A band without a permanent guitarist might sound like a disaster, but for the Arlington-based group Memphis 59, it works. The band rotates through several guitarists, but its backbone is composed of singer/songwriter Scott Kurt, bassist Richard Lewis, and drummer Chris Zogby. Formed in early 2008, Memphis 59 performs live several times a month. The band was nominated for a 2008 Washington Area Music Award for new artist of the year.

Memphis 59 has several songs to stream on MySpace—we like “Me, Myself and Eyes,” a love song about giving a relationship a second chance. With lyrics such as “I know this is where you want to be. You think you’re alone, but I think you’re with me, myself and eyes that shine brighter than the stars at night,” Kurt sings about listening to your heart even when the timing for a relationship isn’t right.

If the songs online aren’t enough to satisfy your Memphis 59 fix, don’t fret: The guys are in the process of recording an album, and Kurt says new music should be out in late fall or early winter. Until then, check out a live performance Thursday, October 8, at the Light Horse in Old Town.

>> See the full slideshow of our photos from the U2 concert

Say what you will about Bono—the man knows how to make a statement like no one else. Late in the band’s set last night at a nearly full FedEx Field, he pulled a flag-bearing U2 fan clad in a red turban onstage to help him sing “Sunday Bloody Sunday.” After getting his chance to belt the song, the fan stepped back behind Bono and held his US flag above his head with both hands, letting it waft in the wind. The camera angle shown on the screen—with Bono singing and the fan behind him—was striking, to say the least, and just a drop in the bucket at what was at times an overtly political concert. But hey, what did you expect from a U2 show?

Bono knows better than to take sides, especially in the nation’s capital, so he spent the night being overtly nonpartisan. Nancy Pelosi got not one but two shout-outs while Bono also big-upped Eunice Shriver, Ted Kennedy, Pat Leahy (“the John Wayne of . . .”), Tom Daschle, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and a host of other Beltway superstars who have supported Bono on the issues he lobbies for, such as debt relief and AIDS drugs.

Photograph by Cammy Termini.

When he was a kid growing up in Silver Spring, all saxophone player Elijah Jamal Balbed wanted to be was a karate fighter. The dream was even somewhat plausible—he got a second-degree black belt when he was 12—but in high school, when he began playing jazz seriously, he decided to change career paths.

Now a jazz-studies major at Howard University, Elijah Jamal has become a well-known staple in the Washington jazz world, playing steady gigs Monday and Thursday nights along U Street, Northwest. Additional résumé highlights include performing at Twins Jazz Club, HR 57, Strathmore, and the Kennedy Center—where he’ll play for the fourth time on November 6 with the Howard University Jazz Ensemble. Amid practicing, performing, and going to school, Elijah also teaches and helps out at local music stores, in the name of getting more people interested in jazz.

In a scene where Elijah is often the youngest musician in the room, he’s snagged quite a few credentials that put him on par with people who’ve been playing longer. In 2007, Elijah earned a Maryland Distinguished Scholar award, an Overall Best Soloist award in the Maryland Band Director’s Association Big Band Festival, and a Best Soloist award at the 2008 Festival Disney Jazz competition. Additionally, he’s been called a “major talent” by Fred Foss, a former saxophonist in Ray Charles’s band.

Still, Elijah hasn’t let all this go to his head. He says his accomplishments are “great, but I still have a long way to go.”

Read on to find out more about Elijah, the Washington jazz scene, and his local gigs.

After a hard day lobbying, legislating, and litigating, Washingtonians know how to let their hair down. Having nurtured a roaring jazz scene in the early 1900s, a funky go-go style in the ’70s, and a politically charged hardcore-punk culture in the ’80s, DC has historically extended a warm welcome to emerging musical trends. This fall, a handful of nationally renowned Washington-area musicians return home for a string of concerts you shouldn’t miss. From underrated indie rockers to Grammy-nominated artists, here’s a roundup of who’s who among hometown musical heroes—and why you should get to know them if you haven’t already.

Thievery Corporation
September 19 at Pier 6 Pavilion in Baltimore

Mention the name Thievery Corporation to many Washingtonians and you’re likely to be met with either a blank stare or a faint recollection of their contribution to the Garden State soundtrack. Yet the DC-based DJ duo of Rob Garza and Eric Hilton has been mixing throbbing dub beats with swaying Middle Eastern sounds since 1996, when the two met at Eighteenth Street Lounge, which Hilton co-owns. After producing five independent studio albums on their Eighteenth Street Lounge Music label, the duo earned a Grammy nomination in 2008 and are the most successful electronic artists ever to emerge from the capital.

