Rest easy friends, you've got quite a week ahead.
You can take in the mellow sounds of Jake Shimabukuro, who is arguably the world's best ukulele player, when he takes to the intimate Capitol Theatre or just lounge at downtown Tampa's Anise Global Gastrobar where Wine & Rhyme brings together an eclectic mix of emcees, singers, comedians and visual artists for a free showcase.
The Queers and Ataris are dropping into St. Petersburg's 600 Block if you'd like something more uptempo, and DJ Ku plus an all-star cast are doing their thing at one of the best industry nights in Tampa Bay. See all that and more below.
Stay up on daily live music, new show announcements, the best local music and the latest music news by following @cl_music on Twitter and liking Creative Loafing Tampa Bay on Facebook.
Jake Shimabukuro God is in heaven, but the ukulele-playing version of him is here on Earth and lives in Jake Shimabukuro’s body. The 39-year-old, Honolulu-born virtuoso is widely considered to be the best in the world when it comes to the four-stringed instrument, and he is no stranger to the area. This time will be a little different, though. There are certain sets of expectations, plus potential plateaus, when you’re the best at what you do, and Shimabukuro has found a way to shatter all of those with a new album, Nashville Sessions — where he took the uke to Tennessee in search of a sound that married prog-rock composition to the tenets of jazz-trio improvisation. The record won’t see the light of day until a week after this show, so let’s keep our fingers crossed for lots of sneak previews. (Capitol Theatre, Clearwater) INFO
Wine & Rhyme w/Pop Kidd/LB199X/Bria Zhanae/Eyes Above Me/DJ Wally Clark/Barry Naylor Mondays are generally quiet times in the restaurant scene, but downtown Gastrobar Anise has bucked that trend thanks to a partnership with organizers of their Wine & Rhyme monthly, where Tampa emcee Mike Mass and business partner/producer Beyo help curate an eclectic lineup of Florida’s best musicians, poets and comedians to help pull off the free-to-attend showcase (tables can be reserved for a nominal fee). September’s installment taps Orlando rapper LB199X to join the party, and if his live set has at least half the energy of a March 2016 video for “Hidden Colors,” then the audience is in for quite a shot in the arm. Bria Zhanae, unafraid to engage a crowd no matter what room she’s in, is also slated to play, and her update to the always evolving neo-soul sound is evidence that there will always be talented youths to help take our favorite music to another level. (Anise Global Gastrobar, Tampa) INFO
ALSO PLAYING
The Queers w/The Ataris/Switchblade Villain/Tiefighterdown (Local 662, St. Petersburg) INFO
Mischief Mondays w/DJ Ku/Dvnk Sinatrv/Heist/DJ Casper/Flaco/Jaime Ferreria (Ritz Ybor, Tampa) INFO
Shawn Brown w/Siobahn (Ruby's Elixr, St. Petersburg) INFO
This article appears in Sep 8-15, 2016.