Parked beneath fedora shade, jazz beater Eddie Israel celebrated his 84th birthday Friday night, doing what he does - talking with his sticks' tasty licks. Israel's Thatt Groupp set the keen tone Friday night for the packed Bistro 135 in East Rochester; it's an uber-cool joint with desserts as big as my head. Israel has got to be one of the most relaxed cats to ever ascend to the throne, and he fired off pops and accents amidst the sweet swing. Don't forget, this is a dude who once kept time for Dizzy.

On Saturday openers Over The Rhine blew Ani DiFranco away. Sure, the Auditorium virtually offered the righteous babe a home-court advantage, but the vocal half of this duo, Karin Bergquist, floats in the same ether as Joli Holland, Neko Case, or Gillian Welch. It sounds so nice up there, doesn't it? The music was optimistically dark; melancholy with a smile. And when you have no expectations, you still have the opportunity to get knocked out, no matter how jaded you've become. DiFranco followed, and by contrast came off even more percussive in the way she made the guitar talk, and in her tight and strident diction. You'll never accuse her of slurring he words.

Eddie Nebula and The Plague fans were slurring their words at the band's CD release show Saturday night at The Bug Jar, thanks to band swag that included those little in-flight bottles of bourbon. The Plague followed 40 Rod Lightning and The Veins, who tried it unplugged the night before at Boulder Coffee. The band plugged back in for this show, and I think The Plague even plugged in twice. Yup, all seats were in the upright and locked positions, as we flew the friendly skies on Plague airlines. There was more singing along and toasting with the band than at an Irish wedding, and the various on-stage guests that also embellish the band's new "Spends You Money" disc made it sound like The Plague on Broadway. And did you get a load of those...arms, on the cover? Hubba!