GFK, Hiretsukan and Propagandhi
Slide show

Norah Jones thinks her musical evolution is moving forward more rapidly than do many reviewers. Still, her latest disc, Not Too Late, is a modest step toward greater self-expression -- she wrote or co-wrote all of the material on it -- and other projects suggest that she’s interested in doing more than simply replicating the 2002 Grammy magnet Come Away With Me for the rest of her career.

In the following Q&A, which contributed to the profile in the May 31 edition of Westword, Jones talks about the frequency with which young jazz vocalists are likened to her, and the silly comparisons she once suffered; the degree of musical change represented by the new album; her contributions to Peeping Tom, a Mike Patton project that gave her the chance to repeatedly mouth the word “motherfucker”; a review in which she was called a “sex panther”; the ways she balances modesty with confidence; the joys and challenges of playing Red Rocks; the experience of starring in My Blueberry Nights, a film that opened the Cannes Film Festival only days after this interview took place; the pros and cons of repeatedly kissing Jude Law; and the future of her film career -- if there is one.

For readers who’d like to learn more about Ms. Jones, it’s Not Too Late:

Git Some and These Arms Are Snakes
3 Kings Tavern
Slide Show

Some cool things about Sasquatch! Music Festival :

-- Sasquatch is another name for Bigfoot
-- There were a ton of great bands.
-- Seattle Weekly (Westword's sibling) has extensive web coverage of the event.

The only thing that could have made it better if the bands that preformed were made up of Sasquatches.

Whiskey Kiss and 18 Wheeler
3 Kings Tavern
Saturday, May 26th
Slide show

Slide Show

Bob Dylan is a wierdo among freaks. Even when he was a leader of the '60s folk scene, he considered himself an outcast, a stranger who was lost, and by his own admission had "no direction home." So maybe it was fitting that the Bob Dylan tribute show last night at the Oriental Theater had no direction either. It really worked for the whole tribute theme.

Killfix
The Walnut Room

Being a native of Littleton, I felt an immediate affinity for Januar while researching their Myspace Music page. Their profile was incredibly straightforward. From: Littleton (who owns up to that?); influences: Jeff Buckley, Mojave 3, Sigur Ros; band name is Icelandic for "January," and they're wearing woolly beanies in their thumbnail picture. In the rest of the photos -- even through minor line-up changes -- they look like best friends forever. Often with their arms around one another and ear-to-ear grins across their glowing faces. "Januar in Pittsburgh '06...1st tour ever." More than anything, they looked primed to win the battle of the bands in a dramatic, underdog One Crazy Summer fashion.

Ethan Iverson, keyboardist for the Bad Plus, had a lot more to say than could be squeezed into the profile that appears in the May 24 edition of Westword. But the web has plenty of room -- so here's the full Q&A.

The topics discussed include the reasons behind the title of the combo's new CD, Prog; the question of whether Tears for Fears and Herb Alpert numbers can be considered progressive; Iverson's disinterest in exploring the rock music he missed as a devoted young jazzbo; the prospects of the Bad Plus ever covering a Lionel Richie number; the group's positive and negative experiences while on Columbia Records; and Iverson's contributions to "Do the Math," the trio's blog, which feature his takes on everything from the music of Sesame Street to transcriptions of Miles Davis classics.

Consider the conversation a real Plus:

Thickly bearded and shrouded beneath a floppy hat, Sir Richard Bishop warmed up the eager, Monday night crowd. Sort of an edgier Leo Kottke, after about thirty minutes of lighting-quick guitar instrumentals he lightheartedly lambasted the freak folk scene, trying to count the beards in the crowd. Then he broke into a song about hanging a preacher and wrapping the corpse in fancy yarn before chopping it into six pieces. A gloomy number, but he floated in the word "hemlock" so it wasn't without poetry. Bishop's chugging set was an atmospheric intro for Animal Collective, who took the stage casually as the crowd erupted, doubling the whiffs of grass and BO. Band member Geologist wrapped his signature headlamp around his bean and began inspecting what looked like a small mixing board.

Panda Bear readied himself behind a much taller tower of electronic devices and Avey Tare tinkered with a ragtag assortment of percussion instruments and a lonesome keyboard set back behind them all. The band's fourth member, The Deakin, isn't on their current tour, but that didn't seem to bother the audience. One fellow at the head of the stage looked ready to take communion, bowing down and stroking the semicircular area at the front of the stage with spread palms.