Fri. May 13 -- Anything drummer Scott Amendola does is worth tuning in to, so if you dig the North Indian drones & leaps, check out vocalist Shweta Jhaveri, with Amendola on percussion and electronics, Eyvind Kang on violin and Will Bernard on guitar. At the Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., LA 90049; 8pm; $30; www.skirball.org.
Fri.-Sat. May 13-14 -- Fusion godfather Stanley Clarke does stuff to a bass that will scare your pants off. His latest, "Stanley Clarke Band," ranges wide in the melodic-fusion-pop realm and got nominated for a contemporary-jazz Grammy, which is not always a bad thing. And he's turning 60! At Catalina Bar & Grill, 6725 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood 90028; 8 & 10pm; $35-$40; (323) 466-2210; www.catalinajazzclub.com.
Sat. May 14 -- Bay Area extremists Bruce Ackley, Larry Ochs, Jon Raskin and Steve Adams have been pushing every kind of harmony, compositional twist and tonal invention for a lotta years as ROVA Saxophone Quartet, and you don't get your Avant membership card stamped unless you catch 'em now and then. At the Blue Whale on the third floor of Weller Court Plaza, south of East First Street between South Los Angeles Street and South San Pedro Street, Little Tokyo 90012; 8pm-midnight; $15; validated parking underneath off Second Street at the sign of the P in a circle; (213) 620-0908; www.bluewhalemusic.com.
Sat. May 14 -- Maybe you could call Tin Hat folk, hence the venue, but really clarinetist Ben Goldberg, accordionist Rob Reich, violinist Carla Kihlstedt and guitarist Mark Orton are modern composers, so just cuz they don't live in Appalachia doesn't mean they're not folks. At McCabe’s, 3101 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica 90405; 8pm; $20; (310) 828-4497; www.mccabes.com.
Sat. May 14 -- Don't wanna get too rarefied this week, but Billy Childs Chamber Ensemble has a finely wrought approach to please jazzers and classicists, featuring the Grammy-luvved pianist plus guitarist Larry Koonse, saxist Bob Sheppard, harpist Carol Robbins, bassist Hamilton Price and drummer Smitty Smith. At Vitello's Restaurant, 4349 Tujunga Ave., Studio City 91604; 8 &10 pm; $35 cover plus $13 minimum; (818) 769-0905; www.vitellosrestaurant.com.
Sat. May 14 -- Live stream: For those who want to hear live muzik without being squashed and robbed, here's a swell opportunity -- Sepultura, Belphegor and Keep of Kalessin whipping out the modern metal here, visuals and everything. Best of all, it comes at ya from the Knitting Factory in Spokane, Washington, which was a lazy cow town when I went to college there, but now it's vying for Top 10 status in crystal-meth manufacture. Starts 8pm PDT.
Sun. May 15 -- The Daniel Rosenboom Group presents the trumpeter's smart lyricism; The Brad Rabuchin Sextet follows suit. At the Blue Whale on the third floor of Weller Court Plaza, south of East First Street between South Los Angeles Street and South San Pedro Street, Little Tokyo 90012; 9pm-midnight; $10; validated parking underneath off Second Street at the sign of the P in a circle; (213) 620-0908; www.bluewhalemusic.com.
Mon. May 16 -- Kneebody, the young moderns of melodic jazz and groove, made a gut impact when they played the Angel City Jazz Fest last year. We used to see Adam Benjamin, Ben Wendel, Kaveh Rastegar, Nate Wood and Shane Endsley around town all the time; make 'em welcome or they'll leave us behind. At Angels, 2460 W. Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica 990403; 8 & 10pm; $15; advance tickets recommended here; all ages; (310) 828-2115.
Tues. May 17 -- I've been shaking to the heavy sounds of guitarist Ramón Ortiz since his '90s Puya days, and everything I've heard from his latter-day band Ankla has rocked with the same powerhouse Latin-Caribbean rhythms, no matter what the lineup, which seems to change a lot. And Dia de los Muertos provide an extra-special reason to attend. The local death-metallians tumble fiercely behind the dubblekikked drums of Alfonzo Pinzon, while drawing special attention for their variety: The new "Satanico Dramatico" starts with acoustic flamenco and ends with surf-metal, squeezing in jolts of rhythmic dynamics and the shredding twin guitars of Andres Jaramillo and Adrian Villanueva, plus the fearsome rumble of bassist Alejandro Corredor. For an unusual twist, the album features the vocals and lyrics of six different growlers, including Maldito X (Static-X, Asesino), Jeff Walker (Carcass), Boris Bonillo (Letum Ascensus), Anton Reisenegger (Pentagram) and Andrés Giménez (A.N.I.M.A.L.). Dunno if any of those dudes will show up, but it won't matter, cuz Loana dP Valencia (Dreams of Damnation), the main frontwoman, brings all the energy and hellishness ("I am empress of death!") you could want. Believe it or not, you can download the whole excellent set, produced by the great Roy Z (Judas Priest, Halford, Bruce Dickinson) on the DDLM web site for FREE. Also with Soulbleed, Of Bitter Flowers, Atrophy and Kill the Messenger. At the Whisky, 8901 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood 90069; 6:30pm; $12, tickets here all ages; www.whiskyagogo.com; (310) 360-1110.
Wed. May 18 -- Chord Four do a quiet kind of chamber thing -- melodic and contrapuntal. With windman Andrew Conrad, trumpeter Brandon Sherman, bassist Brandon Schmidt and drummer Colin Woodford. Open for dinner from 5pm! At Royal-T, 8910 Washington Blvd., Culver City 90232; 8pm; $10; $5 students; (310) 559-6300; www.royal-t.org.
Read Brick Wahl’s jazz picks in LA Weekly here, Don Heckman’s jazz picks here and MoshKing's metal listings here. Read John Payne's plutonic Bluefat.com here.