While the Kennedy Center's annual Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival should be applauded for honoring the women of this great American art form, it is a shame that it is even necessary. While artists such as the festival's namesake and a host of others have made major contributions to jazz, the fact of the matter is that this music is still heavily male dominated. When asked how she viewed the festival, drummer par......

Seeing a band scheduled for two consecutive nights can be nirvana for die hard fans, but for those without that sort of disposable income, it can also pose the question of which night will yield the better show. Granted, many concert goers are also at the mercy of their daily schedules, but trying to figure out whether a band is a better band the first night or the second night, even without factors like a......

Potentially terrible news for local music fans: The Going Out Gurus are reporting that Fort Reno Park, the site of D.C.'s beloved outdoor summer concert series, has been closed indefinitely after United States Geological Survey satellite imaging reports found high levels of arsenic in the soil there. We've since heard from readers who said they saw the park service today in the process of putting a fence around the entire park to ensure no one......

>> Tonight, Chicago's freewheeling fusion quartet Hudson pays a visit to Busboys & Poets. 9 p.m. $10 >> The big event of the week is the 13th Annual Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival at the Kennedy Center, which begins on Thursday and runs through Saturday. In addition to a series of free shows on the Millennium Stage, the event features a lineup of world class artists at its ticketed events. Highlights include performances......

WEDNESDAY: >> It's been over a decade since Erykah Badu burst onto the scene with her nasally ode to the nature of the universe, "On & On". She'll be at Constitution Hall for two nights in support of her latest album, New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War. Joining her will be America's foremost hip-hop band, The Roots. Last month they released Rising Down, which features guest vocals from D.C.'s own Wale on the go-go......

As we touched on earlier today, there were plenty of concerts around the area this weekend that weren't centered around inclement weather. On Friday, you had your choice of a three-hour, catalog spanning marathon by the Cure at the Patriot Center in Fairfax as well as a raucous set by the Drive By Truckers at the 9:30 Club. Saturday night's big event was the Kanye show, but during the day over 21,000 people made their......

Driving down I-66 West to the Nissan Pavilion Saturday evening was an experience (though obviously, not nearly as much of an "experience" as Sunday night's Radiohead show was). There were a number of cars loaded with people looking to be in their teens or early 20s lining the road, wearing the trademark sunglasses and blaring the music of the artist they were going to see, Kanye West. In the years since West stepped from behind......

Monday >> The Black Keys are playing two sold out shows this week (Monday and Tuesday) at the 9:30 Club with Buffalo Killers. Their latest album, Attack & Release, was released on April 1 and produced by R&B and mash-up producer Danger Mouse. Looks like there are a few tickets for sale for both nights on Craigslist. Tuesday >> Colour Revolt, a southern indie rock band from Mississippi, also released an album in April titled......

Drive-By Truckers Shonna Tucker, Mike Cooley, Brad Morgan, Patterson Hood, John Neff. Singer/songwriter/guitarists Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley had already been struggling to make music together for more than a decade when they formed the Drive-By Truckers in 1996. As the 1999 live album Alabama Ass Whuppin’ documents, this early incarnation of their band — which also featured drummer Brad Morgan, the only other founding member who has remained amid several lineup changes —......

Trumpeter Nicholas Payton emerged in the early 1990s as part of a new wave of young lions who picked up the trail left by the likes of Wynton Marsalis in the 1980s. The Crescent City native, who will be performing tonight and tomorrow at Blues Alley, is the son of respected bassist Walter Payton. Growing up, he studied and performed with some of the finest jazzers New Orleans had to offer. This upbringing has had......

In the past, we've written a lot about two start-up music festivals, the Six Points Music Festival and DAM! Fest, which were both organized locally, held in venues around town and highlighted both local musicians as well as acts from elsewhere. We realized that too many press-release-free months had gone by with no mention of anything new, so we checked in with the organizers to see what was afoot. Unfortunately for local music fans, there......

>> Tonight, the Washington Performing Arts Society presents the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, under the direction of the one and only Wynton Marsalis. Tickets to the 8 p.m. show at the Kennedy Center's concert hall are sold out, but you can try contacting the box office for last minute availability. $40-$85 >> Guitar legend Alan Holdsworth, who was at the fore of the jazz-rock fusion scene of the 1970s, plays at the Birchmere tonight at......

TUESDAY: >> Portland, Oregon-based indie soulstress Liv Warfield has been garnering positive reviews ever since the 2006 release of her debut album, Embrace Me. She'll be performing two shows at Blues Alley this evening. $20, 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. >> Was (Not Was) came out of Detroit in the early 1980s with "Wheel Me Out" and scored a hit later in the decade with "Walk the Dinosaur". Recently reinvigorated, the band will bring their......

MONDAY >> In 1966, the Electric Prunes sang "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)." Tonight they'll hearken back to those psychedelic garage rock times at the Black Cat. Locals (Sounds of) Kaleidoscope, who are as much aficionados of parentheticals as the Prunes, kick things off. 8 p.m., $15. >> D.C.'s loose organization of folk-leaning bands, known as The Federal Reserve Collective, presents shows on the first Monday of the month at Iota. Tonight......

Today, Radiohead kicks off its In Rainbows world tour in West Palm Beach, Florida, which means that D.C.-area fans are mere days away from getting their fix. The boys from Oxfordshire dispatched a press release today, announcing the launch of a new section on their website: The Most Gigantic Flying Mouth For Sometime. Die hards will undoubtedly note the allusion to the Hail to the Thief-era video series, but this particular announcement has far less......

