Also this issue: Sound Judgments Nostalgia, varnish and acoustic doors: tuning Verizon Hall to the Orchestra -- and expectations. -Peter Burwasser Progress Report Year one in the Orchestra's new home. -Peter Burwasser Rick Henderson -A.D. Amorosi Kara Lafty -Interview by Patrick Rapa Philadelphia Orchestra -Peter Burwasser The Greg Osby Four -Nate Chinen The Go/The Witnesses/Gregg Foreman/The Trauma Queens -A.D. Amorosi Zwan -A.D. Amorosi

December 12-18, 2002

musicpicks

North Star Shines

This weekend looks like the old days at The North Star -- roots music almost every night. Thursday brings New Orleans' Rebirth Brass Band, whose hit defines their sound: "Feel Like Funkin' It Up." If you like The Dirty Dozen, you'll love these guys. No sitting down allowed. Friday brings us back to the region with a stress on strings and originality. Frog Holler is country-funky and purely, rurally Pennsylvania. Slo-Mo -- Mike Brenner's slide guitar extravaganza -- explores the many things you can do with strings with a steel in the left hand and much imagination. Shemekia Copeland inherited her late father Texas Twister Johnny Copeland's blues and invested them wisely. She didn't choose to compete with his legend on guitar; rather, she put all the energy into her voice. Her power and authority are jaw-dropping. It's hard to square the maturity of her style with her 23 years, but that gives us that many more years of pleasure to anticipate. See her on Sunday so you can brag about it down the road.

Rebirth Brass Band with Ramsay Midwood, Thu., Dec. 12, 9 p.m., $15; Frog Holler with Slo-Mo, Fri., Dec. 13, 10 p.m., $8; Shemekia Copeland, Sun., Dec. 15, 8 p.m., $20, The North Star, 27th and Poplar sts., 215-684-0808.

—Mary Armstrong