Roadtrips

After completing an album interpreting the likes of Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan, "crown prince of the saxophone" Joshua Redman gets back to his own complex originals on his latest disc, Beyond (Warner Bros.; see "Off the Record," in Arts). He's supporting the album with a two-night stand at the Somerville Theatre (617-931-2000) on April 20 and 21, plus a date at the Iron Horse Music Hall (413-584-0610) in Northampton on April 23. Hot off their collaboration Blackout!, the bluntin'-est duo in hip-hop, Redman (no relation to Joshua, of course), and Wu-Tang's charismatic Method Man are scheduled to hit the Palladium (508-797-9696) in Worcester on April 22, as well as a mega-fest at the University of Maine at Orono (800-477-6849) on April 26 that also features Mix Master Mike, Rahzel, Choclair, and Ghostface Killah. Meth's actually had better chart success lately with another collaborator -- Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst. But "N 2Gether Now" aside, we're partial to Blackout! -- especially that crazy "Cereal Killer" track (already the name of a Green Jello album!) where they go on a murder spree. It hadda be the best hip-hop goof-horror track of last year, with the possible exception of Eminem & Thirstin Howl III's "Watch Dees." In any case, we're hoping Meth is a little more generous with his time tonight than he was with the 20-minute set he played last year at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell. We're also getting Wu Man -- no, she's not another Wu affiliate but a pipa player (not a piper, a pipa, a Chinese stringed instrument) whose home base is significantly closer to the real Shaolin than to Staten Island. She's playing MIT's Kresge Auditorium (617-253-2826) on April 22.

The king of the surf guitar -- Dick Dale, who affectionately refers to his loyal fans as "Dick Heads" -- makes his annual appearance to usher in warm weather at the Middle East (617-864-EAST) in Cambridge on April 22 with garage punks Caged Heat, at Higher Ground (802-654-7079) in Winooski, Vermont, on April 23, at the Iron Horse on April 25, and at Asylum (207-772-8274) in Portland, Maine, on April 26. Another sign it's spring: the WBOS Earthfest (617-822-9600) on Boston Common on April 22, featuring Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Sonia Dada, teen blues phenom Shannon Curfman, Edwin McCain, modern-rock has-beens Marcy Playground, and mattress salesmen Entrain. You can also catch Kenny Wayne at the State Theatre (207-775-3331) in Portland, Maine, on April 20; and McCain at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel (401-272-5876) in Providence on April 27.
-- Carly Carioli