Friday Forecast: Kesstronic Movement Dap

Photo from Tampa Museum of Art
[Charles] Friday Forecast is my survey of three awesome things to do each weekend in Tampa Bay. I try to find things I could stumble home from in my hood of Seminole Heights but sometimes I'll travel the bridges for the good stuff. If it's music, art, or a good time - I'm in. Check it out.

Friday night: Izzy and the Kesstronics are making another visit to Ella's Folk Art Cafe Friday night. This band runs the fine line between roots rock, rockabilly, and even a little large band type music. They have been known to burn the place down and should probably encourage some real live dancing in front of the stage at Ella's. I'd love to catch these guys mixing it up - they bring a sax and a trombone into their swinging groove so definitely be ready to shake it.

Before you head out to Ella's you should probably head down to the Tampa Museum of Art to check out the Art After Dark Party dedicated to the latest show opening - Degas - Form, Movement, and the Antique. The Degas exhibit is really great and is one of the biggest and most expensive shows at the new TMA. They brought the what I call "Tiny Dancer" sculpture down from The National Gallery in DC and quite a few of Degas's bronzes that are rough and unashamedly large figured. They take the abstract and rough sculptures but somehow capture the angles and balance of a dancer's movements in unexpected ways. I really enjoyed it and there are a few paintings that are truly fantastic as well with one of my favorites called Three Dancers in Yellow Skirts - a fuzzy abstraction with just enough detail to force you to carefully study it and really try to sort out what is going on while the colors are so much brighter than most of the drab world that we see in his pencil sketches. Also since you're there - check out the Herb Snitzer jazz photography exhibit which is every bit as fascinating as I wanted it to be.

Saturday night: Excuse me for a second while I mourn the fact that I'm going to miss this show. This is one of those shows that is pretty impossible to miss and I'm completely disgusted with myself for not making it. Sometimes the schedule just doesn't work out for you. So, anyway, if you have any way of making it to the Ritz on Saturday - do not miss Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. I have only been as close to them as Austin City Limits on PBS will allow me to but that was plenty close to see that this is one of the hardest working and smokingest shows that I will ever get a chance to see. They are getting pretty well known now but The Ritz is still small enough and open enough that you should be able to weasel your way to the stage if you wanna get in the middle of the sweaty mess. Sharon Jones takes everything that was soft and sexy about the 60's soul women like the Supremes and then grinds it through a Foxy Brown vibe that makes you wonder why the heck they ever stopped making music like this. More than a throw back, Sharon Jones picks up where the greats like Aretha left off and takes this soul into the future. Check out her updated version of This Land is Your Land or the floor-burner 100 Days and try and figure out when they were made...

Have fun out there!

Friday Forecast: Infinite Marley Modernism

Photo from St. Pete Times
[Charles] This is a regular feature I write every Friday where I pick three things I'd like to do in the area and talk a little about them and hopefully pass along enough info to encourage readers to check one or all of them out. It can be overwhelming to find things to do in a pinch so I try to just stick to three...

Tonight at Ella's Folk Art Cafe there is a band that I don't know much about. The Infinite Groove Orchestra is what this spacey funk groove jazz group call themselves and it definitely sounds interesting. I read their interview with CL and they seem a bit more cerebral and studious than say bands like Phish which I just can't really get into. I bought a cd of the String Cheese Incident once and I liked it for a while but now I can't seem to stand putting it back on. I would say you've gotta be in the right frame of mind for this type of stuff and well that's not always me. That being said, a lot of folks think these guys are great and I listened to the one track I could find and it was cool. I'm not sure about three hours of it, but I'm willing to give it a shot anyway.

Forecast: 80% chance of man-made clouds at this one.

