Friday, August 14, 2009

FRI 8/14: Folk, Shorts, Shakespeare, Jazz, Punk


Ah, it's Friday! It's not too late for Shakespeare... Honestly, I might go to Union Sq for the "...in Shorts" presentation if I don't stay home to write about cheap thrills. Ho-hum.

Cross your fingers for more to come.

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FRI 8/14

(6:30pm doors open)
Dayna Kurtz & Mamie Minch sing "The Love of Hazel - Songs for Hazel Dickens"
at Lizard Lounge/Cambridge Common, 1667 Mass Ave, Cambridge (between Harvard Sq & Porter Sq)
$10 / 21+

There are many reasons why this isn't like "Julie & Julia". Instead of food, it's music. Instead of two women, it's four women. Instead of a blog, it's a CD by an old-time blues mama somehow living in the present and a quietly intense singer-songwriter (whose CD's include duets with Richie Havens and Norah Jones). Their mutual appreciation of bluegrass/folk singer Hazel Dickens -- and her duo albums with Alice Gerrard -- inspired a recorded tribute.

It's one of those performances passing through town that might not happen again.

FRI 8/14

7pm to 10pm
"Somerville...in Shorts!": Outdoor Experimental & Animated Film
at Union Sq Plaza, Somerville (nexus of Somerville Ave, Washington St , Bow St)
FREE

Feat: Faces on Film, Tim Devin, Karen Aqua, Joel Frenzer, Steve Gentile, Gina Kamentsky, Norah Solorzano, The Zucker Brothers, more

The Somerville Arts Council partners with Somerville Community Access Television for a night of big-screen fun in Union Sq. The program is a variety of animators and/or experimental shorts from established filmmakers and some who have taken workshops at SCAT and Harvard.

I wonder if listing The Zucker Brothers is a joke; I doubt there are two cinematic siblings who share the surname as the creators of "Airplane", "Top Secret", "The Naked Gun", etc. Maybe they'll show a clip from early-Zucker comedy, "Kentucky Fried Movie"...

The fun starts with Faces on Film showering people with fine songs of arty, folkish rockness (7pm). Then artist Tim Devin presents a Powerpoint on his project "The History of Somerville, 2010-2100" -- what are the pros and amateurs thinking about the next 90 years??? I sense some fantastic predictions...

FRI 8/14

8pm
"The Comedy Of Errors"
at Parkman Bandstand, about 165 Tremont St, Boston (Boston Common)
FREE-ish

Don't moan and groan if "Shakespeare in the Common" packs it up one day, and your stuck with crazy people yelling around the fountain near Park Street T. It's free, but the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company consistently deliver a great production every year. If you don't drop a few bucks in the basket, at least show up and appreciate their efforts.

They've taken one of early farces about two pairs of identical twins separated at birth and set it in Miami South Beach of the '30s. It's still the original text, but they inject Latin flavor all over the place.

Have a few laughs with a culture and sabor caliente...

Shows run through SUN 8/16 -- 7pm on Sunday.

FRI 8/14

9:30pm
LovelySinger Jazz Experience
at Ryles Jazz Club, 212 Hampshire St, Cambridge (Inman Sq)
$10

Lydia Harrell is a lovely singer. She was even one of those chosen to sing at the Boston Pops' "Popsearch" concert [YouTube] a couple years ago. She and the band will get jazzy, soulful, and funky. Sometimes one at a time, sometimes all together.

FRI 8/14

9:30pm
The Phenomenauts, Re-Volts, The Leftovers, Asthmatics
at Middle East - Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$10 /18+

Besides the awesome space-age, time-traveling, punk-rockabilly of The Phenomenauts and punky SF co-horts Re-Volts, every band is going to rip it up.

FRI 8/14

10:30pm
Shea Rose
at Alchemist Lounge, 435 S Huntington Ave, Jamaica Plain
FREE / 21+

Who knows what you'll hear from Shea Rose, but it'll be damn good. Shea Rose hits funk and rock and folk equally well with sexy, soulful power; and she's aware of dynamics and balance. I saw this quote:

I struggle to describe my voice and my songs when asked, mostly because they are ever evolving. I can say, however, that I am a soulful, feisty, rockin’ storyteller with traces of Blues, Folk, Jazz, and Rock influences.

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