The Big Gigs: 10 best concerts to see in Twin Cities this week
Highlights for Sept. 12-18 include Avril Lavigne, Samara Joy, Andre Cymone, Goose, Paul Weller, Buena Vista Orchestra and Cactus Blossoms.
1. Buena Vista Orchestra: The Buena Vista Social Club was formed in 1996 by a group of veteran Cuban musicians, produced by American guitarist Ry Cooder. They made a remarkable eponymous album and an equally acclaimed documentary with director Wim Wenders. In 2017, a second documentary was released, long after many integral musicians died. The ensemble’s original trombonist, Jesus “Aguaje” Ramos, is leading the Buena Vista Orchestra, which includes original BVSC members “Betun” Luis Mariano Valiente Marin (percussion), Emilio Senon Morales Ruiz (piano) and Fabían Garcia (bass). In June, Ramos’ orchestra released “Greatest Recorded Performances, Vol 2,” showcasing material that will be featured in concert. (8 p.m. Uptown Theater, 2900 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls., $60-$210, ticketmaster.com)
2. Avril Lavigne: Between Olivia Rodrigo covering “Complicated” and Machine Gun Kelly taking her out on tour in recent years, the Canadian pop-punk hitmaker is earning a new generation of fans even younger than she was when she first went platinum at age 19. Twenty years later, she’s emphasizing her veteran status by putting out a new greatest-hits collection and promoting it with a headlining tour, playing her many other hits including “Sk8ter Boi,” “Girlfriend” and “What the Hell.” She has fellow ’00s-era Canuck pop-punkers Simple Plan opening. (7 p.m. the Armory, 500 S. 6th St., resale tickets only at press time, armorymn.com)
Also: One of the Chicks’ favorite writers and one of Robert Plant’s best former collaborators, Patty Griffin kicks off a sold-out two-night stand in an unusually intimate venue for her sizable fanbase, with Chris Kosa for an opener (8 p.m. Thu. & Fri., the Dakota, sold out); cofounder Jeff Hanna leads the long-lived folk/pop/country Nitty Gritty Dirt Band for “Fishin’ in the Dark” on its farewell tour (7:30 p.m. Ledge Amphitheater, Waite Park, $39-$310); the final show in this summer’s Lowertown Sounds series features the jazzy Twin Cities lounge trio the New Standards and soulful singer/songwriter Lamaar (6 p.m. Mears Park, free).
Friday, Sept. 13
3. The Cactus Blossoms: The more varied and adventurous their band gets from record to record, the more Page Burkum’s and Jack Torrey’s sibling harmonies stand out as their one unsinkable, attention-grabbing, God-given trait. That’s especially apparent on their fourth Cactus Blossoms full-length LP, “Every Time I Think About You,” which blends in tinges of Byrds-like cosmic twang and Rockpile/Nick Lowe-esque stylish Brit rock with their retro-country foundation to great effect. It also boasts two of their most heart-attacking ballads yet in the title track and “Go On.” Those should sound especially gorgeous in the ornate space chosen for their hometown release party. Humbird opens. (8 p.m. Fitzgerald Theater, 10 E. Exchange St., St. Paul, $35, axs.com)
4. Andre Cymone: She was a “neighborhood mom” and a social worker at the Ruth Hawkins YMCA, where she started Bernadette’s, a club for teens, and later at the Minneapolis Urban League Street Academy. The late Bernadette Anderson was a community force for decades, raising his six children of her own as well as neighborhood kids, including Prince Rogers Nelson. For a time, he stayed in her house at 1244 Russell Av. N., with her son Andre. Those two musicians and others practiced in the basement. The street where she lived will be officially renamed Bernadette Anderson Way, with speeches from Mayor Jacob Frey, Attorney General Keith Ellison and others as well as a performance by Anderson’s son, Andre Cymone, and friends including Sue Ann Carwell, David Eiland, Dr. Fink, Pepe Willie, Pat Lacy and Sonny Thompson. (3 – 8 p.m. 1244 Russell Av. N., Mpls., free)
5. St. Paul Chamber Orchestra: As the SPCO’s musicians and management continue to negotiate a new contract to replace the one that expired this summer, the orchestra opens its season in the company of German violist and SPCO artistic partner Tabea Zimmermann, one of the world’s masters of her instrument. She’ll join violinist Steven Copes for a Mozart Sinfonia Concertante, and lead the orchestra in more Mozart, Sergei Prokofiev’s “Classical” Symphony and a work by 20th-century Polish composer Grazyna Bacewicz. (7 p.m. Fri. 7 Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ordway Concert Hall, 345 Washington St., St. Paul, $13-$61, students and children free, thespco.org.)
