Music: The big gigs this week

POP/ROCK Clawhammer banjo ace and Edina High grad Abigail Washburn has left behind the Appalachian sounds of her old group, Uncle Earl, for a progressive stew of Eastern-tinged, jazz-flavored, gospel-stirred, rock-savvy, folk-knowing Americana on this year's stellar "City of Refuge," her haunting, harmony-kissed third solo album. Highly recommended. (8 p.m. Fri., Cedar Cultural Center, $21-$23.) Jon Bream

Pink Martini of Portland, Ore., throws swing, cinematic sounds, lounge jazz, classical and various styles of world music (tango, chanson, salsa, bossa nova) into a blender to come up with music that's as intoxicating as the ensemble's moniker. This weekend, the blend will be enriched by mixing in the Minnesota Orchestra. (8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., Orchestra Hall, $22-$65.) Bream

Some bands have the unique ability to project conflicting styles. Perhaps for Cults, disguising somber ballads as whimsically sweet pop songs helps the Manhattan-based duo get over their post-adolescent angst. This dichotomy makes for an interesting listen on "Go Outside," a shimmering pop song which opens with a spoken sample of cult leader Jim Jones. With its debut album due in May, the duo may have an appropriately bright and melancholy future. (9 p.m. Fri., 7th St. Entry, $10. 18 & older.) Michael Rietmulder

With the best synth-pop album of the year, Cut Copy makes its debut as a First Avenue headliner on its way to next weekend's Coachella music fest. The airy, atmospheric Australian trio has built a cult following among dance-music lovers but its third record, "Zonoscope," finds it operating on a much more ambitious, accessible level with traces of everyone from Animal Collective to Abba and some surprisingly rich, orchestrated melodies. This really could be the Aussies' year. DFA-affiliated New York duo Holy Ghost! opens. (7 p.m. Sat., First Avenue. 18 & older. $20-$22.) Chris Riemenschneider

Through a project in which he connects schoolchildren with elders from their communities, veteran Twin Cities folkie Larry Long has written songs with students, depicting their various family histories. Long's new album, "Don't Stand Still," collects some of those tunes as well as a few originals about his own family. Musically, the album is strikingly eclectic, with tastes of New Orleans jazz, reggae, gospel, bluegrassy country, folk and Tibetan music. Long has a homey folkie's voice, and his sincerity, spirit and heart consistently shine through. For his album release party, he will be joined by some of the album participants, including singers Robert Robinson, J.D. Steele and Tonia Hughes and bassist Billy Peterson. (8 p.m. Sat., Loring Theater, $20-$30.) Bream

The term "post-punk" gets batted around without much thought these days, but the genre's true genealogy traces back to Wire. Since releasing its seminal album "Pink Flag" in 1977, the English band has taken the punk ethos into new territories. Last winter's "Red Barked Tree" was another critically lauded entry in the band's rich discography. Wire's influence can't be understated. (8 p.m. Sun., First Avenue, $18-$20, 18 & older.) Jay Boller

Recording "The Long Surrender" in Los Angeles with hip producer Joe Henry, the Cincinnati husband-wife duo Over the Rhine found a precious intimacy. On their 12th album, Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiler offer torch songs, quiet Americana and a taste of Tom Waits lite. Lucinda Williams adds some ache to "Undamned," but most memorable is Bergquist's sweetly seductive "There's a Bluebird in My Heart," which would make Norah Jones jealous. Opening is Lucy Wainwright Roche, talented daughter of Suzzy Roche and Loudon Wainwright. (7:30 p.m. Sun., Cedar, $25-$28.) Bream

Goth-metal also-rans for three previous albums, New Jersey's My Chemical Romance rocked the world by blending emo-rock and Broadway with a Queen-meets-Green Day panache on 2006's "Black Parade." Last year, Gerard Way & Co. followed up with a theatrical, sci-fi concept album with an anti-corporate theme, "Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys." Translating the music to the stage will be challenging. (6 p.m. Tue., First Avenue. Sold out.) Bream

