They’re probably still picking up confetti along the parade route, and we’re certainly still buzzing with euphoria. But there’s some rewarding action around town separate and apart from the Eagles’ victory lap, and we want to tell you about it. Whatever your musical preference, there’s something great for you in the week ahead. See you out there!
Spotlight: Rafiq Bhatia and Chris Pattishall — Feb. 23, Harold Prince Theater
You may know guitarist and composer Rafiq Bhatia for his work in the experimental electronic outfit Son Lux, which most recently created the score for the upcoming Marvel Studios movie Thunderbolts*. As a producer, Bhatia has put his stamp on a stylish array of modern music — including the acclaimed 2024 debut of trumpeter Riley Mulherkar, which featured piano, sound design and programming by a regular collaborator, Chris Pattishall.
This Friday, Bhatia will release Each Dream, A Melting Door, an EP of electroacoustic dreamscapes that feature Pattishall on piano. Most of the pieces — bearing evocative titles like “Occlusion” and “Supplicant” — are improvisatory co-creations of the two artists, finding their way through the sound. But there’s also a telling cover: “The Voice of Love,” the title track of a Julee Cruise album produced by David Lynch, who also wrote the song’s lyrics. Listen carefully to Bhatia’s effects-laden guitar, and you can imagine them: “I hear a distant voice: listen, listen.”
Next Sunday, on the heels of the new EP, Bhatia and Pattishall will perform a concert full of this ethereal music. It will also feature the world premiere of a Penn Live Arts commission, and no shortage of hazy lyricism.
Feb. 23 at 7 p.m., Harold Prince Theater, Annenberg Center, 3680 Walnut Street, $46; tickets and information.
Rebirth Brass Band — Thursday, Ardmore Music Hall
For more than 40 years, Rebirth Brass Band has been a boisterous standard-bearer for the New Orleans brass band tradition. Founding member Keith Frazier still keeps the beat thumping on his bass drum, tapping a mounted cymbal with a flathead screwdriver; his funk-flexing band mates include tuba player Clifton Smith, trombonist Stafford Agee and trumpeter Glenn Hall.
Feb. 20 at 8 p.m., Ardmore Music Hall, 23 East Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore, $28; tickets and information.
Anaïs Reno — Friday and Saturday, Chris’ Jazz Cafe
A jazz singer with a warmly assured style beyond her years, Anaïs Reno has been steadily gaining ground on the scene. For this album-release celebration for Lady of the Lavender Mist, which is named after a Duke Ellington tune, Reno convenes an elite rhythm section with Peter Bernstein on guitar, David Wong on bass and Aaron Seeber on drums.
Feb. 21 and 22 at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Chris’ Jazz Cafe, 1421 Sansom Street, $30, $100 and $120 on Friday, $35, $105 and $125 on Saturday, with dinner packages; purchase tickets.
Get Up With It — Friday and Saturday, Solar Myth
Charlie Hall, a Philly music luminary best known as the drummer in The War on Drugs, has long been an obsessive fan of Miles Davis in his mid-‘70s fusion era. His band Get Up With It is an exuberant tribute committed more to the spirit than the letter of its inspiration, with dynamic contributors like guitarist DM Hotep, keyboardist Luke Carlos O’Reilly and drummer Nazir Ebo. They’ll tear into the music of Get Up With It on Friday, and shift to Big Fun on Saturday.
Feb. 21 and 22 at 8 p.m., Solar Myth, 1131 South Broad Street, $37.50 advance, $42.50 day-of-show; purchase tickets.
Stéphane Wrembel — Friday, The Loft at City Winery
Django Reinhardt has been an abiding inspiration for Stéphane Wrembel, who honed his craft among Sinti guitarists in the French countryside. But Wrembel is neither hemmed in by history nor confined by style; as he demonstrated on Triptych, an ambitious series of releases last year in collaboration with pianist Jean-Michel Pilc, he’s a virtuoso who lives for the moment at hand.
Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m., City Winery, 990 Filbert Street, $30-$40; tickets and information.
