list.in.to.chicago this week: 12.01.2008

Hey, at least I'm not a dollar short. But I am in a hotel room in Pittsburgh, which explains the tardiness. Now where did I put that dollar?

Pick of the week
Two really great jazz choices this week, with the John Moulder Quintet Friday and Saturday at Green Mill and Cindy Blackman on Friday at the new Morse Theatre. Then there's the sweet, sweet soul of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings on Thursday at the Vic.

list.in.to.COZ
I'm still along the Allegheny tonight, so I'm missing Vaughan's, but Diver plays acoustically on Saturday at Cullen's. Or maybe electric. You'll have to come by to find out!

Recap
So, I decided to sit in with Friend of Coz (and of Vaughan's) Andrew Fraker at Messner's on Saturday night. I took one break over the course of about three hours, went back to take a leak, and a fight broke out in my absence. Let it be said that I have a calming effect on people. And then let it be laughed at.

12.02   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
I'm out again this week, but will diligently work on "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" for next week, lest Monica kick my ass.

Juliana Hatfield with The Everyday Visuals, Elizabeth Elmore (Double Door)
The former Blake Baby has both a new record and a memoir out at the moment, with the latter apparently talking about why she doesn't like touring to support the former.

Fall Out Boy (Chicago Theatre)
Despite everything else (Bronx Mowgli?), they're still the best band I've ever heard that takes their name from a comic book character from The Simpsons.

12.03   wednesday
Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White of Yes (Chicago Theatre)
This summer, Yes singer Jon Anderson got sick, canceling the band's 40th anniversary tour. For the fall trek, they replaced him with -- stop me if you've heard this before -- a guy from a Yes tribute band. Anderson was not amused, so I wonder if he's sought legal action to keep them from using the name. If so, would it retroactively apply to Drama -- the one Yes album on which Anderson didn't appear?

Tributosaurus (Martyrs')   FRIENDS OF COZ!
This month, they're James Taylor, so I'll probably take a pass. If I didn't have a gig that night, I was considering seeing them as Led Zep on New Year's Eve, and not just because Martyrs' is a short walk from my apartment.

12.04   thursday
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings with Menahan Street Band (The Vic)
Although I think it ended up costing me a closer spot for Rage Against The Machine, I was glad I caught at least half of Jones' set at Lollapalooza last summer. She's not neo-soul, she's just soul, with a mix of young and old backing musicians that bring the old-school sound and attitude. Absolutely joyous music and performing.

12.05   friday
The Black Crowes with Vetiver (Riviera Theatre)
The blues-rock heavyweights seem to come through town at least once a year these days, and I want to say it's been usually around the holidays lately. I don't want to say it that badly, because I'm not entirely sure it's true.

They Might Be Giants (Metro)
This has the smell of an XRT Holiday Concert, but I'm not sure.

Cindy Blackman (Morse Theatre)
I think I can say with a reasonable amount of confidence that Blackman is the most prominent female drummer in all of jazz, mostly because she's one of the only ones I can think of.

The Flat Five (Hideout)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Featuring Kelly Hogan, Gerald Dowd, Scott Ligon, KC McDonough and Nora O'Connor. Gerald seems to be playing a lot lately, even though he seems to only send Facebook messages out about shows on the day of.

John Moulder Quintet (Green Mill)
I've been a fan of this local jazz guitarist since The X-Files was popular and I thought it was funny that his name was Moulder, but he also played a lot more often back then.

12.06   saturday
DIVER (Cullen's)   SEE COZ LIVE!
As of press time, this is an acoustic trio performance, and after playing djembe with Fraker last week, it dawns on me that I don't play three hours of hand percussion very often. It kinda hurts.

Mucca Pazza with Icy Demons, Volcano (Bottom Lounge)
While I find hipsters to be generally annoying, the idea of a hipster marching band is still somewhat intriguing to me.

Bound Stems with Gold, Spiller Whale (Empty Bottle)
Another local contribution to the male/female alternating vocal indie band.

Brendan Bayliss and Jake Cinneger (Park West)
It's an acoustic Christmas show from the Umphrey's McGee guys.

Q-Tip with The Cool Kids, The Knux (House of Blues)
I want to say I've seen good things written about the new record from the former frontman of A Tribe Called Quest, but I can only really cop to having seen things written. I don't actually recall if they were good or bad.

John Moulder Quintet (Green Mill)
See Friday's listing.

12.07   sunday
The Smashing Pumpkins with The Frogs (Aragon Ballroom)
The special "bonus" show that accompanied the rescheduled second show at the Auditorium Theatre, which might end up being the sort of homecoming gig Chicago expects, being outside of Billy Pumpkin's original concept for this tour. Or maybe deserves?

Kristen Hersh with Daniel Knox (Old Town School of Folk Music)
The onetime Throwing Muse has been touring solo lately, and the Old Town School has been bringing in some bigger artists.

Jon Langford with Eleventh Dream Day (Hideout)
Not sure of the beneficiary, but the listing of this one says to bring "professional looking" clothes to donate.