STING WITH THE ROYAL PHILHARMONIC CONCERT ORCHESTRA It was only a matter of time before Sting went full orchestra. Lute music is, after all, a gateway drug. Enjoy all your Police and solo Sting favorites with an extra helping of brass, woodwinds, and strings. July 29, 8 p.m. Tickets: $23.50-$158.50. Comcast Center. 800-745-3000. www.livenation.com
(Theo Wargo/Wireimage)
Music: the week ahead
STING WITH THE ROYAL PHILHARMONIC CONCERT ORCHESTRA It was only a matter of time before Sting went full orchestra. Lute music is, after all, a gateway drug. Enjoy all your Police and solo Sting favorites with an extra helping of brass, woodwinds, and strings. July 29, 8 p.m. Tickets: $23.50-$158.50. Comcast Center. 800-745-3000. www.livenation.com
(Theo Wargo/Wireimage)
POP & ROCK
LILITH Although Sarah McLachlan’s musical caravan has been beset with some woes — canceled shows, the disappearance of Carly Simon and Kelly Clarkson from the Boston date — there is still plenty to recommend about the distaff fest. Beth Orton has stepped into one of the vacant slots, and the remaining mainstage lineup — including names like Cat Power and Tegan and Sara — is strong. Early arrivals should check out the local female supergroup Winterbloom. July 30, 3 p.m. Tickets: $39-$108.50. BLACK KEYS It never ceases to amaze us how two guys are able to summon such a racket and how sublime that racket is. “Brothers,’’ the duo’s new album, captures the gritty, psych-tinged blues rockers at their best. July 31, 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $35.
KEANE Keening pop is the order of the evening as sweet and sassy songbird Ingrid Michaelson and widescreen singer Fran Healy of Travis set the stage for the soaring vocals of Tom Chaplin. The always energetic British trio is touring behind its funky new EP, “Night Train.’’ Aug. 3, 7 p.m. Tickets: $29.50-$44.50. Bank of America Pavilion. 800-745-3000. www.livenation.com
SARAH RODMAN
FOLK, WORLD & COUNTRY
BASSEKOU KOUYATE & NGONI BA Last year when Sub Pop, an influential indie label in Seattle, released “I Speak Fula,’’ Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba’s sophomore album, it was a testament to the band’s vast appeal to mainstream audiences. Bassekou is a master of the ngoni, a stringed instrument from West Africa that’s considered a precursor to the American banjo. July 29, 8 p.m. Tickets: $17. 617-776-2004, www.johnnyds.comNEW ENGLAND AMERICANA SUMMER SERIES Heartened by a sold-out, three-night run back in February, the New England Americana Festival has branched out with a summer series. Tonight’s lineup showcases local artists who mine Americana’s various strains, from alt-country (the Autumn Hollow Band, Jeff Byrd & the Dirty Finch) to folk-pop (Jenee Halstead, the Bees Knees) to the blues (Brendan Hogan). July 29, 7 p.m. Tickets: $10. Hard Rock Cafe, 22 Clinton St., Boston. www.newenglandamericanafestival.com
JERRY RIVERA He’s a salsa superstar well beyond his native Puerto Rico, signed to a major label when he was just 14 before going on to a string of hits and breaking hearts with his “cara de niño’’ (baby face). Rivera doesn’t perform in New England often, which makes his free show this weekend all that more irresistible. July 31, 7 p.m. Free. City Hall Plaza. www.berklee.edu/events/summer
BOMBA ESTÉREO Hip-hop goes global and straight to the dance floor in the hands of this Colombian band that infuses the genre with electronica, dub, lounge, and Latin rhythms such as cumbia and champeta. Touring behind last year’s “Blow Up,’’ Bomba Estéreo makes its Boston debut on Sunday, with accordion-wielding singer-songwriter Gregorio Uribe opening. Aug. 1, 6:30 p.m. Tickets: $20. Middle East Downstairs. 617-864-3278, www.ticketmaster.com JAMES REED
JAZZ, BLUES & CABARET
