Rhiannon Giddens & The Old-Time Revue
How talented and versatile is Rhiannon Giddens, the Pulitzer Prize-winning opera composer who played banjo and viola on Beyonce’s “Cowboy Carter” album?
A co-founder of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Giddens is the artistic director of the genre-blurring Silk Road Ensemble and a veteran solo artist who champions vintage American roots music. She is also the co-founder of Our Native Daughters, which teams her with fellow banjo players and singer-songwriters Allison Russell, Amythyst Kiah and Leyla McCalla.
Giddens is now on tour with The Old-Time Revue, a group that spotlights weathered African-American string music traditions from Appalachia, then builds from there. Its repertoire mixes everything from Cajun waltzes and traditional Congolese ballads to Merle Haggard classics and spirited hoedowns.
The Old-Time Revue’s lineup teams Giddens with fiddler and Carolina Chocolate Drops’ co-founder Justin Robinson, multi-instrumentalist Dirk Powell, his guitar-playing daughter, Amelia, bassist Jason Sypher and Giddens’ nephew, Justin “Demeanor” Harrington, who raps and plays banjo and percussion.
The tour by The Old-Time Music Revue follows last month’s release of “What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow,” an absorbing album by Robinson and Rhiannon Giddens of rustic banjo and fiddle tunes.
The 18-song collection is a vital salute to the Southern Black String Band traditions that helped lay the foundation for country music. Expect the Revue’s concert here to use the songs on the album as a launching pad.
8 p.m. Thursday, June 19. Observatory North Park, 2891 University Avenue, North Park. $55. ticketmaster.com
Dave Holland & Lionel Loueke
Herbie Hancock is the very visible — not missing — musical link between English bass great Dave Holland and Beninese guitar wizard and singer Lionel Loueke.
Hancock and Holland were bandmates in 1968 in the fabled Miles Davis Quintet and are featured on such classic Davis albums as “Files de Kilimanjaro,” “In a Silent Way” and “Bitches Brew.”
Loueke has been a member of Hancock’s band since 2005. Holland and Loueke are both standouts on their respective instruments and as band leaders (Loueke has 17 solo albums to his credit, Holland has more than 30).
The two ed forces last year to record “United,” which nimbly draws from jazz, funk and West African musical styles.
Ten of the 11 songs on “United” were written by Loueke, while the title track is by Wayne Shorter.
Each number is a marvel of deft interaction and melodic and rhythmic ingenuity by a pair of artists who listen as intently as they play and never overshadow each other or the music at hand. Percussion is provided by Loueke’s tongue clucking and vocal punctuations.
What results is a master class in the art of collaboration — an art that should be even more fully realized when Holland and Loueke perform here together for the first time.
7:30 p.m. Monday, June 16. Athenaeum Jazz at Scripps Research Auditorium, 10620 John Jay Hopkins Drive, La Jolla. $50-$55. ljathenaeum.org
San Diego Troubadour benefit concert, featuring Berkley Hart Selis Twang, with Tim Flannery
It’s been nearly 25 years since San Diego Troubadour debuted as a plucky monthly publication devoted to covering a broad spectrum of music.
Its longevity is a testament to the vision and tenacity of the Troubadour’s co-founders, Liz Abbott and Kent Johnson, and their dedicated coterie of talented contributors.
To help raise funds for the publication, a veritable San Diego supergroup is reuniting for a Troubadour benefit concert this weekend.
The group, Berkley Hart Selis Twang, teams Jeff Berkely, Calman Hart, Eve Selis and Marc “Twang” Intravia, each of whom is a standout in their own right.
Berkley Hart Selis Twang’s gigs have been rare since Selis moved to Nashville in 2020. That makes their reunion all the more enticing, especially since their opening act, singer-songwriter Tim Flannery, was featured on the quartet’s gem of a self-titled 2014 debut album.
4 p.m. Sunday, June 15. Pilgrim United Church of Christ, 2020 Chestnut Avenue, Carlsbad. $20 (San Diego Folk Heritage ), $30 (general public). sdfolkheritage.org
