WMNF’s 2009 Tropical Heatwave managed to be a scorcher in spite of torrential downpours. The best thing about Heatwave is the ability to see a wide variety of genres in one evening in close proximity. I managed to catch 10 bands this year on 5 stages: The Beauvilles, David Dondero, James Intveld, Johnny Cakes & The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypso, Kinobe & Soul Beat Africa, Magadog, Modern Skirts, Will Quinlan & The Diviners, Roppongi’s Ace and Thomas Wynn & The Believers.

The Beauvilles
Apparently The Beauvilles performance at the Cuban Club Cantina was a bit controversial. Of course, that is the point of rock n’ roll so I guess that would be a score for the band.

David Dondero
David’s set at The Orpheum was one of the best I have seen and the crowd was clearly enraptured. I look forward to seeing him again soon!

James Intveld
A straight up rockabilly performance had the Cuban Club Ballroom dancing up a storm in response to James Intveld and his band. Interesting tidbit according to Wikipedia, James Intveld was the singing voice in the movie Crybaby (played by Johnny Depp).

Johnny Cakes & The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypso
After 1 am it takes a special band to get people on their feet and dancing. Playing as the last band at New World Brewery, Johnny Cakes & The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypso literally brought the house down with their fresh take on ska. Equal parts punk, rock steady and mischief, this band is worth catching and since they hail from St. Pete, it shouldn’t be hard to do!

Kinobe & Soul Beat Africa
The band has an amazing story and a beautiful sound. I know lots of people were disappointed when the fire marshal wouldn’t allow any more people into the Cuban Club Cantina for their set. From up front by the stage, these musicians brought world music home to a Tampa Bay audience. Their instruments were exotic — both in sound and in appearance. Apparently some people had difficulty hearing the band in the venue which is a shame. I encourage you to check out their recordings.

Magadog
Disclosure: Magadog has been one of my favorite bands since I was in high school … they were even nice enough to play the Shanti Festival at the Lowry Park Bandshell (sometimes referred to as band hell) in 1994. Imagine my delight when they re-formed a couple years ago and put out a new album. I also found it especially interesting that their song “Monkey in the White House” was equally relevant in 1994 and 2007. During Magadog’s set practically the whole Cuban Club Bandshell was skanking it up!

Modern Skirts
I first saw Modern Skirts at New World Brewery in 2007 with David Dondero. In the intervening year and a half, the band seems to have grown into themselves, delivering more of a performance to go along with their alt-pop sound. They played to a packed and diverse crowd at The Orpheum. Special thanks to the nice people who let me up front to take these photos.

Will Quinlan & The Diviners
New World Brewery was positively packed for hometown heroes Will Quinlan & The Diviners. Frequent airplay of the band’s newest record, Navasotaon on WMNF led to a sing-along crowd.

Roppongi’s Ace
Roppongi’s Ace is also a Tampa Bay favorite. Sadly, college in points distant mean we are graced with their presence only on school breaks for the moment. Accordingly, New World Brewery was packed for their unique brand of bluesy rock n’ roll. These guys know just when to add a little blues or kick in the rock and the crowd couldn’t sit still to these tunes …

Thomas Wynn & The Believers
My evening started off right with Thomas Wynn & The Believers in the Cuban Club Cantina. Hailing from just down the I-4 corridor in Orlando, chances are if you like Americana music and go to shows, you have probably seen Thomas Wynn & The Believers. That’s OK, though, because they just keep getting better while incorporating new components each show to keep their audience engaged. Described as Southern Rock, Thomas Wynn & The Believers also have a healthy dose of soul tossed in with a dash of gospel and a bit of twang.

For more photos, please visit the following links:

Kinobe and Soul Beat Africa

Camera in hand, I gently elbowed my way to the front of the crowd as Kinobe and Soul Beat Africa were setting up in the Cuban Club Cantina. If it wasn’t for the camera I probably would not have made it that close to the stage ’cause so many had already staked out that prime real estate, for what one woman informed me was, “the most cultural,” band at this year’s Tropical Heatwave.

