Music Search
Hail! Hornet, Zoroaster
Fri., Feb. 3, 8 p.m.Rock, Pop, Etc
You know, I'm not sure anyone has ever said to "Dixie" Dave Collins, "Your only problem is you aren't in enough bands." The grody, shrieking, one-big-toed wonder—you may know him as the bassist in Buzzov-en, Weedeater, and Bongzilla—is nevertheless back again with this sludge supergroup, which also includes drummer Erik Larson of Alabama Thunderpussy, guitarist Vince Burke of Beaten Back to Pure, and vocalist T-roy Medlin of Buzzov-en and Sourvein. Since the only other Hail! Hornet album was nearly five years ago, I suspect a lot of people weren't seriously expecting a follow-up, which made last summer's Disperse the Curse (Relapse) a pleasant surprise. Its sticky, dirty, bone-simple riffs move the way you'd expect backwoods zombies to walk, once they'd gotten completely shitfaced by eating already well-fermented redneck brains—and that stays true whether you favor the slow-zombie or fast-zombie theory, because "bone-simple" doesn't necessarily mean "monotonous." Hail! Hornet share the bill with openers Zoroaster and a real special treat: a screening of the long-awaited documentary Slow Southern Steel. Codirected by Rwake vocalist CT, the film includes footage of and interviews with a slew of bands from below the Mason-Dixon: Eyehategod, Zoroaster, Buzzov-en, Torche, Black Skies, Sourvein, et cetera. It does its damnedest to put the southern underground metal movement of the past 20 years in a social and cultural context, refuting some stereotypes and taking great glee in others. —Monica Kendrick A screening of the southern-heavy-band documentary Slow Southern Steel accompanies Hail! Hornet's performance. $20, $16 in advance
312-949-0121Wee Trio
Fri., Feb. 3, 9 p.m.Jazz
The Wee Trio have already attracted lots of comparisons to the Bad Plus thanks to their freewheeling, high-energy style and occasional rock cover, and their third and latest release will hardly put a stop to them: all six tracks on Ashes to Ashes: A David Bowie Intraspective (Bionic) are by the Thin White Duke, and some even come from late-period duds like Heathen and Earthling. Vibist James Westfall, bassist Dan Loomis, and drummer Jared Schonig give the songs rigorous, novel jazz arrangements, retaining structures and grooves from rock and electronic music, and as with the Bad Plus their adaptations clearly spring from a sincere love for the source material. The opener, "Battle for Britain," might pass for an instrumental pop song if it weren't for the crazy virtuosity in Schonig's furious breakbeats, and the Wee Trio's version of "Queen Bitch" generates tension and interest with an unpredictable flow—a kind of hot-potato game in which the members take center stage by turns, constantly shifting the intensity and density and taking the occasional succinct solo. The familiarity of the melodies makes it easy to hear how inventively the group transforms the songs, but I prefer to hear that creativity on the trio's original tunes—they dominate its first two albums, and I'd recommend starting your listening there. —Peter Margasak $12
Dave Douglas Quintet
Sat., Feb. 4, 8 p.m.Jazz
It's been more than two years since powerhouse trumpeter Dave Douglas has played in Chicago, and even longer since he brought along this terrific quintet with reedist Donny McCaslin. He's kept busy with a variety of projects, including Brass Ecstasy (which hit the Jazz Festival in 2008 and the Jazz Showcase the following year), Keystone (which plays original film scores, and most recently released a three-volume soundtrack to Bill Morrison's Spark of Being), and most intriguingly a suite with So Percussion called Bad Mango. That recording is part of a three-CD box on the trumpeter's Greenleaf label, Three Views: GPS Vol. 1-3, made up of albums by three different groups. Also included is the quintet record Orange Afternoons, filled with finely wrought postbop ballads; though the band Douglas plays with tonight features only bassist Linda Oh from that session, I expect they'll perform those lovely, multidimensional pieces, which showcase Douglas at his most lyrical and fluid. He's joined here by McCaslin, Oh, pianist Kenny Werner, and drummer Clarence Penn. —Peter Margasak
$15
Bobby Womack, Millie Jackson, Lattimore
Sat., Feb. 4, 8 p.m.Blues, Gospel, and R&B
