Music

Astoria

04/25/13 9:00am

Event Highlight: Rich + Tone Talauega, Choreographers for Michael Jackson, Madonna and Jennifer Lopez

Education, Long Island City, Music

Rich + Tone, Choreographers for Michael Jackson and Madonna

Image Source: Dripbook

They were discovered by Michael Jackson’s choreographer while freestyling at a Southern California club. Then they skyrocketed to dance fame. Brothers Rich and Tone Talauega have since danced with Madonna, Usher, Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera, The Backstreet Boys, Gwen Stafani and Black Eyed Peas, among others. They are probably most famous for rocking Madonna’s Super Bowl XLVI halftime show at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis in 2012. On April 26, the Taluegas will present highlights and give a live demonstration of their choreography at the Museum of the Moving Image. Their performance is part of Spectacle: The Music Video, an exhibition celebrating the art and history of the music video.

Museum of the Moving Image

36-01 35th Avenue, Astoria/LIC

Friday, April 26

7pm – 9pm | Free, but first come, first served

35th Avenue, Astoria, LIC, Museum of the Moving Image, Rich + Tone, Spectacle: The Music Video, Talauega

Bayside

04/21/13 9:00am

QNYC Event Highlight: Rich Little — A Collection of Voices with Special Guests The Four Freshman

Rich Little: A Collection of Voices with Special Guests The Four Freshman

Image Source: Rich Little

He’s an equal opportunity offender. Rich Little, a master mimic of more than 200 voices, is famous for making fun of politicians. Over the decades, he has skewered JFK, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Clinton, both Bushes and Obama. The so called “Man of a Thousand Voices” even performed at both Regan inaugurations. Not bad for a Canadian. On April 21, Little will bring the fun to Queensborough Performing Arts Center. But he won’t be alone. The Four Freshmen, a vocal group from the 1950s that keeps reinventing itself, will fill the air with harmony-based songs.

Queensborough Performing Arts Center

222-05 56th Avenue, Bayside

Sunday, April 21

3pm – 5pm | $45

Bayside, Four Freshmen, Queensborough Performing Arts Center, Rich Little

Sunnyside

04/20/13 9:00am

QNYC Event Highlight: Roots of Flamenco — Gypsy Soul

Roots of Flamenco: Gypsy Soul

Image Source: Tumblr

They aren’t a little country, nor are they a little bit rock ‘n’ roll. But they are Spanish, Indian, Persian, Middle Eastern and Jewish. On April 21, Gypsy Soul (Espiritu Gitano) brings its rich, diverse music and dance to the Thalia Spanish Theatre. The bandleader, guitarist Arturo Martinez, has been a fixture on New York City’s flamenco/gypsy music scene since the 1980s. He will be accompanied by other outstanding artists, including dancers Maya De Silva and Elena Lentini and musicians Tom Chess and Sean Kupisz.

Thalia Spanish Theatre

41-17 Greenpoint Avenue, Sunnyside

Sunday, April 21

4pm – 6pm | $35

Arturo Martinez, Elena Lentini, Espiritu Gitano, Greenpoint Avenue, Gypsy Soul, Maya de Silva, Sean Kupisz, Sunnyside, Thalia Spanish Theatre, Tom Chess

Hunters Point

04/19/13 9:00am

QNYC Event Highlight: Green Space Blooms — A Queens Festival of Dance and Music

Categories, Long Island City, Music

ArtBark International, Ballet International Africans, Dance Entropy, green space, Green Space Blooms, LatticeWorks Dance Collective, LIC, Long Island City, Open Music Education, Valerie Green

Image Source: Green Space

There once was a place called “Queens.” In the early 2000s, this borough became home to a growing — and growing — community of choreographers and dancers. By April 2007, it was a hotspot, and Green Space Blooms, a festival celebrating local dance and music talent, was born in LIC. Just like the borough, the festival grew and grew, and this year, the seventh annual Green Space Blooms features 40 diverse choreographers. On April 20 and 21, the festivities will include such talent as LatticeWorks Dance Collective, Ballet International Africans and ArtBark International. Plus, Green Space‘s founder, Valerie Green, and its resident company, Dance Entropy, will participate. Each evening will end with a post-performance party with sounds curated by Open Music Education.

