At this point, the first third of the Northwest’s most prestigious jazz festival is in the past. You have missed Keith Jarrett and Industrial Revelation, but you can still catch the genius pianist Brad Mehldau (he actually plays on Wednesday night, October 16), Marc Seales Group (Seales is UW’s jazz piano professor), Paul Kikuchi’s performance of “Bat of No Bird Island,” a tribute to Dave Brubeck by Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, Wayne Horvitz Trio doing the avant-garde thing, and Philip Glass as Philip Glass. But the best thing about this festival is often found not in the names you know, but in those you don’t know. So check out the calendar, and take a chance on a name that draws a blank. (See earshot.org for details, through Nov 17)

Charles Mudede—who writes about film, books, music, and his life in Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, the USA, and the UK for The Stranger—was born near a steel plant in Kwe Kwe, Zimbabwe. He has no memory...