The Musical Box

The Egg, Thursday

In 1975, the British art-rock band Genesis were faced with the challenge of replacing famed frontman/nutjob Peter Gabriel. Legend has it that they auditioned more than 400 singers—just to hint at the scale of the problem—before handing the mic to their drummer and backup singer, Phil Collins. The first Collins-fronted release—and the supporting tour—propelled them to new levels of fame and success. Tribute act the Musical Box, who have previously re-created concert experiences of Gabriel-era Genesis (with incredible accuracy and attention to detail), now tackle that redefining work, 1976’s A Trick of the Tail. (Jan. 14, 7:30 PM, $42.50-$60, Empire State Plaza, Albany, 473-1845)

Dominic Fallacaro

GE Theater at Proctors, Saturday

For New York jazz pianist Dom inic Fallacaro, this Saturday’s show is a double celebration. First, it’s a homecoming performance for the Capital Region native; you might have seen him back in the day at places like the Van Dyck and Caffe Lena. Second, Saturday’s gig serves as a hometown release show for Fallacaro’s recent debut CD, Collected. The album features the performer’s original compositions, and finds him joined by a razor-sharp quartet. Listening to Collected, it’s no wonder Fallacaro and his band have played all the great rooms—Lincoln Center doesn’t let just anyone on that stage. (Jan. 16, 7:30 PM, $16.50, 432 State St., Schenectady, 346-6204)

Hess Is More

Mass MoCA, Saturday

Any performer who compares himself to Jon Brion, Flight of the Conchords, and Lars von Trier in the same breath is OK in our book. New York City-based musician Mikkel Hess is well-known in his native Denmark for working hand-in-hand with that country’s theater, television, film and art industries. But scoring is just part of his master plan—Hess is an accomplished singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, one of the Big Apple’s best-loved “freestyle disco jazz” drummers. Hess Is More, a “playful” collaboration between Hess, his brother Nikolaj, and a rotating cast of musicians, puts “melancholy in one end, and humor in the other.” Find out where the twain shall meet this weekend in North Adams. (Jan. 16, PM, $16, $10 students, 87 Marshall St., North Adams, Mass., 413-662-2111)

Jam and Sing Thing

Woman’s Club of Albany and Albany Friends Meeting House, Friday-Sunday

This is the rare occasion when we preview a concert that’s not really a concert. Tri-City Trad, a Capital Region resource for participatory music and dance, presents the Jam and Sing Thing, the new year’s first big music festival and one in which anybody can take part. Rather than performances, the fest is a series of participatory master classes and lessons with some of the area’s best acoustic musicians, plus “jams” in which musicians of all capabilities are invited to join in and play or sing a tune or three with friends. For those desperately seeking a performance element to the procedings, Ken Sweeney will play a festival warmup concert tonight (Thursday) at Old Songs in Voorheesville. (Jan. 15-17, details and times at tricitytrad.com, 210-7060)

Emma’s Revolution

Emma’s revolution

Caffe Lena, Sunday

Anarchist revolutionary Emma Goldman once famously proclaimed, “If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution.” It’s in this spirit that folk duo emma’s revolution craft their hopeful, human, and politically charged music. Their songs have won the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, appeared on Democracy Now! and All Things Considered, and “Peace, Salaam, Shalom” has been called the anthem of the antiwar movement, used in demonstrations by the likes of Alice Walker and Pete Seeger. New York subway-busking folk duo Left on Red open this Sunday-night show with their own socially relevant tunes. (Jan. 17, 7 PM, $17, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs, 583-0022)

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