Weekly Music Picks: Before and After Tryptophan Edition

Don't peace out just yet. There's a music agenda to complete before you're off for the holiday. After you've stuffed yourself full of all the mashed potatoes, yams, and turkey – oh, and the cranberry sauce, come right back.

Tuesday 11/21
Francisco Mela Quintet
Drummer Fancisco Mela recently played sold out shows at the Blue Note in NYC with heavy weights Joe Lovano, Jason Moran, Mark Turner, and Paquito D'Rivera. Now you can catch him at the Regattabar just before turkey day. The Havana transplant, former Wally's house drummer and Berklee prof's debut album, Melao, is a striking mix of Afro-Cuban and free jazz fire.
Regattabar, 7:30pm, $16
website | myspace

Small Sins with The Little Ones
After the Carnations broke up, Thomas D'Arcy spent a year holed up with little more than a Roland 707 and a few analog synths. He emerged with a quirky album of hook laden electro chamber-pop. Astralwerks singed him up, he put together a tour band, played some gigs with Scissor Sisters, and now he's pimping for Microsoft (the tour is sponsored by Zune). With The Little Ones and The Everyday Visuals.
Middle East Upstairs, 18+ $8, 8pm
Small Sins: website | myspace | stay.mp3
The Little Ones: myspace

Friday 11/24
The Casual Lean
As you awake from the turkey induced food coma and wonder why your office didn't just give you Friday off anyway (seriously, is anyone at work?) remember that taking the vacation day was a good idea so you've got enough time to get yourself ready to rock with the Casual Lean. They're still playing the smaller upstairs venue, but we're pretty sure these local rock darlings are on the verge – about to explode. They're scheduled to hit Paper at Bill's Bar in December.
Middle East Upstairs, 9pm, $9
The Casual Lean: myspace
Get lucky and catch them amongst the local rock when you listen to Exploit Boston Radio

Saturday 11/25
Stefon Harris (also Friday)
Vibraphonist and composer Stefon Harris, hailed as "one of the most important young artists in jazz," performs works from his new album African Tarantella: Dances with Duke. In addition to pieces from Ellington's "New Orleans Suite" and "Queen's Suite," the album contains excerpts from The Gardner Meditations, inspired by time Harris spent in the Fenway as artist in residence at the Isabelle Stewart Gardner Museum.
Regattabar, 7:30pm & 10pm, $24
website | myspace

Sunday 11/26
Arturo Sandoval (also Friday and Saturday)
Master trumpeter Arturo Sandoval played with Dizzy Gillespie, co-founded Irakere with Chucho Valdes and Paquito D'Rivera, and is as much at home fronting a symphony orchestra as a Cubop combo. Catch this Latin jazz legend this weekend at Scullers.
Scullers Jazz Club, 8pm & 10:30pm Fri & Sat / 4pm & 7pm Sun, $28
website | myspace | wikipedia

Monday 11/27
Berklee Gospel Ensembles
Berklee students perform traditional and contemporary gospel music in a variety of styles and settings. With Dennis Montgomery III.
Berklee Performance Center, 8pm, $5 -$10

¡Forward, Russia!
Leeds: birth place of political punk funk legends Gang of Four, Delta 5, Au Pairs, and the Mekons. And now Leeds spits forth ¡Forward, Russia!, who "meld floor-filling disco punk funk party music, epic post-rock, and larynx scorching yelps to devastating effect." With Snowden and DJ Carbo,
Great Scott, 18+, $10, 9pm
!Forward, Russia!: website | myspace | four.mp3
Snowden: website | DJ Carbo: myspace

Amanda Palmer, Boston Typewriter Orchestra
You may be familiar with Amanda's work, even if you only know the Dresden Dolls. Her spirit is vibrantly displayed every time she takes the stage. The Boston Typewriter orchestra seems like a brilliant accompaniment to her performance. They don't make it to stage very often. Last time they played a gig was at the Somerville Arts Festival (maybe they've been hitting the private function scene real big?). The collective really does play the typewriter. All the sounds come from typewriters – so what if they use a few of them like drums? A couple of samples of their music are up on their website. Take a listen to "customer confidentiality" and think about how they might have tore it up as part of The Shining soundtrack.
Paradise Rock Club, 7pm doors, 18+, $16
Amanda Palmer: myspace | Bio at Dresden Dolls
Boston Typewriter Orchestra: website

Matt Durutti contributed to this post.