Weekend Arts Planner: An arts calendar packed with musical tributes in New York City
There are some fascinating musical tribute shows coming up in New York City - shows honoring jazz giants, legendary performing venues from the city's past and even a tribute to... a tribute album. WNYC's Culture and Arts Editor Steve Smith joins Weekend Edition host David Furst to bring us his latest picks.
1. Hal Willner's "Amarcord Nino Rota" at Roulette
Hal Willner arguably made his biggest impression on American culture by choosing the music played during "Saturday Night Live" sketches for 40 years. But his true gift was being the ultimate musical matchmaker. He made an album of Thelonious Monk's music that accommodated Donald Fagen, NRBQ and John Zorn, he featured Sting and Lou Reed on his two Kurt Weill tributes and Tom Waits, Sinead O'Connor, and Sun Ra appeared on his Walt Disney salute.
Willner's wild discography started in 1981 with "Amarcord Nino Rota," a collection of iconic performers and offbeat stars paying homage to the Italian composer Nino Rota. The lineup on the album ranged from Deborah Harry to Wynton Marsalis.
Composer and bandleader Carla Bley will be part of the extraordinary band playing Saturday, April 8 at Roulette in downtown Brooklyn - performing music featured on "Amarcord Nino Rota." Also participating are Laurie Anderson, Bill Frisell, Teddy Thompson, Curtis Stewart, and Steven Bernstein.
The concert was originally supposed to happen at Lincoln Center in 2018, but was canceled because of a freak storm and then we lost Hal Willner to COVID in 2020. Now, understand: Roulette is a pretty intimate space, so definitely go online and check ticket availability before you head out the door.
Also happening Saturday, April 8 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music is "The Cry of My People," which brings together poet Claudia Rankine and a 10-piece band with two legendary figures of the 1960s free-jazz movement, saxophonist Archie Shepp and singer Linda Sharrock.
3. The "American Songbook" series
At Lincoln Center, the "American Songbook" series is presenting a series curated by writer, theater director and filmmaker George C. Wolfe titled "A Place You Belong" -- concerts honoring four legendary New York City venues: Café Society, the Paradise Garage, the Savoy Ballroom, and the Palladium Ballroom.
Saturday, April 8 at David Geffen Hall, Tony Award nominee Arianna DeBose is singing songs by her biggest inspirations -- including Dionne Warwick, Judy Garland, and ABBA.
But when you're planning for the week ahead, put a big red circle on next Friday, April 14, and plan to hit the David Rubenstein Atrium for an homage to The Paradise Garage, a venue that was vital to both queer liberation and the global dance-music scene.
The show is being assembled by the queer-owned Brooklyn performance space C'Mon Everybody. It includes a set from DJ Samuella, and live performances by two fabulous live acts from Brooklyn: The Dragon Sisters, a provocative multidisciplinary duo that melds elements of hip-hop, classical music and dance, and The Illustrious Blacks, an Afrofuturist funk duo. It should be a real scorcher.
