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Music

Hot Tickets: Stepping into his own light

By SEAN DALY, BRIAN ORLOFF and JOHN FLEMING
Published January 26, 2006

After 1993's landmark Anodyne album, alt-country progenitors Uncle Tupelo famously fractured into two very different parts. Co-captain Jay Farrar gathered a mostly new crew and formed Son Volt, a dusty, roots-rocking band still interested in melodies and the No Depression aesthetic. Tupelo's other leader, a ramshackle, oft-troubled dude whom many would label a genius, was Jeff Tweedy, who took a good chunk of the band and formed the group Wilco. As any music nerd worth his vinyl will tell you, Wilco thrives on shattering musical boundaries and indulging in all manner of abstract wanderings, alt-country or not. As for Son Volt, well, the music nerds gave up on them years ago.

Farrar, who has since performed as a solo act and with Son Volt (he's the only original member remaining), has often been lost in Tweedy's shadow. But lo and behold, critics slobbered over Son Volt's new album, 2005's Okemah and the Melody of Riot, championing Farrar for his muscular songwriting, guitar-driven energy and Dust Bowl melodies. Farrar might never be considered Uncle Tupelo's better half, but at the very least, Tweedy's shadow just got a little bit smaller.

Son Volt, with Shannon McNally, plays at 7 p.m. Saturday at Jannus Landing, 16 Second St. N, St. Petersburg. $15 advance, $18 day of show. (813) 287-8844 or (727) 898-2100 or (727) 896-2276.

- SEAN DALY, Times pop music critic

Don't you feel sorry for singer Rickie Lee Jones? What other musician gets described with words like "boho" and, worse, "jazzbo." Is jazzbo even a word?

Compare descriptions of Jones to Joni Mitchell - long considered a musical peer or at least an influence, a contemporary. Mitchell earns folkie troubadour designations. Some call her a songstress, but no jazzbo. And she too is an iconoclast, a musician who experimented with rhythm and percussion and is renowned, like Jones, for snappy wordplay and focused delivery.

Jones has fallen off the radar somewhat lately - though in 2003 she did release an album of original material, The Evening of My Best Day - but her touchstones, including her self-titled 1979 debut and 1981's Pirates, still hold up musically. She recently issued a three-disc retrospective, Duchess of Coolsville, sure to prove a nostalgia trip for old fans and a comprehensive introduction for newbies. If you catch Jones live on Saturday, it's only fair to expect a "greatest hits" show chock full of classics.

Rickie Lee Jones performs at 7 p.m. Saturday at the State Theatre, 687 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. Tickets $25-$35 advance, $30-$40 day of show. (727) 895-3045.

- BRIAN ORLOFF, Times correspondent

Sarasota's Van Wezel Hall continues to be a haven for that increasingly endangered species, the touring symphony orchestra. The hall's orchestra series includes appearances by leading ensembles like those from Philadelphia, Jerusalem and, this weekend, Cleveland, with Vladimir Ashkenazy, shown here, on the podium. Janine Jansen is the soloist in the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. Also on the program are Walton's Scapino, a Comedy Overture and Elgar's Symphony No. 1. The performance is part of the orchestra's five-concert tour of Georgia and Florida. The Cleveland Orchestra will have a longer presence in Florida in January 2007, when it has its first three-week residency at the new Miami Performing Arts Center. The concert at Van Wezel is at 8 p.m. Friday. $65-$75. 941 953-3368 or toll-free 1-800-826-9303; www.vanwezel.org

- JOHN FLEMING, Times performing arts critic

Quartetto Gelato, thy name is eclecticism, bridging the gap from classical to pop as well as it has ever been done. The Toronto-based group "the ice-cream quartet" contains an oddball mix of oboe, violin, cello and accordion, among other instruments. Its programs range from a sparkling arrangement of Ravel's Tombeau de Couperin to Neapolitan street songs to tangos. From time to time, the violinist sings an operatic aria or something from Edith Piaf or Danny Boy. The quartet, from left, includes Kristina Reiko, cello; Cynthia Steljes, oboe and English horn; Peter DeSotto, tenor, violin and mandolin; and Alexander Sevastian, accordion and piano. They perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Ferguson Hall of Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Tampa. $19.50, $29.50. (813) 229-7827 or toll-free 1-800-955-1045; www.tbpac.org

- JOHN FLEMING, Times performing arts critic

[Last modified January 31, 2006, 16:10:46]