Gary Clark Jr., with Xavier Lynn
Regardless of whether he plays Earl King’s 1961 classic, “Trick Bag,” four-time Grammy Award-winner Gary Clark Jr. will have a trick bag of sorts for each of the attendees at his Monday night performance at Humphreys Concerts by the Bay., the Shelter Island venue he first played at 10 years ago.
Gary Clark Jr. discusses transcending the blues
The fiery Texas guitar-slinger, singer and band leader will become the first music artist to ever perform a phone-free show at Humphreys. It’s a distinction previously held only by a few comedians who have appeared there.
To ensure that the focus is on his music, each date on Clark’s 2026 tour is a phone-free experience at which the use of cellphones, cameras, smartwatches or any other types of recording devices is prohibited. All such devices will be secured at Humphreys in Yondr pouches that will be opened at the end of the event.
The use of any such device during the performance will result in eviction from the venue. However, concertgoers will retain possession of their devices and can access them at designated Phone Use Areas in the venue that are away from the performance area itself.
Clark is in good company. Current tours by everyone from Bob Dylan and Phoebe Bridgers to Jill Scott and Jack White are also phone-free events.
Bob Dylan’s Father’s Day concert in San Diego quietly embraced the darkness
Clark’s concerts are visceral affairs that showcase his invigorating, forward-looking amalgam of blues, rock, funk and soul. Making them device-free seems like a very sound move.
Try to arrive early to hear the opening act, Xavier Lynn, a 27-year-old New Orleans guitarist, singer and band leader of promise.
7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Oct. 27. Humphreys Concerts by the Bay, 2241 Shelter Island Drive, Shelter Island. $86.55 (all general admission, standing-room-only). ticketmaster.com
Fresh from having performed several concerts as Bob Dylan’s lead guitarist this summer, Julian Lage will perform with his own band at UCSD’s Epstein Family Amphitheatre. (Nathan West)
Julian Lage Quartet, with John Medeski, Jorge Roeder & Kenny Wollesen
Julian Lage gets around, musically speaking.
Julian Lage exults in twangy guitar virtuosity and grooves that shine
In June, this exceptionally versatile guitarist performed here at The Shell as a last-minute edition to Bob Dylan’s latest band.
In September he was featured at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festival in Austin, two days after having played with Wilco guitarist Nels Cline in Minneapolis.
In July, former child prodigy Lage did a duo concert with jazz bass great Christian McBride.
None of this is surprising, given Lage’s history of diverse collaborations.
His credits also include working with everyone from Charles Lloyd, Carlos Santana, Yoko Ono and cutting-edge composer John Zorn to vibraphone legend Gary Burton, modern mandolin innovator David Grisman and former Bonsall classical and bluegrass violin star Mark O’Connor.
Lage is now on tour with keyboardist John Medeski, bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Kenny Wollesen in support of their terrific new Blue Note Records album, “Scenes From Above.” The percolating music they make together is often understated, with an emphasis on nuance, but sizzles throughout. Expect a satisfying slow burn when they perform here Saturday under the stars in La Jolla.
7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24. UC San Diego’s Epstein Family Amphitheater, 9480 Innovation Lane, La Jolla. $30-$65. artpower.ucsd.edu
Eclectic guitar great John Scofield and his latest band are San Diego-bound. (Craig T. Mathew and Greg Grudt / Mathew Imaging)
John Scofield’s Electrospective:
Along with Pat Metheny and Bill Frisell, John Scofield is one of the most original and influential electric guitarists to rise to international prominence over the past 50 years in the jazz-and-beyond world.
His many collaborators have included Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Billy Cobham and Gerry Mulligan, as well as such top jam bands as Phil Lesh & Friends, Govt. Mule and Medeski, Martin & Wood.
Drawing from jazz, blues, rock, funk and country, Scofield’s brings a rare combination of grit and grace to his guitar playing. Biting and angular, daring and inviting, sweet and playful, he mixes jagged accents and spiraling lines in a singularly distinctive manner.
His current tour finds him getting his groove on with Electrospective, a four-man band that teams Scofield with former Allman Brothers/Dead & Company bassist Oteil Burbridge, Maceo Parker/James Taylor keyboardist Larry Goldings and Lettuce drummer Adam Deitch.
7 p.m. (sold out) and 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27. Belly Up, 143 South Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. $66.55-$111.80. ticketweb.com
Mark Dresser’s Gradience Quartet
For understandable reasons, I very rarely recommend a concert by any band I have yet to hear perform live or on record. But I am more than happy to make an exception in the case of Mark Dresser’s Gradience Quartet.
Mark Dresser redefines the bass anew: ‘He’s unique!’ says Pulitzer-winning composer Anthony Davis
Dresser, a longtime music faculty member at UC San Diego, is one of the world’s most innovative, daring and versatile contrabassists. Equally fleet of mind and fingers, he has consistently broken new ground as a solo artist, band leader and collaborator whose many musical partners have ranged from Diamanda Galas, George Lewis, Anthony Braxton, the St. Lawrence String Quartet and Laurie Anderson to Grammy-winning opera singers Susan Narucki and Dawn Upshaw, Wilco guitarist Nels Cline, saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, trumpeter Dave Douglas and vocal marvels Jen Shyu and Theo Bleckmann.
His Gradience Quartet debuted last year in New York and is not scheduled to perform its second and third concerts until, respectively, Monday at Motivo in Los Angeles and Wednesday at UCSD. The group teams him with South Korea’s DoYeon Kim, who sings and is a master of the zither-like gayageum; composer and electro-acoustic pianist Corey Smythe, who joined the UCSD faculty in 2024; and bassoonist Sara Schoenbeck.
All four share a quest for heightened aural adventure and risk-taking. Their unusually rich improvisational command enables them to constantly expand and reinvent the music they create together. Their San Diego debut concert should be mesmerizing and then some.
7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28. UCSD’s Conrad Prebys Music Center Experimental Theater, 9410 Russell Lane, La Jolla. $20 (general admission), $10 (faculty), free (students). music-cms.ucsd.edu/concerts/box_office.html