Where the miseries of everyday life are cast aside. This week Robert Cray, Tito Puente Jr., UPSAHL, Mary Lattimore, Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Koleżanka, Mariachi Sol de México, Diluvio, Nekromantix, An Irish Christmas and more festivities can be found. Read on.
Mark your calendars…
Thursday, Dec. 9
“A conversation with the gods,” is the meaning of the word mambo, as well as the name of a Vodou priestess. Tito Puente, tapping into something larger than himself, was a pioneering force in mambo. Popularized in Cuba during the 1930’s by Israel “Cachao” Lopez, Perez Prado, and Tito Puente & His Orchestra, mambo is a potent cross fertilization of Afro-Caribbean and Latin rhythms whose roots are inextricably traced to Vodou drumming that evolved in the New World from the 6,000-year-old West African religion Vodun, the religion of many slaves brought from West Africa to the Americas and the Caribbean. Brutally repressed by slave-owners, these primal, hypnotic rhythms—the same ones that compel blissed-out partakers to enter into an ecstatic union with their divine selves—not only withstood the inhumanity of their forced transplantation to the New World, but eventually thrived by seeping into Western culture and music. “The Devil’s music,” soul, R&B, rave, trance, and EDM all owe a debt. Now, Tito Puente Jr. has assumed the mantle, with his own high-voltage fusion of jazz, salsa, merengue and mambo. Tito Puente Jr. Latin Jazz Ensemble present The King and I (2021), a tribute to the music of his father. At Rialto Theater... Phoenix-born, Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Kristina Moore (aka Koleżanka) writes songs about placelessness, a state that French philosopher Henri Lefebvre referred to as “the misery of everyday life.” It’s a state of being, Moore asserts, that’s understood all too well by truckers, deckhands, flight attendants, and touring musicians. Illuminated under the yellow glow of headlights, Koleżanka provides the soundtrack for a late-night drive through a desert nightscape. At Club Congress... In a program that evinces bittersweet romance and humor, led by fifth-generation Mariachi musician Jóse Hernàndez, Mariachi Sol de México celebrates a Merry-Achi Christmas. At Fox Tucson Theatre...
Friday, Dec. 10
Can you hear the buzz? Alternative Press hailed UPSAHL an “Up-and-coming indie-pop queen.” Growing up in Phoenix around her dad’s punk bands—father Mike Upsahl played guitar with pop-punk, alt-rockers Stereotyperider and High Horse—and a house full of gear, Taylor Cameron Upsahl has music in her DNA. Mashing up punk attitude with pop hooks, Upsahl has the musical chops to stand apart from the glut. A graduate of the Arizona School for the Arts, she is classically trained in piano, guitar and vocal performance. Skipping college, Upsahl made the pilgrimage to Los Angeles, spending long hours writing and recording, slowly generating a groundswell. Her 2019 single “Drugs” gave rise to a tsunami, reaching #6 on the TikTok Viral Chart. Knowing no bounds, Upsahl has collabed with a diverse group of artists: Dua Lipa, Anne-Marie, Madison Beer, Mike Shinoda, iann dior and others. “We’re in an age right now where genre doesn’t exist and no one is being put in one box. It’s so sick,” says Upsahl. “I’m leaning into that while still making music that reflects the music I grew up on.” Recently dropping her debut album, Lady Jesus (2021), at 23, UPSAHL performs at Club Congress... Forging the path between old Irish traditions and the new, in a show brimming with song, dance, and storytelling, An Irish Christmas celebrates the international spirit of the holiday season. “We are a product of so much that came before us and our traditions are part of that inheritance. There is a value to these traditions,” says Margaret O’ Carroll, the show’s creator, producer, and director. “We are craftsmen and craftswomen who carry the stories to the next generation through everyday events. Folk theatre is the protector, the interpreter, the narrator, the pulse, the heartbeat of these traditions.” An Irish Christmas 2021. At Fox Tucson Theatre... Blending two distinct cultures, illustrative of life along the borderlands, these pop-punks sing it out loud and proud en Español. The female-fronted quintet have opened for Latin music heavyweights: Julieta Venegas, Natalia LaFourcade, Reik, Inspector and Jarabe de Palo. Diluvio open their “Libro de Canciones” [songbook] for all to enjoy. At 191 Toole. With Soda Sun and Soakset... “I may be Venezuela-born with Spanish blood, but I also revel in all things Italian. You too will adore Berlioz’ stirring use of the saltarello dance, Tchaikovsky’s delight in Italian street music, Respighi’s mosaic of fantastic images and Rossini’s electricity,” says José Luis Gomez of a program that features Berlioz (Roman Carnival Overture), Tchaikovsky (Capriccio Italien), Respighi (Roman Festivals), and Rossini (William Tell Overture). “And with regard to William Tell, it’s always fun when people new to [classical] music hear passages made famous in television and cartoons.” Maestro José Luis Gomez conducts the Tucson Symphony Orchestra when they present The Thrill of Tchaikovsky. The first of two nights. At Tucson Music Hall... Bringing together Spanish, flamenco, and classical motifs with passion and heart, Domingo DeGrazia String Quartet featuring Beth Daunis returns for Holiday Nights. At Tohono Chul Park... American punks The Cramps created a new genre while searching for a way to express their unbridled love for rockabilly music, cheesy horror and sci-fi films: Psychobilly. Like the album title What Happens in Hell, Stays in Hell (2011) suggests, Nekromantix carry the ghastly tradition into the 21st century. At The Rock. With Delta Bombers and The Reztones...
