Music

On or near national holidays such as Memorial Day, Veterans Day and Armed Forces Day, orchestras and choral groups program concerts to include decidedly patriotic music to honor sacrifices made by veterans and current military personnel.

ON SALE TODAY - Best of Tchaikovsky with the San Francisco Symphony

SATURDAY - Try your hand at an interactive treasure hunt outside and in the Governor's Mansion as docents dressed in period attire offer guidance. "The Magic of Spring, A Garden Affair at the Mansion," raises funds for operation and the continued restoration of the historic grounds. Light refreshments and a raffle are included.

In the world of Latin pop, he's known for sold-out shows, million-selling albums and the single name of Juanes.

Like a glass of fine cabernet sauvignon, the first vintage of the BottleRock Napa Valley music festival went down smoothly, with minimal complaints about dusty conditions and traffic snarls.

Yo La Tengo bassist James McNew imagines that Jay-Z has perfected the art of touring.

Tribute bands routinely pack clubs these days, but few groups actually capture the vibe and spirit of the musicians they imitate.

Even after 20 years, Randy Cordero, the lead singer of Super Diamond, is astonished at the fan base the band has established.

Ticket sales available today include Josh Groban: In the Round Tour.

The Rolling Stones have embarked on their "50 and Counting" tour, celebrating half a century of extraordinary staying power with a raucous Oakland show Sunday at Oracle Arena and a San Jose stop to come Wednesday at HP Pavilion.

All kinds of comments can be made about The Rolling Stones as the band embarks on its "50 and Counting" tour.

Ross Hammond's In the Flow Festival, an annual celebration of improvisational music, found itself in a state of flow this year.

Can La Mafia's concert Saturday night at Jackson Rancheria be considered an example of social progress?

You bet.

As far as banjo players go, Chris Pandolfi is a trailblazer: He was the first to major in the instrument at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

ON SALE TODAY - American Idol, America's Most Wanted Festival 2013 starring Lil' Wayne, Counting Crows with the Wallflower, El Camino Youth Symphony, Fireworks with the San Francisco Symphony, and Sublime with Rome

TODAY-SATURDAY, Sacramento Ballet company dancers perform works known for genius, athleticism and innovation as part of the Studio Dance Series

This was the music that accompanied 16.1 million members of the "Greatest Generation" as they marched off to war, the music that lifted spirits on the home front, the music that welcomed the soldiers home.

Historically, musicians of color and female musicians were never well-represented in classical music.

If Sacramento's Friday Night Concerts in the Park had a theme song for 2012, it would have been David Bowie's "Changes."

New mobile food vendors were invited to join the festivities. Organizers reimagined the beer garden and introduced an open, free-range audience area.

Blues-rock slide guitarist Roy Rogers, a former member of John Lee Hooker's Coast to Coast Band, will be part of an unusual musical mashup Saturday when he and his Delta Rhythm Kings team up with Bay Area harpist and violinist Carlos Reyes at Harrah's Tahoe.

ON SALE TODAY - Steely Dan with The Deep Blue Organ Trio, August 18, Reno Events Center

They remembered him with a mix of quiet introspection, camaraderie and intense headbanging.

Bach to Rock, a chain of music schools for students of all ages, said Monday that it will open its first school in the West in Sacramento.

LONDON – The material sat in a Florida storage facility for many years, apparently forgotten, until the storage company finally sold it off in bulk because payments had not been made.

It's not too early to plan summer entertainment. In some cases, it's quickly becoming too late.

ON SALE TODAY - Joe Bonamassa, and Kid Rock, ZZ Top, Uncle Kracker

Tonight will be the last appearance in the West of the famed Tokyo String Quartet, as the foursome is disbanding this summer.

While many improvisational bands can sound disjointed, coerced or formulaic, Medeski Martin & Wood has defied those descriptions for decades

Record Store Day arrives Saturday with its annual celebration of independent music merchants and exclusive album releases on vinyl. These festivities also mark a tumultuous time for Sacramento record stores, given that The Beat at 17th and J streets and midtown's Phono Select recently lost their leases.

