The Big Gigs: Our critics' music picks

Whatever you think of Michael Jackson the Man and Michael Jackson the Headline, can you really resist the joy of Michael Jackson the Musician? That's why some of the Twin Cities' finest R&B musicians are taking part in "A Tribute to the Life & Music of the King of Pop." Participants include Stokley Williams and Homer O'Dell of Mint Condition, Julius Collins of Greazy Meal, Jellybean Johnson of the Time and the Routine, JD and Fred Steele, Ray Covington, members of New Congress and more. The set list will range from the Jackson 5 on up to the end. (9:30 p.m. today, Cabooze. 18 & older. $10-$15.) (C.R.)

The Progressive Nation Tour is out to confirm that prog rock is alive and well. Musos will marvel at the gee-whiz wizardry of headlining Dream Theater, showcasing material from its new "Black Clouds and Silver Linings," which has four pieces longer than 12 minutes. My money is on Zappa Plays Zappa, with Dweezil Zappa pouring passion into his daddy Frank's avant-garde jazz-rock notions. Opening are the hard-edged Scale the Summit and classic-rock revivalists Big Elf. (6 p.m. today, Orpheum Theatre, $47.50-$62.50.) (J.B.)

With one foot in folk and the other in pop, Dar Williams fills her songs with heart and humanity -- and adds humor with between-song conversation. Here's a request for her reading of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb." Opening are local singer-songwriter darling Haley Bonar, making her first homecoming appearance since moving to Oregon, and the rootsy Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers, whose loosey goosey but earnest "The Bear" comes out Sept. 8. (7:30 p.m. today, Minnesota Zoo, $24.) (J.B.)

Maia Sharp reminds listeners of her prodigious talents as a pop songwriter on the new CD "Echo," a melodious blast produced by the great Don Was, anchored by master drummer Jim Keltner and featuring a cool cameo by Bonnie Raitt (on the possibly hit-bound "Death by Perfection"). Sharp wrote or co-wrote every song, and there are hooks galore to go with smart, intriguing lyrics. Would you expect anything less from a songwriter who's been covered by Raitt, the Dixie Chicks, Lisa Loeb, Kim Richey, Edwin McCain, even Cher? She's a multi-instrumentalist (piano, guitar, sax) and an old hand at performing in the solo and duo format, so Sharp should be able to pull off her pop gems sans full band, or Hollywood engineer. (8 p.m. today, Ginkgo Coffeehouse, Dinner seating, 6:15 p.m.; dessert-only seating, 7 p.m. $38.50-$47.50.) (T.S.)

From the same environmentally friendly music and food providers who bring you Bastille Day at Barbette and the Bryant-Lake Bowl Block Parties, the Red Stag Block Party serves as Minneapolis' last big outdoor bash of the summer -- and its best, talent-wise. The weighty lineup includes live hip-hop stalwarts Heiruspecs, the innovative ladies of soul/rock/jazz Black Blondie, ever-burgeoning Americana favorites Romantica, rustic and mesmerizing neo-folk couple Roma di Luna, horn-blown garage-rock band Chooglin' and piano-riding showman Mark Mallman; the latter two just issued electrifying new CDs. Call this the exclamation point to a pretty terrific summer. (4-10:30 p.m. Sat., Red Stag Supper Club. All ages. Free.) (C.R.)

A band that somehow tied Minneapolis's Marcy Open Elementary School into local rock 'n' roll lore, "Sex and Candy" hitmakers Marcy Playground are back with their first album in almost five years, "Leaving Wonderland ... in a Fit of Rage." The disc features a slightly rootsier sound but still offers the quirky style of the group's heyday, and the song "Gin & Money" might rival the old hit in offering dangerous guilty pleasures. Frontman John Wozniak -- a Minneapolis native and Marcy Open alum -- has been living in New York since before he crashed the charts in 1997. Stealing Seconds opens. (9 p.m. Sat., Fine Line. 18 & older. $15-$18.) (C.R.)

Palmer's Bar's eighth annual Palmfest soiree -- if you can apply such a fancy word to such an unfancy bar --is probably the summer's best representation of the raw, eclectic, traditional Americana sounds that define the West Bank music scene past and present. Folk stalwarts Bill Hinkley & Judy Larson will kick it off, banjo- and fiddle-accompanied punk band the Knotwells finish it off, and in between look for sets (in order) by Willie Murphy, HUD, Chooglin', the Liquor Pigs, Spider John Koerner, the Book of Right On, Mike Gunther, the F--- Knights and a cross-generational piano duel with Cornbread Harris and Cadillac Kolstad. (Noon Sat., Palmer's, 500 Cedar Av. S., Mpls. Free.) (C.R.)

