(718) 260–2500 Brooklyn Paper’s essential guide to the Borough of Kings Nov. 29–Dec. 5, 2019
MUSIC
Vintage voices
They’ve got soul but they’re not a soul
band!
A Williamsburg band with a sound out of the
1960s will celebrate the release of its years-inthe
making debut album this weekend. The Jay
Vons will launch “The Word” at Union Pool on
Dec. 1 with a concert of classic garage rock and
soul — an evergreen sound that speaks directly
to the heart, according to one band member.
“It just makes me feel good, it’s just honest
and it doesn’t feel like b——-,” said drummer
Mikey Post. “A lot of the material is stuff you
can relate to, like love songs.”
Post and guitarist and singer Michael Catanese
bonded over their shared love for garage
rock and soul, but their music draws mostly from
the former, according to Post.
“I don’t call it soul music. We’re heavily inspired
by it, but our finished product comes off
like the Rascals or the Zombies,” he said. “But
we’re such fans of soul we can’t help but that it
pokes its head out and gets into our sound.”
The two musicians played with several different
acts before forming the Jay Vons, with
bassist Benny Trokan and Dave Amels on keys,
about nine years ago. The band has made a name
for itself over the last five or six years, Post said,
opening for acts with a similar retro sound, including
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Charles
Bradley and The Extraordinaires, and Lee Fields
and The Expressions, while also acting as the
backing band for the group Reigning Sound.
About half the songs on “The Word” are singles
the group released during this time, said Post.
“On a certain level it feels like a compilation
— we recorded these tracks so long ago,”
he said. “We’ve been living with the songs for
a while.”
Now that the album is out, Post is looking
forward to touring with these tracks around the
country. Then the seasoned, soulful group will
get back in the studio to work on more music
— ideally finishing a new album less time than
the half-decade the first one took.
“Hopefully we’ll get into the studio next year
and make a record outright, not piece it out,”
he said.
The Jay Vons play at Union Pool 484 Union
Ave. at Meeker Avenue in Williamsburg, (718)
609–0484, www.union-pool.com. Dec. 1 at 6
pm. $10. — Kevin Duggan
By Rose Adams
Brooklyn Paper
A Brooklyn bookstore that specializes
in tomes about New York City will
bring highlights of its used treasures
to the Brooklyn Holiday Book Fair in Park
Slope on Dec. 7. The event will let holiday
shoppers browse through a unique selection
of titles focused on the boroughs
and neighborhoods that make up the Big
Apple, said the store’s owner.
“It’s a city of small towns, and every
one of these small towns has its own story
and its own personality and character,” said
Peter Miller, who runs Freebird Books in
the Columbia Street Waterfront District.
“There’s not another bookstore that does
the same thing.”
Miller’s love for New York City-centric
BOOKS
books dates back to the 1980s, when he
moved here from his home in Missouri,
and became curious about the Big Apple’s
inner workings.
“I walked around the city and I just
wanted to learn more, and to learn more,
you have to read all these books,” he said.
“It reached a point where I ended up collecting
tons and tons of books … anything
that was touching on the city.”
Miller took over Freebird Books in 2007,
and modeled it after the now-closed New
York Bound Bookshop, which sold works
solely about the Big Apple. Now he and
his wife — previously a Freebird customer
— run the business together.
Freebird sells used books from across
all genres, but Miller specifically seeks
out volumes that focus on the city’s politics,
history, transportation, architecture,
and crime.
When the bookseller is assessing a collection,
he said that a wide range of books
is more important than its rarity or monetary
value.
“At the end of the day I’d rather just
have a wide variety of things, and some
of them might just be beat up paperbacks
with coffee stains on them,” he noted. “We
try to be broad in what we have.”
Miller will bring a selection of his alltime
favorites to the Book Fair at the Old
Stone House, where seven other Brooklyn
booksellers with different specialties
will also showcase their wares. Other vendors
include Marine Park’s Enchanted
Books, which specializes in vintage children’s
books, Honey & Wax from Gowanus,
which sells antique first editions and
other rarities, and a bookstore on wheels
whose proceeds go to local educational
programs.
The event will also feature Dutch spiced
cookies, colonial-era candies, and a fun
community atmosphere, said Miller, who
has taken part in the fair since it started
eight years ago.
“It’s just such a positive vibe,” he said.
“People genuinely love talking to book sellers
and getting recommendations. And even
if you don’t make a book sale, you’re meeting
a lot of interesting people.”
BOOKS
Reading picks
Community
Bookstore’s pick:
“Mary Toft; or, The
Rabbit Queen,” by
Dexter Palmer
Dexter Palmer’s latest
novel, set in 18th
century England, is a
retelling, from the point
of view of a young surgeon’s
apprentice, of the
life and times of Mary
Toft. A married woman in her 20s, Mary gave
birth to three healthy children and more than a
dozen dead rabbits. Before she was revealed as
a fraud, Mary’s bizarre ruse took in several of
England’s most prominent surgeons, and even
King George I before it was all over. Palmer’s
novelization is a compelling and nuanced bit of
historical fiction.