POPA CHUBBY The electric guitarist and gruff-voiced singer brings plenty of rock ’n’ roll ’tude and a touch of hip-hop to his urban blues, while his six-string solos can venture into Jimi Hendrix and jazz territory. July 30-31, 8 and 10 p.m. Chan’s, 267 Main St., Woonsocket, R.I. Tickets: $12-$20. 401-765-1900, www.chanseggrollsandjazz.comKEVIN HARRIS PROJECT Kentucky-born and Boston-based, the soulful pianist blends the influences of Thelonious Monk, Keith Jarrett, and Danilo Perez with a touch of Chopin for a fresh take on the jazz piano trio verities. Saturday, he appears with bassist Keala Kaumeheiwa and drummer Steve Langone. July 31, 7:30 p.m. Regattabar. Tickets: $20. 617-661-5000, www.regattabarjazz.com
RON REID & THE SUNSTEEL SEXTET/JAZZ ROBERTSON QUINTET Berklee College of Music and ParkArts present their annual Jazz at the Fort concert, featuring Trinidad and Tobago native and Berklee associate professor Ron Reid and his group Sunsteel, which creates a carnival of Caribbean folk, calypso, Afro-Cuban, and jazz music. Drum prodigy Jazz Robertson and her band will open. Aug. 1, 5 p.m. Highland Park, Fort Avenue, Roxbury. Free. 617-747-6057, www.berklee.edu/events/summer
NEVILLE DICKIE The English pianist is among the greatest living exponents of Harlem stride — the stompingly elegant 1920s piano style epitomized by James P. Johnson, Fats Waller, and Willie “The Lion’’ Smith. He also plays a mean boogie-woogie. Aug. 3, 7 p.m. Tickets: $15. Sherborn Inn, 33 N. Main St., Sherborn. 508-655-9521, www.sherborninn.com KEVIN LOWENTHAL
CLASSICAL
BOSTON MIDSUMMER OPERA This year Midsummer is presenting a double bill: Leonard Bernstein’s one-act “Trouble in Tahiti’’ and Lee Hoiby’s “Bon Appetit,’’ a musical adaptation of a famous Julia Child television broadcast from 1961. Scott Edmiston and David Green direct; singers include Sandra Piques Eddy, Stephen Salters, and Judy Kaye. Susan Davenny Wyner conducts. July 30 and Aug. 1, $30-$50, Tsai Performance Center, Boston University, 685 Commonwealth Ave., 617-227-0442, www.bostonmidsummeropera.org. THE DISTANT SOUND Franz Schreker’s remarkable forgotten opera from 1910 receives its first staged production in this country. Thaddeus Strassberger directs the staging, with a cast headed by tenor Mathias Schulz and soprano Yamina Maamar. Leon Botstein conducts the American Symphony Orchestra. July 30-Aug. 6, Sosnoff Theater, Fisher Center, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., 845-758-7900, www.fishercenter.bard.edu/summerscape. BANG ON A CAN This stalwart new-music collective takes up residence at MASS MoCA every summer, runs a seminar, and showcases faculty and student work in public performances. A highlight is the Berkshires edition of the Bang on a Can Marathon, which this year features a typically eclectic spread of works over six hours, from new-music classics by Arvo Part and Steve Reich to more recent works by Christine Southworth and Tom Johnson. 4 p.m., July 31. $22. MASS MoCA, North Adams. 413-662-2111. www.massmoca.org TANGLEWOOD Friday night, the thoughtful Russian pianist Kirill Gerstein takes on Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 on a Charles Dutoit-led program that also includes Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet’’ Suite. Saturday, Juanjo Mena conducts the reprise of a Levine-conceived Berg/Mahler/Strauss program, with soprano Hei-Kyung Hong as the soloist in Strauss’s “Four Last Songs.’’ Sunday afternoon, Dutoit returns with Yo-Yo Ma for Elgar’s Cello Concerto and other works. And Sunday night, Christoph von Dohnányi leads Tanglewood Music Center students in Strauss’s “Ariadne auf Naxos,’’ directed by Ira Siff. (“Ariadne’’ repeats Aug. 2 and 4, with a TMC conducting fellow replacing Dohnányi on Aug. 4.) 617-266-1200. www.tanglewood.org.
JEREMY EICHLER
Correction: Because of a reporting error, an earlier version of this story gave the wrong date for a Black Keys performance. The band plays Bank of America Pavilion on Saturday.
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