The experimental music fan has two very different but equally appealing avant-garde music options this weekend.

On Saturday, hop over to Twins Jazz for a free-jazz concert the likes of which the District doesn’t get enough these days, as pianist Joel Futterman and reedist Ike Levin duo it up. Futterman played Twins Jazz a couple years ago with legendary New Orleans saxophonist Kidd Jordan, and immediately won me over with a style that is most easily compared to a somewhat more accessible Cecil Taylor. He’s been playing with Levin at least since 2002, and this should be an excellent night for those who miss the shows like this that Transparent Productions used to put on regularly.

Read More “Your Weekend in Experimental Music: Futterman/Levin Duo, Cheer-Accident” »

Fresh off a well-reviewed performance at NEARfest, the most prestigious progressive rock festival in the United States (don’t laugh), Mexican instrumental trio Cabezas de Cera are playing two dates this week in D.C. plus one in Baltimore. Cabezas de Cera aren’t your typical bombastic prog band; rather, they combine folk, prog, free improv and a touch of the avant-garde into a fascinating and fairly uncategorizable mish-mash, and they’ve been doing it for about ten years now. While the basic format of the trio (plus a member credited as a “sound designer”) is guitars/saxes/drums, in reality they play a bewildering array of instruments, from traditional instruments to nontraditional rock instruments like the Chapman Stick, plus a variety of homemade implements.

Cabezas de Cera are playing the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage tonight at 6pm sharp, then at Artomatic tomorrow night at 8:30pm. Both these shows are free. On Sunday, they will make an appearance at Orion Sound Studios in Baltimore alongside Might Could – you can expect a longer set at this show for your $15. Orion is at 2903 Whittington Ave, shows are usually scheduled to start around 8pm.

Have a listen at Myspace or check out their website for more info.

Image courtesy Cabezas de Cera’s Myspace page

Apparently I picked the worst time possible to take a long weekend and skip town, because for the experimental jazz/rock fan there is something awesome happening every night for the next four nights. Check it out:

• Thursday, April 16: Composer/arranger Ed Palermo will be conducting the U.S. Army Blues ensemble in a program comprised entirely of the music of Frank Zappa. (What.) This takes place at 7:30pm in Brueker Hall at Fort Myer – 400 McNair Road, Fort Myer, VA.
• Friday, April 17: Cuneiform Records artist Beat Circus (Myspace), a rock ensemble whose current lineup includes all kinds of strings and horns (including a tuba), will be at Orion Sound Studios south of Baltimore. Opening is Fern Knight, with whom I’m not familiar but who are described as a mix of “Krautrock, UK folk, and early baroque and renaissance music.” Cool. Orion is at 2903 Whittington Ave., Baltimore, MD. Show at 8pm.
• Saturday, April 18: The Tiptons Saxophone Quartet (Myspace), plus drummer, performing at Orion. This sax quartet has a diverse, fun repertoire that “ranges from New Orleans ’second-line’ to jazz, Afro-Cuban to Balkan, klezmer and beyond.” Show at 8pm.
• Sunday, April 19: Japan’s psychedelic rockers Acid Mothers Temple (Myspace) hit DC9. AMT seems to be constantly on tour, and their shows are semi-legendary for their stoned-out, hazy heaviness. Also, Japanese psych-rock is pretty much just reliably crazy. Show is at 9pm, Sonic Suicide Squad are opening.

Photo of Beat Circus courtesy their Myspace page.