Summer music preview
The power of sisterhood
They played with Prince back in the day, but there’s much more to the dynamic duo of Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman -- a great discography of their own; studio work with luminaries such as Seal, Joni Mitchell and Madonna; film and television soundtracks, including that spooky-perfect one from “Heroes.” Wendy & Lisa rarely play live, but they will do so Saturday, June 13, at Largo, offering up wit, wisdom, laughs and probably some very special guests. (Barbara Davidson/Los Angeles Times)
A roundup of the season’s best shows.
Growin’ up
Is hard to do. But it’s kinda fun to watch and can make for some intriguingly awkward music. This summer, the Jonas Brothers continue their bid for power pop legitimacy with a world tour supporting the trio’s fourth album, “Lines, Vines, and Trying Times” -- a set inspired by the sexy Kings of Leon and guru-level hitmaster Neil Diamond and due out June 16. They’ll have a friend in the now-brunet and (so she says) “edgier” Ashley Tisdale, who leaves behind “High School Musical” for a more rock-oriented sound on her second album, “Guilty Pleasure,” set for release July 28. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Both Disney-related acts had better watch out for “American Idol” Jordin Sparks, though. At nearly 20, she’s already leaping into maturity with “Battlefield,” the Ryan Tedder-penned, Pat Benatar-inspired hit from her upcoming second album, out in July. (Jason Merritt/Getty Images)
Weezy rawks
The first single, the slurpy “Prom Queen,” was none too promising, but we’re willing to give Lil Wayne the benefit of the doubt when it comes to “Rebirth,” due out June 23. The Martian rap genius has been calling this much-delayed effort his “rock” project, though the sound might ultimately come closer to the Beastie Boys than, say, Metallica. Guests include Lenny Kravitz and Fall Out Boy -- but not Avril Lavigne, who denied rumors of her participation last month. Too bad, it would have been fun to hear the “Sk8ter Boi” girl and the “Lollipop” boy swap sneers. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Top divas
Lightning bolts would fly, one imagines, should Aretha Franklin and Grace Jones (pictured) ever encounter each other in a dressing room. These two musical queens might represent very different eras and aesthetics, but both emanate the kind of fierceness that doesn’t leave much room for competition. Luckily, each will claim her own night at the Hollywood Bowl this summer -- one month apart. On June 26, Franklin brings her songbook of hits that shaped American history (and maybe the hat she wore when she sang at President Obama’s inauguration?) to town. Jones breaks out the jams that redefined both disco and 1980s rock on a July 26 bill that also features her spiritual children Of Montreal and Dengue Fever. (Robin Utrecht/EPA)
Lovesexy
Fans of sophisticated R&B know that romance is an art that presents infinite possibilities. This summer, two long-absent master practitioners return to enact a swooning revival. Retro-nuevo sophisticates are thrilling to “Pretty Wings,” the first single from “BLACKsummers’night,” the first album from Maxwell (pictured) in eight years, to be released July 7. And for those who like a little New Jack Swing in their step, 1980s chart-topper Al B. Sure! offers the long-player “Honey, I’m Home” on June 23, ending a 15-year absence from the scene. You already might have heard his enticingly nasty, vaguely cross-cultural new single, “I Love It (Papi Aye, Aye, Aye).” (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Joe’s blues
Joe Henry is a quiet hero of the Southland, consistently producing fascinating music -- as an artist and a seriously in-demand producer -- from his studio in South Pasadena. For his 11th album, “Blood From Stars,” he takes on a deceptively “pure and simple” musical form, the blues, and refashions it in his romantic, noirish way. Inspired by poets like Langston Hughes and Allen Ginsberg, Henry’s latest songs cut with a serrated edge and are made bloodier by a great band, including art-rock bigwig Marc Ribot on guitar. Anti- Records releases it Aug. 18. (Christina House/For The Times)
