At 74, Mavis Staples is still a tiny dynamo of gospel-soul-blues vocalizing. Best known for her righteous emoting on motivational Staple Singers classics like “I’ll Take You There,” “Respect Yourself,” and “Freedom Highway,” Mavis has enjoyed a late-career resurgence with production help from Jeff Tweedy, who guided the rock-oriented You Are Not Alone and the new One True Vine. The years have given Staples a deeper, more intimate tone, and live, she remains one of music’s most endearing, uplifting characters. (Moore Theatre, 1932 Second Ave, stgpresents.org, 8 pm, $37.50, all ages)

Dave Segal is a journalist and DJ living in Seattle. He has been writing about music since 1983. His stuff has appeared in Gale Research’s literary criticism series of reference books, Creem (when...