Folkin' ay! Festival returns this weekend

By Meredith Deliso

The one thing the owners of Jalopy can’t stand is turning people away. So when they were planning this year’s Brooklyn Folk Festival, they knew that the popular event needed to go big — or make people go home.

So this year’s festival will not only be in two venues — the Columbia Street theater, plus the significantly larger Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition pier — but also span three days, June 10-12 (check out the full schedule here).

“I hate turning people away, and last year we did that regularly,” said Jalopy co-owner Lynette Wiley. “This is a good solution.

The festival is essentially one long weekend of the Red Hook venue’s weekly Roots and Ruckus night — a celebration of traditional roots, blues, and folk music.

“A think a lot of people are hungry for this, they’re looking for something they perceive as real,” said festival founder Eli Smith (pictured). “People hear a lot of music on the radio that’s not human, thanks to synthesizers and people singing through computers, and they’re looking for something that they can identify with.”

The 30-plus acts include Pat Conte of The Canebrake Rattlers and Peter Stampfel of the Holy Modal Rounders; traditional banjo music from North Carolina’s Clifton Hicks; country crooner Alex Battles; blues musician Blind Boy Paxton; and Smith’s own folk band, the Dust Busters.

“The most well-known forms of American music will be well represented, but we’re also going to have music from the Balkans, the Caribbean and North Indian classical music for the first time this year,” said Smith.

The weekend will also feature workshops, films, a square dance, and, in another first, a banjo toss, a contest Smith thought up late one night wherein whoever throws the instrument farthest into the bay wins a brand new banjo.

“That’s going to be a hoot,” said Wiley. “It’s crazy.”

The Brooklyn Folk Festival at Jalopy [315 Columbia St. between Hamilton Avenue and Woodhull Street in Red Hook, (718) 395-3214], June 10 at 6 pm, and the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition [499 Van Brunt St., near Reed Street in Red Hook, (917) 655-2980], June 11 at 2:30 pm and June 12 at 2 pm. Tickets $20 each day ($55 for the weekend). For info, visit www.brooklynfolkfest.com.

Photo by Stefano Giovannini

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Bayou in Brooklyn

By Meredith Deliso

Bring on the gumbo, Creole and Cajun music — the Big Easy is coming to Jalopy.

From May 6 to 7, the borough’s unofficial roots music home celebrates authentic Cajun, Zydeco and blues music with the Bayou ’n’ Brooklyn Music Festival.

“The community is what I was attracted to, the idea that when people get together, they eat, they play music, they dance, they celebrate, they tell stories,” said Deborah Monlux, a Park Slope-based musician who’s putting on the festival at the Columbia Street venue. “This is not to be confused with rock swamp pop. These are the bands that are playing traditional tunes.”

To that end, there will be two days of guitar, fiddle and accordion workshops, community jams, a gumbo dinner, and, of course, music, as accordionist Jesse Lege and his band, the Bayou Brew, Cleoma’s Ghost, the Big Road Blues Band, the Catahoula Cajun Band, the Magnolia Cajun Band, and ZydeGroove turn Jalopy into a dancehall with their bayou-born sounds.

“It just grabs you and you’re in it,” said Lege. “It’s good, joyful dancing music. It’s just going to be one heck of a party in Brooklyn.”

Bayou ’n’ Brooklyn Music Festival at Jalopy [315 Columbia St. between Hamilton Avenue and Woodhull Street in Red Hook, (718) 395-3214], May 6, 5 pm-1 am and May 7, noon-1 am. Tickets $12 in advance. For info, visit www.bayou-n-brooklyn.com.

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Silent movies no more!

By Meredith Deliso

It’s a marriage made in old timey heaven.

On April 10, the Red Hook Ramblers will provide the Dixieland accompaniment to two silent films by Buster Keaton at Jalopy.

The early 1920s films, “Cops” and “The Playhouse,” will get the New Orleans treatment, and afterwards, there will be tracks from the band’s new album, “Something More Sinister.”

The film-and-music pairing is a natural one for the band (listen to them at the Red Hook Arts Festival below).

“Buster Keaton’s comedy was so pure and universal that the humor translates flawlessly today, and that’s the kind of timelessness we try to convey when we perform traditional jazz,” said Jason Benjamin, cornetist. “It’s thrilling to collaborate in this way with an artist from an era so close to our hearts, and there’s no better place to conjure his spirit and share our joy for his work than Jalopy.”

