THURSDAY AUGUST 25

SEAN OSBORN
A composer and clarinetist (who I espied recently in the orchestra pit of The Ring), Osborn joins four top-notch string players to premiere Arie Schachter's Rhapsody for Clarinet and String Quartet. Also on the program: Five Bagatelles by Gerald Finzi, Osborn's Quintet No. 1 for Clarinet and Strings, and Mozart's Quintet in A Major, K. 581. University Unitarian Church, 6556 35th Ave NE, 525-8400, 7:30 pm, $5/$10.

EDDIE PALMIERI
One of the great pianists of Latin jazz, Eddie Palmieri and his band were smokin' at Jazz Alley last summer. Through Sat Aug 27. Also Sun Aug 28 at 6:30 and 8:30 pm. Jazz Alley, 2033 Sixth Ave, 441-9729, sets at 7:30 and 9:30 pm, $22.50/$24.50.

B**F
Partially renamed perhaps to avoid the wrath of a certain railroad company, this noise barrage trio comprising Adam Diller (saxophone, manic timbales), Matt Crane (drums), and Jason Anderson (guitar, laptop) plays a farewell gig before Diller moves to the Southwest. As BNSF, they can unleash a rumbling, shambling avalanche of saxophone squalls, distorted guitar, and convulsions of laptop-treated sound catapulted by cannonades of cymbals and drums. With Sir Richard Bishop of the Sun City Girls, Black Swans, and the Antagonists. Rendezvous, 2320 Second Ave, 441-5823, 8 pm, $7.

FRIDAY AUGUST 26

TRIO!
In my youth, supergroups came in two flavors: misbegotten agglomerations of prog-rockers bent on banging out a cosmic rock symphony or first-rate semi-famous "musician's musicians" teaming up to try something new. Despite the lame name, Trio! is the latter, comprising Stanley Clarke, who (along with Jaco Pastorius) transformed the electric bass into a lead instrument in the 1970s, banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck, and Jean-Luc Ponty, whose slicing violin leads on LPs like Cosmic Messenger made fusion exciting. South Lake Union Park, Terry Ave N and Valley St, 628-0888, 8 pm, $35.

BOB MARSH
Bay Area–based vocalist and cellist forms trios and duos with Foquee Mopus, na's Kazu Nomura, and rowdy Noggin violinist Eric Ostrowski. Marsh has mastered perhaps the most difficult element of freely improvised music: wry humor. Recommended. Also Sat Aug 27. Gallery 1412, 1412 18th Ave at E Union St, 322-1533, 8 pm, $5–$15 sliding scale donation.

SATURDAY AUGUST 27

ARTS IN NATURE FESTIVAL
For a family-oriented event, this rustic weekend festival in West Seattle sports a slew of avant performers including Eyvind Kang, Susie Kozawa, and Bill Horist. The camp's cabins house installations by Perri Lynch, Rob Angus, Stephen Cohen, Jonathan Way, and others. Keep an ear and an eye open for musicians lurking in the bushes and trees. Also Sun Aug 28. Visit naturec.org for a full schedule. Camp Long, 5200 35th Ave SW at SW Dawson St, 923-0853, 11 am–9 pm, $5 suggested donation.

TUESDAY AUGUST 30

VERYON WESTON
This British pianist performs Tessellations, a "composition for improvising pianist" that ranges from rollicking folky Bartók to barrelhouse piano to lyrical minimalist repetition reminiscent of John Adams's dreamy Phrygian Gates. Gallery 1412, 1412 18th Ave at E Union St, 322-1533, 8 pm, $5–$15 sliding scale donation.