thursday5
Thursday5
Vic ChesnuttStefon Harris & BlackoutLions Rampant Liudas Mockunas, Martin Brandlmayr
Friday6
Stefon Harris & Blackout
Saturday7
Black Heart ProcessionEccentric Soul RevueStefon Harris & BlackoutAkira Sakata
Sunday8
Stefon Harris & BlackoutMount EerieMelissa St. PierreJ. TillmanTopology, Akira Sakata & Chikamorachi
Monday9
Joe McPhee & Fred Lonberg-HolmMelissa St. Pierre
Tuesday10
Haptic with Lisa SlodkiSurfer Blood
STEFON HARRIS & BLACKOUT Urbanus (Concord) is the second album by vibist Stefon Harris’s R & B-leaning ensemble Blackout, but it’s a better starting place than the group’s 2004 debut, Evolution (Blue Note). The first record failed in wedding contemporary soul to high-level improvisation, foundering on safe middle ground just a few steps from smooth jazz. The new one takes more chances, unabashedly embracing uncut funk, hip-hop, and even go-go rhythms, which gird the bright reading of “Gone” from Porgy and Bess, and while the music still has a commercial gloss, beneath the veneer is a limber hybrid. Alto saxophonist Casey Benjamin contributes some romantic, Vocodered vocals, including on the lovely “For You,” which he also sang on Robert Glasper’s recent Double Booked (Blue Note); the quintet also includes powerhouse drummer Terreon Gully, bassist Luques Curtis, and pianist Sullivan Fortner. See also Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. 8 and 10 PM, Jazz Showcase, 806 S. Plymouth, 312-360-0234, $20. —Peter Margasak
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LIONS RAMPANT These Cincinnati-area garage-rock clowns have a refreshing inability to take themselves seriously. Right now their default MySpace pic is an elaborately staged scenario with the three band members dressed as Playboy bunnies, and their most recent blog post promises, “Watch Stuart get beat up!” and delivers with footage of drummer Nate Wagner whaling on front man Stuart MacKenzie onstage. Their music is similarly unserious—scrappy, raggedy-ass rock ‘n’ roll of the loud-fast-blues variety, spiced up with a heavy dash of punk, intended as an incitement to dance and/or engage in dumb, drunken stunts. Their two self-released EPs, Lions Rampant Play Rock ‘n’ Roll and Half Women Half Alcohol, are downloadable at thelionsrampant.com, but they have a full-length in the can, the fate of which is currently undecided. Thee Invaders and Son of Cops open. 9:30 PM, Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, 773-276-3600 or 866-468-3401, $5, $3 in advance. —Miles Raymer
Vienna’s Martin Brandlmayr is one of the most distinctive-sounding drummers on the planet. His space-spreading, stutter-step minimalism holds together, in an abstracted fashion, the twitchy noise of the trio Radian, whose new Chimeric (Thrill Jockey) sounds like a riposte to the first This Heat album. But his recent work in the group Polwechsel emphasizes his pure sound-making skills. I don’t think of him as a true improviser, but I’m sure spontaneity will play a part in this rare solo performance.
saturday7