I will spare you dictonary.com’s definition of the word cultural. But the comment made me smile, after a few songs I headed upstairs to the ballroom to check out Blair Carman and the Bellview Boys. In less than two minutes, three flights of stairs, I had gone from the rapt attention of beautiful laid back African jams to piano pounding swing dancing rockabilly. That variety is why I love Heatwave, and why it cracks me up when one person will tell me that one band is more, “cultural,” than another.

More pics after the jump:

Blair Carmin and the Bellview Boys

I know that if I had packed my raincoat, umbrella, or at least a plastic bag for the camera, it would not have rained. So, be it fortunate or unfortunate, the shows I saw were limited to how dry I could keep the camera. But I can’t complain. Every performance was rockin’ with energy and inspiraton. And, don’t forget the protests. The ACLU is against the use of video cameras in Ybor city. Law enforcement believes these cameras will aid their efficiency, but the ACLU shows examples of other cities where authorities have misused the cameras at the expense of the citizens’ civil rights. If you are a voter who hangs out in Ybor, you might want to look into this.

dancin' to BeauSoleil

Big Brother is Watching you 2009 not 1984

Thomas Wynn & the Believers

Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles, before the rain

Thank you WMNF for another awesome heatwave

Big Sam's Funky Nation

BeauSoleil avec Micheal Doucet

Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue

Last night, Photographer Phil and I played Heatwave Hopscotch, skipping from stage to stage, pausing longer at some than at others though never staying long enough to get comfortable in any one place, and having a grand old time all along the way.

We cruised into Heatwave around 9 p.m., missing the monsoon and arriving just in time to catch a snatch of blues guitarist Michael Burks at the Bandshell before we landed in the Cantina for Kinobe and Soul Beat Africa. (Kinobe pictured, photo by Phil Bardi.)

We were in our spot two seconds and one sip into our drinks before we were befriended by a pair of jolly 40ish Bradenton gals (I nicknamed them Angel and Curly), who immediately pushed a few Ace’s Lounge cards on us, then admitted to being friends with the owner. Angel went on to extol all Ace’s virtues (she called it the “Skipper’s Smokehouse of Bradenton”) and about the hotel conveniently located right across the street, the Jimmy Buffett-themed Parrot Inn. You could virtually make a night of it – see a show at the famed Ace’s, stumble over to the Parrot and get a room, hit Bradenton Beach the next day if your head’s still attached. (Angel admitted she’d already booked a room for Red Elvises in October.) Then she and Phil started chatting about photography and her husband’s new hobby of taking pics of the sky through his mega-high tech telescope, and how Saturn was so clear right now that you could see its moons. When Phil ducked away to take pics, Angel latched onto me, and told me about how excited she was to see some world music, the greatness of what we were seeing while we were seeing it, the lady who scooted into the huge spot in front of us and whether she was a temporary or permanent stopper. I ran into Van, spotted a dude who was a deadringer for Donald Sutherland, enjoyed a few songs worth of the warm and buoyant Ugandan music, then snagged Phil and dragged him to the Ballroom. (Many more pics and tidbits after the jump.)

The party was in full swing upstairs, couples twisting and twirling to the 1950’s rockabilly sounds of Blair Carman and the Belleview Boys. With his cherry red button down, black-and-white wingtips, and slicked back hair, Carman did his best Jerry Lee Lewis, twangy tenor and key-pounding prowess far more spirited than you’d expect from his recordings. Aside from a dude in Betty Page Hawaiian shirt almost nailing me with his oversized can of Fosters, the last half of the set was a great time, especially when Carman closed it out with a fiery rendition of a Lewis cover, “Whole Lotta Shakin Going On,” playing with his feet and jumping on top of the piano to sing and boogie at the very end.

After two drinks and two stops, food became a priority, so we headed to vendorville and grabbed some generic burgers, fries and a Nathans hot dog to share. We scarfed down every crumb while taking a breather in the Spaghetti Warehouse courtyard and watching Trombone Shorty, who we saw play Jazz Fest last year, but who didn’t really do it for us this time around. (Phil’s comment: “I feel like we’re on the Lido deck.”)

