Summer Gig Forecast from Liquidator Graphics

I haven't sent a gig forecast out on the Acid Jazz and Soundlounge servers in well over a year (though of course the listings on the Liquidator site are still updated weekly), but there is SO MUCH absolute loveliness on the horizon on all fronts that it seemed a good time to revive it.

I won't editorialize too much because these listings speak for themselves, but I will say that I would be sobbing uncontrollably on July 1 over the fact that I can't make it to London for Kyoto Jazz Massive's full live band show @ the Jazz Café – if I weren't seeing my five Monterrey-born gods (that'd be Kinky) for free WITH Sidestepper here in Los Angeles. I'd be doing the same the week of July 24 over the fact that I can't go see Joyce @ Ronnie Scott's and Pharoah Sanders @ the JC – were I not seeing Incognito with Jody Watley in Pasadena, Os Mutantes (!!!!!) with Thievery Corp @ the Hollywood Bowl, and Nortec Collective live with full banda musicians @ California Plaza all also that week.

The rest of the London loveliness is your standard UK sublimity: Reel People (whose "Second Guess" is on the short list for my best songs of the year), Bah Samba, Jhelisa (whose A Primitive Guide to Being There disc I'm loving at the moment as well), the ever-brilliant Da Lata, and the JC's characteristically superb picnic with Zero 7, Koop, Nouvelle Vague, Femi Kuti, and Snowboy + the Latin Section.

The best gig of the year in L.A. won't come until August 27 – with the mightiest of the mighty, Gotan Project (whose live show will make you cry, and dance till you break a hip; I've been watching the Revancha Del Tango Live DVD in breathless anticipation... and for the loveliness that is Victor Villena), Zero 7 (once again) with Jose Gonzalez, and Herbert with full band – also @ the Bowl. The only drawback is that that stunner of a lineup is the Sunday of Sunset Junction weekend (where I'll be before and after getting inebriated – another welcome tradition that makes me not hate Los Angeles for one weekend a year).

NYC is actually a bit quiet this summer, but watch for much beauty from August 2-5... when the city plays host once again to the Latin Alternative Music Conference. Most of the lineup hasn't been announced yet, save for Venezuelan house gods Los Amigos Invisibles with Mexico's Belanova in Prospect Park on August 4. (And as it happens Brazil's mighty Lenine is also performing that week.) And though it's short notice, I'd also recommend getting your ass over to Cielo tonight for Louie Vega's birthday shindig with Louie and Kenny Dope along with Frankie Feliciano and a live PA by Ultra Nate.

Lastly, on the Chicago front, watch for the COLOSSAL House Music Conference on July 22-23 – with the goddess Jocelyn Brown (in an ultra-rare US appearance), Barbara Tucker and Dajae and MC/theatrical genius of our time Lady Bunny. Also watch for Argentinean genius Gustavo Cerati (who'll also be (thankfully) hitting Los Angeles).

For full venue and date info, visit the gig listings on the Liquidator site, and dig this archetypally beautiful Kinky video as a bonus (and ask yourself... has Gil ever looked more magnificently sublime?)!

Cheers and best, xo,

B.

London:
June:
Victor Davies, Ed Motta + Gilles Peterson, Ben Watt, Quantic, Belle + Sebastian, Tortured Soul + Osunlade (+ The Yoruba Soul Orchestra + Nadirah Shakoor), Massive Attack + Terry Callier + DJ Shadow + Pharell + Damian Marley, Groove Collective, DJ Spinna, Zero 7 + Beth Orton + Nile Rodgers + Chic, Reel People, Bah Samba, The Nathan Haines All-Stars, Gilberto Gil, Shri
July:
Kyoto Jazz Massive (live!!!!), Jose Gonzalez, Grupo X, Damian Marley, Corinne Bailey Rae, Tony Allen, Jhelisa, Terry Callier, Da Lata, Sergio Mendes + Gilles Peterson, Joyce, Pharaoh Sanders, Anoushka Shankar, Gotan Project, Jazzie B + The Soul II Soul Sound System
August:
Omar, Señor Coconut, Susheela Raman, Five Corners Quintet, Zero 7 + Koop + Nouvelle Vague + Femi Kuti + Snowboy + The Latin Section + The Breakestra, Tony Allen, Candi Staton, JTQ
September:
Courtney Pine, Alice Russell, Marva Whitney, Marisa Monte
October:
Barry Adamson, Leon Ware

