Picks of the week
Rock picks
Tonight: Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Doobie Brothers play at the Tweeter Center; Wheat celebrates a CD release upstairs at the Middle East with Scamper and Ben + Vesper; The Strawbs and Orpheus Reborn perform at the Regent Theatre; Taxpayer and Emergency Music top the bill at TT's; Jake Brennan performs at the First Act guitar studio. Tomorrow: Cesaria Evora performs at Berklee Performance Center; Cowboy Junkies play with the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall (also Sunday). Toni Lynn Washington is at Johnny D's; the Fray performs at the Tweeter Center with opening acts OK Go and Mae; the Slip plays the Middle East, with Bobby Bare Jr. and Fully Celebrated; Robby Roadsteamer rolls into the Paradise; Three Day Threshold celebrates a CD release at the Cambridge Elks Club, with guests Jeff Conley and the Tin Can Tele, Girls Guns & Glory, Sam Reid & the Riot Act, the Hansen Sisters, Flagboy, and the Boston Babydolls.
Jazz picks
Tonight: Rebecca Parris, greater Boston's own jazz diva, is at the Acton Jazz Café. Tonight and tomorrow night: Unique guitarist Bill Frisell, in a trio featuring the rhythm team of bassist Tony Scherr and drummer Kenny Wollesen, continues a three-night stand at the Regattabar. Harmonica virtuoso Toots Thielemans, backed by the Kenny Werner Trio, is at Scullers for two nights. Tomorrow: Singer Sofia Koutsovitis brings her jazz-influenced South American sounds to Ryles. The Marblehead Summer Jazz series continues with Hammond B-3 organ master Dr. Lonnie Smith, at the Unitarian Universalist Church, Marblehead. Sunday: Blues pianist David Maxwell's avant-garde trio, Bases Loaded, featuring bassist John Lockwood and drummer Garth Stevenson, returns to the Lily Pad with guest bassist Nat Mugavero. Thursday: Venerable alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson opens a two-night stand with his quartet at Scullers.
