Ballet Hispanico/Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra

This collaboration between Arturo O’Farrill’s Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra and Tina Ramirez’ Ballet Hispanico is designed to transport you back a half-century in time and place. The time? 1950s. The place? The Palladium nightclub in New York City. The program is called Palladium Nights, a “celebration of the irresistible rhythms of the Mambo, the Cha Cha and the Merengue.”

The performance is part of the Egg’s Jazz Dance New York (& Chicago) dance series.

Ballet Hispanico will perform with Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra at the Egg (Empire State Plaza, Albany) on Saturday (March 28) at 8 PM. Tickets are $28, $24 seniors and $14 children. For more info, call 473-1845.

Albany Pro Musica

For the first part of this program, Albany Pro Musica, one of the region’s most accomplished choral ensembles, will perform Mozart’s Regina Coeli and John Corigliano’s Fern Hill (with text from a poem by Dylan Thomas). The second part of the program is Bach’s magisterial (and deeply spiritual) St. John Passion.

APM will be joined by soloists Mark Bleeke (tenor), Cara Cornell (mezzo-soprano), Woody Bynum (bass) and Holly Cameron (soprano); and Shenendehowa High School’s Mostly A Cappella Chorus. The conductor and artistic director is, of course, David Griggs-Janower.

Albany Pro Musica and guests will perform Saturday (March 28) at 8 PM at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall (2nd and State streets, Troy). Tickets are $10-$28. For tickets, call 273-0038.

Jennifer Hudson, Robin Thicke

Grammy Award winners Jennifer Hudson and Robin Thicke have teamed up to co-headline a six-week whirlwind tour, and the R&B stars are kicking things off right here in Albany.

Hudson quickly launched from her American Idol beginnings to superstardom. After a surprisingly early elimination from the world’s biggest singing competition (Hudson didn’t make it past 2004’s top seven), she successfully established herself as both recording artist and actress. She has since won all four major screen-acting awards, and numerous others, for her work in Dreamgirls. Her self-titled debut album was released in 2008, and her hit single “Spotlight” quickly climbed to No. 1.

Robin Thicke grew up listening to R&B and hip-hop, and found early success when André Harrell (then-president of Bad Boy Entertainment) heard the lanky performer’s set. “I heard what Martin Luther King, Jr. described in his dream of a new America: a place where a white man in the San Fernando Valley can feel Detroit, Harlem and the blues,” says Harrell. Thick is currently coasting on the wave of his third hit album. His second album soared to double-platinum status, and earned him a Soul Train Award with singles simultaneously topping four Billboard charts.

Jennifer Hudson and Robin Thicke bring their smooth sounds to the Palace Theatre (19 Clinton Ave, Albany) on Tuesday (March 31) at 7:30 PM. Tickets range from $39-$59. For more info, call 465-4663.