Snowmageddon may have forced the cancellation of last week's gig, but luckily, Theo Angell is working his way back through D.C. for the tail end of what has unofficially been dubbed the Snowglobe Tour. Please join us this Friday, Feb. 19th, for a truly epic evening, featuring:
KOHOUTEK (Prophase Records):
http://claviusproductions.alkem.org/kohoutek/frizz.htmlZOMES (Asa Osborne of Lungfish, Holy Mountain):
http://www.holymountain.com/artists/zomes/THEO ANGELL (of Hall of Fame, Amish Records):
http://www.amishrecords.com/MOON PIE:
http://www.moonpieinthesky.com/8PM / BYOB / $5 donation, plz
1616 New Jersey Ave NW WDC
+++Local gourmet Gimme Dem Cupcakes will also be selling delicious, vegan treats! Indulge:
http://gimmedemcupcakes.wordpress.com/++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Saturday, 2/27
Velvet Lounge
915 U St NW WDC
http://www.velvetloungedc.com202-462-3213
$12, 18+, doors at 9pm
T-Model Ford (Fat Possum)
The Shirks
T-Model Fordhttp://www.myspace.com/tmodelfordT-Model's credentials are impeccable; if anything he's over qualified. He was born James Lewis Carter Ford in Forrest, a small community in Scott County, Mississippi. T-Model thinks he's seventy-five but isn't sure. He was plowing a field behind a mule on his family's farm by age eleven, and in his early teens he secured a job at a local sawmill. He excelled and was later recruited by a foreman from a bigger lumber company in the Delta, near Greenville, and eventually got promoted to truck driver. During the time he spent driving and working in a log camp, T-Model ran into trouble, and was eventually sentenced to ten years on a chain-gang for murder. He lucked out and was released after serving two. He says, grinning, "I could really stomp some ass back then, stomp it good. I was a-sure-enough dangerous man." When asked how many times he'd been to jail, T-Model responded, "I don't know. How many?" He seemed to think it might be a trick question. Upon realizing it wasn't, he answered to the best of his ability. "Every Saturday night there for awhile." As disheartening as this is, it's also a refreshing reminder of how ridiculous the present image of a bluesman is. Nothing could be more twisted than the romanticized and picturesque standard...an old black man devoid of anger and rage happily strumming an acoustic guitar on the back porch of his shack "in that evening sun". T-Model couldn't be further from this fabricated image. At 3/4 of a century old and with a dislocated hip, hes still cussing, fighting, and outdrinking men a quarter his age. Spam to his friends,Tommy Lee Miles to the authorities, he has been T-Model's A-number-one drummer for the past eight years. T-Model and Spam are the only men still playing on Greenville's Nelson Street. Most of the audience has scattered due to violence from the crack trade, and with the exception of T-Model, the street that once boasted Booba Barnes and others is dead. On a typical night Spam and T-Model will arrive at the club and unpack T-Model's guitar and amp, and the bass drum and snare he allows Spam to use. When T-Model feels there are enough people, they start banging away in their own post-war Peavey-powered hill stomp. It's nothing unusual for T-Model to play eight hours a night. They keep going until no one's left standing. After his equipment's packed up T-Model will coat himself with Off and climb into his van to crash.
The Shirks"It?s not that hard to wrap your head around The Shirks, the band plays a classic strand of super-thrashy garage-punk that doesn?t need much explaining. But it sure is hard to find out anything about them; things like when the band is playing, where to get its records, or whether The Shirks have any records to begin with. The band?s policy of non-participation in the world-wide web makes it slightly elusive. They are not on Myspace, nor are they on Youtube-able. So let this blog entry stand as one of the few google-able documents that tells you, yeah, The Shirks are worth seeking out..." (Aaron Leitko, Washington City Paper)
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Tuesday, March 2
Twins Jazz
1344 U St NW WDC
http://www.twinsjazz.com202-234-0072
$10, 8pm, all ages
Atomic (Norwegian avant-jazz quintet, Okkadisc)
* No opener: Atomic will play two sets!
Fredrik Ljungkvist (saxophones, clarinet), Magnus Broo (trumpet), Paal Nilssen-Love (drums), Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (bass) and Håvard Wiik (piano).
Even though initially thought of as a sort of rebellion to the quaintness of the ?Scandinavian Sound? which had become exemplified by Norwegian artists on labels such as ECM, Atomic found themselves becoming a new sort of unique sound on their own. After their first two studio albums Feet Music (Jazzland, 2002) and Boom Boom (Jazzland, 2003), both their growing audience and music reviewers alike began to perceive them as an original flavor with an entirely individual energy that few Scandinavian jazz groups could match. An explosive blend of American free-jazz with European characteristics is how some reviewers have described them. Or better yet, ?part academic lecture, part a fun night out on the town?, is how the band describes themselves, and is what makes their sound truly Atomic.
"Debut of the year!" wrote John Fordham in The Guardian (UK), describing Atomic as "One of the most exhilarating new groups on the European circuit!" Feet Music brought together five young musicians from the adventurous jazz underground of Sweden and Norway. Formed in the spring of 1999, they quickly forged a strong group identity without sacrificing their individual freedom of expression. Taking the album title from a composition by Ornette Coleman, Haker Flaten says, ?The music is groovy. In a way, it needs people, and it's searching for human contact -- it's not introverted music. We see our music as being for extroverted people and hopefully they see it that way, too?. Atomic?s second album release, Boom Boom became a greatly anticipated follow-up by fans and critics alike, and resulted in their first Norwegian ?Grammy? (Spellemannprisen) award for Best Jazz Album of 2003. Following up this success, they released the generous three-CD live set The Bikini Tapes in 2005. The band have already been in studio recording new material ready for their fifth release in spring ?08.
While they make no secret of their admiration for leading American jazz musicians such as Archie Shepp, Charles Mingus, George Russell and Keith Jarrett, the music of Atomic is also mixed with an equal love of European free jazz from the 1960?s. They regard the American and European jazz traditions as an inspiration rather than a restriction, as a springboard to set their own direction and position within jazz music. This also shows through their collaboration with the Chicagoans; Ken Vandermark and Jeb Bishop in the band; ?Atomic School Days? which released their first album ?nuclear assembly hall? in ?03. A live recording from the acclaimed Chicago club ?Green Mill? with the same lineup is expected to be released in spring ?08. Both CD´s on the Chicago label OKKA DISC.
No strangers to the touring circuit, Atomic were on the road almost as soon as they were formed, shaping and refining their sound and they have allready toured Europe, Scandinavia, US and Japan several times.
With Happy New Ears!, Atomic successfully returns yet again with a resounding successful album, and further sets the path for future conquests for those who like their jazz with both content and a sense of exhilaration. Join them in celebrating the new ear!
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Saturday, March 13
Velvet Lounge
$8, 18+, doors at 9pm
(The Sounds of) Kaleidoscope
Kohoutek
Gondola
Inzinzac
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Thursday 4/15 @ Velvet Lounge: Mi Ami (ex-Black Eyes, Thrill Jockey)
Sunday 4/18 (matinee) @ Velvet Lounge: Greg Ginn & the Texas Corrugators, CSC Funkband
Sunday 4/18 (late) @ Velvet Lounge: The Styrenes (feat. members of The Electric Eels/Mirrors)
Thursday 4/22 @ Velvet Lounge: Lair of the Minotaur (Southern Lord)/Ol' Scratch/Admiral Browning
Sunday 5/23 @ TBD: SIMON JOYNER!!!
