Born deaf and blind in the 19th century, a young girl is pitied by a family with no idea how to care for her. Believed to be a lost cause, she grows feral with no way to communicate her emotions. That all changes when a determined young teacher finds a way to give the girl the power of language—bringing her out of the darkness and into the real world. It’s an inspirational American story of persistence, patience and human connection—based on the life of Helen Keller and her teacher, Annie Sullivan. The play runs through March 11. (SP)

The Miracle Worker
Fri, 8pm, $44
Theatre on San Pedro Square, San Jose

Shuteye Unison, alumni of the legendary indie group The Rum Diary, take the stage at San Pedro Square Market for the third installment of Daydream Nation this Saturday. The Rum Diary’s balance between heart-on-the-sleeve emo and tongue-in-cheek prog-rock set them apart in the crowded landscape of indie rock in the early 2000s. Shuteye Unison continue the Rum Diary’s penchant for redefining genres, but give it an even stranger spin.

Their debut record, Our Future Selves, is a hand-crafted collection of oddball, technically impressive and stylistically diverse tunes. They mix punk and dance grooves with indie-pop piano ballads, ’70s space-rock jams and of course atmospheric guitar rock. Every song seems to be referencing a different style of music, several in most cases. Their one commonality: They walk a weird line of sounding both intimate and larger than life, like an amphitheater rock band listened to on headphones.

Headlining the show, are the relatively new local band Colorscout, who play fun jangle-pop. They have keyboards, an acoustic guitar, an electric bass and drums and a female singer. There are elements of folk and ’80s new wave, and Colorscout are already turning heads in the local scene.

Also on the bill are Cartoon Bar Fight and Curious Quail, two more folk/80s-pop influenced local bands.

COLORSCOUT and SHUTEYE UNISON headline Daydream Nation #3 at San Pedro Square Market in San Jose on Saturday, June 30 at 7pm; free.

San Jose jazz/fusion drummer Wally Schnalle is celebrating the release of his latest album Friday at the Theatre on San Pedro Square. The album, Wally Schnalle Live at Yoshi’s, is a top-notch example of up-tempo jazz fusion recorded in Oakland.

Schnalle is joined by other talented Bay Area jazz musicians—Dann Zinn on Tenor Sax, Charles McNeal on Alto Sax, Jeff Massanari on Guitar, Murray Low on Keys and Jason Muscat on bass. Anyone who attended the live recording last November and also signed the guest list will have the added bonus of seeing their name in the CD liner notes.

A sample from the album:

Schnalle is a bit of a local unsung legend. He’s made music for more than 20 years and has recorded eight albums, including this new release. The added energy for this first live release adds a popping, vibrant flare—something hard to reproduce in a studio, especially with jazz.

Schnalle not only composes all the material, he is known for always experimenting with the style and craft of drumming. He has experimented with various noises and electronics, including attaching samplers and filters to his drum kit. He takes elements of traditional jazz, funk, rock ‘n’ roll and 70s fusion and assembles a band that are equally versed in these genres. Together they make high-paced, technically complex, modernized jazz-fusion.

Wally Schnalle’s show at the Theatre on San Pedro Square show starts at 8pm. Tickets are $15.

Mountain View’s Dogcatcher will play at San Pedro Square Saturday, April 28, the first show in a monthly series called Daydream Nation that will last until August, and comes out of Bill O’Brien (of Save Alternative)’s efforts to showcase exceptional emerging Bay Area and San Jose artists.

It’s surprising to how much intense personal upheaval went into the gentle, jazz-inspired indie folk sounds of Dogcatcher’s debut record, KILR. 32-year old singer Andrew Heine wrote the record during a several-year stint as a bohemian artist in San Diego, which was a 180-degree change from his prior life. This dramatic shift in his life’s direction was a result of re-examining his life after going to Iraq as a Marine.

“I was a completely different person before. I went abroad completely conservative, a George Bush Republican. I came back a straight hippie,” Heine says.

The quiet intensity of KILR presents itself after several listens. Heine does not emote painful screams or make dramatic statements about Iraq, rather Heine exhibits the kind of self-reflection on the album where everything in his life is being looked at through a new lens.

Before joining the Marines, Heine got a degree in engineering and was planning to get a good paying job in the engineering field, while playing bass in jazz bands as a hobby. He was told this was the smart thing to do. The war gave him first-hand experience to not take everything told to him at face value and to look at things from his own perspective.

“We were told that we are the good guys and they’re the bad guys. We’re not necessarily 100% the good guy. The Iraqi are definitely not all the bad guy. Everyone’s the same. We’re all just people. That’s something I came back from Iraq with,” Heine says.