Winding up a year that brought them to Coachella and found them on screen in a new documentary, Cloud Cult is going into early winter hibernation this year -- frontman Craig Minowa and his painter wife, Connie, are expecting a child in October. The other-worldly, string-fueled psychedelic folk-rock troupe is going out in grand style with another welcome mini-fest on the Cabooze's outdoor stage also featuring swirly electronic-rock quartet Halloween, Alaska, and madcap Eau Claire trio the Daredevil Christopher Wright. (5 p.m. Sun., Cabooze Plaza. 18 & older. $20-$22.) (C.R.)

New York seems to frame singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega's best work, from her hits ("Luka," "Tom's Diner") to her latest CD, 2007's musically adventurous and emotionally powerful "Beauty & Crime." (7 p.m. Mon.-Wed., Dakota Jazz Club, $45.) (J.B.)

From the brassy choral celebration of the opening "Everything Is Gonna Be Alright" to the sweeping orchestral soul of "Healing," their new album "The 3rd Gift: Story, Song & Spirit" reflects the joy, positivity and diversity of the Sounds of Blackness. The mighty Minnesota choir even offers a dreamy take on their '80s hit "Optimistic." The Grammy-winning group celebrates with a free concert at the Mall of America. (6:30 p.m. Tue., Best Buy Rotunda.) (J.B.)

The Bon Taj Roulet Tour promises roots in overdrive to open the State Fair. Taj Mahal's explorations of roots music will demonstrate why he's an itinerant professor of ethnomusicology. Bonnie Raitt will season her pop, rock and R&B with extra emotion in her first Twin Cities appearance since her brother, longtime Minnesota sound man Steve Raitt, died in April. Read an interview with Raitt and Mahal in Sunday's Variety A+E section. (7:30 p.m. Thu., State Fair Grandstand, $36.50.) (J.B.)

Three weeks after Mos Def played First Ave, his two former cohorts in the short-lived, highly regarded group Black Star, Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek, are coming to the club under the name Reflection Eternal, which was a duo they started before Black Star in their native Cincinnati. They've only released one album together, 2000's "Train of Thought," but they're working on a new one. Expect to hear a preview of it, as well as tracks from Kweli's mostly under-heralded solo albums. Detroit hip-hop duo Slum Village will open the show with a tribute to their late partners J. Dilla and Baatin. Slaughterhouse and Supernatural also perform. (6 p.m. Sat., First Avenue. 18 & older. $30.) (C.R.)

De La Soul's landmark debut, "Three Feet High and Rising" -- which gave us the hit "Me, Myself & I" and remains one of rap's crowning achievements -- is 20 years old this year, and the trio is rising again to mark its anniversary. High school cohorts Posdnuos, Trugoy and Maseo are revisiting old favorites on tour, but they also just issued their first new material in three years, "Are You In?," a 44-minute single track issued in conjunction with the Nike Original Run series on iTunes. Still doing things unconventionally, in other words. Kenan Bell opens. (7 p.m. Thu., First Avenue. 18 & older. $20.) (C.R.)

Before moving to New York at month's end, trumpeter extraordinaire Kelly Rossum fires a parting shot -- a new CD of duets with prodigious drummer Phil Hey. Rather humorously titled "Conflict!" it's a live recording that pares post-bop jazz down to the essentials of beauty and the beat. It offers abundant grooving (check out Hey's "Marse"), explorations of space (would Anthony Newley still recognize his "Pure Imagination"?) and echoes and extensions of hallowed modern jazz heroes (Monk's "Epistrophy," Ornette's "The Sphinx," Don Cherry's truly "Brilliant Action"). They'll play a bon voyage gig with duo sets followed by Hey's trio and finally a collaborative quartet set. (9 p.m. today-Sat., Artists' Quarter. $12.) (T.S.)

The Cabooze has become the go-to country bar. The two-day A Little Country in the City outdoor fest kicks off tonight with Eric Church, who brings grit, noise and bravado to his Southern-rock tinged country. Nothing captures this Carolina cowboy more effectively than "Lotta Boots Left to Fill," about how Johnny Cash would have whupped all the wannabes who name-check him in their songs. Saturday's headliner is wild man Trent Tomlinson, a bandana-topped dude who works an audience with the heart and spirit of a rocker but the lyrical sensibilities of a good ole boy. (6 p.m. today & 4 p.m. Sat., Cabooze Plaza, $20-$22 today, $23-$25 Sat., $38 for both.) (J.B.)

Equally adept at jump blues, swing jazz or retooling Tin Pan Alley classics, guitar master Duke Robillard has recorded an album of exotic oldies -- "Tales From the Tiki Lounge," featuring singer Sunny Crownover, with whom he moonlights in New England as one of Sunny & Her Joy Boys. Duke's also been busy as a producer, helming a forthcoming CD by Joe Louis Walker, reuniting with his old Roomful of Blues pal Al Basile and working with "Braille blues daddy" Bryan Lee. (8 p.m. Sat., Dakota Jazz Club. $20.) (T.S.)

Contributors: Staff critics Chris Riemenschneider and Jon Bream and freelancer Tom Surowicz.