Name that jazz band, free country and $2 rock are what I’ve got for you this week. We start at the newly opened Gingko Blue in Portland tonight, and from there it’s a drive to Brownfield on Sunday and then back to Congress Street in Portland on Tuesday.
Rob Schreiber is a jazz drummer, and his new quartet needs a name. That’s where you come in. Schreiber would like help coming up with a name for his band that plays jazz standards from the Great American Songbook. So put your thinking caps on and head over to surveymonkey.com/s/LNXV8CS to submit your ideas. The winner gets “A Great Day in Harlem” (a historic jazz documentary DVD) and an endless supply of bragging rights. To fan the flames of your creativity, head to Gingko Blue tonight for a show from the Band-To-Be-Named-By-You quartet. Full disclosure: I am entering this contest, and fully plan on winning, but Schreiber would still like your ideas just in case I don’t deliver the goods.
Band-To-Be-Named-By-You. 7:30 tonight. Gingko Blue Jazz Club, 455 Fore St., Portland. No cover. Ages 21 and older. gingkoblue.com
I’m still not going to officially admit that I like country music because, for the most part, I don’t. But then I hear someone like Zoe Muth, and I have to question my stubbornness.
“Starlight Hotel” is the new CD from Muth and her band the Lost High Rollers, and upon listening to samples of every song on it at zoemuth.com, I was hooked. “If I Can’t Trust You With a Quarter (How Can I Trust You With My Heart?)” and “Tired Workers Song” are two standouts, but they are all worth your time.
Hear the band live and for free at Stone Mountain Arts Center. This show is part of the ongoing “Waltzing for Dreamers” show series at the venue in Brownfield. But although admission is free, you are asked to bring new bags or cans of cat and/or dog food with you for donation to the Harvest Hills Animal Shelter in Fryeburg.
Zoe Muth and the Lost High Rollers. 8 p.m. Sunday. Stone Mountain Arts Center, 695 Dugway Road, Brownfield. Free. stonemountainartscenter.com
The TWO series continues at Port City Music Hall with Vanityites and A Severe Joy. Visit the first band at myspace.com/vanityites and listen to “The Hospital of the Seven Teeth” and “The Actor.”
Now here’s the story about the second band: Much to my dismay, the band Spouse went on an indefinite hiatus in April. However, singer Jose Ayerve, thankfully, remains active under the moniker A Severe Joy (which is an anagram of his name). He calls the sound indie-dance pop. I call it fantastic, and I wouldn’t expect anything less from Ayerve.
“My Luv 4 $ale” is a bouncy, moody electronic piece of music with a drum machine, keyboards, bass lines, electric guitar and Ayerve’s wonderfully bristly voice. “This brand of indie-dance pop comes complete with tight pants, leather boots, makeup and a mask, and a whole lot of futuristic dance moves,” Ayerve wrote on the A Severe Joy Facebook page, and I don’t doubt this for a millisecond.
Oh, and if you want to anagram your name, here’s a nifty website to check out: wordsmith.org/anagram. The favorites for my name are “Alienist Mop” and “Email Piston.”
TWO: Vanityites and A Severe Joy. 8 p.m. Tuesday. Port City Music Hall, 504 Congress St., Portland. $2. Ages 18 and older. portcitymusichall.com
Staff Writer Aimsel Ponti can be contacted at 791-6455 or at:
aponti@pressherald.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
