FRIDAY JUNE 11



WAYNE HORVITZ

Composer and keyboardist Horvitz premieres Whispers, Hymns, and a Murmur for string quartet, electronics, and improviser (in this case, Eyvind Kang on viola). The Rendezvous, 2320 Second Ave, 441-5823, 10:30 pm, $10.

SATURDAY JUNE 12



SEATTLE CHORAL COMPANY

I advise classical composers who want their music to be heard to find God, hightail it to the nearest church, and offer to compose something. For this program of contemporary sacred music, the SCC performs Roxanna Panufnik's Westminister Mass, Arvo P...rt's haunting Te Deum, John Tavener's "Angels," and Seattle composer Donald Skirvin's "If I Could but See Again." St. Mark's Cathedral, 1245 10th Ave E, 363-1100, concerts at 2 and 8 pm, $8-$25.

SEATTLE REPERTORY JAZZ ORCHESTRA

Jazz-radio hosts from KUOW, the rather staid KPLU, "Smooth Jazz" KWJZ (really?), and the leading light of Seattle jazz stations, KBCS, join the SRJO on stage to introduce their favorite big-band tunes. Apart from the usual suspects (Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, and Quincy Jones), expect tasty outside choices like Jimmy Giuffre, Oliver Nelson, and Don Ellis. Anyone for Sun Ra or Robert "Thermopylae" Graettinger? Also Sun June 13 at Kirkland Performance Center at 3 pm. Recital Hall at Benaroya, Third Ave & Union St, 523-6159, 7:30 pm, $16-$30.

HORIST, DALABA & KANG

Inspired by Oneirine, the mythical drug in Thomas Pynchon's novel Gravity's Rainbow, guitar saboteur Horist formed this unlikely trio. Honestly, I'm not sure what they might sound like. Violinist Eyvind Kang can be tender or squeakily eerie and everything in between while Horist, by merely stuffing a cymbal under his strings, can evoke a miniature gamelan or a colossal bat echolocating its way out of the abyss. Dalaba, a veteran of the NYC Downtown scene of the 1980s, does what I could never do as a trumpeter: play incisive, well-formed solos. Polestar Music Gallery, 1412 18th Ave at E Union St, 329-4224, 8 pm, $6.

CLIMAX GOLDEN TWINS

Billed as a showdown between venerable and wet-behind-the-ears avant-electronic music acts, this triple bill features Climax Golden Twins, Black:Japan, and Thin Arm Tomb. After a decade together, the Twins remain unpredictable; live shows encompass deliberately clumsy avant rock to collages of field recordings, old 78-rpm records, and broken instruments. I haven't heard Thin Arm Tomb yet, but judging by the Black:Japan live CD I picked up at the recent Seattle Noise Festival, listen for layers of chaotic beats shrouded in spiky distortion. Yum. The Rendezvous, 2320 Second Ave, 441-5823, 10:30 pm, $5.

MONDAY JUNE 14



STEFON HARRIS & BLACKOUT

Too brainy for the smooth-jazz set but too deep in the pocket to hang with the avant crowd, this quintet couples R&B, funk, and hiphop beats with angular bebop lines and solid solos. I'm not too keen on their ballads, but vibraphonist Harris and company burn it up on up-tempo numbers. The Triple Door, 216 Union St, 838-4333, sets at 7:30 and 9 pm, $23.