It's the final full week before Christmas and New Year's close out the calendar, but there's no shortage of live music, with performances by Hollywood Undead, Hula & the Ooh La Las, the Jazz Jam with the New Breed Quartet, Jazz on a Winter Night, a Ceiba Foundation for Tropical Conservation Benefit featuring Mama Digdown's Brass Band, and a show by United Sons of Toil.
Monday 12.15
Hollywood Undead
Annex, 7 pm
They wear masks, they are indeed from Hollywood, and the rapcore outfit Hollywood Undead built a devoted fan base online before they joined a major label and recorded a debut release, the sex- and violence-suffused Swan Songs.
Hula & the Ooh La Las
High Noon Saloon, 9 pm
The three ladies and their uptempo garage-pop are relatively new to the Madison scene, but they seem to be gaining a substantial following thanks to an appearance at last summer's Clockmaker Music Festival. Find out what the fuss is all about. Also playing: Fermata.
Tuesday 12.16
Wednesday 12.17
Jazz Jam with the New Breed Quartet
Cabana Room, 9 pm
Will the Cabana Room become the stomping grounds for local jazz musicians after the bar at the Concourse changes its focus at the end of the month? It's definitely an option. Give the venue a test run this Wednesday as the New Breed Quartet shows off its chops.
Thursday 12.18
Jazz on a Winter Night
Brink Lounge, 7 pm
This fundraiser for Second Harvest Food Bank features more local jazzers than you can shake a stick at: Gerri DiMaggio, Paul Hastil, Jan Wheaton, Nick Moran and many others.
Ceiba Foundation for Tropical Conservation Benefit featuring Mama Digdown's Brass Band
High Noon Saloon, 8 pm
What better way to warm up and raise some money for rainforests than some hot-and-heavy New Orleans jazz? If you haven't experienced the genre before, Mama Digdown's Brass Band is a great place to start. Also performing: Chafo, West African Dance of Madison.
United Sons of Toil
Inferno, 9:30 pm
Here's this week's show for the intellectual crowd: a math-rock band with a penchant for political theory. Need more evidence? The threesome lists Noam Chomsky as an influence on their MySpace page. Also playing: Disguised As Birds, Masonry.
