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Laura Cocks & Frederico Isasti, DoYeon Kim & Henry Fraser

May 14, 2024

7pm doors 8pm music

Full dinner menu available, seating is first-come first-serve

live in the back room

LAURA COCKS & FREDERICO ISASTI

photo by Frank Schindelbeck

Laura Cocks is is a flutist with “febrile instrumental prowess” (The New York Times), who works in a wide array of environments as a performer of experimental music and “creates intricate, spellbinding works that have a visceral physicality to them” (Foxy Digitalis). Laura is the executive director and flutist of TAK ensemble, “one of the most prominent ensembles in the United States practicing truly experimental music” (I Care If You Listen) with whom Laura makes musics “that combine crystalline clarity with the disorienting turbulence of a sonic vortex” (WIRE Magazine). Laura is also a member of Talea Ensemble, and SUN HAN GUILD and performs regularly as a soloist, an improviser, and chamber musician with ensembles such as International Contemporary Ensemble, DeCapo Chamber Players, Third Sound, Wet Ink Ensemble, and many others in NYC and abroad.

Frederico Isasti is a drummer, composer, improviser and audio visual software developer based in Buenos Aires. Having participated as a drummer and co-leader in more than 20 albums of creative music groups (Alan Plachta, Pía Hernández, Elias Stemeseder, Julián Mekler, NUDO, among others) and is internationally recognized by his musical work, Federico is interested in interdisciplinary practice and has composed music for dance and produced hybrid audio-visual performances.

DOYEON KIM & HENRY FRASER

photo by Peter Gannushkin / downtownmusic.net

DoYeon Kim is a traditionally trained Korean artist who plays the gayageum, a traditional Korean string instrument, and has developed a uniquely broad approach to music, which incorporates Korean music, jazz, and improvisation, among other influences. Importantly, she introduced the gayageum into the improvisational music scene worldwide. DoYeon has performed throughout the world leading the Kim Do Yeon Band, and alongside many improvisers, including Tyshawn Sorey, Joe Morris, Agusti Fernandez, Tony Malaby and Anthony Coleman. Her first album, GaPi (2017), intimately combined traditional Korean music and jazz, and was nominated for a 2018 Korean Grammy Award in the crossover album category.

Henry Fraser moved to NYC in 2014, and has has worked with such artists as John Zorn, Ka Baird, Uniform, Brandon Seabrook, Lea Bertucci, and Isa Crespo Pardo’s sinonó. He has toured throughout the US and abroad, playing such venues as the Panama Jazz Festival, Moers Festival, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and Lincoln Center. Much of Fraser’s work is rooted in his music for solo double bass, which has culminated in three releases – his latest, Breath Line is scheduled for release in the fall of 2024 – establishing him as a technical and creative force among his generation of bassists.

photo by Peter Gannushkin / downtownmusic.net 

plus CAKES XMAS SELECTS ONLY THE UPSETTER


Brooklyn Raga Massive Presents: Nakshatra / Tranpe

May 13, 2024

TICKETS

7pm doors 8pm music

Full dinner menu available

Seating is first-come first-serve

Brooklyn Raga Massive Presents

Nakshatra: Trina Basu & Arun Ramamurthy

Violinists Trina Basu and Arun Ramamurthy reimagine the potential of string chamber music with a unique sound both deeply intimate and cinematically expansive. Deeply rooted in traditions of South Indian classical music, Western chamber music, jazz and folk styles, the duo creates a sound that feels ancient, orchestral, and contemporary or as The New Yorker put it, “free-flowing and globe-spanning.” Trina and Arun reach both deep into their past and high into the celestial realm, culminating in a lush and spiritual collaboration that bridges traditions and defies genres.

Tranpe: Rufus Cappadocia & Sheila Anozier

Sheila Anozier‘s deep relationship with Haitian folk melodies and Vodou converges with Rufus Cappadocia’s mastery of modal music and polyrhythm to produce Tranpe’s transcendent version of the “Mizik rasin”.

Sam Weinberg 2024 Residency

April 25, 2024

7pm doors 8pm music

Full dinner menu available, seating is first come first serve

performing live in the back room

SAM OSPOVAT HEADVOICE 

Peter Evans – trumpet

Brandon Seabrook – guitar

John Hebert – bass

Sam Ospovat – drums

TILT brass 

Led by composer, trombonist, and concert producer Chris McIntyre, TILT Brass is a Brooklyn-based organization dedicated to creating new content and contexts for contemporary brass music by producing inventive concert programs, recording projects, and commissioning initiatives. TILT boldly positions itself as the vanguard presenter and advocate for new brass music in New York City. Founded in 2003 by McIntyre and Gregory Evans, TILT Brass’ various projects present the work of living composers with over 50 premiere performancesthus far. Its personnel includes many of the brightest stars from the local brass community in ensemble configurations ranging from solo and chamber groups to experimental brass orchestra. TILT can be heard on releases by the Tzadik, New World, Non-Site, and POTTR labels.

SAM WEINBERG 

solo saxophone

$10-30 sliding scale at the door (cash/Venmo, no advance tickets)


James Arenas & Los Sucios

April 17, 2024

7pm doors 8pm music 

Full dinner menu available, seating is first come first serve 

performing live in the back room 

JAMES ARENAS & LOS SUCIOS

“…synthesizes such seemingly disparate traditions as the pleading and desperate modern chanson of Jacques Brel; the liquid, undulating dreamscape of David Lynch; and the shadowy sounds of Leonard Cohen.” 

