MusiCal (February 2011)

By Don Allred

Drumline LIve

Although it began as a spin-off of the 2002 movie Drumline, Drumline Live is not a conventional screen-to-stage adaptation. Don Roberts, the film’s musical director, now takes its script’s basis in Historically Black Collegea and Universities band development full circle and beyond. Nearly 40 performers play, dance and sing  through African music, gospel, jazz, generations of r&b, and hip-hop. Creative competition is also part of this tradition, while audience interaction adds sparks to each performance.

02/01 @ The Palace Theatre, 34 W. Broad St.

7:30 p.m.

Huun Huur Tu

Central Asian quartet Huun Huur Tu’s vocally-centered  music sounds like their name reads. Also guided by guitars, drums and indigenous instruments, HHT’s  mountain-valley channels of hovering drones and stealthy dynamics seek all  properties of earth, fire, water, and wind. Translations confirm the engagingly evident  core of resplendently rugged ballads: “The air is ripe with aromas of the steppe/I’m a relentless traveler/Hiding my fears/From my beautiful wife.”

02/03 @ The Lincoln Theatre, 769 E. Long St.

8 p.m.

Moon High/Esther Caulfield Orchestra/Old Hundred

Columbus troubadours Moon High’s harmonies pounce and lift the familiar flow of classy folk-rock verses into eerie choruses, as autumn breezes have their way with traces of personal history (and vice versa). Dayton’s compatible Esther Caulfield Orchestra provide toe-tapping Post-it notes for the soul: “Waking up is gonna mean/Coming down!” C-busing Old Hundred pass along their own organically tilting perspectives, also necessary for true students of (and for) life.

02/04 @ The Rumba Cafe, 2507 Summit St.

10 p.m.

Hot 17 Showcase

Written, photographed, and published in Columbus,The Hot 17 is an annual guide to this town’s indie musicians. The latest Hot 17 Showcase includes Bush League All-Stars, whose sardonically swinging British Invasion/New Wave pulsations propel sketchy characters into Trains Across The Sea’s rowdy folk-flavored process, Brainbow’s  brainy, heady prog passions, Low Men’s bass-rich, post-punk commentary, and The Spruce Campbells’ ever-rising  psych-pop moonlight. 

02/05 @ Kobo, 2590 N. High St.

6 p.m.

Robyn/Natalia Kills/Diamond Rings

Sweden’s Robyn is a dance diva and a “Fembot” too, but she’s no automatically privileged princess. She rules via the hard-won, high-flying fun of electro-pop, soulful acoustic interludes, and inspirational advice, such as “Don’t f*** with me,” and: “Love hurts/If you do it right.”  Young Natalia Kills spins goth-tinged, moth-winged premonitions like “Mirror,” alongside a wryly autobiographical waitress’s tale,“Free.”  Diamond Rings also rocks style and substance, in glittery trans-genre constellations.

02/08 @ The LC Pavilion, 408 Neil Ave.

 Doors Open:  7 p.m.

Johnny Cash Birthday Tribute Show

This event benefits the Andymanathon fundraiser for disadvantaged children, plus the Andy Davis Memorial Foundation for the late Andymanathon leader’s family. J.C.’s  rockabilly, folk, gospel, unrepentant noose-bait, “Hurt”,  and “Flushed From The Bathroom (of Your Heart)” ride again, via the all-Columbus onslaught of Outlaw Deluxe, 3rd Degree Sideburns, Billy Zenn, Jamie Lyn, Bennie James, Joshua P. James, Matt Monta, Jake Cheshire, Unit One,  Slick City Ramblers, Jinxed, and maybe more.

02/09 @ The Shrunken Head, 251 W 5th Ave.

8 p.m.

Columbus Jazz Orchestra/Bill Charlap/Bethany Moore

The Columbus Jazz Orchestra, under the direction of trumpet virtuoso Byron Stripling, presents Broadway: From Oklahoma! To West Side Story, featuring pianist Bill Charlap and vocalist Bethany Moore. Charlap has performed with jazz instrumental titans, including Gerry Mulligan, Phil Woods, and Benny Carter. He’s also known for accompanying singers, including Tony Bennett and Barbra Streisand. He’ll be well-matched with Moore, of A Chorus Line’s national touring company.

02/16--20 @ The Southern Theater, 21 E Main St.

16-19: 8 p.m., 20: 2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

Tiempo Libre

Timba is a Cuban genre, thriving on flexibly complex arrangements, including dance grooves more inclined to Latin funk than salsa. Miami’s versatile Tiempo Libre are timba’s leading American emissaries, gracefully energizing baroque collaborations with Sir James Galway and Joshua Bell, while “Tu Conga Bach” (AKA “Fugue in C Minor”) has proved accessible enough for “Dancing with the Stars.” They can get you on your feet, thrilling while chilling.

02/18 @ The Lincoln Theatre, 769 E. Long St.

8 p.m.

Columbus Symphony Orchestra with Liz Callaway

The songbooks of two bold composers, Stephen Sondheim and Frank Loesser, are explored by the CSO, conductor Albert-George Schram, and singer Liz Callaway. Callaway first appeared on Broadway in Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, before providing an album of collectable delectables, Unsung Sondheim. She’s equally adept with Loesser, who wrote Guys and Dolls and “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.”  Also expect selections from Gypsy and Sunday In The Park with George, among others.

02/19 @ The Ohio Theater, 39 E. State St.

8 p.m.

Badfish/Scotty Don’t/Tropidelic

‘90s reggae-rockers Sublime’s discreetly disarming college-circuit-riding charm is  straightforwardly delivered by tribute band Badfish. The trickiness of staying mellow and focused may well be aided by the same crew’s opening set, under the name of Scotty Don’t. Their original songs expertly roll do ‘s and don’t ‘s of seriously casual living into gingerly singed, yet hearty sing-alongs. Ditto Tropidelic, whose unpretentious testimonals  and updates play well with stage-worthy boom-boom. 

02/25 @ Newport Music Hall, 1722 N. High St.

Doors Open: 7 p.m.

Bill Frisell & Friends

Jazz guitarist Bill Frisell’s distinctive contemplation of Americana continues with the Wexner-commissioned world premiere of Not So Fast: The Music of Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant,  celebrating country jazz pioneers. Frisell is joined by succinctly agile steel guitarist Greg Leisz, Nashville A-list session bassist Dennis Crouch, and and Lone Justice/Bob Dylan etc. drummer Don Heffington.  Frisell’s characteristically atmospheric tones will probably spiral like ghostly lassos around the dazzling tunes of percussive pickers West and Bryant.

02/26 @ The Wexner Center, 1871 N. High St.

7 & 9 p.m.

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