Friday 27
ORBERT DAVIS SEXTET When jazz fans around the world think of Chicago, they think of great bassists, grand pianists, and towering tenor saxists–but we haven’t had a strong crop of trumpeters since Ira Sullivan and Lester Bowie left town back in the 60s. That’s one reason Orbert Davis commands attention, but only one; you might also take note of his influence on younger players, who are already forming a solid pack behind him. On last year’s self-released Blue Notes, he delves into his roots with a collection of classic tunes and several redolent originals, his hot-butter solos and swaggering arrangements evoking the seminal Blue Note hard bop of the 60s. Davis’s current group consists of veteran saxist Ari Brown and four terrific younger musicians, including ferocious pianist Ryan Cohan. See also Saturday. 9 PM, Green Mill, 4802 N. Broadway, 773-878-5552, $10. –Neil Tesser
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KIM HIORTHOY Well-known as the graphic designer responsible for the strikingly minimal and abstract covers that distinguish the releases on the Norwegian label Rune Grammofon, Kim Hiorthoy also makes electronic music–and it’s considerably busier and denser than his visual art. On 2004’s Hopeness (Smalltown Supersound) his whimsical music-box melodies resemble those of Boards of Canada and early Aphex Twin, but the ways he deliberately scuttles the proceedings are compelling and entirely his own. Sometimes his self-sabotaging approach is simple and abrupt–as when synth and piano melodies stop dead in their tracks and resume in a new direction–but there are also more satisfying moments when found voices, jagged clusters of programmed beats, short samples, or pleasant countermelodies enter the fray. Proswell headlines; Mark DeNardo and Tobias open. 10 PM, Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, 773-276-3600 or 800-594-8499, $8. –Peter Margasak
Monday 30
Wednesday 1
