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This is a release party for both Chin Up Chin Up, who headline, and Make Believe, who play second; the Oxford Collapse opens. Illusionist Ryan Williams will perform before the music. a 9 PM, Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, 773-276-3600 or 866-468-3401, $10.
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stefon harris quintet Stefon Harris emerged in the mid-90s as the most important new voice on jazz vibraphone, thriving in mainstream settings as a sideman and, within a few years, as a leader. He’s spent much of this decade exploring new contexts for his music, releasing discs like 2003’s music-as-physics concept album The Grand Unification Theory and 2004’s R & B-driven Evolution. He shifts gears yet again on his new album, African Tarantella: Dances With Duke (Blue Note), which features interpretations of selections from two Duke Ellington suites and three selections from one of his own suites, The Gardner Meditations. Harris boldly rearranges the Ellington tunes for a strangely configured nonet–cello, viola, clarinet, trombone, flute, piano, and a standard rhythm section, plus his own vibes and marimba–putting the music in a more contemporary light without diminishing its melodic core. Harris tends to stick to basics live, and the fine group he leads this weekend–pianist Marc Cary, bassist Earl Travis, drummer Terreon Gully, and alto saxophonist Casey Benjamin–ought to highlight his deep talent as a pure improviser. See also Saturday and Sunday. a 9 and 11 PM, Jazz Showcase, 59 W. Grand, 312-670-2473, $20. –Peter Margasak
saturday14
madeleine peyroux On her latest album, Half the Perfect World (Rounder), Madeleine Peyroux updates her repertoire: instead of the half-century-old blues and country songs she sang on her previous discs, she mostly interprets tunes of more recent vintage by Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Serge Gainsbourg, and others, along with her own material. But her sound remains largely the same: her smoky, wounded warble (part Billie Holiday, part Edith Piaf, more ethereal than either) is set to a soft-focus amalgam of cabaret, jazz, and rock, delivered by an excellent cast of supporting musicians. She’s a subtle singer who can bring many shades of anguish to a lyric, even on a timeless song like Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile.” Jonas Smith opens. a 7:30 PM, the Vic, 3145 N. Sheffield, 773-472-0449 or 312-559-1212, $37. –Peter Margasak
sunday15
monday16