Green Space Blooms: A Queens Festival of Dance and Music
Green Space
37-24 24th Street, LIC

Saturday, April 20, and Sunday, April 21

1pm – 3pm | $10

Flushing

04/18/13 9:00am

QNYC Event Highlight: Korea Sounds Off Against the Greek Isles in Cultural Crossroads 2

Image Source: Facebook/Electric Shaman

First Brazil battled India. Soon Jamaica will take on Spain before Africa goes up against Peru. But right now, all eyes — and ears — are trained on the Korea-Greece competition at Flushing Town Hall on April 19. Vong Pak’s Korean Drum and Dance Troupe will rock the house with Korean music and dance while dressed in traditional regalia followed by Yianni Papastefanou and his orchestra with their traditional music and dance from the Greek Isles. Part of the ongoing Cultural Crossroads-polooza, the venerable Northern Boulevard performance space is mixing it up with two cultures, one stage and an open dance floor.

Korea Meets Greece
Flushing Town Hall
137-35 Northern Boulevard, Flushing
Friday, April 19
8pm – 10pm | $15

Cultural Crossroads, Flushing, Flushing Town Hall, Korean Drum, Northern Boulevard, Vong Pak, Yianni Papastefanou

Music

Long Island City

by Lori Gross

04/16/13 3:00pm

LIC startup Songza Pulls in another $3.8 Million

by Lori Gross

If there is a playlist for raking in millions in investment capital, the guys at Songza probably have it queued.

Based in Long Island City, Songza is a free music streaming service which offers playlists organized by mood or occasion. So if you’re feeling cocky, you can play the “Eye of The Tiger: Confidence Mix“. The site recommends “Take it Sleazy” if you’re in the mood for stoking loose morals.

According to their April 4 SEC filing they got 27 investors to front them $3.8 million.

TechCrunch reports:

While Amazon has long been an “unconfirmed” investor listed on AngelList, it parlayed its investment in the earlier Aime St vehicle into Songza. In late 2011 the startup closed what was reportedly a ‘seven-figure’ round of financing led by investors, including Deep Fork Capital, as well as an “undisclosed strategic investor.” Also participating in the round was Geoff Judge, co-founder of 24/7 Real Media.

Songza [AngelList]
Songza secures $3.8M to keep music fans connected to killer playlists [VentureBeat]
Free music streaming service Songza raises $3.82m in funding [SlashGear]
Songza reached the 1 million member mark in Canada [QNYC]
Songza may be your new best streaming music friend [QNYC]

App, LIC, Music Concierge, Songza, Technology

Flushing

04/14/13 9:00am

QNYC Event Highlight: KINEMATIK Dance Theater Presents INSEKTA

Image Source: The Dance Enthusiast

Featuring more than 100 million species, insects represent over 90 percent of multicellular life on earth. On April 14 at Flushing Town Hall, KINEMATIK Dance Theater brings the bustling world of bugs, bees, ants, spiders and flies to the stage with the premiere of INSEKTA. This dazzling array of the intricate and complex microorganisms that surround us depicts the diversity and the metamorphic cycles of insects through dance, live projections and the unusual use of props. Fusing technology with the movement vocabulary of Breakdance, House, Hip Hop and Contemporary modern dance, KINEMATIK creates an imaginative, unique and visually stimulating performance experience. Wear comfortable clothes and get ready to dance like a bug.

INSEKTA
Flushing Town Hall
137-35 Northern Boulevard, Flushing
Sunday, April 14
1pm for workshop | $6/$4 children (includes tickets to show)
2:15pm – 3:30pm | $12/$8 children

Bug World, Flushing, Flushing Town Hall, INSEKTA, KINEMATIC Dance Theater, Northern Boulevard

by Brownstoner Queens

04/12/13 3:30pm

PSY’s new song Gentleman has 500,000 views on Youtube and there isn’t even a real video yet

by Brownstoner Queens

04/12/13 9:00am

QNYC Event Highlight: I Love the 90s Dance Concert

Categories, Food and Drink, Music, Woodhaven