Answers: On their rise to the vanguard of Orlando’s contemporary classical music scene, Answers recently made a splash with a debut studio album mixed and mastered by post-rock giant John McEntire (Tortoise, The Sea and Cake). This show officially celebrates with a performance of it. Even if you’ve already heard the album, you should still expect live surprises from a group of noted improvisers. (7:30 p.m. Friday, July 22, CityArts, $10-$20 entry and copy of the album)
Squad Five-O, Louis DeFabrizio, Twisty Chris & the Puddin’ Packs: Yes, you read that right. From out of nowhere, Squad Five-O recently dropped a new album after roughly 18 years. In the early 2000s, the Georgia punk & roll band were underground legends for their explosive and triumphant shows. Once they disbanded, the members scattered to different states, with co-founder John Fortson landing here. But in 2020, during lockdown, they started writing songs together again over FaceTime. The resulting seven-song album, Solid Gold, is an astonishingly rejuvenated blast of pure rock & roll revelry and a good omen of what will go down at this show. (7 p.m. Saturday, July 23, Stardust Video & Coffee, $15)
Blue Bamboo’s JazzPro Monster Series: This new live jazz series is for musicians, by musicians. Of course, the general public is welcome to this showcase of accomplished local players, but it’s consciously geared toward the area’s working musicians (and students) with special accommodations like discounted tickets and weekday shows. This inaugural weekly event features Dave MacKenzie’s MindMeld Quintet. When you go where the musicians are playing for each other, you can expect some extra magic. (8 p.m. Monday, July 25, Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts, $16-$25)
This article appears in It’s Been Five Years.