Also: After bringing the mothership back to town last September for a well-received Uptown Theater gig, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer George Clinton and his remade Parliament-Funkadelic crew are playing a casino gig out of town (8 p.m. Treasure Island Casino Showroom, $60); the third annual tribute to Alex Chilton’s Big Star will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the “Radio City” album with a local cast including Scott Wooldridge, Chris “Little Man” Perricelli, Dan Israel and Ben Glaros (8 p.m. Hook & Ladder Theater, $18-$24); fun Washington, D.C. rockers Ted Leo and the Pharmacists are back (8 p.m. Fine Line, $25-$55); the Cabooze is celebrating its reopening under new ownership all weekend starting with the Twin Cities’ hip-hop-infused Afrobeat star Obi Original and his band the Black Atlantics with openers Miloe (9:30 p.m., free).
Saturday, Sept. 14
6. Samara Joy: Last year, Joy captured the Grammy for best new artist, only the second jazz figure to do so (Esperanza Spalding was the other). Next month, the prodigiously talented 24-year-old vocalist will drop her second album for Verve, “Portrait,” a strikingly adventurous collection that finds her interpreting some standards, per usual, as well as penning lyrics for music by the late great Charles Mingus and Barry Harris. This material, which the triple Grammy winner has been playing on tour with her band for months, expands her horizons in a delectably organic way. The old soul jazz singer, who grew up on vintage R&B and gospel in New York City before discovering jazz in college, will make her overdue Twin Cities debut. (7:30 p.m. Ordway, 345 Washington St., St. Paul, $45-$115, ordway.org)
7. Goose: All signs are pointing to these Connecticut groovers becoming the next big American jam band — including indicators from the members of Dead & Co. and Phish themselves, each of whom have joined the quintet at its shows and recruited it as an opening act. Just a decade since its inception, the band proved to be arguably more cohesive and harmonious in the studio than either of those two veteran acts, too, with 2022′s surprisingly catchy and harmonious breakout LP “Dripfield,” which it just followed last month with a concert album, “Live at the Fox Theatre.” So there’s a chance non-jammers might dig them, too. Of course, it’s playing a two-set “evening with” show on tour with no opener. (8 p.m. the Armory, 500 S. 6th St., Mpls., $46, ticketmaster.com)
8. Moor Mother: Composer, performer and poet Camae Ayewa is one of the most exciting, imaginative and hard-hitting artists in contemporary music, and she’s created what might be her magnum opus (at least thus far) with “The Great Bailout.” Commissioned by England’s Tusk Festival, it focuses upon the economics and inhumanity of the international slave trade and has expanded outward from the sounds found on this spring’s grippingly powerful album of the same name. Performed by an eight-piece ensemble, it receives its U.S. premiere at the Walker. (7:30 p.m. McGuire Theater, Walker Art Center, 725 Vineland Place, Mpls., $15-$35, walkerart.org.)
Also: Georgian ethereal alt-twanger Matthew Hauk returns with his first Phosphorescent album in six years, another acclaimed and gorgeous collection titled “Revelator” (8 p.m. Fine Line, $30-$55, axs.com); after impressing for years with his Frank Sinatra show, Andrew Walesch, a young man with a crooner’s old soul, takes on Tony Bennett (7 p.m. the Dakota, $35-$40); the reunited pop harmonizers Crowded House, remembered for “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” play the penultimate show of the season at the Ledge Amphitheater, touting its new album, “Gravity Stairs” (7 p.m., $40-$400); the 23rd annual Selby Jazz Fest will showcase a parade of local musical luminaries including Jamecia Bennett, LA Buckner & Big Homie, Ashley DuBose, Capri Big Band, Selby Avenue Brass Band and Walker/West Academy All-Stars (11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. the intersection of Selby and Milton, St. Paul, free, selbyavejazzfest.com); off-the-grid rocker Goth Babe, who used to live in a camper, dropped his debut full length, “Lola,” this year (7:30 p.m. Palace Theatre, $39.50 and up); blue-eyed soul singer Allen Stone returns with rising Current-endorsed Americana songbird Cassandra Lewis (8 p.m. First Avenue, $35-$42); the Cabooze reopening celebrations continue with the Belfast Cowboys and Dan Israel (9 p.m., free).
