Some rather varied offerings in live music this weekend. Our breakdown of highlights below...SATURDAY, JANUARY 10
‘70s Soul Jam with The Spinners, The Stylistics, Cuba Gooding Sr., Jimmie Walker Did you know that Cuba Gooding, Jr.’s pop was behind the lead vocal on the massive doo-wop hit “Everybody Plays The Fool” by the Main Ingredient? He’s got a long history, having come up in Harlem’s vocal-group scene and recorded for legends like Leiber & Stoller. Tonight should be a satisfying trip through some of the catchiest, grooving-est vocal soul music of the previous half-century. (USF Sun Dome, Tampa) —Scott Harrell
Plastic Pinks with Funny Bunny, Sonic Graffiti, Archaic Interest An intriguing evening of original rock sounds at NWB. Hailing from Miami, Plastic Pinks deliver bouncy, fuzz-toned garage rock as sweet as it is dirty. Tampa's own Fuzzy Bunny is seductively psychedelic, and St. Pete's Sonic Graffiti and Archaic Interest are both nicely druggy in bluesy and surfy ways, respectively. (New World Brewery, Ybor City) —SH
Charlie Morris & Jack Williams A couple of Hideaway favorites team up for a double bill sure to please the venue’s regulars. Morris, who usually heads up his namesake full band, blends Americana and blues influences; South Carolina native Williams, a huge draw on what you could call, for lack of a better term, the “contemporary folk circuit,” is a master performer with a unique sound that pays tribute to classic folk without rehashing it. (Hideaway Café& Recording Studio, St. Petersburg) —SH
SUNDAY, JANUARY 11
Raury with 6lackbear Kanye, Lorde, and Columbia Records all know the allure of 18-year-old Atlanta songwriter Raury Taullis, and on this short southern run, a whole new set of fans (and ones who’ve watched him rise up from humble internet mixtape beginnings) get a chance to see what all the hype is about. The boy has a croon and gift for melody that feels more authentic than Drake’s, and an August 2014 release, Indigo Child, is replete with potential FM hits and evidence that Raury might be the guy who saves Top 40 radio in 2015. (Local 662, St. Petersburg)—Ray Roa
The Valerie Gillespie Quintet For this special themed show, veteran saxophonist Gillespie and her ensemble will team up with Orlando trumpeter John DePaola to pay tribute to jazz greats Nat King Cole and Cannonball Adderley. It’s an early matinee show, beginning at 3 p.m. (HCC-Ybor Main Stage Theatre, Ybor City) —SH
The Groove Orient with Green Sunshine, AjevaOrlando Weekly has dubbed them the “Best Experimental Act” of 2014, and while Groove Orient songs like “Welcome To The Show” and “Butterfly” suggest more Southern rock and funk than they do avant-garde experimental, the whirring Rhodes and rugged riffs are enough to make your forget the miscategorization. Tampa soul, hip-hop, and horn-loving octet Green Sunshine opens the show along with Baby Reed Skahill’s Ajeva project. (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa) —RR
ALSO THIS WEEKEND
Side Door Jazz: Denise Moore & Then Some Sat., Jan. 10, Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg
Coo Coo Ca Choo Sat., Jan. 10, Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa
Winter Jam w/Skillet/Jeremy Camp/Francesca Battistelli/Building 429/Family Force 5/NewSong/For King & Country/Blanca Veridia Sat., Jan. 10, Amalie Arena, Tampa
Sounds of The Civil Rights Movement: The Power Of Song Sun., Jan. 11, Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg