PERFORMING ARTS

-- Mike Joyce

Master Chorale Of Washington

Two 20th-century religious works that reach back to Gregorian chant for inspiration made up the Master Chorale of Washington's program under Music Director Donald McCullough on Saturday night in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Beyond that, though, Dave Brubeck's "Pange Lingua Variations" and Maurice Durufle's "Requiem" have precious little in common.

Brubeck, of course, is most famous as a jazz pianist, and the "Pange Lingua Variations" juxtapose unadorned sections of the plainchant with variations that employ a jazz quartet along with the chorus and orchestra.

However, Brubeck's orchestral writing produces some muddy, awkward timbres, perhaps making him reluctant to let the jazz quartet interact with the orchestra much; brilliant solos by pianist Jeffrey Chappell and bassist Pepe Gonzalez never jelled with the rest of the work. In addition, although the verses of the plainchant describe the life of Christ, Brubeck's music made little reference to the story, missing out on some drama. The Master Chorale deserves credit for programming the unusual work, though, and sang it with delicacy, fervor and an unfailingly lovely tone.

These virtues were shown to better advantage in the Durufle, which places its obvious chant influences in aching chromatic harmonies and restrained but vivid orchestration. Here McCullough led the chorale and its orchestra in a flowing yet intensely devotional reading. Occasional eruptions like the riveting incantation of death and destruction in the "Libera Me" set in sharp relief the much more frequent and always gorgeous prayers for eternal rest, like mezzo Shelley Waite's rapt "Pie Jesu" and a final "In Paradisum" whose ethereal harmonies were truly transporting.

-- Andrew Lindemann Malone

The Kissers and The Fleshtones

A potent twin-bill at Iota on Friday night delivered on its promise of high-energy exuberance. For openers, the Kissers, a young five-piece Irish band from, of all places, Madison, Wis., put across a set of dynamic Celtic-influenced rock. Led by singer-bassist Ken Fitzsimmons, whose lyrical earnestness (in keeping with Irish tradition he writes serious songs about love and war) couldn't dampen the fun of the music, the Kissers displayed ample improvement over their debut visit last year despite being down two members.

Propelled by Pete Colclasure's accordion and keyboard, Joe Bernstein's martial-paced drumming, Waylan Nate Palan's electric guitar and the show-in-itself sight and sound of the impossibly cute Kari Bethke's fiddling, the Kissers give music fans a reason to watch the schedule for the next appearance.

The house was suitably warmed up for the Fleshtones, New York's standard-bearer of garage rock, a raw combination of soul, rhythm and blues and hard rock. The cult band's first song, "Hard Lovin' Man," was played with all the passion of the encore, "American Beat," more than an hour later. In between there was mucho mirth to be had.

Twenty minutes into the show guitarist Keith Streng and bassist Ken Fox were playing on top of the bar, with singer Peter Zaremba dancing the twist and drummer Bill Milhizer keeping a furious beat on stage. The energy level rose even higher with the addition of guest guitarist Paul "Peppermint" Johnson from the Master Plan (a side project with Streng and Milhizer and the Dictators' Andy Shernoff); Johnson ripped through two songs with impressive skill and undeniable glee, creating multi-layered sonic mayhem with high-kicking Streng as his henchman.

"He's family," Zaremba said when Johnson was all-too-soon finished. The declaration had the ring of handing the baton to the next generation, and for garage rock fans, that was good news indeed.

-- Buzz McClain