and electroacoustic sound explorations. And it wouldn’t be an Assembly without trumpeter Nate Wooley combining notated and unnotated music in his amazing ensemble.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You can eat and drink perfectly well at Sisters.
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Monday, December 11, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
PERFORMANCE / MUSIC
Megavjoltron!
MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2023
8:00 PM
Wonderville
1186 Broadway, Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn
$10
TICKETS + INFORMATION
For the last time at this venue, performative video, audio/video.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Before the show, grab some outstanding tacos (the tortas/cemitas are good, too) at Santa Ana Deli & Grocery.
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Monday, December 11, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
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Monday, December 11, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
PERFORMANCE
Radical Acts
MONDAY & THURSDAY – SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11 & 14 – 16, 2023
7:30 PM
JACK
20 Putnam Avenue, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
$22.40
TICKETS + INFORMATION
A performance festival. You could almost pick any night at random. Or look at the rundown and pick what intrigues you.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Good wine, good food at Place des Fêtes.
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Monday, December 11, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
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Mon, Dec 11, 2023, 7:30 PM – Tue, Dec 12, 2023, 11:59 PM
MUSIC
David Lang: The Little Match Girl Passion
MONDAY & TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11 & 12, 2023
7:30 & 9:00 PM
The Crypt Sessions
The Crypt, Church of the Intercession
550 West 155th Street, Hamilton Heights, Manhattan
$85
TICKETS + INFORMATION
This vocal/instrumental piece is still David Lang’s best so far out of a distinguished catalogue: musically surprising, emotionally affecting — and a really great listen. One can only say that the vocal/instrumental ensemble Ekmeles should do it full justice.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: There’s a wine-and-cheese reception starting an hour before each show — but I never tire of complaining that, for the high price charged for these concerts, the abominable quality of the wine and the cheese is deplorable. In any event, good burgers at At The Wallace — but most exciting of all, I’ve heard it reported on good authority that the fried cheese curds are as good as in Wisconsin.
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Monday, December 11, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Tai Murray, Todd Palmer, & Friends: Brahms and Beyond
MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2023
7:30 PM
Music Mondays
Advent Lutheran Church
2504 Broadway, Upper West Side, Manhattan
Free
TICKETS + INFORMATION
This is a nice concert. Chamber music by Brahms — including the supernal Clarinet Trio — and pieces responding to Brahms by Rota(!) and Caroline Shaw(!!).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Korean fried chicken and ramen at Chick Chick.
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Monday, December 11, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
Marcia Bassett / Warren Ng / Jeremy D. Slater: Live Sound & Video
MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2023
7:30 PM
Microscope Gallery In Person & Live Stream
525 West 29th Street, Chelsea, Manhattan
$14
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Electronics and associated — sometimes reactive — video.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Fun fake Southern at Porchlight. Streaming at home, pretend it’s not early March in New York and have an Archangel: muddle 2 cucumber slices in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Add ice. Pour in 2-1/4 oz. Gin and 3/4 oz. Aperol. Stir. Garnish with a lemon twist.
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Mon, Dec 11, 2023, 7:30 PM – Thu, Dec 14, 2023, 11:59 PM
DANCE
Pina Bausch / Germaine Acogny & Malou Airaudo: The Rite of Spring / common ground[s]
MONDAY – THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11 – 14, 2023
7:30 PM
Park Avenue Armory
643 Park Avenue, Upper East Side, Manhattan
$40-$125
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Pina Bausch’s galvanic setting of the Rite — something that will not be forgotten by anyone who’s seen it — becomes even more galvanic in this adaptation by fabulous dancers from Africa.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Excellent classic French at Sel et Poivre.
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Monday, December 11, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
DANCE
Movement Research at the Judson Church
MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2023
7:00 PM
Judson Memorial Church
55 Washington Square South, Greenwich Village, Manhattan
Free
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Mixed dance.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: All the lasagna you want at La Lanterna di Vittorio. More, even.
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Monday, December 11, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Deep Listening: Kevin Kenkel / Phong Tran / Vorhees
MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2023
7:00 PM
Parkside Lounge
317 East Houston Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
$20
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Mind-altering electronic explorations.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Drink at the Parkside Lounge. Eat at Katz’s.
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Monday, December 11, 2023, 6:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Tania León: A Conversation and a Concert
MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2023
6:30 PM
Elebash Recital Hall, CUNY Graduate Center
365 Fifth Avenue, Midtown, Manhattan
Free
TICKETS + INFORMATION
The promotional materials describe Tania León’s compositions as “dazzling”, and that seems about right. Speaking of dazzling, among the performers are Ursula Oppens and the Bergamot Quartet.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Very nice Shanghainese at Little Alley.
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Mon, Dec 11, 2023, 8:00 AM – Sun, Dec 17, 2023, 11:59 PM
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
Gelsey Bell feat. Joseph White: Cairns
MONDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11 – 17, 2023 (ongoing)
8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
#stillHERE IRL
Green-Wood Cemetery, Sunset Park Entrance
35th Street at 4th Avenue, Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn
$7 or more for soundtrack
TICKETS + INFORMATION
One of the first shows that you could actually Go Out! to back in the days of The Lockdown (although it's not quite "live"). Gelsey Bell, that vocal star of NYC Alt Classical, has conceived of a piece that walks you around Green-Wood Cemetery (starting at the Sunset Park Entrance). You download the soundtrack on your phone beforehand (the Times complains about how hard it is to download from Bandcamp to an iPhone — trust me: if I can figure out how to do it, anyone can). Bell wrote the text and narrates, with a co-composing assist from the inimitable Joe White (whose terrific new album you really ought to hear). The Cemetery itself will do the performing. (You can also listen to the soundtrack at home and pretend you're walking around the Cemetery.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The Sunset Park entrance is only a short walk from Hometown BBQ Industry City (if you go over the weekend, you can get the fabulous pastrami).
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Mon, Dec 11, 2023, 6:00 AM – Sun, Dec 17, 2023, 11:59 PM
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
Ellen Reid: New York, New York
MONDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11 – 17, 2023 (ongoing)
6:00 AM – 1:00 AM
New York Philharmonic
Central Park, Manhattan
Free
TICKETS + INFORMATION
What do you know? The New York Phil has gone and renamed Ellen Reid’s SOUNDWALK. Reid, one of the more soundscapey (and certainly one of the best) of today's many excellent young composers, put together a highly allusive soundtrack, played by members of the Philharmonic and a bunch of Alt Classical players about town. This walk isn't guided: you download an app that triggers sounds sent to your earphones from various cells around the Park as you wander. So you can do it over many times. (Speaking of wandering around Central Park, here's something that I, for one, never knew.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Delicious pan-African at Teranga.
