The Big Gigs: 10 best concerts to see in the Twin Cities this week

Jesus Molina, a 27-year-old jazz sensation pianist/singer from Colombia, makes his Dakota debut (7 p.m., $40-$45); veteran Virginia bluesman Corey Harris, whose 20th album, "Insurrection Blues," was inspired by Jan. 6, 2020 in Washington, D.C., teams with Texas-reared Cajun fiddler/accordionist Cedric Watson (7:30 p.m. Cedar Cultural Center, $20-$25); Restless Road, a country trio that met as soloists auditioning for "The X Factor," dropped its debut album "Last Rodeo" last fall (8 p.m. Varsity Theater, $19 and up); Twin Cities piano man Jake Endres and the Mean Rhythm Masters explore the work of Tom Waits (7:30 p.m. Crooners, $25-$35); St. Paul troubadour Martin Devaney's monthly songwriters/Americana showcase at the White Squirrel Bar features Pleasure Horse and Tyler Haag (8 p.m., free).

1. Vijay Iyer: He is one of the most celebrated and esteemed jazz pianists of this century. He has won a MacArthur genius grant and a Doris Duke Artist Award. He's been named artist of the year four times by DownBeat, the jazz bible. His resume includes a faculty position at Harvard, a discography of two dozen albums under his own name and three Grammy nominations this year for his "Love in Exile" project with Arooj Aftab and Shahzad Ismaily. An acclaimed composer and master of improvisation, Iyer will be joined by bassist Harish Raghavan and drummer Jeremy Dutton. (7 p.m. the Dakota, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., $30-$40, dakotacooks.com)

2. Tribute to Dolly Parton: Featuring the same solid house band and rotating-singer concept as the popular Shania Twain tribute shows at the Turf Club, this salute to one of American music's greatest living icons falls on Dolly's 78^th birthday and is doubling as a benefit for the Women's March Minnesota. It's tripling as a cohesive showcase of some of the Twin Cities' most gifted young female rock, alt-twang and soul singers. The cast includes Haley, Leslie Vincent, Jaedyn James, Faith Boblett, Turn Turn Turn's Savannah Smith, Barbaro's Rachel Calvert, Sarah Morris and Laura Hugo. (8 p.m. Fine Line, 318 1^st Av. N., Mpls., $15-$39, axs.com)

3. Rachel Baiman and Lillie Mae: Being experienced Nashville fiddlers make this pair kindred tourmates, but they also happen to be potent and powerful singer/songwriters. Baiman's 2023 album, "Common Nation Sorrow," offers a burning summation of current American affairs amid a rich hearth of neo-twang with Decemberists and Neko Case producer Tucker Martine. Also touring with a new album, "Festival Eyes," Mae has played all over Jack White's records and tours in recent years and was a hit opening for the Raconteurs at the Armory in 2019. (8 p.m. Cedar Cultural Center, 416 Cedar Av. S., Mpls., $22, thecedar.org)

4. Marilyn Maye: She's unstoppable. Not even cold weather (she's from Kansas City) or advancing age (she'll turn 96 in April) can stop this queen of cabaret. She is the consummate entertainer, with an array of standards and show tunes delivered with impeccable phrasing, deft comic timing and glitzy pizazz, including doing leg kicks. A regular at Crooners since 2019, she returns for another four-show engagement. (7:30 p.m. Fri.-Sun., also 4 p.m. Sun., Crooners, 6161 Hwy 65, Fridley, $55-$65, eventbrite.com)

Also: Two reputable and innovative Twin Cities jazz drummers are pairing to play music inspired by the East and West Africa diaspora as Abinnet Berhanu's Ahndenet headlines with opener Kevin Washington (8 p.m. Icehouse, $15-$20); North Mississippi blues-guitar heir Kent Burnside, grandson of RL, returns to town to headline the Roots, Rock & Deep Blues Fest's Winter Warm-Up with locals Alexander "Crankshaft" Craig and the Train Wreck Boys (7:30 p.m. Hook & Ladder Theater, $17-$22); next door, the Hook & Ladder Mission Room welcomes back New York's biting indie-folk hero Hamell on Trial (8 p.m., $10-$15); fiery rock groovers FenixDion pair up with the post-punky Extraterrestrials (8:30 p.m. Turf Club, $12); sort of an indoor psychedelic/funk music fest, the two-day Hotel Minnesnowta kicks off with a lineup including Mark Joseph, Heatbox, Nur-D, Greg Koch, Demitri Rallis and Useful Jenkins offshoot the Pat Downs (3 p.m., also all day Sat., Crowne Plaza Minneapolis West, $60-$90).