Saturday, Dec. 11
Who is Night Train Clemons? In 1978, after appearing in National Lampoon’s Animal House, as the bass player in the fictitious band Otis Day and the Knights, Robert Cray toured throughout the U.S. and Europe, building a reputation as a live artist. It wasn’t until Cray signed to Mercury Records that the initial spark he set off burst into blue flame. Filled with intriguing stories about sex and infidelity, his fourth album, Strong Persuader (1986), was met with accolades (winning a Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Recording in 1987) and a torrent of critical acclaim. The Village Voice hailed the album as “The best blues record in many, many years, so fervently crafted that it may even get what it deserves and become the first album to break out of the genre’s sales ghetto since B.B. King was a hot item.” Following this whirlwind success, under the pseudonym “Night Train Clemons”, Cray contributed tracks on Ted Hawkins’ Happy Hour in 1986. And he was just getting started. With 27 acclaimed albums and five Grammy wins, this venerable blues guitarist is out on the road with a new album, That’s What I Heard (2020). The Robert Cray Band holds court. At Fox Tucson Theatre. With Tom Walbank... The students of the Fred Fox School of Music, joined by local musicians and friends, will perform movie tunes, original compositions and holiday carols. UArizona Horns & Tubas present Holiday Horns. At Hotel Congress (plaza)... Founded in Brooklyn in 2014, this 20-piece post-apocalyptic disco-punk brass band—featuring futuristic wasteland/glam uniforms and choreography—is known for the explosiveness of their live performances. Leading the charge with megaphone vocals, heavy tuba bass lines, and slamming percussion, Funkrust Brass Band blast out post-punk, disco, EDM, metal, and funk (with a touch of Balkan brass and New Orleans second line sounds) filtered through a punk rock aesthetic. At Groundworks (a nonprofit, youth-driven community arts space). With Out of System Transfer... An accomplished multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter, Sophia Rankin released her first solo recordings while attending the University of Arizona’s Fred Fox School of Music. On Too Close To The Riptide (2021), she explores themes of love, mourning, new beginnings and acceptance. Up-and-comers Sophia Rankin & The Sound reach far beyond their folk roots. At MotoSonora Brewing Company... The Muffulettas bring the raucous sounds of Bourbon Street to The Old Pueblo. At Monterey Court...
Sunday, Dec. 12
American soul/blues singer-guitarist Johnny Rawls stokes the fire. Congress Cookout at Hotel Congress (plaza)...
Monday, Dec. 13
Taking their name from the Japanese Aokigahara forest (also known as “the suicide forest”) where troubled people travel to end their life, this one-man black metal band, conveys abysmal darkness with furious tempos, dissonant guitar riffs and lyrics that delve in depression and nihilism. Suicide Forest. At Club Congress. Swarm of Serpents and Caldon Glover...
Tuesday, Dec. 14
Cochise County All Stars perform an eclectic set of Americana, obscure Latin rock, country and jazz standards. At Hotel Congress (plaza)...
Wednesday, Dec. 15
Flying in formation since 2013, the band’s latest lo-fi recording Only Ever (2021) has drawn the attention of the Fader, Post-punk.com, Impose, and others. Tucson dream pop/psychedelic/shoegazers Mute Swan are entranced in a “Life-like Dream.” At Club Congress. With Kyrge...
Thursday, Dec. 16
We can watch as a “Unicorn Catches A Falling Star In Heaven.” Seemingly in constant flux, classically-trained harpist Mary Lattimore is an instrumental storyteller who rarely pauses. She became an in-demand hired gun—working on film and musical projects with Sharon Van Etten, Kurt Vile, Thurston Moore, Jeff Zeigler and others—before releasing The Withdrawing Room (2013), her debut album. Adding to the intrinsic tonality of her Lyon & Healy Concert Grand harp with electronic effects, Lattimore creates nuanced layers of ethereality with her improvisations. On her latest compilation, Collected Pieces II (2021), Lattimore’s capacity as an observer is brought to the fore, capturing suspended moments in time that evince beauty, sorrow, sunbeams and darkness obscured within shadowy confines with filmic detail. Los Angeles-based composer Mary Lattimore climbs ghostly Silver Ladders. At Club Congress. With Ana Roxanne and Karima Walker...
Until next week, XOXO...