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Sunday, December 10, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Marty Ehrlich: Dark Woods / Bright Sparks
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2023
8:00 PM
Roulette In Person & Live Stream
509 Atlantic Avenue (entrance on Third Avenue), Boerum Hill, Brooklyn
$25 advance; $30 door; $20 students/seniors advance; free live stream
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Reedsmaster Marty Ehrlich presents two suites, one emphasizing the dark woody sound of his instruments and the other the bright metalic sound.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In person, superb Palestinian at AlBadawi. Streaming at home, have a Rye & Ginger: pour 2 oz. Rye into a Collins glass. Add 3 ice cubes. Top with ginger ale. If you’re feeling really adventurous, put in 3 dashes of orange bitters. Garnish with a lime wedge.
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Sunday, December 10, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Gordon Beeferman feat. Anders Nilsson & Kate Gentile: Organ Trio
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2023
8:00 PM
Nublu 151
151 Avenue C, East Village, Manhattan
$22.66
TICKETS + INFORMATION
I mean, you have to get at least a little excited about an organ trio led by keyboardist/opera composer Gordon Beeferman with Anders Nilsson and Kate Gentile, right?
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Go to Kafana. Bring cash cuz they don’t take plastic. Bring a hunger cuz their Serbian food is HEARTY. Bring a thirst because their appre le lettre Natural wine list is extensive.
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Sunday, December 10, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Collide-O-Scope Music: Music of Berg, Schoenberg, Babbitt, Bailey
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2023
7:30 PM
Christ & St. Stephen's Church
120 West 69th Street, Upper West Side, Manhattan
$23.18
TICKETS + INFORMATION
So mezzo-soprano Kayleigh Butcher emailed me to say that she has just been asked to step in at the last minute to sing Schoenberg’s Das Buch Der Hängenden Gärten. There’s a reason that one of us is an amazing performer of music and the other a middling writer about it. If you don’t know that piece, it’s Schoenberg in his pre-dodecaphonic (but still atonal), purely (and hyper!) Expressionist period. There’s also some rare chamber music by Berg (Schoenberg’s pupil duh), brief pieces by Schoenberg’s dodecaphonic heir Babbitt (he cared if you listened!), and a film-with-music by ensemble member Christopher Bailey.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It’s becoming clear that Lady Gaga can do just about anything (not that, say, outsinging Mick Jagger is much of an achievement these days) — and that includes having a trattoria named after her by her parents.
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Sunday, December 10, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Catalytic Sound Festival NYC
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2023
7:00 PM
Public Records
233 Butler Street, Gowanus, Brooklyn
$25.75
TICKETS + INFORMATION
There is just about nobody on this long bill who hasn’t been Listed dozens of times.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Chicago Italian beef as good as in Chicago at Bobbi’s Italian Beef.
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Sunday, December 10, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Setting / Loren Connors & Alan Licht
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2023
7:00 PM
Union Pool
484 Union Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$18.54
TICKETS + INFORMATION
This question is undoubtedly of more interest to me than it is to you, but why do I find some spacey droney Post-Folk music enthralling, and some feckless and boring? I think it has to do with whether they’re sufficiently Post-. Setting, I’m sorry to say, falls into the “feckless and boring” category. Loren Connors’s space blues, OTOH, is some of the most unique, enthralling stuff out there. And Connors’s co-guitarist for this night, Alan Licht, has been fascinating me (for one) for years.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Sunday dinner at Bamonte’s.
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Sunday, December 10, 2023, 5:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Gamelan Dharma Swara: Fall Frequencies
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2023
5:00 PM
Stone Circle Theater
59-14 70th Avenue, Ridgewood, Queens
$27.73 advance; $30 door; $15 under 14 at door
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Gamelan Dharma Swara accompanies its chiming hypnotic percussion-based Gamelan music with trad Balinese dance. Eaters accompany their Suicidesque Synth-Punk with an extra hit of darkness.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Really good papusas at Papusas Ridgewood.
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Sunday, December 10, 2023, 4:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Ras Moshe Burnett & Patricia Spears Jones
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2023
4:30 PM
Scholes Street Studio In Person & Live Stream
375 Lorimer Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$10
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Free Jazz saxophone and poetry.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In person, Thai café Win Son Bakery. Streaming at home, have a Wray & Ting: pour 1-1/2 oz. Wray & Nephew Overproof White Rum into a Highball glass over ice. Top with Ting soda.
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Sunday, December 10, 2023, 4:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
David Rothenberg: The Samchillian / Misha Hanukkah Show to the Memory of Michael Gruenbaum
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2023
4:00 PM
Spectrum
481 Van Brunt Street, Door 7A, Red Hook, Brooklyn
$15; $10 students/seniors
TICKETS + INFORMATION
David Rothenberg brings his uniquely quiet clarinet. But Leon Gruenbaum brings his odd electronic music devices Misha and the Samchillian. And Ben Richter brings his accordion. As for Tomas Strønen, well, somebody has to drum. And RIP Leon’s father, who led a full life, much much longer than it could have been.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Keep the Hanukkah party going at Sunny’s Bar.
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Sunday, December 10, 2023, 3:00 PM – 11:59 PM
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Sunday, December 10, 2023, 2:00 PM – 11:59 PM
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Saturday, December 9, 2023, 10:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Juan Atkins
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2022
10:00 PM
H0L0
1090 Wyckoff Avenue, Ridgewood, Queens
$29.36
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Respect: one of the Techno ancestors — a person whose influence on late 20th Century music is incalculable — returns to New York.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Hipster Italian at PÀN.
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Saturday, December 9, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Tallis Scholars: 50th Anniversary: While Shepherds Watched
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2023
8:00 PM
Church of St. Mary the Virgin
145 West 46th Street, Midtown, Manhattan
$40-$50; $30-$37 students & under 25; $34-$42 seniors
TICKETS + INFORMATION
When the Tallis Scholars entered the scene some 50 years ago, they brought a new purity and precision to Renaissance choral singing. Audiences could not believe the sheer beauty of it. Now, a new generation has emerged that emphasizes visceral impact and aural exploration over what they view as mere prettiness. Nevertheless, you still will not believe the sheer beauty of the Tallis Scholars’ performance.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Pioneering (the uncharitable would say superseded) Piemontese at Barbetta.
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Saturday, December 9, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
Keke Hunt (Just The Right Height): Live
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2023
8:00 PM
ISSUE Project Room @ MITU580
580 Sackett Street, Gowanus, Brooklyn
Free ($20 suggested donation)
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Beyond Hyper-Pop.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Only Café Mars with this.
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Saturday, December 9, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
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Saturday, December 9, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Exo-Tech
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2023
8:00 PM
(Le) Poisson Rouge
158 Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan
$29.46 advance; $30 day of
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Singers Sophia Brous and Kimbra lead a floating bunch of instrumentalists in a bounce between songform and free improv.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Venerable Roman at Lupa.
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Saturday, December 9, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Composers in Play VI: Portrait of a Canadian Minimalist
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2023
8:00 PM
Piano Lunaire
Tenri Cultural Institute
43A West 13th Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan
$30; $25 arts professionals/seniors; free students
TICKETS + INFORMATION
This List is thrilled to get a chance to advocate the Canadian Minimalist Ann Southam. It is nothing less than a scandal how infrequently this uniquely lyrical Minimalist composer’s stunningly bright work is programmed in New York City, and if you have any affection at all for the style you really want to hear Sarah Cahill, Adrienne Kim, and Adam Sherkin play this recital of Southam’s late piano works.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: They’ll be giving out beer and wine at the show. But if you want something at least slightly more solid, the broth is particularly rich at E.A.K. Ramen.
