Events at Paul Robeson Theater

The Paul Robeson Theater on Greene Ave in Fort Greene is one of the few all-black owned theaters in the country. It's housed in a former church. I can't seem to find a website for them, but next week they will be hosting a series of live shows. Check it out- seems like there will be something for everybody.

****THE PAUL ROBESON THEATER SERIES**** A MeanRed Production

See past the stain glass windows into this historic church turned theater, located in the heart of Fort Greene. MeanRed Productions invites you for a week of rock puppet opera, electric fusion jazz orchestras, spirited experimental world music, and a child's fantastical kaleidoscope concert.

Paul Robeson Theater // 40 Greene Ave, Brooklyn, NY Advance Tickets Available at ticketweb.com and at Halcyon www.halcyonline.com

April 10 7:30pm Earthdriver 10pm Essie Jain and Friends

April 11 7:30pm Crabquistador

April 12 7:30pm Landau Orchestra and Burnt Sugar

April 13 7:30pm Olde English Comedy Troupe 10pm Sun Ra Arkestra and Nublu Orchestra with Butch Morris

April 14 1pm Family show with Alex and the Kaleidoscope Band 10pm El Michel¹s Affair and Budos Band

Details:

***APRIL 10th***

EARTHDRIVER 7:30 Doors Paul Robeson Tribute Set Earthdriver is a high powered New York City based mothership comprised of some of the hottest musicians on the scene. From this diverse collective comes an intense hybrid of funk, rock, soul, hip-hop, drum & bass, world music, and experimental genres. Beginning as an organic meeting ground where musicians of all backgrounds were free to explore their own creativity, what has resulted is an uncensored explosion of art and music overflowing with the liberating spirit of 'harmonious subjectivity'. Since Earthdriver is just as much a movement as it is a band, there is a common understanding of the importance of free thinking and creativity to the larger struggle in the United States and to peoples' movements around the world. Admission $12 // www.myspace.com/earthdriver

ESSIE JAIN & Friends 10pm Doors "Essie Jain is a totally new voice. Her debut album, We Made This Ourselves, manages to impress on the strength of its maturity first and foremost. The arrangements are extremely minimal, utilizing piano, slide guitar, and strings to create a stark sound as coherent as it is fragile. The same can be said of the lyrics, which eschew whimsy in favor of life experience every time." Artist Direct: February 2007 Admission $10 // www.essiejain.com

***APRIL 11th***

JOLLYSHIP THE WHIZ-BANG'S "CRABQUISTADOR" 7:30 Doors Brooklyn¹s nautical rock wunderkind Jollyship the Whiz-Bang is a puppet troupe, rock band, and theater production company. They have performed in festivals worldwide, invited on the renown of their legendary live shows, which incorporate music, puppetry, video and comedy in elaborate spectacles.

Fresh from their Galapagos run of Little Building, Jollyship the Whiz-Bang presents a rewritten version of Crabquistador, their seminal 2005 puppet rock opera. Featuring a five piece rock band, sword fighting puppets, powerpoint presentations, video projected backgrounds, fire, brimstone, and eight original songs, Crabquistador is a Christian puppet show like you've never seen before - hilarious, edgy, & relentless! Admission $15 // www.thewhizbang.org

***APRIL 12th ***

BURNT SUGAR & LANDAU ORCHESTRA 7:30 Doors Burnt Sugar, described by the Village Voice as "electric Miles with soul, Maggot Brain with a PHD, the Hendrix Evans band of dreams, the underwater funk some hear in A.R. Kane," was conceived as the contemporary version of the Miles Davis Bitches Brew Band, exploring the connecting tissue binding jazz, rock, funk, twentieth century composition, and African music in a lyrical, improvisational manner.

The Landau Orchestra combines acoustic brass, piano, strings, wind instruments and electronics to recreate a melodic mix of jazz, classical music and modern electronic production. Admission $12 // www.burntsugarindex.com www.netlandau.com

*** APRIL 13***

OLDE ENGLISH COMEDY TROUPE 7:30 Doors In four years of performing, they have produced over a hundred short videos, and have performed at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, the Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival, and the San Francisco Sketchfest. Their work has been featured on Good Morning America, MSNBC, and Entertainment Weekly's "Must List." Olde English is Caleb Bark, Ben Popik, David Segal, Adam Conover, and Raphael Bob-Waksberg. Admission $7 // Sponsored by Re: Up Magazine www.oldeenglish.org

SUN RA ARKESTRA & NUBLU ORCHESTRA CONDUCTED BY BUTCH MORRIS 10pm Doors From its inception, Sun Ra Arkestra's music was infused with Sun Ra's unique philosophy, an unexpected hybrid of space-age science fiction and ancient Egyptian cosmo religious trappings. This philosophy gained a visual manifestation in the colorful robes, mock-metallic capes, and space headgear worn by the band (it's the only jazz orchestra that brings a tailor on tour), and in a stage presentation that usually features several dancers, a number of group chants ("We travel the spaceways/From planet to planet"), and at least one instance of the entire band juking its way, single-file, through the audience.

"Nublu Orchestra is made up of, but not limited to, musicians from many different camps: jazz, funk, pop, fusion, Brazilian, R&B, classical, but the music we make is none of these... If Nublu means anything it means "inclusive nature" (rather than exclusive). It means we will find the center of balance and cosmology no matter whom is in the band, Nublu reflects the music and the music reflects Nublu. It's a total encounter in the moment." -Butch Morris The Nublu Orchestra¹s music is an amalgamation of sounds from free jazz to techno just as the club and label¹s sound as a whole is the same. www.elrarecords.com www.myspace.com/nubluorchestra Admission $15 Advanced/ $20 at door

***APRIL 14th *** Family Show!!! ALEX & THE KALEIDOSCOPE BAND 1pm Doors Alex & the Kaleidoscope Band offer lively and engaging musical concerts for children. Concerts are based on music from the award winning CD series Kaleidoscope Songs. Alex Mitnick and his five-piece band bring children and adults together on a fantastic musical journey. Audiences sing along, clap, dance and participate in spontaneous musical improvisations with the band. "It was an hour of music from the heart, for the heart," Sharon Orlando, Youth Services Librarian. Alex sings and plays guitar and is joined by Natalie Merritt singing and dancing, Sean Dixon on bass, Sebastian Guerrero on drum set and Jon Thompson playing the sax and electric guitar. Admission $12 // www.kaleidoscopesongs.com

EL MICHELS AFFAIR and BUDOS BAND 10pm Doors The sound of El Michel's Affair, a seven member instrumental ensemble is described as a set of "cinematic soul, vampy numbers with quick changes in tempo and mood." Opening for the likes of Mos Def and playing regularly as the back up band for Raekwon, the members of this Brooklyn based ensemble are also the founders of Truth & Soul Records. They carry an easygoing style that's as much 70s jazz as it is 60s funk, tunes that allow more room for instrumental interplay, unusual rhythm and instrumental flair, echoing the 70's soundtracks, Latin albums and funky 45s that sparked the initial inspiration.

The Budos Band has erupted onto the Funk and Soul scene with a malicious sound that all but commands you to burn down the dance floor. This eleven piece group offers up nasty cuts of cosmic afro-influenced psychedelic funk that haunt your head long after the music stops. Admission $12 adv/ $15 Day of Show

**Advanced tickets can be purchased at TicketWeb and at Halcyon: 57 Pearl St. at the corner of Water & Pearl Sts. in Dumbo, Brooklyn