No excuse for couch potatoes

Are you ready? The spring season is gearing up, and my mailbox overfloweth with concert announcements. Here are a few things to do now:

1. Just in time for the Easter season, how about a little edgy contemporary and world music? Music Now opens Thursday April 5 in Memorial Hall with legendary flamenco guitarist Pedro Soler, who headlines the opening night marathon concert. There's a return of CLOGS, who will improvise their own chamber music using sounds, textures and influences from across musical spectrums, and percussionist David Cossini. On Friday, it's the Icelandic quartet, Amina, and My Brightest Diamond. (We are very interested in the "antler lady.") And Saturday brings Sufjan Stevens and Irena and Vojtech Havel, billed as "multi-instrumentalists" from the Czech Republic. Click here for tickets.

2. It could be a Cincinnati first: A solo piano recital of music entirely by American minimalist composers. Check out this minimalist piano recital performed by Bruce Brubaker, 8 p.m. Thursday April 5 in Werner Recital Hall, CCM. Brubaker is a member of the Juilliard School faculty and chair of the piano faculty at Boston's New England Conservatory. He's performing Philip Glass' "Mad Rush," William Duckworth's "The Time Curve Preludes," Book 1, John Cage's "Dream" and Alvin Curran's "Hope Street Tunnel Blues III." It's free.

3. Don't miss Brasilia, Phil DeGreg's Brazilian combo, Friday and Saturday (April 6-7) at the Blue Wisp Jazz Club, 318 E. Eighth Street, downtown. Brasilia plays samba, choro, baiao, bossa nova, partito alto-funk and frevo. Cover: $10. Shows are 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. and the club is non-smoking. 513-241-9477. Check out my review of a concert this group played at CCM, and listen to some tracks here.