PAT MARTINO QUARTET
A reader once berated me for failing to write about Pat Martino and accused me of overlooking one of the most avant-garde guitarists around. Best remembered for his late 1960s trippy psychedelic jazz record Baiyina (Prestige), Martino isn't probing the frontiers of the guitar much anymore--check out Derek Bailey, Fred Frith, Luigi Archetti, or Keith Rowe instead--but Martino remains an astounding guitarist nonetheless. Martino's dusky tone, a dash of funk, and crisp, fleet-fingered solos make this gig a must. With Scott Robinson (drums), Steve Varner (bass), and John di Martino (piano). Also Fri Jan 28 and Sat Jan 29 with early sets Sun Jan 30 at 6:30 and 8:30 pm. Jazz Alley, 2033 Sixth Ave, 441-9729, sets at 7:30 and 9:30 pm, $20.50/$22.50.
OBERLIN STRING QUARTET
For classical on the cheap, this is the gig for you. Oberlin College faculty tackle Mozart's String Quartet No. 22 in B-flat, K. 589 and Beethoven's knotty String Quartet No. 12 in E-flat, op. 127. Town Hall, Eighth Ave and Seneca St, 652-4255, 8 pm, free.
FRIDAY JANUARY 28
MANON LESCAUT
Will Manon marry for love or marry for money? Like all Puccini heroines she'll suffer no matter what she decides. This is the last weekend of Seattle Opera's staging of Puccini's classic tale. Also Sat Jan 29. McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer St, 389-7676, 7:30 pm, $40-$123.
BAROQUE NORTHWEST
Focusing on the Baroque flute, this ensemble performs Johann Friedrich Fasch's Sonata in G for flute, two recorders, and continuo, Johann Heinrich Schmelzer's "Sonata Quarta" from Unarum fidium (1664), <>a trio for three flutes by Nicolas Dothel ( <>1721-1810), Telemann's Quartet in D from Tafelmusik for recorder, two flutes, and continuo, <>along with sonatas by Jean-Marie Lecla ir and <>Johann Joachim Quantz. <>Pre-concert talk at 7:15 pm. Also Sat Jan 29. Bethany Lutheran Church, 7400 Woodlawn Ave NE, 368-0735, 8 pm, $10-$22.
SATURDAY JANUARY 29
SEATTLE WOMEN'S JAZZ ORCHESTRA
I'm sure my old semiotics professor would chastise me for failing to decrypt the multifarious ambiguity of "Women's," however I'm too addled by the SWJO's amiable, toe-tapping CD Dreamcatcher (OA2 Records) to care. Singer Greta Matassa, a sassy vocalist with a commanding set of pipes capable of peeling off notes at high speed, sits in with the band. Level 3 of the Science Fiction Museum at EMP, 325 Fifth Ave N, 770-2702, 8 pm, $5/$7.
ST. HELENS STRING QUARTET
How is this concert connected to UNESCO's Conference on Unity and Diversity in Religion and Culture concurrently held in Seattle? I have no idea, but if they're paying musicians, I'm all for it. Pianist Peter Mack augments the group to perform a slew of music, much of it by local composers: Janice Giteck's Where can we live safely then? In surrender, Henry Cowell's United Quartet, Laura Kaminsky's Transformations II: Music for a Changing World, Arvo Pärt's Fratres, and childsworld by Bern Herbolsheimer. Recital Hall at Benaroya, Third Ave and Union St, 292-2787, 8 pm, $8/$15.
