Heavy Dates

by John O'Neill and Carly Carioli

WORCESTER: Split celebrate the release of their new CD at the Espresso Bar this Friday, along with Incubus, Far, and Flipside. Music Poll nominees Jason James and the Bay State Houserockers ask you to let it rip and slip a disc at the Shirley Club. Mixing political commentary, smart-assed antics, hardcore punk, and wailin' funk (not to mention Jimi Hazel's massive guitar), 24-7 Spyz have been rocking as hard as anyone for the past decade, though they've somehow fallen through the cracks of commercial success. Maybe they're just too damn dangerous for a Mariah Carey world. They return to storm Sir Morgan's Cove tonight with Chillum, Woodgrain Theory, and Chin Strap. Over at Dinny's, Music Poll nominees Thinner, Huck, and the Free Radicals do battle in the name of our furry, fanged friend, the kitty cat. It's an all-star benefit for the Pat Brody Cat Shelter, a non-profit, no-kill, volunteer-run home for otherwise homeless felines. Also on Saturday, the Above Club hosts Beantown alt-country rockers the Swinging Steaks, and the Arthur Dent Foundation have a little party to celebrate the release of their freshman CD at the Tammany Club. On Wednesday, April 1, Tammany continues its Battle of the Bands with Skunk, Dabble, and Lamp slugging it out, while Grind Central (Clark University) welcomes Chicago's harmonica great Carey Bell. Appearing with everyone from Muddy Waters, Earl Hooker, and Big Walter Horton, not to mention recording a fistful of solo albums, Bell hits town in support of his latest release on Alligator Records. Call 795-6487 to reserve tickets.

-- John O'Neill

BOSTON/PROVIDENCE: The Menudo of African-American gospel, spirituals, and hymns, Sweet Honey in the Rock, are in the midst of a tour celebrating a quarter-century of sacred, a cappella musicmaking. Since 1973 more than 20 women have rotated through the ensemble's membership. The Grammy-winning group, who include five singers and a sign-language interpreter, play John M. Greene Hall at Smith College (800-477-6849), in Northampton, on March 27; partial proceeds benefit Western New England public radio station WFCR.

For the big names in jazz, check out the Iron Horse (413-584-0610), in Northampton, which hosts drummer T.S. Monk and band performing the music of his illustrious father on March 27. Jazz's premier bassist, Christian McBride (who at 25 is already being touted as the heir to Mingus), hits the same room on March 30.

You can hear some great rockabilly the way it was meant to be heard -- as the backdrop to some smoky billiards hall -- in the Green Room at Snookers (401-351-7665), in Providence. Snookers is home to a weekly hepcat hootenanny and is where the top two roots 'billy outfits in Boston (and the nation at large) will take up shop this weekend. On March 27 it's the Cranktones, who damn near started the whole Boston rockabilly revival; the next night it's Scollay Square's the Racketeers, who'll be hawking their homonymous debut at all the big European rockabilly revivals later this year.

Ye olde original ska band, the Skatalites, have become such fluent players that they're practically a Jamaican jazz outfit; they slide back through New England with third-wavers Let's Go Bowling and the Invaders opening on April 2 at the Middle East (617-864-3278), in Cambridge, and on April 3 with the Agents at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel (401-272-5876), in Providence.

And since the shows here last year by Testament were such a yawn, '80s thrash guy fellow travelers Overkill -- who pretty much summed up the problem when they took their name -- have been exiled to the hinterlands of Rhode Island, where they'll be at the Met Café (401-861-2142) on April 2.

-- Carly Carioli