The Big Gigs: Benefits for Haiti and music education

BENEFITS Folk and blues great Peter Lang has put together a cool Haiti benefit in support of Friends of the Orphans, which runs an orphans home there as well as the country's only free pediatric hospital. The excellent lineup is long on guitar wizards, including Lang, Pat Donohue and Phil Heywood, plus Peter Ostroushko, the Daisy Dillman Band, Nikki & the RueMates, Dan Newton, Maud Hixson, and Pat Frederick & Voodoo Patsy. (2 p.m. Sun., Wellstone Center, 179 Robie St. E., St. Paul. $50.) (T.S.)

It's time once again for the annual "Bands for Band," a terrific all-day benefit to keep public school music education jazzed up. There'll be funky family fun time with Razz and Maria & the Joys of Jello, then rockin' sounds from Big Surf, jazz gems courtesy of Shrewd Mammals and peerless R&B from John Beach. Three middle school jazz bands also strut their stuff before the show concludes with the "Van Morrison Review," featuring the Rich Lewis Band and a Van-full of guest horns and singers. (3-9 p.m. Sat., Minneapolis Eagles Club, $10 adults, $5 children, $25 families.) (T.S.)

POP/ROCK Consider it the Wailin' Jennys 3.0, with the addition of another "Prairie Home Companion" favorite: Heather Masse, an alto singer/upright bassist from Maine. The Canadian folkie/country/bluegrass trio, augmented by fiddler Jeremy Penner, is promoting its 2009 CD "Live at the Mauch Chunk Opera House." (8 p.m. Fri., the O'Shaughnessy. $31.) (J.B.)

Wilco's unforgettable '07 outdoor show in Duluth was in near-winter conditions -- in early September! -- so playing an indoor gig there in February should be a piece of cake for the boys from the south shores of Lake Michigan. The shape-shifting quintet enraptured crowds at its two Minnesota gigs last year, so you can bet plenty of fans will make the drive north. Openers Califone -- rootsy experimentalists from Chicago -- merit an early arrival. (8 p.m. Fri., Duluth Entertainment Convention Center. $28.) (C.R.)

On a month-long tour with the septet Classic Tab, jam-band god Trey Anastasio is doing material from his several solo discs as well as Phish fodder. In 2009 he released an orchestral CD with vocals, "Time Turns Elastic," but devoted much of the year to Phish's first gigs since 2004 and its album "Joy." (8 p.m. Sat., State Theatre, $39.) (J.B.)

After remaking the Lemonheads last year for the covers album "Varshons," Evan Dando is back to playing solo acoustic gigs. The rehabilitated alterna-hero can be extra charming when he plays it loose like this. Opening act the Candles is the solo project of Josh Lattanzi, a sometime Lemonhead and Albert Hammond Jr. sideman. (9 p.m. Sat., 400 Bar. $15. ) (C.R.)

Last summer at the Dakota, Rickie Lee Jones proved to be a fearless, in-the-moment performer as she essayed songs from her then-unreleased "Balm in Gilead" CD. This time, will she favor the intimacy of "Gilead," the boho jazz that made her famous, or something new? It's always an adventure worth taking. (7:30 p.m. Mon., Fitzgerald Theater, $34-$42.) (J.B.)

Pierced Arrows is a scrappy new trio led by Oregon punk vet Fred Cole and his wife, Toody, who played together in Dead Moon and count Eddie Vedder among their biggest fans. Their CD "Descending Shadows" shows traces of the Minutemen and 13th Floor Elevators. (9 p.m. Wed., 7th Street Entry. $9.) (C.R.)

El Perro Del Mar means "sea dog" in Spanish but it's the name of a one-woman band from Sweden. Sarah Assbring's third CD, "Love Is Not Pop," is sweet, sad and mesmerizingly atmospheric. Opening is Sweden's Taken by Trees, featuring Victoria Bergsman, who has sung with Peter Bjorn & John and recorded the dreamy and droning 2009 CD "East of Eden" in Pakistan. (7:30 p.m. Tue., Cedar Cultural Center, $12-$15.) (J.B.)

Atlanta alt-metal stalwarts Sevendust, consistently one of the best live acts during the heyday of Ozzfest and X Fest, are touring small clubs to preview their eighth album, "Cold Day Memory," due in April. Texas quartet Drowning Pool opens with Digital Summer and Down From Up. (8:30 p.m. Tue., the Rock, Maplewood. All ages. $18-$23.) (C.R.)

