|
The
Jon Rauhouse Sestet
Valentine’s,
Friday
Andy Whitman of Paste magazine claims that Jon Rauhouse
“plays pedal steel guitar the way John Zorn plays the saxophone.”
While that’s a heady claim—and very much false, considering
how differently the two instruments are played—we’re psyched
to hear how this longtime Neko Case sideman bends the will
of his instrument, one so often relegated to giving country
music that “weepy” quality. Rauhouse’s new Bloodshot Records
disc, Steel Guitar Heart Attack, is a hoot, and his
band features members of Calexico, and Howard says he’ll kill
you if you don’t show up—if you still can’t find a reason
to check this out, your life is in your own hands. (Sept.
7, 9 PM, $7, 17 New Scotland Ave., Albany, 432-6572)
Blonde
Redhead
Pearl
Street, Friday For a band who were pegged as a second-rate
Sonic Youth early in their career, Blonde Redhead sure have
found a way to make that work to their advantage, in that
their experimental nature has helped them turn out a few first-rate
records in recent years. Much like fellow acid-punk-casualties-turned-studio-geniuses
the Flaming Lips, Blonde Redhead have developed into a group
who prefer to envelop their listeners with sound, rather than
attack them with it. Their latest record, 23, finds
the band dabbling more in beats and synthesizers than on past
releases; while not as intoxicating as 2004’s exceptional
Misery is a Butterfly, it’s a worthy addition to the
canon, and should come across swimmingly in a live setting.
(Sept. 7, 8:30 PM, $20, 10 Pearl St., Northampton, Mass.,
413-584-7771)
 |
|
Nnenna
Freelon
|
Albany
Riverfront Jazz Festival
Albany
Riverfront Park, Saturday
Enjoy eight hours of free, first-rate jazz on the Hudson,
complete with food and fireworks when the City of Albany presents
the 6th annual Albany Riverfront Jazz Festival. This year’s
performers span the rich traditions and transitions of jazz:
Fresh local band New Regime will kick off the festival Saturday
afternoon with their distinctive world-jazz groove; Alexa
Ray Joel follows in her father’s footsteps with a diverse
repertoire of jazz, pop, blues, country, funk and rock; the
Rebirth Brass Band infuses contemporary flair into their traditional
brass-band sound; six-time Grammy Award nominee Nnenna Freelon
offers her celebrated interpretation of the life and music
of Billie Holiday; and festival headliners the Joshua Redman
Trio craft poetically fluid improvisations within their deceptively
simple sax-bass-drums format. Food, beverages and children’s
activities will be available, and the evening concludes with
a fireworks display over the river. (Sept. 8, noon, free,
Corning Preserve, Albany, 434-2032)
 |
Genesis
Times
Union Center, Wednesday
Sixteen years seems like enough time for people to have forgotten
about We Can’t Dance, or at least the members of Genesis
should hope. With the Turn It On Again tour, Phil Collins,
Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks leap into a fall season crowded
by reunion jaunts. Theirs, of course, does not qualify as
a whole reunion—Peter Gabriel apparently decided it
wasn’t the right time to pull out the old sunflower costume—but
enough pieces are in place (including the excellent Chester
Thompson on drums) to make for what should be a very entertaining
arena-rock concert from one of the great arena-rock bands
of the 1970s and ’80s. (Sept. 12, 8 PM, $58-$203, 51 S.
Pearl St., Albany, 800-30-EVENT)
Misery
Signals
Valentine’s,
Wednesday
Formed from the ashes of highly influential Wisconsin metal-core
outfit 7 Angels 7 Plagues, Misery Signals are a standout in
a wasteland of a genre dominated on one side by tough-guy
posing and on the other by mascara worship. As it turns out,
Misery Signals spend more time on writing their music than
they do picking out their outfits or crew affiliation. And,
while they are a band with great musicality, their live shows
are notoriously emotional and hectic. Even a quick opening
bill by the band is worth catching; this Wednesday, they get
a headlining slot. Opening will be the Agony Scene and Emmure.
(Sept. 12, 7 PM, $10, 17 New Scotland Ave., Albany, 432-6572)
|
| Also
Noted |
 |
|
Michael
McDonald
|
Tonight
(Thursday), A.J. Croce, the moustache-free
son of legendarily mustachioed singer-songwriter
Jim, plays the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, Mass.;
Micah Stone opens (8 PM, $17-$25, 413-997-4444).
. . . Also tonight, jam out with Massachusetts-based
foursome the Brew at Red Square (9 PM, $7,
465-0444). . . . After a quiet August, the WAMC
Performing Arts Studio flickers back to life tomorrow
(Friday) with the big-band sound of the Swing
Docs (8 PM, $12, 465-5233 ext. 4). . . . The
intriguingly but not-so- threateningly named Ten
Pound Tiger play the MochaBlend Café in Troy
on Friday (8 PM, free, 271-1089). . . . The Academy
of Music Theater in Northampton, Mass., welcomes
“America’s best unknown songwriter,” Roger Salloom,
for a live performance and a screening of So
Glad I Made It, a new documentary about the
man, on Friday (7 PM, $10, 413-584-9032). . . .
Michael McDonald plays the showroom at the
Turning Stone Casino and Resort in Verona on Tuesday.
Yah mo B there; how bout U? (8 PM, $75-$90, 877-833-SHOW).
|
|
|
Site
Search 