Burger fuel got us to New World Brewery and Will Quinland. The place was more jammed that I’d ever seen it, so we hopped over to Orpheum to check out singer-songwriter David Dondero. We chatted with some cheerful underagers waiting outside, then joined the rapt pack of Dondero fans. It was just Dondero and his acoustic guitar and the crowd was drinking it up like it was fine wine, but I was a bit underwhelmed. I liked his smart lyrics, but didn’t think he had the stage draw, that certain magnetism wielded by other singer-songwriters who do the solo-on-the-stage-just-me-and-my-guitar-thing. It was good, just not great.

Back to the Cantina and the last few songs of The Pack A.D. — those chicks can RAWK — then back to New World Brewery for the last, blistering 20 minutes of GreyMarket, a local alt rock duo that totally impressed the hell out of me. Two smartly-dressed guys — Michael Gargiulo on drums, laptop and backup vocals, and Cave McCoy on lead vocals, guitar and pedals — made more noise than I’ve heard bands with twice the amount of members, and even had a quaint little light show going. The set was badass enough and they rocked my face off so thoroughly that I think I may have to invite them into the studio for a CL Sessions visit. At the very least, I know I’m gonna have to check them out again soon. Can’t wait.

The last show of the night, The Visitations, was all I’d hoped for and more — but all of 50 people were there to enjoy the geeked-out electro pop and folk-psychedelia from another of Athens’ Elephant 6 offshoots. Guess it was a bit too experimental for the ‘MNF crowd, especially with Bonerama on the big stage at the same time. Those folks missed out on something pretty special. This particular incarnation of the ensemble was a duo — barefoot Davey Wrathgaber on acoustic guitar and vocals, Matt Bender on electric guitar and accordion, and between them, an upraised laptop to help make all the noise. The duo had much fun on stage despite playing to a near-empty venue, and ended the show in a wall of chaotic sound, Wrathgaber taking a running jump off stage towards the bar, his partner doing a little jig and closing things down. The show was over, just like that. To you folks who missed it, I say make sure to catch these guys next time they hit town. It was definitely the treat of the night (not counting GreyMarket).

More pics by Phil:

First drink of the night.

Kinobe, from behind.

Entering the Cuban Club ballroom.

Blair Carman, conquerer of his piano.

Me, eating and tweeting in the courtyard.

GreyMarket, rocking out.

Marked as underagers.

The Visitations’ Matt Bender on accordion.

The early evening monsoon that struck Saturday had the bands at New World Brewery running late. No worries, the music never really stopped, and though the rains would let up, the crowd would not. Packed in on the porch, those in attendance witnessed some of the best central Florida music.

The first set I caught was by the so-called “folk experimental” threesome of Lauris Vidal. The instruments may have been experimental and folk based — Vidal played everything from a homemade, wooden slide guitar to an electric banjo — but these guys are a crisp, blues-rock band. What sets them apart, though, is their use of dub & reggae influences to create a more syncopated sound.

Roppongi’s Ace rocked the mustaches off faces with their style of southern rock. I missed Ted Lukas and the Misled for some Cuban Club acts, but got back to catch the start of Will Quinlan and the Diviners’ set. These guys — simply put — are good shit. GreyMarket changed the pace, breaking out a light show & laptops to turn in a quite excellent guitar & drum driven electro rock set. (Pictured: GreyMarket guitarist Cave McCoy; photo by Phil Bardi, no glow added.)

The Sheiks played a solid, but ultimately unmemorable post-rock set giving way to a surprise late-night show featuring Johnny Cakes and the Four Horsemen of the Apacolypso. They opened up Heatwave at the Ballroom stage — I’m not sure how that set went over, but 1:30 a.m. at a still raging New World felt like a better time slot for the high-energy — and highly dirty — ska band.

Though the Orpheum offered complete cover from the rains, the club never got as packed — or spirited — as the rest of the Heatwave venues. I dipped in and out to catch a few acts, including seeing L.A.-based Sandbloom turn down the request of stage personnel to end his set so he could play his acoustic guitar, looped-based (a la Keller Williams) mash-up of an original song versus a Stevie Wonder cover.

It was interestingly mediocre. The Athens, Ga. foursome Modern Skirts played a tight, modern rock set that was — as modern rock can be — pretty boring. The gem of the night turned out to be fellow Athens artist The Visitations, who played a weird and fresh set to close of the night using guitars, good lyrics, laptops and accordions.  Check them out.

