The Houston-based, heavily-adored, and altogether elusive Jandek will be performing at the Menil on December 17. Jandek's last show in here town, at Rudyard's on April 5, 2009, was by all accounts and visual documents, a straight-up funk throw down, complete with bass, drum, and guitar freakouts that astounded the collected local musical braintrust assembled. Judging by the hoots and hollers on the YouTube clips, it was a stunner. Could Houston get another one of these sets from Jandek? That's really up to the man himself. Maybe he's into metal now...

If you are a student of Houston music, obscure folk and songwriting, or just a great musical sleuth, then Jandek is in your personal top ten. He has the power to entrance devotees and novices with a mere pluck of a string. We've heard stories of the man showing up at local wine bars and chatting with young musicians about their craft, handing down gifts from his mental mountain and no doubt taking notes from the youth.

See? The man knows how funk the hell out of crowd. If you saw him walking down the street you would probably think him more apt to perform a hostile take-over of a Fortune 500 company or perform a government hit.

Oh hell, Chris Gray said this in 2009, and he's a much better storyteller: