Jazz and Southern blues to rock the weekend

For jazz fans, Friday is looking pretty good, with the Brubeck Brothers combo coming to town. Yes, they are the sons of Dave Brubeck, and the musical gene seems to be holding up just fine.

They play at the Brewery Arts Center 7:30 p.m. in the Brewery Arts Center Performance Hall. Tickets are $22 for general admissions and $18 for BAC members, seniors and students.

I've been listening to two of their CDs of late, and while they are Dave's sons, Chris and Dan are playing a different kind of music. Yes, it's jazz, but what kind? I'm not sure. But it sure is fine.

I liked "Take Five" from their CD "Second Nature" and "Sahara Mood" from "Intuition." Both CDs are loaded with fine stuff.

The brothers have performed at jazz festivals all over the country, including Monterey, Detroit, Sedona, Ravinia and Las Vegas; the Jazz Times Jazz Cruise; and with college big bands. They have conducted workshops and clinics at universities across the country.

In 2003, Chris was commissioned to write a piece that brought the jazz and classical chamber worlds together. The new work, "Vignettes for Nonet," was such a success that it has been performed with woodwind quintets from the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Russian National Orchestra and at the Grand Teton Music Festival. Didn't hear this one, but it sounds worth listening to.

Chris was a member of The Dave Brubeck Quartet for 10 years, and recorded more than a dozen albums with them. Dan toured with Dad as well.

Did I whet your appetite? See you there for some fine listening.

Marcia Ball rolling

With roots deeply woven in America's down-South belly of swamp-rockin' roadhouses, Marcia Ball is an unabashed queen of bayou-based, roof-raising blues. She plays the Celebrity Showroom at John Ascuaga's Nugget in Sparks on Saturday.

Thanks to some CDs sent our way, we've been listening to and enjoying Ball's wide-ranging musical styles, from the loud and lovely to the quieter gospel.

Ball honed her powerful singing and deft, rollicking keyboard chops while growing up in the small town of Vinton, La., on the Texas border.

Tickets are $25 at (800) 648-1177 or 356-3300 or by visiting janugget.com.

From the vaults

Tom Tykwer, writer-director of the hit "Run Lola Run," is more pensive in "Winter Sleepers." The film examines the lives of five characters in the aftermath of an auto accident. It's about chance and coincidence (as was "Run Lola Run"), and the ways people unwittingly influence the course of one another's lives. Some nice ski sequences, including a seemingly endless fall as a skier goes soaring over the edge. Not for kiddies; with German subtitles.

• Sam Bauman is entertainment editor for the Nevada Appeal. Contact him at sbauman@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1236.