To hear from the all the bands at Heatwave visit WMNF’s Heatwave page: http://www.wmnf.org/heatwave/bands

@autopsy4: Made it to Ybor. Have I mentioned how much I hate driving to Tampa?

I arrived to Ybor late and famished due to the traffic jam the rest of the world refers to as Tampa. After getting my access secured and a whiskey inside of me I started to settle down and headed to the Cantina for some of the Southern rock sounds of Mojo Gurus. I only managed to catch their last 3 songs but that was all I needed. The blistering rock mixed with the whiskey were getting me where I need it to be and all I needed at this point was a hot dog and I was gonna be fixed.

On my way out of the Cantina I bumped into some old friends and decided a double whiskey and catching up was gonna have to suffice as food. While the double put a beating on my wallet, it was exactly what the head was wanting and I was exactly where I needed to be as Thomas Wynn & The Believers took the stage.

Thomas Wynn & The Believers are a band I’ve been wanting to see. I like their CD well enough, but when push comes to shove I feel it’s sound is a tad too glossy for my liking. Live performance has a way of removing the studio sheen and I wanted to see what these guys were like live. As the music started to unwind I started to notice more and more people filing in. The more and more folks started turning into more and more wet folks.

Yup, the Florida drought decided this would be the week it should end and since Thomas and Co. were playing in the only covered stage they were the beneficiaries. The added crowded really seemed to energize the band and they transformed from a poor man’s Mofro to an exceptionally energetic outfit mixing blues, gospel and rock. While I don’t think I’d ever make the trip just too see them play a show, I wouldn’t be bummed to see them listed as the opener for a show I wanted to see.

So here I sit. It’s the dead time between Thomas and Eilen Jewell. There are so many people in the Cantina I can’t get a signal on my cell for tweets and I feel the whole CL coverage plan has gone to shit. On top of that, I am so hungry I could steal a child’s hot dog and still go to church in the morning. So, I’m gonna go get another double, take my perch up front for Eilen and hope the rains are gone  after her set.

Okay. Eilen Jewell just got off the stage and I am all aflutter. She was everything I had hoped she would be on stage. Fun, flirty and vocally perfect. If anyone had any reservations about her revised sound they’ll let go of them the moment they see her live. She’s a modern Nancy Sinatra I tell you.

I am gonna use the down time between Eileen Jewell & The Pack A.D. to get some food on top of this whiskey and wander around for some quality people observing.

Okay, the Pack A.D. just finished playing and I’d imagine that more than one of the little girls at the front of the stage will be buying themselves guitars. My favorite thing about The Pack A.D. is that they rock w/o any gimmicks whatsoever. They get up there, drop the rock on your face and then walk off.

This was my third time seeing the band but my first time noticing just how animated Maya is and just how much on stage interplay there is between her and Becky. The Pack A.D. are for real and between them and Eileen Jewell the 35 dollar ticket price was well justified.

This spelled the end of my evening. I would have loved to stay and see more music  but I had reached the end of my ability to stand. The Chinese say you die from your feet up and if they’re right, I have begun the process .

The Morning After:

Tropical Heatwave, in a word: interesting. It’s like 88.5’s essence made reality. There are old people, children, drunks, stoners and stick in the muds. Everywhere you walked you we being serenaded by different sounds and, sometimes unfortunately, sights. My only real complaint would be that with the timing of the stages you end up missing a lot of the music.

It’s also a real shame that the weather decided this would be the perfect night to try and end our 3 year drought.

So — right off the bat I wasn’t there on time to see the Mojo Gurus. Sorry gurus. Then, as the rain poured down, the next band went on. That band was Thomas Wynn & the Believers, and they had a real good time at Tropical Heatwave. I didn’t get to see them have that good time because the fire Marshall wouldn’t let me in.

Sigh. But Mr. Wynn said the folks at WMNF were nothing but nice, the crowd was responsive & “wonderful”, and that it was really great to be able to play in an environment that was so supportive of the occassional 7-minute-long version of a regularly 3-minute song. Sure wish I would have caught ‘em. Actually, this is the second time in as many months that I have accidentally missed them. Lucky for me they’ll be back on June 5 at New World Brewery with the Beauvilles & Shawn Fisher.