Red Hook Ramblers accompany Buster Keaton films at Jalopy [315 Columbia St. between Hamilton Avenue and Woodhull Street in Red Hook, (718) 395-3214], April 10 at 8 pm. Tickets $10. For info, visit www.jalopy.biz.

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DA’s spokesman sings a different tune — bluegrass!

By Gersh Kuntzman

By day, Jonah Bruno is the spokesman for Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes. By night, he plays a banjo and sings bluegrass songs about being the spokesman for Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes.

In what might be the most incongruous political double life since our crime-busting governor turned out to be a lawbreaker himself, Bruno pursues an artistic career — in hillbilly music, no less — in his off hours from informing the public of his boss’s busts, convictions and sentences.

Bruno’s new album — aptly named “Spokesman” — makes it clear how much the personal and the political are merged in this 36-year-old’s life.

The disc opens with “23 Years,” a tune based on an actual murder case (though in Queens) involving a woman who kills her husband after two decades of abuse. And the highlight of the record is “No Comment,” about a politician who calls a press conference only to issue a “No comment,” a phrase he keeps repeating, even as the ensuing “Commentgate” scandal consumes him.

“One thing: That song is not about Hynes,” said Bruno, who lives in Clinton Hill. “Our office almost never issues a ‘No comment.’ ”

Other tunes include vaguely political songs such as “Poverty Line” and “The Money Went.” And a classic of the bluegrass genre — “High and Lonesome” — also has a law enforcement angle. The title, of course, refers to the “high and lonesome sound” of country music, but in Bruno’s version, the narrator sings about how he self-medicates after his girlfriend dumps him.

“I get high when I’m lonesome/Try to get you off my mind,” he sings.

Bruno didn’t sing the lyric on that number, but not because he worried about a random drug test if Hynes heard it.

“I didn’t sing ‘High and Lonesome’ because I’m not that strong a singer!” he said.

Whatever vocal skills he claims to lack, Bruno’s reedy voice is certainly solid on the other songs, a tiny twang of Kentucky slipping into his upstate New York accent. And the band is very tight, thanks to great mandolin work by Michael Pasternak and fiddle by Sarah Alden.

Bruno’s quintet will perform at the most logical place — Jalopy — on Nov. 12, as part of a record-release party that will also feature Baby Soda.

“It’ll be a great night,” he said. “But don’t look for the DA.”

Jonah Bruno and his band at Jalopy [315 Columbia St. between Hamilton Avenue and Woodhull Street in Red Hook, (718) 395-3214], Nov. 12, 9 pm. For info, visit www.jalopy.biz.

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Dig this Django festival

By Adam Warner

This month, Jalopy gets into the swing of things.  

The classic country and bluegrass venue honors swing-jazz legend, Django Reinhardt, with its third annual Djangology Festival starting on Oct. 15.

Reinhardt died over 50 years ago, but his legacy lives on in dozens of jazz lovers who will populate the festival schedule, highlighted by Franglais, the gypsy jazz band out of Park Slope.

“I was introduced to Django in music school and quickly became obsessed,” said Ben Wood, Franglais rhythm guitarist and organizer of the event. “The often fast-paced tempo is captivating and complex, but still accessible. I proposed the idea for a Django festival to Geoff and Lynette Wiley at Jalopy and the rest is history.”

Also playing are some of the biggest names in gypsy jazz today, including Stephane Wrembel, Jack Soref, Hot Club Thing, Hot Club of Hell’s Kitchen, and Blue Plate Special, among others.

“As you might imagine, getting a chance to see so many professional musicians play this music doesn’t happen all that often,” said Wood, adding that Django’s style not only attracts curious locals, but gypsy jazz fans from all over the country.

Reinhardt, a Roma raised on the outskirts of Paris, suffered severe burns to his body, including his playing hand, after a fire erupted in his caravan when he was 18. He eventually conquered his physical limitations, reinventing the way he played his instrument to fit his needs. In the process he became one of the most revered guitarists of all time.

The gypsy jazz form, which usually includes a violin, bass, and two guitars, is the perfect fit for Jalopy’s vaudeville interior. 

“A lit-up swing band on a little stage with curtains — this music is exactly what Jalopy was made for,” said Jalopy co-owner Geoff Wiley.