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Saturday, December 9, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Bark Culture / Michael Foster & Zoots Houston / Ana Luisa Díaz de Cossio, Rocio Díaz de Cossio & José Fernando Solares / T.J. Borden, Nick Neuberg & Drew Wesley
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2023
7:30 PM
CuteLab NYC
Address by DM, Gowanus, Brooklyn
$15
TICKETS + INFORMATION
These are mostly people you’ve already read about here (some of them a lot), so let’s focus on the new thing here. As you have probably gathered, this List is always ready for another ensemble featuring vibraphone — especially with a Brazilian tinge. So here we have, from Philadelphia: Bark Culture.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Cool Peruvian at Surfish Bistro.
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Saturday, December 9, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2023
7:30 & 9:30 PM
The Jazz Gallery In Person & Live Stream
1158 Broadway (entrance on West 27th Street), NoMad, Manhattan
$33.50-$44.50 in person; $22 live stream
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Now THIS should be an interesting meeting of the minds.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In person, fancy Austrian at Koloman. Streaming at home, have a Chrysantheumum: pour 3/4 oz. brandy (make it Courvoisier!), 2 oz. dry Vermouth, and 1/4 oz. Absinthe into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Express an orange twist into the drink and toss it in as a garnish.
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Saturday, December 9, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC / DANCE / PERFORMANCE
WaterWorks
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2023
7:30 PM
Harlem Stage
150 Convent Avenue, Harlem, Manhattan
$25
TICKETS + INFORMATION
”Emerging” performers in various disciplines — including the excellent composer-performer Mary Prescott, who seems pretty “emerged” to me already, but who’s counting?
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Ramen, oysters, kitchen snacks, and cocktails at ROKC.
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Saturday, December 9, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Still/Moving: Lionmilk / Gían Perez, Marc Edwards & Caroline Morton
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2023
7:00 PM
Ki Smith Gallery
170 Forsyth Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
$25.63
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Lionmilk does mellow expansive electronics, while Gían Pérez emits still more noise from his guitar.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: New Orleans at Canary Club.
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Saturday, December 9, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Amirtha Kidambi & Darius Jones: Angels & Demons
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2023
7:00 PM
The Kitchen @ Westbeth
163 Bank Street, West Village, Manhattan
$5-$15
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Amirtha Kidambi and Darius Jones marry the spiritual with the earthy, performing musical settings of the writings of Sun Ra.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Austrian at Wallsé. For old times’ sake.
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Saturday, December 9, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Catalyst Quartet: Plays Met Instruments
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2023
7:00 PM
Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, Metropolitan Museum of Art
1000 Fifth Avenue, Upper East Side, Manhattan
$35-$90
TICKETS + INFORMATION
A matched set of string instruments made in Astoria in the 1890s gets a rare outing. The Catalyst Quartet won’t be playing music of the period, though. They’ll play Jessie Montgomery’s titanic Strum, some Philip Glass, a vignette for string quartet by Gershwin, some Price if they must — and Haydn’s “Sunrise”, cuz it’s GREAT.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Back to the ‘70s at Hoexters.
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Saturday, December 9, 2023, 6:00 PM – 11:59 PM
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Saturday, December 9, 2023, 4:00 PM – 11:59 PM
THEATER
Adjusted Realists: Sleeping Beauty
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2023
4:00 PM
Caveat
21A Clinton Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
$39.80 advance; $35 door
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Wait there are two competing Pantos of Sleeping Beauty on the Lower East Side at 4:00 PM today? There is such a thing as too much of a good thing.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Drink at the venue. Eat a few doors down at Ivan Ramen.
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Saturday, December 9, 2023, 3:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
David Tamura Memorial Concert
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2023
3:00 PM
Spectrum
481 Van Brunt Street, Door 7A, Red Hook, Brooklyn
$15; $10 students/seniors
TICKETS + INFORMATION
There was less noise left in the world when saxophonist David Tamura died in June. Now, some of the people he played with get together the make a little new noise in his memory.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The self-explanatory Hometown Bar-B-Q.
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Saturday, December 9, 2023, 1:00 PM – 11:59 PM
OPERA
Catán: Florencia en el Amazonas
TUESDAY & SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5 & 9, 2023 (continuing through DECEMBER 14)
7:30 PM TUESDAY
1:00 PM SATURDAY
Metropolitan Opera
30 Lincoln Center Plaza, Upper West Side, Manhattan
$37-$400
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Zachary Woolfe complains in the The Times that Florencia en el Amazonas has Puccini’s melodies and harmonies without Puccini’s dramatic/emotional thrust. Well, the reason I can enjoy Florencia and can’t abide Puccini is precisely that lack of infantilizing emotional manipulation and constant overwrought melodramaticization. For once, you can enjoy those melodies and harmonies (advanced when Puccinni employed them, retrogressive when Catán did, sure) without feeling overborne and without feeling that the whole enterprise is basically stupid. Hear for yourself.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Spend a lot of money on very good fancy Italian food at The Leopard at des Artistes.
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Friday, December 8, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
ASM: Invocation XII
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2023
8:00 PM
Mise-En_Place
341 Calyer Street, Greenpoint, Brooklyn
$15
TICKETS + INFORMATION
From Dominic Coles’s piquantly incisive, playful in its way electronic music to id m theft able’s truly unhinged found/built-instrument soundscapes, by way of Austin Psych-Punk percussionist Lisa Cameron, between Coles and id m theft able on the “hinged” continuum.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Go to Raizes Churrascaria and pig (or rather cow) out.
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Friday, December 8, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
The Flushing Remonstrance: A Page of Madness
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2023
8:00 PM
Francis Kite Club
40 Avenue C, Lower East Side, Manhattan
$10
TICKETS + INFORMATION
It may not surprise you that in the 1920s the Japanese avant-garde was creating silent films as artfully creepy as anything coming out of Germany, but in a very different way. Here’s an exceedingly rare chance to see this amazing horror classic (although calling it a “horror” movie makes it seem like a genre piece, which it decidedly isn’t) by Teinosuke Kinugasa — with a scenario by Kawabata, no less. Live musical accompaniment by The Flushing Remonstrance, who live for this kind of thing.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: This is one door closer to the superb Puerto Rican at Casa Adela than Monday night’s accompanied silent films at Earth Chxrch were. Drink at the venue.
