All-American girl
CARRIE UNDERWOOD Underwood has arguably become contemporary country music’s leading female artist or, at the least, the reigning country-pop diva — which, these days, Miranda Lambert notwithstanding, is pretty much the same thing. Underwood comes to the area touring in support of her latest record, “Blown Away.” Sept. 19, 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $44-$64. DCU Center, Worcester.
800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com
Pop & Rock
FLORENCE + THE MACHINE Just like her music, Florence Welch’s audiences have only grown bigger in recent years, bolstered by last year’s triumphant “Ceremonials.” In concert, too, the feisty British singer and songwriter cuts a brash presence who puts over ballads just as well as fist-pumping anthems. Sept. 14, 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $20-$42.50. Comcast Center, Mansfield. 800-745-3000, www.livenation.com
Related
BLOC PARTY Frontman Kele Okereke took a solo turn on 2010’s “The Boxer,” but he’s back with the indie-rock band that first put him on the map with the release of Bloc Party’s 2005 tense and taut debut, “Silent Alarm.” The English rockers are touring behind the brand-new “Four.” Sept. 14, 8 p.m. Tickets: $27.50-$35. House of Blues. 800-745-3000, www.livenation.com
KENDRICK LAMAR
From Compton, Calif., this rising hip-hop artist has built considerable buzz with his mixtapes and collaborations with the likes of Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Lady Gaga. No doubt he’ll make good on all the hype when his major-label debut, “good kid, m.A.A.d city,” is released in October. Sept. 16,
8 p.m. Tickets: $35. Wilbur Theatre. 800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com
ARIEL PINK’S HAUNTED GRAFFITI
Like turning the knob slowly on the AM radio dial, Pink’s new album, “Mature Themes,” imparts the disorienting sensation of stumbling across a world of scrambled sounds and influences. Sept. 16, 8 p.m. Tickets: $17.50. Paradise Rock Club. 800-745-3000, www.ticket
master.com
Folk, World & Country
FIREWATER Tod A, the man at the center of world punk progenitor collective Firewater, has moved his base of operations to Istanbul, from which locale he continues to lob lyrical jeremiads fueled with a potent cocktail of indie rock, klezmer, cabaret, ska, jazz, mambo, and gypsy. Sept. 14, 9 p.m. Tickets: $14. Brighton Music Hall. 800-745-3000, www.ticket
master.com
PATTERSON HOOD
Drive-By Trucker Hood was working on a semi-autobiographical novel drawing on events from a particularly turbulent period of his life; when the book stalled, he turned what he had into the songs that appear on his new (and third) solo album, “Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance.” Sept. 18, 8 p.m. Tickets: $20. Paradise Rock Club. 800-745-3000, www.ticket
master.com
Jazz, Blues & Cabaret
MUSIC OF MARTY EHRLICH This concert, kicking off the New England Conservatory’s 40th anniversary celebration of its Contemporary Improvisation program, features the dynamic multi-instrumentalist — one of the program’s most prominent alumni — in performances with NEC students and faculty, including jazz and world music ensembles, string quartet, and duets with current Contemporary Improvisation department chair Hankus Netsky playing piano. Sept. 13, 8 p.m. Free. NEC's Jordan Hall. 617-585-1260, www.nec
music.edu
MARK DRESSER/JOE MORRIS Virtuosic bassist Dresser is a major force in creative music and has played with axiomatic avant-gardists from Anthony Braxton to John Zorn. For this gig, he’ll perform solo and in duet with Morris, among the most adventurous guitarists around. Sept. 14, 7 p.m. Tickets: $10. Lily Pad, 1353 Cambridge St., Cambridge. www.lily-pad.net
BENNY SHARONI QUINTET The Kibbutz-born and raised, muscular-yet-lithe-toned tenor saxophonist brings a singular freshness to his Sonny Rollins and Dexter Gordon-influenced take on 1960s hard bop. With trumpeter Barry Ries, pianist Gilson Schachnik, bassist Sean Farias, and drummer Steve Langone. Sept. 14, 9 p.m. No cover. Chianti Tuscan Restaurant & Jazz Lounge, 285 Cabot St., Beverly. 978-921-2233, www.chianti
beverly.com
FRED HERSCH TRIO The poetic pianist’s trio with bassist John Hébert and drummer Eric McPherson combines lyricism, brainy improvisation, sensitive interplay, and purring propulsion, adding up to one of the finest piano trios of our day. This gig celebrates the release of their engaging new double album, “Alive at the Vanguard.” Sept. 19, 8 p.m. Tickets: $25. Scullers. 617-562-4111, www.
scullersjazz.com.
Classical
SEPTEMBERFEST Longy’s annual festival opens tomorrow with a program devoted to musical portraits by Virgil Thomson, Jean-Baptiste Forqueray, John Coltrane, and David Mullikin. The series of five free concerts runs through Sept. 29. Longy School of Music of Bard College, 27 Garden St. in Cambridge. 617-876-0956, www.longy.edu
INTERMEZZO The chamber opera series offers a program titled “The Diva Monologues,” with works by Jake Heggie, Hugo Weisgall, and Dominick Argento. The cast includes Janna Baty, Barbara Kilduff, and Kristen Watson. Sept. 15-16. Modern Theatre, 525 Washington St. 617-899-4261, www.intermezzo-opera
.org
ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM Flutist Paula Robison and pianist Paavali Jumppanen perform works by Roussel, Boulez, Debussy, and Poulenc. Sept. 16. 617-278-5156, gardnermuseum.org.
MUSIC FOR FOOD Violist Kim Kashkashian’s Music for Food series opens a new season of concerts to benefit hunger relief. Each program will feature vocal works (this time by Chausson) paired with music of Dvorak. Attendees are asked to bring nonperishable food or a donation to the Greater Boston Food Bank. 8 p.m., Sept. 17. Brown Hall, New England Conservatory. 617-585-1260, www.necmusic.edu