Very available artists at Tropical Heatwave

Next to appear was the Eilen Jewell Band — which was really pretty fun. She’s hard to categorize. She has this lovely little smooth, jazzy voice but the band has more of a toned-down rockabilly vibe with a little bit of country thrown in. Yeah. Anyway I liked them.

Jerry Miller on guitar was one of those guys who mouths the notes he plays on the guitar like he’s singing along, and he did make the guitar sing. Eilen herself was fun & sweet, and let us all know that our reluctance to dance was gonna drive her to drink. “WTF!” (At least she was ladylike and used an acronym.) I wish I had a decent pic of her but she was standing right in this pool of red light. Note to self: avoid red lights from overhead — not flattering.

Moving on to Kinobe & Soul Beat Africa. I’ll start with wow, but maybe not a wow in the best sense. They were introduced with instructions to the audience to quiet down so we could hear them properly. It was immediately apparent that they were not going to blow the roof off the joint. Right up front they sounded pretty good — the name does not deceive — they played African beats. And they sounded pretty good if you were right up front, though you could hear the sound guys having a hard time with their  world instruments.

Definitely a toned down performance

Basically, this wasn’t my kind of thing, but my favorite song was about a little fish. Actually, I’d really enjoy them at a place that was more friendly to their sound. They need to be playing in some kind of lush tropical setting where people know when to hush for a band & really listen. I don’t know any place like that. Maybe they can find one, though. At any rate they were clearly a very talented group.

Next up was The Pack A.D. We all know I dig these chicas because I blogged about them last week, but I’ll try not to over do it here. First of all, I felt kind of bad for the sound guys. I mean, aren’t the settings for an African band that is all soft strings & percussion going to be way different

Ms. Black before she got all sweaty- your welcome Becky

than the ones you are going to use for a garage rock duo? Maybe I don’t know what I am talking about. Anyway, The Pack said they couldn’t hear themselves, but we all heard them loud & clear. And they played a really energetic set that I think won over the crowd right from the start. When they were done I was already looking forward to listening to their CD in my car on the way home. And isn’t that kind of what Tropical Heatwave is all about? Discovering someone great, buying a signed copy of their CD & blasting it in the car all the way home? Yeah.

Closing the stage was The Beauvilles — hometown boys — but you probably knew that. I think they’re pretty popular in these here parts. I believe they’ve just come home from some touring. These guys are really tight, they couldn’t possibly have day jobs. The crowd was kind of thin at first, but it filled up pretty fast and really got into the show. Definitely some interesting dancing. I saw a girl in a loose-fitting dress really getting into it, and I saw quite a bit more of her than I would care to. Actually, I think next year someone should just cover the Heatwave “characters.” That would be an interesting blog.

Anyway. it was a great night & I am exhausted. I look forward to next year, and the year after that & so on & so on. Now off to the beach!

The Pack A.D. (yes, the A.D. is for After Death) is not a blues band. Sure, they probably listen to blues music (don’t a lot of people?), and they met at a gas station, but they are not a blues band. How do I know? Because I hear them rocking out my iPod right now. I think I am supposed to call them garage rock. I wish I had a garage and some money because they are coming to Tropical Heatwave and I would pay whatever for them to show up the day before, plug their equipment into my washer/dryer outlet, and play a while.

They are a duo, just guitar and drums, which I know is becoming more common now. It seems like a good idea, good band mates are hard to find. Plus reduce the number of people in the band and you can reduce some of the drama, and split the gig money in two instead of three or four. So why don’t more bands do it? Because it’s freakin’ hard! Do it wrong and you’ll just sound like you are overplaying and trying to fill empty space. Do it like The Pack A.D. and you sound like you don’t need no stinkin’ bass player. (Video and interview after the jump)

Did I mention that they are women? No? Why? Because who really cares anymore. It’s a whole new century folks — girl bands with women who bang on drums and shred on guitar are no longer a novelty. These two play with passion and write dynamic powerful songs that make you feel like you can kick somebody’s ass. Not that you would, or should. But maybe you could put them into the CD player in the car on the way to your next job interview, or to demand more money from your boss, or to tell your mother in law to butt out, or, um excuse me I have to go get into my car now.

I’m back and I’m going to kick this blog’s ass!

