Bird and the Bee

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More About

• Lowell George
• Inara George
• Charlie Williams
• George Jetson
• Jaki Byard

How apt that one of this year's coolest buzz bands is the Bird and the Bee, which happily flit through some of the hippest pop confections of the past half-century as if they were George Jetson's favorite lounge act. The retro space-age vibe, matched by a lush dose of cocktail-hour bossa nova, is coaxed into the 21st century with sly dance rhythms, skittering electronica, and subversive lyrical twists dripping with irony. Singer Inara George, daughter of late, great Little Feat frontman Lowell George, sets the mood with a shimmery, breezy voice that quickly insinuates itself, along with revealing, brooding undercurrents—the-cute-as-shadowy-souled pop savant. The other half of the duo, Greg Kurstin (who famously studied jazz piano with Jaki Byard), weighs in on multiple instruments and production wizardry, creating a paisley tapestry where electronic bleeps and bloops bleed into Alpertesque horns or a hint of psychedelia. This fall, the pair followed up last January's eponymous debut with Please Clap Your Hands, an EP with a more insistent array of dance beats, another slew of influences from Sgt. Pepper to Devo, and a breathy cover of the Bee Gees' "How Deep Is Your Love." With Charlie Williams 18+.
Thu., Jan. 10, 8 p.m., 2008