If you want to catch a unique show, check out Etana at Mezzanine! Her music is gorgeous and it will give you a chance to check out some music that may not be "the usual" in regards to local shows. We love local bands forever, but everyone's got to stretch their wings a bit. You won't have to stretch far. Make your way down to Mezzanine in San Francisco on June 6th!

The soulful Jamaican vocalist who has been described as "reggae's Jill Scott" (NPR) or"reminiscent of India.Arie" (Essence) - dropped her fourth album I Rise on Oct 28, 2014. The album was helmed primarily by the legendary Jamaican multi-instrumentalist and producer Clive Hunt (Stevie Wonder, Peter Tosh, Rolling Stones, The Wailers, Grace Jones, Jimmy Cliff). It hit #1 on the U.S. Billboard Reggae Album chart, making Etana one of the three Jamaican female artists ever and the first in nearly two decades (since Diana King and Patra in the mid-90s) to land this highly-coveted chart position. I Rise follows Etana's critically-acclaimed albums Better Tomorrow (2013), Free Expressions (2011) and The Strong One (2008). With poised assurance, she continues to evolve spiritually, mentally, emotionally and musically and carry the torch as reggae's leading lady.

DC's Opal Rose recently teamed up with Triple Threat to create a fantastic electro-RnB cover of the jazz classic "Strange Fruit" (on Brave New Breed). The two are developing a sound they're calling "Doom&B," and the track is an epic journey. A run through jungle drums launches the vocal to flight over the canopy of rainforest instruments and insects. I get the impression Opal has emerged from some ancient haunted psychadelic pyramid. And I love the ending, hinting at a space launch, easing the listener into oblivion. Look for more from Opal and her collaborators in the comming months. --Natan Press

The Funk Ark are releasing their new album, Man Is A Monster, on October 14th via Ropeadope Records. Recorded at Richmond's Montrose Recording (an amazing space that has quickly become a premier studio in the DMV, recording many previous DC Deli Artists of the Month including Avers, and People's Blues of Richmond), the album is like going on a Caribbean cruise through space on acid with an afrobeat orchestra following you around deck while you sail past galaxies and supernovas. The songs are all instrumental jams, but the changes are so tight and inventive that the energy never ever wanes (not for one second), and each track is over much too quickly (which is the opposite reaction I usually have to this sort of thing). Six action packed minutes on the mothership feel like three. It's a trip. Don't miss Funk Ark's amazing live show, supported by the equally incredible Black Masala, this Friday, October 10th at Black Cat. Check out the title track below. --Natan Press   

For the first time Washington D.C., Virginia, and Maryland hosted the beautiful sounds of The Nightingale Trio. This touring group, inspired by traditional Eastern European music, is comprised of Rachel LaViola from Texas, Sarah Larsson from Minnesota, and Nila Bala from California, who now resides in Baltimore. The women of The Nightingale Trio met during college while performing in the Yale Women's Slavic Chorus. After graduation they decided to keep providing the public with the harmonies and blends of traditional Slavic folk music. Last year, while on tour, the songbirds completed their first album, "Letya," within 4 hours. Letya means fly in Bulgarian – the perfect name for the album according to Bala. “Nightingales are prevalent in Eastern European folk songs and we always have to fly to one another to tour.” The Nightingale Trio is currently planning another east coast tour. But until they fly to a town near you, enjoy the splendor of the pure, rich vocals of The Nightingale Trio below. –Sade A. Spence