It's hard to think of another soul singer and songwriter as versatile as Bobby Womack: he's landed unforgettable hits in three decades, to say nothing of his recent cameos with Damon Albarn's Gorillaz (maybe you've heard him on "Stylo"). The Cleveland native got his start singing gospel with the Womack Brothers, who attracted the attention of Sam Cooke; he pushed them to make secular music, and they found modest success in the early 60s as the Valentinos. Later that decade Womack launched his solo career, which highlighted his stunningly deep, raspy voice and remarkable skill as a guitarist (he played in Cooke's live band for a spell). But he was also bogged down by questionable taste—he indulged in the occasional swollen arrangement and attempted less-than-ideal pop covers like "Fly Me to the Moon" and "California Dreaming." He hit his stride in the early 70s, striking a balance between funk and soul balladry, and after a rough stretch at the end of the decade he returned to the charts in the 80s with slick, ballad-focused albums, including Poet and Poet II. He's since made a handful of soul and gospel records, and though they pale in comparison to his best work, they display a voice with undiminished authority and seductive power. Albarn is coproducing Womack's new album, which is due out sometime this year on the XL label, but I'm pretty sure he'll be sticking to the tried-and-true for this show. —Peter Margasak Millie Jackson and Latimore open. $55-$85
Green Pasture Happiness with Michael Zerang, Keefe Jackson
Sat., Feb. 4, 10 p.m.Jazz
Keefe Jackson is one of the most promising and talented reedists on the local jazz and improvised-music scene, but he's yet to take center stage, in part due to an unassuming, almost deferential personality. He's only made a few albums as a leader over the years, but his playing has reached such a high level that it seems criminal he's not a marquee name. He's a crucial front-line partner in the quartet led by bass clarinetist Jason Stein—last year's The Story This Time (Delmark) is terrific—and his sophisticated, empathetic playing during a recent concert with Boston pianist Pandelis Karayorgis knocked me out. Jackson is excellent at taking the pulse of a project and shaping his lines and approach accordingly. Though both Stein and Karayorgis rely on tunes, Jackson has proved just as strong and distinctive a presence in fully improvised settings. On the quartet album Proxemics (Creative Sources), a powerful sound-oriented work with Berlin-based saxophonist Boris Hauf, Chicago percussionist Steve Hess, and London-based pianist Judith Unterpertinger, the ensemble convincingly collages abstract electronics, field recordings, shimmering long tones, and subtle jazzlike passages. And on a recent self-released duo album with Swiss pianist Hans-Peter Pfammatter, Jackson thoughtfully slaloms through his partner's pointillistic, cascading streams of notes, and his own craggy phrases never sound less than simpatico. Tonight he plays solo. —Peter Margasak See also Tuesday. A quartet of Daniel Fandino, Brian Labycz, Aaron Zarzutzki, and Michael Zerang headlines; Jackson opens.
donation suggested
George Lewis & Friends
Sun., Feb. 5, 3 p.m.Jazz
The world of classical music has long been reluctant to take composers from the jazz world seriously. There have been isolated exceptions—in 1972 the London Symphony Orchestra performed Ornette Coleman's Skies of America—but more often than not, folks like Anthony Braxton and Anthony Davis have had to rely on their own resources to stage large-scale works. (Braxton has occasionally used student ensembles.) In some ways this has probably been for the best, because jazz composers often write music that requires improvisational skill to perform—an area where institutional orchestras usually fall short. Lately, though, the lines between the jazz and classical communities have been dissolving rapidly—and few people have done as much to erase them as Chicago native George Lewis, one of the world's greatest jazz trombonists and increasingly one of its most interesting composers. He released three major works on last year's Les Exercices Spirituels (Tzadik), and though two are fully notated, with no improvisation to speak of, the music is hardly conventional: "Ikons" was adapted from a sound installation where human movement triggered computer-housed sounds, and "Hello Mary Lou," performed on the album by young, progressive New York ensemble Wet Ink, collides chamber music with Lewis's live electronic processing. This afternoon's dazzling program by International Contemporary Ensemble—a group with the knowledge and chops to deal with Lewis's music—includes two Lewis pieces as well as world premieres of compositions by flutist Nicole Mitchell and percussionist Tyshawn Sorey and the Chicago premiere of a piece by reedist Steve Lehman. All the composers will attend, and all but Lewis will also perform. —Peter Margasak
