Keane
As Pete Wentz knows full well, it’s the sensitive guys who get the most action. Imagine, then, how much ass the men of Keane get. After years of toiling in the shadow of Coldplay (who used to open for them back in the day), singer Tom Chaplin, drummer Richard Hughes, and pianist Tim Rice-Oxley officially broke with 2004’s Hope and Fears , a record that made Ben Folds Five sound like GG Allin after a fifth of Jack. Having stumbled onto a formula that worked, the piano-propelled trio wisely decided not to tinker with its warm, fuzzy, soul-baring sound for last year’s Under the Iron Sea . Keane’s now officially on the brink of stardom, making the band’s Orpheum stand on Wednesday (January 31) a prime opportunity to say “I saw them when”. So what’s prevented Keane frontman Chaplin from already getting to a level of fame where he’s banging A-list movie stars and giving birth to adorable little Apples? Well, there was that out-of-control drinking-and-drugging, which led to the cancellation of a show scheduled for the Orpheum last October. But word is that he’s all better now. So, ladies, if you’re looking to give it up to one rock star this year, we can think of a guy who’s probably too sensitive for his own good.

Mad Professor
Best known for No Protection , his 1995 retooling of Massive Attack’s second album, London’s Mad Professor is still a major player in the international dub scene, recently celebrating the 25th anniversary of his mighty Ariwa Records label. Last year alone, the African-born producer released two full-length albums, a half-dozen singles, and a dozen or more remixes, including his splendidly slow-winding take on Stereo Total’s “Das Erste Mal”. This Friday (January 26), the man born Neal Fraser will turn the Commodore into his own personal echo chamber, unfurling his hypnotic strain of sonic voodoo before your very eyes.

Kenny Barron
Get a master class in jazz piano at the Norman Rothstein Theatre next Friday (February 2), when Kenny Barron makes a rare local visit. Learn how to craft dazzling melodic variations from jazz standards and originals alike. Plumb harmonic secrets known only to those who have grown up playing with the greats. (Barron has worked as a sideman with Dizzy Gillespie, Yusuf Lateef, and Stan Getz, among many others.) And, most of all, relax: this veteran performer’s gentle soul is best revealed in his eloquent and refined approach to solo improvisation.

Peggy Lee Band
This week alone, the hardest-working woman in contemporary music has appeared in the PuSh festival’s Projections event and helped score artist Carol Itter’s new grunt gallery show, and she’s also going to appear with Veda Hille’s new Swell Band at the Cultch on Sunday (January 28). Before that, though, the cellist will premiere a new batch of her own compositions at the Ironworks on Friday (January 26), with saxophonist Jon Bentley and guitarist Tony Wilson augmenting her own six-piece band. With two young kids to take care of and a host of other bookings, when does Lee find time to sleep?

Autorickshaw
A step or two beyond bhangra, Autorickshaw incorporates elements of jazz and funk into its Subcontinental sound. Suba Sankaran’s vocals meld the best of east and west, while percussionists Ed Hanley and Debashis Sinha supply complex counterpoint to the heartbeat bass of R&B expert Rich Brown. More urban, although not necessarily more urbane, than the roots-fusion sounds coming out of this city, Autorickshaw brings its particularly Torontonian version of multiculturalism to the Cellar on Sunday (January 28).

Kelly Joe Phelps
Acoustic guitarist Kelly Joe Phelps is no stranger to B.C. But long-time local fans will be discovering another side of the quietly charismatic songwriter when he plays at the Capilano College Performing Arts Theatre in North Vancouver this Saturday (January 27). On the evidence of his latest release, Tunesmith Retrofit —coproduced by Steve Dawson and recorded in this city—Phelps has attained a new maturity. The marbles are gone from his mouth, his voice is more soulful and quietly intense than ever, and the lyrics are more down to earth and less surrealistic. Plus, the Portland, Oregon, musician has picked up the banjo again and plays it like a master. With Tunesmith Retrofit Phelps has just set the bar for performers of acoustic roots music on the West Coast at a new height.