WAMU ZooTunes @ Woodland Park Zoo

June 24 & 25 – Keb’ Mo’ / Taj Mahal $28

Keb’ Mo’ – Singer-songwriter and guitarist Keb' Mo's music is a living link to the seminal Delta blues that traveled up the Mississippi River and across the expanse of America. Born Kevin Moore in South

Los Angeles to parents originally from the Deep South, he adopted his better known stage name, Keb’ Mo’, when he was a young player who became inspired by the force of this essential African-American legacy. His acclaimed self-titled 1994 debut album introduced that now famous appellation to the world, and his latest album, 2006’s “Suitcase,” brings it to new heights. 

Taj Mahal – Singer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, ethnomusicologist, two-time Grammy-winner, world-class musical collaborator, musicians’ advocate, and world traveler, Taj Mahal has been playing his own distinctive brand of music for more than 40 years. Part Afro-Caribbean blues, folk-world-blues, hula blues, and folk-funk, Taj’s music mixes Caribbean, Hawaiian, African, Latin, and Cuban sounds with folk, jazz, zydeco, gospel, rock, pop, soul, and R&B rhythms, all layered on top of a solid country blues foundation. Taj says of his music, “I have songs in my head from so many languages and people. I know my sound is in the middle of this whole.” 

June 29 – Indigo Girls $24

Devoted environmental and social justice activists and lifelong music-industry mavericks, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, known as the Indigo Girls, have spent over two decades pushing musical and social boundaries. Their 10th studio album, “Despite Our Differences,” celebrates change and progress – it’s the first CD they’ve released since signing a new record deal with Hollywood Records and it’s a creative step outside their established Georgia comfort zone, having been recorded over a speedy month-and-a-half this spring at veteran producer Mitchell Froom’s home studio in Santa Monica, Calif. Ray explains, “We just want to keep evolving – there isn’t a point where that doesn’t apply.”

July 16 – Marc Cohn / Aimee Mann $22

Marc Cohn – In the years that preceded the release of his new Decca album “Join the Parade,” Marc Cohn passed through several life-changing events that enabled him to reconnect with his songwriting muse. A work of art emerging from tragedy, “Join the Parade” is being called Marc’s most accomplished and compelling album to date. Cohn has translated some of his most complex and private emotions into lyrical song-poetry and then set those words to music of remarkable depth and soul. In doing so, Marc has created a work that is certain to touch a universal chord of memory and feeling. 

Aimee Mann – From her work in the ‘80s with MTV favorite Til Tuesday through her acclaimed solo discs “Whatever” and “I’m With Stupid” in the ‘90s, Aimee Mann has always been at the forefront of contemporary songwriters. Known for pairing the bleakest of poetry with soaring, infectious melodies, Mann’s songcraft often has been compared with the Beatles. Look for Aimee’s seventh solo release, “Smilers,” coming in spring 2008.

July 23 – Andrew Bird $17
w/Josh Ritter
Andrew Bird – Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist and lyricist Andrew Bird spent his formative years soaking up classical repertoire completely by ear. Now Bird is known for his musical experiments, playing his violin in a most unconventional manner: accompanying himself on glockenspiel and guitar, adding singing and whistling to the equation, and becoming a pop songwriter in the process. Since beginning his recording career, Andrew has released nine albums. “Armchair Apocrypha,” released on March 2007, marks his tenth release.



Josh Ritter – “The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter” catches the Idaho musician in the midst of a radical transformation. While last year’s “The Animal Years” had Ritter thinking about the state of the nation, his latest offering finds him pining for Joan of Arc, Calamity Jane and Florence Nightingale. “For some reason it seemed like there was a premium [in songwriting] being placed on earnestness and that can be pretty stifling. There was a lot of talk about true love and righteous indignation. I wanted to write about gunslingers and missile silos,” says Ritter.

July 24 – Emmylou Harris $29.50
w/ Jimmy Gaudreau and Moondi Klein

Emmylou Harris – Emmylou Harris has been hailed as a major figure in several of America’s most important musical movements of the past three decades, including country-rock, the bluegrass revival, folk music, and the Americana movement. In recent years, she also has carved out a sound uniquely her own with 1995’s “Wrecking Ball” album, combining world-music elements with acoustic folk instruments, and 2000’s “Red Dirt Girl.” Billboard magazine honored Emmylou Harris with its prestigious Century Award in 1999 “to acknowledge the uncommon excellence of (her) still-unfolding body of work.”

