Thursday

JAZZ FUSION james whiton & the downtown apostles

To be honest, I never understood the genius of Charles Mingus until I caught a special on the bassist on PBS.  Just five minutes into the biography it became clear that he was much more than a bass player — He was a genius whose commanding tone and inbred sense of rhythm were virtually unmatched by anyone before him.  As a composer and band leader, he was demanding on others as well as himself.  It is no wonder upright jazz bassist James Whiton lists Mingus as his greatest influence.  “A virtuoso of acoustic upright double bass, Whiton slaps, bows, maneuvers, and manipulates his instrument with orchestral precision and street-corner desperation,” states the SF Weekly. Man, I wish I had written that because it is the best way I’ve heard to describe his playing.  Whiton is a jazz bassist for the 21st century whose tones and methods are unusual, surprising and original.  Not one to be confined by the rules, he is experimental and often uses distortion and a wah wah effect in the same manor that Flava Flav played Charo. But as fellow Weekly Volcano scribe Paul Schrag points out, Whiton’s right hand slapping technique is flawless and merges with his sense of music to create an unrivaled sound. — Tony Engelhart

[Jazzbones, 8 p.m., all ages, $3-$5, 2803 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.396.9169]

Thursday

ROCK skangst

What the hell is a Skangst? Seems from my correspondence with the band, they don’t know either.  After taking some time off so one of the members could recover from a surgery, they are fired up and ready to go. Taking their cue from classic rockers of the ’60s and ’70s, the quartet of Rick and Rich on guitars, Keith on bass and lead vocals and John pounding the skins pay homage to the past but add a punk-loving spin to music that is fresh and modern. Performing together under the name Skangst for a little less than four years, the lineup has remained solid. These hard rockin’ Tacoma boys released their debut, 21st Century Urban Gypsies, in 2005.  The disc was varied as they explored a T.Rex glam rock vibe on “Easy Marie,” a New York Dolls f@#% you attitude on “Safe and Sound,” and a Neil Young rock anthem timbre on “Trailer Park Girl.” They are working on a follow-up yet to be titled, but it should be a change of pace as they are becoming more politically aware. “It’s time to wake up and stand up for our future,” says Rick. “The time for silence about the direction of this country has come to an end.”  With Infect and The Plastards. — TE

[The Swiss, 9 p.m., $3, 1904 S. Jefferson Ave., Tacoma, 253.572.2821]

Friday

ROCK Jucifer

Anyone who caught Jucifer’s previous Tacoma appearance at Hell’s Kitchen should have regained his hearing and regular heart rhythms by now. Maybe. The Athens, Ga., domestic duo of Amber Valentine (guitar, vocals) and Edgar Livengood (drums) create a complexly sexy wall of sound with amps stacked to the sky and a dynamic push-pull attack that sounds like P.J. Harvey taking a slow boat to China with Black Sabbath.  The Drunken Guitarists and Falling Blind open. — Brad Allen

[South Sound Garage, Friday, March 9, 9:30 p.m., $6, 933 Market St., Tacoma, 253.305.0069]

Friday

JAZZ wayne horvitz and sweeter than the day

Webster defines a workaholic as “one who has a compulsive and unrelenting need to work.” After researching Wayne Horvitz for this article, I’m confident in assuming he needs some type of intervention. The keyboardist has been involved in no less than 12 bands and written music for scores of films, theater and dance.  His recording career has produced two as a composer, seven as a solo artist, three as a part of an ensemble, 17 with his various bands and no less than 38 collaborations with other artists. Whew! And I thought I worked a lot. Horvitz’s latest project is Sweeter Than the Day, a jazz quartet featuring Seattle musicians guitarist Tim Young, bassist Keith Lowe and drummer Andy Roth.  Born out of his funk-fusion band Zony Mash, Sweeter Than the Day incorporates the funkiness of the original band but brings a free style jam slant to the forefront of the music.  However, don’t expect anything avant-garde like Coltrane or Monk.  The band creates subtle compositions that fall into the category of smooth jazz with an edge that MOJO magazine calls “quietly powerful chamber modernism full of eclectic composerly acumen that makes dreamlike reference to jazz, country, folk and hymn-like material.” — TE

