The Patti Spadaro Band
Bringing Me Back
(Self-released)
Patti Spadaro describes her band as "bluesy jam rock," but really much of this new album is straight AC pop: four-minute, mostly upbeat guitar tunes about having a positive view of life. While she's not poised to take the mainstream pop world by storm, Spadaro is a talent with a unique voice, and might well appeal to fans of rootsy acts like Indigo Girls.
-- Andy Mulkerin
An evening with The Patti Spadaro Band
7 p.m. June 10. Club Café, 56 S. 12th St., South Side. $5
Legs Like Tree Trunks
Legs Like Tree Trunks EP
(Self-released)
The first studio recording from this local band contains breezy indie rock with complex guitar picking (it verges at times on jazz fusion). Its sound is reminiscent of any number of '90s Chicago indie bands -- Gastr Del Sol at times, or Joan of Arc, but with sweet vocals closer to Mike Doughty than any Kinsella. Six well-written, understated pop songs available from the band on a name-your-own-price basis. Recommended.
-- Andy Mulkerin
Cuidado
Cuidado
(Self-released)
These alums of (and one current student at) Duquesne University’s Mary Pappert School of Music sound as if their studies refined what they already knew -- as if they could have been born with the hands and feet to make tango soar and serenade. The quintet’s dynamic rhythm alternates with tender beauty while the soul of Astor Piazzolla lives on in five of his pieces. Bulgarian-born accordionist Vladimir Mollov also contributed four compositions and arrangements and hints of Slavic melodies linger within. Meanwhile Micheal Borowski puts gentle jazz conceptions into his guitar solos and group leader Koichiro Suzuki adds subtle color with his euphonium. Such a horn is rarely heard in this kind of music, but it blends well, rather than dominating. Look out! The pleasures of this new group could grab and hold you for a long time.
-- Gordon Spencer