Big Gigs, Feb. 5-11: Fat Tuesday parties, Martha & the Vandellas, Ben Lubeck, Au Pair, more

She was a heyday Motown star, a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and even a Detroit City Council member (2005-09). And Martha Reeves is still the leader of Martha & the Vandellas. Actually, the Vandellas are her sisters, Lois (on board since the late '60s) and Delphine (since 1980). In her return engagement at the Dakota, the still soulful Reeves, 74, and her sisters will have people partying to "Heat Wave," "Nowhere to Run," "Jimmy Mack" and "Dancing in the Streets." (7 & 9 p.m. Fri.-Sat., Dakota, $30-$60.) Jon Bream

"Black Beehive," Big Head Todd & the Monsters' 2014 album, showed that the Colorado vets of "Bittersweet" renown have found a comfortable spot in the intersection of blues and the kind of adult album rock that Cities 97 used to play. A listen to "Live at Red Rocks 2015" suggests that these new songs feel more lived-in live, especially the Dylanesque rocker "Josephina" and the rumbling boogie "Hey Delila." Opening is another Twin Cities favorite, memoirist/singer-songwriter/Soul Coughing alum Mike Doughty. (8 p.m. Fri., First Avenue, $32.50-$35.) Bream

Three kindred local singer/songwriters, Tina Schlieske, Katy Vernon and Sarah Morris, will team up at two unique non-downtown venues for Wine, Women & Song, featuring intimate, individual sets with minimal accompaniment. Schlieske is the undeniable star, given her powerful pipes and years with Tina & the B-Sides, but the ukulele-plucking British transplant Vernon and bluegrass/alt-twang-flavored Morris each recently issued well-received albums. (8 p.m. Fri., Le Musique Room at St. Michael Cinema, $23.50; 8 p.m. Sat., Parkway Theater, $15.) Chris Riemenschneider

Intocable is one of the most popular Tex-Mex bands of the past 20 years, a conjunto sextet formed in Zapata, Texas, that blends the accordion-driven, polka-inflected Tejano and Norteño folk styles with North American rock and pop. Led by accordionist-vocalist Ricardo Muñoz, and backed by a pair of 12-string bajo sextos for rhythmic support, Intocable has sold out the national auditorium in Mexico City six straight nights. (9 p.m. Fri., Myth, $40.) Britt Robson

Despite their lack of banjo and songs about death and mountains, the Sawtooth Brothers are one of the younger local string bands that veer more toward traditional bluegrass, with ample fiddle and mandolin providing the twang. The quartet — two sets of brothers — offer playful picking bouts around warm love songs and topical ditties on their new Kickstarter-funded album, "One More Flight," which they're promoting with help from the Gentlemen's Anti-Temperance League. (8:30 p.m. Fri., Fine Line, $10-$15.) Riemenschneider

The notion of a live trap band may seem counterintuitive, but Toronto trio Keys n Krates does indeed lace all of its concerts with nothing but drums, keys, turntables and live samples, creating an immediacy not usually found in electronic dance music. Together since 2008, drummer Adam Tune, keyboardist David Matisse and Jr. Flo on the tables are touring behind a strong new EP, "Midnite Mass," which has spawned the trap hits "U Already Know," "I Know You" and "Save Me." Expect some hip-hop-oriented Top 40 samples to make their way through the mix. (8 p.m. Fri., Skyway, $25-$30.) Robson

After eight albums and 15 years of touring mostly by herself, Minneapolis' coffeehouse-folk stalwart Ellis got some pretty sizable help with her elegant new record, "The Guest House." The personal and relentlessly hopeful collection — named after a Rumi poem and inspired by death, motherhood and (legal!) marriage — includes string arrangements by big-dog composer Rob Mathes, who has co-helmed Sting's orchestral albums. She recorded it with local producer Kevin Bowe and New Jersey's Ben Wisch (Marc Cohn). Her release party will include piano accompaniment by Radoslav Lorković, whom she met when they were guests on "A Prairie Home Companion," plus Vicky Emerson, Desdamona, and more. (8 p.m. Sat., Cedar Cultural Center, all ages, $15-$20.) Riemenschneider

The so-called "post-rock" genre actually sounds like psychedelia for geeky polymaths, suffused with crescendos and slow-building arpeggios. Massachusetts ensemble Caspian has become a persistent hope for the future of post-rock (post-post-rock?) with creative loops mixed into a maelstrom of guitars and drums. The exquisite timing, texture and dynamic range of Caspian's tunes is evident on last September's "Dust and Disquiet," which sustains the momentum of the well-received "The Waking Season," from 2012, and soldiers on despite the death of bassist Chris Friedrich. (9 p.m. Sat., Triple Rock, $15.) Robson

While his new Jayhawks record awaits an April release, frontman Gary Louris is playing some shows behind a duo album he released in November under the moniker Au Pair, a collaboration with North Carolina musician Django Haskins (of the Old Ceremony). The two met at one of the Big Star "Third" tribute concerts and proceeded to work up a batch of experimentally poppy and, yep, Big Starry tunes such as the Current-rotating single "In Every Window." Their shows so far have featured most of their tunes off the record "One-Armed Candy Bear," plus a few cool covers and maybe one Jayhawks song. (9 p.m. Sat., Turf Club, $20.) Riemenschneider

