WEDNESDAY 7/13
INDIE-POP
DUCKTAILS
Real Estate has long been considered Ducktails singer-songwriter Matt Mondanile’s main band. But somewhere along the way, Ducktails stacked up more album releases than Real Estate, and just a few months ago, Mondanile announced that he’d be leaving Real Estate to focus more on Ducktails. The two groups always had a similar style: wistful, dreamy, low-key indie-pop. In the early days, Ducktails was a much more experimental, lo-fi version of Real Estate’s shimmering, melancholy psych-pop sound. But Ducktails’ last album, 2015’s St. Catherine, sounded a lot like a Real Estate album. Makes sense now, knowing that he’s focusing all his creative energy on Ducktails. AARON CARNES
INFO: 8 p.m. Don Quixote’s, 6275 Hwy. 9, Felton. $15. 335-2800.
GARAGE ROCK
LEVITATION ROOM
Remember how psychedelic rock used to be dance music and not just masturbatory freeform jams? Granted, you were probably on acid at the time, but you were seriously cutting a rug (and seeing trails around your arms). Highland Park’s Levitation Room brings back that swinging psychedelic sound, plucked right out of the Summer of Love and right into the Crepe Place this Wednesday. The beats are groovy and hip-shaking, and the guitars are mind-expanding. Singer Julian Porte channels a sunbaked John Lennon. AC
INFO: 9 p.m. Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $8. 429-6994.
THURSDAY 7/14
BLUES
ERIC LINDELL
Singer-songwriter Eric Lindell was born and raised in San Mateo. It was when he moved to New Orleans, however, that he hit the national radar, releasing three albums on the outstanding independent blues label Alligator Records. Now a well-established blues veteran, Lindell blends rock, soul, R&B and blues into a hip-sway-inducing, dance-floor-packing sound. CAT JOHNSON
INFO: 8 p.m. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $20/adv, $25/door. 479-1854.
SOUTHERN PSYCH ROCK
NEW MADRID
After building a cult following in the Athens, Georgia scene, New Madrid took to the road on a summer tour stretching across the United States. The four college-age musicians threaten to put the South back on the map with their unique blend of alternative/southern psych-rock fusion, soaked in reverb but leaving just enough breathing room for their rockabilly vocals. The lead singer’s mullet is impressive and not out of place. KATIE SMALL
INFO: 8 p.m. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $10/adv, $12/door. 429-4135.
FRIDAY 7/15
JAZZ
TERENCE BLANCHARD E-COLLECTIVE
Multi-Grammy-award-winning jazz trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard isn’t afraid to take on tough topics with his music. A top scorer for Spike Lee films, including Do the Right Thing, Jungle Fever, Malcolm X and the four-hour Hurricane Katrina documentary When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, he puts his music where his consciousness is. The title of Blanchard’s latest release, Breathless, refers to Eric Garner’s last words during his 2014 confrontation with New York City police. The album is a commentary on the treatment of minorities by American law enforcement, created by the E-Collective, his quintet that has been described as a “hip young band full of funk, R&B and groove colors.” CJ
INFO: 7 p.m. & 9 p.m. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $30/adv, $35/door. 427-2227.
DISCO FUNK
LOS AMIGOS INVISIBLES
Disco is risen, in the form of fiery Latin funk fusion band Los Amigos Invisibles. The Venezuelan group got their big break in the ’90s, when David Byrne stumbled upon their debut album in a Manhattan record shop; the Talking Heads frontman immediately called up Los Amigos to sign them to his Luaka Bop record label. Since then, the members of the group have moved to New York, created their own record label, won a Grammy, and toured extensively in more than 60 countries. The music video for their latest single, “Otra Cara Bonita” (“Another Pretty Face”), features a dancing pug wearing a Hawaiian shirt. Lounge music never looked so good. KS
INFO: 9 p.m. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $25/adv, $30/door. 479-1854.
SATURDAY 7/16
JAZZ
GRACE KELLY
Mentored by alto sax great Phil Woods, saxophonist Grace Kelly started collaborating with master improvisers as a teenager, even recording with alto legend Lee Konitz. But she’s been determined to find her own musical path, mixing it up stylistically and even singing on her albums and gigs. Her recent album Trying to Figure It Out makes it clear that the 24-year-old considers herself a work in progress who enjoys pop and R&B as much as bebop. In a felicitous pairing, she’s found a regular musical home within the catholic creative proclivities of pianist/keyboardist Jon Batiste and Stay Human on Stephen Colbert’s Late Show. ANDREW GILBERT
INFO: 7:30 p.m. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $25/adv, $30/door. 427-2227.
SUNDAY 7/17
CELTIC
PAUL MCKENNA BAND
Dubbed the best folk band to have come out of Scotland in the last 20 years, the Paul McKenna Band blends a love and deep appreciation of traditional folk music with a fresh, modern sound that has established the band as one of the standouts of the contemporary Celtic scene. If the bouzouki, fiddle, flute, whistles, bodhrán, percussion and tight vocals are your thing, don’t miss this opportunity to catch one of the best bands of their generation. CJ
INFO: 7 p.m. Don Quixote’s, 6275 Hwy. 9, Felton. $15/adv, $17/door. 335-2800.
MONDAY 7/18
POP
ALEXANDER JEAN
It’s kind of strange that duo Alexander Jean does not play music you can dance to. Mark Ballas, who formed the group with girlfriend BC Jean, makes his living as a professional ballroom dancer on Dancing With The Stars. (He’s been on 18 seasons thus far!) The duo plays a sound that falls somewhere between Alicia Keys-style ballads and acoustic-pop à la John Mayer. The group charted last year on iTunes with their tune “Roses and Violets,” a powerful, deeply emotional tune that easily sounds like it could have been penned for Adele. AC
INFO: 9 p.m. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $12/adv, $15/door. 429-4135.
IN THE QUEUE
SWMRS
Punk rock outfit out of Oakland. Friday at Appleton Grill, Watsonville.
GUY FOX
Indie-pop out of the East Bay. Friday at The Pocket
ERIC MORRISON & THE MYSTERIES
Santa Cruz Americana. Friday at Don Quixote’s
PATO BANTON
Legendary British reggae artist. Sunday at Moe’s Alley
CULTURE SHOCK
Alternative Tentacles presents World Inferno and Friendship Society. Tuesday at Catalyst
