Red Baraat’s musical approach almost seems too contrived: Bhangra meets New Orleans brass meets jazz and funk and go-go. But since this Brooklyn nine-piece group formed a little over three years ago, it's made this largely instrumental style work, and garnished a following to show for it. The group includes three percussionists and six horn [...]
Even from my nose-bleed seats at Carnegie Hall last month, Chucho Valdes’ hands looked huge and commanding as they swept across the piano. The reputation of the renowned 70-year-old Cuban musician got a bump 12 years ago in the film Calle 54, in which he reunited with his now 94-year-old piano-playing father, Bebo. Valdes and his band the [...]
On Tuesday the Washington Area Music Association announced the nominees for the 26th annual Wammies, which take place Feb. 19 at the State Theatre. It’s no secret that I and others have long been critical of the local awards ceremony's mistakes, omissions, and policies. I'd hoped this year would be very different but, alas, I [...]
When Takoma Park Celtic folk musician Jennifer Cutting promises that tonight’s CD release party at the Birchmere will be "a veritable three-ring circus," she isn't exaggerating. Cutting, Anglo-Irish by descent but raised by Indian swamis in a Florida ashram, has long brought diverse aspects to her music, including 16th-century Scottish folk, French carols, ‘70s prog-rock, and [...]
When Arlington County Manager Barbara Donnellan presented in late November a new business plan for the financially troubled Artisphere that included closing the building on Mondays and Tuesdays, I wondered what would become of the arts center's "Salsa Tuesdays" events. While tonight’s Cuban salsa and timba event with DJ Reyna is being billed by dance instructor [...]
For years, WPFW DJ Rick “Da Gator” Bolling has brought to his Saturday afternoon listeners the latest in Southern soul and blues. Not Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings—that’s R&B for rock fans—and not guitar solo-filled blues rock either. We’re talking artists with church-rooted voices and lyrics about lust like Miss Jody and Carl Sims, [...]
D.C. fans of African sounds have a tough choice to make tonight. Tuareg guitarist Omara Bombino Moctar and his band bring their desert psychedelia to the Black Cat with local pan-African openers Sahel, while Nettle, an international band including two Moroccans plus Jace Clayton (aka DJ Rupture), Andy Moor from The Ex, and others, will be [...]
In late October, shortly after D.C. soul singer Reese Palmer passed away, plans were tentatively made to have a number of local vocalists later honor him with “A Celebration of Life.” That event takes place today at Canterbury Hall in Forrestville, Maryland. A who’s who of veteran D.C. soul artists will be there to honor, with song [...]
Saturday night at Glen Echo Town Hall, singer Carol Freeman and her two-piece band will be performing rebetika—a style of Greek music from the early 20th century first played in hash dens, which often features lyrical themes involving alienation, drug culture, prison, and unrequited love. Freeman’s program, “Four Women of Rebetika," will focus not on that [...]
In September, the future of the Surf Club was looking bright. The Kenilworth Avenue roots music roadhouse in Edmonston, Md., had regained the right to sell alcohol on nights it featured live music. But Thursday afternoon in an email to members of the Twistlist roots music listserv, Surf Club owner James Byrum wrote:
I want to thank everyone for [...]
