For everyone who (like me) missed Steve Cuiffo‘s sold-out performance of Lenny Bruce’s famous Live at Carnegie Hall performance, which went down on its fiftieth anniversary this past February, you have a trio of new chances this July to catch Cuiffo’s dead-on recreation of the legendary comic/countercultural icon. July 9, 16, and 23, he’s performing at Le Poisson Rouge, formerly the Village Gate Theater, and one of Bruce’s old haunts. Tickets are $20 advance, $25 DOS. Also, be sure to check out Cuiffo’s New Yorker “Talk of the Town” profile from back in January.

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The Music of Arthur Russell

Saturday April 4^th at 10:00pm

Le Poisson Rouge

158 Bleecker Street

Tickets: $12 advance/$15 door.

Le Poisson Rouge presents a tribute to the composer Arthur Russell, who established himself in New York’s vibrant downtown music scene of the 1970s as an eccentric chameleon, creating across and playing his cello in a wide variety of experimental and popular genres.  When Russell died in 1992 at age 40 due to AIDS-related illness, his most celebrated output was the collection of leftfield disco records he produced under monikers such as Dinosaur L and Loose Joints, although he left a huge body of work behind him-minimalist chamber music; country-tinged rock from his band the Flying Hearts; meditations for solo voice, cello, and electronic effects-much of which has been posthumously released on record labels such as Audika, introducing Russell’s brilliant, gentle sound to new audiences across the globe.

This concert of live music, held on the anniversary of Russell’s passing, will bridge the gaps between the extremes of his practice, and will include instrumental works, dance tracks, and songs played by an ensemble of Russell’s original collaborators in addition to a few special guests.   A dance party follows with DJs and a special late-night performance.

Arthur’s Landing was formed by Russell’s closest friends and musical colleagues: Steven Hall, Ernie Brooks, Peter Zummo, Bill Ruyle, Joyce Kirby, Elodie Lauten, Mustafa Ahmed, and John Scherman.  It is frequently spoken that Russell worked with the crème de la crème of New York’s downtown music community.  Here they are, as one collective, performing Russell’s songs as no one else can.  Sitting in with Arthur’s Landing will be musician-composers Nick Hallett and Alex Waterman.

They will be joined by special guests, including Nomi (of Hercules and Love Affair). DJs Lee Douglas (Rong), Justin Vandervolgen (ex-!!!), and Dan Selzer (Acute) play Russell’s disco classics, while artist Rafael Sanchez caps off the evening with a special performance to Dinosaur L’s “Go Bang!”

This concert is being co-presented by Wordless Music as part of its Spring 2009 season, along with Justine D., BoomBOOM and Nick Hallett.

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This looks neat:

On September 6 & 7, Le Poisson Rouge, will present the Beth Morrison Projects’ premiere of David T. Little’s Soldier Songs.

Soldier Songs is an evening-length multimedia performance piece from composer David T. Little. Comprised of 11 songs with an original Libretto by the composer, the work combines elements of theater, opera, concert music, rock and animation to explore the dichotomy between war and modern society through the abstract character, the Soldier.

Soldier Songs was first presented in 2006 as a song cycle by the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble (the Pittsburgh Post Gazette says about that performance: “Soldier Songs packs [a] heartrending wallop”) and had its orchestral premiere as part of New York City Opera’s VOX Festival in 2008. Feast of Music says the VOX Festival performance “packed the most dramatic punch of any of the works on the bill: it was both thoroughly relevant and profoundly disturbing.”

The upcoming Beth Morrison Projects production is the first fully staged presentation of this dramatic work and features an acclaimed creative team: singer David Adam Moore, members of the ensemble Newspeak, conductor Todd Reynolds, director Yuval Sharon, set/costume designer Chisato Uno, lighting designer Lucas Krech, and animator/video designer Corey Michael Smithson.

Performance Details:

When: Saturday, September 6, 7:00pm (doors open at 6:00)

Sunday, September 7, 7:00pm (doors open at 6:00)

Where: Le Poisson Rouge 158 Bleecker Street

Tickets:           212.796.0741 or www.lepoissonrouge.com

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