Destroyer shows no signs of losing inspiration on its ninth album, "Kaputt." Citing such influences as 1980s Miles Davis, "Last Tango in Paris" and the pointlessness of writing songs for today, frontman Dan Bejar (New Pornographers) takes listeners on a sultry nine-song journey into his poetic mind. With delicate brush strokes, Bejar paints his cryptic lyrics across a canvas of shoegazey chamber-pop songs, poignantly tackling subjects from the personal to political. The Canadian songwriter's equivocal storytelling and fluid synthesizers create a world washed over by dreamy, electronic folk. (7:30 p.m. Tue., Cedar, $12-$15.) Rietmulder

It's the ultimate all-ages show at Minnesota's most celebrated club: Cody Simpson, 14, the Justin Bieber of Australia; Greyson Chance, 13, the Ellen DeGeneres protégé who is as talented as he is eager to please, and Camryn, 11, who has a YouTube video featuring Jaleel White, aka Urkel, and hired the same high-profile Hollywood publicity firm as Steve Martin, Mötley Crüe and the Grammys. (7 p.m. Wed., First Avenue, $15.) Bream

One of the best of Boston's many fine, Westerberg-copping fuzz-pop bands of the late-'80s/early-'90s, Buffalo Tom kicked up a few minor radio hits ("Taillights Fade," "Soda Jerk"), then spent most of the '00s on hiatus. The original lineup -- led by redheaded, red-faced howler Bill Janovitz -- is back with a straight-ahead, classic-sounding album, "Skins." Local power trio Story of the Sea opens. (9 p.m. Wed., Varsity Theater. 18 & older. $16.) Riemenschneider

R&B To many young people, P. Diddy is a celebrity, a mogul involved with stylish clothes, premium vodka, movies ("Get Him to the Greek") and reality TV ("Making the Band"). But he's long been a hip-hop force behind such hitmakers as Mary J. Blige, the Notorious B.I.G. and Jennifer Lopez, and even a few hits of his own, including this year's infectious "Coming Home," with his new trio, Diddy Dirty Money. DDM's album "Last Train to Paris" earned Diddy some of the best reviews of his career. He hits the road with his new trio (but not Skylar Grey) for a rare tour that begins in Minneapolis. (10 p.m. Wed., Epic, $40-$90.) Bream

Longtime Artists' Quarter favorite David Hazeltine is mainstream jazz piano as its best. Since leaving his native Milwaukee for New York City in 1992, he's recorded more than two dozen CDs of bebop, hard bop, blues and bossa, plus deftly retooled pop tunes. (9 p.m. Fri-Sat., Artists' Quarter. $15.) Tom Surowicz

The JazzMN Big Band may have come up with its corniest concert title yet, "Sizzling T-bone Entree." Yes, guest star Andy Martin is a hot trombonist from L.A. and his solos are meaty -- we get it. Martin has vast big-band experience, having worked with Bill Holman, Gordon Goodwin, Quincy Jones and Louie Bellson. Also appearing for a few guest vocals: Arne Fogel. (7:30 p.m. Sat., Hopkins High School Performing Arts Center. $17-$29.) Surowicz

Pianist/composer Brad Mehldau is one of the best-documented artists in modern jazz, with a well that never seems to run dry and a supportive record company (Nonesuch) that keeps archiving his new projects and often riveting concerts. His latest offering is a two-CD-plus-DVD solo album, "Live in Marciac." Loaded with interesting cover tunes, including Nick Drake ("Things Behind the Sun"), the Beatles ("Martha My Dear"), Nirvana ("Lithium"), a little funky Bobby Timmons ("Dat Dere") and the beautiful near-standard "Lilac Wine," it proves Mehldau doesn't need a band to enthrall, though he'll have his exceptional trio mates -- bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard -- this weekend. (7 & 9 p.m. Sun., Dakota Jazz Club. $30-$40.) SurowiczLocal singing star Connie Evingson kicks off a Jungle Theater series with a somewhat surprising guest: Minnesota Orchestra trumpeter Charles Lazarus. A former Dallas Brass and Canadian Brass member, with two CDs of original material, Lazarus enjoys playing -- in his own words -- "lounge/exotica and funk-fired jazz." He'll also help Evingson out on classics by Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie and Antonio Carlos Jobim. (4 & 7:30 p.m. Sun., Jungle Theater. $25.) Surowicz

