chris@delaurenti.net


THURSDAY MAY 30


JEFF JOHNSON TRIO

This stalwart Seattle bassist (soon departing for Dallas) has rounded up two ace players for this coffeehouse show. The ever-elastic drummer Billy Mintz and the agile saxophonist Hans Teuber--who has lately been gigging with Ani DiFranco--should make mulling over mochas a treat. Still Life in Fremont, 709 N 35th St, 547-9850, 8 pm, $5.


SEATTLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Visiting conductor Yan Pascal Tortelier leads the SSO in Poulenc's nifty Organ Concerto, Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5, and Robert Sirota's In the Fullness of Time. If you're like me and plan to imbibe in the fullness of alcohol at intermission, the shortest lines lurk on Benaroya's upper levels. Don't forget to tip your hard-working bartender. Also Sat June 1 at 8 pm and Sun June 2 at 2 pm. Benaroya Hall, 200 University St, 215-4747, 7:30 pm, $71-$11.


FRIDAY MAY 31


TORSTEN MÃœLLER

Monster jazz bassist Torsten Müller descends from Vancouver, BC, for a solo acoustic performance at the Polestar, one of our burg's best places for serious listening. Polestar Music Gallery, 1412 18th Ave (at East Union), 329-4224, 8 pm, $8.


AFTER SUNDOWN: 82 DEGREES 90% HUMIDITY

Ambient electronicist and out-jazz cellist Brent Arnold accompanies field recordings made throughout the world by Sonarchy mastermind Doug Haire. They aim to "evoke the mystery and sensuality of heat and heavy weather after dark." Given Haire's golden ears and penchant for recording exotic locales, it's a good bet they will pull this off. Vital 5 Gallery, 2200 Westlake Ave (off Denny), 254-0475, 10 pm, $5.


TUESDAY JUNE 4


UW CHAMBER SINGERS

Only a UW concert could serve up such a kooky but nonetheless tempting choral potpourri: Jaako Mantyjarvi's haunting Canticum Calamitatis Maritimae, and music by John Harbison, Gustav Holst, and Libby Larsen. The Chamber Singers will premiere Seattle composer Linda Waterfall's That Art Thou: Songs from the Vedas, a pleasantly percolating New Age-meets-Steve Reich confection. Any gig that features a choral piece titled Drunken Sailor, a premiere by a local composer, and rarely heard music by Gustav Holst (yes Virginia, Holst wrote other music besides The Planets) merits investigation. Meany Theater, UW Campus, 543-4880, 7:30 pm, $8/$5.


WEDNESDAY JUNE 5


ANN CUMMINGS

Accompanied by "visual effects," Ann Cummings discusses and performs piano pieces by two visionaries of the early 20th century, Arnold Schoenberg and Alexander Scriabin. Schoenberg's slender but seminal sheaf of piano pieces chronicles the destruction of Tonality's hold on Western music. A pioneer in multimedia, Scriabin is chiefly remembered for his eccentric piano sonatas (Black Mass, et al.), voluptuous symphonies (extra points if you can pick out the Mystic Chord), and a scandalous (at least for 1910) interest in the occult. Proclaiming a mystical connection between sound and color, Scriabin had a "Keyboard of Light" built to project colors in tandem with his Poem of Fire. Sherman-Clay Piano & Organ, 1624 Fourth Ave, 622-7580, 12:15 pm, free.