Los Angeles:
June:
London Elektricity (DJ set), Zoe, Jose Gonzalez + Juana Molina, Seu Jorge, Keb Darge, Spanish Harlem Orchestra + Baaba Maal + Jamie Cullum + George Duke, Andy Caldwell, Eddie Palmieri + McCoy Tyner, Aaron Ross, Kim Hill + Joy Jones, J*Davey + Sy Smith + Black Thought, Volumen Cero, Si*Se, James Lavelle + Sasha, Guru, Waajeed, Amadou + Mariam, Sergio Mendes + Marcelo D2, John B
July:
Kinky + Sidestepper, Belle + Sebastian, Bebe + Aterciopelados + Mexican Institute of Sound, Groove Junkies, India + Cachao + Arturo Sandoval, DJ Heather + Colette, Incognito + Jody Watley, Os Mutantes + Thievery Corporation, The Rebirth, Nortec Collective (live + banda), Ben Watt
August:
Al Green, Charles Webster, Herbie Hancock, Gustavo Cerati, Andy Caldwell, Isaac Hayes + Millie Jackson + Alma da Batucada, Gotan Project + Zero 7 + Herbert + Jose Gonzalez
September:
Timmy Regisford, James Brown + Angie Stone, Very Be Careful, Massive Attack, Miguel Migs

New York:
June:
Louie Vega + Ultra Nate + Kenny Dope + Frankie Feliciano + Mr. V, Maceo Parker, DJ Heather + Colette, Groove Collective, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Andrew Hill, Roy Hargrove's RH Factor, Ornette Coleman, Bobby Hutcherson, Etta James, Dave Brubeck Big Band, Nickodemus + Mariano, Zakir Hussain + Charles Lloyd, Herbie Hancock + Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Spanish Harlem Orchestra + Cachao + Patato Valdez + Jimmy Bosch, Karsh Kale, Bobbito Garcia, Bebe, Atmosphere, Brazilian Girls, Maya Azuceña
July:
Balkan Beat Box + Antibalas + Ska Cubano, Bobbito Garcia + Rich Medina, Seu Jorge + Jose Gonzalez + Cut Chemist, Baaba Maal, DJ Spinna, The Idjut Boys, J*Davey, Nortec Collective (live), The Brand New Heavies, Amadou + Mariam, Derrick May, Fertile Ground + Eric Roberson, Dego, Si*Se + Radio Mundial + Nickodemus + Mariano, Lisa Shaw, A Guy Called Gerald, Brooklyn Funk Essentials, Joe Bataan
August:
Los Amigos Invisibles + Belanova, Lenine, Alice Smith + RJD2 + Lyrics Born, Jody Watley, Talvin Singh (DJ set) + Asha Puthli + Prefuse 73, Herbert (live), Kenny Dope
September:
Carl Craig + Gamal, Rainer Trüby, Cibelle

Chicago:
June:
Carl Craig, Mark Farina + Q-Bert + Derrick Carter, Isotope 217, Kindred the Family Soul, Aceyalone, Lyrics Born, Corinne Bailey Rae, Rich Medina, The Streets + Lady Sovereign, Seu Jorge + Amadou + Mariam
July:
Dimitri from Paris, Kokono No. 1, Kaskade, The Brand New Heavies, Etta James + Tom Jones, Tortured Soul, Four Tet, Derrick May, Roy Davis Jr., Barbara Tucker + Dajae + Danny Tenaglia + Maurice Joshua + Ralphi Rosario + Derrick Carter, Jocelyn Brown + Lady Bunny + David Morales + Jamie Principle + Terry Hunter, The Roots + Talib Kweli + The Pharcyde
August:
Anoushka Shankar + Karsh Kale, Gustavo Cerati, George Benson, John Tejada, Lalah Hathaway
September:
Jamie Lidell, Acid Mothers Temple, Nouvelle Vague
October:
Ladytron, Vitalic