Cyro Baptista and Beat the Donkey at the Modlin Center
Brazilian percussion madman Baptista choreographs an auditory circus of international drummers and dancers in which the instruments range from towering arrangements of snare drums to tambourine line dances. The sound is familiar, like something tribal out of Brazil, before a crazy guy decided world music can be as visual as it is aural. And Beat the Donkey? That’s Brazilian slang for “Let’s go” or thereabouts. They play the Alice Jepson Theatre Sept.15-16 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $16-$32. 289-8980.
Deerhoof at the Greek Theater
Crazy downtuned guitar chords? Check. Flutey singsong lead? Check. Strange rising symphonic sound, even though it’s only four people? Check. Guitar jags kicking out like an involuntary tic? Check. Houston, we have indie rock that, against all odds, may land on the moon yet. Deerhoof plays UR’s Greek Theater Sept. 17 with The Billy Nayer Show and VCR at 6:45 p.m. Tickets are $7. 289-8000.
Ann Rabson at Shenanigans
Bet you didn’t even know there was a Boogie-Woogie Hall of Fame. Oh, but there is. And after 40 years of tickling the piano in a bluesy way, she’s earned her stripes. Or medal. Or hat. Or whatever they give Boogie-Woogie Hall of Famers. She knows her way around a guitar, too. And a pair of lungs, too, after howling out four decades of soul. She plays Shenanigans Sept. 17 at 8:30 p.m. $8. 264-5010.
