18 January 23 - 29, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Bill Frisell 7:30 P.M. THURSDAY, JAN. 23, ARLINGTON MUSIC HALL, 224 N. CENTER ST., ARLINGTON. $42+ AT EVENTBRITE.COM Grammy-winning jazz great Bill Frisell is a rar- ity on North Texas stages — his appearance in Arlington will mark his first such stop in the re- gion in more than a decade. He’ll be joined by long-time collaborators Thomas Morgan and Rudy Royston, performing in a trio configura- tion and pulling from his frankly mind-boggling catalog, which stretches back more than four decades. “I’m hoping the audience — that they’re gonna go with us on this thing,” Frisell told me during a recent conversation. “We’re all gonna see what happens. It’s not a show that you go and it’s the same every night or something. It’s an immersive experience, truly, because everyone on stage is finding out what’s happening at the same time as every- one in the audience. They really become part of the music too. All that energy, or the sound of the room, what we had to eat that day, or didn’t have to eat, or whatever’s going on, it all gets in there.” PRESTON JONES Lee Fields 8 P.M. THURSDAY, JAN. 23, LONGHORN BALLROOM, 216 CORINTH ST. $28+ AT PREKINDLE.COM Lee Fields has long been known, from the earli- est days of his career in the late 1960s, as “Little JB” — James Brown — based upon his remark- able ability to channel some of the late, great soul man’s sounds and dance moves. While his music career has ebbed and flowed over the years since, Fields found a second gear in the late 1990s, as the label Desco Records (which featured acts such as Sharon Jones, Joseph Henry and the Soul Providers) provided him a new platform. Eventually, Fields found his groove with backing band the Expressions and toured the world. Now, he’s back with another outfit — more of a collaboration, this one — San Francisco psych-soul group Monophonics, whose own for- midable skills will undoubtedly amplify Fields’ singular sound. Michael Lee & the Wartime Lim- ousine will open. PJ Travis 8 P.M. FRIDAY, JAN. 24, THE FACTORY IN DEEP ELLUM, 2713 CANTON ST. $37.50+ AT AXS.COM Can it really have been a quarter century since “Why Does It Always Rain on Me?” first wafted from stateside speakers? It can, and it has — time, ever-relentless in its march forward — but the Scottish rockers who crafted it, Travis, is as vibrant as ever. Led by matchless singer-song- writer Fran Healy, the foursome has remained active — its 10th studio album, L.A. Times, ar- rived last year — if somewhat scarce ’round these parts. However long it’s been, sweetly melodic alt-rock rarely falls too far out of fash- ion. That said, expect the audience for this gig to be a healthy mix of elder millennials swoon- ing to deep cuts from the late ’90s — fingers crossed the fellas dust off their non-ironic cover of Britney Spears’ immortal “ ... Baby One More Time.” PJ Pat Green 10 P.M. SATURDAY, JAN. 25, BILLY BOB’S TEXAS, 2520 RODEO PLAZA, FORT WORTH. $20+ AT AXS.COM Singer-songwriter Pat Green has become a Texas music eminence, in part due to his durable songs but also his embrace of collaboration — Willie Nelson and Lyle Lovett both have enlisted Green as a creative partner — and his frequent presence on stages throughout the state. (His association with popular eatery and concert venue, The Rustic, with its multiple Texas loca- tions, also probably doesn’t hurt.) His debut re- cord, Dancehall Dreamer, turns 30 years old in 2025, and rather than embarking upon a tour performing the LP in full (which, given the pres- ent popularity of such a move, no one could blame him), he’s lined up a bunch of dates deep into the summer to pull from across his ac- claimed catalog, which now spans 11 studio al- bums, the most recent of which is 2022’s Miles and Miles of You. PJ Jamie xx 7 P.M. TUESDAY, JAN. 28, THE FACTORY IN DEEP ELLUM, 2713 CANTON ST. $50+ AT AXS.COM The man born James Smith — better known by his stage name, Jamie xx — has developed into a substantial electronic music figure over the last 20 years. As a member of beloved electronic dream-pop trio the xx (along with Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim), he first became a known quantity beyond London, where the three musi- cians connected. The xx has been, more or less, on pause since its third album, 2017’s I See You, freeing Jamie xx up to pursue his side hustles of producing and remixing (Florence + the Ma- chine, Adele and Tyler, the Creator have all en- listed his services), a solo career (his sophomore solo LP, In Waves, dropped last fall) and com- posing — Jamie xx composed the score for the Wayne McGregor-choreographed ballet “Tree of Codes” in 2015. With Bambii. PJ Mike Brooks Jamie xx will bring his dreamy, electronic style to Deep Ellum this week. | LET’S DO THIS | t Music
