Beat Happenings

If babies were to sing the blues...they would sound something like this: "I got diaper rash (nah-nah-na-nah)/From sittin' in poo (nah-nah-na-nah)/All my food is mashed (nah-nah-na-nah)/And I was grossly misrepresented in Look Who's Talking Twooooo." Okay, so the fourth annual Baby Blues Showcase won't exactly include infants, but the show does celebrate the union of jazz generations young and old. On Sunday, November 27, at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups (700 South Broadway; 314-436-5222), catch Jason Ricci (Nashville), Macy Thomas (NOLA), and locals Erika Johnson, Marquise Knox, Angelic Express, the Bottoms Up Blues Gang and Brian Curran. Show starts at 6 p.m. and proceeds benefit the Blues Society Mission.

Hindenberg: The last time we saw a music explosion as big as the Midwest Music Explosion, we were picking shards of jewelcases out of our asses for weeks. So watch out: MME St. Louis is having its Volume 1 CD release on Saturday, November 26, at 7 p.m. at the Pageant (6161 Delmar; 314-726-6161). The show includes performances by moderndayzero, Cavo, rustedShine and Six By Silver — all of whom appear on the disc — along with an acoustic set by a re-formed Stir. A $12 ticket includes a copy of the CD.

Breaking up is hard to do: But radiation treatment is even harder. Beloved local act Mountain of Venus is taking a hiatus owing to bass player Dave Gesualdo's recent diagnosis with Hodgkin's lymphoma. There will be two benefit shows: Wednesday, November 23, at Three-1-Three (20 Mascoutah Avenue, Belleville, Illinois; 618-239-6885) and Saturday, November 26, at Magee's (4500 Clayton Road; 314-535-8061). Performing at the events will be Earthsol, Toast and Jam, Ambidextrous Octopus, Stingray, Vitamen A, Languid and Diggler's Lounge.

No Russians allowed: Finally, an appropriate place to celebrate your pride in Polish-St. Louisan heritage! The St. Louis Metro Polka Club, a nonprofit dedicated to the promotion of polka, is hosting its sixteenth annual Thanksgiving Weekend Polka Festival this Friday, November 25 (3 p.m. to midnight; $14), Saturday, November 26 (noon to midnight; $14) and Sunday, November 27 (noon to 6 p.m.; $6) at the St. Louis Pavilion Hotel (One S. Broadway; 314-421-1776). Polka bands include Brian McCarty (local), Duane Malinowski (Toledo, Ohio), Top Notchmen (Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin), Kenny Brandt (Hartford, Wisconsin), and Larry Hallar's Two Star Final (local). Krystyn Pomranz

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