Goldenfingers If the nickname smacks of Liberace, rest assured, Goldenfingers (a.k.a. Alexis Ortega) has no interest in tinkling out nauseating rococo and delivering up lisping patter by the light of a candelabra. A native of Santiago de Cuba, Ortega is a Latin jazz maestro who plays thirteen different instruments (though…
Justin Timberlake Young men fumbling to grasp the power of their hormones usually look to the brawny lead singers of hard rock bands to learn machismo and sexual confidence. Unfortunately, these same impressionable teens simultaneously lap up the music’s misogyny, and so they only develop into self-pitying sexist pigs with…
Ann Hampton Callaway Toward the end of Robert De Niro’s acclaimed 2006 spy thriller The Good Shepherd, the camera lands on a sultry singer in a yellow gown in front of a society band. The credits list the character as “1961 Deer Island Singer,” better known, in real life, as…
New World Symphony Michael Tilson Thomas directed the creation of the New World Symphony in 1987, and during its two decades the organization has earned a reputation for bold programming. From attracting guest artists such as cello superstar Yo-Yo Ma, to presenting progressive, twentieth-century works such as Igor Stravinsky’s Firebird…
Harry Connick, Jr. Connick is one of those guys you’d love to hate: a fantastically talented singer, composer, and actor who also happens to be rich, famous, and handsome. Problem is, Connick is also a mensch. When Hurricane Katrina tore through New Orleans, Connick was one of the first celebs…
International Noise Conference From Thursday through Saturday, Churchill’s Pub hosts this year’s International Noise Conference, spotlighting bands that specialize in experimental musical forms. Beyond the cacophony of no wave is noise, a no man’s land of anything-goes art. To most ears it sounds like random, amateurish banging and clanging, but…
Allen Toussaint New Orleans-based singer/producer Allen Toussaint is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to the Big Easy’s musical history. He’s worked as a session player with most of New Orleans’ major heavyweights (the Meters, Patti LaBelle, the Neville Brothers, and Dr. John) and got his start playing backup for…
Mr. Entertainment and the Pookiesmackers Those who can’t make the Toussaint gig should consider a jaunt north to catch the tenth appearance of Mr. Entertainment and the Pookiesmackers at the Tropicale. Only this year, the band would like fans to pay for what has always been a free show. No,…
Stevie B. The past is bound to repeat itself, and the return of signature Eighties trends means there may be hope yet for freestyle artist Stevie B. The South Floridian rose to fame in the late Eighties with local-turned-national hit “Party Your Body.” His song “Because I Love You (The…
Huey Lewis It’s hip to be square again. Or maybe it’s not. We have trouble keeping it straight. Either way, Huey Lewis and the News are very fucking rich. So rich, in fact, that we can’t quite figure out why they’re playing the casino circuit. But what the hell! Lewis…
Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra perform at 8:00 p.m. Friday, February 9, at the Carnival Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd, Miami. Tickets cost $15-$62. Call 786-468-2000 or visit www.carnivalcenter.org for more information.
Bobby McFerrin and Voicestra One-hit wonders, by definition, have a lyrical or instrumental gimmick, and one that won’t carry the artist any further than, well, one hit. Was it really possible for Hot Butter to top the electronic weirdness of its 1969 Moog-based hit, “Popcorn?” Or, in more recent times,…
Billy Joel After more than four years off the road — which included a rather ill-fated renouncing of pop music for classical — Billy Joel returns to (what else?) woo us with his legendary catalogue of songs. Aw, why not? Joel’s work came ready-made for nostalgia 30 years ago. The…
Erick Morillo As a warmup for his performance at Winter Music Conference next month, Erick Morillo will spin at Club Space this Saturday. Raised in Colombia and New Jersey, the DJ/record label owner is most popular for the song “I Like to Move It,” which he recorded under the pseudonym…
Dick Dale It’s almost an insult to the artist when a flyer promoting a Dick Dale concert refers to him as a “guitar legend” and then goes on to note, “as heard in Pulp Fiction and as remixed by Black Eyed Peas.” About time the kiddies turned off MTV. A…
Lots of rappers boast about surviving trials by fire. Mr. Lif knows whereof he boasts. Late last year, a tour bus carrying him, the Coup, DJ Big Wiz, Metro, and others flipped over and burst into flames. Everyone survived, and as a rebirth of sorts, Lif has undertaken this “New…
Forget for a moment the obligatory roll call of hits — we’ll get to that in due time. Focus instead on the fact that few artists have established an image as durable as Stevie Nicks has. True, she can come off as a bit precious — spinning like a dervish,…
Owing to the particular ambiance of his chilled-down sound, one pictures Miguel Migs doing most of his studio prep work poolside, surrounded by friends. The San Francisco DJ makes midtempo house music that glides and slithers. Nothing too bassy, nothing too chirpy. “Personally I’d rather hear great music all night…
A few short years ago, Jamie Foxx was the opposite of an award magnet — but that was before he won a Best Actor Oscar for the 2004 Ray Charles biopic, Ray. Since then, he’s been nominated for five Grammys, including three this year: one for his contributions to “Georgia,”…
The Red Hot Chili Peppers have been bragging about their wild-style freakitude for decades, but little speaks to the Peppers’ belief in their own out-thereness like their current choice in opener: Gnarls Barkley, the eccentric electro-soul duo featuring DJ/producer Danger Mouse and former Goodie Mob frontman Cee-Lo. No record in…
Critics have taken to calling the music of New York MC Cage “horrorcore.” And the guy does kinda have a thing about death. His recent breakout album, Hell’s Winter, features the following upbeat ditties: “Teen Age Death,” “Gimme Some Death,” and “The Death of Chris Palko.” (Hint: Chris Palko is…
So now we find out just how cool Johnny Depp really is. Way back, young girls would pack local clubs to see a band called the Kids, fronted by a scraggly young man named Johnny. Now the Kids, along with other bands upon whose shoulders South Florida’s original rock scene…