$22-$28
Chikamorachi
Sun., Feb. 5, 10 p.m.Jazz
See Thursday. Drummer Chris Corsano and bassist Darin Gray, aka Chikamorachi, play in various combinations with saxophonist Dave Rempis, bassist Joshua Abrams, and percussionist Michael Zerang. 10 PM, Hungry Brain, $10 suggested donation. $8
Radar Eyes, Bare Mutants, Outer Minds
Mon., Feb. 6, 9:30 p.m.Rock, Pop, Etc
Local garage rockers Radar Eyes don't have the most compelling backstory; they're just four people from a few good bands who got together and nailed a highly listenable sound that bested what they'd done in their previous groups. Then they finally recorded a full-length for an esteemed local label, which I'm sure already has tastemaking music types hurrying to create a Google Doc called "Best of 2012"—their new self-titled debut for HoZac is an essential addition to Chicago's ever-expanding catalog of gloomy, vaguely paranoid, and seriously satisfying psychedelic garage rock. But it's pretty easy to imagine an alternative narrative for Radar Eyes. The album sounds like what might have happened if a garage-rock band began a recording session in the mid-60s, a postpunk band continued to work on it in the late 70s, and a shoegaze band finished it in the early 90s. "Accident," for instance, is like a version of "For Your Love" from an alternate universe where the Yardbirds had access to Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures and a decent amount of MDMA. —Miles Raymer Bare Mutants and Outer Minds open.
Jeff Mangum; Andrew Rieger, Laura Carter, and Scott Spillane
Mon., Feb. 6, 7 p.m. and Tue., Feb. 7, 7 p.m.Rock, Pop, Etc
Like the Velvet Underground before them, defunct Georgia indie-rock band Neutral Milk Hotel released a handful of albums that had a very small, localized impact upon their initial release but which have since gone on to provide a stylistic and vaguely philosophical blueprint for an untold number of groups around the world. The albums—especially 1998's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea—have influenced the masses threefold. Sonically they've inspired a kitchen-sink approach to instrumentation, no doubt including more than a few actual kitchen sinks; thematically, a slightly skewed, childlike optimism; and sartorially, any number of attempts at looking like an old-fashioned workman. Devotees taking these things to an annoying extreme have become a constant presence in the indie world, a testament to the power of the original music, which was unlike anything anyone else was doing at the time and remains as stirring and gorgeous as ever. Reclusive former NMH leader Jeff Mangum went off the grid following Aeroplane's release, and this is one of his first forays into public performance since then—in some corners the anticipation surrounding his reappearance is downright messianic. —Miles Raymer Andrew Rieger, Laura Carter, and Scott Spillane open.
Craig Finn, Mount Moriah
Tue., Feb. 7, 9:30 p.m.Rock, Pop, Etc
It doesn't take much squinting to see the Hold Steady and their fans as one of America's happier and better-adjusted (not to mention most booze-drenched) cults, but anyone expecting front man Craig Finn to dish the same kind of radically affirmative rock on his recently released solo debut, Clear Hearts, Full Eyes (Vagrant), will probably be thrown by the album's opener, "Apollo Bay." A pensive, brooding blues that recalls Neil Young's "bad vibes in Laurel Canyon" phase (circa On the Beach and Tonight's the Night), the song is a clear indication that Finn was serious when he told interviewers he was using the album to vent a bunch of stuff that doesn't fit his main gig's mission statement. He also seems to be getting a whole lot of country music out of his system—at times Clear Hearts comes off like the best specimen in the niche subgenre of spiritually exhausted country-rock since the form peaked in the 70s. —Miles Raymer Mount Moriah opens.
$14, $12 in advance
Keefe Jackson
Tue., Feb. 7, 10 p.m.Jazz
See Saturday. Tonight Jackson leads a quartet with fellow reedist Cameron Pfiffner, bassist Anton Hatwich, and drummer Dave Williams; they'll play a mix of standards and originals.
