DAN HICKS, MARIA MULDAUR--At press time, it was still impossible to tell whether the Hot Licks had given their Hicks up, or if Dan Hicks had simply gotten in his last licks. In either case, Hicks, sans Licks, will appear Sunday night at Symphony Hall, probably playing the same undefinable mish-mash of rock, jug-band, and jazz-type numbers he played with his group. Nobody on the newsboard had any of his records, so I dug up one semi-authoritative opinion: "His music's like thirties' jazz mixed in with a soap commercial." But the consensus is he's fun to hear.

The real star of the show is likely to be Maria Muldaur, who two weeks ago gave a week of Passim's best concerts ever. Her voice lands somewhere in the middle of country, blues, torch music, and folk. A charismatic performer who just started singing solo, Muldaur is unlikely to play second bill to anyone for very long.

MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA--If you listen to any other reviewer, you'll run to hear the Mahavishnu Orchestra Friday night. I am simply not excited by them at all. Their instrumental virtuosity is undeniable, but I find their kind of esoteric, mystic rock inaccessible. It's the kind of music I find myself trying to talk myself into enjoying. But that opinion is eccentric; let your taste be your guide.

JOHN MAYALL--Mayall just turned an ominous forty years old. Over the last ten years, he has played with an incredible number of first-rate musicians, recorded album after album of the best English blues--tinged with jazz and soul, and persisted in his undaunted willingness to experiment with musical form and texture. His past performances justify enough faith to go hear his new group. --P.M.S.

DAN HICKS, MARIA MULDAUR--Sun. Oct. 21 at Symphony Hall, 8:30 p.m., $4-$6.

MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA--Fri. Oct. 19 at the Music Hall, 8 p.m.

JOHN MAYALL, JOE WALSH--Tues. Oct. 23 at the Orpheum Theater, 8 p.m.