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The
Jazz Passengers
MASS
MoCA, North Adams, Mass., Saturday
Yes,
it’s cool that the Jazz Passengers are playing at MASS MoCA.
Yes, you should be excited that these onetime Big Apple Circus
pit-band players and former members of John Lurie’s Lounge
Lizards are trekking out of their usual downtown Manhattan
haunts to the idyllic Berkshires, abandoning the Knitting
Factory for a different type of avant-garde setting. But,
dude, check this out: This outfit, led by saxophonist Roy
Nathanson and trombonist Curtis Fowlkes, will be making the
trip to provide both the live soundtrack and the dialogue
to a screening of the horror classic The Creature From
the Black Lagoon—which will be shown in 3-D. Honestly,
where else are you going to get this kind of entertainment?
Tanglewood? (Aug. 2, 8:30, $12, $6 kids, 413-662-2111)
Weak
Hudson
River Theater, Hudson, Saturday
Let’s
get the name-dropping over with first. Weak is Antony Widoff.
Widoff toured with David Bowie last year, re-creating sounds
from Low for the Thin White Duke, and previously with
U2 on the ZooTV and POP tours, when the Irish rockers were
in their well-meaning art-pop phase. He has recorded with
such disparate luminaries as Tomoyasu Hotei, Peck Slip and
Memorial Garage. (No, we’re not sure who they are either.)
Weak’s first album was released in February, and its shimmering,
multilayered pop soundscape is damn near irresistible. The
jauntily neurotic lyrics are absurdly clever, and the sweetly
strangled vocals suggest that Syd Barrett has been whispering
in Widoff’s ear. Now based in Hudson, Weak is, reportedly,
already at work on his second disc. See Weak before he decides
to set up operations somewhere cooler. (Aug. 2, 8 PM, $15,
822-8189)
Bon
Jovi, the Goo Goo Dolls
Saratoga
Performing Arts Center, Sunday
It
wasn’t too long ago that veteran rocker Jon Bon Jovi chopped
his hair and donned a shag (considering Bon Jovi’s been around
since 1983), and while we’ll miss his frizzy ’80s ’do when
he and his band play SPAC on Sunday, we’re damn excited that
he’s coming around again. The group that rocked us through
the ’80s and ’90s with their working-class tunes will play
our area in support of their most recent LP, Bounce.
Bon Jovi have said that although some of the songs on the
new album were influenced by Sept. 11, the album is not based
solely on that tragedy. The CD will be out in early October,
but you can almost certainly hear some of the songs on Sunday.
Staying with the moptop theme, the Goo Goo Dolls will open.
(Aug. 3, 7:30 PM, $85, $30 lawn, 476-1000)
Adema,
Powerman 5000, Spineshank, Fingerfight
Northern
Lights, Sunday
Nu-metal
rap-rockers Adema sprung out of the same California Central
Valley scene from which Korn and Videodrone first burst forth,
and their self-titled debut in 2001 on Arista was the result
of a frothy feeding frenzy among labels. As a matter of fact,
Adema’s lineup (which includes Mark Chavez, younger half-brother
of Korn’s Jonathan Davis, and Videodrone drummer Kris Kohls)
had been together for a year before ever hitting the stage,
but they were hard at work recording demos—hard work that
obviously paid off. Adema, which may remind listeners
of albums by fellow heavy-rockin’ outfits Staind, Korn, Tool
and Limp Bizkit, was one of 2001’s most-anticipated albums
in its genre. The band have since honed their live-show experience,
with Chavez working the crowd like he was born for it. You
can check ’em out at Northern Lights on Sunday, when they’ll
co-headline with fellow alt-metalheads Powerman 5000. Spineshank
and Fingerfight are also on the bill. (Aug. 3, 8 PM, $15,
371-0012)
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Taj
Mahal
The Egg, Sunday
Iron
Horse Music Hall, Northampton, Mass., Monday-Tuesday
In
the kingdom of blues, Taj Mahal has been the reigning jack-of-all-trades
for more than 35 years. His musical career spans the spectrum
of folk and roots styles, combining elements of reggae, zydeco,
gospel and jazz with traditional acoustic blues. His 1997
rock- and pop-inspired journey, Señor Blues, earned
the artist a Grammy, and helped solidify public appeal for
his unique brand of rule-taunting blues. He has more than
20 instruments in his repertoire, and his voice ranges from
deep, bitter sentiment to smooth soul. His self-titled debut
album, released in 1968, is still regarded as one of the most
important milestones in the acoustic-blues revival of that
decade. Despite his habit of bending the traditional rules
associated with genres (or maybe because of it), Taj Mahal
has become an influence for many contemporary musicians, and
he continues to be an example of uncommon versatility within
the realm of acoustic blues. He’ll perform at the Egg in Albany
on Sunday and at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton,
Mass., on Monday and Tuesday. (Egg: Aug. 3, 7:30 PM, $28,
473-1845; Iron Horse: Aug. 4-5, 7 and 9:30 PM, $35, 800-THE-TICK)
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THE
SUBDUDES
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The
Subdudes
Washington
Park, Albany, Monday
When the Subdudes’ self-titled debut album was released in
1990, the New Orleans-based band were marketed as another
of the crop of Americana-influenced college rockers enjoying
cultish success at the time (think Big Dipper, the Connells).
This proved to be a less-than-brilliant PR ploy: The Subdudes,
though quirky—they were forerunners of the pop-act-with-alternative-
percussion thing, featuring a tambourine-and-conga player
rather than a kit drummer—were never quite at home in that
field; nonetheless, when the college-rock scene faded, the
band faded along with it. But, now, the Subdudes are back
(well, three of the four original members are back), and it’s
a fair bet that their blend of soul, R&B, funk and virtuosic
tambourine will find a better-informed audience in these days
of multiculti world-beat stylings—unless some addled image-conscious
manager-type tries to sell them as hardcore rap. (Aug.
7, 7:30 PM, free, 866-333-8191)
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noted |
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NATALIE
MACMASTER
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Cape
Breton fiddler Natalie MacMaster will provide
her fans Celtic fiddling aplenty when she performs
at the final Alive at Five concert in Albany’s Riverfront
Park tonight (Thursday), with local Irish group
the McKrells opening (5 PM, free, 434-2032).
. . . Electro-acoustic cinema artists dyad,
who design the software they perform on, will blend
their lush synthesized music with saturated moving
images when they perform (what else?) an Impulse
Response show tonight at 623 River St. in Troy;
Latvian-born, Baltimore-based emerging microsound
artist loadbang will also perform (8 PM,
$5, $3 students/seniors, 281-3206). . . . Also tonight,
seven-piece party band the TS Ensemble will
play from their extensive repertoire that stretches
from swing to current hits at Saratoga Springs venue
Hurricane Sam’s. Music won’t be all that’s offered,
as CDs and T-shirts will be given away (8 PM, 587-6074).
. . . Bluesman Otis Taylor will be in Schenectady’s
Central Park on Sunday, performing in support of
his fifth CD, Truth Is Not Fiction (4 PM,
free, 866-333-8191). |
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