Meklit

The smart and tasteful Ethiopia-born singer toggles between jazz, pop, and traditionalism on her new We Are Alive, which follows the Police’s “Bring on the Night” with the Amharic-language “Kemekem (I Like Your Afro).” She’s a blithe-voiced daughter of Joni who considers music a path to higher ground, with rest stops for the likes of Talking Heads and Lou Reed.

Fri., March 21, 7:30 p.m., 2014