Weekend: Music mash-up, handbags, literary stuff and a lazy river

Shane’s shout-out: Friday–Saturday, Hogs for the Cause, City Park, $20-$30

The annual barbecue cook-off returns to City Park’s festival grounds with a stellar lineup of food and music to benefit families of children with pediatric brain cancer.  Check out which bands we’re most excited to see and get your tickets here.

Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday / Tickle the ivories: Consumate pianist Dick Hyman — think radio, TV, a dozen Woody Allen films, and more than 100 albums — visits New Orleans this week. Now 87, Hyman is a versatile performer who embodies the entire history of jazz piano (check out the video above).  You have three chances to catch him (and do, please): Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Sandbar on the UNO campus, or Thursday and Saturday at 8 and 10 p.m. at Snug Harbor.

Lawrence Sieberth plays gospel at Bishop Perry Center (Photo: lawrencesieberth.com)

Thursday / Last chance: If you’ve been meaning to catch one of the Bishop Perry Center’s musical tributes to the Easter season, wait no more. Pianist Lawrence Sieberth and gospel artist Yolanda Robinson Windsay will offer a gospel program as the final concert of the Musical Prelude to the Celebration of Easter. The concert takes place Thursday at 6 p.m. at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 1116 Chartres Street, part of the historic Ursuline Convent complex. And it’s free.

Opera tenor Dana Wilson sings on Friday at Marigny Opera House.

Friday / Opera for all:  Tenor Dana Wilson’s performance repertoire runs from early Renaissance music to contemporary jazz. But he’ll be singing Robert Schumann’s Dichterliebe song cycle when he performs a free concert (ok, a $20 donation is encouraged) on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Marigny Opera House.

Moonshine and more Saturday morning on the rooftop at Rice Mill Lofts.

Saturday / Rooftop revelry: Hey, it’s spring. So where better to celebrate the balmly morning air than at a Rise & Moonshine party on the rooftop of the Rice Mill Loft? There’s a fashion twist, too: You can catch the latest leather handbags from Flying Fox designer Tiffany Napper and the latest home fragrances hand-mixed by Obeah’s Jonathan Steadman. Plus sample American Born Moonshine cocktails and the soulful sounds of Jenna Guidry. The fun lasts from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. atop the artist lofts at 522 Montegut Street in the Bywater.

Davell Crawford plays foot-tapping jazz at Maison Sunday.

Sunday / One more last call: Here’s another free local concert series that is winding down. Nickel a Dance offers Sunday afternoon jazz concerts for the general dancing public. Local pianist/singer Davell Crawford will close out the season with his trademark synthesis of funk, gospel and R&B. The fun takes place from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday at Maison on Frenchmen Streen.

A Lazy River opens at the Audubon Zoo on Sunday.

Sunday / The chill is on: The newest chill feature at the Audubon Zoo opens Sunday. Gator Run, a 750-foot lazy river, offers a seven-minute round-trip float atop an inner tube. Three feet deep and 10 feet wide, the lazy river features two sand beaches and four water cannons that can shower visitors as they float by. It’s part of Cool Zoo, which debuted in 2011 with an alligator water slide, spider monkey soaker, water-spitting snakes and shady spots for parents. Admission to Cool Zoo, including Gator Run, is $10 for Audubon Nature Institute members and $12 for non-members, plus Audubon Zoo admission. Rafts included.