Something fishy is happening at Russ & Daughters Cafe. The gussied-up Jewish delicatessen is hosting performances by top-tier jazz musicians and they aren’t charging a single cent for them.
Not that we’re complaining. The cafe’s Smoked Fish & Pickles series is hosted by none other than downtown maestro John Zorn, the composer-saxophonist with a penchant for wild improvisation and experimentation as well as the studious exploration of traditional Jewish music.
Zorn’s East Village venue, The Stone, is moving into The New School’s Glass Box Theater in March, and will wind down, from Feb. 20 to 25, with a series of Zorn-led improv nights featuring a cavalcade of guests such as Laurie Anderson, Dave Douglas, John Medeski, and many more.
In the meantime, Zorn and The Stone are literally all over the map, putting on nightly shows at their longtime home on Avenue C, twice-a-week shows at The Stone’s future home inside of The New School, and monthly shows at Russ & Daughters Cafe. Conveniently for those who like to plan eight months ahead, Russ has announced the lineup of this year’s music series. It includes longtime Zorn collaborators and fellow composers such as cellist Erik Friedlander (if you’re not a Stone habitué, you may have seen him playing with Hole on MTV Unplugged); jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, who was in Zorn’s cult band Naked Lunch; and even a powerhouse duo, trumpeter Dave Douglas and guitarist Marc Ribot. See the whole lineup here:
In addition to its regular menu, Russ will be serving up “nosh” and cocktail specials. The cafe is small, so you may want to go ahead and lock down a table.