Concert Previews

Seventy-one-year-old Philadelphia pianist McCoy Tyner didn't need to play with another saxophone colossus to cement his legend: He had John Coltrane. Between 1960 and 1965, Tyner was part of 'Trane's classic quartet, an outfit that found the generous pianist playing at his complementary finest without losing his own soulful, moody footing. Though nothing compares to what the duo did, say, on Coltrane's

My Favorite Things

(1961), among other records, that doesn't mean saxophonist Joe Lovano doesn't give it a try. The tenor man is modern jazz's most

muscular

reedman. His complex level of passion and finesse stands mightily whether he's playing weird post-bop (

Folk Art

), sweeping opera (

Viva Caruso

), or ring-a-ding swing (

Celebrating Sinatra

). In 2007, Tyner hosted a quartet costarring Lovano, Philly bassist Christian McBride, and drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts for the live McCoy Tyner Quartet, a taut and bluesy romp. Now, in 2010, Tyner and Lovano join with bassist Gerald Cannon and drummer Eric Kamau Gravatt for what promises to be a jazz improvisational affair. This is not to be missed.

- A.D. Amorosi

How many grandfathers tour the world with their kids and kids' kids in tow? But that's Arlo Guthrie, still the affable iconoclast. For a tour billed "Guthrie Family Rides Again," Arlo has recruited three daughters, a son, a son-in-law, and the odd grandchild. From this unique family affair, expect to hear classic tunes and some of the famously lost, and rediscovered, cuts from the live album released last year,

Arlo Guthrie: Tales of '69

. Arlo's daughter, Sarah Lee Guthrie, also has been busy, releasing the family-assisted children's record

Go Waggaloo

last year. (She even used unearthed Woody Guthrie lyrics in spots.) The collective bank of songs in this family is staggering, making for two local nights of breezy sing-alongs and folk guitar.

- Doug Wallen

Along with the Specials and Madness, the English Beat were one of a trio of great interracial bands that spearheaded what's known as the Second Wave of ska in Britain in the late 1970s and early '80s. Theirs was an era when the highly rhythmic Jamaican dance music that predates reggae was reborn among West Indian immigrants in the U.K.

Singer Dave Wakeling later went on to form General Public, but from time to time he gets the Beat - best known for their hit "Mirror in the Bathroom" and the brilliant Andy Williams update "Can't Get Used to Losing You" - back together.

What makes this evening special is the co-bill with Fishbone, the Los Angeles band that furthered the ska revival in the 1980s by adding rock, metal, and funk to the mix, and doing the dirty work that the Red Hot Chili Peppers and No Doubt would later take to the bank.

- Dan DeLuca

You may be aware of the Taliban's music policy - leaders of the Islamic fundamentalist group essentially outlaw it wherever they hold sway in Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan. Countless music shops and video stores have been blown up by Taliban operatives. The real tragedy for music lovers isn't so much the curtailed local access to "decadent" Western fare such as Michael Jackson and Madonna, as the near obliteration of the rich Pashtun culture native to the area. Fortunately, it survives elsewhere. Haroon Bacha, who was trained in tabla and harmonium, has emerged as perhaps the preeminent vocalist of the Pashtun diaspora. Bacha, who would likely face death were he to go back home, performs around the world, keeping alive Pashto-language poetry and song forms. He articulates traditional folk and classical tunes in his keening voice, adding a fresh sociological perspective with his lyrics. Bacha also reaches his native region via the airwaves, as a cultural-programming director with the Voice of America's Pashto service. His performance here will include tabla, harmonium, and hopefully the stringed rubab, the distinctive Pashtun plucked instrument made of mulberry wood and goatskin. Breakin' the law has rarely sounded this intoxicatingly euphonious.

- David R. Stampone