POP & ROCK
GREAT BIG SEA Go for a sail with this Canadian troupe who’ve been successfully rock-ifying the traditional songs of their Newfoundland home with big harmonies and hard-driving energy for 17 years. 8 p.m. Aug. 20. $32.75-$48.75. South Shore Music Circus. 800-745-3000. www.ticketmaster.com MEW This is the name of the Danish art-rockers’ new album, out Aug. 25: “No More Stories Are Told Today I’m Sorry They Washed Away No More Stories the World Is Grey I’m Tired Let’s Wash Away.’’ A full album preview is streaming on the band’s MySpace page, www.myspace.com/mew. 9 p.m. Aug. 22. $15. Paradise Rock Club. 877-598-8689. www.livenation.com
B.B. KING At 83 years young the blues legend has few peers left. But the tireless King continues to tour, record, and wring beautiful music out of his beloved Lucille as if she might just offer him different answers to age-old questions. 8 p.m. Aug. 22. $54.75-$70.75. South Shore Music Circus. 800-745-3000. www.ticketmaster.com
COLLECTIVE SOUL The ’90s-spawned, rockin’ adult contemporary mainstays return to the Hub two days prior to the release of their eighth album “Collective Soul,’’ with its cover image of a rabbit, meant to symbolize a Collective rebirth. 7 p.m. Aug. 23. $24.50-$32. House Of Blues. 800-745-3000. www.ticketmaster.com SARAH RODMAN
FOLK, WORLD & COUNTRY
JESSE HARRIS It’s safe to say most people came to Jesse Harris’s music through his collaborations with Norah Jones just as she was exploding into the mainstream. But Harris, a New York singer-songwriter, has gone on to hold his own with his blend of folk and jazz styles. Saucy Somerville multi-instrumentalist Audrey Ryan opens. 8 p.m. Aug. 21. $15, $13 for members. Club Passim. 617-492-7679. www.clubpassim.comMARC ANTHONY With his high-profile marriage to Jennifer Lopez often landing him on gossip blogs, it’s all too easy to forget that Anthony is first and foremost a leading figure in salsa music. His show this weekend is the summer’s first major Latin-pop concert, setting the stage for Ricardo Arjona arriving at Agganis on Sept. 7. 7 p.m. Aug. 23. $88-$108. Agganis Arena. 800-745-3000. www.ticketmaster.com
GEORGE JONES If anyone’s worth an hourlong road trip from Boston this weekend, it’s the inimitable country icon Jones, still working hard at 77. (Apparently his days known as “No-Show Jones’’ are long behind him.) With no new album to plug, Jones will have his 50-year discography at his disposal, reminding you all over again of why he’s still the bard of heartache. 2 p.m. Aug. 23. $10-$45. Indian Ranch, 200 Gore Road, Webster. 508-943-3871. www.indianranch.com
JAMES REED
JAZZ, BLUES & CABARET
ALLEN TOUSSAINT The great New Orleans R&B producer, pianist, songwriter, and singer has lately turned his attention to jazz. In a solo performance, he celebrates “The Bright Mississippi,’’ his new album featuring the seminal compositions of Crescent City forebears Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Jelly Roll Morton, and Joe “King’’ Oliver, among others. 8 p.m. and $10 p.m. Aug. 20. $35. Scullers. 617-562-4111. www.scullersjazz.comHOUSTON PERSON The tenor saxophone master, today’s foremost upholder of the tough and tender Gene Ammons tradition, is known for his three decades as musical partner to the late, great singer Etta Jones. He and his quartet close out the 25th season of Marblehead Summer Jazz. 8 p.m. Aug. 22. $25-$27. Unitarian-Universalist Church, 28 Mugford St., Marblehead. 781-631-1528. www.marbleheadjazz.org
CINCO ELEMENTOS Five musicians with far-flung backgrounds produce some sizzlingly infectious Afro-Cuban jazz. The Elementos are saxophonist and flutist Tim Mayer, pianist Aruan Ortiz, bassist Peter Slavov, conguero Gregorio Bento, and drummer Matt Brady. 9 p.m. Aug. 22. $10. Ryles, 212 Hampshire St., Cambridge. 617-876-9330. www.rylesjazz.com NORTH RIVER BLUES FESTIVAL The 14th edition of this annual event features Mississippi-born harmonica great Charlie Musselwhite, the full-tilt tumult of Chicago’s Lil’ Ed and the Blues Imperials, as well as Johnny Hoy and the Bluefish, the Racky Thomas Band, Basic Black, and the Dave Richardson Band. Noon to 7:30 p.m. Aug. 23. $10 (includes admission to fairgrounds). Marshfield Fair, Route 3A Main St., Marshfield. 781-834-6629. www.marshfieldfair.org KEVIN LOWENTHAL
CLASSICAL
CAPE COD CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL The Boston-based Jupiter String Quartet drops by the Dennis Union Church today with Haydn’s Quartet Op. 20, No. 5; Shostakovich’s Quartet No. 4; and Dvorak’s “American’’ Quartet. Tomorrow (Aug. 21) in Wellfleet’s First Congregational Church, Maria Bachmann (violin), Geraldine Walther (viola), Amit Peled (cello), and Jonathan Feldman (piano) gather for works by Beethoven, Schumann, Smetana, and Casals as part of a tribute to the cellist Bernard Greenhouse. $32, 508-945-8060. www.capecodchambermusic.orgTANGLEWOOD Kurt Masur takes on most of the conducting for the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s final weekend at Tanglewood. Tomorrow (Aug. 21) he leads Haydn’s Symphony No. 88, Beethoven’s First Symphony, and Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25 with David Fray as soloist. Saturday it’s all Mendelssohn, with the “Italian’’ Symphony, the “Hebrides Overture’’ and the Violin Concerto with Gil Shaham. On Sunday Michael Tilson Thomas steps in to lead the traditional season-closing rendition of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. It will be preceded by Ives’s “Thanksgiving and Forefather’s Day.’’ 617-266-1200. www.tanglewood.org
BOSTON CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY The city’s chamber music scene, too, goes on a long summer hiatus and this August series at the Longy School is one of the few signs of life. Works by Haydn and Brahms frame each program, and this week also features Debussy’s Cello Sonata with Ronald Thomas (cello) and Mihae Lee (piano). Aug. 22 at 8 p.m., Longy School, 27 Garden St. in Cambridge. 617-349-0086. www.bostonchambermusic.org
BOSTON LANDMARKS ORCHESTRA The series of free performances on the Esplanade continues this week with Charles Ansbacher leading two Mozart works: the “Jupiter’’ Symphony and the “Sinfonia Concertante’’ with Mariana Green-Hill (violin) and Marcus Thompson (viola). Aug. 26, 7 p.m., Hatch Shell at the Esplanade, 617-520-2200. www.landmarksorchestra.org. JEREMY EICHLER 
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