Tues. March 6

Our favorite DJ of our generation, Brother Cleve, knows about music you don't have a clue about. Don't feel bad. Cleve spends his life digging up rare cool stuff throughout the world. All you have to do is sit back - or get up offa your thang - and let him spin the discs as you groove to the tunes. Tuesday March 6, Cleve sets up his turntables at the Alchemist Lounge and spins 1970s Peruvian funk and soul. We do not know what this sounds like, but in Cleve we trust. It starts at 7:30 p.m. and bartenders John Byrd and Nicole Poirier will mix up Pisco (a clear, grape-based spirit or unaged brandy from Peru and Chile) in various cocktail combos: Pisco Sour, Pisco Punch etc. Again, we do not know what these taste like but ... Chef Greg Collins serves up Peruvian-and-Chile-styled snacks. There's no cover; cocktails will run you a very affordable $8 each.

435 S. Huntington Ave., Jamaica Plain, 617-477-5741

alchemistlounge.com

 Mon. March 5

Playing town this weekend is someone whose latest work if featured on the top R&B/hip-hop album in the country, Robin Thicke's "The Evolution of Robin Thicke." (Actually, after three weeks at the top of the chart, it dropped to No. 2.) Thicke isn't playing town, but his co-songwriter and guitarist is: Bobby Keyes. He and his trio are at Top of the Hub Monday March 5th. No cover for any of the gigs. "I met Robin when he was writing and producing a cut for Jordan Knight with New Kids on the Block, about 12 years ago. I was there to do the guitar session. Over the years we wrote for other other people. Five years ago, he began to concentrate on own career and we did "Cherry Blue Skies. Keyes, at 53, does not tour with Thicke. Reason: "Too long in the tooth for touring. I sit in a chair now. I play music for music's sake" Keyes has lived and done session work in L.A., but he grew up in Saugus - and it is to Saugus he has returned to live. "I'm an East Coast guy," he says. Keyes's upcoming gigs will be with some combination of Jim Gwin (who also drums with the Boston Pops) Marty Richards (who has played drums with Gary Burton), Marty Ballou (who plays bass with John Hammond) and Brian Ruzzutto (who plays bass with some ex-Roomful of Blues people.) "I have one foot in the pop world and one foot in the old school, like Ben E. King and Sleepy LaBeef. (Keyes played on the next to last Jerry Lee Lewis disc.)
What Keyes plays on his own, he says, is 80 percent originals and all-instrumental. "It's a mix of American roots music - with Latin, country, blues, jazz, pop. It's a blend. It's not endless riffing. I honor the melody a lot." The Murphy's set starts at 11 p.m. At the Hub's lounge, Keyes and his trio begin at 8 p.m.

Murphy's, 14 Harvard St., Brookline, 617-232-0188 mattmurphyspub.com,  Top of the Hub, 800 Boylston St., 617-536-1775 topofthehub.net

Mon. March 5

We've been to a couple of the swanky p.A.R.T.y events - the annual spring fundraiser held by American Repertory Theatre - and we've been knocked out by the celebs (Matt, Ben) and the cuisine. We've gone to these flings in hotels and outdoor courtyards, but this year's dig, Monday March 5, will be at Brighton Mills in Brighton. Which, the A.R.T., promises is a "transformed" space. WBUR's Robin Young is the honored guest; aerial artist Mam Smith (formerly of the Cirque du Soleil) will perform and "Angels in America" playwright Tony Kushner (in photo) will be honored with the annual Robert Brustein Award. (Brustein was the A.R.T.'s longtime director who fought the fight and made the avant theater go - he's still an advisor.) The party starts at 6 p.m., and it celebrates the season now in its home stretch, "Season of Transformations." Music provided by The Map of the House Band and Marakutaia Group, food catered by MAX Ultimate Food. There will be both live and silent auctions. Admission: $500. (It's a benefit, folks.)

380 Western Ave., Brighton, 617-495-2668 amrep.org

Sun. March 4 

 Call it acoustic rock or pumped-up folk. They like to call it "spazzy, folk-tinged acoustic indie-rock." Fancy Trash is a trio from Easthampton that's just released its second CD, "Three cheers for the cheated" (great title) and it opens the three-band bill at T.T. the Bear's Sunday March 4. (Alcantra follows and When Walls Are Built headlines.) There's a jauntiness at time - "Hope is a phase that I'm feeling," sings Dave Houghton in "Lost in the Evening" - as well as some angst, self-recrimination and frustration. They also go sorta off the rails at times, on purpose, we assume. Fancy Trash takes us back to Uncle Tupelo or, maybe, Violent Femmes. Houghton plays acoustic guitar, banjo, bouzouki, harmonica and slide guitar; Josheu Thayer plays upright bass and dobro; Ben Laine is on drums. Tickets: $7.

10 Brookline St., Cambridge, 617-492-0082. ttthebears.com

 Thurs. March 1

The Oscars are over and the decisions are in. But the short films went by, uh, quickly, didn't they? The Coolidge Corner Theatre has long provided a place to go for those interested in the genre and does so again this year. Today, Thursday March 1 is the last day for the run of "Oscar Nominated Shorts." The "live action program" is up at 2 and 7 p.m. and the "animated program" is up at 11:45 a.m. The photo pic is from the animated winner "The Danish Comic." Tickets: $9.

290 Harvard St., Brookline, 617-734-2500 coolidge.org