Bad Santas
With Holidazzle long gone from the Nicollet Mall and Macy's perhaps following suit, at least one holiday tradition continues along downtown Minneapolis' under-construction strip. The beloved and bedeviling Bad Plus always winds down the year playing four nights at the Dakota. This year, the trio played at the Newport and London jazz festivals and dozens of club gigs following the release of its most acclaimed album to date, "It's Hard," featuring jazzy reinterpretations of modern classics by TV on the Radio, Peter Gabriel and Prince.CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER
7 & 9 p.m. Thu.-Fri. & Dec. 25 & 26, the Dakota, Mpls., $40-$45, dakotacooks.com
Joseph Vass created "The Soul of Gershwin," exploring the Jewish musical roots of George Gershwin and finding lots of song spots for a chanteuse, a griot, a cantor and a klezmer band. This show, originally staged in 2011, causes theatergoers to listen differently to such classics as "Summertime," "It Ain't Necessarily So" and "I Got Rhythm." Maud Hixson, Geoffrey Jones and Maggie Burton are the singers, and Michael Paul Levin plays the great American composer.
GRAYDON ROYCE
Ends Dec. 31, Park Square Theatre, St. Paul, $40-$60, parksquaretheatre.org
Nachito Herrera, Minnesota's great Cuban-American pianist, has found some simpatico world-class players who can match his chops, creativity and energy. The Universals are bassist Cheikh Ndoye from Senegal, drummer Raul Pineda from Cuba and violinist Karen Briggs and saxophonist Mike Phillips from the U.S. Their emotional first gig ever was on the night the Cuba embassy opened in Washington, D.C., in 2015. This will be their first gig since Fidel Castro died.
JON BREAM
7 p.m. Tue.-Wed., Dakota, Mpls., $35-$45, dakotacooks.com