TOSHI MAKIHARA
What is the sound of fingers clutching empty air? I've seen Philadelphia-based percussionist Toshi Makihara several times, and have always been dazzled. A nimble mix of vaudeville, performance art, and whispering grace, Makihara can indeed make music just by flicking his fingers. He's fun to watch, too. After a solo set, he'll be joined by his longtime collaborator and musical foil, alto saxophonist Wally Shoup. Not to be missed. Polestar Music Gallery, 1412 18th Ave at E Union, 329-4224, 8 pm, $7.
FRIDAY JULY 25
SPECIAL OPS
Why do I like the Monktail Creative Music Concern and their seemingly endless roster of groups and subgroups? The Monktailers are brave (and sometimes crazy) enough to let a range of influences (funk, surf rock, straight-ahead jazz, avant chamber music) run rampant through their gigs, heralding a time when free improvisation will not only mean sonic points and planes but suggest all possible musics, from Bach to Boulez to bluegrass to the Briefs, at any and all possible moments. Polestar Music Gallery, 1412 18th Ave at E Union St, 329-4224, 8 pm, $6.
SEATTLE COMPOSERS' SALON
A monthly, informal presentation of new music by Seattle composers, the Salon features finished works, previews, and works in progress. Emcee Tom Baker has corralled himself and fellow composers Michael Chelander, Robert Henry, David Mesler, and Doug Palmer. Soundbridge at Benaroya Hall, Second Ave & Union St, 215-4747, 8 pm, $5. SATURDAY JULY 26
CAMP NIRVANA
For the students playing this concert, Nirvana means the end of summer camp with this culminating concert, not Cobain & co. Five student string quartet ensembles perform music by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Bartók. Like almost everyone else who grubbed around in Olympia in the late 1980s, I too have a Kurt Cobain story, but that seems so long ago.... Bastyr University, 14500 Juanita Drive NE, 366-1211,4 pm, $6-$12.
TUESDAY JULY 29
RIK WRIGHT 4TET
Inaugurating the Electric Bebop series at the Mars Bar, Rik Wright's quartet features multi-reed man James DeJoie, bassist James Whiton, and drummer Simon Grant. I'm going to this gig, but with a few pebbles of melancholy rattling in my shoe. Whenever I'm on Eastlake, I long for the old, unremodeled Storeroom, where we patrons, so enamored of our swill, ignored the cute caged go-go dancer in the corner and occasionally pitched in a quarter or two so someone's dog could have a beer. Mars Bar, 609 Eastlake Ave E, 624-4516, 9 pm, free.
WEDNESDAY JULY 30
202 SCHTRINGZ
Unlike the 101 Strings, who decades ago cut dozens of cheesy, Chablis-stained albums of mood music, the 202 Schtringz are a freely improvising, frenetically fiddlin' string ensemble of eight to 12 players. Meld the screeching strings of Psycho with the careening wails and pinprick pizzicati of Penderecki's Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima, and you've got the idea. Also on the bill: Dave Knott and Steve Barsotti duet with homemade string instruments. Coffee Messiah, 1554 E Olive Way, 861-8233, 8 pm, donation requested.
