New York Times previews...

BIG BAD VOODOO DADDY (Sunday) In the late 1990s, the unexpected success of the independent film “Swingers” facilitated an odd pop renaissance for the swing music of the 1930s and ’40s. Although the resurrection proved fleeting, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, along with Cherry Poppin’ Daddies and the Brian Setzer Orchestra, keeps on tooting — its members still bedecked in fedoras and sharp slacks and still inviting listeners to pop their elbows and kick their bobby-socked feet. At 8 p.m., Highline Ballroom, 431 West 16th Street, Chelsea, (212) 414-5994, highlineballroom.com; $25 in advance; $30 at the door. 20091217

TALIB KWELI, JEAN GRAE (Wednesday) An M.C. from Brooklyn, Talib Kweli offers cluttered, socially mindful hip-hop (his song “Think Green” encourages recycling and refers to Al Gore’s film “An Inconvenient Truth”) inspired by De La Soul and Prince Paul. Jean Grae — née Tsidi Ibrahim — can be heartbreakingly distant or delightfully spirited, depending on her mood: “You don’t like the way I flow/ ‘She needs more emotion, though’/I’ll give you emotion, it’s you, holdin’ your broken nose,” she seethes on her excellent album “Jeanius” (Blacksmith). With Strong Arm Steady and Pete Rock. At 9 p.m., Highline Ballroom, 431 West 16th Street, Chelsea, (212) 414-5994, highlineballroom.com; $15. 20091217

★ MOS DEF (Sunday) Though Hollywood jobs take up most of his time these days, Mos Def, once the great, socially conscious hope of New York hip-hop, has never walked away from his calling as a rapper. When he’s not feeling sluggish or preoccupied — or simply bored, as he says on his 2006 album, “True Magic” (Geffen) — he is a passionately literate and polemical performer. At 12:30 a.m., Highline Ballroom, 431 West 16th Street, Chelsea, (212) 414-5994, highlineballroom.com; $45 in advance; $50 at the door. (Sisario)

AARON NEVILLE FEATURING CHARLES NEVILLE (Saturday) These New Orleans musicians have been playing a loose mix of jazz, soul, Bayou funk and R&B since the late 1970s, and while their work can be surprisingly moody, it still neatly embodies their hometown’s (unofficial) credo: Laissez les bons temps rouler. At 8 p.m., Highline Ballroom, 431 West 16th Street, Chelsea, (212) 414-5994, highlineballroom.com; $37.50 in advance; $40 at the door.