Stuff to read:
• Chris Richards reports on BB King and Mick Jagger at the White House [Washington Post]. Those guys were there celebrating the blues in honor of Black History Month. Also, Obama sang a few lines of “Sweet Home Chicago”: this link has video of Obama singing, plus the setlist from the evening and a photo gallery.
“This music speaks to something universal,” the president said before introducing King. “No one goes through life without both joy and pain, triumph and sorrow. The blues gets all of that.”
• ALERT: DC GETS SNUBBED! Slowcore heros Codeine are doing a reunion tour this spring, but they won’t be playing anywhere close to the District. The reunion tour’s closest stops are Brooklyn (6/29 at the Bell House) or New York City (7/15 at Le Poisson Rouge). Seriously? New York gets two dates and DC/Balt doesn’t get any? Sigh. Check out the tour dates to plan your roadtrip.
• Ken Avis at CapitalBop has a lengthy retrospective on Jazz Samba by Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd.
• DCist tells you what to do: This week in hip-hop and the Weekly Music Agenda.
• Preview: Women in Jazz Festival [Washington CityPaper].
• Band Profile: Steve Cooper on Spirit Animal [the Vinyl District] – playing the Black Cat on Monday 2/27.
• Heavy Uber Alles brings you six heavy tunes every Tuesday. This week’s edition features New Orleans bands, in honor of Mardi Gras.
• Would you ever by teeny-tiny records at a teeny-tiny record store? [the Awl]
• DC writer Marc Masters reviews Jim Jarmusch and Jozef Van Wissem‘s Concerning the Entrance Into Eternity for Pitchfork.
• Live Reviews: We Love DC on the Dead Milkmen at the U Street Music Hall.
Audiovisual stuff:
• Loosely DC related: Download the new single from Mynabirds, the new project of ex-Georgie James‘ Laura Burhenn (a former DC resident). [Washington CityPaper]
• Tittsworth points us to a free track from Canadian duo Dooze Jackers.
Stuff to win:
• The Vinyl District is giving away a pair of tickets to Galactic at the 9:30 Club on 2/23 (contest ends Thursday 2/23 at noon)
• The Vinyl District is giving away a signed vinyl copy of All the Details by Doris (featuring Paul Adelstein of Private Practice). Winner must have a North American mailing address. (contest ends Tuesday 2/28)
• DC 50/WDCW is giving away tickets to Jim Jones with Nyemiah Supreme at U Street Music Hall on 3/5 (contest ends 3/1 at noon).