Seamus
@ Dupont Circle
Q:If your dog was a celebrity, who would it be?
A:"He's Seamus. He's a celebrity within himself."
SUNDAY: SQUEEEEEE!
Sorry. We didn't mean to do that. Every time the New Kids on the Block come to town, all the hormones of junior high come flooding back. You probably had a poster of at least one of these proto-Jonas Brothers hanging up in your seventh-grade locker. They sold more than 80 million albums in the '80s and early '90s. Take that Joe, Nick and Kevin.
Just off of their New Kids on the Block Cruise that embarked last month, everyone's favorite man band (40 is the new 30, right?) will be back in town with old hits like, "Hangin' Tough" and "Step By Step." You'll be able to hear new music like, "2 In The Morning" and "Single" from their latest album, "The Block."
Go on and indulge your inner 13-year-old. We won't judge.
» Patriot Center, 4500 Patriot Circle, Fairfax; with Jabbawockeez, Sun., June 7, 7 p.m., $13-$78; 202-397-7328.
Written by Express' Nicole Ocran
Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images
THIS WEEKEND: Eat your heart out, Cirque du Soleil. There's a new cast of awe-inspiring air tumblers on the scene and we don't have to go to Vegas to see them. The National Acrobats of China put on a dazzling display of juggling, illusions and otherfeats that is guaranteed to make you wish you hadn't given up gymnastics when you were 8.
The group has won numerous awards and has toured extensively around the world. Hey, and it solves the age-old question: what do those 14-year-old Chinese gymnasts do after puberty hits?
Center for the Arts at George Mason University, Route 123 and Braddock Road; Fri. and Sat., April 17 and 18, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., $23-$46; 703-993-8888.
Written by Express' Brian Austin
Photo courtesy IAI Presentations Inc.
IT'S NOT THAT Carlos Robles Arenas dislikes rock music. He just thinks this globalizing world needs something fresher, that reflects its unique issues and intersections. Something like the stuff he's putting out with his Nantes, France-based electronic music outfit, Orange Blossom.
The group's sound is the product of the backgrounds, training and travel experiences of its members: Mexico native Robles Arenas, who programs, arranges and produces; French-raised, African-influenced percussionist Mathias Vaguenez; classically trained, contemporary-minded French violinist PJ Chabot; and singer Nawel Ben Kraiem, who claims Tunisian roots.
Orange Blossom's latest disc, 2005's "Everything Must Change," gives listeners an idea of what happens when these musical minds meet. Songs feature cultural collisions between driving electronic beats, serpentine Arabic vocals, West African drum rhythms, body-rocking funk, tweaky strings, the occasional accordion line, dub, opera and whatever else the group felt like experimenting with.
Continue Reading "Electro- Potluck: Orange Blossom Brings Variety" »
SOMETIMES WE ALL need a little encouragement to recycle. Storyteller, musician and poet David Gonzalez is working on a multimedia piece, "Wounded Splendor," for the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center about the way people treat the world. The piece, which will include work-in-progress showings this weekend, includes monologues, poems, video and imagery, which Gonzalez and his collaborators will "sculpt into a suite." Composer-jazz pianist Daniel Kelly created the music.
Gonzalez said the idea for "Wounded Splendor" came from "years of visiting places of natural beauty and visiting places of tremendous man-made disasters."
"I've climbed to the top of Kilimanjaro," says Gonzalez. "I've been to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, and I've seen the horrible things we've done to the planet. When you see something beautiful being hurt, it's a call to arms."
IT'S NO SECRET that the jazz business is in critical condition. Last year signaled the end of the Herald International Association of Jazz Educators Conference, while this year, thanks in huge part to the economic meltdown, record distribution continues to dwindle.
So, what does a successful jazz saxophonist such as Steve Wilson tell a music student with big hopes of becoming a jazz star? "Think of yourself more than as a jazz musician," he says. "The exceptions to the rule are very few in terms of those who are able to go exclusively into jazz and become financially successful."
Wilson, a dynamic improviser, who's played with jazz luminaries including Chick Corea, Dave Holland and Joe Henderson — and has recorded a string of captivating solo discs — conducted workshops on music business, improvisation, jazz history and ethnomusicology,earlier this week at the University of Maryland's Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. "From the business aspect, one has to be versatile and skilled not just as an improviser but as a musician who can perform in a variety of settings," he says.
Continue Reading "Finances, and All That Jazz: Steve Wilson" »
THIS WEEKEND: Shakespeare meets Sesame Street when the University of Maryland Department of Theatre presents "The Winter's Tale" using puppetry as well as live-action. This tough-to-stage classic gets a new look as a puppet King Leontes encounters tragedy and triumph.
» Clarice Smith Center, University Blvd. & Stadium Drive, opens Thurs., March 5, $25; 301-405-2787. (College Park-U of Md.)
Written by Express' Nathan Martin
SATURDAY: Maybe you've seen "Ratatouille." Y'know, that sweet rat-turned-chef movie that won an Academy Award? No? Well, you must have caught an episode of "Seinfeld," "King of Queens" or "Reno 911" then, right?
Actor and comedian, Patton Oswalt, who's appeared on all those shows and starred as the voice of Remy the rat in Pixar's smash hit, will be at Lisner Auditorium spewing out some not-so-sweet comedy. Apparently this Virginia native is a fan of not-so-family-friendly topics, such as booze, pot and porn — so maybe you should leave the kids at home.
So, get a babysitter if you have to, but just make you go because we hear Oswalt is planning on recording his third comedy album at the Lisner.
» George Washington University, Lisner Auditorium, 730 21st St. NW; Sat., Feb. 26, 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., $20; 202-397-7328. (Foggy Bottom-GWU)
Written by Express contributor Nicole Ocran
Photo by Matt Carr/Getty Images
THIS WEEK: This is the week Barack Obama becomes president — and you'd better believe people are documenting it in video, audio, and most definitely photographs.
Keeping up with the inaugural spirit, the Associated Press will be showcasing around 80 photos of our nation's presidents — including some Pulitzer Prize winners — at the Armour J. Blackburn Gallery.
AP photographers are responsible for capturing a series of memorable presidential moments. The exhibit, entitled "The American President," is where you'll be able to see the famous "Dewey Defeats Truman" photo — where Harry S. Truman holds up the Chicago Tribune's epic fail of a misprint — among other iconic images.
» Howard University's Armour J. Blackburn Gallery, 2400 6th St. NW; through Jan. 23, free; 202-806-6100. (Shaw-Howard University)
Written by Express' Nicole Ocran
Photo courtesy The Associated Press
WHEN RYAN ADAMS ISN'T busy blogging ("Cardinal Cave") or penning fiction ("Infinity Blues," due in April), he's in a rock band — a very good one. The Cardinals, Adams' backing band since 2005, though the lineup has shifted, seems to have finally harnessed Adams' multiple musical personalities.
With "Cardinology," the band's latest album, Adams and the Cardinals continue the trend they set on 2007's "Easy Tiger" — spacey jams, pedal-steel-tinged rockers and country-folk rockers.
ALTHOUGH NEIL KERWIN has been American University's interim president since then-President Benjamin Ladner was ousted in 2005 after a scandal over his lavish spending habits, today marks the formal installation of the school's former provost as president.
There'll be a campus-wide reception at the Mary Graydon Center following the 11 a.m. inaugural ceremony at Bender Arena. Tonight, expect the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Whitehaven Street NW to be jam-packed as guests head to the Italian Embassy for the inaugural ball, which starts at 7:30 p.m.
» "Presidential Inauguration" [American University]
Photo courtesy American University
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