Flashback to yours truly circa fifth grade wearing a Pilgrim outfit and singing a little tune called “No One Could Kill the Turkey.” Ouch to both of those things, but happy Thanksgiving just the same.

To help you digest, I’ve got lots of shows to tell you about. However, let me first gleefully wish Mark Curdo at WCYY (94.3 FM) best of luck as he kicks off his annual Mark-a-thon at noon Tuesday. He won’t stop until Friday night. It’s an all-request on-air marathon fundraiser for the Center for Grieving Children and, for a donation, Mark will play anything — and when I say anything, I mean ANYTHING. I’m to blame for “Flashdance (What a Feeling)” among other gems last year, and I fully intend to call in some other painful retro anthems this year.

With your radio on and your wallet open, tune in and call in. Trust me on this, Mark-a-thon’s the stuff that crazy radio dreams are made of.

“Learning for Miles, Vol 1” is the name of The Kenya Hall Band’s debut release, and as sure as I am lounging here on my living-room couch, I can tell you it is a soul-funk sensation of a record. I’m so jazzed about it that I’ll be writing a full review that you can check out in two weeks.

But for the love of all that is groove-a-liscious, don’t wait ’til then to get wise about Kenya Hall. Slide on over to www.kenyahallband.com and listen to “I’m Still Dreamin,” “Can We Go Back” and “What You Want from Me,” and tell me you don’t completely dig what you hear. Help Kenya and her freakin’ awesome band celebrate the occasion by showing up at the Big Easy tomorrow night.

Kenya Hall Band CD-release show with Lady Zen and The Soul Project. 9:30 p.m. Friday. The Big Easy, 55 Market St., Portland. Ages 21 and older. $7 at the door.

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November is apparently a big Beatles-themed month and not just because the Fab Four’s songs are at long last available on iTunes. I mean it on a much more local level.

There’s a John Lennon event at One Longfellow Square and a Beatles night at Port City. I’ll start with the former.

Rex Fowler of Aztec Two-Step and Tom Dean of Devonsquare are the leaders of a seven-piece ensemble called The John Lennon Song Project. Their CD, “Imagined,” was released in July, and it contains 16 reinterpretations of Lennon/Paul McCartney-penned songs along with Lennon’s “Imagine” and Fowler’s tribute, “Johnny’s an Angel.”

Hear the JLSP’s take on songs including “Rain,” “Help!” and “Across the Universe.” Hear clips in advance at www. johnlennonsongproject.com.

The John Lennon Song Project. 8 p.m. Saturday. One Longfellow Square, 181 State St., Portland. All ages. $27 in advance; $30 day of the show. 761-1575; onelongfellowsquare.com

Meanwhile, a few blocks down at Port City Music Hall, all four of the fabulous ones will be celebrated. Like Thanksgiving, Beatles night is an annual event, and this year you’ll hear “Abbey Road” played in its entirety by Spencer Albee (Space Versus Speed, As Fast As), Sean Morin (The Cambiata), Jon Roods (Rustic Overtones, Paranoid Social Club), and Charles Gagne and Dominic Lavoie (both of The Lucid).

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They’ll get by with a little help from their friends Kallie Ciechomski, Emily Thomas and Angela Doxsey. The lot of them will be singing and playing their way through all of “Abbey Road,” which means you’ll hear “Come Together,” “Octopus’s Garden,” and my fave, “Here Comes the Sun.”

Opening the show will be Jeff Beam (The Stereo Flys) and Kurt Baker (The Leftovers), aka Beam/Baker, and they’ll be performing “A Hard Day’s Night.”

Spencer Albee & Friends: 8th Annual Beatles Night. 8 p.m. Saturday. Port City Music Hall, 504 Congress St., Portland. Ages 21 and older. $12 in advance; $15 at the door; $25 VIP seated. Tickets at Bull Moose locations and www.portcitymusichall.com.

Aimsel Ponti is a Portland freelance writer. Contact her at:

aimselponti@yahoo.com

 


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