Blackthorn

Of the AFI Silver Theatre’s many repertory series, its Latin American Film Festival is probably the meatiest. In its 22nd year, the event once again features the usual mix of smart documentaries, regional blockbusters, and highbrow Cannes and Oscar submissions from the 20 countries represented. The Mexican Suitcase, the documentary that opened the festival Thursday night (and also shows on Saturday), delves into a stash of photographs taken during the Spanish Civil War but not discovered in a Mexico City closet until 2007. Other films getting a major push from AFI include Medianeras (tonight and Saturday), an Argentinian love story with a Manhattan-like tour of Buenos Aires, andElite Squad 2: The Enemy Within (Sept. 30 and Oct. 1), a cop flick with the texture and name of a Call of Duty installment. (The film also has the distinction of being the top-grossing film in Brazilian history.) But the most intriguing entry in the 42-film schedule might be Blackthorn (Oct. 8 and 11), a sequel to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid with Sam Shepard as the famed outlaw Cassidy eking out a living in 1920s Bolivia. (Benjamin R. Freed) The festival runs to Oct. 12 at AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Rd., Silver Spring. $12 per film; passes available. (301) 495-6700.

MUSIC

Prince George’s County has the blues—and not only due to its ongoing struggles with violence and club shutdowns. Saturday brings the free and cleverly programmed Bluebird Blues Festival, now in its 19th year. This time around, the New York-based, Virginia-raised Holmes Brothers occupy the headlining slot. They stray from archetypal Mississippi or Chicago blues, opting instead for gospel-inflected, juke-joint originals and adeptly arranged covers of Cheap Trick, Nick Lowe, and Tom Waits tunes. Local harmonica blower Phil Wiggins, performing with West Virginian blues player Nat Reese, is another highlight; so, too, are longtime girl group the Jewels and neo-soul vocalists Avery Sunshine and Carolyn Malachi. (Steve Kiviat) The Bluebird Blues Festival runs from 12:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Prince George’s Community College, 301 Largo Rd., Largo. Free. (301) 336-6000.

Local act Paperhaus plays an EP release show at, yes, Paperhaus tomorrow night. Mother, Ugly Purple Sweater, and Danish band Dad Rock's are also on the bill. Check the public Facebook invite for the address. 6 p.m.

Edie Sedgwick and Marriage play Comet Ping Pong tomorrow night. We hear Edie has lost the drag act. What gives? Joe Warminsky calls Edie's latest release the band's best to date. 10:30 p.m. $10.

This weekend also brings the fifth annual Phasefest at Phase One in Capitol Hill. Tonight's lineup features some of the same bands that played the gig last year, including MEN and Tayisha Busay, but it sounds pretty wild 'n' crazy anyway.

BOOKS

National Book Festival—duh! The fest starts tomorrow and goes through Sunday on the National Mall. City Paper contributor and literature aficionado Mark Athitakis recommends checking out poet Terrance Hayes, who reads at 1:55 p.m. on Sunday.

As for tonight: Tomas Moniz and Positive Force host a Rad Dad book release event (the very one Arts Desk blogged about yesterday). Anarcho dads unite! 6 p.m. at St. Stephen Church.

ARTS

You've got your pick of arts festivals. Nuit Blanche! Southwest Arts Fest! But Is It Art! (e)merge! Submerge!

Are you curious about rock music’s influence in Asia? This weekend offers a couple of examples, plus a rare visit from a Cuban band, a return visit from a soul music veteran, and more.

Friday September 24

Los Angeles band Dengue Fever has a Cambodian lead singer, Chhom Nimol, and instrumentalists in love with 1960s Khmer rock and other international genres. The 2009 documentary Sleepwalking through the Mekong follows the band on its 2005 trip to Cambodia. Zac Holtzman and Senon Williams of Dengue Fever will attend tonight's screening along with director John Pirozzi. 7 p.m.  at the Sackler Gallery. Free.

