THE WASHINGTON POST • FRIDAY, MAY 28, 2010

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Bands performing here this week. Listen at washingtonpost.com/music

THE MYNABIRDS

“What We Lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood”

New band has a familiar voice

Kindred spirits: Jenny Lewis, Dusty Springfield Show:Wednesday at the Black Cat. Show starts at 9 p.m. 202-667-7960.

www.blackcatdc.com.

After the all-too-short run of D.C. indie pop duo Georgie James, Laura Burhenn, the group’s chanteuse, left the District to plant roots in Nebraska. Clearly, her R&B, gospel and girl group records made the trip, because they seep into the sound of her new band, the Mynabirds. Despite working with such a varied

palette, her debut, “What We Lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood,” is a largely successful melding of these influences. The result is an album that can genre hop but still flow. What allows the songs to

APRIL SMITH AND THE GREAT PICTURE SHOW

“Songs for a Sinking Ship”

Kindred spirits: Rickie Lee Jones, Nellie McKay, Maria Muldaur Show: Tuesday at Iota. Show starts at 8:30 p.m. 703-522-8340. www.iotaclubandcafe.com.

April Smith grew up in New Jersey, listening to both the big-band sound of the Andrews Sisters and the demimonde jazz-folk sound of Tom Waits. It would seem quite a challenge to combine the saucy optimism of the former with the caustic honesty of the latter, but Smith manages just such a blend on her new, breakthrough album, “Songs for a Sinking Ship.” She fronts a quintet, the Great Picture Show, that captures the Tin Pan Alley swing of the ’40s on guitar, piano,

drums and upright bass, and she belts out the tunes in a brassy soprano. Her lyrics are reports from the front lines of the battle of the sexes, and she writes with a post-’70s feminist assumption that she has a right not just to true love but also to good sex and stimulating conversation. “Drop Dead Gorgeous” is the kind of

cabaret number that Judy Garland might have punctuated with a swing of the hips, but Smith is singing about “a pretty face” who’s appealing as long as his “mouth is closed.” Before long, though, she concludes that without brains, good looks aren’t enough. The same is true of reviving old music; it’s not enough to bring back bygone pleasures, you have to have something of your own to say. Smith does.

— Geoffrey Himes

shift styles so convincingly is Burhenn’s sultry voice, which shows new depth, added soul and, most important, range. In “LA Rain,” she sounds pained and forlorn, and yet her wonderful melody on the bare-bones guitar pop song “Ways of Looking” is irresistibly catchy. The songs deal with loss and recovery. At times she seems self-assured after how things have played out (“Numbers Don’t Lie”). In other moments, past regrets linger despite efforts to push forward, as on “Right Place,” where she sings: “I think about you time to time / And I still wonder why / But I haven’t changed my mind / God knows I tried.” Few debuts are flawless, and “What We

Lose” falls into that category. But the Mynabirds are worth watching.

— Brandon Weigel

NNENNA FREELON

“Homefree”

Kindred spirits: Dianne Reeves, Sarah Vaughan, Betty Carter Show:Wednesday at the Birchmere. Show starts at 7:30 p.m. 703-549-7500.

www.birchmere.com.

“Homefree” isn’t always as relaxed as its

title suggests, but the performances certainly radiate a lived-in quality, and for good reason. Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon is a seasoned pro when it comes to freshening classic pop tunes, and “Homefree” offers many examples of her sure-footed artistry. The performances pose real challenges. For starters, there’s a brisk, octave-leaping interpretation of “The Lamp Is Low” that somehow manages to be at once dreamy and daring. Immediately afterward Freelon turns to “West Side Story” for inspiration, imbuing “I Feel Pretty” with elements of swing, blues and drama that personalize the performance. “The Very Thought of You,” the album’s most spacious and soulful interpretation, follows, warmly enhanced by tenor saxophonist Ira Wiggins. Among the contemporary twists are a rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” that features rapper Pierce Freelon, the singer’s 20-year-old son, and “Cell Phone Blues,” an original lament that should delight concertgoers for years to come. Yet none of these novel touches is more enjoyable than Freelon’s take on “Smile,” which is firmly underpinned by bassists Wayne Batchelor and John Brown. Collaborating with longtime colleagues and recruits from her home state of North Carolina, Freelon is in excellent company throughout, obviously inspired by the colorful arrangements fashioned by drummer Kinah Ayah and others.

—Mike Joyce

LISA BOGGS PHOTOGRAPHY

Laura Burhenn is sultry on her debut album with her new band, the Mynabirds.

MONO

“Holy Ground: NYC Live”

Kindred spirits: Beethoven, Mogwai, Sonic Youth Show:With the Twilight Sad on Wednesday at the 9:30 club. Show starts at 8 p.m. 202-265-0930. www.930.com.

With just four musicians, Mono can fill a room with a sound that rivals a symphony orchestra. But that’s not enough for guitarist-composer Takaakira Goto, who leads the all-instrumental Tokyo band. For two concerts in 2009, the group was joined by classical musicians, mostly string players. One of those shows, which featured the 24-member Wordless Music Orchestra, is available as “Holy Ground: NYC Live,” a 80-minute CD packaged with a 90-minute DVD that

includes an additional composition. Mono’s usual approach is to build slowly from delicate rippling to a crescendo. That doesn’t change on “Holy Ground,” which recasts material the band previously recorded (mostly on its last studio album, “Hymn to the Immortal Wind”). The supplementary musicians add nuance to the climaxes, which are still dominated by electric instruments. For listeners familiar with the band’s

grandeur, the album’s most interesting moments live in the use of non-rock instruments, including violins and piano, during quieter passages. These lovely interludes suggest that

Mono’s orchestral rock could evolve into purely orchestral music.

— Mark Jenkins

PETER WOLF

NewMusic

“Midnight Souvenirs”

Kindred spirits: Van Morrison, Mick Jagger, Daryl Hall, Delbert McClinton Show: Sunday at the State Theatre. Doors open at 6 p.m. 703-237-0300.

www.thestatetheatre.com.

Peter Wolf walked away from rock-and-roll stardom in 1983, when he quit the J. Geils Band soon after it had scored a No. 1 album (“Freeze Frame”) and No. 1 single (“Centerfold”).He never got close to that level of stardom again, but once he adjusted to his lower profile, he started making quirky, soulful solo albums, climaxing with 2002’s remarkable “Sleepless.”His first release since then, this year’s “Midnight Souvenirs,” is nearly as good, a record that blends blues, rock and country into 14 songs that explore the subtleties of adult romance and heartbreak. Wolf is still a terrific singer, able to crow like a rooster and coo like a dove. He does both on the album’s kick-off track, “Tragedy,” a rock-and-soul duet in which he and Shelby Lynne play longtime lovers trying to avoid the breakup looming before them. He ends the disc with another duet: He and Merle Haggard watch young lovers stroll by and lament that “It’s Too Late for Me,” but there’s as much hunger as nostalgia in their vocals. Wolf is backed by a lean, tight band led by his co-producer Kenny White and guitarists Larry Campbell and Duke Levine. The project’s one weakness is that the lyrics aren’t nearly as strong as the music.

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