Also Friday night, the Tampa Museum of Art has found a law firm sponsor to pay the admission for folks to get in and is calling it Art "On the House". Since I am happy to take a law firm's money (as opposed to giving them some) and get some art in the process, this seems like a win-win. Hopefully I won't have to sit through a condo style hard press where they try to explain to me why I need a lawyer on retainer to protect me against car wrecks or slip and fall injuries. I'm thinking I'd like to just check out the new exhibit on Modernism in America. I love going to an art museum without the pressure of a ticket price. It is amazing to me that so many people never get exposed to this great art because of the cost of shows. I know it costs less than a movie and trust me I think it's worth it - I just think it gives a lot of people an excuse to do something else instead of switching their brains on and soaking up some creativity. Anyway, just check it out, here's the link to an article in the Times about the modernism show. Also, the show coincides with another cool show about jazz photography from Herb Snitzer in the sixties with some great shots of legends like John Coltrane and Miles Davis.

Forecast: 50% chance of having entire rooms to yourself at the museum to really soak it up.

Saturday night at New World Brewery is the "Bob & Tosh Fest" celebrating what I think would be the 66th birthday of Bob Marley. This should be much more than just another Marley smokeout - these bands are working to show tribute to both Marley and his collaborator Peter Tosh from the Wailers. There will be local bands Tribal Style, Badda Skat, D'Visitors, Ras Kana, and DJ Blenda playing and giving tribute to these reggae greats. The weather and chilled vibe of New World on the patio under the trees should definitely make this a great event.

Forecast: 75% chance of catching some fresh takes on classic tunes from some of the freshest bands in town.

Have fun out there!

Friday Forecast: Altars, Rabbits, and Grub

[Charles]

How do you celebrate the Day of the Dead in Tampa? How about heading to the new TMA and checking out some altar art from local artists and maybe leaving a little something for people you've lost this week? We lost my Uncle Gary this week and I plan to leave a University of Texas hat down there for the gruff guy from coal-mining country that always knew how to make me laugh.

50% chance somebody is gonna be dressed like Frida Kahlo or Mr. Goodbody down there...

Ever done a ride thru on your bike? Saturday might be your chance. The Hub Grub III (The Grub Strikes Back) is going to take anybody with a bike and an appetite through a tour of SemHeights faves like Ella's, the Shindie, and the Refinery and new guys like Nani's. You'll even get something at Publix this time so head over to the Garden Center at 2:30 to get it going. Here's the link to the page from the SHBC for more info.

I predict a 90% chance somebody will have too much fun and have to walk the bike home!

Last but not least, there's a small - let's say 20% chance that I'm going to drive out of town to see Frightened Rabbit this weekend. I didn't grow up in Florida so driving to shows used to be pretty common for me, but I'm not sure if I'll pony and head up the road. It'll be a real shame to miss these guys if I do. They've been a lot of inspiration to me lately on days that really feel like a continuous kick in the teeth. If you go see them either in Gainesville on Saturday or in Orlando at the Social on Sunday, be prepared to rock your face off!

Hope to see you out there!

Here's a little Frightened Rabbit that I'll dedicate to my Uncle Gary who definitely was a real man and not "a bag of sand".

Get Dirty Tonight at TMA

[Charles] Photo from FromTheEarthPottery

Need something to kick off your weekend right? Check out a great show tonight with a few of our favorite local artists at the new museum.

From the TMA website:

"DIRTY," A NIGHT OF ART AND MUSIC

Get Dirty with Friends while we explore nature with artists Clay Lipsky (goclaygo.com), Wesley Allen (fromtheearthpottery.com), Rudolph Lopez (rudolphlopez.com), and Daniel Mrgan (danielmrgan.com).

Dirty will be held Friday, June 4, 2010 from 7:30pm to 10:00pm at the Tampa Museum of Art and will feature Art of Sound by Josh Wilkins, hors d'ouevres my Mise en Place, and cash bar. The event is FREE for Friends, $5 for Members, and $10 for Non members.

Friends is a volunteer group made up of current museum members and created to promote and support the Tampa Museum of Art . Friends hosts and assists with special events to raise funds for educational programs and acquisitions. Now, for $25 added to your membership, you can be a Friend.

For more information, please emailannmarie.moulin@tampamuseum.org or call 813.421.8370.