The latest CD, the one that’s got me all crazy, is called Funeral Mixtape. That is a great name and makes me feel like I should make a funeral mix tape every few months just in case. Read the answers to The Pack’s 9 questions (same as the last 9) below, have a laugh, and then go download (legally please) that album. Trust me, you need it. Start with the song “Making Gestures.”

Van: What was the first full-length album that you bought with your own money?

Maya – A scratched up used copy of Led Zeppelin 1

Becky – Aretha Franklin – Who’s Zoomin’ Who

Van: Which comes first, the music or the lyrics? Please describe your songwriting habits.

Maya: I tend to write lyrics away from practice and then just bring in a whole bunch of dif. almost poem like songs, then we put them into a book. We jam out the music together and when a song reaches a stage where it needs words, Becky flips through until she finds the lyrics that fit. If Becky comes up with lyrics, they’re usually more on the spot improv that either stick or don’t and then sometimes the pre-written lyrics and the improv moosh together and voila…song.

Van: Has any fan ever just knocked you over with a story about how your music affected his or her life in some way? Or have you had an odd experience with any fans? Like, do you have a stalker yet?

The Pack: In the interest of not naming names or describing situations lest the aforementioned “fans” read this…err yes to all those questions. It has already gotten a bit creepy.

Van: What is the best live show you have ever seen?

The Pack: Monotonix. They slay all bands ever in the history of time and space with their live show.  All bands should bow down and stay down.

Van: What band do you think you could totally be best friends with, if only you could meet them?

Maya: Well, see I have this belief: anyone that I want to meet or I think would be really cool to know, I’m sure they’ll disappoint me by in fact being a douche bag. I’d prefer to live in my bubble and not know the truth.

Van: Besides your own, what other band name do you wish you had chosen? It can be taken already.

Maya: Chaka Demus & Pliers or Dude, You Have a Mangina…wait, that’s the movie I want to make.

Van:  Say you have a favorite little sister, just about to make her first album, not signed to a label yet. What will you share with her that you wish you’d known?

The Pack: Just how completely sexist the music industry is and that you can work your ass off just as much and sometimes even more than most of your male counterparts and still get pigeonholed and treated like a girl before a musician. Wow, is that too depressing? How about this: if you get your full rider, stuff the things you don’t eat or drink into your bags for later.

Van: What is the dumbest or most annoying question you’re asked by journalists or fans? Please answer it for us.

Maya: Oh, there is def. a couple…

1. What are your influences?  My inner voice answer:  Why should I answer that – you’ve already decided in your mind what we sound like.

2. How did you meet? My inner voice answer: Take 5 minutes to google our band and you can read 50 million interviews where we’ve already answered that question. Better yet, go to our website where we took the liberty of writing it out for you.

Van:  Imagine your band were a child, who would be your band parents? Like, maybe your mom is Led Zeppelin & your dad is The Beatles. But, don’t choose those two, they’re probably taken & clearly unrealistic.

The Pack: Our mom is Patty Smith and our dad is Iggy Pop…but they were very busy so we were mostly raised by our Aunt Laurie Anderson and our Uncle Lou Reed.

WMNF Tropical Heatwave, Saturday, May 16, 5 p.m. $30 adv./$30 door.

Cuban Club Bandshell on the Patio
This is the hallowed stage where so much Heatwave history has been made — including the mammoth Sun Ra orchestra’s landmark set in the late ’80s. I think of singer/songwriter Chuck Prophet (10:05), a WMNF and Heatwave (this is his fourth appearance) favorite, as making avant-roots music — he injects agreeable amounts of weirdness and wry humor into his grabby tunes.

Also rootsy, but more poppy, is Boston-based Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles (video below) (6:35). Her best stuff reminds me of Joan Jett with the slightest touch of twang. And if her photos are any indication, she’s easy on the eyes. Bluesman Michael Burks (8:10) hails from Little Rock and brings plenty of muscle and a wild hair. The bandshell is bookended by a couple of reggae/ska/Caribbean-style acts from Tampa Bay: Johukames Posse (5:10) and Magadog (11:55), which reconstituted not all that long ago and has greeted with open arms by the locals.  —Eric Snider

Cuban Club Ballroom
St. Petersburg’s worldly eight-piece Cold Joon (7:20) dubs its music as “culture pop” and offers the most eclectic sound on this stage, its appealing fusion of genres — West African percussion, ska reggae, soukous, pop, R&B and rock — marked by ironic, socially-conscious lyrics, plenty of lively horns, and the low, rumbling vocals of frontman Cold Jr.

