The paragon that is Pedrito Martinez has a rather mellow fall 2023 touring schedule, atypical for the normally busy Cuban percussionist. But he has been sure to include a stop in Jacksonville Last here in 2014 for the Jacksonville Jazz Festival and a subsequent pandemic-disrupted show in 2020 that never was, the Havana-born-and-bred talent will be at The Ritz Theatre …
“That Sunday, That Summer,” the newest single by Florida’s own Kelly Green, is actually the third that she’s released since July. Written by Joe Sherman and George Weiss, it was originally recorded for Capitol Records by Nat King Cole in 1963, with his lush, lustrous vocals backed by a string orchestra and vocal chorus, a format that was extremely popular …
“On October 3rd, he asked me what day it was.” The “he” in this equation is, of course, Aaron Samuels, heartthrob of the 2004 hit flick Mean Girls. And the “me” is Cady Heron, played by none other than the great Lindsay Lohan, whose crush on Aaron kept her from math class brilliance. On this day in Mean Girls history, …
Taken from their just-released full-length High Charity, the tune “Dange Close” from Chalk Tiger claws at all of the elements that arguably make punk rock a make-or-break affair. Thankfully, the volition of this Northeast Florida trio has more melodic quirks than rote ’77-style punk while also boasting a surfeit of grit that keeps them from succumbing to coy indie-twee that …
Many people claim that hip hop is a sport. And while contention and conflict, feuds and battles, are part of it, hip hop is an all-encompassing lifestyle where art meets life through pain and pleasure, struggle and triumph, and, yes, competition and boasting gestures that have the ability to shake the tables. Local emcee Rab G brings some heavy king …
Our weekly Go concert recommendations are updated every Monday morning and are always available on jaxmusic.org. For a comprehensive list of this week’s concerts, go to our live music calendar page. Rock Alice Cooper – Wednesday, October 4 The Amp | St. Augustine The formerly shocking antics of classic-rock vet Alice Cooper may now seem quite quaint. But five decades into his career, at …
It’s been five years since singer Jorja Smith released her beloved and acclaimed debut album, Lost & Found. She returns this week with a long-awaited followup, Falling or Flying, a wide-reaching album of solitude and quiet confidence, as Smith explores new rhythms in both her music and life. We open this week’s show with a listen and talk about the …
Locals with a hankering for singer-songwriter action in the style of Dave Matthews, Keller Williams, late-era James Taylor, most assuredly the late Jimmy Buffet, will likely enjoy the latest from Northeast Florida musician Adam Cotton. Released in March the three-song EP All These Horizons is Cotton’s latest. The title track offers a canon-like motif, as Cotton’s finger-picked guitar and earnestness …
This Latinx Heritage Month, NPR Music member stations are celebrating the music of a wide array of artists from all corners of Latinidad. Salsa was not originally a genre, per se. Instead, it was a word used to describe when things got hot and saucy during a performance. The music is a collection of various Afro-Cuban and Caribbean rhythms, and …
Ty Segall continues to morph and mop up the competition of current psych-rock-what-have-you. “Eggman” arrives on the heels of his recent doom-dirge single, “Void.” Over a rumbling bed of drums, octaved-electric guitar and strumming acoustic, Segall serves up cryptic lyrics (“Hey / do you hear what I say? / Would you look at your face? Your mouth’s / agape and …
With autumn upon us, we decided it was time to poll NPR Music’s Member station partners to find out the new musicians who caught their hosts’ ears this year. We had one question: Identify your favorite artist who entered 2023 without a full-length album. We received 13 answers, and the results spanned rock, Americana, soul, jazz and electronic music. Enjoy …
Led by singer-songwriter Justin Osborne, the Charleston-bred indie-Americana band Susto visited Jacksonville in early 2023, performing at the Bier Hall inside Intuition Ale Works. The band broke out with the 2021’s Time in the Sun, which combined Osborne’s introspective songwriting with an energetic live-band feel. And with 2023’s My Entire Life — another suite of songs grounded in American roots, …