Djangology Festival at Jalopy [315 Columbia St. between Hamilton Avenue and Woodhull Street in Red Hook, (718) 395-3214], Oct. 15-16 at 8 pm. Tickets $20 ($35 for the weekend). For info, visit www.jalopy.biz.

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That's folk, all! Brooklyn fest opens this Friday

By Stephen Witt

The Brooklyn Folk Festival has already gotten too big for its britches!

The second annual event not only features a slew of the borough’s best musicians at Jalopy on Columbia Street, but has added extra shows at Cabrini Urban Meadow Park on President Street between Columbia and Van Brunt streets.

You can thank banjo player and blues folklorist Eli Smith for the expansion of the May 21-23 event. As he did last year, Smith has beaten the bushes to find an eclectic mix of old-time music, blues, pre-blues, jug band music, New Orleans jazz folk songwriting, Greek, African and Mexican folk music.

“It’s not so much getting big acts for the festival, but about getting quality acts,” said Smith. “That’s why the Mexican folk band, Radio Jarocho, Gambian kora player Salieu Suso and American blues and folk musician Blind Boy Paxton are highlights of the festival.”

Other highlights include North Carolina banjo player and ballad singer Clifton Hicks, singer/songwriters Feral Foster and Mamie Minch, blues artist Ernie Vega, and Smith’s own Dust Busters Band.

String musicians looking to learn new folk techniques will find the blues guitar workshop with Bob Malenky and old-time banjo workshop with John Cohen helpful.

Beyond that, there will also be square dancing on May 23, when folk music aficionados and musicians alike can get to stepping.

“It will be called by Dave Harvey of the New York City Barn Dance,” said Smith. “He’s a very good caller and the dance will have special musical guests.”

Brooklyn Folk Festival at Jalopy [315 Columbia St. between Woodhull and Rapelye streets in Red Hook, (718) 395-3214], May 21-23. For info, visit www.brooklynfolkfest.com.

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The anti-Valentine's Day parties

There’s not just good eating in the borough this Valentine’s Day. Check out the events below for some special love-themed events in Brooklyn, some traditional, some not (murder ballads, anyone?).

Anti-Valentine’s Day reading

Feb. 11, 7 p.m., free

PowerHouse Arena

37 Main St., DUMBO

718-666-3049

Featuring the editor of “It’s Not You, It’s Me; The Poetry of Breakup,” an anthology of ruptured romance featuring contributions from National Book Award finalist Kim Addonizio, bestselling author Denis Johnson, and former poet laureate Mark Strand.

Valentine’s Day cocktail party

Feb. 11, 7:30 p.m., $5

Word bookstore

126 Franklin St., Greenpoint

718-383-0096

Take a trip to the 1950s, as Time Table presents a cocktail party featuring aphrodisiac food and drink from the 1952 book, “Venus in the Kitchen: Or Love’s Cookery Book.” Feel free to dress the part.

BAGGAGE Claim

Feb. 14, 6 p.m., free
Brooklyn Artists Gym

168 7th St., Gowanus

718-858-9069

Help BAG build a temporary museum with the evidence of love gone by. Bring your mix tapes, hoodies, love letters, crappy jewelry and all forms of bad gifts, and exchange them for new items. You never wore that tee-shirt anyway.

Pete n Jenny’s Cheap Date Valentine’s Day Cabaret

Feb. 14, 7 p.m., $10

Jalopy

315 Columbia St., Red Hook

718-395-3214

This annual cabaret features something for everyone: love songs, murder ballads, burlesque dancers, comedy, poetry, trivia, magic and a kissing booth. Bring, or find, someone to kiss.

I Heart Brooklyn Party

Feb. 14, 3-7 p.m., free

MoCADA

80 Hanson Pl., Downtown Brooklyn

718-230-0492

Show your love for Brooklyn this Valentine’s Day, as the museum presents an afternoon of readings by Brooklyn-based poets, followed by a DJ Set featuring hits by Brooklyn’s illustrious musical artists. It’ll be OK to dance by yourself.

Get Your Heart On!

Feb. 14, 8 p.m., free

3rd Ward

195 Morgan Ave., Bushwick

718-715-4961

Moviehouse presents three-minute romantic movies that include these three criterion: a reference to at least one of the three wise monkeys (see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil), a celebrity death, and something uncontrollable. How romantic.

