Brooklyn Comes Alive with Jam Bands

By Kate Hoos

Summer is fading into the background, and with it the spectacle of the outdoor music festival. There will be, however, plenty of smaller indoor festivals to capture your attention with the arrival of fall. One such fest is Brooklyn Comes Alive , now in its 4th year. BCA is a one day event, on September 29th, offering a unique fusion of the free spirit of New York with the flair of New Orleans jazz, packing in over 50 artists and spread over three North Brooklyn venues- Rough Trade, Brooklyn Bowl, and Music Hall of Williamsburg. It is a day of experimentation, collaboration,  improv and tributes. For the first time ever, comedy will also be a part of BCA with the debut of Wokes With Jokes: Stand-Up Comedy About the Jamband Scene.

Attendees of BCA can rub elbows with celebrated artists like drummer Adam Deitch (Lettuce). Deitch will be making a rare appearance with The Adam Deitch Quartet. Grammy Lifetime Award Recipient, George Porter Jr (The Meters), is leading a set in the Jam Room Presented by Jam Cruise. Craig Brodhead and Karina Rykman are joining Porter and leading their owns jam sets. According to BCA, “the Jam Room gives artists the chance to collaborate in an open and relaxed atmosphere and attendees can bare witness to an array of mind-blowing collaborations”

Standouts on the extensive roster of artists are Shira Elias (Turkuaz), who will be performing a “time machine set” as Shira Elias’ Soul Tracks, a performance of soul music from many eras including the late great Aretha Franklin, Erykah Badu, and many more. Legendary New Orleans jazz drummer Johnny Vidacovich is performing. He’ll be giving a one off performance along with Robert Walter and Eric “Benny” Bloom. They’ll bring the sound of NOLA Jazz from the Big Easy to Williamsburg in an exclusive BCA performance. Tributes to Prince (featuring Prince bassist MonoNeon) and Steely Dan are certainly among the highlights for the marathon event.

Photo Credit- Patrick Hughes

The festival venues are within a six block walking radius allowing attendees to quickly move from place to place. You can catch sets and jams that you may not get to see anywhere else. This adds to the excitement and free form of the event. This unique musical experience comes only once a year. Make sure you don’t miss out on all the excitement BCA has to offer.

You can purchase tickets here.

Kate Hoos is a nerdy NYC photographer, writer and musician. She can usually be found at a punk show- either with a guitar or a camera in her hand – or petting as many bodega cats as she can find. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram. Her blog is Hoosatron.com.