It's been a long time coming for Montreal's instrumental noise-rock troupe Godspeed You! Black Emperor, which went on hiatus in the latter half of the '00s and then skipped Minnesota on subsequent tours. In fact, the last time we saw some of its members was backing Vic Chesnutt at the Cedar a month before his death in 2009. Since then, the nine-member sonic and visual army — which counts its film projectionist as a band member — won the Polaris Music Prize for its stunning 2012 album, "Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!" and recently dropped a four-song, 41-minute follow-up, "Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress." Opening act Xylouris White is a duo with Cretan lute player George Xylouris and cultish songwriter Jim White. (8:30 p.m. Thu., First Avenue, $25.) Riemenschneider

Farewell Milwaukee frontman Ben Lubeck didn't make a solo album just to get away from his band — who are doing fine, and have their own record in the works. No, the Minneapolis-based Americana tunesmith went the solo route to churn out a far more personal LP, "Rented Rooms," largely inspired by his dad and the transformation of becoming a father himself. Songs such as "Morning After" and "Come on Mama" wrap an intimate, warm sonic vibe around Lubeck's tender voice with guitar tones by Jake Hanson, Guster's Luke Reynolds and others. The obvious comparison would be Ryan Adams' more downbeat albums, but there are also hints of Damien Rice's dramatic folk and the Pines' golden ambience. Lubeck is hosting a release show ahead of the Feb. 26 drop date with Gabriel Douglas's Silverback Colony and Duluth rocker Mary Bue. (8 p.m. Thu., Turf Club, $10-$12.) Riemenschneider

Beatrice Martin, better known as Coeur de Pirate, is a coquettish, tattooed, bilingual singer and pianist from Montreal. After breaking through with a YouTube video seven years ago, she hit the charts in France and Canada mixing moody pop with cabaret-oriented chanson. After taking time out to have a child, she scored a second hit and followed it last year with "Roses," her first English-singing disc. Though not extraordinary in any one facet, her voice, songs and carriage are greater than the sum of their parts. (7:30 p.m. Thu., Cedar, $18-$20.) Robson

The Twin Cities' own worthy entrants in the second-line tradition, the Jack Brass Band just put out a spirited gospel album, "For Your Soul," as a counterpart to last year's fun R&B/funk grinder "For Your Body." The nonet is making the Mardi Gras rounds starting with an afternoon crawfish boil at St. Paul's new lakeside eatery (3-5 p.m. Sat., Como Dockside, $40-$45). Then they return to their annual Fat Tuesday blowout downtown, where the Abita beer is always an authentic bonus. (9 p.m. Tue., Amsterdam Bar & Hall, $10-$12, or $25-$30 with crawfish.) Riemenschneider

It has been more than a quarter-century since guitarist John Scofield and saxophonist Joe Lovano teamed up on some of Scofield's first albums for the Blue Note label, an association that propelled Lovano into view as one of the pre-eminent tenors of contemporary jazz. The John Scofield & Joe Lovano Quartet retains deftly swinging drummer Bill Stewart from that band, with bassist Ben Street rounding out the ensemble. But it is the fearless, versatile mastery of the leaders that is the draw here. (7 & 9 p.m. Mon.-Tue., Dakota, $30-$45.) Robson

The Walker's free in-gallery music series, Sound Horizons, kicks off with a wrinkly bang this year thanks to solo performances by experimental guitarist Mary Halvorson. A protégée of knotty saxophonist Anthony Braxton, she has participated in a bevy of adventurous ensembles over the past decade and released her first solo disc, "Meltframe," last September. Use of the delay pedal is her marvelous forte, although slide and reverb also are prominent in her mix as she gently shreds and otherwise reveals new facets of tunes by everyone from Duke Ellington to Carla Bley and Ornette Coleman. (6, 7 & 8 p.m. Thu., Walker Gallery 6, free.) Robson

The moniker of the Mack Avenue Superband does not exaggerate. The core trio of premiere bassist Christian McBride, featuring prodigious young pianist Christian Sands and sturdy veteran drummer Carl Allen, is one of the best in jazz. Throw in the sage, stalwart vibraphonist Gary Burton, trumpete Sean Jones and saxophonist Tia Fuller, and you've got six Mack Avenue recording artists all capable of headlining their own gig. In fact, the least renowned member, Sands, may be the most exciting. (7 & 9 p.m. Thu., Dakota, $35-$50.) Robson

Many classical masterpieces are rarely heard live, being judged too obscure or "difficult" for regular box-office consumption. Enter the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra's Chamber Music Series. Its latest concert— including a flute trio, string quartet, violin duo and piano quartet — has works by Hungarian modernist Endre Szervánsky, his erstwhile pupil György Kurtág, and Toru Takemitsu. Fauré's magnificent Piano Quartet No. 1 crowns a program that's unmissable for chamber music addicts. (8 p.m. Fri., Sundin Music Hall, Hamline University; 2 p.m. Sun., St. Paul Academy; $5-$18, 651-291-1144 orthespco.org) Terry Blain