Friday, June 4, at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, 2025 Lake Robbins Dr., 281-363-3300.

Han Bennink

Han Bennink, Holland's legendary, boundary-defacing rhythm fiend, is truly a percussionist without peer. In 1964, while still in his early twenties, Bennink drummed on the final European session of diabetic out-jazz godhead Eric Dolphy (still in print on Polydor Records under the title Last Date); just this year he toured with savage punk/improv veterans the Ex; and in the intervening decades he collaborated with a virtual who's who of adventuresome international musicians, spending a great deal of time in variously sized combos with rib-cracking German sax-marauder Peter Brotzmann.

But Bennink's impressive résumé does not really begin to suggest his true uniqueness as a performer. The man swings with the suaveness and relentlessness of someone a third his age while giving full vent to an irrepressible, anarcho-vaudevillian sense of humor. His high jinks, truth be told, can sometimes upstage or just plain alienate his more traditional-minded fellow musicians. Don't ask why, but some collaborators don't quite know how to respond when the wildly mugging human powderkeg behind the trap kit starts pounding on his tennis-shoe sole in tandem with his own skull, or else yanks out some piece of detritus found backstage, whacking away at it mercilessly, plumbing for untapped sonic possibilities. Perhaps fortunately for potential sidemen, his Houston appearance will find Mr. Bennink performing unaccompanied. By the same token, discriminating jazz fans should be advised that this show is all but guaranteed to be that rare thing: an extended drum solo well worth hearing. -- Scott Faingold

Sunday, June 6, at Barnevelder Movement /Arts Complex, 2201 Preston, 713-529-1819.

J.J. Cale

Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1938, J.J. Cale is now playing in his sixth decade. An early crony of Leon Russell, Cale once reached for pop stardom in Los Angeles when he recorded a Russell-produced minor-hit novelty single called "Dick Tracy" in 1960. After playing briefly with legendary roots rockers Delaney and Bonny in 1964, Cale formed a psychedelic band with Roger Tilson called the Leathercoated Minds. But by 1967 he gave up the star chase and returned to the Tulsa clubs, where he began to write songs and perform solo. When Eric Clapton recorded Cale's "After Midnight" in 1970, Cale gained not only some degree of financial viability but also wider attention for his work. His reputation was further enhanced when Clapton recorded "Cocaine" and rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd set fire to Cale's "Call Me the Breeze." With his newfound exposure, Cale even had a minor hit of his own in 1971 with the slinky, laid-back "Crazy Mama." Even Waylon Jennings was a Cale fan and he recorded "Clyde" during his Dukes of Hazzard phase. Throughout his career, Cale stuck with his low-down cool-cat blues-roots style of singing and picking, effectively stanching any chance at wide popular acceptance but endearing him to a die-hard cult of fans who treat his rare personal appearances as second comings. -- William Michael Smith

Monday, June 7, at McGonigel's Mucky Duck, 2425 Norfolk, 713-528-5999.