The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 146

mm Jules Shear, known for his pen, plans a solo By Sam Wood FOR THE INQUIRER Love Huskies, at J. C. Dobbs, 304 South at 10 tonight. Tickets: $5. Phone: 215-925-4053.

Concert Halls ules Shear is called a songwriter's songwriter so often you'd think it was printed on his birth certificate. Tania Maria He's earned the title. Shear who plays a solo gig Monday at the comfortably She's an expatriate living in New York and a multilingual lyricist and jazz singer. That's all she has in common with Girl-from-Ipanema Astrud Gilberto. Tania Maria is no ingenue.

She's the flip side of Gilberto: an earthy, ebullient vocalist with a knack for scat. Maria also is an inventive, if heavily percussive, pianist. Whether it's samba, bossa nova, Latin pop, balladry and, with her recently released Outrageous (Concord Picante), even light hip-hop Tania Maria is a master of weighty lightness. What really differentiates Tania Maria from the jazz pack is the sheer joy that effervesces from her music. S.W.

i KESWICK THEATRE Easton Rd Keswick Ave. Glenside: 21 5-572-7650. (w) Steve Taylor Band $14.50 $16. 8 tonight. Sarah McLachlan With Single Gun Theory.

$18.50. 7:30 p.m. Sun. Eagles Corestates Spectrum, Broad St Pattison Ave; 215-336-3600. (w) $77.

8 tonight-Sat. Tommy Conwell the Little Kings With Dukes ot Destiny; benefits Hope For Kids. Theatre of Living Arts, 334 South St; 215-' 922-1011. $12. 8 tonight.

Jimmy Scott Jazz singer. Painted Bride Art Center, 230 Vine St; 215-925-9914. (w) $20. 8 10 tonight-Sat. Tania Maria Quartet Afro-American Historical Cultural Museum, 7th Arch Sts; 215-574-0381.

(w) $20. 8 10 p.m. Sat. David Buskin With Patti Shea. Cherry Tree Music Co-Op, St Mary's Church parish hall, 3916 Locust Walk; 215-386-1640.

$10. 7:30 p.m. Sun. Ricky Van Shelton With the Gibson-Miller Band. Valley Forge Music Fair, off Rte 202, Devon; 610-644-5000.

$25. 7 p.m. Sun. ES Gerald Veasely Jazz Ensemble With the AMLA Latin Jazz All-Stars. Merriam Theater, 250 Broad St; 215-731-9515, Call tor seating availability.

10 a.m. Wed, Rolling Stones With Blind Melon. Veterans Stadium, Broad St at Pattison Ave; 215-336-2000. (w) 8 p.m. Thu 923 (Thursday's concerts is sold out).

Tania Maria Quartet at the Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum, Seventh and Arch Streets, at 8 and 10 p.m. Saturday. Tickets: $20. Phone: 215-574-0381. StereolabWeezer It's hard to imagine the members of the sedate Stereolab and the more animated Weezer in a conversation, much less playing the same show together.

But a last-minute informal Tin Angel has been charming critics with smartly crafted pop songs since leading Jules the Polar Bears in the late 70s. Charming his peers, too. He's written hits for Cyndi Lauper Through the the Bangles She Knew What She and Alison Moyet Yqur MTV was so charmed it made him the host of Unplugged for the first 13 episodes. With any luck, Human Bones (Island) will be the record that breaks Shear as an artist in his own right. The tunesmith's 10th album is the strongest of his career, reminiscent of Jackson Browne in his prime and Billy Joel when he was young and hungry.

Shear is surprised at all the fuss and accolades. But when pressed he admits to having a really "successful feeling" about Bones as it was being recorded, and attributes it to a lucky confluence of two things: the right room and a cranky producer. "This was the first time I had a really great room to write in," Shear says. He found it in a small house on a dirt road not far from his home in Woodstock, N.Y. "I'd go to my room every day and write.

And I was surprised when I ended up writing nearly 40 songs. We just chose the best ones." Shear also had on hand several songs from working with The Band's Rick Danko. The original producer of The Band's Jericho had called to say it needed songs, Shear says. "I'm sure they didn't know who the hell I was. But it turned out really good, I thought.

I hit it off with Rick Danko, and then the producer bowed out. And the new producer threw out everything I wrote! So I used the stuff I wrote with Danko for my own record." Get tickets quickly: The earlier of Shear's two shows already is sold out. Jules Shear with Paula Cole at the Tin Angel, 20 S. Second at 9:30 p.m. Monday.

Tickets: $16. Phone: 215-928-0978. schedule change has made this eclectic bill possible, and the all-ages show promises to be nothing less than great fun. The last time Clubs Stereolab was in Philadelphia, its hypnotic Jazz singer Jimmy Scott will appear at the Painted Bride Art Center tonight and Saturday night. forthcoming debut, No Return in the End (MCA), sounds like Kiss in its makeup-and-platform-shoes heyday.

At worst, it's reminiscent of The Cult's more recent efforts. Or maybe it's the other way around, depending on how you look at it. Anyway, for those who prefer rock dressed up, instead of righteously dressed down, tonight's show at Dobbs is for you. Sara Sherr sound a cross between the master of "mood' music Martin Denny and the Velvet Under ground almost stole the show from Unrest at J.C. Dobbs.

