They call her Bebel

After Cat Power I was pretty amped on the whole get down and dance project, but I would find it a little difficult. In Memphis, I knew all the local bands and venues inside and out. I knew that if Mouserocket was playing at Murphy's it meant Alicia Trout was gonna throw down some righteous punkishness, and there probably wouldn't be too many people around to hear it, or if Lucero was playing at The Deli, it would be a seriously crowded and not very dancetastic scene but with whiskey-tinged alt-country awesomeness, or if The Gamble Brothers were playing at The Hi-Tone Cafe, it meant jammed-out jazzfunk for an upscale DINKish crowd with a side order of hippies. That doesn't even include the blues scene down on Beale St. or at Wild Bill's or any of the larger venues. I also knew people who worked at most the bars where music was served, a lot of the people who would show up on whatever scene, and a lot of the musicians, so I felt completely comfortable just showing up where ever knowing fairly well what was in store.
Now back in Boston I was adrift. When I scour the Calender or the Sidekick from the globe, I don't know any of the names or places, and I fear the unknown.
Long story longer, I spent the two months (yah, it really took that long) trying to figure out where I might feel comfortable, and what I might want to see. I finally settled on a show at the Paradise Rock Club with Bebel Gilberto and Furro After Dark. Bebel Gilberto is the daughter of Joao Gilberto, the nominal and very real father of Bossanova, which is some of the most reassuring and fear assuaging music on the planet. It just makes you feel good, and Bebel trades in this warm the tummy musical tradition herself, which I found out after a little wikisearching. It sounded like a winner to me, and by that time I was itching to scratch my dancing feet something fierce.