Results tagged “music>”

Feeling the limitations of the jazz combo format that was prevalent in the late 1940s, Miles Davis assembled a nonet to play music that allowed for more orchestration and color, while still maintaining the improvisational elements of that era's be-bop sound. With orchestrations from the great arranger Gil Evans, as well as band members Gerry Mulligan and John Lewis, the band performed briefly in the fall of 1948. But it wasn't until 1949 that the group entered the studio to record what would become Birth of the Cool, a seminal recording that kicked off a movement that became known as "cool jazz."

            

Public Enemy came to D.C. Wednesday on a mission–not to fight the power, but rather to use the band's influence to fight youth homelessness in the District and the rest of the country. The evening began at the Sasha Bruce House, where Chuck D, Flavor Flav and the rest of the iconic hip-hop group toured the facility and hosted a pre-Thanksgiving dinner for more than 30 homeless youths.

Last year we ran a Three Stars feature on Silver Spring-based Zo!, aka Lorenzo Ferguson, and by all accounts, he hasn't had a slow moment since then. Zo! played a role in The Foreign Exchange's acclaimed Leave It All Behind album and has toured with the group extensively. Not to mention, he's been working on his own LP, SunStorm, which will be released early next year. In the meantime, Zo!'s laced us with a pre-Thanksgiving morsel in ...just visiting too, a free EP that's out this month.

>> With a style she calls "acoustic smashing," vocalist Jaqui Naylor fuses the Great American Songbook with classic rock sounds of the 60s and 70s. Catch this intriguing combination tonight at Blues Alley. Tickets to the 8 and 10 p.m. sets are $20 + $12.50 minimum/surcharge.

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A critical consensus has been reached: playing an entire album live is a bit of a bore. The once novel concept has quickly become an unimaginative experience that legitimizes bands trotting out reliable hits without looking desperate (perhaps not always such a bad thing). From an artist's perspective, the album-as-set-list can be a self-mythologizing ego boost reinforcing older work as classic. The fans, for their part, get the songs they want in the order they are accustomed. Old codgers of all stripes will tell you that the album used to 'mean' something that kids today just don't understand. These individuals, fans and artists alike, have been weaned on the hallowed AOR template, a place where deep album cuts and well-known singles are valued equally.

When I think about the band Dawes, I'm remind of that line in Oh Brother, Where Art Thou when George Clooney's character, Ulysses Everett McGill, is explaining the sound of his band, the Soggy Bottom Boys. In an attempt to convince the old blind radio station operator that the group is worthy enough to play on air, Everett says, "Uh, sir, the Soggy Bottom Boys is been steeped in old-timey material. Heck, we're silly with it, ain't we boys?" Now if you consider CCR, CSN, Neil Young, The Byrds, The Band, and Gram Parsons, "old-timey material," then Dawes too, are steeped in, and silly with it.

>> One of the most important groups in hip-hop history, Public Enemy, will be at GW's Lisner Auditorium. In the effort to support the night's cause of fighting youth homelessness, attendees who bring a new or lightly used coat will be upgraded to VIP. $25, 7 p.m.

>> Only Los Angeles could produce whatever Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zereos is. An unholy union of the Manson and Partridge families, this dozen piece collective is yet another band of wide-eyed mystics from la la land looking to recruit converts through peace, love and folksy sing-alongs. As if that wasn't enough, the much buzzed about Fool's Gold and Local Natives round out a diverse, sold out evening at the Black Cat. 8 p.m.

As hip-hop began its ascent in pop culture, many jazz musicians embraced it, trying to infuse its infectious rhythms with an improvisational and harmonic sophistication. While such experiments have mixed results, we've seen several groups who continue to try to bridge the chasm between the two genres.

       

As the cold remnants of Hurricane Ida drenched the Mid-Atlantic, a few intrepid souls left the quotidian comforts of home to gather at the Black Cat for three sets of warm acoustic bluesfolk from Mimicking Birds, The Low Anthem, and headliners Blind Pilot. The lineup was assembled from across the US—the first and final hailing from Portland, OR, the median from Providence, RI. The main stage room was full and hazy with persistent, idle chatter. People dribbled in like wet rats.

              

Critically-acclaimed singer-songwriters Marissa Nadler and Alela Diane showcased their considerable musical talents at DC9 on Tuesday night, captivating an attentive audience with intimately stripped-down sets of folk songs.

>> Guitarist Rodney Richardson leads a group tonight at Twins Jazz. His trio features Three Stars alum Will Rast and drummer Larry Ferguson. Call 202-234-0072 for set time and cover information.

By DCist Contributor Dan White

>> Even though MF Doom is about as likely to show up to the listening party as he is to one of his own shows, this album release party should be worth checking. Hosted by Three Stars alum Flex Mathews, Lounge of 3 (1013 U Street NW) will play host to a listening party for Doom's Unexpected Guest album. Joining him to supply the sounds will be DJ Underdog and NIck Da 1nda. Free, 6 p.m.

>> Made famous by their star turn in the 2007 film Once, Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, better known as the Swell Season, have been charming audiences around the world with their trans-European folk fusion ever since. Tonight they'll stop by the 9:30 Club with Doveman. Sold out, 7 p.m.

