The back story behind the Bad Plus, an adventurous jazz trio that now essentially calls Brooklyn, New York its home, is one of the more circuitous ones out there. Drummer David King and bassist Reid Anderson met in high school in Minnesota in the mid-'80s. They discovered they liked much of the same music and became friends. Then King moved to Los Angeles and Anderson went to Philadelphia and then New York. The Bad Plus wouldn't officially form as a group until 2000. Because both Anderson and pianist Ethan Iverson had issued solo records on the Barcelona, Spain-based (and Brooklyn-friendly) label Fresh Sounds, the guys didn't have any trouble finding a home for their first disc, a self-titled affair that received an inordinate amount of critical praise. Then, after a Columbia Records A&R rep caught the group at the Village Vanguard during the JVC Jazz Festival, he signed them. The next day. But Columbia didn't renew its contract, so the band's started anew with the Beachwood-based Heads Up, which issued Prog last year. The album commences with a jazz rendition of Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" and includes versions of David Bowie's "Life on Mars" and Rush's "Tom Sawyer" that are so out there it's apparent the guys just use the tunes as musical launching pads of sorts. The band returns to play at 7 tonight and tomorrow at Nighttown (12387 Cedar Rd., 216.795.0550). Tickets: $20. — Jeff Niesel

SATURDAY, MAY 10

Jim White

Poor Jim White. He's got the kind of name apt to get him confused with other notable indie rockers. A mere syllable separates him from Jack White, guitar virtuoso and white-boy-blues yowler of the White Stripes, and he could be mistaken for the other Jim White, virtuoso drummer for Australian instrumental rockers Dirty Three. This Jim White isn't much of a virtuoso, and his nom de rock doesn't carry as much currency as those other guys' in certain hipster circles, but his latest offering, Transnormal Skiperoo, is a fine album all the same. The Pensacola, Florida native and former male model, New York cabbie, pro surfer, photographer and filmmaker turns in a solid set of lilting, heartfelt acoustic ballads on his new disc. It conjures the long tradition of country-influenced pop music that ruled the singer-songwriter realm before it got hip and became alt-country in the late '80s. Mike Uva opens at 9 p.m. at the Beachland Tavern (15711 Waterloo Rd., 216.383.1124). Tickets: $10. — Brandon Lichtinger

TUESDAY, MAY 13

Tony Scherr

Connecticut-born singer-songwriter Tony Scherr spent the better part of his career working as a sideman. He's played bass for everyone from Rufus Wainwright to Rickie Lee Jones and Shawn Colvin, and Feist has been covering one of his songs during her live performances. Scherr, however, has focused on his solo career lately and has just released his second album, Twist in the Wind. Much like Ron Sexsmith, Scherr has a gentle vocal delivery that almost disguises the fact that his pop songs have an understated edge to them. For this show, Golden Palominos drummer (and former Clevelander) Anton Fier and Imogen Heap bassist Rob Jost will back him up. The Kidney Brothers open at 8 p.m. at the Beachland Tavern (15711 Waterloo Rd., 216.383.1124). Tickets: $8. — JN

WEDNESDAY, MAY 14

Menudo

These days, you'd be hard pressed to find a boy band that could fill a small concert hall let alone a stadium. But that was bound to happen as boys became men, and their audience grew up and moved on. Don't tell that to 15-year-old Chris Moy. Six months ago, the New Yorker was singing in the shower. Now, after beating out the competition, he's a part of the latest incarnation of Menudo. Yes, that Menudo, the bilingual boy band that spawned monsters like Ricky Martin. "Actually, I do think boy bands can make a comeback," says Moy via phone from Las Vegas where the group has just started its Bandemonium tour. "There are lots of comebacks, with Janet Jackson putting out a new album and Michael Jackson celebrating the 25th anniversary of Thriller. Britney [Spears] just put out an album, too. Every few years another generation of boy bands comes up. I'm proud to be part of the new generation." The band, which Moy says is "super-stoked" about its current headlining tour, has issued the single "Lost," but Moy says a full-length is in the works. NLT, V-Factory and GLOWB join Menudo at 7:30 p.m. at the House of Blues Cambridge Room (308 Euclid Ave., 216.241.5555). Tickets: $20. — JN

Does It Offend You, Yeah!

On its terrific new album, You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into, Does it Offend You, Yeah! takes the dance-rock approach of the Rapture and DFA and turns it upside down. The album's opening track, "Battle Royale," sputters and spits out an array of strange electronic noises that put the "clash" in electroclash. The rapping in songs such as "With a Heavy Heart (I Regret to Inform You)" is weak enough to make you wish the Brits would stick to instrumentals. But it doesn't detract from the band's unbridled energy, which never lets up. Florida's Yo Majesty opens alongside Sammy Slims and MisterBradleyP at 9 p.m. at the Grog Shop (2785 Euclid Heights Blvd., Cleveland Heights, 216.321.5588). Tickets: $10 advance, $12 day of show. — JN

The Mars Volta

Since splitting from At the Drive In seven years ago, the Mars Volta's Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodríguez-López have gone through a series of line-ups. "It was difficult right from the start," Bixler-Zavala says of the changes while speaking via phone. "They never liked the music. The majority of people we've asked to leave or were fired. They were after money, fame or women, which is the opposite of the effect we want to have on people. They weren't in it for the right reason. It was a serious blow to our family to have to ask [drummer] Jon Theodore to leave. Audiences were attracted to him." The band's continued to relentlessly push forward, and its latest album, The Bedlam in Goliath, is its most aggressive yet. "[The aggression] has to do with the way [Rodríguez-López] attracts people to the band. You learn your stuff 15 minutes before he hits "record.' That's what we want." And like any Mars Volta album, Bedlam veers all over the musical map, settling into a quieter mode for ballads like "Tourniquet Man" and letting everything out on shredders like "Cavalettes." "We listen to a lot of different stuff or we'd get really bored with everything," Bixler-Zavala says. "Everything from Gram Parsons to the new Mary J. Blige song. We listen to lots of ghetto rap, too." The band's been called the "most musically adventurous act currently signed to a major label," something that might change if Bixler-Zavala has his way. "I hope we don't have to work with [a major label] anymore," he says. "[Bedlam] is really old because of rules about when people buy records. Our fans don't pay attention to stuff like that. Hannah Montana is perfect for the demo that buys records on holidays. Mars' fans are constantly hungry. When you gotta eat, you gotta eat." The show starts at 8 p.m. at the Agora (5000 Euclid Ave., 216.881.2221). Tickets: $35. — JN