Taj Mahal, MonoNeon, Dylan Salfer, Room3, Inara George Featured in Star Tribune

It’s been a decade since the University of Massachusetts-educated ethnomusicologist brought his earthy blues to the swanky Dakota. The gravelly voiced guitarist/banjoist/pianist has been accumulating accolades of late, including a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement in 2025 as well as best traditional blues Grammy for “Swingin’ Live at the Church in Tulsa.” In his long career, he’s played with everyone from the Rolling Stones and Bonnie Raitt to Keb’ Mo’ and Sammy Hagar. While Mahal is in town with his Phantom Blues Band for two nights, maybe he’ll find time to wet a line or at least sing “Fishin’ Blues.”

Of course, Prince wanted to work with this mysterious, sometimes masked, adventurous bass man from Memphis. The then-25-year-old bassist was jamming with Prince for a possible new band in 2016, the year the Purple One died. The colorful, left-handed bassist (he plays upside down) explores a groovy jazz-funk mélange that has landed him at clubs and jazz festivals around the world.

The Los Angeles singer/songwriter is best known as half of the Bird and the Bee (with Greg Kurstin) and, to some musicheads, as the daughter of Little Feat founder Lowell George. In her 20s, George, now 51, pursued acting in Los Angeles. She appeared in “The Wandering Whore,” a musical set in 18th-century London by composer Eliot Douglass and lyricist Philip Littell. With fond memories of that musical, George has recorded a splendid jazz album, “Songs of Douglass & Littell,” showcasing her breathy, knowing voice and exquisite arrangements. She kicks off her summer tour in Minneapolis.