Aphrodisiacs and Amor
Feb. 14, 5-7:30 p.m., $65 per couple

SHAG
108 Roebling St., Williamsburg

347-721-3302

SHAG, a fine art gallery and seller of sex toys, hosts a provocative dinner with Nuevo Latino Chef Alex Garcia, who will tease and tantalize the taste buds with a course in aphrodisiacs for couples, who will enjoy their meal blindfolded.

The Rejection Show Valentine’s Day Heartbreak Haven

Feb. 14, 8 p.m., $10
The Bell House

149 7th St., Gowanus

718-643-6510

This one’s for the rejected: comedy series The Rejection Show celebrates Valentine’s Day with an evening of its best breakup, heartbreak and love-related stories, with performances from Jon Friedman (pictured above), Eliza Skinner, Max Silvestri, Sara Schaefer, Gabe Liedman, Gabe Delahaye, Edith Zimmerman, and more, as well as music from The Defibulators, who’s always ready for a party. Despite the theme, all – even happy couples – are welcome. Just don’t be too showy about it.

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Yee-haw! Brooklyn goes country

By Meredith Deliso

JD Duarte catches a lot of shows.

As the man behind the Web site, BrooklynCountry.com, he’s scouring the city for bands of all stripes, from country to bluegrass to Americana to cow-punk to rockabilly, to promote for gigs.

“I visit clubs locally and do my best to reach out for bands I have never heard before to get them involved with the festival and the Web site,” says Duarte.

This month, the Brooklynite has united some of the best he’s seen for the Brooklyn County Fair, a seasonal festival. This winter’s will be held at Jalopy in Red Hook, featuring new and old local favorites of Duarte’s: Citigrass, Blue Harvest, The Newton Gang, Uncle Monk and Rooftops.

“I had recently moved to New York and gotten involved with the local country music scene and found myself having trouble booking local gigs with other country bands,” says Duarte of the origins of the festival, which began three years ago at Galapagos Art Space.

The opener of January 16 show – Rooftops – Duarte found at Banjo Jim’s in Manhattan. “They blew me away and I asked them to join the show right away,” he says. They kick things off at 8 p.m., followed by indie-acoustic duo Uncle Monk, featuring Tommy Ramone on vocals, mandolin, guitar, banjo and dobro, and Claudia Tienan (formerly of the group The Simplistics) on vocals, guitar and bass. The pair have played the festival before and were available a second time around and “I jumped at the chance to have them join us again,” says Duarte.

“We do a bunch of original songs in an indie-bluegrass style. We also do some traditional old-time and bluegrass songs,” says Ramone (nee Tom Erdelyi), the last surviving original member of the Ramones, who’s traded in his punk rock roots for, these days, bluegrass. “We are currently recording our second CD, and we are having a great time doing it.”

Duarte didn’t have to look far for the next act. At 10 p.m., the Brooklyn-based Newton Gang, which is fronted by Duarte (pictured), takes Jalopy’s auditorium-like stage. Like their 1920s namesake, The Newton Gang is rooted firmly in the stealth-outlaw tradition, “an outlaw country band,” says the musician. Look for a more acoustic set at this show.

At 11 p.m., it’s another local act with Blue Harvest, who Duarte saw at Parkside Lounge in Manhattan and recruited for the festival. With members whose roots extend to Nashville, the Ozarks, and Appalachia, Blue Harvest is dedicated to exploring the rich heritage of traditional American music, drawing from sources ranging from Bluegrass and Texas Swing to old-time fiddle tunes, Cajun and country blues.

And last but not least on the bill is the Cobble Hill-based Citigrass, which specializes in blending rock and jam influences with traditional bluegrass. In their set, “folks can expect to hear compelling original material, blistering renditions of bluegrass classics, and some of their favorite rock and pop tunes grassed-up Citigrass style,” says Sandy Israel, banjo player and vocalist for the bluegrass band, which is in the studio polishing up their latest CD.

Citigrass was a natural closer for the night, says Duarte. “They bring such an energy and so much talent to the table.”

Duarte first saw them play at Freddy’s Bar in Prospect Heights for the Kings County Opry this past fall. Other recent highlights of the band’s include work on the soundtrack of the new Billy-Bob Thornton movie, “Astronaut Farmer,” sit-ins by Phish bassist Mike Gordon and a private performance for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Suffice it to say, Duarte was not in on that one.

