Back in 1984, I saw Joe Jackson turn surly before a rain-soaked Mann Music Center crowd eager to hear his big hits. Last year, a much-mellowed (some would say humbled) Jackson gratefully basked in the Kimmel Center's warm reception when played those same jazz/pop songs—which he's performing now with original bandmates Graham Maby and Dave Houghton.

Fun stuff, but don't get to the Keswick late or you'll miss the fantastic, if understated, opener, Raul Midn (pictured). Sounding like a cross between Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway, this blind singer-songwriter is a virtuoso acoustic guitarist whose buoyant voice melds perfectly with a mix of styles that includes pop, jazz, Afro-Cuban, and R&B.

"Someone once called my music 'folk funk,' which is cool, but what I like to call my music is 'eclectic soul,'" Midn said recently. The New Mexico-born, New York-based musician earned raves for last year's soulful State of Mind, which reflects his own sunny outlook on life: "I am very concerned about the world we live in, but when I play and sing, I feel a happiness that's hard to express any other way than optimistically."