Samba over easy
Eliane Elias has excelled at jazz, classical and her native Brazilian music over the course of her 30-year career. She recently shifted the emphasis from piano to vocals in her crowd-pleasing investigations of Brazilian songcraft. Her 2015 disc, "Made in Brazil," won a Grammy for its lush bossa nova-oriented program. Her latest, "Dance of Time," celebrates a century of samba music. This trio gig promises to give the material the sly intimacy it deserves. (7 & 9 p.m. Thu., Dakota, Mpls.; $20-$45, dakotacooks.com)
Javanese, no jive
Now based in the Twin Cities, Jay Afrisando is an Indonesian composer who has blown straight jazz on saxophone and concocted songs using the random signals of 140-character tweets. He and a quintet will perform "Convergence," his opus for Javanese gamelan instruments, electronics, quinto, bassoon and tenor sax. (7:30 p.m. Sat., Studio Z, St. Paul; free, studiozstpaul.com)
Staying power
It's been more than a decade since Snowblind released its debut disc. Aside from relatively new bassist Graydon Peterson, the three-horn, piano-less quintet has retained the same lineup. Bop and post-bop jazz holds sway, but there are swirls of Latin and hip-hop tucked into the corners of the group's mostly original tunes. The chromatic array provided by the trombone-trumpet-sax front line is spunky and rock-solid. (8:30 p.m. Sat., Black Dog, St. Paul; $10 suggested donation, blackdogstpaul.com)
Musical impressionism
Red Planet with pianist Bill Carrothers returns to the Dunsmore Room, a venue with an airy elegance that mirrors the plush and almost-spooky sounds emanating from this utterly distinctive quartet. Imagine the beacon of John Coltrane under a beautifully muted lampshade. (7 p.m. Tue., Crooners, Fridley; $15, croonersloungemn.com)
Comeback with killer band
Guitarist Mike Stern is best known for his membership in Miles Davis' early '80s comeback band, but his funky fusion-jazz attack has held up well in the decades since. This gig comes at a propitious time — the week after the release of "Trip," his own comeback album after suffering a horrendous fall that broke both upper arms and left him with nerve damage. The star-studded band is marvelous with Randy Brecker on trumpet, Dennis Chambers on drums and Tom Kennedy on bass. (7 & 9 p.m. Sept. 12-13, Dakota, Mpls.; $22-$42, dakotacooks.com)
BRITT ROBSON
