Jazz Is Dead ft. Ebo Taylor & Pat Thomas @ Fine Line—Ghanaian highlife guitarist Ebo Taylor has never toured the U.S. before, and he never will again—he’s 89 and, understandably, this is his farewell tour. So kudos to Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad and their Jazz Is Dead label/project for giving U.S. audiences a taste of what the region’s guitar bands were like before Fela reinfused it with Afro-American funk. A 2018 stroke has curtailed Taylor’s guitar playing, and his voice isn’t as powerful as it once was, but those polyrhythms are still gonna kick, and you can check out the recent album Younge and Muhammad cut with Taylor, Ebo Taylor JID022, for a taste. At 78, Pat Thomas is no kid himself, though he ranged wider than Taylor with stints in Germany and Canada. His career has been well served by the Strut label, with the compilation Coming Home an excellent entree to his sound.—Keith Harris

Juliet Farmer, Lexie Modica, Stone Ark, Spencer Douglas @ Green Room

Starlight Vinyl Night: MAKR Spins the Classics @ Icehouse

Marijuana Death Squads @ Icehouse

Swamp Twisters @ Minnesota Music Cafe

Mortiholics feat. Prairie Clamor @ Mortimer’s

Musical Wonders of the World @ Orchestra Hall

Mike Wolter and Friends @ Palmer’s

Michael Glabicki of Rusted Root with Dirk Miller @ Parkway

Sarah Jane Music School Showcase @ Pilllar Forum

Conor McRae Trio @ Schooner Tavern

Sam Blasucci and Julia Zivic @ 7th St Entry

Tyler Childers @ Target Center—If you’d told me in 2017 that Tyler Childers would be playing arenas eight years later, I’d be rightly skeptical. And if you’d told me his success was partly due to TikTok (and then explained TikTok to me, which I, as a technologically adept and forward-thinking person, would surely have understood), I’d have just shrugged my shoulders and been happy to hear that sometimes the good guys win. In some ways, Rustlin’ in the Rain, this Kentucky country traditionalist’s most recent album, is his least ambitious—for starters, its mere seven tracks clock in just under a half hour. But its concision is welcome after the three discs of Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven?, and Childers hasn’t budged an inch as he’s graduated to bigger rooms. He’s just himself, whether cutting loose on the title track, settling a Gospel verse to twang, belting a helluva “Help Me Make It Through the Night,” or getting a lil ditty called “Percheron Mules” lodged in my head. As for “In Your Love,” it would be a wonderfully tender ballad even if its video didn’t feature two male coal miners falling for each other.—Keith Harris

Jay Ray Trio @ 331 Club

Harold’s House Party on KFAI with Sarah Morris @ 331 Club

The Lil Smokies with Danno Simpson @ Turf Club

Zero Fox, Gossamer, Rock Melon @ Underground Music Venue

Molly Maher and Her Disbelievers @ White Squirrel

Lords of the Universe (Residency) with Ira Haze & the Straze, Whiskey Burn @ White Squirrel

Thursday, April 10

Papa Mbye + friends @ Amsterdam—As part of Minnesota Music Month, the Current and its Black music offshoot Carbon Sound are presenting a free show featuring the winner of Racket's first ever Picked to Click poll. Papa's music has been developing fast so I'm curious what he sounds like now, and I'm curious who his "friends" are as well.—Keith Harris

MNAKED: Amy Thompson & Mathias Saint John @ Aster Cafe

Joel Shapira @ Berlin

Prints @ Berlin

Jay Bee & the Routine @ Bunker’s

AC/DC Afterparty @ Cabooze

Kinda Fonda Wanda @ Can Can Wonderland

Grant Hart Tribute @ Cloudland—March if he hadn’t died eight years ago, aged 56, of liver cancer and Hep C. Yes, Hart was the barefoot drummer responsible for half of Hüsker Dü’s songbook, but that’s not all he was, and you can expect tonight’s performers to dig deep into his songbook, along with the Hüskers classics and Nova Mob cuts you might expect. Playing tribute tonight are Rank Strangers, Ryan Smith, False Agave, Brian Herb, Nato Coles, the What Have Yous, and Wowsville. Proceeds will benefit L.A. wildfire relief.—Keith Harris

The Dap Squad’s Red-Hot Rhythm and Soul Revival @ Crooners

Yagódy @ Dakota

Winter Rayne, the Brothers Fogarty @ Driftwood

LGBTQ+ Twin Cities Latin Dance @ Eagles 34

Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34

Matt Hansen with Steinza @ Fine Line

Alan Sparhawk & Mount Eerie @ First Avenue—On their final albums, Low splintered and reassembled their sound with no patience for their legacy, and White Roses, My God, Alan Sparhawk's first record since the death of his wife and bandmate Mimi Parker is no less forward-looking. Guitar is scarce, electronic bass lines thrum underneath, beats thud and skitter, and Sparhawk’s voice is consistently processed, often beyond comprehension, like Kid Cudi reborn as the 101st gec, mournful in a way that doesn't feel limited by autobiography. It’s a work about death as how could it not be, and also a work of survival, and its sound demands metaphors—of self-mutilation, willed ego death, or simply transformation. But it might be better to set those aside for a moment and just sit with your response to what you hear. As for Mount Eerie, well, no matter how special A Crow Looked at Me and Now Only were, only the corrosively morbid would want Phil Elvirum to sing about his late wife Geneviève forever. Then again only fans of avant-garde entropy would want a full return to those albums’ less structured predecessors. Night Palace is a happy medium, driven by dynamic shifts and clashes between clamor and tune, with winning moments like “I Saw Another Bird,” which gently undercuts the grand epiphany of “I Saw a Crow” (“So what, I saw another raven/I actually see them all the time”). Thoughtful, humble, and in thrall to electronic cacophony, Elvirum is my kind of nature mystic.—Keith Harris