Cincinnati’s Blair Carman and the Belleview Boys (video below) (8:40) do piano-pounding, rockabilly, with Carman singing in a Jerry Lee Lewis-meets-Elvis style. And Nashville-by-way-of-L.A. revivalist James Intveld (11:30) performs gospel-tinged, countrified roots-rock. Also performing: Johnny Cakes and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypso (6 p.m.) and The Vodkanauts (10:10 p.m.). —Leilani Polk

Cuban Club Cantina
The biggest deals on the Cantina stage come from two bands with women behind the wheel and very different styles of rockin’ out. Boston-based Eileen Jewell Band (7:45) sets Jewell’s rich, haunting-husky vocals against country-rockin’ folk with trebly surf-rock and steel guitar, upright bass, and the occasional harmonica played by Jewell herself. The songstress just released her third and latest album, Sea of Tears.

The Pack A.D. (video below) (10:25) out of Vancouver is a two-grrrl duo made up of Becky Black (gritty vocals, raggedy guitar) and Maya Miller (hard-pounding drums), who turn out some truly sexy-raw garage blues-rock a la the Black Keys. Also performing: The Mojo Gurus (5:10), Thomas Wynn and the Believers (6:30), Kinobe and Soul Beat Africa (see feature story) (9:05) and The Beauvilles (11:45). —LP

El Pasaje Plaza
This courtyard venue is once again the Louisiana Stage. New Orleans is the focus, but WMNF has also added a long-standing Cajun band, Beausoleil avec Michael Doucet (7:40), which does the accordion-and-fiddle thing with great aplomb. Rising NOLA act Trombone Shorty’s livewire act (9:40) (video below) has made him an instant Heatwave legend. Watch him sing, watch him dance, rap, jump into the crowd, play some hellacious trombone, and some trumpet too.

Bonerama (11:30) balls up a legion trombonists (plus a rhythm section) and smashes you with a heavy dose of brassy, jammy funk. El Pasaje gets rolling with Big Sam’s Funky Nation (5:40), another Big Easy outfit that brings both the heavy urban funk and the second-line thing. Guess what ax Big Sam plays. Yup, trombone. —ES

New World Brewery
The courtyard hosts an all-local and each brings their own taste to the table. Birdstreet Players (video below) (6) does soulful funk and bluesy rock with a distinctive New Orleans feel. Singer/songwriter Lauris Vidal (7) follows with his slow-rolling brand of neo-folk in which he incorporates all manner of stringed instruments: ukulele, tenor banjo, lap steel, guitar and occasionally lap bass.

Expect more boisterous sets from Southern-fried rockers Roppongi’s Ace (8) and rootsy power-pop purveyors Ted Lukas & The Misled (9). Then WMNF favorite Will Quinlan & The Diviners perform some of their mournful alt-country (10) while GreyMarket (11) is set to change the mood completely with driving electro-rock. And The Sheaks round things out with some late ’60s-inspired garage rock (midnight). —LP

Orpheum
The dark and dank Ybor club boasts a rather diverse lineup of local and regional artists paired with a couple of noteworthy national acts: San Francisco singer/songwriter David Dondero (video below) (10:20), who comes to town rather regularly for being a West Coast artist, but is always welcome with his witty lyrics and upbeat neo-folk tunes; and The Visitations (11:40), possibly the most intriguing act on the bill.

The trio hails from Athens, Ga. and is the latest project of songsmith and longtime Elephant 6 collaborator Davey Wrathgaber, whose clever linear poetry goes well with his electrofied, psychedelic folk-pop. Also performing: Stolen Idols (6:30), Poetry Showcase: Sandbloom (7:50) and Modern Skirts (9:10).