Chi Cheng lived his life like a classic Deftones song: thoughtfully quiet in one moment, furiously explosive the next. The widely admired bassist for Deftones died April 13 from injuries sustained in a November 2008 car accident. He was 42 years old.

Dozens of musicians, friends and fans of Chi Cheng came to Cesar Chavez Plaza on Sunday evening to remember and honor the Deftones bassist who died Saturday from injuries he suffered in an automobile crash more than four years ago.

Most string quartets make their way through the same life passages that visit the human condition.

The Mondavi Center enters its second decade as an arts presenter with a 2013-14 season that continues a well-established presentation ethos. The new season offers a focus on keyboard artists, and the center continues its artist residencies.

Dan Hicks describes himself as a loner musician, but he has collaborated with so many musicians and crossed into so many genres that he attracts a crowd. For his Grass Valley show, Hicks debuts some new songs and a revue of his Hot Licks classics.

ON SALE TODAY - Adam Ant, Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, Miss May I, and Spank! The Fifty Shades Parody

Two is the magic number for the world- renowned second-wave ska bands coming to Sacramento for upcoming shows.

George Bernard Shaw's first staged play, "Widowers' Houses," premiered Dec. 9, 1892, at the Royalty Theatre in London. Since it was produced by the Independent Theatre Society, a private subscription club, the play and its critique of the wealthy wasn't subjected to censorship by Lord Chamberlain's Office.

Matt Frazier, drummer for the Los Angeles-based indie rock band Local Natives, isn't bothered by how many fans are accessing online the group's latest album "Hummingbird."

A native New Yorker with extensive experience staging opera, symphonic music and other art forms has been picked to lead the soon-to-be merged organizations of the Sacramento Philharmonic and Sacramento Opera.

Channy Leaneagh's haunting, ethereal voice doesn't really sound haunting or ethereal these days.

Shirley Caesar used to refuse to infuse contemporary styles with her traditional gospel sound, but now the pastor and 11-time Grammy winner has changed her stance.

When asked how the 27-year-old Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain has managed to stay together through many tours and other challenges, founding member George Hinchliffe likened it to how the Rolling Stones have kept it together so many years.

ON SALE TODAY - Fall Out Boy, The Heartbreaker Tour: Heart with Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience, Pitbull and Keith Urban, Little Big Town, Dustin Lynch

It's not easy being Pervis.That's according to Spinners singer Jessie Robert Peck, who gained a spot in the legendary smooth-soul group in 2008, supplying the bass vocals once performed by original band member Pervis Jackson.

TODAY-THURSDAY - The River Cats, the hometown AAA baseball team, extend opening weekend into next week, first against the Las Vegas 51s and then against Tacoma's Rainiers.

Most of the founders of country music are gone – Hank Williams, Kitty Wells, Roy Acuff – along with most of the original "outlaw" band of brothers that included Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings.

Music-loving entrepreneurs Gabe Meyers and Bob Vogt saw an opening: a spot on the calendar in between April's Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals, held in the Southern California desert, and late May's Sasquatch! Festival in Washington state.

SATURDAY - Kristine Flaherty, known in her entertaining persona as K. Flay, found music to be a way to express what mattered to her. Her days at Stanford set her on a path of self-inspection and bouncy wordplay. The San Francisco-based rapper often works alone, but won't mind sharing her talents with a crowd.

"I get a huge kick out of the audiences," said Linda Collins, producer of "Moonwalker: The Reflection of Michael," which plays at Harrah's Tahoe on Saturday. "They come up to the cast afterward and cry. They grab Michael and hug and hug him. They don't want to let (him) go.

Logic with Skizzy Mars, John Mayer, Pitbull with Ke$ha, Old Crow Medicine Show, Steve Miller Band & The Doobie Brothers, Chris Tucker,