[music]
Brian Lehrer: No, that's not The Brian Lehrer Show theme music, that's the song Lost In A Crowd by the musician Fantastic Negrito. He will be playing in the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn Festival, the outdoor music series this summer on June 18th, as part of an NPR Tiny Desk Concert collaboration. To close the show today as we've been telling you we were going to do, I'm happy to say we get to take a look and in a few cases, a quick listen to some of the artists scheduled for the many, many outdoor music events happening in our area this summer. Joining me now with his short list of must see shows is John Schaefer, host of WNYC's New Sounds and keeper of WNYC's Gig Alerts music calendar. Hey John.
John Schaefer: Hi, Brian.
Brian Lehrer: By the way, listeners, this marks the 40th anniversary of New Sounds, does 2022. Congratulations on bringing new music to public radio listeners' ears for the past 40 years, John. Incredible. You just keep on keeping on, it's amazing.
John Schaefer: I don't know how that happened.
Brian Lehrer: [chuckles] You keep up with everything that's new. Spanning from June to August, BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn is back with another outdoor music series. We opened with Fantastic Negrito. Do you want to say something about Fantastic Negrito and then the whole series briefly?
John Schaefer: Yes. Well, you mentioned the NPR Tiny Desk Concert, which they run a contest, an annual contest. Fantastic Negrito was the first winner of that contest a few years ago. The Celebrate Brooklyn Series actually begins next Wednesday with a free concert by Kamasi Washington, terrific jazz sax player, very ambitious, three-record set that he released couple of years ago that was hugely acclaimed. They've got their usual great lineup. I will also mention Kronos Quartet and Roomful of Teeth doing a new music, contemporary music concert on July 14th, all in the Bandshell at Prospect Park.
Brian Lehrer: Nice. I see Phoebe Bridgers is doing two nights in June as part of a ticketed benefit, right?
John Schaefer: Exactly. Those are ticketed, those are paid events on the 14th and 15th. Then she moves to Queens on the 16th to play at Forest Hills Stadium. We'll get a lot of opportunity to hear that gifted young songwriter.
Brian Lehrer: All right, we're going to touch various boroughs here. We did BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn, what's happening at Forest Hills?
John Schaefer: Well, tomorrow, Bon Iver and the folk supergroup Bonny Light Horseman are playing, opening up a summer series at Forest Hills Stadium. These are not free events, but they are outdoors. That's the key, Brian. With case loads rising, we're seeing people beginning to stay away from indoor events and we're seeing some indoor events actually being postponed. But outdoors, things are going full steam ahead. Tomorrow, it's Bon Iver. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss on Saturday at Forest Hills Stadium.
Brian Lehrer: So good together. Forest Hills Stadium, now is that the same location where back in the 1960s there was a concert by The Monkees, and the opening act was this little known guitarist named Jimi Hendrix?
John Schaefer: That's a little before my time, Brian.
[laughter]
John Schaefer: Never saw The Monkees or Hendrix live.
Brian Lehrer: That's a little bit of Queens. There's the iconic Central Park Summer Stage Series, now known as the Capital One City Parks Foundation Summer Stage, which I see will bring nearly 90 free and benefit shows to Central Park this summer.
John Schaefer: That's right. Beginning with a free event on Saturday the 11th, a week from this Saturday, with Herbie Hancock, the legendary jazz pianist and Keyon Harrold, who is an amazing trumpeter. If you saw the film starring Don Cheadle about Miles Davis, you were actually hearing Keyon Harrold playing Miles' trumpet parts in that film.
Brian Lehrer: That's one. Some shows are benefit shows for the organization and those will be ticketed at Summer Stage. Prices vary depending on the show.
John Schaefer: Yes, one that I'll mention is another NPR favorite, Tank and the Bangas with Trombone Shorty from New Orleans on the 13th. That's Monday night at Central Park and that is a ticketed event.
Brian Lehrer: Modest Mouse with the indie rock band The Cribs, June 8th and 9th. I see George Clinton and his collective Parliament-Funkadelic with the Rock Band Dopapod, and the soul music band Pimps of Joytime. That's all one show on June 15th?
John Schaefer: Yes, they're packing them in. As you said, it's a lengthy lineup, and it's all over the map stylistically, a good portion of them are free events.
Brian Lehrer: All right. Let's go next to the Bronx, there's a series called Sunset Wednesdays that will take place on the Great Lawn at Wave Hill, the famous public garden in the Northwest Bronx along the Hudson River. Listeners, listen up.
[music]
Brian Lehrer: That's the pianist and bandleader Arturo O'Farrill's song, Cuarto de Calorias. He and his Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra will play Wave Hill on Wednesday, June 13th in the Bronx along the Hudson. There's a little bit of that song. John, for people who haven't been to Wave Hill, can you talk about what that experience is like, especially musically?
John Schaefer: Yes, it's a public garden. There is a historic home there that a lot of famous people have stayed in over the years. It is a public garden and performing arts center with spectacular views of the Hudson River and the Palisades across the river. Just a really green, lovely place to spend a summer evening. While events there aren't free, at $12-a-pop they're priced just right, as I say, for a nice sunset looking out over the Hudson and over the New Jersey Skyline on a Wednesday evening in July.
Brian Lehrer: We'll touch one more venue. The Rite of Summer Music Festival on Governors Island. Free outdoor concerts through September?
John Schaefer: Right, including on Saturday, August 20th, a brass ensemble called The Westerlies doing a wide ranging group of arrangements, everything from classical music to Woody Guthrie. This series, Rite of Summer, basically gives you two chances each time to catch whoever the band happens to be. They do one set at one o'clock in the afternoon and they do another set at three o'clock. It's an easy ferry ride. It takes about five minutes to get to Governors Island from Lower Manhattan. All of these take place at Nolan Park on the island, very easy to find.
Brian Lehrer: Listeners, for information on all the events that we've just talked about and more we'll put a link to them on our show page. Just head to wnyc.org and click on Brian Lehrer. Of course, keep listening to John Schaefer's Gig Alerts. John, thanks so much. This was great.
John Schaefer: All right, Brian, good to talk to you.
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