Lizzy McAlpine, Rick Ross, Buddy Guy, and Bobby Rush light up the Philly music scene this week

This week’s Philly music highlights include a pair of veteran blues greats, an Atlantic City hip-hop extravaganza, a house music vocalist in University City, and a performance by the first Black composer to have an opera staged at Metropolitan Opera in New York.

All that, and it’s a busy week of new releases by big-name acts with Philly shows on the horizon.

Leading that list is Lizzy McAlpine, the Narberth-raised singer-songwriter whose Older, featuring the stripped-down title track she performed last week on The Tonight Show, comes out on Friday. She plays hometown shows at the Met Philly on June 24-25.

Another band with a Philly connection is the Black Keys, whose new party-starting album, Ohio Players, features cover art by Grammy-nominated designer Perry Shall, as do all releases on Dan Auerbach’s Easy Eye label. The band plays Wells Fargo Center on Oct. 21. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday on LiveNation.com and BlackKeys.com.

Texas instrumental funk trio Khruangbin is playing three shows at the Met in May, and releases their album A La Sala on Friday. But here’s the super cool thing: On Thursday, April 4, the band, featuring bassist Laura Lee, will present a Greet the Light album listening party at the James Turrell Skyspace at Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting House at sunset. More info is at khruangbin.com/la-ventana/.

Now, about those blues guys: Between the two of them, they’re 177 years old. Chicago blues great Buddy Guy — arguably the most electrifying guitar player alive — headlines a Parx Casino show on his “Damn Right Farewell Tour” on Friday night.

But the guitarist, 87, who was a hero to Jimi Hendrix and played in Muddy Waters band before going on to a fruitful solo career, is the youngster on the Xcite Center bill. He’s joined by nonagenarian blues singer Bobby Rush, whose known for his sly, double entendre “folk funk” songs. Last year’s All My Love for You won a Grammy.

The Atlantic City hip-hop show at Boardwalk Hall on Saturday is headlined by Meek Mill’s Miami associate Rick Ross. Last year the duo teamed up on Too Good to be True. Might Meek show up in A.C.? We shall see. Also on the bill are Jeezy, Fabolous, Peedi Crakk, Remy Ma, and Lost Boyz.

Also Saturday, Philly house singer Lady Alma, who teamed with King Britt in the 1990s and sang with Jordan Mailata on the first Eagles Christmas album in 2022, is at World Cafe Live. She’ll be accompanied by Vertical Current and a special guest in legendary hip-hop DJ Marley Marl.

On Sunday, New Orleans trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard plays Verizon Hall with his band E-Collective and the Turtle Island String Quartet. The music will be drawn from Fire Shut Up in My Bones, his groundbreaking opera that premiered in New York in 2021, which he discussed with The Inquirer’s Elizabeth Wellington this week.

Other recommended music happenings this week: On Wednesday, author and Paradise of Bachelors label owner Brendan Greaves will be at the Fleisher/Ollman Gallery in Center City.

He’ll talk about Truckload of Art, his biography of Texas singer and visual artist Terry Allen, which includes tales of Chippy, the star-studded musical Allen and his wife, Jo Harvey, staged in Philadelphia in the 1990s. Keep your eyes pealed for Kurt Vile, who has said: “Terry Allen is my hero, and Brendan changed my life when he introduced us. It’s about time they change your life too.”

Philly band the Fractals, whose latest single is “Bullseye,” opens for the Samples at Ardmore Music Hall on Friday. Canadian rock and country band the Sadies has carried on under the leadership of Travis Good after the death of his brother, Dallas, in 2022. The band is touring behind Colder Dreams, which was released later that year. The band plays Arden Gild Hall in Delaware on Saturday.