Sunday, Sept. 15
After a thrilling Twin Cities debut in April at the Amsterdam Bar and viral fame with their cover of the dance-pop song “Murder on the Dancefloor,” young and hooky Australian fuzz-rock duo Royel Otis is taking on the Mainroom in support of its debut album (8 p.m. First Ave, $25); veteran jazzy R&B singer/pianist Oleta Adams, best known for the Gulf War anthem “Get Here,” makes her Twin Cities farewell appearance (7 p.m. the Dakota, $70-$85); longtime Twin Cities trombonist Dave Graf, who has played with Natalie Cole, Tony Bennett and Aretha Franklin as well as various local ensembles, steps up front to lead his own group, featuring vocalist Jennifer Grimm (5 p.m. Crooners, $25-$35).
Monday, Sept. 16
9. Paul Weller: While his heirs apparent in British mod-rock Oasis are about to cash in big time on a reunion, the man who sang “That’s Entertainment” with the Jam in the ‘70s and “My Ever Changing Moods” with the Style Council in the ‘80s has been steadily issuing solo albums since the ‘90s. His tours have been a little more sporadic, though, so there’s a sizable buzz behind his first Twin Cities date in seven years. He’s playing songs from his excellent, new, Bowie-flavored album “66″ as well as classics going back to his former bands. Irish newcomer George Houston opens. (8 p.m. First Avenue, 701 1st Av. N., Mpls., $43 and up, axs.com)
10. Dave Holland New Quartet: In 1968, the bassist received a call from Miles Davis, who’d seen him play at Ronnie Scott’s in London, to join the trumpeter’s group. Holland has gone on to an esteemed career, as a sideman and a leader. He’s played with a who’s who in jazz, including Betty Carter, Stan Getz, Jack DeJohnette, Anthony Braxton, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Chick Corea and Miles. A three-time Grammy winner and a 2017 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, the British-born and U.S.-based bassist brings his New Quartet, featuring saxophonist Jaleel Shaw, pianist Kris Davis and drummer Nasheet Waits. (6:30 & 8:30 p.m. the Dakota, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., $40-$45 dakotacooks.com)
Tuesday, Sept. 17
Hard-blowing harp man John Popper leads enduring jam band Blues Traveler, supporting last year’s “Traveler’s Soul,” with award-winning blues-soul singing saxophonist Vanessa Collier opening (8 p.m. First Avenue, $40 and up); U.K. piano-propelled rockers Keane celebrate the 20th anniversary of their debut “Hopes and Fears” (8 p.m. Palace Theatre, $49.50-$99.50); Brooklyn’s Charly Bliss brings the bubbly power pop of their new “Forever,” their first album in five years (8 p.m. Turf Club, $20-$25).
Wednesday, Sept. 18
Hip-hop’s first Latino hitmakers and crossover stars into the early-‘90s alt-rock world, Los Angeles trio Cypress Hill of “Insane in the Brain” fame has put out a couple cool new records this decade and is going strong on tour with a high-wired trifecta lineup featuring Yelawolf and Souls of Mischief (6:30 p.m. the Ledge Amphitheater, Waite Park, $46-$125); L.A. alt-pop singer Remi Wolf visits St. Paul after her “Cinderella” ascended to No. 1 on the Current’s Chart Show (8 p.m. Palace Theatre, $35-$55) Bon Iver collaborators who’ve made music together for two decades, drummer/singer S. Carey and trumpeter John Raymond step out as Shadowlands (7 p.m. Berlin, $30); Swedish folk group Vasen makes its regular visit to the Cedar Cultural Center (7:30 p.m., $30-$35); David Kushner’s distinctive baritone propelled the 2023 hit “Daylight” (7:30 p.m. Fillmore, $48 and up); acclaimed Chicago trumpeter Marquis Hill’s expansive sounds embrace jazz, hip-hop, R&B, Chicago house and neo-soul (7 p.m. the Dakota, $30-$40).
Classical music critic Rob Hubbard contributed to this column.
Review: Conductor Richard Egarr leads SPCO musicians in fun and exciting ‘Brandenburg’ Concertos
The orchestra performs five of J.S. Bach’s six ‘Brandenburg’ Concertos this weekend.