Medeski, Martin and Wood
Electric Factory
Seventh and Willow streets
7 p.m., $22
215-627-1332
John Medeski has been getting around lately. Fresh off his work with the Word and some fill-in dates for Trey Anastasio's summer tour, he and the boys are out on the road again spreading their infectious head-nod-inducing vibes from coast to coast. MMW's sound is unquestionably the jazz of the new millennium, and their recent signing to Blue Note seems to be one step toward this recognition. Equal part Monk and Meters, tunes like "Philly Cheese Blunt" and "Chubb Sub" are destined to be the next jazz standards, as everybody realizes that Wynton Marsalis is doing nothing for jazz except keeping it safe. MMW are at home in the New York underground scene, where any given night you can hear people like John Zorn or Marc Ribot blend saxophone, theremin, cornet and piercing screams and call it jazz. It's that complete disregard for rules that pushes music forward. So treat your ears to the kind of stuff that would have Ken Burns dropping a deuce and Louis Armstrong saying, "pass the bone."
In the Presence of Spirits: Works by Tremain Smith
Esther M. Klein Art Gallery
University City Science Center
3600 Market Street
Through November 4, Free
(215) 387-2262
Maybe because it's Halloween, the spirits hidden in Smith's abstract, mixed media work will make themselves known. And then maybe they will terrorize the campus, chasing all of the girls in 3"-heeled Steve Madden sandals (which are still being worn despite the arrival of autumn), causing them to trip and fall in a huge massive heap in the middle of Locust Walk. Hey, we have to have hope for something in the world.
Different Trains
Academy of Music
Broad and Locust Streets
Call for Times $10-$102
(215) 893-1999
The beauty of this piece, performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra, is that the trains are different. Struggling long and hard with the concept of just one train, composer Steven Reich truly had an epiphany when he was blessed with the notion of incorporating multiple trains, each of which would uniquely contribute to the work as a whole. It was at this moment that Different Trains was truly born. For those who for some reason or another could not attend either week of the previously listed Mahler-thon, Mahler's heavenly Symphony No. 4 will follow--as will his 5th, 6th, 9th, 14th, and three quarters of his untitled final symphony endearingly referred to as "the 18th."
Cowboy Mouth
Trocadero
1003 Arch Street
7 p.m., $10, 21+
(215) 922-LIVE
Jenny says turn off the radio and get down to the Troc. Cowboy Mouth, a near-hit wonder of the mid-'90s, is making a trip our way to wrassle the obnoxious Philly audiences with its equally annoying stage presence. The fact that half their show is self-promotional banter won't bother you 'cause they don't really have any good songs to play anyway.
1996 Was a Good Year for Tourism
Chemistry Building
231 S. 34th Street
7 p.m., Free
The Other Israel: Documentary Film Series brings to Penn a tale that is familiar to many foreign students. After growing up in America, Amit Goren has documented his family trips returning to his native Tel Aviv. The film is both informative and personal and provides some things you'll never learn from CNN.
