Dawn Xiana Moon: Melodic folk pop infused with passion and honesty. From Chicago.

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Sunday, July 16, 2006

A Little Summer Music

Concerts Seen (Both Accidentally and Purposefully) so Far This Summer:

Odessa Harris (Goodnite Gracie’s, Ann Arbor)
Matthew Skoller Band (Nick’s Uptown)
Bobby Blue Bland, Bettye La Vette, Vick Allen, PG Man with Lady Audrey, Omar Cunningham, Dorothy Moore (Chicago Blues Festival)
Delirious (Willow Creek)
Ralph Irizarry and SonCafé (Summerdance)
Ain’t Lyin’, Rich Maisel and Terre Cohen Orchestra, Prohibition Orchestra, Chicago Mountain String Band (Custer's Last Stand, Evanston)
Tish Trio (The Smoke Daddy)
Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble (Millennium Park)
Seu Jorge, Amadou and Mariam (Millennium Park)
The Fold, Tinsley Ellis, Elvin Bishop, Hip Noz, Foghat, West Side Wonders (Naperville Ribfest)
Mark O’Connor (Millennium Park)
Goran Bregovic (Millennium Park)
Ravenswood Community Orchestra, Entertainment Project (Benfest)

The music at Custer's Last Stand, a street festival in Evanston, and Benfest, a street festival in Roscoe Village, both left much to be desired. It's a tough call, but the worst music of the summer thus far was provided by the Ravenswood Community Orchestra, which needed to learn how to tune its instruments. It's bad when almost all of the higher instruments are out of tune for the entirety of a set, and it's pathetic when the piccolo is the most in tune of them all. (How do you keep two piccolos in tune? Shoot them both.)

It's harder to pick the best concert of the summer thus far--most of the music I've heard has been wonderful. The music at Millennium Park has been especially good--it's incredible to hear people like Yo-Yo Ma for free. I love Chicago.

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