Fri. Sept. 16 -- Grindmasters Asesino play their hit "Y Tu Mama Tambien"; Cattle Decapitation splatter death gore all over the vegetables. Y mas bandas tambien. At the Whisky, 8901 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood 90069; www.whiskyagogo.com; doors 6pm; $20; (310) 652-4202.
Fri. Sept. 16 -- You can hear Phil Ranelin's Detroit soul and jazz assembly in every note of his trombone, but he's all ours. At LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., LA 90036; 6-8pm; FREE; Friday summer jazz schedule here.
Fri.-Sat. Sept. 16-17 -- With his new "Discoveries," pianist Josh Nelson takes big compositional strides and opens up a wider palette. If at first his soft touch and lilting rhythms mark him as a pastel suburbanite, listen closer and discover challenging harmonies in the arrangements of horns (Brian Walsh, Alan Ferber, Dontae Winslow) or in a prickly-silk acoustic-guitar solo (Larry Koonse). Nelson ain't Gil Evans -- his sensitivity is less painful, his beauty less deep, his vasculature unscarred. But this is California not New York, and ain't nothing wrong with that. 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.
Sat. Sept. 17 -- When Dwight Trible opens up his throat, God hears him. God, by the way, is African. At the World Stage, 4344 Degnan Blvd., Leimert Park 90008; 8:30 & 10:15pm; $10; www.theworldstage.org.
Mon. Sept. 19 -- For truly furious Swedish death metal, see that newly exhumed veterans Grave are not kept clean. With Blood Red Throne, Pathology, Gigan, Voices of Ruin, Enthraller. At the Key Club, 9039 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood 90069; doors 7pm; $22; 18+; www.keyclub.com; (310) 274-5800.
Tues. Sept. 20 -- The Return to Forever IV lineup features Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Lenny White, Jean-Luc Ponty and Frank Gambale. Hey, those guys sound familiar. Zappa Plays Zappa (with Dweezil) opens. At the Greek Theater, 2700 N. Vermont Ave., Los Feliz 90027; 7:30pm; $40-$90; www.greektheatrela.com.
Tues.-Wed. Sept. 20-21 -- Steve Coleman & 5 Elements present a master class on Tuesday at 5pm before the evening's jam session, which is hosted by Varden Ovsepian; I don't think Coleman's in on that, but you never know. On Wednesday, it's a full-on future-funk 5 Elements concert by one of the most intense conceptual intellects in the music world. 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; $15 (Wednesday); validated parking underneath off Second Street at the sign of the P in a circle; (213) 620-0908; www.bluewhalemusic.com.
Wed. Sept. 21 -- Drones and strange noises rule when electro-mechanical artists Jason Kahn, Devin Sarno & Damien Romero get together. At Atwater Crossing, 3245 Casitas Ave., Atwater 90039; 8pm; $10.
Thurs. Sept. 22 -- Germany's/Australia's The Necks -- pianist Chris Abrahams, drummer Tony Buck, bassist Lloyd Swanton -- kick off the world-themed Angel City Jazz Fest with hypnotic electronified space & mist. On a planet without an original sound, they found one. I'm listening right now, and I'm seriously tripping. 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.
Plan your vacation around the citywide Angel City Jazz Fest, September 22-October 2. This year it's a "global jam" theme, with highlights from Roscoe Mitchell & Alex Cline (REDCAT 10/2), Burkina Electric with DJ Spooky (EchoPlex 9/24), Larry Karush (LACMA 9/23), Nick Mancini-Otmaro Ruiz (Zipper Hall 9/23), and of course the main blowout with Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, Rudresh Mahanthappa and The Kandinsky Effect (John Anson Ford Amphitheater 10/1). Dig the complete lineup here.
Read Don Heckman’s jazz picks here and MoshKing's metal listings here. Read John Payne's plutonic Bluefat.com here.