From the first sparkling notes of his intro to Luiz Bonfá's "Manha De Carnaval", originally recorded for the soundtrack to the classic film, Orfeu Negro ("Black Orpheus"), it was clear that Kenny Barron is a master pianist who plays with soul, grace, wit, and technique. His first set on Saturday at the Kennedy Center's Family Theater saw him play 90 minutes of polished jazz that was pleasing to the ear, but there was something missing.......

That wearing flip-flops to a rock concert could be dangerous might seem obvious to many of us, but we all know those people who, when the weather finally gets warm enough, more or less refuse to wear actual shoes until the fall. These folks will wear flip-flops to a fancy restaurant, on a first date, or even to church. But venerable rock venue the Black Cat has a message for those of you committed......

Covering a band whose members are still in college is inherently tricky. Sure, they could turn out to be Jukebox the Ghost (***), but there's that weird deadline that appears at the end of four years that can spell certain doom for bands whose members get jobs in other cities, are too busy with grad school to think about performing, and so on. But when such a band consists of a brother/sister duo, the members......

It only took three hours for the five alarm fire in a Mt. Pleasant apartment building to displace roughly 200 tenants. It didn't take much longer for Ryan Wakeman and Chris DeWitt to come up with a way to help. Under the moniker "The Queen of the Water Dolphins", Wakeman and DeWitt organized a benefit concert to raise donations for victims of the fire. "We wanted to do something useful with ourselves about the fire,......

>> Saxophonist Charlie Young, a lecturer at Howard, tours and performs regularly with both the Duke Ellington Jazz Orchestra and the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra. Tonight, he leads his own group at Blues Alley. Tickets to the 8 and 10 p.m. sets are $18 + $12.50 minimum/surcharge. >> Piano sensation Brad Mehldau performs tonight at the Barns at Wolf Trap. His rhythm section includes drumming phenom Jeff Ballard and renowned bassist Larry Grenadier. Tickets to......

"Atmospheric" is one of those ten-cent words that music writers like to use whenever a band coats their songs with the least bit of reverb. But atmospheric seems like the best adjective to describe a band whose xylophone samples and syncopated cymbal beats gives a rather clear visual of a waterfall, all from the comfort of a local concert venue. But before thinking that Bellflur belongs on one of those Pure Moods CDs, they'll......

Tereu Tereu wants you to dance. They've said as much during their previous two performances, opening for local favorite Georgie James and later for England's latest Gang of Four disciples, Foals. It's not an unreasonable request, since the Fredericksburg quartet's infectious midtempo indie-pop hooks, strong bass lines and impressive trumpet-playing are highly conducive to toe-tapping. Tereu Tereu sounds familiar, and there's this sense that they could have been on an old mix tape somewhere between......

TUESDAY: >> Minneapolis hip-hop act Atmosphere will be at the 9:30 Club to support their recently released album, When Life Gives You Lemons You Paint That Shit Gold. If you're still looking to go, too bad. The show sold out and typical spots to sell extra tickets, like Craigslist, are coming up dry so hanging outside 9:30's door hoping to catch an unloaded ticket might be the best option. 7:30 p.m. >> Flex Mathews' Good......

MONDAY >> All hail queen Dolly! She of the sparkles and the wigs and the global endowments and the eponymous amusement park and the Smokey Mountain Christmas is gracing Fairfax with her presence this evening at the Patriot Center. Excuse us while we listen to Jolene about 35 times on repeat. $45.50 to $75.50, 7:30 p.m. >> If you were headed to Galaxy Hut tonight to see Marty Royle, your search will be fruitless. However!......

Ah, summer festival season. In years past, those of us in the D.C./Baltimore region had to either consider an expensive trip to a faraway locale or jealously eye the lineups of Coachella, Sasquatch, Lollapalooza, Intonation, Pitchfork, Bumbershoot and countless other fests, hoping that the festival gods would someday smile upon our little patch of the Mid-Atlantic. Luckily, that all changed with the introduction of Virgin Fest in 2006 (now known as the Virgin Mobile Festival)......

Dr. Leonard Brown (pictured) is far from a typical academic. An ethnomusicology and music professor at Northeastern University in Boston, Brown holds joint appointments with the school's Music and African American Studies Departments, specializing in the study of African music as it has developed in the western hemisphere. He has also branched out to study the role and function of music in human life. But it is his role outside of the university that brings......

Manchester is a town at the very heart and soul of British music. Bands the likes of The Hollies, the Bee Gees, Simply Red, The Fall, Joy Division, The Smiths, The Stone Roses and Oasis form a musical legacy that's second to none. In 2001, Elbow became the city's latest musical crown jewel after their debut record Asleep at the Back was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. Their brand of progressive, gloomy yet......

Excitement abounds here at DCist HQ as we're all abuzz and ready for Unbuckled 7, which finally drops tonight. The show, as you already know, is at DC9 and features the genre blending Three Stars alum, Muhsinah, along with jazz/hip-hop outfit, Motel, led by bassist Matt Grason. Special guest DJ v:shal kanwar will also be joining the fray and setting the mood from behind the decks at various times throughout the night. Judging from......

'Tis a happy day here at DCist HQ, jazz lovers! This Week in Jazz made its debut on D.C.'s best web site one year ago this week. We hope you've enjoyed the weekly listing and that it has inspired you to check out some of the fine improvisational music we have in our nation's capital. So without further ado, let's get to this week's agenda. >> Tonight is the 5th Annual Congressional Blues Festival, held......

MetroPerforms!, the city's solution to the perceived scourge of subway busking, is once again seeking District of Columbia-based performers for a second year of the program, which hires local singers, dancers, musicians, poets and other performers to show off their talents at select Metro station entrances. Auditions will take place on May 2 and May 3 at Metro headquarters. Currently, auditions are only for those who want to perform in D.C. stations. Metro and the......