Its latest album, appropriately called Mars Audiac Quintet (Elektra), is easy listening for And Weezer's last area appearance with Lush at the Trocadero was filled with energy. Al though its latest single, "Undone the Sweater Smashing Orange, with Mother's Garden and Song," seems to elicit a "love or hate" response, this L.A. quartet makes good power pop that should charm even the most jaded. S.S. On the waterfront Aztec ClubKokomo Bay 927-939 Delaware Ave; 215-574-1920.

Variety. Suns, Woody the Peckers. The Barbary Frankford Delaware Aves; 215-552-8971. Variety. Tonight, Junkie Logic, deep six, Social Faux Pas.

Sat, Ruppert Speed, Sissys, Resin. Eli's on the River Columbus Blvd FitzwaterSt; 215-923-2500. (w) Variety. Tonight, Iroq. Sat, Woody the Peckers.

Katmandu Village (The Elizabeth) Pier 25, Columbus Blvd between Callowhill Spring Garden Sts: 215-629-1101. Variety. Tonight, Innasense. Sat. Mussington Brothers.

Sun, Innasense. Maui Pier 53 1 143 Delaware Ave; 215-423-8116. (w) Variety. Tonight, Phebe Brian, Slippery the Skirt Chasers. Sat.

Steamroller Picnic. Sun, A Room With A View. Meiji-En Pier 19 North, Phila Marine Center, Columbus Blvd Callowhill St; 215-592-7100. (w) Jazz. Fris-Sats Suns brunch, Trudy Pitts Mr Trio.

Rock Lobster Piers 13 4 15, Columbus Blvd Vine St; 215-627-7625. (w) Variety. Tonight, Rose Guardino Jazz Group, Reverend Sole the Saviors. Sat, Johnny the Classic Dogs of Love. Philadelphia Adam's Mark Hotel Quincy's, City Ave Monument Rd; 215-581-481 1.

Jazz, (w) City. Suns, City Rhythm Orchestra. Blue Moon Jazz Club 4th St between Market Chestnut Sts; 215-413-2272. Jimmy Scott Otherworldly voiced jazz singer Jimmy Scott brings his singularly strange and beautiful pipes to town for four shows this weekend. After last year's All the Way, a triumphant return to recording after years of music business neglect, Scott's newest is Dream, with Ron Carter and Milt Jackson backing his gloriously androgynous vocals on another set of lush, languorous ballads.

Scott plays two shows at the Painted Bride tonight and two more on Saturday. Dan DeLuca I Stereolab, with Weezer and That Dog, at the Trocadero, 10th and Arch Streets, at 7 p.m. Tuesday. All ages. Tickets: $7.

Phone: 215-923-6725. Heather Mullen Philadelphia native Heather Mullen, 34, is a singer-songwriter with one of the few overnight sensation stories on the current folk-music scene. In 1987, after fronting a top-40 band on the ski-lodge circuit in the Poconos, she moved to New York. Shortly afterward, she sent a demo tape to Chieli Minucci, leader and producer of jazz band Special EFX, who agreed to produce a better demo. Mullen played one showcase at the Ditter End and was signed by EastWest Records that week.

Her self-titled debut, released in 1991, contains poignant songs about self-esteem Who You addiction Through the Cracks friendship Ride and other emotional issues, all sung in a sweet voice with spare guitar accompaniment. Faith Quintavell Heather Mullen with opener Post-Hip at the Tin Angel, 20 S. Second at 8 p.m. Wednesday. Tickets: $6.

Phone: 215-928-0978. 9 I I Jimmy Scott at the Painted Bride Art Center, 230 Vine at 8 and 10 tonight and Saturday. Tickets: $20. Phone: 215-925-9914. Jazz.

Fris. Barbara Walker Story. Sat. Webb Thomas Friends. Catalina 2001 Hamilton St; 215-569-7700.

(w) Variety. Tonight, the Koko Ray Show. Champs Harvard Square Shopping Center, Harbison Ave Roosevelt Blvd, 215-533-5888. (w) Variety. Weds-Suns, Applause.

Smashing Orange Since Smashing Orange's moniker seems to confuse many, let's clear up a few things. It is not self indulgent glum-rock from Chicago (Smashing Pumpkins) or inspiring country rock from Boston (Wood Oranges). The group is a Delaware band that plays glam rock and isn't ashamed to look for a big, dumb thrill in a too-serious world. At best, Smashing Orange's Dobbs 304 South St; 215 925-4053. Variety.

Tonight, Smashing Orange, Mother's Garden, Love Huskies. Sat, Five Magic Beans, Love Sandwich, Seven Gone, Love Mevuiution, 6o antral Uriuef. bun, Tania Maria will be doing two shows on Saturday at the Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum. Lir, Certain Flightless Birds. Doc Watson's Pub 216 11th St; 215- See NIGHTLIFE on Page 15 1 4 1 I I Friday, September Hi, 19tM THK 1'HIUDKLJ'HIA INtyUJKKK 13.