Free Concerts in NYC Tonight: Mose Allison, Beth Orton

I've fallen off the wagon in terms of blog posting, but hope to be back on a more regular schedule now. Two FREE concerts tonight in New York you might be interested in:

* Legendary jazz and blues pianist Mose Allison plays at Madison Square Park tonight at 7 p.m. He first hit the New York jazz scene in the 1950s, and is still making music at age 82 (you'll no doubt be hearing tunes from his new album, “The Way of The World”). Mose Allison's songs have been covered by everyone from The Who to Bonnie Raitt. Madison Square Park is between Fifth and Madison Aves., from 23rd to 26th Streets.

* British singer-songwriter Beth Orton plays the River to River Festival, also at 7 p.m. The show takes place at Rockefeller Park in Battery City Park (see link above for map showing location of the park). Orton combines folk-pop with electronic beats (she has worked with the Chemical Brothers in the past).

You might remember Orton from when she burst onto the scene more than a decade ago with the song "She Cries Your Name" from her debut album "Trailer Park." She's put out several more records since then, and her songs have been featured in a number of TV shows and movies.

* And just across the Hudson from New York City, the Bobby Sanabria Big Band plays at Weehawken's Lincoln Harbor Park, on the river and less than a half mile from the Lincoln Tunnel. This Grammy-nominated, 19-piece band mixes Latin, Caribbean, R&B, and funk styles. Show time is, yes, 7 p.m.

Free Concerts in NYC This Weekend: Texas Tornadoes, Tinariwen, Gil-Scott Heron, Apples in Stereo, and More

Above: Tinariwen, the guitar-driven band from Mali, play Central Park SummerStage on Saturday. They got a lot of exposure playing the FIFA World Cup celebration concert; here several of them are seen at the Nice Jazz Festival in 2005. 

Looking for some free music outdoors for this first weekend of summer? Here are a few good choices, from rock and pop to jazz and roots music...

Saturday, June 26th:
* Tinariwen, Omar Souleyman, and Toubab Krewe (African and Middle Eastern pop/rock/folk), SummerStage, Central Park, 3 p.m.
* The Apples in Stereo with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus and members of the Brooklyn Philharmonic, Pier 17, South Street Seaport, 7 p.m.
* The Texas Tornadoes and The Red Clay Ramblers at Celebrate Brooklyn, Prospect Park, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, June 27th
* Bang on a Can Marathon, NYC River to River Festival, World Financial Center Winter Garden, 12 p.m. (An "incomparable 12-hour super-mix of genre-defying music from around the corner and the globe.")
* NYC Revolutions Series: Gil Scott-Heron with special opener Derrick Hodge, SummerStage, Central Park, 3 p.m.

Arcade Fire Adds Second NYC Show at Madison Square Garden

Arcade Fire has added a second New York City date, on August 5th. Their first NYC show on August 4th, which was announced with the other Arcade Fire North American tour dates, has already sold out -- a pretty enthusiastic reception for the indie rockers, especially considering they have just two albums out (their third, "The Suburbs," will be released in a few weeks).

Spoon will be the opener, as with the first Arcade Fire show.

Tickets for the August 5th Arcade Fire concert go on sale Saturday, June 26th at 9 a.m.

Gregg Allman Undergoes Successful Liver Transplant

Left: Gregg Allman performing at New Orleans Jazz Fest in April. Photo: Flickr user Derek Bridges.

Rocker Gregg Allman, one of the founders of the Allman Brothers Band, has undergone a successful liver transplant, a statement on his website reported yesterday. The procedure took place at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, the statement said.

Gregg Allman had suffered from hepatitis C for a few years and the Allman Brothers Band had to cancel a number of shows when Allman became ill, including its annual spring series of shows at New York's Beacon Theatre. I saw two of the band's shows this spring at the United Palace in New York, and Allman did his usual fine job of singing and playing.

The website statement says that Allman had been undergoing treatment for hepatitis C but that his liver had suffered chronic damage and that a transplant was needed.

So how is the legendary singer, songwriter, and performer doing with his new liver? “I feel pretty good, considering everything that’s happened,” Allman is quoted as saying.

Best wishes to Gregg and his family for a speed recovery. We look forward to seeing him on the road for many years to come.

Concerts in NYC Wed., June 23rd: FREE Shows by Brand Nubian, Solas, & the McCoy Tyner Quartet; Sarah Harmer at City Winery

If you're looking to hear some music on Wednesday night in New York, you're in luck: there are some very talented veteran artists in town, representing totally different genres. And three of the shows are free.

Hip-hop pioneers Brand Nubians bring their socially and politically conscious music to a free SummerStage concert in Crotona Park in the Bronx at 7 p.m. More information: info@SummerStage.org or (212) 360-2777. (Directions to Crotona Park)

Over at the SummerStage home base in Central Park, there's a concert that's long on jazz talent, as reflected in the show's name: "George Wein's CareFusion Jazz Festival with The McCoy Tyner Quartet featuring Ravi Coltrane, Esperanza Spalding and Francisco Mela and The Stanley Clarke Band featuring Hiromi." It's a mouthful, but that's a lot of jazz chops assembled in one show. For more info on the McCoy Tyner Quartet free show (which also starts at 7 p.m.), see the SummerStage info above.

Solas, a group that has long been influential in Celtic music, plays this week's free Madison Square Music series concert at Madison Square Park. Their Celtic roots sometimes branch out to incorporate blues, folk, country, and even jazz. Showtime is 7 p.m.

As much as I'd like to see the free Solas show, I'll be elsewhere Wednesday night. One of my favorite singer-songwriters, Canadian Sarah Harmer, came out with a new album, "Oh Little Fire," today, and will be introducing it to NYC with a record release party at the City Winery. While this isn't a free show, tickets are as little as $20 and are still available.

The New Pornographers At Terminal 5

The New Pornographers played a crowd-pleasing show to a very enthusiastic sold-out house at New York's Terminal 5 last night. With five albums now (including the recently released "Together"), songs that they have played in past shows had to be dropped in order to make room for the new material.

Despite the obligatory emphasis on playing the new songs from "Together," the New Pornographers played a good mix of songs. The older songs ranged from "Sing Me Spanish Techno" (the show's opener) to the title tracks from "Twin Cinema," "Mass Romantic," and "Challengers" (their previous album); "Use It," "Jackie," "The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism," "and the show's final encore song, "The Bleeding Heart Show."

Songs from "Together" included "Crash Years," "Your Hands (Together)," "Silver Jenny Dollar," "My Shepherd," and "Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk."

Great show, and it's always good to see Neko Case playing in the band.