MUSIC FOR LUNCH
Soprano Ina Chang and pianist Jennifer Bowman piano-sift through the songs of Richard Strauss. Selections include "Ich schwebe," "Ich wollt ein Str...usslein binden," "Wiegenlied," "Die Nacht," and Zerbinetta's aria from Ariadne auf Naxos. Sherman-Clay Piano & Organ, 1624 Fourth Ave, 622-7580, 12:15 pm, free.
DJANGOFEST NORTHWEST
This festival offers four days of concerts, workshops, and jamming to the Gypsy-jazz popularized by Django Reinhardt. Who would have thought that this seductive blend of Eastern European melodies, Parisian musette (think Piaf), Spanish flamenco strumming, and American swing made popular in Paris in the 1930s would endure? As a fan of weird hybrids (third stream, jazz-rock, bhangra), I'm glad it did. See www.djangofest.com for a complete lineup. Also Fri-Sun Oct 3-5. Whidbey Island Center for the Arts, Langley, 565 Camano Ave, 800-638-7631, 7:30 pm, $12-$100.
FRIDAY OCTOBER 3
MONSTER DEFIANCE HEADQUARTERS
If static electricity weighed 10,000 pounds and fell from a skyscraper onto a nearby sidewalk, the impact would sound like Monster Defiance Headquarters. This noise quintet, armed with guitars, TVs, radios, tapes, keyboards, clarinet, drums, and xylophone, creates a loud, scabrous sonic spectacle. Polestar Music Gallery, 1412 18th Ave at E Union St, 329-4224, 8 pm, $6.
NORTHWEST SINFONIETTA
This stalwart group has imported pianist Awadagin Pratt--whose debut CD, A Long Way from Normal, still holds the palm for best classical album title--to take on Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3. Beethoven's best symphony, the seventh, rounds out the program. Also Sat Oct 4 at the Rialto in Tacoma. Town Hall, Eighth Ave and Seneca St, 652-4255, 8 pm, $10-$38.
SATURDAY OCTOBER 4
SEMMARIT
Promising "a total show" of English and Finnish tunes, this pack of two dozen male Finnish singers aims for what the Seattle Men's Chorus does so well, which is staging a funny show with lots of lusty singing. Kane Hall 130, UW Campus, 543-4880, 7:30 pm, $15.
SUNDAY OCTOBER 5
BUBBLYFISH
This NYC-based sound designer, audio engineer, and composer creates lo-fi, eight-bit (that's audio-geek talk for "sumptuously gritty") sound works and minimal electronic compositions. Apart from some laptop electronic soundscapes, expect eight-bit music made on two Nintendo Game Boy players using Nanoloop, a sequencer concocted as college project that is becoming a cult audio application. Polestar Music Gallery, 1412 18th Ave at E Union St, 329-4224, 8 pm, $8.
MONDAY OCTOBER 6
JOSEPH ADAM
St. James Cathedral organist Joseph Adam takes over the Seattle Symphony's season of free Monday lunchtime concerts with a program of organ music dubbed "A New England Autumn." Benaroya Hall, Third Ave and University St, 215-4747, 12:30 pm, free.
TUESDAY OCTOBER 7
LEIF OVE ANDSNES
Without a doubt, Andsnes is a world-class pianist and a good choice to kick off the umpteenth year of the UW President's Piano Series. My only gripe is that Meany is too big a room for a solo piano gig. Andsnes' power will come through clearly enough, but listen closely for the soft lyrical moments. Meany Theater, UW Campus, 543-4880, 8 pm, $35.
