list.in.to.chicago this week: 03.21.2011

Coming to you live from a hotel room in New York City.

Pick of the week
I would be at Martyrs' tonight for Chris Siebold and Psycles if I were in town. The Branford Marsalis/Terence Blanchard show on Friday night at Symphony Center looks great, and I actually jumped out of my chair a bit when I saw the listing for the California Guitar Trio on Sunday night at the Old Town School.

list.in.to.COZ
Just Wednesday night at The Globe this week, although if you have an open mic and nobody shows, is really open?

Recap
Thanks to those of you who came out to see Andrew Fraker & Sons on Thursday night while your NCAA brackets were crashing and burning. Of all the shows we've played, it was definitely one of them. Seriously, though, we had a blast, and there may even be live tracks coming to a Facebook page near you. Details of Saturday's Diver gig will remain confidential to protect the reputations of some friends in the audience who may or may not have been overserved. And Sunday night proved I can play an entire night of covers without a capo, which was with my other guitar.

3.21   monday
Chris Siebold and Psycles with Information Superhighway (Martyrs')   FRIENDS OF COZ!
After debuting the group a couple of months ago, guitarist (and frequent listee) Siebold celebrates a record release tonight for his multi-dimensional ensemble.

3.22   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
I'll be with the guys in spirit this week, if by "with the guys in spirit," you mean "sleeping in a hotel room in NYC on yet another business trip." Why must I be a man in a suitcase?

The Renegades with Chicago Afro Latin Jazz Septet, Matt Ulery's Loom (Martyrs')
One of these days I'll zoom out to figure out if every Tuesday night is jazz and/or jazz fusion, or if it's always, say, the third Thursday of the month.

Wanda Jackson with Dex Romweber Duo (Lincoln Hall)
Since moving to Nashville, Jack White seems to have developed a thing for recording older female country and rockabilly artists. First Loretta Lynn, and now Jackson, a contemporary of Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. Openers Dex Romweber Duo also record for White's Third Man label.

3.23   wednesday
Sing Along With Coz (The Globe Pub)   COZ SINGS!
We're starting to get to the point where I'm going to take a month off from this and see if anyone notices. Didn't play a single note last week, and sooner or later, I'm going to start taking it personally.

Eli "Paperboy" Reed and the True Loves with Delmar and the Dedications (Subterranean)
I forget if I mentioned this last time, but this student of old-school R&B was also a student at my alma mater, the University of Chicago, where students recently tried to demonstrate they could have fun by creating a website for campus "hookups," perhaps not realizing that this only perpetuates the stereotype that the real problem is that male students don't know how to actually talk to girls. They should just skip ahead to the robot companion and be done with it. But, yeah, Eli Reed does a good R&B thing, too.

Papercuts with Still Corners (Schubas)
The ethos of this list is generally "write about bands that trigger some sort of memory cue about them," which is currently being influenced heavily by what I read in Time Out Chicago over the weekend. So I know this band is following in the footsteps of Sub Pop labelmates The Shins.

Chapel Club with Blah Blah Blah, Hey Leroy (Double Door)
One of my friends who is very in the know on up and coming (and particularly English) bands has been talking this one up for a couple of months now, and Time Out points to influences from Echo and the Bunnymen and Joy Division. I think it may also be free.

Jill Sobule with John Doe (Lincoln Hall)
I'll take Sobule's "I Kissed A Girl" over Katy Perry's any time. And the video featured Fabio. Here, she's paired with John Doe from X.

3.24   thursday
Warpaint with PVT, Family Band (Lincoln Hall)   SOLD OUT!
One of those bands everybody seemed to be talking about last year, but I just never quite got around to listening to.

Kamikaze Eyes with The Blind Staggers, The Stranger (Beat Kitchen)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
A former co-worker of mine is back in town to celebrate his birthday and the CD release from his band, which is ostensibly punk but maybe slightly more straight-up rock than that, if I remember his description of it. Although it may be just more straight-up rock for him, which might still be really, really punk for, say, me.

