T Bird & the Breaks: Big band Austin soul

(this piece was published by Planet JH Weekly)Austin, Texas nine-piece T Bird and The Breaks were one of the highlights of my South by Southwest Festival a few years back. The bread-and-butter, horn-laced dance sounds of retro soul and funk from the late ‘60s and early ‘70s (think Stax) is only one side of this band’s split personality. Add lyrical influences such as Beck and Dylan, the positivity of golden-age hip-hop, and an edge of flare that beckons a visit to the country’s “Live Music Capitol,” and this is a throwback show for the Mangy Moose as well—to an era in the mid ‘00s when bands like Vinyl, Carlos Washington & Giant People, Soulive, and Medeski Martin and Wood made regular stops to a packed house. T Bird and the Breaks will release it’s third studio album, What It Is (Harmonism), this year. T Bird & The Breaks, 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Mangy Moose in Teton Village. $10/advance, $12/day-of-show at ETix.com. MangyMoose.com.