6 cool things in music this week include Samara Joy, Wham and Peabo Bryson

A half-dozen cool things in music, from two points of view:

Matt Lindstrom of Minneapolis:

1 "Fairytale of New York" by the Pogues. My favorite Christmas song. It took on more significance this year with singer Shane MacGowan's passing. Glen Hansard's performance at MacGowan's funeral went viral, and it's easy to see why. Find it online and bring the tissues.

2 #Whamageddon. The annual real life/social media game where you try to go Dec. 1-24 without hearing Wham's classic "Last Christmas." It's a game of survival, not sabotage. Trips to the mall or grocery store get more anxiety-producing than usual as it gets closer to Christmas Eve. I've lost this game for many years, but this year I made it to Dec. 25 12:01 a.m.

3 Whiskey Rock 'n' Roll Club, Mortimer's. The local three-piece band's annual December residency at the legendary Minneapolis venue is a joyous celebration of the holidays, local rock 'n' roll and … whiskey. You never know who you'll see or what the band will bust out. Wednesdays after December won't be the same.

Jon Bream, Star Tribune critic:

1 "Samara Joy Gets Adventurous," DownBeat magazine cover story. The 2023 Grammy winner for best new artist made her debut album with two of her college professors and then her next project grabbed a Grammy for best jazz vocal album. She's uncertain about the direction of her third disc, but she knows that she doesn't merely feel a responsibility to keep jazz alive. "The only responsibility I have," she tells Suzanne Lorge, is "to pursue my artistic voice."

2 "Jack Ruby" by Paul Metsa and Sonny Earl. It was pin-drop silent at the Dakota as the Iron Range singer/songwriter spun his haunting, detailed narrative of Ruby, the murderer of Lee Harvey Oswald who assassinated President John Kennedy 60 years ago. Metsa told the back story of his writing the tune in 1993 and debuting it at Farm Aid and then unspooled it like an epic Dylanesque real-life ballad a la "Hurricane" and "Joey Gallo."

3 Peabo Bryson, the Dakota. The chatty, philosophizing R&B veteran put on an entertaining show with salutes to James Ingram, Bill Withers, Al Jarreau and Prince (a snippet of "I Wanna Be Your Lover," two verses and choruses of "Purple Rain," and a story on Prince's advice to newcomers: "Be different"). He also did "This Christmas," his own R&B hits and duets with "American Idol" finalist Haley Reinhart, whose own Shania-like "Honey, There's the Door" was a winner in her opening set.

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