KURT ELLING
My favorite straight-ahead male jazz vocalist, Elling is one of the few singers who can sing falsetto and still make me feel like a wimp. His latest CD, Man in the Air, bravely affixes lyrics to "Resolution" from Coltrane's A Love Supreme, which by turns thrills and appalls me. Also Fri Oct 10 and Sat Oct 11 with sets at 8 and 10 pm, as well as Sun Oct 12 with sets at 6:30 and 8:30 pm. Jazz Alley, 2033 Sixth Ave, 441-9729, sets at 8 and 10 pm, $18.50-$22.50.
SATURDAY OCTOBER 11
DEMPSTER, CAMPBELL & REYNOLDS
While no percussionist has emerged who can replace the much-missed Jeph Jerman, Greg Campbell's sharp and incisive kit work makes this gig mandatory for any drummer on the hunt for new ideas. With combustible alto saxophonist Gregory Reynolds and trombone/garden hose virtuoso Stuart Dempster, this trio should set the place ablaze. Polestar Music Gallery, 1412 18th Ave at E Union St, 329-4224, 8 pm, $6.
LA VENEXIANA
The Early Music Guild has imported this Italian vocal group to sing baroque music by Claudio Monteverdi, Sigismondo D'India, Girolamo Kapsberger, and others. And no, I cannot pronounce "Venexiana" without sounding like a flesh-hungry Aztec. Town Hall, Eighth Ave and Seneca St, 325-7066, 8 pm, $10-$29.
SUNDAY OCTOBER 12
HUMPH
Here's the straightest path to a jazz writer's heart: Play the music of Thelonious Monk. Of course, fucking it up can also engender eternal fiery wrath. To celebrate Monk's birthday (Oct 10), Doug Haning (piano), Adam Diller (tenor saxophone), and Matt Crane (drums) make medleys and find bad puns in Monk's compositions. Apart from his tunes, pianists revere Monk for his utterly unique pianistic touch: emphatic, delicate, prickly, sparse, funky, and sweet. CoCA, 1420 11th Ave, 728-1980, 4 pm, donation requested.
OPUS 7
Along with Mendelssohn's magnificent Te Deum for double choir, this radiant vocal ensemble sings works by Parry and Poulenc. Myself, I'm looking forward to Arvo P...rt's luxurious setting of The Beatitudes, and two works for choir with trumpet: Dominick Argento's To God and Northwest composer Michael Young's Give Glory All Creation. St. James Cathedral, 804 Ninth Ave, 782-2899, 7:30 pm, $18/$20.
TUESDAY OCTOBER 14
ENOCH ARDEN
Richard Strauss composed Enoch Arden in 1897 as a vehicle for Ernst von Possart, an actor-turned-administrator who got Strauss a conducting job at the Munich Opera. Although Strauss was dubious about the project, setting Tennyson's poem "Enoch Arden" to piano accompaniment made Strauss a bundle. Seattle theater fixture and radio actor Jean Sherrard narrates the poem. Town Hall, Eighth Ave and Seneca St, 652-4255, 7:30 pm, $12/$15.
A NIGHT OF PREMIERES
Seattle New Music Ensemble premieres old and new pieces by Gavin Borchert, Tom Swafford, Gust Burns, and Howard Nostrand. The oldest premiere is Nostrand's Piano Quintet, written in 1936. Catch the composers, including the 93-year-old Nostrand, at the 7:30 pm pre-concert talk. CoCA, 1420 11th Ave, 728-1980, 8 pm, $5-$15 sliding scale donation.