Vinyl Night @ Gambit Brewing

Snapped Live Band Open Mic @ Green Room

TREEHOUSE! & Rootz Within with guest Peewee Dread @ Hook and Ladder

Simply Fusion @ Minnesota Music Cafe

Musical Wonders of the World @ Orchestra Hall

Bill Murray and His Blood Brothers @ Orpheum Theatre—Wait… what? Yes, apparently, that Bill Murray (SNL, Caddyshack, Lost In Translation, et. al.) has a rock ‘n’ roll band. (Not to be confused with the Blood Brothers, an elite Seattle hardcore act that reunited in 2024.) Murray formed his group last year with veteran musicians Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia, and together they perform covers (Dylan's “Like a Rolling Stone,” the Kinks' “Tired of Waiting,” Wilson Pickett's “Midnight Hour,” Paul Butterfield Blues Band's “Born in Chicago") with a handful of originals sprinkled in. Fans of Murray should absolutely check out his recent appearance on the New York York Times Interview podcast, in which addresses allegations of misconduct on set in addition to much funnier topics.—Jay Boller

The Front Porch Swingin’ Liquor Pigs @ Palmer’s

Edie Rae Band, Self Neglecters @ Schooner Tavern

Fust and Merce Lemon with Nona Invie @ 7th St Entry

Said Kelley, Laura Hugo, Rachel Kurtz @ 331 Club

The Newest Olympian @ Turf Club

ALLA XUL ELU @ Underground Music Venue

Salsa Brava @ Uptown VFW

AC/DC @ U.S. Bank Stadium

Jeff Wittek @ Varsity

Two Ghosts with the September Equation @ White Squirrel

Talmage Alien with LENT, Glitterpit @ White Squirrel

Connie Evingson & Patty & the Buttons @ Woman’s Club

Toilet Rats, Lazenlow, Paul Cerar @ Zhora Darling

Friday, April 11

Fever Pitch/The Long Honeymoon @ Acadia

Hey, Nothing with Worry Club @ Amsterdam

A Piano In Every Home & Turbo Pastel @ Aster Cafe

Freak of the Week @ Beast Barbecue

Bryan Nichols & Bryan Murray @ Berlin

Reverso @ Berlin

Alexis Rose @ Berlin

Nudie Nubies Burlesque @ Black Hart

Dylan Salfer @ Bunker’s

Sam Licari & the Sweet Tease, Lost Island Society, Tom Tom @ Cabooze

Neon Night: Anime Rave Takeover @ Can Can Wonderland

A Spring Evening Sound Bath @ Cedar Cultural Center

Toys That Kill, Panel, Miracle Debt @ Cloudland

Paradox @ Conga Latin Bistro

Katie Gearty with Adi Yeshaya @ Crooners

Prudence Johnson & the Halcyon Jazz Quartet @ Crooners

Joyann Parker Band @ Crooners

Nubya Garcia @ Dakota—The vast expanse opened up by Kamasi Washington’s revival of spiritual jazz has made space for artists like this young British saxophonist of Caribbean descent. Her 2020 debut, Source, introduced listeners to Garcia’s melodic flights and welcoming tone. Last fall, its follow up, Odyssey, brought in simpatico guests like Esperanza Spalding and Georgia Anne Muldrow, as well as strings from Chineke! Orchestra, to augment Garcia’s core quintet. The roving, expansive title track lives up to its name, with heady work from Joe Armon-Jones on piano driving it forward. And though there’s always a comfortable assurance to Garcia’s music, Odyssey isn’t all calm waters and gentle breezes—with drummer Sam Jones pounding out something like breakbeats, “The Seer” stirs up a genuine storm.—Keith Harris

Glass Eyed Brother, Sleepy Eye, The Conduits @ Day Block Brewing

Rainbolt Mountain Project, Earload, and Bleem's Brass Elephant @ Driftwood

Miss Shannon’s Sock Hop featuring the Tinglers @ Eagles 34

OsamaSon @ Fine Line

Ron Zuchora and Jake @ Ginkgo Coffee

Promiscuous: A 2000s Club Bangers Throwbacks Party @ Green Room

Forty Watt Bulb with Erik Koskinen @ Hook and Ladder

dj izzie p Presents: 420 Lounge with Chico Chi @ Hook and Ladder

Kenny Reichert Quartet @ Jazz Central

Benefit for Capitol Hill Music Program @ Metronome Brewing

The Good, the Bad, and the Funky @ Minnesota Music Cafe

The Pubic Missile Crisis, Virgin Whores, Wilbur, Only Tim @ Mortimer’s