Fri. Sept. 11 -- Chuck Manning applies an amazing variety of tones and shadings to his modernistic tenor playing; dunno who’ll be in his ensemble tonight.. Read my review of one of his shows last year at the same venue here. At Café Metropol, 923 E. Third St., downtown 90013; 8pm; $10 cover, $10 minimum; (213) 613-1537.
Sat. Sept. 12 -- Big doings for the 10th anniversary of SASSAS (the Society for the Activation of Social Space through Art and Sound), one of the city’s most valuable resources for creative thought. It’s a FREE all-day event spread all around the city, so you’re likely to find something in your neighborhood. Literally every performance is worth attending.
EAST SIDE
11am: Percussion Party with Joe Berardi, Ted Byrnes, Spencer Savage, Gabie Strong, Rich West. At Sylvan Amphitheater in Yosemite Recreation Center, 1840 Yosemite Drive, Eagle Rock 90041.
12:30pm: LAFMS Bandshell Blitz with Dennis Duck, Fredrik Nilsen, Joseph Potts, Rick Potts, Tom Recchion and Vetz, most of whom you may remember from the Pasadena experimental explosion around 1980. At Sycamore Grove Park, 4702 N. Figueroa St., Highland Park 90065.
2pm: Horn duets drawing from Dan Clucas, Vinny Golia, Lynn Johnston, Alicia Mangan, William Roper, Eric Sbar, Wadada Leo Smith and Kris Tiner, the tiptop of local avantists. In the 900 block of Chung King Road, Chinatown 90012.
HOLLYWOOD
4pm: Atmospheric, texturalistic artists from the Cold Blue label: Rick Cox, Jim Fox, Michael Jon Fink, Chas Smith. Read my LA Weekly interview with instrument inventor Smith here. At Amoeba Music, 6400 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood 90028.
5:30pm: Excellent abstract web-sharing electronic artists from Dublab and Creative Commons: Mitchell Brown, Alejandro Cohen, DJ Frosty, Albert Ortega, Carl Stone, Jimmy Tamborello. At Eighth Veil, 7174 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood 90046.
7pm: In memory of murdered guitarist Rod Poole, who was a SASSAS bulwark, a Poole composition for bowed guitars is performed by Jessica Catron, Nels Cline, Michael Intriere, Jim McAuley, Erin Barnes, Bobb Bruno, Steve Gregoropoulos, Joseph Hammer, Ronit Kirchman, Cat Lamb, Rick Potts, Tom Recchion, Devin Sarno. At Schindler House, 835 N. Kings Road, West Hollywood 90069.
WEST SIDE
8:30pm: Compositions by the late James Tenney are performed by Jessica Catron, Eric Clark, Rory Cowal, Danny Holt. At Pierre’s Fine Pianos, 11039 W. Pico Blvd., West L.A. 90064.
10pm: Reception and jam featuring a lot of the day’s musicians. At Beyond Baroque, 681 Venice Blvd., Venice 90291.
More info at www.sassas.org. Download an event map here.
Sat. Sept. 12 -- They’ve got the street blocked off for the Sunset Strip Music Festival today. Ain’t much metal of renown, except on the West Stage there’s the pschedelic waves and heavy grooves of Korn at 5:45, and the ever-reliable Ozzy Osbourne at 8. Probably you’d have to live inside a manhole adjacent to the stage to see Ozzy, who’s got a new guitarist from Greece, Gus G, and a fill-in drummer, Tommy Cluettos. Sorry to hear that Zakk Wylde is out of the Ozz band and has also been forced to cancel his Black Label Society tour due to blood clots in his lungs. We wish Zakk a speedy recovery. At Sunset Boulevard and Doheny, West Hollywood.
Sun. Sept. 13 -- Can’t go wrong when Nels Cline & G.E. Stinson improvise a heavily electronified guitar duet; Nels sure had a busy week. Opening is Hans Fjellestad, who makes analog synthesizers bleed. A special non-first-Sunday presenation of the Sunday Evening Concerts at Center for the Arts, 2225 Colorado Blvd., Eagle Rock 90041; 7pm; $10; (626) 795-4989.
Thurs. Sept. 17 -- An especially appealing ResBox program this month. Acoustic guitarist Jim McAuley plays about the most beautiful and unusual ever-shifting guitar you’ve ever heard in duo with plugged-in windman Andrew Pask. If trumpeter Bruce Friedman’s O.P.T.I.O.N.S. has half the fine cast of his pfMentum album (with Lynn Johnston, Ellen Burr, Michael Intriere, Rich West, et al.), it’ll be a kick. And guitarist Lucio Menegon has picked up some fine collaborators in flutist Emily Hay, pianist Motoko Honda and Scrote; he also contributes the music to tonight’s screening of a short film by Alfonso Alvarez & Thad Povey, “Nightsoil.” ResBox at Steve Allen Theater, 4773 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood 90027; 8pm; $10; BYO.
Read Brick’s Picks in LA Weekly here and Don Heckman’s picks here.