For anyone who’s tempted to think a conductor just stands on the podium and gives the beat, the Nov. 14 concert by the Northwest Sinfonietta set the record straight.

Revengers formed from the ashes of local alt-hip-hop crew Biznautics in 2007.

Tacoma's Revengers aren't your typical hip-hop group. Check out clips of up-and-coming Tacoma band talking about their new "Scraps on the Badlands" CD, playing new cuts and doing their best Weezer impression before their all-ages CD release part Saturday (Nov. 21) at Hell's Kitchen.

For anyone who’s tempted to think a conductor just stands on the podium and gives the beat, Saturday night’s concert by the Northwest Sinfonietta set the record straight. As part of a two-concert festival (the other concert is next Sunday, featuring the Tacoma Symphony), the chamber orchestra played a Beethoven overture and Mozart piano concerto under the Symphony’s conductor Harvey Felder, followed by a Mozart overture and symphony under their own conductor Christophe Chagnard. The difference between the first and second halves was like night and day, highlighting not just the musical styles of each Tacoma conductor but also the effect they have on the same players.

Tacoma blues picker James “Curley” Cooke hopes to play with not one, not two but all three of his popular bands at today’s Blues Vespers concert.

Singer-songwriter Ben Union has made waves on Tacoma’s music scene for the past several months with a style he calls “progressive funk-rock,” a blend of fiery guitar licks, infectious pop hooks and rump-shaking grooves that first caught my attention at this year’s Art on the Ave festival.