One more sign that Justin Townes Earle is not just a younger version of his famous father, Steve: He recently made GQ magazine's list of 25 best dressed men. The younger Earle knows how to dress up a song, too, as proven by last year's disc "Midnight at the Movies." He's touring with songstress Dawn Landes, with whom he just issued a sweet new duet, "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind." Opener Joe Pug is another alt-country troubadour gaining a buzz out of Chicago with his debut album, "Messenger." (9 p.m. Thu., Turf Club. 21 & older. $12-$14.) (C.R.)

Portugal. The Man is finally outgrowing the tag "that band from Sarah Palin's city." The psychedelic-soul-rock quintet from Wasilla, Alaska, is out previewing its seventh album, "American Ghetto," a hasty follow-up to last year's breakthrough "The Satanic Satanist," whose title was as odd as its unlikely but charming mashup of Maroon 5 and Animal Collective. (9 p.m. Thu., Varsity Theater. 18 & older. $13-$15.) (C.R.)

BLUES After working with the likes of Howlin' Wolf, Jimmy Reed and Magic Sam, bluesy soul man Syl Johnson scored in the 1960s with the dance-floor novelty "Come On, Sock It to Me" and the pointed "Is It Because I'm Black," and in the 1970s as a labelmate of Al Green with "Take Me to the River." In the 1990s, the Wu-Tang Clan and other rappers sampled his songs, including "Different Strokes." Recent reviews suggest he remains a roof-raising singer and guitarist. (8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., Wilebski's Blues Saloon.) (J.B.)

B.B. King and Buddy Guy are a dream doubleheader of Rock Hall of Famers. These days in concert, King spends more time telling jokes than letting his guitar Lucille talk, but Guy -- once proclaimed "the best guitar player alive" by Eric Clapton -- has never been short on showmanship. (8 p.m. Sat., Orpheum, $58.50-$128.50.) (J.B.)

Blues singer Shemekia Copeland expands her horizons on her recent CD "Never Going Back." Backed by guitarists Oliver Wood and Marc Ribot and members of the Derek Trucks Band, Col. Bruce Hampton's band and Medeski, Martin & Wood, she goes for a lean but feisty sound. Some tunes are social commentary, some are blasts at ex-lovers, others are celebrations of optimism. (7 & 9:30 p.m. Wed., Dakota, $18-$25.) (J.B.)

KIDS MUSIC Justin Roberts is one of the singers most responsible for the booming "indie kids music scene," feeding into Gen-X parents who won't put up with purple dinosaurs or screechy chipmunks. He and his Not Ready for Naptime Players -- best band name in kids rock! -- make sweet folk-rock that can still be hokey, but the nerd value is part of the humor. (11 a.m. Sun., Cedar Cultural Center. $15. Free for kids under 2.) (C.R.)

COUNTRY Underappreciated country vet John Anderson, best known for his 1983 classic "Swingin' " and his 1992 comeback with "Seminole Wind" and "Straight Tequila Night," is back in the groove on 2007's John Rich-produced "Easy Money" and last year's dialed-down but well-crafted "Bigger Hands," featuring the splendid "Cold Coffee and Hot Beer." (8:30 p.m. Sat., Medina Entertainment Center, $22-$37.) (J.B.)

CLASSICAL Pianist Garrick Ohlsson makes a much-anticipated return to the Minnesota Orchestra. The first American to win Poland's International Chopin Competition, he plays the composer's quintessentially romantic Piano Concerto No. 2. Also, Osmo Vänskä will lead his first Minnesota performance of Mozart's masterwork Symphony No. 40 and the late musicologist Michael Steinberg's arrangement of Beethoven's "Grosse Fuge." (8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., Orchestra Hall. $22-$84.) (W.R.B.)

JAZZ Just shy of 80, piano legend Ahmad Jamal ("Poinciana") remains an energized, restless, compelling bandleader in his prime, crisscrossing the globe and enthralling audiences from several generations. (7 & 9:30 p.m. Sun.-Tue., Dakota Jazz Club. $25-$45.) (T.S.)

WORLD For the 10th straight year, guitarist, vocalist and Brazil nut Robert Everest is mounting his giant "Carnival Brasileiro." Everest's band Beira Mar Brasil will be joined by the percussion ensemble Batucada do Norte, guest singer Dandara (direct from Bahia to the tundra!) and a troupe of samba dancers. (8 p.m. Fri., Fine Line. $15-$20.) (T.S.)

Also celebrating Brazil's Carnaval, in an intimate jazzy way, stellar bilingual singer Lucia Newell gets together with her Sambanova bandmates Joan Griffith (guitar) and Laura Caviani (piano) to show off Rio hits and original tunes from a forthcoming CD, and to present the bar supergroup Alma Brasileira and Friends, featuring recorder player Clea Galhano, plus jazz heavies Gordy Johnson (bass) and Gary Gauger (drums). (7 p.m. Sun., Artists' Quarter. $10.) (T.S.)