Playing This Week in the Kevmobile

As always, our weekly musical rundown:

• MONDAY: Fried Dähn, Cuento. Cellist uses electronics to explore different styles and textures, becoming a virtual one-man band in the process.


• TUESDAY: Esperanza Spalding, Chamber Music Society. Newest release finds the recent Grammy sensation in good voice, playing great bass, and accompanied--as you might guess--by a string ensemble.


• WEDNESDAY: Eric Vloeimans' Gatecrash, Heavensabove! 2010 release from fine Dutch trumpeter and his electric group.


• THURSDAY: Pat Martino and Joyous Lake, Stone Blue. Not only a fine effort from the veteran guitarist and his electric group, but this album also introduced me to the awesomeness that is the tenor sax of Eric Alexander.


• FRIDAY: Rudresh Mahanthappa, Codebook. Altoist (who just happens to be a former schoolmate of mine) leads quartet (featuring his longtime cohort Vijay Iyer) through a set of spirited originals.


• SATURDAY: Rubblebucket Orchestra, Rose's Dream. Now known simply as Rubblebucket, this Boston band mixes Afro-beat with funk, Latin and a heavy jazz vibe.


• SUNDAY: Roy Hargrove's Crisol, Habana. Dallas-bred trumpeter teams up with Cuba's finest (including the great Chucho Valdez) along with David Sanchez, Russell Malone, Gary Bartz and Frank Lacy.

As I start to move into summer mode, I'll be doing less driving, but hopefully, I'll still have at least five entries in this series every week. Stay tuned, and be sure and click the links if you haven't heard of these artists!