THURSDAY, APRIL 16

JAZZ

SCOTT AMENDOLA’S ANNIVERSARY QUARTET

Ten years ago blues pianist Hurricane Sam, a.k.a. Sam Rudin, opened the Back Room, the living-room-like venue steps from downtown Berkeley that’s become an essential outpost for bluegrass players, singer/songwriters, guitar pickers, Latin combos, blues bands, world music projects and jazz ensembles. Berkeley drum maestro Scott Amendola has assembled a talent-loaded quartet to kick off the milestone occasion, featuring powerhouse bassist Mat Muntz, who’s appeared regularly at the club in recent years; guitarist Ryan Schaeffer; and violin star Jenny Scheinman. The venue offers a five-show package covering any combination of the nine anniversary concerts through April 26. – ANDREW GILBERT

INFO: Thu, 8pm, The Back Room, 1984 Bonita Ave., Berkeley. $30. 510.654.3808.

FRIDAY, APRIL 17

OPERA

‘FLIGHT LESSONS’

Peregrine falcons are miracles of nature, able to dive faster than 100 mph and devoted parents, as many witnessed watching Annie and Grinnell on the Cal “Falcon Cam.” Deborah Crooks created a seven-person, two-act folk opera based on a falcon pair who nested on the bridge between Oakland and Alameda—until one was tragically shot. Crooks worked on and revised the work for four years, until it emerged in full expression of “the nature of place, love and change at the intersection of the developed and natural environment.” A bird-themed art exhibit, “Flight,” curated by Crooks, will be on view in the K-Gallery the night of the performance. – JANIS HASHE

INFO: Fri, 7pm, Rhythmix Cultural Works, 2513 Blanding Ave., Alameda. $32-$44. 510.865.5060.

FRIDAY, APRIL 17

ACOUSTIC

GILLIAN WELCH & DAVID RAWLINGS

In 1981, the Grateful Dead released Reckoning, a double live album of acoustic music recorded the year before. Icons of modern acoustic music Gillian Welch and David Rawlings pay tribute to the classic recording as they perform its cuts at the Fox for two nights. Welch and Rawlings together are multiple Grammy winners, including last year when they won Best Folk Album for the heartfelt Woodland, dedicated to the restoration of their studio, destroyed in a tornado. Their harmonies will be ideal on tunes such as the lively yet poignant “Dark Hollow.” Jerry will likely be listening. Also Saturday, April 18. – JH

INFO: Fri, 8pm, Fox Theater, 1807 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. $79. 510.302.2250.

FRIDAY, APRIL 17

SOUL

THE PHILHARMONIK

Friday Nights at OMCA hit all the beats—especially this week, with R&B, funk, soul and hip-hop music DJ Hauna Bauna delivering Afro beats, and the wildly wonderful Sketchboard Co. leading an unstructured live figure drawing. Materials are provided or can be brought from home; a model costumed in “Bay Area diversity” will pose. Freeform gallery chats have “floaters” wearing “Let’s Chat” shirts and roaming the museum for visitors who want to, well, chat. Draw, dance, discuss, discover: the four “d’s” at Friday Nights have it all down—that’s five—and deliver—that’s six. – LOU FANCHER

INFO: Fri, 5pm, OMCA, 1000 Oak St., Oakland. Free. 510.318.8520.

FRIDAY, APRIL 17

DANCE

THE JOFFREY BALLET

A Scandinavian summer solstice festival served up with Swedish indie-rock vocalist Anna von Hausswolff belting out a score by composer Mikael Karlsson might be dreamy—or dangerous? The Chicago-based Joffrey dancers pin all the classical ballet moves with ease, but their true inner beauty brings on the beastliness, bravura and sensuality of contemporary dance. It is the melding of these vast movement pools and performers who range from talented ingenues to mature, established dance artists that creates the company’s signature stamp. The Joffrey’s West Coast premiere presents a unique opportunity to witness mysterious magic induced by the onset of summer, and set imaginations on fire. Performances on April 18-19. – LF

INFO: Fri, 7pm, Cal Performances at Zellerbach Hall, 101 Zellerbach Hall, #4800, Berkeley. $50-$198. 510.642.9988.

