Fri. Sept. 2 -- Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra conductor and saxist Michael Session leads a blazin' sextet in the great cement outdoors. At LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., LA 90036; 6-8pm; FREE; Friday summer jazz schedule here.
Fri. Sept. 2 -- I See Hawks in L.A. pluck heartstrings and synapses with their modern country. At Cinema Bar, 3967 Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City 90036; 10:30pm; free; (310) 390-1328; thecinemabar.com.
Fri. Sept. 2 -- Heavy chopsman Michael Landau leads a guitar power trio with drummer Gary Novak and bassist Reggie Hamilton. At the Baked Potato, 3787 Cahuenga Blvd. West, Studio City 91604; 9:30 & 11:30pm; $20; (818) 980-1615; www.thebakedpotato.com.
Fri.-Sun. Sept. 2-4 -- It's true, Charlie Haden's Quartet West have been at it for 25 years: I remember buying their debut record (in vinyl!) at Tower Records when it came out in 1988, not to mention seeing them in places that haven't existed for decades. Original drummer Larance Marable has been replaced by Rodney Green, I think; Ernie Watts (sax) and Alan Broadbent (piano) remain. Hall of Fame bassist Haden provides the rich heartbeat of vintage L.A. noir with which the group has always synchronized. The quartet's current album, "Sophisticated Ladies," features a raft of singers including Cassandra Wilson, Diana Krall, Norah Jones and Haden's wife, Ruth Cameron, so I wouldn't be surprised to see a songbird at the mike. At Catalina Bar & Grill, 6725 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood 90028; 8 & 10pm; $25-$35; (323) 466-2210; www.catalinajazzclub.com.
Sat. Sept. 3 -- Modern compositions by younger musicians show texture and beauty ain't deceased: the operatic Richie Kohan (Hour of the Shipwreck), Jodie Landau (vocal-inflected chamber music featuring ace bassist Ivan Johnson among others) and guitarist Marcel Camargo (small ensemble works featuring violist Miguel Atwood-Ferguson). Original and good. At Mimoda Dance Theater, 5774 W. Pico Blvd., L.A. 90019; 8pm; $15.
Sat. Sept. 3 -- Circa-1970 Brit-Kraut prog progenitors Nektar keep at it with original guitarist-voxman Roye Albrighton and drummer Ron Howden. Also equally vintaged Euros Brainticket, Hawkwind's Huw Lloyd Langton and a bunch more. Massive geek-out. At the Key Club, 9039 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood 90069; doors 7pm; $35; 18+; www.keyclub.com; (310) 274-5800.
Sun. Sept. 4 -- Super avantfest: vet Bay Area saxist Rent Romus' Lords of Outland (with trumpeter CJ Borosque, bassist Ray Schaeffer, drummer Philip Everett and special guest windman Vinny Golia), plus the latest Ornette-influenced ensemble of excellent saxist-composer Charles Sharp, featuring Douglas Wadle, John Graves, Jeff Schwartz, Trevor Anderies and Alan Cook. At Center for the Arts, 2225 Colorado Blvd., Eagle Rock 90041; 7pm; $10; (626) 795-4989.
Mon. Sept. 5 -- It's the birthday of Hank Williams, eternal penthouse tenant in the Tower of Song. Ronnie Mack's Barn Dance pays tribute with short sets by a lotta beerweepers, including Billy Vera, Albert Lee, I See Hawks in L.A., Rick Shea and The Jazz Rangers (featuring D.J. Bonebrake). At Joe's American Bar & Grill, 4311 Magnolia Blvd., Burbank 91505, 7:30pm; no cover.
Tues. Sept. 6 -- Fronted by vicious rock guitar and funky sax, Munich's Panzerballett embody metaljazz as thoroughly as anybody since their most obvious influence, John Zorn's Naked City. I don't think they've ever played L.A. before, and who knows when the next opportunity will arrive, so . . . Looks as if they've gone through an almost total lineup revamp, now featuring leader-guitarist Jan Zehrfeld, guitarist Joe Doblhofer, saxist Alexander Von Hagke, bassist Heiko Jung and drummer Sebastian Lanser. Panzerballett hits the stage at 9pm, followed at 10:30 by guitarist Adrian Galysh's fusion quartet. Cheap! Read my review of PB's first album here and watch a YouTube video here. At the Baked Potato, 3787 Cahuenga Blvd. West, Studio City 91604; $10; (818) 980-1615; www.thebakedpotato.com.
Wed. Sept. 7 -- Plotz! go at Balkan & otherworld music with festive abandon. Talking about trumpeter Daniel Rosenboom, saxist Gavin Templeton, windman Brian Walsh, guitarist Jake Vossler, bassist Orest Balaban and drummer Austin Wrinkle. 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.
Thurs. Sept. 8 -- Mark Dresser & Jen Shyu put together a highly unusual meld of vituosic double bass and abstract vox/dance. Read my live review here. 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; master class 6pm, $20 (bassists especially will want to grok Dresser's boggling techniques); performance 9pm; $15; validated parking underneath off Second Street at the sign of the P in a circle; (213) 620-0908; www.bluewhalemusic.com.
Thurs. Sept. 8 -- I honestly pegged the tunes on "Heavy Sugar," the new album by L.A.'s Doozy, as authentic Prohibition blues and rags until I checked the credits and discovered they were written by Doozy singer Christie Mellor and guitarist Doug Freeman. You get all kinds of smartguy lyrics about absinthe making the heart grow fonder and lacking the funds to be a wastrel, performed with deadpan cool by Mellor and a gang of most proficient clarinetists, accordionists and such. For real! Clean, warm production by Freeman, too. If this interests you, mark your calendar, because Doozy plays every Thursday at the same location; tonight's their release party. At the Culver Hotel, 9400 Culver Blvd., Culver City 90232; 7:30-11pm; no cover; (310) 558-9400.
RIP: Charlie O's, one of L.A.'s last old-line jazz bars, had its last night on August 31. The Valley will be way emptier and less relaxed for the lack.
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.