The Blackjacks’ music is a whiskey-infused take on classic rock. Lead singer Anthony Fiacco’s voice is a gritty and powerful add on to the band’s driving guitar riffs, compliments of Buddy Spier. While the majority of the Blackjacks’ songs are raucous and heavy (listen to “It’s Alright” and “Lights On”), the band can bring it down a notch to create a dreamy love ballad.

According to Fiacco, “Situation” is one of the first songs the band would play for a new fan, especially if the fan was a female. The song’s gentle and affectionate qualities usually appeal to ladies more than men (who, Fiacco says, would first be introduced to “It’s Alright”). Lyrics such as “Gotta make it last tonight / Baby it will be alright,” showcase the quartet’s softer side. It’s not hard to see why ladies might swoon.

But enough of the mushy stuff—the Blackjacks are headlining Whiskey Nights at Jammin’ Java tonight at 9. Ponderosa and Pawnshop Roses will share the bill of the all-ages show. Twenty-one-and-older fans that arrive between 9 and 10 get a free shot of Jack Daniels (how appropriate!) with their $10 admission fee.

Fiacco stepped away from his guitar for few minutes to answer some questions for us.

1. Sangria lovers should head to Nando’s Peri-Peri for a happy-hour deal featuring 32-ounce pitchers of the stuff for $4.95. It runs from 4 to 7 every day at the Dupont Circle location and Monday through Friday in Chinatown. The promotion ends September 7.

2. We’re a tad annoyed that no one (we’re looking at you, Alejandro) told us about Blingo at Sticky Rice. Every Thursday night, the Atlas District bar hosts a bingo/white elephant mash-up game, where bingo players can win prizes and steal better ones from their opponents. The game kicks off at 11 and usually runs until 1 AM. Free.

3. The Arlington Cinema ’n’ Drafthouse has a good roster of second-run movies, including Land of the Lost, starring Will Ferrell, and Sacha Baron Cohen’s Brüno. Tickets are cheap—$1 to $5.50, depending on when you go—and you can enjoy table service during the films. Both are being shown Thursday night.

4. The Comcast Outdoor Film Festival at Strathmore wraps up Friday with a screening of Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. Thursday night, it’s Slumdog Millionaire. The films are free, but donations to NIH Children’s Charities will be accepted. Movies start at 8:15.

5. Asylum in Adams Morgan is all grown up—the bar is celebrating its 18th birthday Friday night. To mark the occasion, bartenders will sling beers for 18 cents from 8 to 10 and for $1.80 from 10 to closing. A DJ will be on hand with dance tracks, and the local reggae band Lucky Dub will play at 9:30. No cover.

Without Elvis Costello, Ukraine, and six degrees of separation, Poor But Sexy might never have existed.

Singer David Brown and guitarist Jason Caddell met in 2005 when Caddell was part of the Dismemberment Plan and Brown was in the D-Plan offshoot Travis Morrison Hellfighters. But it was an audio-engineering gig overseas that brought them together. The two worked for a political campaign in Ukraine during the winter of 2006.

In their downtime, Caddell and Brown started collaborating. Brown was working on demos, and Caddell offered to help him record.

Another former D-Plan member, bassist Eric Axelson, was also working in Ukraine and invited Brown to play in an Elvis Costello cover band the following summer as part of Run for Cover, an annual Washington charity show. In the Costello band, Brown would play with keyboardist David Durst and drummer Bruce Falconer.

A year later, Brown, Caddell, Durst, Falconer, and Travis Morrison Hellfighters bassist Brandon Kalber recorded their first EP as Poor But Sexy. The following spring, May 2008, Poor But Sexy played its first show at Arlington’s Galaxy Hut.

Now Poor But Sexy is working on its debut full-length album. The group of Washington musicians puts a funky spin on traditional rock—R. Kelly fronting Steely Dan is how the band describes itself.

“Everybody in the band has full-time jobs and other lives,” says Caddell, “so progress is slow, but we’ve managed to accomplish a lot.” The record should be out next spring.

For Caddell, Poor But Sexy is like a part-time job: “This is a very different animal than the band I was in before,” he says. “We all have jobs—getting in a van and going at it for six weeks isn’t an option. We’re content to play a fair number of local shows and regional shows and see where it goes.”

Tonight, the band plays DC9 with the XYZ Affair and Prabir and the Substitutes at 9 PM. Tickets cost $8 to $10. On Saturday, Brown will reunite with his Elvis Costello-cover-band mates—and a few additions—at the seventh annual Run for Cover event at the Black Cat, which benefits the free concert series Fort Reno. This year, Brown, Axelson, Durst, and Falconer take on Bon Jovi as Bad Medicine.

To learn more about Poor But Sexy, check out our full conversation with Brown and Caddell.