In the opening minutes of DJ Shadow’s 1996 debut album Endtroducing…, he samples the words of jazz drummer George Marsh: “I’m a student of the drums. And I’m also a teacher of the drums, too.” The veteran beatmaker’s next lesson is on its way, in the form of his new album Action Adventure (Oct. 27, Mass Appeal/Liquid Amber), but Friday’s …
Our weekly Go concert recommendations are updated every Monday morning and are always available on jaxmusic.org. For a comprehensive list of this week’s concerts, go to our live music calendar page. Jazz Blue Jay Jazz Jam – Tuesday, September 26 Blue Jay Listening Room | Jacksonville Beach Every Tuesday, fun-size Jax Beach venue Blue Jay Listening Room hosts one of the city’s premier jazz …
Little Brother, the beloved North Carolina hip-hop duo, have released “Wish Me Well” and “Glory Glory,” their first new music in four years. Phonte and Rapper Big Pooh remain the poster boys of grown-man rap. Seasoned, independent, well-respected; their rhymes serve as references for artists looking to follow suit. “Wish Me Well” finds Phonte and Rapper Big Pooh taking turns …
Media Contact: Neily Braren, Promotion & Marketing Associate 904.318.2633 • nbraren@wjct.org WJCT Public Media Announces Third Season of “What’s Health Got to Do With It?”Popular health program, hosted by Dr. Joe Sirven, returns September 23 Jacksonville, Fla. — Sept. 22, 2023 — WJCT Public Media today announced the third season of “What’s Health Got To Do With It?” will begin …
The music of Singaporean artist and producer yeule often sounds like it was made from turn-of-the-century home electronics — dial up modems, simple keypad tones or a broken VCR. But, in deceptively disarming moments, it’s also warm and beautifully organic, just before erupting in thunderous sheets of guitar noise and primal screaming. As we discuss on this week’s show, their …
When it comes to the confused emotions of ‘90s underground rock as it rose (or was pulled) up into the mainstream, never mind Nirvana: it was arguably The Breeders that truly expressed the confusion, joy, snark, resignation and expectations of a pre-internet Generation X. Thirty years have passed since The Breeders’ breakthrough release, Last Splash, and the album’s sound and …
Each week, WJCT Arts & Culture editor Matthew Shaw joins Al Letson on First Coast Connect to talk about three new songs added to rotation on the Independent 89.9 HD4, WJCT’s new-music discovery station. On this week’s JME DJ Sessions, they listen to cuts from Mitski’s new record, The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We and discuss the late, …
Judging by the music of the Serfs, the band’s hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio is a destroyed, post-industrial wasteland. While they are retro to the point of the antediluvian, the trio of Dylan McCartney (vocals, percussion, guitar, bass, electronics), Dakota Carlyle (electronics, bass, guitar, vocals) and Andie Luman (vocals, synths) enshroud their latest single “Electric Like an Eel” into more of a post-punk …
In the mid-1960s, saxophonist John Coltrane was experiencing an undeniable evolution. Having the ability to perform slow-burn ballads and high-speed changes with equal agility, he had spent the previous decade establishing himself as a firebrand soloist with Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk. As Coltrane’s compositional skills increased, so did his prolificity as a bandleader. After signing with the label Impulse! …
This Latinx Heritage Month Tiny Desk is celebrating with an ‘El Tiny’ takeover, featuring a wide array of artists from all corners of Latinidad. No Venezuelan party is complete without tequeños. Whether it’s a wedding or a baptism, the cheese-filled treats are a must-have at every snack table — so it makes sense Rawayana pulled up to “El Tiny” with …
2021 was not, technically, the first year Allison Russell played the Newport Folk Festival. Russell had previously taken the stage at what’s long been a venerated showcase of bearers and updaters of tradition with her bands Birds of Chicago and Our Native Daughters, but never before as a solo artist. And never with as bright a spotlight as the one …
After first teaming up for 2022’s Full Court Press, the low-key hip-hop supergroup featuring emcees Wiz Khalifa, Big K.R.I.T. and Smoke DZA, and producer Girl Talk (aka Gregg Gillis) have returned with their first new music of the year, Tuesday’s effortless “Eurostep.” To a casual basketball viewer, the Euro step seems almost unfair, like the ball handler is getting away …
