Brooklyn Voices – November 2011

Kudos to all those from Brooklyn’s music scene who made the list ofThe Village Voice’s “Best of NYC 2011,” including Geoff and Lynette Wiley’s Jalopy (Best Country Venue); Tami Hart’s punk n’ blues group Making Friendz (Best Reinvented Folk-Rocker); theMolly Hamilton-fronted trio Widowspeak (Best Result of the ‘90s Revival); Mr. Fine Wine (aka Matt Weingarden), host of WFMU’sDowntown Soulville (Best Radio Show); and alternative hip-hoppersDas Racist (Best Rap Moguls With a Business Plan)…Having previously recorded duets with Ray Charles and Willie Nelson, Norah Jones sings Speak Low with Tony Bennett on his new Duets IICD…Amy Allison, daughter of jazz/blues legend Mose Allison, has finished her sixth solo album, Turn Like the World Does, the follow-up to 2009’s critically acclaimed Sheffield Streets…More than two months after its release, Matt & Kim’s Converse-sponsored I’m a Goner video with Soulja Boy and Andrew W.K. is still going strong at 150,000 You Tube hits and counting. Now that’s what we call “going commercial”…No sophomore jinx for Zee Avi. Her second album, Ghostbird, which the 23-year-old Borneo singer-songwriter began composing in her Brooklyn kitchen, earned her a slot at the early-autumn Popped! and Life Is Good music festivals…Strange Mercy, the new album from St. Vincent (a/k/a Annie Clark), is a Rolling Stone “Editor’s Pick” and NPR calls it “her best and most immediate work”…Kath Buckell wowed the crowd at The Knitting Factory recently in support of her new CD, Faces Do Not Change. Originally from a farming district outside Melbourne, Australia, Buckell made the 10,000-mile move to our borough several years ago, proving once again that all musical roads lead to Brooklyn. Notable Quote: “Farewell, Jerry Leiber: a legend, a friend, and a major influence on Goffin and King. Rest in peace.” – Carole King on the passing of her fellow songwriting legend.