POP MUSIC

Sleater-Kinney

"We're very glad to be here in Washington, D.C., for the second time in three days," Sleater-Kinney's Corin Tucker announced to a sweltering crowd at the 9:30 club on Thursday.

That's two times but only one show: The staff evacuated the sold-out house on Tuesday at the fire marshal's request -- before the band took the stage -- because of electrical problems. But everything was cool (so to speak) on Thursday, and if the band, on its farewell tour, suffered from the detour, the members were too professional to let it show.

"Could I turn this place inside down / And shake you and your fossils out?" Tucker wailed on the opening song, "One Beat," before breaking into one of her fetching "oh-ohs." Yes, she could -- and subtly.

Sleater-Kinney's sound is raw yet accessible, passionate yet mindful of the audience. The band directed its energy outward, pulling audience emotions up and down. "Rollercoaster" demanded -- and got -- spinning green lights. "Modern Girl," sung with a tough sweetness by Carrie Brownstein, offered the unexpected counterpoint of percussionist Janet Weiss on harmonica. And "Steep Air" began with a contemplative guitar intro -- reminiscent of, of all things, Shawn Colvin's "Sunny Came Home" -- that was overtaken by the building thunder of Weiss's drums and the ominous lyrics that signaled the escape of the desperate.

Thursday's songs built slowly but didn't succumb to self-indulgent, drawn-out endings; they just slammed the door with a furious bang, ready to move on to the next thing. In other words, Sleater-Kinney knows how to say goodbye.

-- Pamela Murray Winters

Jimmy McGriff

During his long and distinguished career, 70-year-old blues organist Jimmy McGriff has infused countless opening sets with the kind of freewheeling spirit associated with an after-hours jam session. Alas, at Blues Alley on Thursday night, the early show had more in common with a haphazardly paced sound check.

McGriff, looking frail and moving very slowly, was assisted onstage by his band mates. After sliding into position behind a Hammond organ console, the great keyboardist played a secondary role during the performance, leaving most of the solo work to tenor saxophonist Jerry Weldon and guitarist Chris Vitarello. The good news is that both musicians are well worth hearing. Weldon, who's been playing with McGriff for 15 years, was in typically robust form on tenor. He displayed a full-bore tone and plenty of rhythmic vitality while shaking the dust off the Sonny Rollins calypso "St. Thomas" and the swing theme "Tuxedo Junction." Vitarello, a recent band recruit, has an obvious affinity for blues and funk, plus a sophisticated harmonic vocabulary that served the quartet well.

With some prodding from his longtime drummer Don Williams, McGriff tentatively moved through a series of familiar blues progressions and jazz themes, relying mostly on his right hand to create a rippling assortment of triplets, trills, turnarounds and sustained notes. His left hand occasionally compensated for the absence of foot-pedal generated bass tones, but more often Vitarello tended to the bottom line by introducing walking bass lines or employing chordal motion that accented the root note.

The engagement runs through tomorrow.