* The Rahmans, pianist Zoe and clarinettist Idris, bring their gorgeous melding of jazz and Bengali music to the Midlands this weekend for two gigs.

On Friday they are out in the wilds of the Staffordshire/Derbyshire border where the Abbotsholme Arts Society runs a concert series in a small school chapel. On Saturday they play the CBSO Centre in Birmingham.

The band – Zoe’s trio partners, Oli Hayhurst and Gene Calderazzo, plus tabla-master Kuljit Bhamra – will be supplemented by singers as they are on the Rahmans’ new CD Where Rivers Meet.

There are manifold pleasures to be found in this band and its music – and not just be jazz fans. The beauty of these melodies, the gentle pull and release of the rhythms and the subtle interplay of the instruments have universal appeal.

For more about the Abbotsholme gig go to abbotsholmeartssociety.co.uk

For the CBSO Centre one go to birminghamjazz.co.uk

* New Yorker magazine’s late jazz writer Whitney Balliet called jazz “the sound of surprise” and for those who think there aren’t enough surprises in it these days, the Jam House is the place to be tomorrow evening.

Guitarist and composer Sid Peacock takes some inspiration from the Irish bandleader Brian Irvine and from Frank Zappa, but has developed his own sound which can include jazz, contemporary improv and folk elements.

He leads his band Surge which has a fluctuating personnel united under their leader’s instruction to avoid the obvious.

The music starts at 9.30pm and it’s free. Find out more at sidpeacock.com

* Saxophonist Julian Siegel (great trio CD out any day) and guitarist Phil Robson (last album Six String and The Beat a stunner) might have their own burgeoning careers but they will always be Partisans.

The long-standing quartet, with Gene Calderazzo on drums and Thaddeus Kelly on bass, plays the Rainbow on Wednesday – just £3 on the door and the music starts at 9.15pm.

* Singer Brigitte Beraha and her trio – Joe Auckland on trumpet and Ivo Neame on piano – plus special guest Paul Clarvis on percussion play the Yardbird on Thursday and the Rush Hour Blues session in the Symphony Hall foyer bar on Friday. Support at the Yardbird comes from Birmingham trumpeter Sam Wooster and pals. See brigitteberaha.co.uk for more.

* TL’s Jazz Club at the Patrick Kavanagh in Moseley begins its autumn season tonight with Mike Williams on alto, Percy Pursglove on bass and TL himself, Tony Levin, on drums. There will also be a duet set by saxophonist Paul Dunmall and the younger drumming Levin, Miles. Doors open at 7pm.

* Finally, for a review of Joe Zawinul’s magnificent valedictory recording plus other new CDs, please go to my blog.