2/16/10: Today’s Tips: Tuesday

HAPPY MARDI GRAS!

MUSIC: Skip Parsons’ Riverboat Jazz Band @ Best Western Sovereign Hotel, Albany. Maybe the next best thing to hanging out in the French Quarter tonight. Plenty of good Louisiana food and lots of great traditional New Orleans jazz. 6:30-9pm. $35 (includes all you can eat buffet) or $10 (music only).

MUSIC: Neil Rolnick’s “Extended Family” @ EMPAC at RPI, Troy. An evening of new compositions performed by composer Rolnick, as well as his pals Ethel and Bob Gluck. Adventurous and entertaining. 7:30pm. Free.

THEATER: “Spring Awakening” @ Proctors, Schenectady. On Broadway, this musical garnered eight Tony Awards – including Best Musical – in 2007. Music by pop singer-songwriter Duncan Sheik. The touring production runs at Proctors through Sunday evening. 8pm. $20-$65.

MUSIC: “The Blues Go to Church” at the McKownville United Methodist Church, Albany. Members of the Saratoga Acoustic Blues Society bring the blues. The Lost Radio Rounders bring the gospel music. And there’s a pre-concert pancake dinner beginning at 6pm. Concert at 7pm. FREE.

MUSIC: Frank Jaklitsch & Friends @ the Ancient Order of Hibernians Hall, Albany. New Orleans-style pot luck dinner and a great gumbo of groovin’ sounds from singer-songwriter Jaklitsch and an unpredictable assortment of his musical buddies. 6:30pm. FREE; donations appreciated.

MUSIC: Duchess & the Afro-Dub Rebels @ Savannah’s, Albany. Horn-fueled funk, reggae, Afro-beat. 8pm. $5.