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Fri, Dec 8, 2023, 8:00 PM – Sat, Dec 9, 2023, 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Carl Stone: 70th Birthday Lollapalooza
FRIDAY & SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8 & 9, 2023
8:00 PM
Roulette In Person & Live Stream
509 Atlantic Avenue (entrance on Third Avenue), Boerum Hill, Brooklyn
$25 advance; $30 door; $20 students/seniors advance; free live stream
TICKETS + INFORMATION
I’m going to drop any (ironic, I hope you realize) pretense to omniscient editorial impersonality and say that Carl Stone is one of my favorite musicians. Playful, happy to engage with pop culture, tickling his listeners when not challenging them. He’s what you’d call an electronic musician, but in these Birthday retrospectives (a different show each night) he’ll also be playing with some (rather celebrated) (in List terms) actual humans.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In person, a new bar around the corner from Roulette! The Little Pig. Streaming at home, have a Stone Fence: pour 2 oz. gold Rum into a rocks glass over ice. Stir gently. Top with (hard) cider. Give it a tiny stir more.
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Friday, December 8, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
either/OR: Time | Again
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2023
8:00 PM
Speyer Hall, University Settlement House
184 Eldridge Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
$23.41; $12.71 students/seniors
TICKETS + INFORMATION
The reason to be getting really excited about this is a realization of a piece by the great Danish Fluxus member Henning Christiansen (whose airings are getting less infrequent than they used to be: some things get better!).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Chicken and cocktails at Double Chicken Please (be sure to go to the back dining room and not the front bar room).
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Friday, December 8, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
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Friday, December 8, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Pussy Riot: Riot Days — An Activist Multimedia Experience
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2023
8:00 PM
Warsaw
261 Driggs Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$38.76
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Surely I don’t have to tell you about Pussy Riot.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It's very hard for me to recommend that you do anything other than buy some delicious (and ridiculously cheap) Polish specialties from the nice ladies inside the venue. Drink there, too.
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Friday, December 8, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Michael Hearst
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2023
8:00 PM
Barbès
376 9th Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn
$21.95 advance; $20 door
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Michael Hearst usually disguises himself as a writer of children’s music, even though what he really writes is semi-classical chamber pop of enormous charm and appeal. Tonight, he admits he’s playing for adults.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Oysters and more at Bar Crudo.
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Friday, December 8, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Kalia Vandever Quartet
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2023
7:30 & 9:30 PM
The Jazz Gallery In Person & Live Stream
1158 Broadway (entrance on West 27th Street), NoMad, Manhattan
$33.50-$44.50 in person; $22 live stream
TICKETS + INFORMATION
So Kalia Vandever — absolutely my favorite current “jazz” trombonist — has a quartet including Mary Halvorson — absolutely my favorite current “jazz” guitarist. Wow.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In person, José Andrés goes Mediterranean at Zaytinya. Streaming at home, have a Bone: pour 2 oz. Rye and 1 tsp. each of lime juice and Simple Syrup, with 3 dashes of Tabasco Sauce (I’d swap in Crystal myself), into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled rocks glass.
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Friday, December 8, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
David Lang: The Little Match Girl Passion
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2023 (continuing DECEMBER 11 & 12)
7:30 & 9:00 PM
The Crypt Sessions
The Crypt, Church of the Intercession
550 West 155th Street, Hamilton Heights, Manhattan
$85
TICKETS + INFORMATION
This vocal/instrumental piece is still David Lang’s best so far out of a distinguished catalogue: musically surprising, emotionally affecting — and a really great listen. One can only say that the vocal/instrumental ensemble Ekmeles should do it full justice.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: There’s a wine-and-cheese reception starting an hour before each show — but I never tire of complaining that, for the high price charged for these concerts, the abominable quality of the wine and the cheese is deplorable. In any event, good burgers at At The Wallace — but most exciting of all, I’ve heard it reported on good authority that the fried cheese curds are as good as in Wisconsin.
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Friday, December 8, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Alone Not Lonely Vol. VI
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2023
7:30 PM
IBeam
168 7th Street, Gowanus, Brooklyn
$20
TICKETS + INFORMATION
I thought they were up to Volume VII myself. Anyway, this evening of solo sets gets Listed for saxophonist Angela Morris, another artist who doesn’t know there’s a difference between jazz, classical, and pop.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Appealing eclectic New Americanish at Runner & Stone.
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Friday, December 8, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
andPlay: Translucent Harmonies Record Release Concert
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2023
7:30 PM
DiMenna Center
450 West 37th Street, Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan
$18.07; $12.71 students/community (whatever THAT means)
TICKETS + INFORMATION
If people like Arvo Pärt wrote Holy Minimalism, then Catherine Lamb writes Holy Drone. And boy is it something. A very augmented version of the violin-viola andPlay duo will perform an extended Lamb piece, and you might not want to miss it. Clarinetist from the Beyond Madison Greenstone will play an opening set.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It seems unlikely, but a (very) knowledgeable friend tells me that Chez Zou is actually a good cocktail bar.
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Friday, December 8, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
The Dragon Sisters: Cakeykoutour
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2023
7:30 PM
Elsewhere
599 Johnson Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$25.70
TICKETS + INFORMATION
SPOILER: They’re not really sisters.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Korean-American pub grub at Nowon Bushwick.
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Friday, December 8, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
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Friday, December 8, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Compass
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2023
7:00 PM
Brooklyn Raga Massive
Art Cafe & Bar
884 Pacific Street, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
$25
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Compass takes the idea that the Roma originally came from India and runs with it. Flamenco should fit in with North Indian Theka cyclic rhythm forms, they argue — and, they demonstrate, it does.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I mean, Christ, you’re right around the corner from Cruz del Sur. Go, have a Torta Ahogada, and haver your life changed.
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Fri, Dec 8, 2023, 7:00 PM – Sun, Dec 10, 2023, 11:59 PM
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Friday, December 8, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
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Fri, Dec 8, 2023, 6:30 PM – Sun, Dec 10, 2023, 11:59 PM
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Thursday, December 7, 2023, 9:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Trio Catarina
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2023
9:00 & 10:15 PM
LunÀtico
486 Halsey Street, Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn
$10
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Trio Catarina play lively Forro.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You should at least buy some drinks from the venue. But if you want some more interesting and substantial food than LunÀtico serves, Southern (American) at Peaches.
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Thu, Dec 7, 2023, 8:00 PM – Fri, Dec 8, 2023, 11:59 PM
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Thursday, December 7, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
TAK Ensemble: Machine Tongue
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2023
8:00 PM
MITU580
580 Sackett Street, Gowanus, Brooklyn
$10-$100
TICKETS + INFORMATION
New stuff from the expert vocal-instrumental TAK Ensemble. I’m especially looking forward to the piece by Michelle Lou — a composer I’ve been wanting to hear more of since coming upon her at MATA at some point — that is said to be “a slow-moving quasi-installation performance, . . . [that] interweaves electronic environments with rock and grunge inspired song, drone, and geological rhythms.”
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Littleneck evokes a seaside clam bar — even if it’s more sludge-side.
