Billie Holiday

Jazz Madeleine Peyroux Bare Bones Rounder ESSENTIAL "Instead" Stylistically, "Bare Bones" is more of the same from Madeleine Peyroux. But who complains about more of the same when it's another dish of hot fudge sundae or another night in Paris? What's different on this, Peyroux's fourth album, is that all of the songs are originals. As its title suggests, this is a laid-back, stripped-down affair. The lyrics, too, suggest that we slow down, decide to be happy, and enjoy life.

WALTHAM — A high school auditorium is about the last place you’d expect to find Leslie Uggams performing. She has been situated solidly on the star track since age 6, when she played Ethel Waters’s niece in the 1950 sitcom “Beulah.’’ Regular gigs at the Apollo Theater in New York soon followed. There, fulfilling a grueling schedule of 29 shows a week, she shared the stage with — and learned by emulating — such luminaries as Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Dinah Washington.

The outstanding new vocalist Stacey Kent rolled into town for a gig last night at Scullers with her drumless, four-piece backing band last night, having played Carnegie Hall with Michael Feinstein the night before. A native New Yorker, Kent moved to England to study at Oxford several years back, met and married her saxophonist, Jim Tomlinson, and has put out a half-dozen highly regarded albums since, the most recent of which, "The Boy Next Door," she drew much of her material from in the first of her two sets in Boston.

Sometime just after the midpoint of Madeleine Peyroux’s performance Sunday at the Berklee Performance Center, something strange happened: People started leaving. It wasn’t a mass exodus, probably just a dozen or so, but they got out of their seats a few at a time and didn’t return. Two or three times as many did the same before the encore. Maybe they simply decided that Peyroux wasn’t worth hearing anymore. That wasn’t the majority opinion - the remaining audience’s applause was enthusiastic - but there were times when it wasn’t hard to sympathize.

Sometime just after the midpoint of Madeleine Peyroux’s performance Sunday at the Berklee Performance Center, something strange happened: People started leaving. It wasn’t a mass exodus, probably just a dozen or so, but they got out of their seats a few at a time and didn’t return. Two or three times as many did the same before the encore. Maybe they simply decided that Peyroux wasn’t worth hearing anymore. That wasn’t the majority opinion - the remaining audience’s applause was enthusiastic - but there were times when it wasn’t hard to sympathize.

"I'm glad you all made it into the ho -tel," the jazzy chanteuse Madeleine Peyroux remarked to a packed Regattabar audience Thursday night, her earthy accent favoring her Georgia roots over her Paris upbringing. "Music happens in the strangest places. " Perhaps. But with cleaner sound, reduced bar clatter, and -- finally -- concert lights worthy of the name, the Charles Hotel nightspot is at least a tad less strange than in the past. It proved a fine venue for Peyroux's vocal stylings, which at their best distilled a productive blend of lounge sensibilities...

WALTHAM — A high school auditorium is about the last place you’d expect to find Leslie Uggams performing. She has been situated solidly on the star track since age 6, when she played Ethel Waters’s niece in the 1950 sitcom “Beulah.’’ Regular gigs at the Apollo Theater in New York soon followed. There, fulfilling a grueling schedule of 29 shows a week, she shared the stage with — and learned by emulating — such luminaries as Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Dinah Washington.

POP & ROCK JAMN 94.5 PRESENTS SUMMER JAM 2012 It's the mainstream hip-hop party of the summer starring Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, B.o.B, Tyga, Wale, Big Sean, and more. Think of it as a big barbecue with banging beats. June 2. Comcast Center, Mansfield. 800-745-3000, www.livenation.com PASSION PIT With its highly anticipated sophomore release, "Gossamer," coming out in July, the electro-pop pride and joy of Boston graduates to the big leagues with this outdoor amphitheater show.

EVENTS Newton: City residents are eligible for free admission in honor of the annual Community Weekend at the Jackson Homestead and Museum, 527 Washington St., from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and next Sunday. 617-796-1450, www.historicnewton.org. MUSIC Framingham: Vocalist Pat Braxton channels Billie Holiday in a stop on her "Them There Eyes Tour" Saturday, 8 p.m., at the Amazing Things Arts Center, 160 Hollis St. $18; $17 students and seniors. 508-405-2787, www.patbraxton.com.

James "Red" Holloway, a noted saxophonist who played with the greats from the big band era through bebop, blues, R&B and modern jazz, has died in California. He was 84. His manager, Linda Knipe, says the Cambria resident died on Saturday at a care home in Morro Bay from kidney failure and complications of a stroke. During a career that spanned nearly seven decades, Holloway's versatility and driving swing style kept him much in demand. He performed with legends such as Billie Holiday, B.B. King, Lionel Hampton and Aretha Franklin.

Jazz Madeleine Peyroux Bare Bones Rounder ESSENTIAL "Instead" Stylistically, "Bare Bones" is more of the same from Madeleine Peyroux. But who complains about more of the same when it's another dish of hot fudge sundae or another night in Paris? What's different on this, Peyroux's fourth album, is that all of the songs are originals. As its title suggests, this is a laid-back, stripped-down affair. The lyrics, too, suggest that we slow down, decide to be happy, and enjoy life.

"I'm glad you all made it into the ho -tel," the jazzy chanteuse Madeleine Peyroux remarked to a packed Regattabar audience Thursday night, her earthy accent favoring her Georgia roots over her Paris upbringing. "Music happens in the strangest places. " Perhaps. But with cleaner sound, reduced bar clatter, and -- finally -- concert lights worthy of the name, the Charles Hotel nightspot is at least a tad less strange than in the past. It proved a fine venue for Peyroux's vocal stylings, which at their best distilled a productive blend of lounge sensibilities and honky-tonk urges, and only...

The outstanding new vocalist Stacey Kent rolled into town for a gig last night at Scullers with her drumless, four-piece backing band last night, having played Carnegie Hall with Michael Feinstein the night before. A native New Yorker, Kent moved to England to study at Oxford several years back, met and married her saxophonist, Jim Tomlinson, and has put out a half-dozen highly regarded albums since, the most recent of which, "The Boy Next Door," she drew much of her material from in the first of her two sets in Boston.

MORRO BAY, Calif. - James "Red" Holloway - a noted saxophonist who played with the greats from the big band era through bebop, blues, R&B, and modern jazz - has died in California. He was 84. His manager, Linda Knipe, said that the Cambria resident died Feb. 25 at a care home in Morro Bay of kidney failure and complications of a stroke. During a career that spanned nearly seven decades, Mr. Holloway's versatility and driving swing style kept him much in demand. He performed with legends such as Billie Holiday, B.B. King, Lionel Hampton, and Aretha Franklin.

Little Jack Moynahan is a kid on the go. Tom Brady 's oldest, who turns 4 today, was spotted biking late last week with his mom, Longmeadow-bred actress Bridget Moynahan , in New York. (Sadly, our Bridget was wearing a Yankees cap during the ride.) Then on Saturday, Jack was spotted riding bikes in Boston (in photo at left) with his dad, his stepmom, Gisele Bundchen , and his brother, Benjamin . Nightclub news Brian Lesser , who recently closed Saint on Exeter Street, will reopen it as a speakeasy-themed nightspot called Storyville, named for New...