Just because the heavy hitters are out in force doesn't mean the indie kids are taking it easy. Albums are coming from two of the more accomplished bands in alt-rock, Austin's Okkervil River (The Stage Names, Sept. 9) and Of Montreal (Skeletal Lamping, Oct. 7).
And with touring ever more important in the new music-business paradigm, bands will be hitting the road and hoping gas prices continue to fall. Among those expected here: Estelle, Weezer, Valencia, N*E*R*D, Raphael Saadiq, Alan Jackson and Janet Jackson. The list goes on. . . .
KEITH JARRETT,
JACK DeJOHNETTE,
GARY PEACOCK
The jazz show of the season launches the Kimmel Center's Jazz Fridays series. Along with bassist Peacock and drummer DeJohnette, Jarrett - the Allentown-born pianist and master improviser - will dig into the Great American Songbook in celebrating the 25th anniversary of the trio's three albums recorded in January 1983, now reissued as Setting Standards: The New York Sessions. (Sept. 19 at Verizon Hall)
JENNY LEWIS
Jenny Lewis wasn't at her acid-tongued best on Rilo Kiley's 2007 Under the Blacklight, an overly slick album in which the indie-rock band labored to turn itself into a new-millennium Fleetwood Mac. The top-shelf singer-songwriter was in top form, however, on her 2006 solo album, Rabbit Fur Coat, and now she's going solo again with Acid Tongue, with contributions from Elvis Costello, Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes, Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward. The title song can be heard by dialing 1-888-717-2243. (Released Sept. 23; Jenny Lewis plays the Keswick Theatre in Glenside on Oct. 1 and the Grand in Wilmington on Oct. 3.)
TV on the Radio