Between 2000 and the present, she appeared on the “O Brother Where Art Thou” soundtrack, collaborated with the Chieftains on their “Down the Old Plank Road” album and TV special, performed at countless concerts and in duets, and sang backup on albums for Sheryl Crow, Tracy Chapman, the Dixie Chicks, Patty Griffin, Patty Loveless, Delbert McClinton, Jim Lauderdale, Pam Tillis and Nanci Griffith. 

Jimmy Gaudreau – Jimmy has long been regarded as one of the top bluegrass performers in the world. Since getting the call in 1969 to move to the Washington, D.C. area from his native Rhode Island and join the legendary Country Gentlemen, he has performed with a veritable Who's Who of bluegrass bands and earned a reputation as a mandolin maverick with a sound and a style all his own. 

In addition to two stints with the Country Gentlemen, Jimmy has also performed with JD Crowe and the New South, with The Tony Rice Unit (for nine years), and with his own bands Country Store, Spectrum (with Bela Fleck), Chesapeake, and Auldridge, Bennett & Gaudreau. In 2005, Jimmy was inducted into the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America's “Hall of Greats” and featured in a “Mandolin Magazine” cover story.

Moondi Klein – While on a trip to The Carter Fold in southwest Va. with his dad, Moondi Klein, born in Manhattan, got his first taste of mountain music and hasn’t looked back since. He learned to play the guitar and banjo, and after studying music in college, moved to the Washington D.C. area and helped form Rock Creek. Later he replaced John Starling as lead singer with The Seldom Scene and eventually went on to help form the band Chesapeake, whose three albums released on the Sugar Hill label have gained critical acclaim. Moondi’s music can be classified as reggae-, rock-, Celtic- and country-influenced bluegrass.

July 27 – Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings $19
w/ Marc Broussard

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings – When asked what makes great music, Sharon Jones says, “You’ve got to feel it! In your bones, your heart, in everything and everywhere!” And if you’ve ever been to a Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings show, you know you can’t but help feel their music: from the rumble and grumble of thick funk jerking you to the dance floor, to the soaring soul guaranteed to make you sigh. “Naturally” is her most recent full-length effort.

Marc Broussard – The son of Louisiana Hall of Fame guitarist Ted Broussard (of the legendary blue-eyed soul combo, the Boogie Kings), Marc and his 2004 major-label debut, “Carencro,” drew national acclaim. Broussard performs show-stopping sets at festivals like South By Southwest, Bonnaroo, and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and tours with Dave Matthews Band, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Gavin DeGraw, O.A.R. and Maroon 5. In his 2007 critically acclaimed album “S.O.S.: Save Our Soul,” Broussard and his band created 11 incendiary performances of soul classics originally recorded by Al Green, Stevie Wonder, Otis Redding, Bobby Womack, and other members of R&B royalty.

August 13 – Boz Scaggs $24

Grammy Award-winning artist Boz Scaggs combines rock, jazz, R&B and blues to create his trademark sound. With an extensive and distinctive career that has spanned 30 years and many accolades, Scaggs continues to prove himself as one of music's most creative and original artists. Boz will be releasing a new studio record in April 2008.

August 21 – Amos Lee $18

Inspired by soul greats, Amos Lee directs his music with a spirit and presence rooted in American tradition. Amos delivers a unique brand of folk-soul music that aims to unite, uplift and inspire. The “folk” side is reflected in his nimble acoustic guitar playing and the intimacy of his live performances. The “soul” strain comes through in the engaging song-poetry of his lyrics. His eponymous, 2005 Blue Note debut album features 11 tracks all composed by Amos.

August 27 – The Avett Brothers $18
w/ Shawn Mullins

The Avett Brothers – Their songs are honest: just chords with real voices singing real melodies. But the heart and energy with which the Avett Brothers performs have created a feverish following for their legendary performances in bars, music clubs, and festivals across the nation. Rooted in bluegrass and folk traditions, the Avett Brothers transcend genres, blending in pop, punk, and rock and roll to create timeless, truthful songs.

Shawn Mullins – Shawn Mullins’ vibrant new album “honeydew” (released March 11) teems with humanity – hobos, railroad workers, traveling salesmen, homeless troubadours, fearful old people, youngsters yearning to escape from a dead-end existence, and several generations of family members, living and dead. There’s a ton of heartache and yet hope in this record, as Mullins explores the dark corners of contemporary existence while also delving back into the past, capturing vivid pictures of his native Atlanta and the surrounding South in a voice of plainspoken eloquence and uncommon genuineness. This richly interwoven, character-driven work is at once the most panoramic album of Mullins’ distinguished career and the most intensely personal.