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Thu, Dec 7, 2023, 8:00 PM – Sun, Dec 10, 2023, 11:59 PM
MUSIC
LCD Sound System: Tri-Boro Tour 2023 Residency
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7 – 10, 2023
8:00 PM
Knockdown Center
52-19 Flushing Avenue, Maspeth, Queens
Dynamic Pricing: I honestly have no idea
TICKETS + INFORMATION
LCD Sound System — still kind of cool, if not absolutely encapsulating the moment as in their heyday — does what is now its annual Fall extended residency.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It doesn’t take much imagination to know what to expect a La Parillada Colombiana.
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Thu, Dec 7, 2023, 8:00 PM – Sun, Dec 10, 2023, 11:59 PM
THEATER
Leonie Bell & Local Grandma: SchmidtSmithSchmidt
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7 – 10, 2023 (continuing through DECEMBER 17)
8:00 PM THURSDAY – SATURDAY
2:00 PM SUNDAY
The Brick
579 Metropolitan Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$22-$52
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Leonie Bell’s antic Post-Epic Theater is exactly the kind of thing This List was created for: people who think they don’t like This Kind Of Thing would love this — if only they’d go. GO!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Roman pinsa at Montesacro.
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Thu, Dec 7, 2023, 8:00 PM – Sat, Dec 9, 2023, 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Wet Ink: 25th Anniversary Festival
THURSDAY – SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7 – 9, 2023
8:00 PM
Dixon Place
161A Chrystie Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
$20 per show; $50 festival pass
TICKETS + INFORMATION
The composer/performer collective celebrates 25 years (not with the same line-up!), with a starry (for here!) galaxy of guests. Maybe Friday looks the best? Maybe every night looks great?
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Sicilian at Pasquale Jones sibling Bar Pasquale.
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Thursday, December 7, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Piano Dialogues: Jeremy Denk
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2023
7:30 PM
Merkin Hall, Kaufman Music Center
129 West 67th Street, Upper West Side, Manhattan
$49
TICKETS + INFORMATION
A typically well-thought-out and broad ranging recital from Jeremy Denk — which we can expect will be typically beautifully played. The Romantic stuff is more than counterbalanced by Missy Mazzoli(!), Meredith Monk(!), Tania León, Ruth Crawford Seeger, and Phyllis Chen. And the Romantic stuff includes Louise Farrenc and Cécile Chaminade, whom you don’t get to hear everyday (and the French did Romantic better than the rest of Europe anyway).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: As you may recall, the revivified Old John’s Luncheonette is right across the street.
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Thu, Dec 7, 2023, 7:30 PM – Sat, Dec 9, 2023, 11:59 PM
THEATER
Lynette Wallworth: How To Live (after you die)
THURSDAY – SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7 – 9, 2023
7:30 PM
BAM Fisher
321 Ashland Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$35
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Australian radical Pentecostalism — from the inside.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: A welcome return to substantive Korean food at Mokbar successor Gahm.
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Thursday, December 7, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
The New Series: Ellen Taaffe Zwillich Portrait
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2023
7:30 PM
Harris/Woolfson Orchestral Studio, Juilliard School, Lincoln Center
155 West 65th Street, Upper West Side, Manhattan
Free
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Back in the ‘80s and ‘90s, it looked like Ellen Taafe Zwillich could be the Great Hope of orchestral music. She wrote in a Neo-Romantic idiom that’s totally out of fashion now. But I’ve been listening to some of her stuff recently, and it still sounds really good. Quality will out.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Just look at the menu of Kabab Aur Sharab and tell me you don’t want to be there like NOW.
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Thursday, December 7, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
The Cramer Quartet: Haydn: Dialogues
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2023
7:30 PM
Alchemical Studios
50 West 17th Street, Chelsea, Manhattan
$25
TICKETS + INFORMATION
The Cramer Quartet explores the possibilities of gut strings by pairing Haydn with inti figis-vizueta — and if you don’t want to hear that, maybe you should be reading a different List (oops my Marketing Director told me not to say things like that!). Violist-gone-wild UCC Harlo will play a DJ set.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Portale for cheffed-up Italian.
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Thursday, December 7, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Tomomi Adachi: Cage Shock: Homage to Cage’s First Japan Visit
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2023
7:30 PM
John Cage’s Japan
Japan Society In Person & Live Stream
333 East 47th Street, Turtle Bay, Manhattan
$42 in person; $34 persons with disability in person; $20 live stream
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Sound artist Tomomi Adachi puts together a program of music John Cage created in response to his first visit to Japan in the early ‘60s, as well as music by Cage’s host, Cage’s former student Toshi Ichiyanagi (the first husband of his Fluxus colleague Yoko Ono).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In person, sneak downstairs to what was the first izakaya many of us ever went to, Sakagura. Streaming at home, have a Bamboo: pour 1-1/2 oz. each of dry Vermouth and Sherry, with 2 dashes of orange bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Express a lemon twist into the drink and use the twist as a garnish, along with an olive.
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Thu, Dec 7, 2023, 7:30 PM – Sun, Dec 10, 2023, 11:59 PM
PERFORMANCE
Radical Acts
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7 – 10, 2023 (continuing through DECEMBER 16)
7:30 PM THURSDAY – SATURDAY
5:00 PM SUNDAY
JACK
20 Putnam Avenue, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
$22.40
TICKETS + INFORMATION
A performance festival. You could almost pick any night at random. Or look at the rundown and pick what intrigues you.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Good wine, good food at Place des Fêtes.
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Thursday, December 7, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
THEOTOKOS: Cantatas: Yesterday and Today
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2023
7:30 PM
St. Mary's Church
440 Grand Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
Pay what you will
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Church cantatas by Telemann (yesterday) and Doug Balliett (today).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: If you could get into Indian sensation Dhamaka, you’d really like it.
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Thursday, December 7, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
June Mcdoom
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2023
7:00 PM
Stone Circle Theater
59-14 70th Avenue, Ridgewood, Queens
$19.90
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Why is June Mcdoom one of the only folkie singer-songwriters this List will List? Because what we object to around here to direct unadorned self-expression — tell it to your therapist — but McDoom’s pieces (at least on record) are mediated by sonic manipulation, by the layers of fuzz and sonic gunk she pours on. It ends up being fascinating, actually — and as dark as her name portends.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Appealing Cuban at Benny’s Cuban Café.
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Thu, Dec 7, 2023, 7:00 PM – Sun, Dec 10, 2023, 11:59 PM
PERFORMANCE
Asi Wind: Inner Circle
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7 – 10, 2023 (continuing through JANUARY 14, 2024)
7:00 PM THURSDAY – SUNDAY
9:30 PM FRIDAY
4:00 PM SATURDAY
The Gym at Judson
243 Thompson Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan
$110-$265
TICKETS + INFORMATION
I’d been sleeping on this magic show (probably its massive mainstream success shielded it from my view). But contrary to how things might appear, just because people like something doesn’t mean it can’t get Listed.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Classic Manhattan Red Sauce at Monte’s Trattoria.
