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Concert Previews

Pat Metheny Unity Band, at Longwood.

Posted: August 03, 2012

Jukebox the Ghost

The quirky, uplifting piano-driven pop that Jukebox the Ghost released on their first album quickly earned them comparisons to artists like Ben Folds and They Might Be Giants (a subsequent tour with Folds probably cemented that comparison). Since their 2008 debut, the Brooklyn-based, D.C.-raised trio have released an additional two LPs, including this year's Safe Travels. Like its predecessors, its songs are energetic and heartfelt, with strong beats and a pop-rock sensibility. But while their earlier material was a bit whimsical - cheery tales of aliens, Judgment Day, and heartbreak all made appearances - the last four years have seen the band mature. Topics are less sci-fi and more grounded, and while melodies are still upbeat, there's also a cool mellowness, like a modern Hall and Oates taming a power-pop version of Guster.

- Katherine Silkaitis

Jukebox the Ghost with Norwegian Arms performs at 6 p.m. Saturday at Morgan's Pier, 221 N. Columbus Blvd. Tickets: Free. Information: 215-279-7134 or www.morganspier.com .

Pat Metheny Unity Band, with Chris Potter, Antonio Sanchez, and Ben Williams

There are so many moods and genre twists in jazz guitarist Pat Metheny's catalog: pastoral, noise, nuance, Braziliana, pop, bop. Collaborators such as Herbie Hancock, Steve Reich, David Bowie, Ornette Coleman, Milton Nascimento, and longtime partner-in-crime Lyle Mays know as much. Fans of Metheny from the dawn of his ECM days and favorites like New Chautauqua get that no two Metheny records sound alike. After last year's deeply emotive and skeletally acoustic covers album What's It All About, Metheny went from minimalism to full-bore maximalism on this year's Unity Band, with drummer Antonio Sanchez, double bassist Ben Williams, and tenor saxophonist/bass clarinetist Chris Potter on his side. Ever the eclectic, Unity Band rises to all Metheny's jazzy occasions. From the eerie loop-driven "Signals" to the aggravated arpeggios of "Breakdealer" to the sweetly sonorous "Leaving Town" to the blues and Latin twists within Unity Band's walls, this is Metheny's most full-blooded work. Until the next one.

- A.D. Amorosi

Pat Metheny Unity Band plays Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Longwood Gardens' open-air theater, 1001 Longwood Rd, Kennett Square. Tickets: $35-$66, members: $30-$61. Information: 215-893-1999, www.ticketphiladelphia.org and www.longwoodgardens.org

Lil' Ed and the Blues Imperials

"The forecast I bring gonna bring you down," Lil' Ed Williams warns on "Weatherman," one of the 13 originals on Lil' Ed and the Blues Imperials' new album, Jump Start. Don't believe it. The irrepressible Lil' Ed and his three cohorts are the furthest thing from a bummer, playing raw, up-tempo blues that lives up to the motto of their record label, Alligator Records - "genuine houserockin' music." As usual, Jump Start slows down occasionally for some intense balladry, whether it's "You Burnt Me" or "If You Change Your Mind," the one nonoriginal, by Ed's uncle, the late Chicago blues great J.B. Hutto. That just gives them a chance to catch their wind before revving up and cutting loose with the likes of double-entendre ditties like "Jump Right In" and "No Fast Food" or making a serious point with "Moratorium on Hate."

- Nick Cristiano

Lil' Ed and the Blues Imperials, at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Twisted Tail, 509 S. Second St. Tickets: $8 advance, $10 day of show. Phone: 215-558-2471, www.thetwistedtail.com.