By Roger Costa
@THE JOYCE THEATER
Three genre-defying artists join forces to tell the story of love and self-discovery in Heart of Brick, a theatrical dance and music production that captures the multi-generational spirit of the Black queer community. Experimental R&B musician serpentwithfeet embarks on his first theatrical stage work alongside multimedia artist Wu Tsang, whose art intertwines film, aesthetic performance, and political activism. Completing the team is choreographer Raja Feather Kelly, an artist whose surrealist aesthetics explore the intersections of popular culture and human desire. With a cast of seven dancers and live performance by serpentwithfeet, Heart of Brick follows the love that blossoms between two men in a Black gay nightclub. Beguilingly gentle and sincere, the work features music from serpentwithfeet’s newest album, weaving together music and dance into a theatrical experience. The Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, corner of 19th Street. September 15-22. Tickets start at $10. INFO: https://www.joyce.org/performances/heartofbrick
@NJPAC
Spend an electrifying evening with soul storyteller and “narrator of love” Anthony Hamilton. The GRAMMY® winner (and 17-time nominee) is known for his singular style that mixes Southern soul with R&B swag. Over the last decade, he’s produced platinum-selling albums and chart-topping hits like “Comin’ From Where I’m From,” “Charlene,” “You’ve Got the Love I Need” and “You Made A Fool of Me.” His recent album Love is the New Black includes the solo single “Mercy,” which launched his label My Music Box. “Through it all, Hamilton has stayed true and rock-steady,” says NPR, with “passion overflowing every note he sings.” NJPAC, 1 Center Street, Newark-NJ. Thursday, September 7th at 8pm, Tickets start at $42. INFO: https://www.njpac.org/event/anthony-hamilton/
@CITY WINERY
City Winery NYC will host the first American performance in nine years of a Brazilian countercultural icon. Baby do Brasil—formerly known as Baby Consuelo—is the purple-haired, honey-voiced, ageless flower child who provided the sole female voice in a historic 1970s band, Novos Baianos (The Young Baianos, the term for people from the state of Bahia).
With Brazil in the throes of a censorious military dictatorship, Novos Baianos—who famously lived in commune fashion in Rio—symbolized hippie freedom. They offered a gently psychedelic celebration of peace, love, dance, and nature, set to a bouquet of Brazilian rhythms, from samba to forró. The range of guitar sounds was startling. João Gilberto, one of the fathers of bossa nova, had coached them on bossa technique; member Pepeu Gomes added Jimi Hendrix-inspired licks. Baby’s blithe, feathery vocals went on to influence many prominent singers, including Marisa Monte, Vanessa da Mata, and Céu.
The group’s second release, Acabou Chorare (No More Crying), made No. 1 on Rolling Stone Brasil’s list of the hundred most important Brazilian albums of all time. In that grim era of political oppression, the disc, says Baby, was a call to happiness and brotherhood—proof “that it was possible to understand that we can all live together.”
Now 71, Baby—born Bernadete Dinorah de Carvalho Cidade—remains a tidal wave of ebullience and positivity. Her show, “Baby do Brasil in Concert,” is a joy ride through her years of hits, from her Novos Baianos days through her decades as a solo star. Most were composed by Baby and Pepeu Gomes, to whom she was married for 17 years.
Saturday September 23 at 8pm at City Winery NYC, 25 – 11th Avenue @ 15th Street. INFO: https://citywinery.com/NEWYORK/Online/default.asp
(Note: Re-published as Publicity from the organizations’ websites.)
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