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Thu, Dec 7, 2023, 7:00 PM – Sun, Dec 10, 2023, 11:59 PM
THEATER
ONEOFUS: Sleeping Beauty
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7 – 10, 2023 (continuing through DECEMBER 24)
7:00 PM THURSDAY & FRIDAY
4:00 PM SATURDAY & SUNDAY
Abrons Arts Center
466 Grand Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
$46.87
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Julie Atlas Muz and Mat Fraser, legends in their own right, continue their program of bringing the Christmas Panto tradition to their Lower East Side neighborhood. These shows are uproariously funny, incredibly fun, totally endearing — and, in the end, rather uplifting. (Oh no they’re not!) (Oh yes they are!)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Thursday and Friday, OF COURSE you’re going to Ernesto’s for great Basque. Saturday and Sunday, daytime Malaysian at Kopitiam.
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Thursday, December 7, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
TENET & Downtown Voices: Unconventional Wisdom
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2023
7:00 PM
St. Paul’s Chapel
209 Broadway, FiDi, Manhattan
$15-$60
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Vocal music by 17th-Century Italian nuns.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Le Gratin, helas!
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Thu, Dec 7, 2023, 7:00 PM – Sun, Dec 10, 2023, 11:59 PM
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Thu, Dec 7, 2023, 4:30 PM – Sun, Dec 10, 2023, 11:59 PM
PERFORMANCE
Lightscape
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7 – 10, 2023 (continuing through JANUARY 1, 2024)
4:30 – 8:15 PM
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
990 Washington Avenue, across the street from Crown Heights, Brooklyn
THURSDAY: $29.34 adult; $16.42 children 3-12; free babies 0-2
FRIDAY & SATURDAY $44.87 adult; $23.67 children 3-12; free babies 0-2
SUNDAY $39.69 adult; $21.60 children 3-12; free babies 0-2
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Because this is Brooklyn, what you’d normally expect to be a corny set of light sculptures strewn throughout the Garden actually turns out to be kind of great.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Fine fine New Orleans at Lowerline.
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Thursday, December 7, 2023, 1:15 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
In Nomine Ensemble: New Sounds, Old Notes
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2023
1:15 PM
Gotham Early Music Festival Midtown Concerts
St. Malachy’s Church In Person & Live Stream
239 West 49th Street, Midtown, Manhattan
Free
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Italian, French, German, and Scottish(!) Baroque played by the piquant combination of violin, flute, bassoon, and harpsichord.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In person, I’m not gonna even tell you what El Mil Sabores puts on their Torta Loca sandwich. You have to see it for yourself. Streaming at home, have a Mr. Howell: pour 1-1/2 oz. amber or dark Rum, 1/2 oz. Islay Scotch, 3/4 oz. lime juice, and 1/2 oz. maple syrup into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a lime wheel.
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Wed, Dec 6, 2023, 8:30 PM – Sat, Dec 9, 2023, 11:59 PM
MUSIC
The Stone Residencies: Caroline Davis
WEDNESDAY – SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6 – 9, 2023
8:30 PM
The Stone
Glass Box Theater, The New School
55 West 13th Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan
$30
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Alto saxophonist Caroline Davis has enough ideas to keep things interesting over a four-night stretch.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: No one better to take over the old Café Loup space than NYC Front of House vet Michael Cechhi-Azzolina with his American Bistro Cecchi’s.
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Wed, Dec 6, 2023, 8:00 PM – Thu, Dec 7, 2023, 11:59 PM
DANCE / PERFORMANCE
Reed Rushes & Kate Williams: EXULT, Star and Stan
WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6 & 7, 2023
8:00 PM
Pageant
70 Graham Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$10.29-$30.87
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Drag and Club dancing combine with Post-Modern to explore cultural duality, gender identity, sexuality, and Americana.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Mexican snacks and mad desserts at Maya’s Snack Bar.
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Wednesday, December 6, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:30 PM
MUSIC
aja monet
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2023
8:00 PM
Pioneer Works
159 Pioneer Street, Red Hook, Brooklyn
$30.700 advance; $35.83 day of
TICKETS + INFORMATION
This List has never been enamored of that poetry w/jazz(y) music. But aja monet does it better than many.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I’m still bursting with excitement over the new Piemonte-leaning Bar Mario.
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Wed, Dec 6, 2023, 8:00 PM – Sat, Dec 9, 2023, 11:59 PM
PERFORMANCE
Tiraseas: Cryptochrome
WEDNESDAY – SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6 – 9, 2023 (continuing through DECEMBER 16)
8:00 PM
the cell theatre
338 West 23rd Street, Chelsea, Manhattan
$20-$30
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Tiresias, the queer oracle of the Underworld, does a mulitimedia exploration of animal perception.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I'm going to keep sending you to Qanoon: their home-style Palestinian is SO good.
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Wednesday, December 6, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Patricia Brennan feat. Sylvie Courvoisier: TALAMANTI
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2023
8:00 PM
Roulette In Person & Live Stream
509 Atlantic Avenue (entrance on Third Avenue), Boerum Hill, Brooklyn
$25 advance; $35 door; $20 students/seniors; free live stream
TICKETS + INFORMATION
It is so great that there is now this crop of vibraphonists who are totally devoted not just to technical accomplishment (i.e., they don’t feel the need to always be playing fast) but to expanding the sonic palette of their instrument and developing their own compositional as well as improvisatory sophistication. Patricia Brennan is at the center of all this. You can only be excited to hear the new piece she’s developed for herself and Sylvie Courvoisier, a pianist with crystaline fingers and mind.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In person, eclectic New American at As You Are. At home, have a Paloma: using a lime wedge to wet it, rim a Collins glass with salt. Fill with ice. Pour in 2 oz. Blanco or Reposado Tequila and 1/2 oz. lime juice. Top with grapefruit soda.
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Wednesday, December 6, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
The Andy Statman Trio
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2023
8:00 PM
Barbès
376 9th Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn
$20
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Andy Statman, a Klezmer musician playing avant-jazz (and Klezmer).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Let’s fail to get into Indian sensation Masalawala & Sons again!
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Wed, Dec 6, 2023, 7:30 PM – Sat, Dec 9, 2023, 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Brian Rogers: Small Songs
WEDNESDAY – SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6 – 9, 2023
7:30 PM
Chocolate Factory
38-33 24th Street, Long Island City, Queens
$13-$292
TICKETS + INFORMATION
You listen to Brian Rogers’s new album of modular synth music while sitting on a comfy chair or sofa, drinking a Natural wine or a cocktail, and being immersed in a light show.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Nice family Brazilian at Beija Flor.
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Wednesday, December 6, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Kengchakaj: Yon Yæng solo edition
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2023
7:30 & 9:30 PM
Jazz Gallery In Person & Live Stream
1160 Broadway (entrance on 27th Street), NoMad, Manhattan
$23-$33.50 in person; $22 live stream
TICKETS + INFORMATION
An exploration of Thai and other Asian musics through piano and electronics, voice, and electronic-generated visuals.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In person, it must seem like I’m getting kickbacks from Italian-Ashkenazic treat Mark’s Off Madison, but really it’s just that I really like their food. Streaming at home, have a Tamarind Whiskey Sour: mix 1 tbs. tamarind paste with 1 tbs. hot water and let cool. Pour 1-1/2 oz. Bourbon, 1 oz. lime juice, 1/2 oz. Simple Syrup, and the cooled tamarind paste/water mixture into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a double rocks glass over ice. Garnish with an orange slice and a cocktail cherry.