—Samuel Partal, Community Bookstore 43
Seventh Ave. between Carroll Street and Garfield
Place in Park Slope, (718) 783–3075, www.
commu nityb ookst ore.net.
Greenlight
Bookstore’s pick:
“In the Dream
House,” by Carmen
Maria Machado
Machado’s first nonfiction
work is just as
groundbreaking as her
story collection. By sharing
her experience with
domestic abuse in a queer
relationship, Machado
uses her own pain to illustrate
the universal desire for connection in
all beings. Told in vignettes, the story is broken
up with broad topics, including Disney villains
and literary devices, and it proves that Machado’s
written talents allow all of us a chance to be
seen. A must-read for fans of Han Kang, Otessa
Moshfegh, and Helen Oyeyemi.
—Wynne Kontos, Greenlight Bookstore 686
Fulton St. between S. Elliott Place and S. Portland
Avenue in Fort Greene, (718) 246–0200,
www.greenlightbookstore.com.
Word’s picks: “The
Deep,” by Rivers
Solomon
This mermaid origin
story is unlike anything
I’ve ever read before. It’s
a fairly quick read that
deals with generational
trauma and the breaking
of the chains that bind us.
It’s as heart wrenching
as it is beautiful and you
can’t help but feel for the main character, Yetu
- a mermaid known as the Historian. Watch as
a community comes together to begin to heal
from the hauntings of their past and start the
process to learning how to flourish.
—Rebecca Fitting, Greenlight Bookstore
686 Fulton St. between S. Elliott Place and S.
Portland Avenue in Fort Greene, (718) 246–
0200, www.greenlightbookstore.com .
By Jessica Parks
Brooklyn Paper
An alcohol-infused performance
group is coming to a Williamsburg
watering hole for a production
of a classic musical fairy tale.
Brooklyn Theater Club will debut
two performances of playwright Stephen
Sondheim’s “Into the Woods”
on Dec. 5 and Dec. 8 — and invite
the tipsy theater-goers to sing along
with the fun, said the group’s producer.
“Brooklyn Theatre Club is centered
around participation,” said Mara
Frankel. “Everyone gets to be a part
of the show. Everyone gets to be a
star.”
The troupe’s 13 member cast yet
will take their singing talents to Williamsburg’s
Knitting Factory bar, offering
a dozen roles to audience members
Photo by Maria Uminski
— including a cow named Milky
Way, and Red Riding Hood’s granny,
said Frankel.
“What’s great is we don’t know
THEATRE
who the cow will be yet,” said Frankel.
Photo by Caroline Ourso
“And we won’t know until the
show.”
No one has to participate in the
show — but if they do oblige, they
are provided a script, costume, and
a buddy to show you the ropes, said
Frankel.
“We basically just go up to people
and ask ‘Hey, do you want to be in
the show,” Frankel said. “If you don’t,
then we will leave you alone.”
The theatre club puts on a presentday
adaptation of the classic shows,
without changing the script — but
they do adjust some of the underlying
tones.
“We like to look at every show
through 2019 eyes and put a modern
take on the show without changing
the material,” said Frankel.
But Frankel said the group mainly
strives to put on shows they love that
also appeal to the audience while
showing them a great time.
“We are people who are doing
really great theatre,” Frankel said.
“And people who also really love
to party.”
Text and
the city
Holiday book fair to showcase
volumes of urban interest
Bookish: Peter Miller of the Freebird Books will host the Brooklyn Holiday Book Fair
in Park Slope.
Brooklyn Holiday Book Fair at the
Old Stone House 336 3rd St. between
Fourth and Fifth avenues in Park Slope,
(718) 768-3195, www.theoldstonehouse.
org. Dec. 7, 11 am–5 pm. Free.
Sing
along
Theater club’s
musical lights
up W’Burg bar
Full of beans: Brooklyn Theatre Club will perform two shows of “Into the Woods” at Knitting Factory
to close out their theatre season.
“Into the Woods” at Knitting
Factory 361 Metropolitan Ave. at
Havermeyer St. in Williamsburg,
(347) 529-6696, www.brooklyntheatreclub.
com. Dec. 5 at 8
pm and Dec. 8 at 3 pm. ($16 in
advance).
Local flavor: Peter Miller’s favorite
book is “Lowlife” by Luc Sante,
which explores politics in Lower
Manhattan from the mid-19th to the
early 20th centuries.
/www.brook-lyntheatreclub.com
/www.commu
/www.commu
/www.greenlightbookstore.com
/www.greenlightbookstore.com
/www.theoldstonehouse
/www.brook-lyntheatreclub.com
/www.union-pool.com
/www.brook-lyntheatreclub.com
/www.union-pool.com
/ore.net
/www.greenlightbookstore.com
/www.greenlightbookstore.com
/www.theoldstonehouse