Two critics shaped the way I think about music: Stanley Crouch (jazz) and Greg Tate (hiphop). Crouch hates jazz fusion and late Miles Davis; Tate’s hiphop criticism is built on a foundation of Davis’s “early electric repertoire.” Had Tate not loved this period so profoundly, I would have dismissed jazz fusion with Crouchian contempt. But thanks to Tate, I have a warm spot for In a Silent Way, an album that, along with Bitches Brew, will be performed tonight by New York–based composer Bobby Previte and a large ensemble of Seattle-based musicians (Wayne Horvitz will handle the keyboards). (The Royal Room, 5000 Rainier Ave S, www.theroyalroomseattle.com, 9 pm, $12 adv/$15 DOS, all ages)