Weekly Music Picks: April Showers Edition

We’re working for the weekend and it's only Monday. Rainy day outside and the sun is reported MIA until Wednesday. Despite the current gloom, things are looking mighty green outside - a good sign of spring. Flowering trees have done their thing and soon we’ll be smelling the lilacs. For now we’re settling for another cup of Stella while we soak up the tunes and the increasing temperatures.

Monday 4/24:
John Vanderslice
mk Ultra fronmant & analog engineer extraordinaire John Vanderslice has built his reputation on conceptual albums full of delicately layered songs. With Wooden Wand, Page France
Middle East Upstairs.
18+ $10adv/$12dos
John Vanderslice: myspace | Exodus Damage.mp3 | purchase

Tuesday 4/25:
Pierre Hurel Trio
The Globe called Pierre Hurel "one of Boston's real gems," noting that "his style is impressionistic and adventurous, coming off somewhere between Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett." Catch this Paris born, Boston based pianist with his trio featuring John Funkhouser (bass) and Mike Connors (drums).
Regattabar
$12, 7:30PM

Wednesday 4/26:
Ben Lee
Ben Lee had a hit single with "Cigarettes Will Kill You" back in '98, and stayed famous...as Claire Danes' boyfriend. He formed a band "The Bens" with Ben Folds & Ben Kweller(Ben Harper was probably too old) in '03, and is touring on his new solo release. With locals Jake Brennan and Rachael Cantu.
Paradise Rock Club.
7 PM; 18+
Ben Lee: myspace | Ben's blog | Cigarettes Will Kill You(Live).mp3 | purchase

Boubacar Diabate & Samba Lolo
Malian Griot singer and guitarist Boubacar Diabate combines traditional and contemporary West African rhythms and song styles. Hear this modern griot at Ryles with his group Samba Lolo.
Ryles Jazz Club
$10, 9PM

Thursday 4/27:
The Shrinking Islands
Across town from such nostalgia acts as Jordan Knight (of NKOTB fame, at The Roxy) and Lisa Loeb (most recently seen on VH1's reality-esque #1 Single, she's at Felt), guitar-drum duo The Shrinking Islands bring on the happy, and something a bit more original, in Somerville. With Spoilsport, Indian Style and Josh Buckley .
PA's Lounge
The Shrinking Islands: myspace | In the Black Carpet.mp3

Boston Philharmonic (also Saturday, 4/29 and Sunday, 4/30)
Benjamin Zander conducts the teenaged Canadian violinist Caitlin Tully in Shostakovich's intense First Violin Concerto.
Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Jordan Hall, Saturday at 8 p.m. in Jordan Hall, also Sunday at 3 p.m. in Sanders Theatre, $63, $49, $35, $16 on Thursday, $76, $58, $43 and $29 on the weekend
Boston Philharmonic: website
Caitlin Tully: website

A Love Supreme: Coltrane in Copley Square
Northeastern saxophone professor and noted Coltrane scholar Leonard Brown is the man behind the annual John Coltrane Memorial Concert. And this year he put together a 12 piece ensemble performance of Coltrane's masterwork "A Love Supreme" for the month-long "Faith, Arts, and Community" celebration.
Trinity Church (Copley Sq)
$15 (suggested donation), 7PM

Friday 4/28:
Dear Leader
The Sheila Devine is no longer, but Aaron Perrino soldiers on with his latest project, the politically inspired Dear Leader. With The Westward Trail, Faces On Film.
Paradise Rock Club.
8 PM; 18+
Dear Leader: myspace | Raging Red.mp3 | purchase

The Boston Secession (also Saturday, 4/29)
In a joint performance the likes of which we've not yet seen or heard, Boston artist Zsuzsanna Szegedi will paint as Boston's new music choir sings.
Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center
8 p.m., $35
The Boston Secession: website
Zsuzsanna Szegedi: website

Thaïs (also Sunday 4/30)
Thaïs, a lyric comedy by Jules Massenet and Louis Gallet that began as a story by the tenth-century nun Hrostwitha, may have been the occasion for the original wardrobe malfunction: at its premiere in 1894, the American soprano Sibyl Sanderson "accidentally" flashed the audience at the Paris Opéra. Light and sweet, it is a lovely diversion, nipples or no.
Shubert Theatre
Friday at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m., prices vary widely but student tickets are cheap and a sneak-listen one hour before showtime is free
Boston Lyric Opera: website

The Chick Corea Trio with Airto Moreira & Eddie Gomez: Forever Returns
The first two Return to Forever albums were Latin / Brazilian jazz rock masterpieces featuring fellow late '60s - early '70s Miles alum Airto Moreira, his wife Flora Purim, multi-reed player Joe Farrell and bass wizard Stanley Clarke (sample tracks: Sometime Ago / La Fiesta, Spain, 500 Miles High). Chick and Airto reunite to perform classic RTF material with gifted bass player Eddie Gomez. A few Miles gems from the same era are also promised.
Berklee Performance Center
$40, $32.50, reserved seating, 8PM SOLD OUT
Chick Corea: website

Jeff Platz Quartet
Guitarist Jeff Platz started out in the legendary Cleveland avant punk scene of the late '70s & early '80s. And he brings punk's ferocity to his exploration of the "incendiary heart of the free jazz avant garde." With Scott Getchell (trumpet), Luther Gray (drums), and Kit Demos (bass). Get your shronk on. Dan Levin (cello) & Croix Galipault (drums) open.
Zeitgeist Gallery, Inman Sq.
8:30PM, $10

Saturday 4/29:
Josh Ritter
Former Somervillian singer-songwriter Josh Ritter is back in town to promote The Animal Years, a new album populated with horses, angels, soldiers, pyramids, starlets, and wolves. Bostonist has seen a packed Somerville Theatre fall silent to hear this guy play "California" sans amplification, and we have no doubt he can shut up the Avalon for the duration of "Idaho."
Avalon
18+, 7 pm, $20
Josh Ritter: myspace | web site | Thin Blue Flame .mp3 | A Girl In The War .mp3 | stream the whole album

DJ C at the Record Hosital Fest
DJ C of Beat Research
spins Saturday as part of the two night Record Hospital Fest. Also performing: Dynasty, Eloe Omoe, Fat Worm of Error, Carlos Giffoni, Shawn Greenlee (aka Pleasurehorse) Tim Hecker, Lucky Dragons.
All ages; $8 one night or $14 both Fri & Sat (suggested donation)
Center for Democracy, 45 Mt Auburn, Cambridge
DJ C: website | Let it Billie (jungle mix).mp3 | more DJ C mixes & mp3s

Sunday, 4/30:
Maurizio Pollini
A cool perfectionist, Pollini is a master of the traditional and new music repertories. He will perform a programme of solo pieces by Chopin and Liszt, including the latter's Nuages gris.
Jordan Hall
3 p.m., $68, $53, $48
Bank of America Celebrity Series: website

Elf Power
The Athens, Georgia Elephant 6 band releases their seventh album tomorrow and plays at P.A.'s in Union Square on Sunday, with the Instruments and Dear Leader's Aaron Perrino.
P.A.'s Lounge
18+, 8:30 pm, $10
Elf Power: myspace | web site | Never Believe .mp3

Lora Valente, Matt Durutti, and C. Fernsebner, and Christina contributed to this post