5. Travis Scott: Last seen in town five years ago with an amusement-park-themed mega-production, the Texas rapper of "Goosebumps" megahit status and Kylie Jenner co-parenting fame has faced a roller-coaster career in the interim. He bounced back from 2021's tragic crowd crush at his Astroworld Festival that killed 10 people in his native Houston. He rolled on to land one of the biggest albums of 2023 with "Utopia," with hits including the Drake collaboration "Meltdown." Scott's Circus Maximus-themed tour for the album is purportedly another huge spectacle onstage, but with stricter safety measures in place offstage. (8 p.m. Xcel Energy Center, 199 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, $45-$247, ticketmaster.com)

6. Bachman-Turner Overdrive: Despite the deaths last year of his brothers Robbie and Tim, Randy Bachman has restarted BTO to reprise those 1970s hits "Takin' Care of Business" and "Let It Ride." The singer/guitarist, best known for his work with the Guess Who, has enlisted his son, Tal, for the band. Bassist/singer Fred Turner, who sang many of BTO's hits, retired from touring in 2018. Bachman has remained active, touring with a storyteller show and hosting his Vinyl Tap podcast, which ceased production nine months ago. (8 p.m. Mystic Lake Casino, 2400 Mystic Lake Blvd., Prior Lake, $59-$129, ticketmaster.com)

7. One Voice Mixed Chorus: One of America's largest choirs made up of LGBTQ singers and allies has a new leader in Kimberly Waigwa. She'll conduct a program called "Dark Night, Star Bright" that focuses upon making change, taking audiences from fear and uncertainty to venturing bravely into the unknown. It will feature music by Florence Price, Heitor Villa-Lobos and Take That, among many others. Here's to new beginnings. (7:30 p.m., also 2 p.m. Sun., Cowles Center, 528 Hennepin Av., Mpls., $19-$40, onevoicemn.org)

Also: Los Rolling Ruanas, a Columbian band that mixes traditional Andes music with other Latin and rock music, makes its second visit to the Cedar Cultural Center (8 p.m., $17-$25); Trampled by Turtles frontman Dave Simonett's electric side band Dead Man Winter is lighting up again this winter (8 p.m. First Avenue, $30); the Rope, Lovely Dark, Cult Sequence and more are playing the Gathering Darkness lineup, billed as "a night of dark, post-punk and soundscapes" (7:30 p.m. Hook & Ladder Theater, $15-$20).

8. Keb' Mo': The happiest of bluesmen, the five-time Grammy winner has over the years expanded his palette that puts him in the Americana realm. His latest, 2022's "Good to Be...," which was nominated for best Americana album at last year's Grammys, features such upbeat tunes as "Sunny and Warm" and "Like Love" and optimistic numbers like "Louder" and "Marvelous to Me." The album includes collabs with Darius Rucker, Kristin Chenoweth and Old Crow Medicine Show but it'll just be Mo' and his guitars in Minneapolis. (7 p.m. Sun. and Mon. the Dakota, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., $105-$135, dakotacooks.com)

Also: The Isles Ensemble aim to catching composers at their funniest with works by Joseph Haydn, Mozart, Antonin Dvorak, Erno Dohnanyi and, of course, P.D.Q. Bach. (2 p.m. Lake of the Isles Lutheran Church, $25); never forget the Church of Cornbread show every Sunday afternoon at Palmer's Bar with piano legend Cornbread Harris (5-7 p.m., free).

Week No. 3 in the Cactus Blossoms' five-show January residency at the Turf Club finds the groovy retro-twang stylists paired with one of the standouts at last week's Best New Bands show at First Ave, Laamar (8 p.m., $20-$25); acoustic guitar ace Pat Donohue joins "the Dans," aka Dan Newton and Dan Lowinger (6-8 p.m. White Squirrel Bar, free); the JAMuary Mondays jam-band series continue at 7th Street Entry with the Built to Last All-Stars, Dead Larry and Time Stream (8 p.m., $12).

9. William Tyler: A versatile sideman for artful indie-folk acts Lambchop and the Silver Jews in his youth, the Nashville native earned widespread acclaim under his own name a decade ago crafting cosmic twang-rock guitar jams with his second solo album for Merge Records, "The Impossible Truth." He's evolved into a cult-loved instrumentalist and innovator with a band now called the Instrumental Truth, featuring Jack White's Raconteurs mate Jack Lawrence and other ace Nashville players, who lay out richly layered, subtly groovy psychedelic twang that sounds like a cross between Leo Kottke and the Flaming Lips. (8 p.m. Turf Club, 1601 University Av. W., St. Paul, $16, axs.com)

Also: Fans of the Boygenius songwriters crew might dig Texas Panhandle native Mali Velasquez, who's generating a buzz with her debut album "I'm Green" (8 p.m. 7th St. Entry, $16); local swingers the Southside Aces are keeping the NOLA vibe going this month at the Dakota with "A Night in New Orleans" (7 p.m., $15-$20).

10. Shelby Lynne: A gifted Alabama singer/songwriter of dark, painful alt-country songs, Grammy's best new artist of 2001 has been mostly low profile for the past decade, save for her 2017 collaboration with her sister Allison Moorer, "Not Dark Yet," and 2021's "The Servant," a collection of her soulful, languidly bluesy treatments of hymns like "Swing Down, Sweet Chariot." She has a Substack newsletter, Dirt and Fiction, and in her Jan. 7 entry, she not only promises a new album with a new crew but she will explore the Dusty Springfield catalog backed by a trio in Minneapolis, at the request of the Dakota's owner. In 2008, Lynne's 10th album, "Just a Little Lovin'," was a tribute to Springfield. (7 p.m. Wed. & Thu. the Dakota, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., $65-$75, dakotacooks.com)

Also: Folky Twin Cities songwriter Sarah Morris will be joined by her band the Sometimes Guys for a now-monthly gig at the White Squirrel Bar (6-8 p.m., free).

Classical music critic Rob Hubbard contributed to this column.