Woollen Kits, Slushy, Dumpster Babies
Wed., Feb. 8, 9 p.m.Rock, Pop, Etc
It was a pretty good 2011 for Nic Warnock and R.I.P Society Records. The upstart Sydney-based garage label not only dropped a truly great LP of lo-fi power-poppy trash from Royal Headache, but several of its artists—including Royal Headache, Dead Farmers, Kitchen's Floor, and Warnock's own band Bed Wettin' Bad Boys—toured the States to help spread the gospel of the burgeoning Aussie underground. And this year is starting off just as strong: quirky Melbourne trio Woollen Kits, who recently released their self-titled debut, are traveling the country sharing their bare-bones mix of Beat Happening indie rock and Modern Lovers protopunk. Though guitarist Thomas Hardisty does most of the singing, in a baritone that sounds an awful lot like Calvin Johnson's, sometimes the band changes its tune from bummed, deadpan love songs to poppier, sneering love songs, for which drummer Tom Ridgewell takes over on the mike—he fronts the standout "Out of Whack," for instance. The band wasn't so democratic about vocals on previous EPs, and the change serves it well, giving its dirty, echoing jangle a dynamic that makes Woollen Kits' page worth dog-earing in the ever-growing R.I.P catalog. —Kevin Warwick See also Tuesday, when Woollen Kits play an in-store at Permanent Records. Slushy and Dumpster Babies open.
$5 suggested donation.
Field Auxiliary, Slow Animal, Gypsyblood
Wed., Feb. 8, 9:30 p.m.Rock, Pop, Etc
Yeah, it's another band with that sound—the same fuzzy, hissy garage rock that Wavves, Real Estate, and Harlem have been poking at for what now seems like eons. But even after those three long years, I'm just not sick of it. When that hyped-up sound doesn't reek of a fleeting attempt to cash in on some hot-shit indie trend—when it's got a dirty, dusty kind of melody and bits of hooky pop stitched into its lo-fi blankets of reverb—it's still fun. Compared to the aforementioned bands, Jersey duo Slow Animal is more beachy, with a touch of cracked-out, sped-up 60s doo-wop, but you wouldn't bat an eyelash if you saw them together on a bill. Slow Animal's Bandcamp page will have to do for now—the group's self-released debut is still at least a couple weeks away—but just in the process of writing this review I've become seriously addicted to the driving, playful rhythms and falsetto backing vocals on "TheFunSun" and "Dolt Heart." —Kevin Warwick Field Auxiliary headlines, Slow Animal and Gypsyblood open. $8, free with RSVP to rsvp@emptybottle.com
Klang, Jeff Albert's Instigation Quartet
Wed., Feb. 8, 9:30 p.m.Jazz
In New Orleans, even the outcats are jobbing musicians. Trombonist Jeff Albert has played ebullient free jazz with his own bands and spaghetti-squiggly electronics with the Laptop Orchestra of Louisiana, but he's also worked in cruise-ship horn sections and backed up Ronnie Milsap. The Instigation Quartet, one of his most adventurous endeavors, is more an idea than a group; its book is a set of loose verbal and written instructions for improvisers, and at each gig he confronts a different set of musicians with those texts. Albert has previously convened the quartet in Germany, Chicago, and New Orleans, and in November he recorded a version with saxophonist Kidd Jordan, drummer Hamid Drake, and bassist Joshua Abrams, who turn his instigations into constantly shifting explorations of mood and texture. Because he had three associates of the late, great Fred Anderson on hand, the resulting album—titled The Tree on the Mound and due sometime this year on French label Rogue Art—also includes a couple of the tenor saxophonist's tunes. Albert's solo on Anderson's "The Strut," which blends blubbery chatter with bluesy testifying, is an irresistible combination of down-home and far-out. This version of the Instigation Quartet includes Abrams, drummer Tim Daisy, and reedist Keefe Jackson (who used to work with Albert in the Lucky 7s, and who has a few noteworthy shows of his own this week—see page B12). Local clarinetist James Falzone opens with his group Klang, who will play the material they're recording the next day at Electrical Audio for their third album, tentatively titled Brooklyn Lines, Chicago Spaces. —Bill Meyer
$8