Jay Leno's longtime chuckling sidekick on "The Tonight Show," guitarist Kevin Eubanks will show his underexposed guitar chops in blues, ballads and post-fusion jazz. Promoting last year's tasty "Zen Food" (his first album in 16 years), Eubanks will be joined by drummer Marvin "Smitty" Smith from "The Tonight Show," bassist Rene Camacho and saxophonist Bill Pierce. Read an interview with Eubanks in Saturday's Variety section. (7 & 9 p.m. Mon.-Tue. Dakota, $30-$45.) Bream

NEW MUSIC Zeitgeist is in the midst of an Early Music Festival, but "early music" is a relative term. The ensemble is celebrating someone it considers "the grandfather of our American new music tradition," 20th-century American composer Henry Cowell. Friday night's concert is preceded by Shannon Wettstein and friends playing Cowell piano music and Saturday's by Alyssa Anderson singing Cowell's songs. (7:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat., with preceding concert at 6 p.m. Studio Z, 275 E.4th St., Suite 200, St. Paul. $10. zeitgeistnewmusic.org.) And Sunday afternoon, international scholar and Cowell expert Joel Sachs joins Zeitgeist for conversation, music and celebration. (2 p.m. Sun., $5.) William Randall Beard

BLUESA tireless promoter of blues and roots music, KFAI DJ Harold Tremblay is at it again with the "Blues Harmonica Extravaganza 2011," starring harp hero R.J. Mischo and veteran bassist Jon Ross (Fabulous Thunderbirds, James Cotton, Duke Robillard), plus a hometown contingent that includes Curtis Blake, Bruce McCabe, Jeremy Johnson, Big George Jackson, Everett Smithson, Javier Matos, Dan Schwalbe and "Hurricane Harold" Tremblay, of course. (4-9 p.m. Sun., Wilebski's.) Surowicz

A powerhouse belter who can be both sultry and subtle, Shemekia Copeland had a lot of interesting collaborators on her most recent CD, "Never Going Back" -- Marc Ribot, John Medeski, the Wood Brothers, Kofi Burbridge -- and her road band is pretty hot, too, featuring excellent keyboardist Jeremy Baum and Cyndi Lauper's old Blue Angel lead guitarist, Arthur Neilson. (7:30 p.m. Thu., Wilebski's. $15.) Surowicz

CLASSICALGerman filmmaker Bastian Clevé spent 25 years making his "Sounds of Eternity" -- 27 short films created to accompany the 27 movements of J.S. Bach's monumental Mass in B minor. This weekend, VocalEssence performs the mass in concert with a screening of Clevé's meditation on existence and being. Philip Brunelle leads the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers, the Lyra Baroque Orchestra and soloists Maria Jette, Lisa Drew, Brian Link, James Taylor and Aaron Larson. (8 p.m. Fri.-Sat. .St. Olaf Catholic Church, 215 S. 8th St., Mpls., $10-$40, vocalessence.org) Beard

Sunday brings the usual surfeit of auditory pleasures. Consider the Colonial Chamber Series' season finale, with soprano Maria Jette, violinist Gina DiBello, organist Charles Forsberg and conductors Henry Charles Smith and Mark Stover in works by Bach, Haydn, Mozart and Schubert. (2 p.m. Sun., Colonial Church, 6200 Colonial Way, Edina. $17.50; students free. colonialchamberseries.org.) Or for something a little more outré, try Quartet New Generation, a foursome of Austro-German women who play more than 20 different recorders in a probing program of music new and old. (2 p.m. Sun., Southern Theater. $20.) Larry Fuchsberg