Eureka Springs have released their second single, a downtempo, jangly meditation called “The Mirage.” Some housekeeping first: Eureka Springs is the full-band project of Jacksonville singer-songwriter Cory Driscoll, whose 2022 album is also called Eureka Springs. Driscoll also has a song called “Eureka Springs” from the album Eureka Springs which–what with the artist, song and album–approaches The-1975-levels of meta. In …
Jacksonville’s BlissFund was started in 2018 primarily as a writing project by G.A. Mallinson. “Hits,” the opening track from his new full-length release Revelator, finds Mallinson deploying a plain-spoken, talking-folk-blues approach. Simple chords strummed over abstract guitar swells, a drumbeat that is minimal and tentative, and the song’s narrator dealing out ambiguities in a love story that he considers “lighting …
The latest mind-bender from avant-pop veterans Animal Collective is nearly here, and our final preview of their new album Isn’t It Now? (Sept. 29, Domino) arrived last week in the form of “Gem & I,” a track the band has been performing live since 2019. The third single from Isn’t It Now? after this summer’s “Soul Capturer” and “Defeat,” “Gem …
Our weekly Go concert recommendations are updated every Monday morning and are always available on jaxmusic.org. For a comprehensive list of this week’s concerts, go to our live music calendar page. Reggae The Original Wailers feat. Al Anderson – Wednesday, September 20 Underbelly | Downtown Jacksonville Formed by guitarists Junior Marvin and Al Anderson – who backed up Bob Marley – the Original Wailers …
On a recent Sunday, renowned Atlanta-based singer-songwriter Deidre McCalla settled in for a Bold City Circuit performance. Born and raised in New York City, McCalla cut her teeth in the highly competitive busking scene around Macdougal Street, which later produced legends like Suzanne Vega, Patti Smith and Tracy Chapman, among many others. McCalla’s album Don’t Doubt It (Olivia Records, 1985), …
Our picks for the best albums out this week refuse to be one thing — they shape-shift and warp any rules around genre and conventions, with hairpin turns and sometimes strange sonic shifts that, despite upending expectations, are seamless and often breathtaking. We start with Corinne Bailey Rae‘s Black Rainbows, an album inspired by the English singer’s visit to Chicago’s …
A cut from his second full-length release, The Fatalist, “The Long Journey Home” finds contemporary alt-blues-agitator Buffalo Nichols continuing his excursions into deconstructing and rebuilding folk forms. Driven by banjo and a minimal Roland TR-808 beat—a machine that is 50 years old, and one which Nichols considers to be a now-folk instrument—the proverbial trouble in mind that he explores is …
On September 15, label Luaka Bop is issuing a deluxe 2LP box set of the 1977 album Pharoah by Pharoah Sanders. Originally released by the India Navigations label, the new collection includes the album’s original three tracks as well as two unreleased live versions of the song “Harvest Time,” a 24-page booklet containing rarely seen photographs, essays and an interview …
Nearly a decade of constant touring is paying dividends for the L.A.-based psychedelic-rock outfit Frankie and the Witch Fingers. The group cranks out energetic, riff-heavy earworms befitting of a band that has shown incredible stamina. And their seventh-studio record, Data Doom (out now via Greenway Records) is poised to make the band’s extraneous nom de plume (there are no Frankies …
Big Thief got bigger than ever in 2022, raking in acclaim (not to mention a Grammy nomination) with their sprawling double album Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You, and rather than resting on those laurels, the indie-folk four-piece returned Wednesday with “Born For Loving You,” their second new tune of the year. Like this summer’s “Vampire Empire” and …
The Steep Canyon Rangers will return to the Florida Theatre on Saturday, November 4. Over the course of two decades, the group has collaborated with banjo-playing comedy legend Steve Martin, singer-songwriter Edie Brickell and a whole host of others on their way to be being heralded as one of the finest bluegrass outfits working today. And while the Rangers have …
It’s not exactly typical for artists at the Tiny Desk to share their future burial plans, but that’s exactly what Indigo de Souza does halfway through her performance. “I wrote this song about my love for nature,” the singer-songwriter says, introducing the track “Not My Body.” “I think that when I die … what I want is to be composted …
