The List: July 22-28, 2010 

Critics' Choices and other notable shows: Terry Adams Rock & Roll Quartet, Juana Molina, Struck by Lightning, David Dondero, Natacha Atlas, and more

By Renaldo Migaldi, Peter Margasak, Steve Langendorf, Bill Meyer and Miles Raymer

monday26

BOMBA ESTEREO This excellent combo, led by guitarist, bassist, and programmer Simon Mejia, emerged in 2005 from the electronica scene in Bogota, Colombia, and developed a frothy, propulsive take on cumbia and champeta (a kind of stew of local, African, and Caribbean styles). Mejia had been working toward this sound for some time, and Bomba Estereo lead singer Li Saumet turned out to be the key that made everything click. On the group's 2008 album Blow Up (released in the States last year by Nacional) she combines aggressive swagger and punchy precision, her delivery informed by the rhythms of dancehall as well as the soulful fervor of traditional Afro-Colombian music (on "Juana" she seems to be channeling the brilliant Toto la Momposina). And onstage she's a ball of energy, her vocal presence matched by her physical charisma. Bomba Estereo's lively sense of fun can carry their music even when it's at its least original—they recently covered Technotronic's "Pump Up the Jam" for a silly Levis promotion without embarrassing themselves. For the Millennium Park concert the band opens for the wonderful old-school New York gospel shouter Naomi Shelton and her group the Gospel Queens. 6:30 PM, Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, Randolph and Michigan, 312-742-1168. Also 9 PM, Green Dolphin Street, 2200 N. Ashland, 773-620-7909, $15, $10 in advance, 18+. —Peter Margasak