The NEA National Heritage Fellowships Concert will honor a wide swath of musicians, including Yacub Addy, a Ghanaian drum master from Latham, N.Y. ; Jim "Texas Shorty" Chancellor, a fiddler from Rockwall, Texas; Del McCoury, bluegrass guitarist and singer from Nashville, Tenn.; Kamala Lakshmi Narayanan, Bharatanatyam Indian dancer from Mastic, N.Y.; Mike Rafferty, Irish flute player from Hasbrouck Heights, N.J.; and Ezequiel Torres, an Afro-Cuban drummer and drum builder from Miami. 8 p.m. at the Music Center at Strathmore. No advance free tickets are left, but a stand-by line begins at 7 p.m. for seats unclaimed by 7:45 p.m.

Saturday, September 25

Troker performs for free (and over webcast) from 6 to 7 p.m. at Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. This Mexican band melds hip-hop break beats, funk, jazz, fusion, pop, and cumbia.

Trombone Shorty (from New Orlean) and M.I.A. (U.K. via Sri Lanka)  perform at the sold-out Virgin FreeFest at Merriweather Post Pavilion.

Sunday, Sept. 26

The Bluebird Blues Festival includes Clarence Carter (the veteran  Southern soul artist known for “Patches” and “Strokin”), Diunna Greenleaf & Blue Mercy (highly touted Houston group), Charles "Big Daddy" Stallings, M.S.G. – The Acoustic Band Trio, Barry Lee Pearson, Phil Wiggins & Rick Franklin, and Warner Williams and Jay Summerour. 12:30 to 6 p.m. at Prince Georges Community College. Free.

Locos por Juana performs for free (and via webcast) from 6 to 7 p.m. at Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. This Miami Latin alternative band plays a combination of cumbia, reggae, rock, and more.

Veteran Japanese pop-punk trio Shonen Knife performs at the Rock & Roll Hotel. 8 p.m.$15.

Orquesta Bamboleo, a large, funky Cuban timba band with plenty of horns and percussion, at performs the Star Lounge in Annandale.  $30-40.

On Thursday August 6, longtime D.C. soul singer Eddie Daye passed away at age 78.  Back in 2002, I wrote a feature  piece on him for the Washington City Paper.  I had  heard that he had been ill recently and was in the hospital but  have not yet been able to get any other specifics on the cause of death, or his funeral, that is scheduled for Wednesday.  I had last seen Eddie in the audience at the Bluebird Blues and Soul Festival  at Prince Georges Community College last September.  As I will be out of town for most of the next two weeks beginning tomorrow, I am posting this now.

As detailed in my article, I first saw Eddie, who had been vocalizing in DC since the late 1940s and had his own record label, perform in the 1980s at the now defunct Gold Room  in Northeast DC.  Subsequently I saw Eddie and his late wife, Denise,  perform together numerous times at Gee's 4400 Club, then located in Brentwood, Md., off of Rhode Island Avenue just near the DC line, and at Chuck & Billy's Lounge on Georgia Avenue NW.  This dapper gentleman (usually in a suit although not in the photo from an outdoor show above) and his wife were always so friendly to everyone (and they always wanted to make sure that me and my friends, their youngest and uh palest fans, felt comfortable).  In more recent years Eddie’s song “Sexy Senior Citizen (I’m not a dirty old man, I’m just a)” got some airplay on WPFW’s Saturday programming, though some DC residents and a handful of British and European record collectors on Ebay know him best for his vocals with the Four Bars in the ‘50s and ‘60s.  While those online and crate-digging fans may cherish copies of his obscure singles (some of which have been reissued on cd), I will just keep my memories of those fun late nights out seeing him sing bluesy soul and my conversations with him about his musical career and his take on 50 plus years of r’n’b history.  While there were frequently  special guest vocalists joining he and his wife onstage in the ‘80s and ‘90s, this  pleasant guy with the deep voice was always the star of the show. 

* The photo is by Ron Weinstock of the In a Blue Mood blog (many of his photos are on Flickr).