The crowd that saw Back Door Slam Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam execute an acrobatic set at the Birchmere last night probably hadn’t seen guitar mastery like that since they were Davy Knowles’s age.

The audience skewed middle-aged—I was probably the youngest person there apart from the 22-year-old Knowles himself—and didn’t fill up the entire hall, which was too bad. But that didn’t stop Davy from turning on the electricity and sending portions of the crowd (one exuberant “young” lady in particular) to fits of hooting and flailing with his vintage blues howl and exceptionally lithe digits.

Opener Rob Drabkin, who flew all the way from Colorado for the occasion, was another technical whiz. He played a brief opening set, crooning over some complex acoustic licks in a style that a little too Dave Matthews for my taste. Then came Davy and BDS, and things got loud. Several thousand sixteenth notes, trills, and string-bends later, the show culminated in a slow jam in which Knowles good-naturedly schooled Maryland guitar-maker Paul Reed Smith, who in turn awarded Knowles a $30,000 guitar.

Read More “Cirque de Knowles: Back Door Slam @ Birchmere” »

Amadou & Mariam, who will be at the Birchmere Wednesday, have been performing together since 1980. However, only in recent years has this blind Malian couple started reaching a sizable audience on this side of the Atlantic.   Their wonderful latest cd, Welcome to Mali, is catchy, creative Afropop, not purist traditional Malian folkloric music or obscure abrasive Sublime Frequencies style international sounds (and I like those approaches as well btw). Mali came out in 2008 overseas, but Nonesuch only recently released it here.  Just as their 2005 Dimanche a Bamako went global via mixing traditional Malian desert blues guitar, Afropop melodies, and Islamic-rooted vocals with producer/collaborator Manu Chao’s ska  and Western pop, Welcome to Mali mixes their home country’s sounds with psychedelic guitar, African rap courtesy of K’naan, and some programmed funky beats.  Plus Malian kora great Toumani Diabate.  Damon Albarn of Blur did some production this time around, and Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour recently joined them onstage for a set as did Johnny Marr.  These guests have helped the duo get attention beyond the world music ghetto.  But what makes their music special is not their patrons, but the stringwork and vocals of 54 year-old guitarist Amadou Bagayoko, who started in the 1970s with legendary Malian group Les Ambassadeurs.  Mariam Doumbia’s enchanting, high-voiced lead vocals and harmonies are often hypnotizing, but it is Amadou’s rhythms that drive their songs forward, and his joyous feeling choruses (I don’t speak the languages) that make the tunes transcendent.

Wed. June 10 at 7:30    Amadou & Mariam and band with openers Farafina Kan (local dance and percussion group) in the Birchmere Bandstand room,  3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria, VA  (703) 549-7500. $35

On Sunday night I intended to head over to the Velvet Lounge to catch Dysrhythmia’s dizzyingly complicated brand of technical metal. Instead, feeling a little overdosed on aggressive live music, I opted for a less fatiguing option: sitting at the Birchmere with a couple friends, listening to Karin Bergquist sing gently depressing words with her inimitably Midwestern voice. Over the Rhine, whose American folk is as likely to draw from soul and R&B traditions as it is old-school country, is pretty much the perfect Birchmere band, as it were, a point proven by the packed house and the standing ovation the band received at the conclusion of their set.

Read More “Photos: Over the Rhine @ The Birchmere, Sunday” »

Plenty of Terrence Howard’s standout film roles have showcased his love of music—he rapped in Hustle & Flow, played guitar in The Best Man, and acted alongside OutKast (Idlewild) and 50 Cent (Get Rich or Die Tryin’). That speaks to his deep musical background: His grandmother, Broadway great Minnie Gentry, taught him to play piano, and he grew up listening to albums by his great-granduncle, jazz legend Cab Calloway. On his debut album, Shine Through It, Howard, who sings, writes, and plays guitar, does right by his influences, assembling a batch of jazz, R&B, and neosoul tracks. His crack backup band, led by bassist and co-producer Miles Mosley, moves from flamenco guitar to big-band-era jazz, but the disc’s finest moments are the ballads. On “Love Makes You Beautiful,” Howard’s deep baritone nicely blends with the humming female backup vocals, and the title track is a soulful, uplifting romantic tune. HOWARD PERFORMS AT 7:30 P.M. AT THE BIRCHMERE, 3701 MT. VERNON AVE., ALEXANDRIA. $25. (703) 549-7500.—Alfredo Flores

If you were planning on checking out Nico Muhly’s show on Thursday, you’ll need to head a little farther north than planned. The show has been moved from its original spot at the Birchmere to the Silver Spring’s Episcopal Church of the Ascension, 634 Silver Spring Ave. For more on Muhly, check out our review of his new album, Mothertongue, which Brent Burton said features “the kind of composition that goes a long way toward explaining that thick stack of press clippings.”