PAUL BANKS

8 p.m. • Varsity Theater • 18-plus • $15-$17

After four albums with his dark and stormy band Interpol, frontman Banks has hit the road behind his first official solo release (not counting a 2009 effort under a pseudonym, Julian Plenti). On "Banks," the baritone-voiced singer lightens things up musically, with hints of Radiohead and way less guitar bombast. But he's as heavy and maudlin as ever lyrically, with doses of New York's post-9/11 gloom and end-days paranoia. What might really bum fans out is that he hasn't been playing Interpol tunes on tour. Oklahoma trio the Neighbourhood opens. CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO

7 p.m. • Dakota Jazz Club • $40

The latest album by bassist, singer, songwriter and genre-hopper Ndegeocello, "Pour Une Âme Souveraine" consists of fresh, quirky and debatable takes on high priestess Nina Simone's catalog, both original tunes and such landmark covers as "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" and "Feelin' Good." Ambitious as it is, Ndegeocello doesn't have Simone's presence or power -- who ever did? -- and the album may be better received by a generation that knows Simone more from reputation than ouevre. TOM SUROWICZ