Hip Heartbreak
Emit, Tampa Bay's venerable series of concerts focusing on experimental, avant-garde and ethnic music, has really scored a coup with Boleros Perdidos (Love Songs Lost). Led by Miami violinist/composer (and Cuban expatriate) Alfredo Triff, and fronted by gruff-voiced singer Roberto Poveda, the group takes the raw materials of Afro-Cuban music and transforms them into a dissolute, late-night sound of heartbreak. Sublime sadness could hardly be hipper. Triff left Cuba in 1980 and, while based in New York, came into the circle of forward-thinking, multi-ethnic composer Kip Hanrahan. Triff performed on such well-regarded Hanrahan albums as Vertical Currency, Tenderness, Exotica and others, as well on Jack Bruce's latest disc, Shadows in the Air. But Bolderos Perdidos is the sultriest thing he's done. Triff and Povedo will be joined on stage by a keyboardist, a conga player and an acoustic bassist. I urge you to plug Alfredo Triff into MySpace and check out some of his tunes. Then I urge you to show up and check him out live.
Boleros Perdidos, Fri., Oct. 12, 8 p.m., Palladium Theater, St. Pete. $20; Sat., Oct. 13, 8 p.m. Asolo Theatre, Sarasota, $20-$20, emitseries.org. —Eric Snider
Nothing but Blue Skies
The first time I saw Southern-rock icon (and Sarasota resident) Dickey Betts, he performed a gorgeous version of his masterpiece "Blue Sky" that lasted about 20 minutes and could've gone on another 20. That was about five years ago at Jannus Landing; the concert clocked in at nearly three hours, with plenty of purposeful jamming throughout and an encore of the Diddley-beat-channeling "No One to Run With," one of the last hits Betts penned for the Allman Brothers Band before getting booted by Gregg and co. in 2000. I saw Betts perform with his current Great Southern group a couple years back at Vinoy Park — I think it was a Ribfest gig — and he turned in a hits-heavy showing that included passionate readings of groundbreaking instrumentals like "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" and "Jessica" — plus a lively, elongated rendition of his most famous number, "Rambling Man," the only ABB tune to crack the Top 10 (it reached No. 2 on Billboard's Pop Singles survey in 1973).
Dickey Betts and Great Southern, Fri., Oct. 12, 8 p.m., Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg, $25. —Wade Tatangelo
Way of the gun
It's just this simple: If Bradenton's Have Gun, Will Travel play, we're going to gush about it. The alt-country outfit is led by singer/songwriter Matt Burke, a veteran of nationally signed emo trio The Chase Theory. He writes songs that are sentimental but smart, sweet and strong. His melodies grab you. He plays acoustic guitar and harmonica along with his backing group, which features former Chase Theory members as well as a steel guitarist and viola player. Tampa alt-country vet Will Quinlan and his Diviners join the upstart act along with Dunedin's Memphis Train Union, a swaggering roots-rock quartet that should nicely round out this top-notch bill.
Have Gun Will Travel w/ The Diviners/Memphis Train Union, Fri., Oct. 12, 8 p.m., Crowbar, Ybor City, $5. —WT
This article appears in Oct 10-16, 2007.