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Wed, Dec 6, 2023, 7:30 PM – Sat, Dec 9, 2023, 11:59 PM
DANCE
Pina Bausch/Germaine Acogny & Malou Airaudo: The Rite of Spring / common ground[s]
WEDNESDAY – SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6 – 9, 2023 (continuing through DECEMBER 14)
7:30 PM WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY
8:00 PM FRIDAY & SATURDAY
Park Avenue Armory
643 Park Avenue, Upper East Side, Manhattan
$40-$125
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Pina Bausch’s galvanic setting of the Rite — something that will not be forgotten by anyone who’s seen it — becomes even more galvanic in this adaptation by fabulous dancers from Africa.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Excellent classic French at Sel et Poivre.
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Wed, Dec 6, 2023, 7:30 PM – Sun, Dec 10, 2023, 11:59 PM
THEATER
Becca Blackwell & Amanda Duarte: Snatch Adams and Tainty McCracken Present It’s That Time of the Month
WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6 – 10, 2023
7:30 PM WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY
3:00 PM SATURDAY
Soho Rep.
46 Walker Street, Tribeca, Manhattan
$37.50
TICKETS + INFORMATION
There are two kinds of people: people who are unexcited by the thought of a talk show hosted by a 6-foot-high vagina and a giant taint, and people who read this List.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Frenchette!
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Wednesday, December 6, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
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Wednesday, December 6, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Matt McBane: Topography
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2023
7:30 PM
National Sawdust
80 North 6th Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$29.33 advance; $31.33 door
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Electronic composer Matt McBane follows up last year’s wonderful Bathymetry — whose title makes it sound like it was written for Ashley Bathgate, but it wasn’t — with a terrestrial companion piece that was written for the cellist (along with a percussion ensemble as was featured in Bathymetry). As if that’s not enough — and believe me, McBane’s atmospheric music is really really good — Bathgate will play a solo set.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Nice Sardinian at D.O.C. Wine Bar.
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Wed, Dec 6, 2023, 7:00 PM – Sun, Dec 10, 2023, 11:59 PM
THEATER
Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins: Appropriate
WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6 – 10, 2023 (continuing through FEBRUARY 11, 2024)
7:00 PM WEDNESDAY – FRIDAY & SUNDAY
2:0 PM SATURDAY & SUNDAY
8:00 PM SATURDAY
2nd Stage @ The Hayes Theater
240 West 44th Street, Midtown, Manhattan
$115-$199.50; $40 limited availability under 30 years; $25 student rush
TICKETS + INFORMATION
The author of the best American play so far this Century comes up with a family drama that you can bet isn’t going to be just a family drama. Wonder if the title has a short “a” or a long “a”?
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Westway Diner. Cuz it’s still there.
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Wednesday, December 6, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
PERFORMANCE / MUSIC
Anto Astudillo: Generative / Unproductive
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2023
7:00 PM
Performance Space New York
150 1st Avenue, East Village, Manhattan
$16.75
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Multi-media variety show dedicated to the proposition that you can foster things without reproducing yourself.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Get your momo working at Lhasa.
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Wednesday, December 6, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Zoh Amba - Chris Corsano OR Alfredo Colón - Theo Walentiny / Gían Pérez- Marc Edwards - Michael Gilbert / Palenque Monastary
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2023
7:00 PM
Nublu 151
151 Avenue C, East Village, Manhattan
$22.66
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Not sure which sax-including duo is actually headlining — but it’ll be one of them. Meanwhile, Gían Pérez will make more noise on his guitar. And Palenque Monastary includes vibraphonist Selendis Sebastian Alexander Johnson, The Hardest-Working Person In NYC New Music Business.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Go to Kafana. Bring cash cuz they don’t take plastic. Bring a hunger cuz their Serbian food is HEARTY. Bring a thirst because their appre le lettre Natural wine list is extensive.
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Tuesday, December 5, 2023, 9:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Leo Genovese: Quilombo
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2023
9:00 & 10:15 PM
LunÀtico
486 Halsey Street, Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn
$10
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Leo Genovese has made his mark as a mainstream Modern jazz pianist. But here he goes full-out in the music of his country of origin — and Tango and its relatives are The Shit if you ask me.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You should at least buy some drinks from the venue. But if you want some more interesting and substantial food than LunÀtico serves, nice pizza and tapas at Saraghina.
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Tue, Dec 5, 2023, 7:30 PM – Sun, Dec 10, 2023, 11:59 PM
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Tuesday, December 5, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
OPERA
Catán: Florencia en el Amazonas
TUESDAY & SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5 & 9, 2023 (continuing through DECEMBER 14)
7:30 PM TUESDAY
1:00 PM SATURDAY
Metropolitan Opera
30 Lincoln Center Plaza, Upper West Side, Manhattan
$37-$400
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Zachary Woolfe complains in the The Times that Florencia en el Amazonas has Puccini’s melodies and harmonies without Puccini’s dramatic/emotional thrust. Well, the reason I can enjoy Florencia and can’t abide Puccini is precisely that lack of infantilizing emotional manipulation and constant overwrought melodramaticization. For once, you can enjoy those melodies and harmonies (advanced when Puccinni employed them, retrogressive when Catán did, sure) without feeling overborne and without feeling that the whole enterprise is basically stupid. Hear for yourself.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Spend a lot of money on very good fancy Italian food at The Leopard at des Artistes.
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Tuesday, December 5, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
USIC
Molto Ohm feat. Lester St. Louis: Night Waves / Asemix / Nava Dunkelman & Chuck Bettis
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2023
7:30 PM
Sisters
900 Fulton Street, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
$18
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Electronics of varying degrees of abstraction and pop-adjacency.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You can eat and drink perfectly well at Sisters.
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Tuesday, December 5, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
DANCE
Marisa Tornello: When I
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2023
7:30 PM
The Doxsee @ Target Margin Theater
232 52nd Street, Sunset Park, Brooklyn
$25-$60
TICKETS + INFORMATION
I guess you can call this Dance: with Marisa Tornello I’m never sure if it’s Music, Dance, or Performance. Whatevs, she really is one of the most valuable performing artists on the NYC scene. So inventive, so interesting, so full of suggestive ideas that you trust her even when she goes the autobiographical/therapeutic route, as in this piece.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The tacos are really good at Ricos Tacos.
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Tue, Dec 5, 2023, 7:30 PM – Sun, Dec 10, 2023, 11:59 PM
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Tuesday, December 5, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
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Tuesday, December 5, 2023, 6:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
DMG FREE WEEKLY IN-STORE MUSIC SERIES
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2023
6:30 PM
Downtown Music Gallery
13 Monroe Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
Free
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Back to Tuesday-night normal at DMG — albeit with an emphasis this night on reed and wind instruments not commonly associated with “jazz”.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Modern-Korean-inflected Golden Diner.
