Friday 14
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DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER Ever since her brief flirtation with pop and R & B in the mid-70s, Dee Dee Bridgewater has focused on pure jazz, and who can blame her? She’s a glorious, glamorous diva in the tradition of Sarah Vaughan–like Vaughan’s, her music mixes voluptuous balladry, operatic intonation, hip attitude, and intrepid improvising. A glance at her discography reveals the gamut of material at her command: she’s recorded tributes to composers like Horace Silver and Kurt Weill (the latter on her magnificent 2002 disc, This Is New), a set dedicated to Ella Fitzgerald, and a tribute to French cafe tunes on her most recent album, last year’s J’ai Deux Amours (Universal). She last appeared in Chicago at Symphony Center in 2004, headlining a reunion of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra–the band she first recorded with, when she was fresh out of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. At that show she demonstrated her absolute control of a concert-hall crowd; imagine the kind of intimate intensity she’ll generate at this rare club engagement. See also Saturday and Sunday. 9 and 11 PM, Jazz Showcase, 59 W. Grand, 312-670-2473, $25. –Neil Tesser
TARANTULA HILL BENEFIT Last month Chicago expats Carly Ptak and Twig Harper of Nautical Almanac suffered a major fire at their Baltimore home, Tarantula Hill, which doubled as an art space, studio, and venue. They lost almost everything–master tapes, artwork, instruments, DATs, hard drives, recording equipment, homemade electronic gadgets, even their three cats. And like many artists who’ve built their dreams on a shoestring, they didn’t have insurance–their wood-burning stove meant they couldn’t get coverage. This show is the first in a series of noise benefits to help Twig and Carly rebuild; the next is April 29 at Enemy. Tonight’s enormous bill includes local trio Pommel, a Billy Sides production that’s less rambunctious than his other noise projects–they play a kind of smooth ambience with a dash of pre-cum urgency–as well as Andy Ortmann, aka Panicsville, making his first Chicago appearance since returning from a seven-month stay in New Jersey. Admission is “give what you can,” but don’t be a cheap asshole or you’re going to hell. The entire lineup, headliner first: Bloodyminded, Lambsbread, Panicsville, Pommel, I Don’t Do Gentlemen, Rubber Spunky, Warmth (a collaboration between Roxanne Jean Polise and Knife City), Insect Deli, Is, B29, and DJ Rotten Milk. Bloodyminded and Is both perform Monday at the Empty Bottle with Cotton Museum (see Critic’s Choice). 9 PM, Ex-Nihilist, 2255 S. Michigan 4E, 312-567-9407, donation requested. All ages. –Liz Armstrong
DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER See Friday. 9 and 11 PM, Jazz Showcase, 59 W. Grand, 312-670-2473, $25.
Thursday 20