       

This isn’t the first time that Thao Nguyen has sold out the Black Cat. It’s actually become an expectation, like death and taxes, that the young guitarist from Falls Church, VA and her awkwardly named band will bring the crowds and start a party. Party seems an unlikely description of a show by a band who specializes in rather harsh tunes about heartbreak and loss. But Thao’s feisty presence and quickness to invite others onstage elicited a celebratory homecoming atmosphere.

By DCist Contributor Adam Mazmanian

When Kailash Kher starts talking about music, it is tempting to dismiss him as someone waxing philosophical about metaphysical concepts, without any substance behind his words. But after a few minutes of listening, it becomes clear that he is the real deal. This palpable enthusiasm comes from a man who sees music as food for the soul, and an ultimate expression of spirituality.

You'd be forgiven for thinking that the Real Estate/Girls show Tuesday night at the Black Cat was an extended tribute to The Clean, an open-mic homage to the under-known but influential Kiwi punk band. Hell, the show might have been a two-set-long cover act, the way both bands indulge in heavy chorus pedal and simple chord progressions and fancy-free songs about summer love. You'd certainly be in your right mind to be excited by a show with so much surf-punk. How could Girls go wrong?

Two years have passed since we last saw Portuguese vocalist Mariza, who delivered a memorable performance at the Music Center at Strathmore. The Queen of Fado, as Mariza is known, will be performing this Sunday evening at the Lisner Auditorium. She is the world's most prominent exponent of a style rooted in history and tradition, but fado clearly has universal appeal. Over the past decade, Mariza has not only performed in most of the world's great concert halls, but also at international events such as the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and Live 8 in 2005.

Our occasional series "Secret History" features profiles of classic D.C. albums as a way of looking back at the District's contributions to music over time. In this installment, DCist speaks with members of Edsel about the band's major-label debut, Techniques of Speed Hypnosis (Relativity, 1995).

>> Chances are that you've never heard the harmonica as it's played by Frederic Yonnet. Blending disparate genres into his amazing technique, it's no wonder this cat has played with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Branford Marsalis, Erykah Badu, and Prince. Yonnet will be performing tonight at the Strathmore Mansion. 7:30 p.m. $17

From the first time I heard the music these guys make, whether together as the King Khan and BBQ Show, or in any of their other many incarnations (King Khan & The Shrines, Mark Sultan's unbelievably good solo album The Sultanic Verses, and so on,), I was in love. The nexus of garage rock, punk, and doo-wop could not be farther up my alley. In a world of electro-this and that, and sad-faced boys and girls singing sweetly, Blacksnake (King Khan's... real name?) and Mark Sultan bring a refreshing dose of pure, dirty, fun rock 'n' roll to the table.

>> DJ Stylus continues his weekly exploration into new music with "Refuge." As usual, it'll be at Tabaq. Free, 9 p.m.

>> The Boss is in town! The Boss is in town! Wait, wasn’t he just here? Perhaps that's why there are tickets available. Springsteen & The E Street Band will be rocking out the Verizon Center tonight. 7:30 p.m. $32.50, $68 and $98.

During last month's Sonic Circuits Festival, an elbow-to-elbow Velvet Lounge got to see legendary recluse Jandek perform a very intense set with dissonant guitars, creepy vocals and a lot of keyboards. It was a beautiful thing, but the people who left immediately afterward missed one of DCist's most exciting finds of the festival. Drummer Jason Mullinax, who performs as Pilesar, put on a set that completely warmed up and engaged the audience. The percussion-based songs with great melodies and interesting sounds totally won over the Velvet Lounge patrons still in attendance. Plus, he handed out kazoos and cupcakes while embarrassing his wife Ashleigh for her birthday.

From The Beatles and Ravi Shankar, to John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra, to Mickey Hart's collaborations with Zakir Hussain, South Asian classical music has long influenced western musicians. In recent times, the reverse is also true, what with hip-hop loops underpinning the latest bhangra and Bollywood grooves. But this West to East influence was less prevalent in the mid-60s, especially in the more traditional parts of South India, where a young Kadri Gopalnath had a life changing encounter.

Wow. Damn. And wow. It's hard to reconcile a concert like last night's exquisite set by Andrew Bird. As mentioned several times by the performers during the evening, Washington D.C. was witness to the final installment of Bird's tour with fellow genre-defier St. Vincent. The billing seems appropriate. Take one musically gifted, experimental, and odd male musician and combine with a female of the same description.

As the Montreal music scene has exploded with cathartic indie rock from the likes of Wolf Parade and the Arcade Fire, The High Dials have quietly spun some of the most well-crafted psych-rock of the new millennium. The group's breakthrough was 2005's War of the Wakening Phantoms, a sprawling near-masterpiece of orchestral swirl, guitar crunch, and Smiths-like delicate songwriting. Good press followed that release, and while its follow-up, the self-released Moon Country, hasn't quite gotten the same buzz, it's on par with its predecessor. Tracks like "Killer of Dragons" take cues from Yoshimi-era Flaming Lips, though with considerably more restraint, while "My Heart is Pinned to Your Sleeve" is a pure pop rush from start to finish. The band's now working on a new full-length, and on a short East Coast tour that brings them to D.C. and the Velvet Lounge tonight for their first District-area stop in several years. Lead-singer and songwriter Trevor Anderson took some time to answer our questions ahead of tonight's show.