We kick off this week with a Sarasota venue that, the night after hosting a sold-out show by a rising country music star, will hold a concert celebrating another genre — hip-hop, and in particular, classic hip-hop, with the members of two famed ’80s New York City rap groups among those performing.
Another visitor from New York City, a jazz saxophonist, will play a free show at a Sarasota library. And the Sarasota area’s favorite genre, the blues, is well-represented in this concert picks installment too, with shows in Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties. Here are this week’s highlights. Event details are subject to change.
The Ultimate Hip-Hop Party
Update: According to the event’s Eventbrite page, the Ultimate Hip-Hop Party has been postponed to Nov. 1.
Sarasota’s Big Top Live, which has previously hosted concerts by classic hip-hop artists such as Sugarhill Gang and Vin Rock and Kay Gee of Naughty by Nature, will hold this show celebrating the genre Friday. Those set to appear include MC Serch and Pete Nice of 3rd Bass, the group behind two gold-selling albums — 1989’s “The Cactus Album” and 1991’s “Derelicts of Dialect,” the latter featuring the gold single “Pop Goes the Weasel” — and members of the Furious Five, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-inducted group whose 1982 track “The Message” was named the greatest hip-hop song of all time by Rolling Stone. A variety of other MCs and DJs — including DJ Eclipse, who used to DJ for MC Serch in the early ’90s, will also perform. 7 p.m. Friday; Big Top Live, 975 Cattlemen Road, Sarasota; $30.35 general admission, $56.95 reserved table seat, $110.15 VIP with meet-and-greet; 941-371-2939; bigtoplive.com
Daniel Bennett Group
New York City-based jazz saxophonist Daniel Bennett and his band will return to Sarasota to perform at Gulf Gate Library on Friday afternoon. The concert will also serve as a release show for the group’s latest album “Mr. Bennett’s Mind,” which came out last year. Bennett, who is also a muscial educator at the New York Jazz Academy in Times Square and played woodwinds in “Blank! The Musical,” will perform with drummer and keyboardist Koko Bermejo and bassist Jeff Dingler. 2 p.m. Friday; Gulf Gate Library, 7112 Curtiss Ave., Sarasota; registration required; 941-861-1110; scgovlibrary.librarymarket.com/event/reserved-adult-programming-tbd-225203
Big Al and the Heavyweights
Bradenton restaurant Cottonmouth Southern Soul Kitchen will host a return appearance Saturday by Louisiana blues band Big Al and the Heavyweights, who visit after releasing their newest album “Blues Power” earlier this year. Big Al and the Heavyweights is led by “Big Al” Lauro, who formerly played as the Unknown Blues Band with Warren Haynes of Allman Brothers Band and Gov’t Mule fame before this current iteration of the group. The band frequently pays tribute to its Louisiana home with songs such as “Cajun Roux” and “Hey Hey Mardi Gras.” 7 p.m. Saturday; Cottonmouth Southern Soul Kitchen, 1114 12th St. W., Bradenton; 941-243-3735; facebook.com/cottonmouthsoul
J.P. Soars and the Red Hots
Big Top Live’s music lineup this weekend will also include a show by Boca Raton blues guitarist and singer-songwriter J.P. Soars with his band the Red Hots, as part of Big Top’s Blues & Brews Sunday concert series. The group’s accolades include four Blues Music Award nominations in 2022: Band of the Year, B.B. King Entertainer and Instrumentalist — Guitar for Soars, and Instrumentalist — Drums for bandmate Chris Peet, who was nominated in the same category this year. Soars also plays in the supergroup Southern Hospitality with Grammy-nominated pianist Victor Wainwright and fellow Floridian Damon Fowler (who plays Big Top Live’s Blues & Brews series himself Sept. 28.) 6 p.m. Sunday; Big Top Live, 975 Cattlemen Road, Sarasota; free; 941-371-2939; bigtoplive.com
Doug Deming & the Jewel Tones
After a recent string of out-of-town dates, blues band Doug Deming & the Jewel Tones will return to playing their home state with a show at Punta Gorda pub and venue Celtic Ray. Though based in Bradenton, Deming & the Jewel Tones have found a national and even international audience. The group earned three Blues Blast Music Awards nominations in 2023: Blues Band of the Year; Live Blues Album for “Groovin’ at Groove Now!,” recorded in Basel, Switzerland; and Historical or Vintage Recording for the 20th anniversary reissue of their 2002 debut album “Double Down.” 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25; Celtic Ray Public House, 145 E. Marion Ave., Punta Gorda; 941-916-9115; celticray.net
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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Top 5 concerts in Sarasota, Bradenton, Punta Gorda
Reporting by Jimmy Geurts, Sarasota Herald-Tribune / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
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