Tag: Music

Rockcomedyjazz Night at the Press

If there’s one thing the Press Club is not known for, it’s comedy; if there’s another, it’s jazz—yet both will be on display alongside one of Sacramento’s favorite bands, The Snobs, this Tuesday night at 9 p.m.

Comedian and host Noel Dewitt (who also happens to own one of Sacramento’s best salons,  Mirrors) will share the stage with an unlikely, but hard-not-to-like lineup of comedian John Ross, comedy jazz duo The Freebadge Serenaders (don’t be surprised if one of the members of the Serenaders looks surprisingly like me), and The Snobs.

The cover charge is a paltry $3, and drink specials will be flowing all night. Come on by for some toe-tappin’, belly-bustin’ good times.

Press Club, 9PM, $3- 2030 P St

Who doesn’t like Discount Jazz?

Those chickens were mighty tasty
Those chickens were mighty tasty
I was hungry, so my trusty dog and I were chasing the wild chickens that inhabit hobotown on the North side of Boulevard Park. Hot on the trail, we crashed under a chainlink fence and were surprised to find a musical combo practicing their hot licks. We sat in the dirt and enjoyed their raising a ruckus for the local hobos that tolerated their caterwauling so they could cop a squat next to their barrel fire and catch a whiff of their manly musk. We passed a jug, kicked the dirt and roasted chickens until the night became blurry and uncomfortable.

Thankfully, I had forgotten most of that night until today, when I saw an ad for a hootenanny at Luna’s tonight. Sure enough, it was those two fine smelling gentlemen grinning out from the photo, bringing back terrible memories of undercooked poultry and a two week battle with the hobo flu. The only good recollection I have of that night is the toe tapping tunes and sharp wit of the Freebadge Serenaders that had me holding my belly with laughter and indigestion.

Keith Lowell Jensen’s Wednesday Night Comedy
at
Luna’s Cafe and Juice Bar (1414 16th Street)
8pm, $5

Funk and flow at Harlow’s

One of the best hip-hop lineups to come through town in some time is tonight, so get your shoes on and get to Harlow’s for The Deadliest Catch Tour at 9pm. Chali 2na, from Jurassic 5, is touring on his release Welcome to the Fish Market, a teaser for his frequently delayed first solo album Fish Outa Water. He is performing with his band, so expect high-intensity funk jams and psychedelic looping to get the crowd dancing.

The three accompanying acts are equally stellar MCs: Gift of Gab from Blackalicious, Mr Lif and Lyrics Born. Mr Lif just released I Heard it Today which is even more politically hardcore and confrontational than his usual work. Gift of Gab and Lyrics Born both have local roots through UC Davis and their early work with the Quannum MCs. They have deep fan bases in Sacramento, so get to the show early if you are buying tickets at the door. Tickets can also be bought online or at The Beat.

Agent Ribbons on KXLU

Agent Ribbons is ready for a primetime bout
Agent Ribbons is ready for a primetime bout
Sacramento’s Agent Ribbons are taking a step today in opening the doors to wider exposure, more fans and (fingers crossed) a more successful career in the music biz. At 6pm they will appear on Demolisten, KXLU’s showcase of underground artists. Agent Ribbons performs Victorian Punk and Baroque Pop, with songs that are simultaneously haunting and whimsical, rocking and longing, beautiful and disturbing. This year, they expanded from a duo to a trio, which has added several beautiful new elements to their live shows, and have been busy touring the world and recording a concept album called Chateau Crone.

KXLU, the FM station of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, is known worldwide as one of the gold standards of college radio. Their diverse programming and dedication to cutting edge music has resulted in thousands of bands over the years lining up at their doors, clamoring for access to the playlist. Demolisten, which has aired weekly since 1984, is one of the primary gatekeepers of the KXLU airwaves. DJs Fred and Octavius have the difficult job of performing triage on the music of the day and deciding which acts need immediate attention.

Continue reading “Agent Ribbons on KXLU”

This just in in in: Chk Chk Chk Friday at Townhouse

!!!
Creative Commons License photo credit: benjaminlansky

I have just learned via mt. st. mtn. that Sacto expatriates Chk Chk Chk will be playing at Beatnik Studios The Townhouse this Friday at 9:30 9:00 P.M., as part of a North American tour that started on the East Coast. They will be playing in the Bay Area, LA and Arizona and of course the Austin City Limits festival next weekend.