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Tue, Dec 5, 2023, 10:00 AM – Sun, Dec 10, 2023, 11:59 PM
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
Gelsey Bell & Joseph White: Meander
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 5 – 10, 2023 (ongoing)
10:00 AM – 3:30 PM
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
150 Eastern Parkway, across the street from Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
$18; $12 students/seniors; free children under 12
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Having created a wonderful sound walk through Green-Wood Cemetery, the dream team of Gelsey Bell and Joe White do the same for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (one of my favorite places on earth, if you want to know). The soundtrack is available on the BBG website.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The best pancakes in town (and other great stuff) at Tom’s Restaurant.
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Monday, December 4, 2023, 9:00 PM – 11:59 PM
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Monday, December 4, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Striped Light: Henry Birdsey / Ka Baird & Laura Cocks / Vinyl Consort
MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023
8:00 PM
Secret Location (DM for address), Long Island City, Queens
$15
TICKETS + INFORMATION
What unearthly sounds! Henry Birdsey comes down from Vermont to play with microtones and just intonation. Ka Baird and Laura Cocks take voice and flute to extremes. And the Vinyl Consort is what happens when the Daxophone Consort is joined by Yo! Vinyl Richie.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Take the interesting walk (you’ll see what I mean) into the past at Brooks 1890 (where the ambiance is a lot more interesting than the food).
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Monday, December 4, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Eli Wallace-Drew Wesely-Nick Neuburg-Lisa Cameron / Michael Foster with Strings (Webb Crawford-Zosha Warpeha-DoYeon Kim-Nava Dunkelman) / Sandy Ewen
MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023
8:00 PM
Record Shop
360 Van Brunt Street, Red Hook, Brooklyn
$10-$15
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Eli Wallace and his prepared piano, Michael Foster doing the Charlie Parker thing (with stellar backup), Sandy Ewen making sound art — and there’s a rumor List hero Kwami Winfield will show up, too!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It’s burgers and shrimp cocktails at Red Hook Tavern.
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Monday, December 4, 2023, 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Unsound Festival
MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023
8:00 PM
David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center
10 Lincoln Center Plaza, Upper West Side, Manhattan
$5-$125
TICKETS + INFORMATION
A big night. Leyland James Kirby/The Caretaker has been exploring ambient sound in different interesting ways in London for years. But the big news is Moor Mother taking her great album Black Encyclopedia of the Air to the stage. A sort of revue — with guest stars you want to see and hear — celebrating Black verbal culture of the ‘60s and ‘70s.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Too bad you can’t get into Nu York Afro-Caribbean smash Tatania; it would be really perfect.
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Monday, December 4, 2023, 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
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Monday, December 4, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Musics
MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023
7:00 PM
Barbès
376 9th Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn
$20
TICKETS + INFORMATION
The Modern Georgian Tsinadze brothers join up with their avant-jazz buds Chris Tordini (bass) and Jason Nazary (drums) to form the most generically named ensemble possible.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I only wish there were some Georgian restaurant nearby to send you to. So I’ll ask you to try Mikhuy Peruvian and let me know how it is.
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Monday, December 4, 2023, 7:00 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
C. Spencer Yeh / Charly Looker / Mariel Roberts / Corey Bracken
MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023
7:00 PM
Sundownstairs, Sundown Bar
68-38 Forest Avenue, Ridgewood, Queens
$14.40
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Three out of four of these artists have been in bands (I mean for all I know the fourth one has, too). All are Classical Composers and performers. Got it?
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You’re in a bar with a pretty good cocktail program. For something more solid, Nepalese-New York fusion (cuz why not?) at While in Kathmandu.
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Monday, December 4, 2023, 6:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
DMG FREE WEEKLY IN-STORE MUSIC SERIES
MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023
6:30 PM
Downtown Music Gallery
13 Monroe Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
Free
TICKETS + INFORMATION
An infrequent Monday show at the Downtown Music Gallery — and what a show. With a Korean theme. DoYeon Kim playing Prog Gayageum with Peter Evans on trumpet! Leo Chang doing electronics by himself! Free Jazz saxophonist Sunjae Lee leading a trio with Henries Fraser and Mermer!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Golden Unicorn for dim sum.
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Monday, December 4, 2023, 6:00 PM – 11:59 PM
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Mon, Dec 4, 2023, 8:00 AM – Sun, Dec 10, 2023, 11:59 PM
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
Gelsey Bell feat. Joseph White: Cairns
MONDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 4 – 10, 2023 (ongoing)
8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
#stillHERE IRL
Green-Wood Cemetery, Sunset Park Entrance
35th Street at 4th Avenue, Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn
$7 or more for soundtrack
TICKETS + INFORMATION
One of the first shows that you could actually Go Out! to back in the days of The Lockdown (although it's not quite "live"). Gelsey Bell, that vocal star of NYC Alt Classical, has conceived of a piece that walks you around Green-Wood Cemetery (starting at the Sunset Park Entrance). You download the soundtrack on your phone beforehand (the Times complains about how hard it is to download from Bandcamp to an iPhone — trust me: if I can figure out how to do it, anyone can). Bell wrote the text and narrates, with a co-composing assist from the inimitable Joe White (whose terrific new album you really ought to hear). The Cemetery itself will do the performing. (You can also listen to the soundtrack at home and pretend you're walking around the Cemetery.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The Sunset Park entrance is only a short walk from Hometown BBQ Industry City (if you go over the weekend, you can get the fabulous pastrami).
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Mon, Dec 4, 2023, 6:00 AM – Sun, Dec 10, 2023, 11:59 PM
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
Ellen Reid: New York, New York
MONDAY – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 4 – 10, 2023 (ongoing)
6:00 AM – 1:00 AM
New York Philharmonic
Central Park, Manhattan
Free
TICKETS + INFORMATION
What do you know? The New York Phil has gone and renamed Ellen Reid’s SOUNDWALK. Reid, one of the more soundscapey (and certainly one of the best) of today's many excellent young composers, put together a highly allusive soundtrack, played by members of the Philharmonic and a bunch of Alt Classical players about town. This walk isn't guided: you download an app that triggers sounds sent to your earphones from various cells around the Park as you wander. So you can do it over many times. (Speaking of wandering around Central Park, here's something that I, for one, never knew.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Delicious pan-African at Teranga.
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Sunday, December 3, 2023, 8:30 PM – 11:59 PM
MUSIC
Careful In The Sun / tilt
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2023
8:30 PM
Sisters
900 Fulton Street, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
$15-$20
TICKETS + INFORMATION
Careful In The Sun is Maya Keren’s dreamy loopy song project. And tilt is perhaps my favorite of vocalist Isabel Crespo Pardo’s bands (at least my favorite today), joining her up as it does with trombonist Kalia Vandever and bassist/singer Carmen Rothwell: three artists who go (in different ways) for the same kind of combination of daring and immediate listenability. This is gonna be great.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You can eat and drink perfectly well at Sisters.
