THURSDAY FEBRUARY 23

HOWEVERAn intersection of freely improvised music and sound poetry, However features cellist Lori Goldston (Black Cat Orchestra), death-metal drummer Jaison Scott, wordsmith Torben Ulrich, and trumpeter Angelina Baldoz, whose raspy wooden-flute solo was a highlight of the recent Improv Fest. I Sing the Hollow Body Electric, the solo project of noise/psychedelic/speed guitarist Ron Bennett, rounds out the bill. Rendezvous, 2320 Second Ave, 441-5823, 8 pm, $5.

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 24

QUODIAKing Crimson guitarist Trey Gunn and Joe Mendelson (Rise Robots Rise) premiere The Arrow, which combines processed atmospherics, Gunn's perpetuum mobile grooves, narration, and video. I've only seen half the piece, albeit on DVD, not live; I liked this group's elegantly decaying video and distressed, washed-out images, but the grooves seemed too pat. I wanted more sonic grit and polyphony. Also Sat Feb 25. Kerry Hall at Cornish College, 710 E Roy, 325-6500, 8 pm, $7.50/$15.JACOB FRED JAZZ ODYSSEYDespite getting lumped into the same graduating class as the Bad Plus and e.s.t. (due to their rock-influenced drive and propensity to crank up the volume), this jazz-rock trio got downright moody with 2005's Sameness of Difference (Hyena). Any group whose covers of "Happiness Is a Warm Gun," Brian Wilson's "Wonderful," and the Mingus classic "Fables of Faubus" cogently cohabit the same album gets my vote. The Dead Kenny Gs, fronted by local sax man Skerik (Critters Buggin, Syncopated Taint Septet), opens. Tractor Tavern, 5213 Ballard Ave NW, 789-3599, 9 pm, $13/$15.

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 25

COSÌ FAN TUTTELegendary director and Beyond the Fringe alum Jonathan Miller stages Mozart's farcical opera of fidelity and true love in modern dress, thus heeding the Third Law of Opera: Thou shalt transpose the setting to another time period. Not to be missed. Runs through Sat March 11; see www.seattleopera.org for details. McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer St, 389-7676, 7:30 pm, $48–$134.SEATTLE CHORAL COMPANYThe SCC revives music by neglected, if not almost unknown, black composers, including Harry Thacker Burleigh (1866–1949), R. Nathaniel Dett (1882–1943), John W. Work III (1901–1967), and a better-known master, Jester Hairston (1902–2000). Excerpts from Scott Joplin's magnum opus, Treemonisha, also make this concert an excellent bet. Also Sun Feb 26 at 3 pm. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave, 363-1100, 8 pm, $10–$22.

MONDAY FEBRUARY 27

VOICE DIVISION RECITALThis week's nominee for classical on the cheap. UW School of Music voice students sing assorted French songs by Fauré, Debussy, and others. Brechemin Auditorium in the Music Building, UW campus, 685-8384, 7:30 pm, free.

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 28

PK & WHAT ARMY?Jessica Lurie briefly returns from New York to conduct a behemoth big band stocked with local improvisers, including Amy Denio, Matt Crane (B**F), Tom Swafford, Chris Stover, Izaak Mills (Floss), Greg Sinibaldi (Frieze of Life), Michael Monhart (Stinkhorn), Marc Fendel (Bebop & Destruction ), Eric Barber, Jim Knodle, Dave Carter, and Tobi Stone. Nectar, 412 N 36th St, 300-3752, 8 pm, free.