Susan Tedeschi ~ Wednesday, August 19
Chris Kornelis
Susan Tedeschi belts one out in Tulalip.
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While most great musical partnerships are forged before the parties go down solo paths, Susan Tedeschi and her husband Derek Trucks are working in the opposite direction. They're in bed together, they're raising a family together, they've toured together, and they've made appearances on each other's records. But they've never made a proper album together. It's an inevitability with the potential to be greater than anything the two have ever accomplished on their own. Tedeschi brings a beautiful, gravelly voice, Southern charm, and pop sensibilities pinned on her vest; Trucks sings through his slide guitar in a voice of his own, but has been pushing increasingly onto the fringes of popular music on a crash course toward self-indulgent experimentalism. Together on a full-length, they could play to each other's strengths, temper their vices, and make the record their fans are begging for. Woodland Park Zoo, 601 N. 59th St., 684-4800. 7 p.m. $22. All ages. CHRIS KORNELIS
Pete Yorn ~ Wednesday, August 19 and Thursday, August 20
It's pretty common knowledge that Jersey-born singer-songwriter Pete Yorn dated Winona Ryder back in the day. And while he somehow managed to avoid the full brunt of the infamous Winona Curse—under which so many of the musician dudes she dates have watched their careers crumble (see Soul Asylum's Dave Pirner, Third Eye Blind's Stephan Jenkins, Jamiroquai's Jay Kay, etc.)—it may have touched him at least a little bit: It's not as though Yorn's career has exactly been on fire following his touted 2001 debut, musicforthemorningafter. What's perhaps less known is that a few years ago, Yorn had a dalliance with another hot actress: Scarlett Johansson. Well, creatively, that is. The pair collaborated on a sultry duet album called Break Up, which is finally getting released next month. Maybe it was Johansson who reversed the curse, because lately Yorn's profile has been on the upswing. He's been opening for Coldplay this summer, and just put out an excellent and well-received new album, Back and Fourth, a collection of rainy-day roots pop and folk rock helmed by Saddle Creek Records magic-maker Mike Mogis. Judging from recent set lists, Yorn in concert has been drawing primarily from his debut disc and the new disc. Nothing from Break Up thus far, but you never know if Johansson will make a surprise appearance to make things extra-interesting. With Zee Avi and J.D. King Wed. (all ages) and Juliette Commagere Thurs. Showbox at the Market, 1426 First Ave., 628-3151. 8 p.m. $22 adv./$25 DOS. MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG
Ricardo Lemvo and Makina Loca ~ Thursday, August 20
Salsa music works because it follows a formula, but after a couple of hours that formula can sometimes be a bit much, even for the diehards who frequent Century Ballroom's regular salsa nights. Ricardo Lemvo's band gives you the best of multi-worlds, mixing salsa motifs with a pan-African sound that is both varied and uniformly irresistible. Afro-Cuban connections have been explored by many, many artists in recent years, but few have done it with as smoothly ingratiating a feeling as Lemvo (whose band's name is an Africanized misspelling of "crazy machine" in Spanish). He goes down easy, like many of his Putumayo-style world-music brethren, but when you're trying to execute those steps, rough edges aren't what you need. Dance lesson starts at 9. Century Ballroom, 915 E. Pine St., 324-7263. 9:30 p.m.–1:30 a.m. $20–$25. All ages. MARK D. FEFER
Black Sun Morning ~ Friday, August 21
I have to admit that my first feeling regarding tonight's "tribute" show, featuring the music of some of the most revered bands to come out of Seattle, was to be extremely icked out. The overtly obvious names of the bands playing conjured images of dudes in appropriately worn flannel, bad wigs like the one Matt Dillon rocked in Singles, and glued-on goatees, trying in vain to summon the ghost of a very dead scene. But done correctly, without imitation of the original artists (assuming Jerry Cantrell's playing stance, for instance) or the artifice of costume, it may not be a total flop. By focusing solely on playing the fuck out of some really great songs—instead of on the aesthetics and all the other external crap that would eventually end those bands' time in the spotlight—this whole thing could come off without a hitch. And to be fair, it takes a colossal pair of balls to cover bands whose members could show up at your gig and throw things at you. With Jar of Flies (Alice in Chains tribute) and Superunknown (Soundgarden/Temple of the Dog tribute). Showbox at the Market, 1426 First Ave., 628-3151. 8 p.m. $10. All ages. MA'CHELL DUMA LAVASSAR
Karl Blau ~ Friday, August 21
For an artist for whom "lo-fi," "indie," and "freak folk" are common labels, Karl Blau's forthcoming Zebra is both surprising and natural. Though he clearly continues to favor a fairly basic production philosophy, Zebra is downright slick in comparison to the general gestalt of bedroom-style recording. It also eschews some of the genre's freakier and folkier elements, preferring to dabble in dreamy pop, psychedelia, and surf rock, with influences from African music and its far-flung descendants. The album opens with the chiming bells and island-lounge chic of "Waiting for the Wind," skronks out on the jazzy (and most stridently lo-fi) bluster of "Crucial Contact," and surfs through the Luna-esque beach-bum shimmer of "Apology to Pollinateurs," which also brings exotic flair via a wind instrument (kazoo? sax?) that sounds as though it'd be more at home in a Moroccan bazaar than in Anacortes. That's just the first three tracks. Elsewhere are bluesy Hendrix riffing mixed with proto-grunge ("Flood"), minimalist British Invasion flourishes ("Welcome to NW"), and reverse looping (the trippy spoken-word piece "Shovel Song"). Accompanying Blau tonight is LAKE, sweet indie popsters and K labelmates for whom Blau has produced two albums. With John Van Deusen of the Lonely Forest, Goldfinch. Q Café, 3223 15th Ave. W., 352-2525. 7:30 p.m. $7. All ages.NICHOLAS HALL
