FRIDAY FEBRUARY 17

BAROQUE NORTHWEST
The old saw that "Jazz is America's classical music" forgets the fact that classical music has been kicking (and kicked) around in the United States for centuries. Violinists Sheila Kammen and Charles Coldwell augment Baroque NW for a concert of music found in Thomas Jefferson's library by Corelli, Tessarini, C.P.E. Bach, and an obscure American composer or two. In addition, Kammen sings a selection of Virginia hill tunes. Pre-concert talk at 7:15 pm. Also Sat Feb 18. Bethany Lutheran Church, 7400 Woodlawn Ave NE, 368-0735, 8 pm, $10–$22.

SEATTLE CHAMBER PLAYERS
The SCP, a chamber music quartet-cum-new music commando operation, stages Icebreaker III, a three-day festival devoted to contemporary classical music from the mountainous Caucasus region: Georgia, Turkey, Armenia, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Iraq. Through Sun Feb 19. Recital Hall at Benaroya, 200 University St, 286-5052, 2 pm, $12–$80.

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 19

TOM SWAFFORD
Why do so few musicians try to inhabit the usually separate arenas of composition and freely improvised music? Composers generally hate to cede control while the ethic of free improvisation precludes telling others what to play. Swafford is equally at home slicing violin lines through a flurry of improvisers or daubing sheet music with clefs, notes, and rests. This mini-retrospective concert features three improvising groups that include Swafford (Doublends Vert, Cipher, and Drumolin), along with two Swafford compositions. Consolidated Works, 500 Boren Ave N, 800-838-3006, 7 pm, $10/$15.

WAYNE HORVITZ
Rather than do what composers typically do, which is compose a piece, get it premiered, then pray for a second performance, Horvitz has lined up multiple performances and performers for his latest, These Hills of Glory for string quartet and improviser. This time, Peggy Lee, an amazing Vancouver BC–based cellist, is the soloist. Gallery 1412, 1412 18th Ave, 322-1533, 8 pm, $10.

MONDAY FEBRUARY 20

BILL FRISELL AND THE UNSPEAKABLE ORCHESTRA
This stylistically peripatetic guitarist brings an all-star lineup of players, including violist Eyvind Kang and violinist Jenny Scheinman, to reprise music from his 2004 disc Unspeakable (Nonesuch), a thick farrago of funk, interstitial turntablism, vaporous ambient guitar lines reminiscent of Bill Nelson's work on Gone to Earth, and strutting rock licks. Also Tues Feb 21. Tractor Tavern, 5213 Ballard Ave NW, 789-3599, 8 pm, $23/$25.

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 21

TIERNEY SUTTON
Refreshingly free of the histrionic, swoop-to-any-note vocals so common in jazz today, Sutton sings terrifically, sassing and swinging as needed through well-chosen standards. I love her renditions of "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66" and "The Best Is Yet to Come." Her working trio, a classic aggregation of acoustic piano, bass, and drums, sounds splendid, too. Also Wed Feb 22. Jazz Alley, 2033 Sixth Ave, 441-9729, 7:30 pm, $21.50.

UNIVERSITY SYMPHONY
My vote for this week's classical on the cheap. Peter Erös leads the band in Paul Hindemith's face-slappingly dull Nobilissima Visione, however Prokofiev's brash Piano Concerto No. 1 with soloist Natalya Kalendarev and the 1919 Firebird Suite by Stravinsky redeem the program. Meany Theater, UW Campus, 543-4880, 7:30 pm, $10.