Best of the fest - Mosaic

Too many acts, not enough time? We break down the must-see performances

Friday, 7 March  
Harry Connick Jr
8pm, Esplanade Theatre
Raised in New Orleans, the crooner, pianist and actor rose to prominence in the late 1980s (soundtracking When Harry Met Sally…), with his saleable mix of good looks and radio-friendly tunes like ‘It Had to Be You’. The multiple Grammy winner’s emergence paved the way for a legion of latter-day imitators – Cullum, Bublé et al – but Connick retains a depth they sadly lack. His Monk-ish piano playing and effortlessly cool voice mark him as a charismatic, complete performer – with songs to match. 
Time Out London 

Sunday, 9 March 
Broken Social Scene
7.30pm, Esplanade Concert Hall 
This Canadian indie-rock collective has a revolving cast of nearly 20 performers, including Feist and members of acclaimed bands Stars and Metric. A BSS set will deliver rock songs merging complex orchestration, melodic hooks and vocals that cruise, gasp and haunt. Carried by co-founder Kevin Drew’s charisma, BSS’s live shows are more of a musical confession and conversation than a concert; it’s not uncommon to see bandmates hop offstage mid-song to hug members of the audience. Look forward to an intimate evening with one of the most talented and personable bands in indieworld. 
Kevin Shaw 

Monday, 10 March 
Kurt Elling
7.30pm, Esplanade Concert Hall 
Chicago’s – and perhaps all of jazz’s – most creative male vocalist tosses and turns his way through standards and soul-catalogue numbers that riff on the themes of slumber and waking. Although Elling sings boldly, it’s a confidence that never feels like arrogance, unlike Sinatra, to whom he’s often compared. On the contrary, his medley of ‘Change Partners/If You Never Come to Me’ captures the desperate face of self-loathing. And ‘The Sleepers’ (from his album Nightmoves), Fred Hersch’s sublime re-imagining of Walt Whitman’s texts, re-creates a comfy sleep without lulling one into it. Matthew Lurie 

George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic
9pm, Esplanade Theatre
Possibly one of the hardest-working bands in the world – touring for six to eight months every year – George Clinton and his galactilicious band of aliens first hit the Billboard album chart with the 1970 release of Free Your Mind…And Your Ass Will Follow (whose title track was reworked by En Vogue in ’92). The song describes how salvation can be achieved through mental liberation. This 20-piece collective have beamed down from their Mothership and are invading the Esplanade; funk-soul brothers and sisters, we are not alone. 
Sabrina Lee 

Tuesday, 11 March 
Raul Midón 
7.30pm, Esplanade Concert Hall American Raul Midón, born to an Argentinian father and African- American mother, brings smooth vocals and surfer-cool guitar strumming to songs as mixed as his background. As the singer/songwriter performs behind his recent second album, A World Within a World (2007), catch hints of funk (‘Save My Life’), doo-wop (‘Ain’t Happened Yet’) and Argentine folk music (‘Tembererana’). ‘Pop’ isn’t a dirty word when it sounds like this. 
Laura Dannen 

Wednesday, 12 March
The Bird and the Bee
7.30 & 10pm, Esplanade Theatre Studio 
It’s too soon to call them the second coming of Burt Bacharach and Dionne Warwick, but Greg Kurstin and Inara George are clearly well suited to their job: the two are jazz junkies in love with the three-minute pop song. Inara, daughter of Little Feat lead singer Lowell George, has a vocal style that couldn’t be further from her father’s gutsy soul-man shtick. In fact, her dry-as-chardonnay coo always sounds exquisitely bored: ‘Would you please clap your hands?’ she sardonically asks on ‘Polite Dance Song’. ML 

Thursday, 13 March
Múm
7.30pm, Esplanade Concert Hall 
Experimental Icelandic band Múm – performing behind yet another striking album, Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy – blends electronic music with a creative quiver of instruments: strings, horns, chimes, keys, a driving percussion section and a barrage of other obscure music-makers. Expect to be soothed by hushed, textured vocals that provide a supporting layer to unique musical arrangements. Though Múm has a new core of members, the music is no less dynamic, the ambience no less ethereal. 
KS 

Fujiya & Miyagi
7.30 & 10pm, Esplanade Theatre Studio 
Don’t judge a group by its name: as it turns out, Fujiya & Miyagi are not an Asian duo, but three dudes from the hipster mecca of Brighton, England. The group, which met while riding the bench of an amateur soccer team, has an underground rock sensibility but embraces the blissful power of repetition as it switches between space-disco, sci-fi rock and pale folks’ funk rhythms. 
John Dugan 

Friday, 14 March
The Roots
7.30pm, Esplanade Concert Hall 
American hip-hop innovators The Roots are a late addition to the Mosaic line-up – so it’s kind of like Elvis announcing at the last minute that he’s coming back from the dead to perform ‘Jailhouse Rock’. It’s that exciting. ?uestlove and co’s most recent release, the darker 2006 album Game Theory, refl ects on the political state of America with heavy beats and spoken word. Expect that and more – including, perhaps, tracks from the soon-to-be-out tenth album. 
LD