PERFORMING ARTS

It's true that Georgie James's style is a significant shift from Davis's previous outfit, the popular punk-funk trio Q and Not U. And the new group features some timbres, notably Laura Burhenn's electric piano and the blend of her and Davis's voice in boy-girl harmony or unison, that are rare in the sometimes excessively virile world of D.C. indie-rock. The intent of such tunes as the jaunty "Places" and the slightly jazzy "Hard Feelings" came across, even if the material was occasionally handled a little roughly.

Conveying the more delicate aspects of their styles in concert is a long-standing problem for pop and folk-rock bands, and it's likely that Georgie James will achieve a better balance on its upcoming single -- which, Burhenn and Davis repeatedly apologized, was supposed to be ready for this gig. In the meantime, Davis's power chords and Black's surf-rock intros may not exactly fit the group's concept, but they sound fine.

-- Mark Jenkins

Johnny Winter

Things seem to be looking up a bit for Johnny Winter. Beset with health and financial problems, the Texas blues guitar legend has appeared exceedingly frail on recent tours and sometimes leaned on harmonica vet James Montgomery to help carry his shows. But at the Rams Head Tavern in Annapolis on Wednesday night, the old lion in Winter often roared.

Not that the 62-year-old appears ready to run a marathon. Now touring without Montgomery, Winter hobbled onstage, pulled up a chair and cradled his snub-nosed Lazer guitar in his lap. His voice, however, sounded stronger than it has on recent concert stops, rising over a nearly white-noise din as his power trio moved through a set of tunes that frequently pointed to lasting influences -- Muddy Waters ("Hoochie Coochie Man"), Lazy Lester ("Sugar Coated Love") and Freddie King ("Tore Down"), among others.

Though the show opened with a brief, ZZ Top-flavored showcase for guitarist Paul Nelson, Winter wasn't out of the spotlight for long. His concerts still center on a timeworn mix of shuffles and boogie tunes, but few bluesmen know more ways to traverse a 12-bar progression or evoke Lightnin' Hopkins-like turnarounds with thumb-pick and fingers. Trading his Lazer for a vintage Gibson Firebird, Winter saved his slashing slide guitar work for the end of the show, as no doubt most fans hoped he would, when he tore into Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited" with the vigorous support of bassist Scott Spray and drummer Wayne June.

-- Mike Joyce

BosmaDance

The theater space was the size of a closet. The stage was the size of a pea. The chairs were hard and the audience so close to the dancers that the first row was in danger of getting smacked by flying feet. All of this was part of the rough charm at Flashpoint's Mead Theatre Lab on Wednesday when BosmaDance presented its 45-minute "Violet in My Winter," a work inspired by the poems and letters by Emily Dickenson.

That Meisha Bosma can successfully choreograph a four-person work for such a small stage is a feat in and of itself. This work has her charming signature combination of dance and gesture. She cleverly uses repetition to create surprise, repeating certain movement phrases and gestures in unexpected places. Here and there, the index finger of one hand counts the digits of the other, or a cupped hand scoops the air.

Bosma's works generally are thoughtful, well structured and inventive. This piece was no different. Yet the theme felt forced, as if she'd taken it on as an assignment. In fact, this work was jointly commissioned by a number of groups, including the Emily Dickinson International Society, and it was first performed at one of its conferences. Perhaps there was an effort here to explore Dickinson-inspired emotional landscapes, but the plethora of pencils and papers on the stage, as well as a desk at which someone often sat writing, racheted this work down a peg down from emotional to descriptive.

Still, the intimacy of the setting and the cleverness of the choreography made for a delightful albeit brief evening. "Violet in My Winter" runs tonight at 8 p.m., tomorrow and Jan. 21 at 4 p.m., and Jan. 18-20 at 8 p.m.

-- Pamela Squires