Blues time: Longtime Bay Area bluesman J. C. Smith has been around the block, traveling not only across the U.S., but also to far-flung places like Argentina, Armenia, Canada, Chile, China, Latvia, Portugal, Russia, even Siberia. But he and his band always enjoy appearing at home around town. The award-winning musician, a crowd-pleaser in the South Bay, is excited about a gig at San Francisco’s Biscuits & Blues this weekend. Now playing with bandmates Stevie Q on bass, Noel Catura on saxophone, Scott Porter on keyboards and Tim Richard on drums, vocalist-guitarist Smith has made six albums over the past two decades or so, starting with 2004’s “That’s What I’m Talk’n Bout.” The most recent, 2019’s “In the Groove,” includes original tunes and fun covers of songs made famous by Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, George Benson and Stevie Wonder. Still, the band is best known for soulful, rockin’ live shows that really get the audience going. Smith’s motto has been to “keep the blues alive and take the message to the people.” He and his group live up to it. On Saturday, Biscuits & Blues patrons may want to arrive early and enjoy a meal from the club’s great menu featuring Southern and soul food. Shows are at 6:30 and 9 p.m. at 401 Mason St.; tickets are $35-$40. Visit biscuitsandblues.com.
A fantastic four: The Grammy-winning Los Angeles Quartet, a longtime favorite of Bay Area arts presenters San Francisco Performances, returns to the Herbst Theatre Saturday night in a concert cosponsored by the Omni Foundation for the Performing Arts that amply demonstrates the depth and diversity of the ensemble’s repertoire. As is customary, the musicians will perform a couple of works written by members: William Kanengiser’s “Air & Ground,” and “Maracasalsa,” a work fusing Brazilian rhythmic traditions with classical forms (toccata and fugue) by the newest member, Douglas Lora, who joined the quartet in 2023. Also in the lineup are the Adagio movement from Beethoven’s famed “Moonlight Sonata” (arranged by Kanengiser), the third movement from J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, the “Danse Négre” from Sanuel Coleridge-Taylor’s “African Suite,” Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No 2, Philip Houghton’s “Opals,” Hermeto Pascoal’s “De Sábado pra Dominguinhos,” Heitor Villa-Lobos’ “A Lenda do Caboclo” and Paulo Bellinatia’s “A Furiosa.” Performance time is 7:30 p.m.; tickets, $60-$80, are available at sfperformances.org.
A special guest: Iranian-American concert pianist and composer Faranak Shahroozi, who emigrated to the United States a few years after the Iran Revolution threw her home country into turmoil, specializes in lush, ultra-romantic works for the keyboard. She earned her degree in classical piano performance from at San Jose State University, so it is entirely appropriate that the San Jose Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Barbara Day Turner, has put her front and center in Sunday’s 7 p.m. concert in the St. Francis Episcopal Church in the city’s Willow Glen neighborhood. The program, titled “An Evening of Persian Delights,” consists of works she has written, including “Persia” and “Behind the Veil” from her “Eternal Love” album, “Circles of My Mind,” “Lovestruck” and other pieces to be announced. Find her version of John Lennon’s “Imagine,” played for an audience including Jill Biden at the 111th Congressional Club First Lady’s Luncheon, here. Tickets, $20-$85, for the San Jose performance are at sjco.org.
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