James Arenas – Guitar, Lead Vocal
John Anderson – Upright Bass
Mike Chambers – Electric Guitar
Amy de Arenas – Piano, Synths
Mike Glanzer – Cajon, Percussion
Claudia Mogel – Violin

+special guest
HARVEY VALDES


performing Erik Satie Improvisations for solo guitar

$15 at the door (cash/Venmo, no presale)


Brooklyn Raga Massive Presents

March 17, 2024

Get tickets here

7pm doors 8pm music

Full dinner menu available, seating is first-come first-served

performing live in the back room

GEORGE CROTTY TRIO

George Crotty has forged his own unique vocabulary on the cello. Expanding outward from the cello’s intrinsic lyricism, his sound introduces plaintive Irish ornamentation, melismatic gestures of Indian classical music, adapted electric guitar manoeuvres, and the bold articulation of jazz bass. He writes and performs for solo cello and small ensembles, and collaborates on film scores, original recordings, and theatrical productions. A member of the Brooklyn Raga Massive, and Detroit-based National Arab Orchestra, he has also worked with Bob Ezrin, Simon Shaheen, Paquito D’Rivera, Anat Cohen, and Darol Anger.

COMPASS TRIO 

Compass is a trio that brings an original compositional voice to the three musicians’ collective experience and expertise – Indian raga and tala, the art of flamenco, jazz harmony, and deep groove. The rhythmic form of North Indian music known as theka is a uniquely sophisticated container for exploring time and polyrhythm. Separated by hundreds of years and countless migrations of the Gitano diaspora throughout present day Middle East and Europe we find the same concepts in new forms through the Spanish compas. This musical connection through history and culture is referenced in the name Compass; both a tool to find one’s way home as well as that which structures time in music, another form of finding “home”. Compass Trio is comprised of guitar and effects (James Labrosse), tabla (Tripp Dudley), and sitar (Galen Passen)

Brooklyn Raga Massive is an adventurous nonprofit musicians’ collective that creates cross-cultural understanding through the lens of South Asian classical music by providing direct support to artists, fostering collaboration through our iconic concerts and jam sessions, facilitating cultural exchange through educational initiatives, and producing transcendent, and often massive, performances, festivals, and one-of-a-kind albums. BRM’s original ensembles have performed across the country at venues such as Lincoln Center, Fotografiska NY, Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, Pioneer Works, The Rubin Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Kennedy Center, and more. Through the curation of our signature series, festivals, and educational programs, we have brought raga into conversation with musical traditions coming from Iraq, Cuba, Morocco, Japan and more.This practice of cross-cultural collaboration both reflects the current global landscape and enables BRM to serve as an incubator of expansive, innovative, new genres of music indigenous to Brooklyn.


Almog Sharvit’s Coralition / Noah Rott Electric Quartet

March 1, 2024

doors 7pm music 8pm

full dinner menu available

seating is first come-first served

ALMOG SHARVIT’S CORALITION

Almog Sharvit is an “irrepressibly mischievous and highly skilled” (The Big Takeover) bassist and composer who is never content to stay too long in one mode. His debut album Get Up or Cry has been called a “startlingly imaginative record” and “a masterpiece of syncopated sound” (Bass Magazine, Goldmine Magazine). In addition to his own project, Almog can be heard playing with his collective trio KADAWA, Sunny Jain’s Wild Wild East, The NYChillharmonic, Forager, Julia Easterlin, Ashni, Ambrose Getz, Ella Mar and many more.  Website

NOAH ROTT’S ELECTRIC QUARTET

Noah Rott is a Brooklyn-based pianist and electronic artist who fuses modern jazz with electronic soundscapes. Originally hailing from Germany, Noah Rott migrated to New York City in 2017, where he swiftly carved out a niche for himself as a dynamic force within the city’s jazz scene. As part of a new generation of jazz innovators, Noah’s virtuosic and versatile use of analog synthesizers and sound effects paired with his picturesque approach to the acoustic piano have garnered attention and acclaim. He is currently leading a new quartet with the vision of creating an innovative sonic blend of acoustic elements and electronic sounds. His band features some of New York’s most unique musical minds, such as Alfredo Colon on saxophone, electric wind instrument, and effects; Mathias Jensen on upright bass; and Kobi Abcede on drums. After releasing his debut album Rewind in 2021, he is projected to release his second album as a bandleader in early 2025. Website
$15 at the door (cash/Venmo, no advance tickets)

Kenneth Jimenez’s ‘verolís’

January 15, 2024

7pm doors 8pm music, full dinner menu available, seating is first come first-served

performing live in the back room 

verolís

photo by Jose M. Alconchel

photo by Lynn Morgan

photo by Peter Gannushkin / downtownmusic.net

is a new project led by composer and bassist, Kenneth Jiménez, and also features Ingrid Laubrock on tenor saxophone and Christopher Hoffman (cello). The trio moves between written music and improvisation, allowing them to explore a wide range of textures and sounds to create shape and form throughout their set. The band takes its name after the flower of the sugar cane plant that blooms during harvesting season. Jiménez draws inspiration from these images that inhabit his earliest memories to put together this band and create this music.

Moritz/Ali/Coast

photo by azumi oe

Jonathan Moritz, Sean Ali, and Carlo Costa have been playing together since 2013 in a variety of ensembles. Since 2017 the three have been performing as a collective trio and over time have honed a distinctive band sound. One of the primary pursuits of the band is to inhabit and explore the acoustic space they perform in. The trio generally never utilizes any amplification and more often than not performs in DIY spaces that are not meant for concerts. By establishing a fragile yet palpable atmosphere the band activates the space and gradually draws the audience into its pool of sound.

$15 at the door (cash/Venmo, no advance tickets)