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 Bitch
and the Exciting Conclusion
Valentine’s,
Thursday
Get ready for a totally bitchin’ time, when Bitch, formerly
of Bitch and Animal, brings her feverish stage presence, her
array of unusual instruments, and her new girlfriend Daniela
Sea to Valentine’s tonight (Thursday). You can expect to see
eclectic outfits and brightly colored dreadlocks, and you
can expect to hear politically charged lyrics at the foreground
of unique notes from a ukulele and electric violin. Bitch
formed this new duo, Bitch and the Exciting Conclusion, with
Daniela, an actress in Showtime’s The L Word, following
her 2004 split with Animal. They’ve recently appeared in John
Cameron Mitchell’s film Shortbus and toured the country
with the Indigo Girls; now they’re kicking off their own set
of headlining shows in promotion of Bitch’s solo album Make
This/Break This, released on Kill Rockstars Records last
October. Viva la feminista! (March 1, 7 PM, $10, 17 New
Scotland Ave., Albany, 432-6572)
Lee
Shaw CD-release party
WAMC
Performing Arts studio, Friday
Local jazz luminary Lee Shaw has been a part of the Capital
Region music scene for three decades. Shaw began her career
as a pianist at age 5, and she eventually earned her first
degree in piano in Oklahoma (where, in 1993, she was inducted
into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame), before she earned her
master’s in piano at the American Conservatory of Music in
Chicago. She’s studied and played with the great jazz pianist
and composer Oscar Peterson, and she’s toured the world with
her own trio. We here in the Capital Region have been a beneficiary
to Shaw’s great talent as audiences and students—she
still gives lessons. Along with her trio, featuring Rich Syracuse
and Jeff “Siege” Siegel, Shaw will celebrate the release of
her brand-new album at the Linda Norris Auditorium tomorrow
night. (March 2, 8 PM, $18, 339 Central Ave., Albany, 465-5233,
ext. 4)
Albany
Amped Vol. 1 CD-release party
The
Skyline, Friday
Seven of the 11 local and regional bands featured on the new
compilation Albany Amped will play “fashionably loud”—for
eight hours—at the Skyline tomorrow (Friday) night. These
will include the Churchills, Readymade Breakup, Red Red Wine,
the Crayons, Big Nixon, Guiltless Cult and the Suggestions.
We like these compilations, and so should you: You can sample
a wide variety of artists for a few bucks. And if you’re one
of the first 300 through the door, you’ll get a copy of the
disc gratis. A gang of local organizations are involved in
this, too, including Rock2Rebuild, WEQX 102.7, 1st Friday,
DL Entertainment, Raise the Barn . . . you get the idea. It’s
a really big show. (March 2, 6 PM, $5, 4-6 Sheridan Ave.,
Albany, 472-8150)
Papa
Roach, It Dies Today
Northern
Lights, Saturday
Please note that Papa Roach are not down with playa-hating.
They just totally want to rock you this Saturday. They would
play monster-truck-rally-type commercials to get you there
if they could. (SATURDAY, SATURDAY, SATURDAY! PAPA ROACH ARE
GONNA OWN YOUR SKULL! BE THERE OR BE SQUARE!) And why shouldn’t
they? They are the band who took rap-rock to lofty heights
(at least on the Billboard charts), and now they are
taking post . . . um . . . post-rap-rock to new levels of
artistic integrity. While every other self-respecting rap-rock
band broke up (and for those of you who are unaware, there
was only one self-respecting rap-rock band, Rage Against the
Machine), Papa Roach churned out appropriately titled albums
like Getting Away With Murder. The group’s latest effort,
The Paramour Sessions, sees the band’s dress and hairstyles
looking oddly close to that of fellow Californians Atreyu
and Avenged Sevenfold. (My black retro mullet owns your fauxhawk,
dude!) Their taste in fashion is so totally metal-fabulous,
right? What does the new album sound like? Sorry, but we don’t
know—the Interwebs are currently clogged and we aren’t hard
enough to get a Roach demo. (March 4, 7 PM, $18, 1208 Route
146, Clifton Park, 371-0012)
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Taj
Mahal Trio
Troy
Savings Bank Music Hall, Saturday
Taj Mahal (aka Henry Saint Claire Frederick) has had a career
that many view as a picture of artistic triumph: For more
than 40 years he’s had popular acclaim and critical success.
Now considered a musical legend, Frederick had a humble start:
His father was a pianist and composer of Jamaican descent,
and his mother was a gospel singer from North Carolina. As
a child, Frederick was drawn to world music; after spending
time in West Africa, South America, the Caribbean, Europe,
Asia and Hawaii, he was able to incorporate these sounds into
his country blues foundation, creating his characteristic
blend of Afro-Caribbean blues, jazz and rock, with some soul,
zydeco and R&B thrown in for good measure. The Taj Mahal
Trio (with Frederick on guitar, piano and banjo, Bill Rich
on bass, Kester Smith on drums) will appear at the Troy Savings
Bank Music Hall this Saturday. (March 3, 8 PM, $29-$32,
2nd and State streets, Troy, 273-0038)
Gandalf
Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams
WAMC
Performing Arts studio, Saturday
As you may have guessed, there is no one in this band named
Gandalf Murphy, just as there is no place called Slambovia.
The Circus comprise four members (whose names are already
unusual enough) who play what one might sum up as a sort of
weird folk-rock, but what is essentially an homage to a variety
of influences—their first album was called A Good Thief
Tips His Hat, and that is just what they do, regularly
interspersing bits of tunes by the Beatles, Hendrix, and others
into their own songs during shows. Hailing from Sleepy Hollow,
the Circus have been described as “surreal Americana,” and
their official bio says they dance “freely between existing
religious and philosophical mythologies.” (March 3, 8 PM,
$18, 343 Central Ave., Albany, 465-5233 ext. 4)
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| Also
Noted |
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Peter
Mulvey
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Red
Square is back up and running after a brief hiatus;
go there tonight (Thursday) to see the New Orleans-based
Stanton Moore Trio with Will Bernard
and Brian Coogen (4 PM, $12, 465-0444).
. . . Madball, who just finished a tour
in Australia, will headline a show at Valentine’s
on Saturday; also on the bill are Death Before
Dishonor and Since the Flood (7 PM,
$5, 432-6572). . . . Or you can head to Northern
Lights on Saturday to see alternative-rock band
Bulletproof Messenger with openers
Hyngd, 29 Counts, and Gordon
St.—if you haven’t been to Northern Lights’
Web site lately, go check out their cool new feature
that lets you choose bands you want to be sent
updates about (like when they’re coming back to
the club) (7 PM, $5, 371-0012). . . . Milwaukeen
Peter Mulvey will perform his brand of folk-rock
on Sunday at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton,
Mass. with special guest David Berkeley
(7 PM, $15, 413-584-0610). . . . There’s just
too much going on at the WAMC Performing Arts
Studio this week—in addition to the other shows
we highlighted, renowned father-and-son guiarists
John and Bucky Pizzarelli will perform
two shows on Sunday (3, 7 PM, $28, 465-5233 ext.
4).
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Classifieds