The lineup for Friday’s show also contains Sacramento’s Mayyors, whom I have not heard, but they got a pretty decent writeup by the Austin Chronicle when they played SXSW earlier this year. Sounds like the place to be Friday night if you like art pop and/or art punk and are currently not experiencing any hearing loss.

UPDATED INFO:
!!! (Chk, Chk, Chk), MAYYORS
The Townhouse: 1517 21st Street
9:00 PM, $5, 21+

United State v. City Hall

United State boutique
United State boutique, from Yelp

Via the sac for tourists blog we learn that the City of Sacramento pulled the September Second Saturday permit for United State, a “DJ/Clothing Boutique” in Midtown. According to the United State blog, Sac PD cited “Attract(ing) a younger audience” as the reason for the notice. Sac For Tourists’ Nick Miller (also of SN&R) followed up on the gossip with a roundup of mostly nonevents between Sac PD and hip-hop folks at last weekend’s Second Saturday.

Continue reading “United State v. City Hall”

Big week for music at The Fair

A preview of the mainstage musical acts during the last week of the California State Fair.

This is it, folks, the week that the California State Fair brings out the big guns on the Golden 1 Stage. Well, more like medium range artillery. I can’t say that I am thrilled about any of these acts, but am curious to see what kind of show they will deliver and they should each please their target audience. Hey, I was pleasantly surprised last week by the Hullabaloo Music Festival and I didn’t hate Salvador, so I am going in with an open mind.
Continue reading “Big week for music at The Fair”

Freilachmakers klezmerize the crowd at Fairy Tale Town

freilachmakersThe family had missed the other Twilight Concert Series shows at Fairy Tale Town, but we were in attendance last night for the final outing in the series, when local klezmer band The Freilachmakers made with the freilach. Although I love to rock and/or roll as much as the next guy (unless the next guy is Gene Simmons), I always come back to the sounds of traditional music, and the Freilachmakers are experts at their craft. I don’t speak Yiddish, but I do believe the band’s claim that it has “defined what may be called ‘the Sacramento sound’ in klezmer and Sephardic Jewish music.” Who is going to dispute that claim? I hear the klezmer kids in Europe go nuts for that swingin’ Sacramento sound.

Continue reading “Freilachmakers klezmerize the crowd at Fairy Tale Town”

2009 Nor Cal Blues Fest Canceled

In an email today from organizer Matson Breakey, (yes that is his real name) it appears that the 2009 Nor Cal Blues Festival has been canceled. The event was to be held on Sep 12 at Southside Park. Refunds, of course, will be given to those that have already bought tickets.

The real question is how sustainable are America’s original musical styles. Jazz and blues are slowly draining out of middle market towns like Sacramento. While the clubs and shows and performers in towns like Chicago and New York and San Francisco are still thriving, smaller market towns are losing any vestige of their former prominence.

The Jubilee is on life support, NCBF has been canceled, and fewer and fewer national acts come anywhere near our reasonably sized city. For example, when’s the last time Keith Jarrett swung through town? You see my point exactly, I’m sure.

I’m not sure what the answer is, but I know some progress has been made in keeping a few venues in town going 3-5 nights a week on nothing but jazz and blues: clubs like Torch Club, and JB’s lounge. But more work needs to be done, especially in thinning the ranks of blues bands around here. If I see another “authentic” blues group fronted by a couple of bearded 50ish white guys wearing shirts with flames on them, I might never listen to the blues again. Clean up your house, blues musicians, and kick these guys to the curb. They’re giving you a bad name.

Jerry Perry to sponsor five more free downtown concerts

No, not this Mike Farrell
No, not this Mike Farrell
The Downtown Partnership has announced new free all-ages shows downtown:

Every Friday August 21 through September 18, free concerts will continue in Cesar Chavez Plaza with a special series presented by Jerry Perry. The line-up will include Sacramento favorites including Kai Kln, Prieta, Shannon Curtis, Jackpot and The Golden Cadillacs. This is an all ages event.

(Via Sac Music Blog)

Readers of this blog — who have some sort of steel trap mind for my preferences as expressed over time — will know that Jackpot is my favorite local band. They play September 18 with multiple SAMMIES winning pop band Agent Ribbons and guitar god Mike Farrell.

The current run of concerts in Cesar Chavez concludes Friday with Sol Peligro, Retrograde Revolution, and La Noche Oskura.