New York’s closest analogue to South by Southwest, the CMJ music festival, now in its 35th year, has consistently evolved beyond its low-key origins of local new-music discovery. With an increasingly broad spate of performers and venues, this year featured established acts Kate Nash, Tobias Jesso Jr. and Glass Animals alongside indie buzz kids Neon Indian, Smallpools, Børns and Perfect Pussy.
Breakouts like the genre-bending jazz of tenor saxophonist Kamasi Washington and pianist/film composer Kris Bowers (heard at the first-ever JazzFest Marathon sponsored by Brooklyn nonprofit BRIC) and Los Angeles singer-songwriter Deradoorian (formerly of Dirty Projectors), were among the non-pop acts who drew crowds at the festival. Then there was rapper Allan Kingdom, who showed his main-stage potential during a solo performance of Kanye West’s “All Day” for the Jack Daniel’s-juiced audience at Brooklyn’s Fader Fort (where YG and Skrillex served as headliners). Still, he insisted vehemently, “We’re outsiders!”