A half-dozen cool things in music, from two points of view:
Dean Schieve of Lakeville:
1 The Blenders, Pantages Theatre. The quartet with superb vocals covered a range of traditional and original holiday songs, with an excellent backing band that enhanced the singing and signature choreography. One of the many highlights was a hilarious rendition of "The Twelve Days of Christmas."
2 Greg Brown, Cedar Cultural Center. Iowa's favorite son delivered his uniquely cadenced and growly tunes in a "retirement" concert. In "Canned Goods," he sang: "Taste a little of the summer. My grandma put it all in jars. Let those December winds bellow and blow. I'm as warm as a July tomato." Just what we need in the middle of a Minnesota blizzard.
3 The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, Apple Valley. This holiday series featured Bach's Brandenburg Concertos with a variety of instruments and lively movements. The acoustics were vibrant and resonant in the beautifully simplistic setting.
Jon Bream, Star Tribune critic:
1 The 50 Best Original Christmas Songs Since "All I Want for Christmas Is You," vulture.com. Critic Maura Johnston tackled this unenviable task of ranking post-Mariah Carey original holiday songs. Kelly Clarkson's "Underneath the Tree" (2013) rated No. 1 and Carey's "Oh Santa" (2010) placed second. Sharon Jones, Sia, Carly Rae Jepsen and Ariana Grande also landed in the Top 10. Duluth's Low and Lizzo made the long list.
2 "I Wanna Dance With Somebody." Naomi Ackie convincingly becomes Whitney Houston, conveying the naivete, insecurities and command of the magnificent singer in this flawed, sanitized but engrossing biopic. Her lip-syncing is spot on, too, since that's the case 97 % of the time. Stanley Tucci is splendid as music exec Clive Davis, capturing his mannerisms and paternalistic ways, though Davis produced the film in which — surprise — he comes across as the unsung hero.