Sarah Borges, “Do It For Free”

Blair Carman & the Belleair Boys

The Pack A.D., “Paper Bag”

Trombone Shorty raising the roof at Tipitina’s

David Dondero, “If You Break My Heart”

Birdstreet Players

As elusive as the concept of African unity may be, Kinobe Herbert is doing his part to realize it. The 25-year-old singer/multi-instrumentalist from Uganda rejects the fragmentation of the continent’s often tradition-bound musical landscape, and instead actively seeks to incorporate influences and instruments from throughout Africa and beyond. Kinobe his band, Soul Beat Africa, play the Cuban Club Cantina Stage at Tropical Heatwave, 9:05 p.m., Saturday. (Video clips below)

“Most people in Uganda know more about America than even countries next door to them in Africa,” Kinobe (pronounced Chi-no-BAY) says by phone from a tour stop in North Carolina. “It’s because that’s what they see on TV. Ugandan education does not teach about other African cultures. And not many of the musicians are into the pan-African thing.”

Uganda is a smallish, landlocked country in east central Africa probably best known to Westerners as the one time killing grounds for dictator Idi Amin, whose brutal regime lasted most of the 1970s. The country has been relatively stable since the mid ’80s, but has not established the musical identity of countries like Nigeria, Kenya and Mali. While Kinobe employs the traditional styles of his homeland, he is by no means a nationalist.

“When I was first in West Africa, I realized we didn’t have this music in Uganda,” he says. “If I hadn’t gone there, I would have missed the chance to play a beautiful instrument like the kora. I have come to love it. It doesn’t matter where it comes from.”

The kora is a harp-like instrument with 21 strings that showers wondrous cascades of sound. It’s just one of the six that Kinobe plays onstage — all of which he makes himself. They range from the okogo (thumb piano) to endere (Ugandan flute). In all, he and the four members of his group, Soul Beat Africa, bring a dozen exotic-sounding (and looking) instruments to the bandstand.

For this their first American tour, Soul Beat Africa has left the trap drummer and electronic keyboardist behind. “We want to make an impression with the traditional acoustic instruments,” Kinobe says.

The group’s music flows along on undulating beats built around the interlocking textures of hand drums, stringed and gourd instruments, acoustic guitars and the distinctive chime of thumb pianos. Kinobe sings the lilting melodies (with lyrics mostly in Luganda but also English and Swahili) in a relaxed, airy tenor and his bandmates counter with harmonies that call to mind South African choral music. In all, the music possesses a radiant beauty, a blissfulness that reflects Kinobe’s wide-openness and his quest for a universal musical language.

Despite growing up in the capital city of Kampala near Lake Victoria in what he describes as a “happy but poor family,” Kinobe was determined from a young age “to go all over the world.
“My parents had barely enough money to send me to school,” he says. “But I joined the school band and when I was 10 years we traveled to Europe.”

That’s where he met Toumani Diabate, a world-renowned kora player from Mali with whom he later studied. “When I went back to Uganda, I had opened up so much to world music,” he adds. “I went back to Europe, collected CDs from different musicians. By the time I was 11 years, I was listening to music almost no one Uganda knew about.”

That included a wide range of American artists, among them Dee Dee Bridgewater, Duke Ellington, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, Ry Cooder and Bobby McFerrin. Kinobe started to see the connectivity between the music of Latin America, the Caribbean, North America and Africa. When he expanded his group from a duo to a quintet three years ago, he gave his electric bass player, Okia Allan, recordings of Victor Wooten to expand his horizons.

Performing has allowed Kinobe to realize his dream of seeing the world. He’s played and conducted workshops throughout Africa, along the Indian Ocean, in Central and South America and, by his estimation, almost every country in Europe. He’s shared bills with such legendary artists as Youssou N’dour, Salif Keita, Baaba Maal, Ismael Lo and Miriam Makeba.

“My mind gets so opened,” he says. “I appreciate it so much. All this beautiful music has been revealed to me. I don’t know why anyone would want to nationalize music. It feels so limited.”

Kinobe and Soul Beat Africa at WMNF Tropical Heatwave, Sat., May 16, 9:05-10:05, Cuban Club Cantina stage. Heatwave tickets: $30 advance, $35 door. wmnf.org

Video: Kinobe & Soul Beat Africa: “Abataka”

Kinobe & Soul Beat Africa, larger ensemble (with trap drummer): “Kuba”