Forget about his big 1976 pop hit “Fooled Around and Fell in Love.” The original guitarist for the Paul Butterfield Blues Band is a bluesman through and through. He knows how to channel the blues into a protest song; “Something Smells Funky ’Round Here,” the title track of his trio’s 2018 album, addresses the White House in a pointed and playful way. (7 p.m. Wed. May 29, Dakota, $50-$70) INFO/TICKETS >>
Rahsaan Patterson: The veteran soul singer celebrates his 35th anniversary in the business with the new “Heroes & Gods,” his first album in nearly eight years. His intimate sound is a mix of old school and contemporary, with cuddly slow jams and fresh midtempo takes with mechanical rhythms. And he’s got the wherewithal to pull off Luther Vandross’ “Don’t You Know That” with appropriate élan. (7 & 9:30 p.m. Sat. May 25, Dakota, Mpls., $35-$50)
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Elvin Bishop’s Big Fun Trio @ Dakota
The most likable white bluesman in the history of cultural appropriation has aged wonderfully—like its self-titled 2017 predecessor, his second album with Willy Jordan and Bob Welsh, Something Smells Funky ‘ Round Here, released last July, makes recording 10 tracks of skilled, good-natured medium-impact boogie sound so easy you’ll wonder why so few of Bishop’s contemporaries pull it off. The new album mixes in familiar oldies like “I Wish It Would Rain” and “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher” with offhand originals like “Lookin’ Good,” about how unlikely it is that the singer is sober and alive. And as a bonus, Bishop fooled around and wrote himself a protest song—the funky smell the title track references in coming out of D.C., and it stinks of racism and sexism to Elvin. 21+ 7 p.m. $50/$60/$70. 1010 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis. More info here.—Keith Harr, City Pages
Jenny & the Mexicats @ Dakota
In English or Spanish, the dance-inducing global quartet Jenny and the Mexicats (previously Pachucos y la Princesa) is not your typical flamenco-rockabilly-folk-reggae-jazz-cumbia-merengue outfit. The decade-old band formed in Madrid with English singer/guitarist Jenny Ball (also a wicked jazz/mariachi trumpeter), Spanish cajón percussionist David Gonzalez Bernardos, plus Mexicans Luis “Icho” Díaz (double bass) and Alfonso “Pantera” Acosta (ace flamenco guitarist). Now Mexico City-based, their sizzling border-defying guiso joyfully defies trumped up walls. 7 p.m. $32—$45. 1010 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis. More info here.—Rick Mason, City Pages
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