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 [...]
There was a moment last night, during Wild Flag's set at the Black Cat, when singer/guitarist Carrie Brownstein basically gave herself over fully to her band's musical frenzy. During "Racehorse," she fell to her knees as if in a trance, slapped her own face a couple of times, and writhed around on the stage, all [...]
Senegalese singer Baaba Maal’s “Tales from the Sahel” show tonight at the Birchmere should prove to be very different from his last local appearance a year and half ago. That gig offered his 13-piece band Daande Lenol adapting songs from his 2009 album Television, which featured programmed beats and guest vocals from members of New York band [...]
"You know when you have the same dream for 740 nights in a row?" When Swedish singer/songwriter Jens Lekman asked this question to a sold-out crowd at Sixth & I Historic Synagogue last night, he phrased it so sincerely that you almost re-examined whether you actually had. Out supporting his EP An Argument With Myself, Lekman [...]
The D.C. area has plenty of club DJs spinning popular Latin dance music, and various promoters and clubs bringing in big-name reggaeton, bachata, salsa, and rock en español acts, but Maracuyeah is carving a unique niche. Since March, the D.C. DJ duo has been assembling evenings that feature an eclectic mix of cutting-edge tropical dance [...]
Roxy Music frontman and solo artist Bryan Ferry has long been regarded as one of the best-dressed musicians around. With his debonair attitude and that silken voice, Ferry has epitomized a certain crooner cool since the early '70s, when Roxy Music first came on the art-rock scene. Supporting his newest release, Olympia, Ferry stopped by [...]
Years ago, Cymbals Eat Guitars leader Joe D'Agostino took guitar lessons with Charles Bissell—The Wrens' guitarist, who for obvious reasons goes by the nickname Pedal Boy. Bissell later worked with Cymbals on early demos for the album Why There Are Mountains. So it wasn't surprising at all to see so many pedal decks scattered [...]
Wilco's setlist last night at Merriweather Post Pavilion had something for fans of every Wilco. Prefer cowpokey Wilco, from immediately after the days of Uncle Tupelo? They played "Boxful of Letters" off of A.M. ("The record six of you bought," said frontman Jeff Tweedy.) The netherworldly sonics of the band's output from the last decade or [...]
The sun shone bright Saturday at this year's Virgin FreeFest at Merriweather Post Pavilion, and while the grounds were a bit muddier than last year, at least the Dance Forest wasn't as dusty. It was the first nice afternoon in weeks—as well as the day before the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and the start of [...]
