THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 14

KARRIN ALLYSON
Allyson sang superbly during her last Seattle visit. She returns, touring behind her strongest record in years, Footprints (Concord), a disc that confirms her tomboyish timbre has matured into a voice redolent of chilled smoke. Singer Nancy King, an underrated treasure, joins Allyson for a few duets Friday and Saturday. Through Sun Sept 17. Jazz Alley, 2033 Sixth Ave, 441-9729, sets at 7:30 and 9:30 pm, $22.50/$24.50.

WOBBLY
Most artists I know loathe the term "collage," as it usually conjures images of kindergartners daubing paint instead of jarring, surgically razored constructions like Max Ernst's surrealist masterwork, La femme 100 têtes. Wobbly's 2003 disc Wild Why (Tigerbeat6) is a frenetic, tour-de-force cut-up of corporate hiphop recorded off the radio, revealing his expert collage technique. This Bay Area—based performer brings a slew of gear, including samplers, lap steel guitar, and "one local weather forecasting vocalist" to perform sections from his next three albums. Yours truly opens with field recordings and small electronics. Gallery 1412, 1412 18th Ave, 322-1533, 8 pm, $5—$15 sliding scale donation.

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 16

DECIBEL FESTIVAL: EXPERIMENTAL SHOWCASE
A strange chasm persists in electronic music. While most musicians apply the sound-transforming and sequencing techniques pioneered in the late 1940s and '50s by Pierre Schaeffer, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Henry, et al. to the usual templates of popular music—four-beat rhythms and phrases as well as consistent tempi, timbral allocation, and dynamic range—too few understand that the wild-eyed mission of those innovators was to transform music itself. This festival follows its predecessors, such as the 1997 electronic-music cavalcade Electromuse One, by including a little of everything. An alluring quadruple bill graces the Experimental Showcase: Two leaders of the microsound movement, Richard Chartier and Taylor Deupree, along with a pair of locals, Yann Novak and Son of Rose. Broadway Performance Hall, 1625 Broadway, 325-6500, 6:30—10 pm, $15.

SEATTLE SYMPHONY
Gerry Schwarz leads the band in the opening-night festivities. On the program: Rossini's William Tell overture, the "Triumphal March and Ballet" from Verdi's Aida, and pianist Lang Lang (pronounced "long long"), who sallies through Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. I'm mainly interested in Respighi's 1924 tone poem The Pines of Rome (1924); the third section, "The Pines of Janiculum," calls for a gramophone recording of a nightingale, preferably a specific 78 rpm record issued by the Concert Record Gramophone Company. Apparently the publisher supplies the same recording, but on CD. I wonder, did Respighi want the bird's melodious chirping to emanate from the funnel-like gramophone horn placed among the orchestra? Or is diffusion through a PA acceptable? Have the possible pops and probable rumble of the original shellac disc been smoothed out by software? Benaroya Hall, 200 University St, 215-4747, 7 pm, $26—$100.

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 20

SEATTLE WOMEN'S JAZZ ORCHESTRA
SWOJO collaborates with Jill Townsend, a Vancouver, BC, based bandleader whose fine arrangements glow with dusky chords and Gil Evans—influenced voicings. Triple Door, 216 Union St, 838-4333, 7:30 pm, $13—$20.