Jefferson Starship (Mayne Stage)
It's the return of the second phase of Jefferson Airplane, which seems like an odd name (and period) to revisit, although I maintain that there are some pretty solid songs from this band before they dropped "Jefferson" from the name altogether and recorded that damn song that I hear on those MB Financial commercials every single morning (see "Find Your Way Back," "Jane"). Rogers Park seems to be a base of operations for a while now, possibly related to local singer Cathy Richardson getting involved about three years ago.

3.25   friday
Branford Marsalis and Terence Blanchard (Symphony Center)
The two jazz heavyweights -- and fellow Jazz Messengers alumni -- make for a pretty formidable bill downtown. I have no idea what kind of vibe these shows have, as the venue and the long, long lead time before the show makes me think buying a ticket the day of is going to put you up in a corner of the room filled with classical music enthusiasts. That's probably wrong, but in twenty years, I've never tested the theory.

Kaki King with Washington (SPACE, Evanston)
From the sound of it, guitarist King has been evolving quite a bit since her debut as an instrumental guitar virtuoso in the style of Michael Hedges. I saw her at Empty Bottle a couple of years back where she still seemed stuck between the two worlds, so my guess is her direction has gotten more clear over time.

The Greenhornes with Hacienda, White Mystery (Double Door)
With The Greenhornes better known as providing half of The Raconteurs and lending a band member to Dead Weather, and Hacienda perhaps better known for backing up Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, there's a Black Keys/White Stripes joke in here somewhere. Also, there's a bill of bands that are going to be working hard to establish their own identities outside of those projects.

3.26   saturday
Godspeed You! Black Emperor with Eric Chenaux (Metro)   SOLD OUT!
At least a couple of friends recommended this band highly about a decade ago, and then they took eight years off, so I wasn't ever able to follow up on it. Unless someone has an extra ticket to see the Montreal post-rock group -- I'm tempted to call them a "collective," as that seems to be what most bands from Canada consider themselves these days -- I won't be able to this time, either.

The Rural Alberta Advantage with James Vincent McMorrow (Lincoln Hall)
I would have seen this acclaimed indie rock band a few weeks back in New York, but that show sold out. I think it was at the Bowery Ballroom, which is sort of Lincoln Hall's alter ego on the east coast, or possibly the venue on which it was designed.

Henry Rollins (Mercury Theater)   SOLD OUT!
The former Black Flag and Rollins Band frontman is doing a spoken word tour to commemorate turning 50. What intrigues me about this particular gig is what the implications are for the Mercury Theater, which has been dark for a while now.

Amos Lee with The Secret Sisters (The Vic)   SOLD OUT!
I feel like I saw him open for somebody once, but his description as a "soul-informed pop singer" isn't ringing any bells.

La Guitarras de Espana (Mayne Stage)
The "Gypsy Trail Concert" kicks off the "Flamenco Collaborations Series," along with Ensemble of Ragas and Gypsy Rhythm Project. So it may be like Rodrigo y Gabriela if they were covering Indian music instead of "Stairway to Heaven." Or, you know, not.

Strain Busy Sky with Michael McDermott, Heather Lynne Horton, Myles Hayes (Abbey Pub)
So, apparently that show a couple of weeks ago wasn't a one-off reunion.

3.27   sunday
California Guitar Trio with Fareed Haque (Old Town School of Folk Music)
These guys have taken Robert Fripp's Guitar Craft methodology and made it there own, bringing a unique combination of precision and wit to everything from Beethoven to Ennio Morricone to Queen.

British Sea Power with A Classic Education (Lincoln Hall)
Between these guys donning WWII uniforms from time to time and Clinic wearing their surgical masks, I think they've cornered the market on eccentric modern British rock bands that dress funny on stage. I sorta didn't hate Do You Like Rock Music? from 2008, although it didn't leave a strong impression past that, and I haven't listened to the new record yet.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor (Metro)   SOLD OUT!
See Saturday's listing.