[Art House, 9 p.m., $10, 420 Franklin St. S.E., Olympia, 541.687.6526]

Saturday

The Heavy Hearts

“Spit When You Say My Name,” the opening track to the Heavy Hearts’ debut, self-titled EP, reminds me of those old Bugs Bunny/Yosemite Sam cartoons: a jabbing, staccato B-note on Brian Burnside’s guitar string is the spark that ignites the gunpowder trail leading straight to poor Sam’s patootie, and the throaty, snarling rhythm assault that follows is the inevitable, winding burning of the powder. There is a wonderful, raw energy in the Hearts’ debut effort, and the primal jungle roll of the rhythm section — led by the lovely Denise Maupin and Brian Kraft on bass and Lee Taylor on drums — while echoing the ultra-tight drum and bass lines of the Dead Kennedys, shares more common ground with Washington, D.C., hardcore band Fugazi.

It is a shame that the adjective “heavy” does nothing to describe this band’s sound. While listening to the EP, I thought of other, more biting names to compliment the sharp, angular guitar lines and Burnside and Maupin’s spitting vocal assaults. Roget’s Thesaurus is no help at all here as the synonyms for “heavy” suggest such ridiculous names as The Weighty Hearts, The Hefty Hearts, or The Ponderous Hearts. The point is the word “heavy” does not carry the depth and the precision of the Hearts’ music and talent. The band’s EP will undoubtedly remind noise aficionados of Sonic Youth’s Daydream Nation — not shabby praise for such a young band.

Of the six songs included on the EP, five of them have unpleasant titles and oft-unsettling lyrics, save for the song “Hope,” which is sandwiched between the paced, nightmarish lumber of “No” and the truly excellent, yet punchy “The End.” “Hope” is a bit of an anomaly on the disc — it possesses the same conjoined-at-the-hip rhythm section, and as per usual, Burnside manages to make his guitar sound like a collection of airplanes taking off and landing. It does not have the übercatchy chorus lines of “On the Breaks,” and it does not have the slinky, slutty, layered guitar tracks of “Leeches.” At the end of it all, though, coming in at just under 23 minutes, the Hearts’ live up to their heavy promise with a frighteningly original and astonishingly melodic debut. Catch them with Gene Loves Jezebel, Razrez, The Missionary Position, and The Drug Purse at Hell’s Kitchen. — Michael Stasiak



[Hell’s Kitchen, Saturday, March 10, 9 p.m., $10, 3829 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.759.6003]

Tuesday

ACOUSTIC ROCK the senate

“Face melting acoustic rock” is what the Senate’s Web site says. I don’t think anyone’s face is literally in danger of any harm, but I do understand why this is not your mother’s acoustic music. The Senate’s sound is bursting with a robust vitality. Even the band’s love songs are laced with testosterone. All of the instruments, including the voices, are used to fill the role usually kept by drums. Therefore, Senate requires no drums, just two singing acoustic guitarists (Nick Drummond and Oliver Franklin) and an upright bass man (Andrew Pulkrabek) who has also been known to throw some beatbox into the mix.

The song “Bandit” is an energetic romp but also an attempt at seduction. He sings, “Smile on my lips, Dream of swimming between your hips. Won’t you show me, How you wanna go, tonight,” and I’m just tapping my toes thinking, “Whoa, what did he just say?” because the words just flow by like rapid fire in a rhythmic pattern that is designed to complement the other instruments. Drummond says this polyrhythmic style comes from his affinity for African music. He grew up playing African drums as a kid, and when he picked up the acoustic guitar as a high school student, those rhythms found their way naturally into his strumming. The result is definitely rock but with a Dave Matthews meets world music type of energy.  — Angela Jossy

[Mandolin Café, 8-10 p.m., all ages, no cover, 3923 S. 12th St., Tacoma, 253.761.3482]