TUESDAY: To many people, the massively popular Kailash Kher and Kailasa make world music. But to millions of Indians, the Sufi-informed combination of Kher's soaring vocals and the techo-tinged sounds of Kailasa (brothers Naresh and Paresh Kamath) is simply modern folk with pop twists. Their first international CD, "Yatra (Nomadic Souls)," is what brings them to the U.S., but you can bet the place will be packed with Indians shouting requests for Kher's numerous Bollywood classics.
After the jump: Listen to all of "Yatra (Nomadic Souls)."
» Lisner Auditorium, 730 21st St. NW; Tue., Nov. 10, $25-$45; 800-551-7328. (Foggy Bottom-GWU)
Continue Reading "Sufi-ce to Sing: Kailash Kher and Kailasa" »
THURSDAY: You'd think Al Gore would be sick of Washington by now. Or maybe that Washington might be sick of him.
It appears that neither is true, though, since he'll be speaking at Lisner Auditorium tonight about his new book, "Our Choice," which details what his own press releases describe as his "years of experience as a student, policymaker, author, filmmaker, entrepreneur and activist to comprehensively describe the real solutions to global warming." Maybe he's counting on the District's college students to take up the torch of responsibility for saving the planet. Good luck with that, Mr. Vice President.
» George Washington University Lisner Auditorium, 730 21st St. NW; Thu., Nov. 5, 7 p.m., $10; 202-994-6800. (Foggy Bottom)
Written by Express' Anne Polsky
Photo by Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images
SUNDAY: Soul sister to Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso and Tom Ze, Gal Costa is a legend of Brazilian popular music, from bossa nova to psychedelia. Tom Jobim said, "Gal Costa's voice is the most perfect instrument on the planet," and who's going to argue with the "The Girl From Ipanema" guy?
See some Costa clips after the jump.
» Lisner Auditorium, 730 21st St. NW; Sun., Nov. 1, $15-$45; 800-551-7328. (Foggy Bottom-GWU)
Photo courtesy Lisner Auditorium
SATURDAY: There are plenty of things Europeans do better than us: soccer, accents, spelling words with too many letters. But they've absolutely bested us in trashy singing competitions.
Sure, "American Idol" is fine, it's even occasionally entertaining, but it's got nothing on the pure spectacle that is Eurovision. Which is why House of Sweden has devoted an entire evening to the Olympics of music (which, by the way, gave us ABBA and Celine Dion).
Take advantage of the appetizers and an open bar that last until 9 p.m. — you'll need them for the karaoke. Might we suggest starting off the night with Ukraine's 2007 submission, "Dancing Lasha Tumbai?"
The evening will also feature a performance by Eurovision artist Anna Sahlene, and DJ K-Tell will be playing Eurovision's greatest hits all night.
The dress code mandates a theme of "Schlager Glitz & Glamour," so make sure to dry-clean your best beaded onesie for the occasion.
» House of Sweden, 2900 K St. NW; Sat., Oct. 24, 7 p.m., $20; 202-333-3168. (Foggy Bottom)
Written by Express' Sarah Mimms
Photo by Alain Douit/EBU
ALTHOUGH PIANIST/COMPOSER MICHAEL WOLFF dedicates the title track of his latest disc, "Joe's Strut," to late jazz-fusion keyboardist Joe Zawinul, the disc is more about his return to his Southern roots.
Having grown up in New Orleans with a father from Mississippi, the first tune Wolff learned to play was "St. Louis Blues" when he was only 4 years old. He soon began absorbing the songs of New Orleans pianists such as Professor Longhair and James Booker.
So, after a three-decade career that included being the music director for "The Arsenio Hall Show" Wolff began to reflect on getting older and his past.
"My mother died this year; that kind of made me think differently," Wolff says. "I'm now thinking, 'Where am I really connecting? What really connects me to the music?' In some ways, I'm seeing jazz in a different light now — really more as a language. I was always trying to push it and feel intellectually obligated to be hip or above it all. Now, I just play whatever is inside me. I'm just going to acknowledge the language that it is and try to express myself within that language but not limit myself. I try to walk that line of having modern dissonant chords, which I really like, but also a certain bluesy warmth."
Continue Reading "A Rootsy Ramble: Michael Wolff Gets Back to His Southern Roots" »
THIS WEEKEND: There's nothing like a dreamy hero and his stalwart sidekick out on a quest, a spiritual journey and the liveliest village wedding ever staged.
The Marius Petipa ballet of "Don Quixote" comes to the Kennedy Center courtesy of the Washington Ballet. It's a new staging of the beloved work by Anna-Marie Holmes, with so much Spanish flavor you'll swear someone sprinkled paprika on your shoes.
» Kennedy Center, 2700 F St. NW; through Sun., Oct. 18, $20-$125; 202-467- 4600. (Foggy Bottom-GWU)
Photo by Steve Vaccariello
MUSICAL POSTCARDS ARE always par for course for guitarist Bill Frisell. Through his sublime reconciliation of jazz, country, rock and blues, he creates picturesque soundscapes that transport listeners to small-town America where it seems as if time has stopped.
So it comes as no surprise that his latest disc, "Disfarmer" (Nonesuch Records), a musical portrait of legendary Arkansas photographer Mike Disfarmer, is so haunting.
What captured Frisell about Disfarmer's images were the honest, stately, sometimes unsettling expressions on the subject's faces.
FRIDAY: Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon has been plastered with just about every laudatory phrase there is. But we're gonna call "copycat" on this one — months after his wife Ayelet Waldman comes out with a book on her life as a parent, Chabon does exactly the same thing. Wonder where he got that idea.
Nonetheless, we're excited to see Chabon's musings on fatherhood — his new book is called "Manhood for Amateurs" — at Lisner on Friday. No hard feelings, Mike. Shakespeare totally stole the plot for "Romeo and Juliet," and look how well that turned out.
» Lisner Auditorium, 730 21st St. NW; Fri., Oct. 9, 7 p.m., $7 or get two free tickets when you buy the book; 202-364-1919. (Foggy Bottom)
Photo courtesy Harper Collins
FATHER, HUSBAND, PARTNER, even grown son — it's not easy being a man. That's part of the reason former boy and current beloved author Michael Chabon wrote "Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father and Son."
Chabon — who signs, reads from and discusses the new book at Lisner Auditorium in a Politics & Prose-sponsored event on Friday — is known for his novels, from "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" and "The Wonder Boys" to "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" and "The Yiddish Policeman's Union," but he is equally at home with autobiographical fiction, which he's tackled before in short essays. "Manhood for Amateurs" concentrates on one thorny subject, that of how to be a man in the world.
Continue Reading "Notes From a Work in Progress: Michael Chabon" »
WEDNESDAY: David Sedaris became legendary for perfectly told, mostly true stories of his tumultuous family life and early adulthood. Now he finds himself in a classic comedian dilemma: When you've settled down happily with your partner in the South of France, can you still be funny?
See for yourself if misery is essential to Sedaris' signature storytelling style when he reads his work at Lisner Auditorium tonight.
» Lisner Auditorium, 730 21st St. NW; Wed., Oct. 7, 8 p.m., $40-$45; 301-808-6900. (Foggy Bottom)
Photo by Ricardo DeAratanha/Los Angeles Times
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