May 20-26, 2004

music

Sound Advice

Get Out.

jazz

Hot Club of Cowtown

Think Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli's 1940s hot jazz, mingled with Bob Wills' Texas swing and you have a pretty good idea of what Austin-based Hot Club of Cowtown is going for. The western swing revivalist trio likes to really tear it up onstage, with tremendous musical (and vocal) interplay between singer-fiddler Elana Fremerman, guitarist-singer Whit Smith and bassist Jake Erwin. --Nicole Pensiero

Sun., May 23, 7:30 p.m., $26.50, Sellersville Theater 1894, 136 N. Main St., Sellersville, 215-257-5808.

rock/country

John Hiatt/Kim Richey

You'd be forgiven for busting out in hives every time you hear the term "singer-songwriter," but consider this dynamite double bill a whopping dose of Benadryl (without the drowsiness, smartass). Hiatt's songs are so esteemed they've ended up as other people's title tracks; onstage, his bent for goofball humor sometimes gets the better of him, but the solo acoustic format suits him best. The engaging Richey relies less on wit and more on open-ended songs which her plaintive voice fills with longing and wanderlust. --Sam Adams

Sun., May 23, 7:30 p.m., $29.50-$36.50, Keswick Theatre, Easton Rd. and Keswick Ave., Glenside, 215-572-7650.

jazz

Raúl Midón

We live in a time of stunningly stirring, emotive vocalists (Scissors Sisters' Jake Shears, Amos Lee, Jamie Cullum), but Raúl Midón takes the cake. Along with singing backgrounds for Marc Anthony and Ursula Rucker, Midón-- a blind New Mexican native whose debut is being produced by Arif Mardin -- has lent his nervy chants and acoustic guitars to Louie Vega's heavenly Elements of Life, adding to that Latin garage house effort a deliriously soft touch. --A.D. Amorosi

Fri., May 21, 7:30 p.m., $27.50-$32.50, with Jason Mraz and Makana, Tower Theater, 69th and Ludlow sts., 215-336-2000.

jazz

Bla Fleck/Edgar Meyer

Between recordings with his freewheeling blu-hop ensemble the Flecktones, banjo wizard Béla Fleck has been jamming with double-bass virtuoso Edgar Meyer. Together they've created compelling interpretations of songs by Bach, Miles Davis and others, as well as a few of their own finger-twisting jazz-grass numbers. Despite the eclectic mix -- all chronicled on the duo's recent Music for Two CD/DVD (Sony Classical) -- it comes together seamlessly onstage. --Nicole Pensiero

Fri., May 21, 8 p.m., $35, Keswick Theatre, Easton Rd. and Keswick Ave., Glenside, 215-572-7650.

rock

GWAR/Bad Acid Trip

Starting with 1988s Hello-O, the team of masked marauders that is GWAR have made messy metal music -- far beyond grindcore into something pulpier and theatrical -- that bleeds from the throat. Sometimes though, you want to see the face of your attacker. If so, Bad Acid Trip -- Mike Patton-like screamer Dirk Rogers and guitarist Keith Aazami -- is for you, what with the avant frenzy of their System-of-a-Down-meets-Melvins CD Lynch The Weirdo. --A.D. Amorosi

Wed., May 26, 8 p.m., $16, with Watch Them Die, Electric Factory, Seventh and Willow sts., 215-336-2000.