SATURDAY, APRIL 18

JAM BAND

DISCO BISCUITS

Not only are the Disco Biscuits the pioneers of trance-fusion, the combination of electronic music and live jam band, but they’ve been doing it for 30 years. Like the city they were founded in, Philadelphia, Disco Biscuits are a force of nature unto themselves: writing, playing and improvising songs on tour. Somehow, with all this, they’ve found the time to record nine albums, write two rock operas, improvise live soundtracks to movies like The Fifth Element and are involved in a number of philanthropic charities, raising money for everything from food bins to hurricane relief funds. They put their money where their mouth is, so it’s important to keep putting money in their hands. – MAT WEIR

INFO: Sat, 8pm, The UC Theatre, 2036 University Ave., Berkeley. $63. 510.356.4000.

SUNDAY, APRIL 19

SKA

RUNAWAY RICOCHET

The recipe is this: 1 cup of ska, 5 grams of punk, 3 tablespoons of emo (Midwest) and a pinch of progressive jazz fusion. That’s Minneapolis-based Runaway Ricochet. Also on the menu are Friends With Salad, Sad Snack and the odd-one-out, the Hellas. Obviously the sound of flatware hitting china will not be audible once this crowd gets rolling. What will matter is settling in to appreciate the overall fine instrumentalists—all of these folks can play with ferocity and serious chops. Go ahead, wear sound-reducing headsets, plug your ears with wax. No one at Thee Stork Club will leave without having been sonically slammed and sent soaring by the end of the show. – LF

INFO: Sun, 7pm, Thee Stork Club, 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland.$15. 510.859.8709.

MONDAY, APRIL 20

JAZZ

BEN WENDEL

Tenor saxophonist Ben Wendel was best known as a founding member of the influential Los Angeles jazz-adjacent combo Kneebody, though he’s increasingly earned renown as a composer and bandleader with a capacious vision. For this date, he’s focusing partly on some unfinished pieces by Michael Brecker (1947-2009) that he was commissioned to complete, tunes influenced by the tenor sax titan’s immersion in Bulgarian folk music. Wendel, well prepared to navigate the odd-metered beats, will be joined by a superlative electro-acoustic combo featuring the brilliant bassist Harish Raghavan and Menlo Park-reared piano great Taylor Eigsti. – AG

INFO: Mon, 7:30pm, Yoshi’s, 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland. $29-$59. 510.238.9200.

TUESDAY, APRIL 21

METAL

PENTAGRAM

Bust out the best black attire and get ready to headbang because the godfathers of American doom-metal are back on tour and taking no prisoners. Pentagram has always been a litmus test for finding true metalheads. And those who know also know the infamous tales of singer Bobby Liebling, reported to have been arrested 25 times, rehabbed 35 and hospitalized over 200 times due to his wild, rocker lifestyle. While Liebling is the only original member left in the band, the rest of the Pentagram is a supergroup of Tony Reed and Scooter Haslip (Mos Generator) and Henry Vasquez (Saint Vitus). In 2025, they released Lightning In A Bottle. – MW

INFO: Tue, 8pm, Cornerstone, 2367 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. $40. 510.214.8600.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22

LIVE STORYTELLING

DIANE AMOS

“Now, about that time I was on a fishing boat trapped in the ice off the coast of Quebec …” Almost everyone has a funny/sad/unique true-life story, but not everyone is good at recounting them. At this regular show, Pretty Good Stories, four storytellers share their tales at the Sound Room in a collective evening bound to make the audience laugh and think. Stand-up and actress Diane Amos will be joined by Kimberlli Joy Walker and Craig Byrne, alongside singer/songwriter Jon Smear. Amos is a lot more than just the “Pine-Sol Lady,” but she can clean up the stage about that, too. – JH

INFO: Wed, 7:30pm, The Sound Room, 3022 Broadway, Oakland. $23. 510.708.9691.