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Sonny
Rollins
Troy
Savings Bank Music Hall, Friday
Honestly,
you don’t need a
reason to go see Sonny Rollins; ask anyone who’s seen his
previous appearances at the Troy Music Hall over the years.
The fact that it’s Sonny Rollins is enough. It’s not
that he’s a jazz legend (though he is), it’s because he is
widely considered to be one of the most consistently compelling
and inventive live artists in any genre. Or, as New York City-based
jazz critic Gary Giddens—who, by his own count, hasn’t missed
more than a couple of Rollins’ NYC performances in the last
30 years—told an interviewer, “You can’t miss the fact that
something magical happens when he is on stage.” Rollins’ current
lineup includes bassist Bob Cranshaw, drummer Steve Jordan
and percussionist Kimati Dinizulu; the Philadelphia Inquirer
described his playing and presence with this band as variously
“friendly and inscrutable,” “playful and light,” and “stately
and resolute.” Sounds like classic Rollins to us. (Nov.
5, 8 PM, $30, $27, Second and State streets, Troy, 273-0038)
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Chris
Cagle
Northern
Lights, Friday
Chris Cagle’s biography posits him as “an anomaly—a blue collar,
working class country singer who’s not afraid to sweat or
get loud.” We’re not entirely sure why that makes him an anomaly—seems
to us like country music is all about loud, sweaty, working-class
folks. Of course, our entire concept of country music is a
scene in Roadhouse where an Alabama song plays in the
background, so what do we know? The Baytown, Texas, native
is also described as “unadorned,” “solidly built” and “hard-charging,”
yet “romantic without being wimpy.” Sounds like our kind of
guy. Cagle will perform songs from his self-titled second
LP—which, by the way, debuted at the top of the Billboard
Top Country Albums chart—when he comes to Northern Lights
this weekend. Blue Creek and Shelly Fairchild will open. (Nov.
5, 7 PM, $27, 1208 Route 146, Clifton Park, 371-0012)
Clinic,
Sons and Daughters, Midnight Movies
Pearl
Street Nightclub, Saturday
They’re
a quartet from Liverpool, England, and in at least one press
photo the four are wearing brightly colored marching-band
uniforms. But Clinic want you to know that any similarity
to that other Liverpudlian band stops right there (though
the press has made mention of lead singer Ade Blackburn’s
Lennonesque vocals). The critically acclaimed Brits, in fact,
cite more austere points of reference: the Velvet Underground
and Suicide, specifically. Also on the bill, Sons and Daughters,
whose lineup includes former members of both Arab Strap and
March of Dimes, and Midnight Movies, whose “cozy bleakness”
should fit nicely with the chilly Clinic. (Nov. 6, 8:30
PM, 10 Pearl St., Northampton, Mass., $15, 413-584-7771)
Hurricane
Relief Concert
Saratoga
Music Hall, Sunday
For
those of us who like to rock for a feel-good cause, this Sunday’s
Hurricane Relief concert—sponsored by the American Red Cross,
and benefiting victims of the Florida disasters—promises to
send your good karma spinning into overdrive. (And, if your
karma is good enough, you might even win the new guitar that’s
being raffled off.) Local musicians, including Rich Ortiz,
Big Medicine, and Roseanne Raneri, will perform acoustic sets.
Kids under 12 are free, so bring the whole family for a nine-hour
lesson on not only the goodness of helping others, but the
school of rock as well. Now, if only we could get a Band Aid
reunion going . . . (Nov. 7, noon-9 PM, $8-$10, children
under 12 free, 474 Broadway, 3rd Floor, City Hall, Saratoga
Springs, 792-4041).
Amazones:
Women Drummers
Rroctor’s
Theatre, Sunday
Amazones
Women Master Drummers of West Africa will share the stage
with Les Percussions de Guinee during the first-ever tour
for the Women Master Drummers. According to various Web sites,
the legend of the female group (the Guinee master drummers
are usually male), began in 1995 with the death of a revered
master djembe player Noumody Keita, who was the founder of
the Ensemble National de Percussions de Guinee. He appeared
in a dream to his wife Bintou Kourama and asked her to gather
strong, young women together to play the djembe, because he
was afraid the tradition of the instrument was in danger of
disappearing. Catch these amazing women when they perform
at Proctor’s on Sunday evening. (Nov. 7, 7 PM, $19.50-$29.50,
432 State St., Schenectady, 382-1083).
Acoustic
Alchemy
The
Egg, Wednesday
Alchemy
of the acoustic variety is not an easy thing. First you’ve
got to write some satanic symbols on the floor. Then you stand
on your head, in the southeast corner of the room. Recite
incantations from the book of the dead (or of smooth jazz),
mix in some lead and mercury, and as long as you don’t pass
out from the rush of blood to your head or the fumes, you’ve
got yourself some smoldering grooves. Rather than go through
all of this, you can check out the adult-contemporary jazz
rhythms of Acoustic Alchemy, who will show the Egg how to
turn the pluck of guitar strings into smooth gold on Wednesday.
(Nov. 10, 7:30 PM, $24, Empire State Plaza, Albany, 473-1845.)
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buddahead
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Over
at the Arts Center of the Capital Region tonight
(Thursday), the Impulse Response folks will present
another one of those things they do—this one’s
called “The Birth of Aural Gong Wash,” and will
feature collaged field recordings by the United
States of Belt, with live video by skfl.
Should be a good time for all the senses (8 PM,
$3-5, 281-3206). . . . Though hard-touring roots-rockers
Two Cow Garage hail from Columbus, Ohio,
they pretty much live in their van these days,
playing more than 150 shows a year. See why they
prefer life on the road as they perform at Valentine’s
this evening (9 PM, $5, 432-6572). . . . Former
From Good Homes guy Patrick Fitzsimmons
will play at—is this right?—the Larkin tomorrow
(Friday) night, with Female Songwriters You
Wanna Hear opening (8 PM, $7, 463-5225). .
. . “Labargefest” will take place at the College
of Saint Rose this Saturday; bands include Face
for Radio, Insult to Tradition, Parwana,
the Tree Wizards, and more (6 PM, free,
485-3323). . . . They’re young, goofy, Canadian,
and coming to Northampton: The Unicorns
play Pearl Street this Sunday night (7 PM, $13,
413-584-7771).
. . . On Wednesday, Buddahead will return
to Northern Lights; locals North Allen,
5 ’til Midnight, and the Velmas
round out the bill (7:30 PM, $10, 371-0012).
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Columns
& Opinions
