The idea of "Blue Monday" is pretty obvious: no one likes Monday as it's synonymous with returning to the job. The phrase originated in Russian novelist Alexander Solzhenitsyn's "The Gulag Archipelago," a three-volume work detailing the history and realities of the Soviet Union's forced-labor camps.

At one point, just before character Igor Chichikov is ordered to dig a tunnel in a frozen salt mine using only his teeth, he quips to cell mate Fyador Zherzhinksy, "I feel a Blue Monday comin' on!"

There's a different and far more pleasant context, though, to the free Blue Monday Concert Series taking place each Monday at Mystic River Park. The 2017 season kicks off with a performance by Kat Wright and the Indomitable Soul Band. The band's "By My Side" is a damned fine amalgam of various blues and funk flourishes, and Wright's powerful and emotive voice is pretty stunning.

The Blue Monday concerts take place rain or shine and raise money to support music education in schools as well as food assistance to the needy. Attendees are encouraged to bring a jar of peanut butter or non-perishable canned goods to benefit the Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center Food Pantry.

Kat Wright, Blue Monday Concert Series, 6-8 p.m. Monday, Mystic River Park, 54 Greenmanville Ave., Mystic; free, donations encouraged; see Facebook "Blue Monday."