Highlights: The Overtones, Van Morrison, Never the Bride and more

Legendary singer-songwriter Van Morrison returns to the Duke of Marlborough’s stately pile with a bag of tunes stretching back over the decades. The Brown Eyed Girl star is joined in the Great Court by hat-sporting Grammy-winning jazz artist Gregory Porter.

Pianist
Ludovico Einaudi
Blenheim Palace
Sunday
Tickets from nocturnelive.com

Neoclassical composer and soundtrack artist Ludovico rounds of the first brace of Nocturne gigs at Blenheim with a night of gentle minimalist piano with a New Age edge. See Soundbites for details.

Rock
Never the Bride
Northcourt, Abingdon
Friday
Tickets on the door

Raucous girl-rockers bring a sweaty blast of adrenaline to this great not-for-profit venue. Nikki Lamborn and Catherine Feeney’s unique blend of blues, rock, Americana and folk has earned them legions of fans – including Elton John, Shirley Bassey, ‘Whispering’ Bob Harris, and one Roger Daltrey, who said of Nikki: “She is the best female rock voice since Janis Joplin... and I knew Janis!”

Support comes from promising young Oxford singer-songwriter Steph Masucci.

Jazz-reggae
Cat Empire
O2 Academy Oxford
Wednesday
Tickets from ticketweb.co.uk

What’s the best way to describe Cat Empire? Jazz? Reggae? Funk? In fact it’s all those things plus Latin, Gypsy and Cuban rhythms – all served up with big-grinned Aussie swagger.

Soul
The Overtones
New Theatre, Oxford
Saturday
Tickets from atgtickets.com

More smooth sounds from the dapper singing sensations, who hit the road with their new album called, reasonably enough, Sweet Soul Music. The tour follows three consecutive top five albums and 75,000 sales.