The Low…low…low…lowdown

Boz Scaggs
7:30pm, $49.50-$59.50. Keswick Theater.
After a string of three platinum records, including the No. 2 charting, ubiquitous Silk Degrees, suave-voiced Boz Scaggs left his highly marketable blend of funk, R&B, jazz and classic rock behind in the early 1980s. He bought a club in his adopted San Francisco and began hanging out with jazz musicians. His last full-length, 2008’s Speak Low, bears the imprint of this period, revisiting jazz standards like Chet Bakers “She Was Too Good to Me” and Johnny Mercer’s “This Time the Dream’s on Me.” His shows split the difference, reimagining 1970s radio hits like “Lowdown” and “Lido Shuffle” with slinkier, more sophisticated arrangements and slipping in some covers of old favorites. (Jennifer Kelly)

Er, yeah, that was me, urging greater Philadelphia to catch the Boz Scaggs show at the Keswick tonight, in a fit of nostalgia for my lonely, AM-radio tracked teenage years, in which Silk Degrees played a large, unscripted part. (No, I did not buy the record, but in the 1970s, you didn’t need to buy the record to hear it all the time.)



Anyway, if you miss this series of solo shows you can still catch Boz in a 1970s-a-paloosa of a tour with Donald Fagen (cue ear-wormy, unshakeable-once-you’ve-let-it-in “Hey 19”) and Michael McDonald (ditto, only it’s “Wildfire”). Did I mention that Boz used to play with Steve Miller (“I’m a picker…I’m a smoker…I’m a midnight joker”)?

Okay, dates for the Dukes of September Rhythm Tour (Boz, Donald, Michael)

August 2010
19 - Danbury, CT - Charles Ives Center
20 - Atlantic City, NJ - The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa
22 - Loudoun, VA - Belmont Country Club
25 - Charlotte, NC - Roadrunner Mobile Amphitheatre
26 - Atlanta, GA - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park
28 - Raleigh, NC - Raleigh Amphitheatre
29 - Richmond, VA - Innsbrook Pavilion
31 - Boston, MA - Wang Theatre

September 2010
2 - Holmdel, NJ - PNC Bank Arts Center
3 - Wantagh, NY - Jones Beach Theatre
6 - St. Paul, MN - Minnesota State Fair
8 - Detroit, MI - Fox Theatre
10 - Cincinnati, OH - PNC Pavilion
11 - Chicago, IL - Chicago Theatre
14 - Council Bluffs, IA - Mid-America Center
15 - Milwaukee, WI - Riverside Theater
17 - Tunica, MS - Harrah's Tunica
18 - Kansas City, MO - Starlight Theatre
27 - Denver, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre
29 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre

October 2010
1 - San Francisco, CA - Golden Gate Park (HSBF)
2 - Las Vegas, NV - The Joint

Really sorry about this, better tomorrow.