[ soul/jazz ]
Sweet-voiced double bassist Esperanza Spalding recently released her first album since scoring the coveted Best New Artist Grammy last year. But while the title and cover image of her perched on a boombox may suggest she's shifted her focus to more airwave-friendly tunes, Radio Music Society (Heads Up) is a slick soul-jazz affair that breezes past the Top 40 crowd to nestle in the living rooms of grown folk. Highlights include opening number "Radio Song," an upbeat track sprinkled with windchimes, bursts of funked-up bass and a peppy horn section; "Black Gold," a neo-soul-leaning duet with R&B chanteuse Algebra Blessett; and a jazzy take on Michael Jackson's "I Can't Help It," in which she recalls a late-'70s Minnie Riperton. Let's chant for that one on Sunday.
Sun., May 13, 8 p.m., $30-$33, Electric Factory, 421 N. Seventh St., 215-627-1332, electricfactory.info.
