A cool note to this weekend - Scat Jazz Lounge is now open on Sundays as well. Huzzah! If you tastes trend more metal than jazz, West & Clear’s friends No Scope lead a pack of Fort Worth metal bands tonight at the Ridglea for a benefit for the theater’s Roy Valez (pictured), their Chief Sound Engineer who has sadly passed away recently.

Scat Jazz Lounge | Map
Marvin Stamm and Bill Mays - Friday - 9:00 PM
Corner Pocket - Saturday - 9:00 PM
Trio Cubano - Sunday - 8:00 PM

Bass Performance Hall | Map
Spamalot - Friday - 8:00 PM
Spamalot - Saturday - 2:00 PM & 8:00 PM
Spamalot - Sunday - 2:00 PM & 7:00 PM

McDavid Studio | Map
The Mother Truckers - Friday - 9:30 PM

Van Cliburn Hall | Map
No performances scheduled.

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Bonus points for naming the landmarks and streets he drives down!

Hat tip - Unfair Park

Scat Jazz Lounge | Map
Randy Lee - Friday - 9:00 PM
Bett Butler - Saturday - 9:00 PM

Bass Performance Hall | Map
Imagination Celebration presents Debbie Allen Dance Institute - Friday - 7:00 PM
Metropolitan Classical Ballet presents Summer Gala - Saturday - 8:00 PM
D Magazine and Bass Performance Hall present Bridal Show 2008 - Sunday - 11:00 AM

McDavid Studio | Map
No events scheduled.

Van Cliburn Hall | Map
No performances scheduled.

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I read an article in Wired Magazine recently about free being the future of business and in that article is a story about this Brazilian group called Banda Calypso that literally gives away its music. They distribute masters of their CDs and CD liner art to street vendor networks in towns it plans to tour, with full agreement that the vendors will copy the CDs, sell them and keep all the money. That’s OK, because selling discs isn’t Calypso’s main source of income. And how’s that working for them? Not bad. They’ve paid for a private jet.

So I thought of this when Fort Worth’s Green River Ordinance sent us an email saying they’re giving away a copy of their 2005 album “The Beauty of Letting Go” for free at FreeGRO.net. Are they angling for a Gulfstream? Not exactly.

“We decided to give that CD away to show our appreciation for our fans, to build an email list, and to broaden our fan base,” said GRO guitarist Josh Wilkerson. “Almost anyone will take a free CD.”

He’s right about that. But is it worth it? I gotta say I liked it, but I like powerpop. It may be a few years old, but “Breath of Life” is going into heavy rotation on my iPod. And now I think I need to check these guys out live, too.

Besides Wilkerson, GRO is made up of Josh Jenkins (vocals and acoustic), Jamey Ice (electric), Geoff Ice (bass) and Denton Hunker (drums). They are working on their first major label release for Capitol records right now, and they just completed two weeks of recording with producer Mark Endert (Maroon 5, The Fray, Madonna) and will begin sessions in Memphis, Tenn., with producer, Paul Ebersold (3 Doors Down, Sister Hazel, Third Day) next week.

Check ‘em out. I think you’ll find you get more than your money’s worth.

Scat Jazz Lounge | Map
Ricki Derek & The Vegas Six - Friday - 9:00 PM
Quamon Fowler Quintet - Saturday - 9:00 PM

Bass Performance Hall | Map
Loretta Lynn - Saturday - 8:00 PM
Golden Dragon Acrobats - Sunday - 2:00 PM

McDavid Studio | Map
No events scheduled.

Van Cliburn Hall | Map
No performances scheduled.

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The penultimate performance of Fort Worth Opera’s 2008 Festival — Saturday’s performance of Lucia di Lammermoor at Bass Hall — really captured everything I have come to appreciate about this company. Start with perfect staging, add in established stars, then bring in lots of young talent.

Donizetti’s retelling of Sir Walter Scott’s novel about the worst wedding night ever is plenty dark and moody, thanks to director David Gately. Most of the scenes come up with a spotlight on a main character who appears to be this white presence floating in a sea of darkness. Things don’t get much brighter than that for most of the characters.

The audience is much more fortunate. Elizabeth Futral — an international star and one leading sopranos in opera today, really demonstrated what a talent of her magnitude can accomplish.
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Scat Jazz Lounge | Map
Rosana Eckert - Friday - 9:00 PM
Carla Norris-Hopkins Jazz Quartet - Saturday - 9:00 PM

Bass Performance Hall | Map
Turandot, presented by the Fort Worth Opera - Friday - 8:00 PM
Lucia di Lammermoor, Presented by the Fort Worth Opera - Saturday - 8:00 PM
Of Mice and Men, presented by the Fort Worth Opera - Sunday - 2:00 PM

McDavid Studio | Map
The Rhett Butler Group with Special Guests The Texas Gypsies - Friday, 8:00 PM

Van Cliburn Hall | Map
No performances scheduled.

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Dreams are the fuel of the American psyche. We are a people who have built an entire culture around the quest to fulfill our ideas of what tomorrow could be. The American Dream is the blank canvas that we are free to paint with the vision of what we want our lives to be.

But not every dream is fulfilled, and dreams denied are a fundamental part of the American story as well. And Saturday night as Anthony Dean Griffey and Phillip Addis took the stage as Lennie and George on the lam in the Fort Worth Opera’s interpretation of the John Steinbeck by-way-of Carlisle Floyd masterpiece Of Mice and Men, we saw one of the most tragic ways a dreams shatter — when they are just within reach.
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You know your business trip has gone really wrong when you end up living in an homeless shelter. The what happened to the Guanhua Acrobats from Shanghai, who came to Texas expecting a national tour and instead found themselves cooling their heels in the Union Gospel Mission when their tour promoter bailed out on them.

“They said the accommodations weren’t that great, but at least they fed them,” said Kurt Howard, Director of Production at the Fort Worth Opera.

Howard and the Fort Worth Opera got involved when they contracted the troupe to perform in Turandot as palace performers. They’re also co-sponsoring a benefit performance featuring the troupe tonight at 7 at the Scott Theatre. Tickets are $25 each and available by calling 817.731.0726 or online at www.fwopera.org.

The Fort Worth Opera is providing the Scott Theatre for free in conjunction with the Fort Worth Arts Council. The Opera is also handling ticket sales, and the proceeds go to the acrobats.

“They’re not trying to raise money and get back home,” Howard said. “They’re more interested in continuing to work here in the U.S.”

These acrobats were spectacular on Saturday night during Turandot. See for yourself tonight and do a good turn for this troupe.

When it was time for the curtain call at the end of the Fort Worth Opera Festival premiere of Puccini’s Turandot on Saturday night, a very un-Fort Worth-like thing occurred. When young soprano Sandra Lopez, who had dazzled the sold-out audience as Liu took her bow, the enthusiastic ovation she received was punctuated by two bouquets of flowers tossed from a box several tiers above the stage.

It’s not an uncommon thing to see on the European stage, but a rarer site in Fort Worth. Presumably, the flowers were by design and not an afterthought. But considering how her arias inspired ovation after ovation, maybe her fans were just caught up the moment. Maybe it was just something in the air, but the audience came prepared to have a good time, and they responded in a way that I haven’t seen at an opera in Fort Worth.
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