The Brooklyn County Fair is January 16 at 9 p.m. at Jalopy (315 Columbia St.). Tickets are $10. The event will also feature a new ale by Sixpoint Craft Ale, one of the event’s sponsors, on tap at Jalopy. For more information, go to www.jalopy.biz or call 718-395-3214.

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The place for trad

Jalopy in Carroll Gardens is soon to be where it's at to hear some traditional Irish music in Brooklyn.

Starting July 31, a new concert series kicks off at the venue called Irish Nights Live.

According to its founder, Mike Considine, this inaugural concert is "aimed towards an audience who appreciate great traditional, and traditionally inspired music but do not always want to be in a bar/pub environment to experience it. The Jalopy space and stage are suited to acoustic music and performance and we hope to create a fun atmosphere where musicians who are dedicated to their music can perform in a relaxed and enjoyable way."

First up on the stage is Considine, a London Irish bouzouki and strings player, as well as Ivan Goff on pipes, flute & whistle, Grainne Murphy on fiddle and Sarah Jessop on vocals.

To stay up-to-date on Irish Nights Live, as well as news on the musicians, add http://irishmusicnyc.wordpress.com/ to your blogroll. Jalopy is located at 315 Columbia St.

Another place for Irish music in the borough is Ceol in Cobble Hill (191 Smith St.). Head down to the pub on Sundays and Wednesdays and you can find a session in action to enjoy a Guinness to, or join in yourself.

Do you have a favorite spot in Brooklyn to hear some trad?

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Ramblin' and jammin' at Jalopy Theater's Brooklyn Folk Festival

Sana

By Stephen Witt

(Published in the 5.7 issue of 24/Seven)

I knew a man Bojangles and he danced for you
In worn out shoes
With silver hair, a ragged shirt and baggy pants,
The old soft shoe
He jumped so high, he jumped so high
Then he lightly touched down
- Jerry Jeff Walker

At its best, folk music has always been filled with story songs about people and places. Plenty of these songs are expected at the 1st Annual Brooklyn Folk Festival, Friday, May 15 through Sunday, May 17 at the Jalopy Theater, 315 Columbia Street in Red Hook.


The show is the brainchild of Eli Smith, a banjo player and radio show host, who has been involved in the city’s thriving folk and antifolk movement for several years.

“There is a folk revival going on in Brooklyn right now with a lot of talented young performers coming up on the scene,” said Smith. “The Brooklyn Folk Festival is the first chance for all of these performers to be featured at the same time and place under one banner.”

Smith also booked the festival so that it features a mix of the best young talent from Brooklyn’s exploding folk music scene as well as luminaries from the generation that made the 1960’s folk music revival.

Among the older folk musicians performing include Grammy Award winner Peter Stampfel of the Holy Modal Rounders, and two-time Grammy nominee John Cohen of the New Lost City Ramblers.

Some of the younger talents featured include The Dust Busters, Blind Boy Paxton, Elizabeth Butters, Alex Battles, Feral Foster, Hubby Jenkins, The East River String Band and Mamie Minch.

Smith also booked international folk music including Sana Ndiaye, who will perform traditional West African music of the Jola tribe on the Ekonting, the closest African predecessor instrument to the American banjo, and Semilla, a Mexican folk music collective.

Smith said several bars around the borough feature folk music, but the Jalopy Theater is becoming the go-to place for the burgeoning scene.

Every Wednesday, a lot of performers show up, where they play together, cross paths and it becomes a real breeding ground for the scene, he said.

Smith said the rest of the week, Jalopy features live music, sometimes with a cover charge.

“The level of interest among New Yorkers, especially Brooklynites, in old music, people playing banjos, ukuleles, fiddles, mandolins, has been building for some time,” he said.

Smith said he always thought there was a Brooklyn Folk Festival, but after Googling it and finding out there was none, he decided to organize it with the hopes of making it an annual event.
“People are in the mood for it, the performers are making themselves known and the scene has grown to a point where it needs a festival,” he said.

The Brooklyn Folk Festival is co-sponsored by Down Home Radio & The Jalopy Theater. The festival costs $10 per day or $25 for 3 days, including the afternoon workshops.

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