MUSIC
Tera Melos, Speedy Ortiz
[PROG-PUNK] On their early
releases, Sacramento’s Tera Melos
sounded like they dumped 60
years’ worth of jazz, progressive
rock and post-hardcore melodies
and rhythms into a blender. Once
wordless and blindingly prodi-
gious, the band went through some
lineup changes and came out the
other side as a brainy pop band.
X’ed Out , from 2013, sanded down
their intriguing warts and wrin-
kles into an overly pristine indie-
rock visage, but Trash Generator ,
released in August, is a better-bal-
anced blend of their headiest and
catchiest impulses. Ease into their
headlining set here with Speedy
Ortiz, among the most indie-rock of
indie-rock bands, whose eccentrici-
ties are rarer, and catchiness comes
more naturally. PATRICK LYONS.
Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St.,
503-239-7639. 8 pm. $15. All ages.
The Afghan Whigs, Har
Mar Superstar
[POST-GRUNGE GRUNGE] See Get
Busy, page 25. Wonder Ballroom,
128 NE Russell St., 503-284-8686.
8:30 pm. $33 general admission,
$135 VIP. 21+.
TUESDAY, OCT. 17
Generationals, Benjamin Jones
[CATCHY OR DIE] Generationals
got an early start in the era of
electro-inspired pop music. As
early as 2009, the New Orleans-
based two-piece was making
’60s-leaning California jangle-pop
songs infused with melodic electro
beats that make you feel like
you’re fl ying downhill on a skate-
board. The band hasn’t released a
full album since the Richard Swift-
produced, ’80s-infl uenced Alix in
2014, but we’ve gotten a taste for
what’s to come with fi ve singles
released in 2017. They point to a
turn for the club while keeping
the same reverb-soaked vocals,
big synths and jangly surf guitars.
SOPHIA JUNE. Star Theater, 13 NW
6th Ave., 503-248-4700. 9:30 pm.
$13. 21+.
CLASSICAL, JAZZ & WORLD
Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony
[CLASSICAL] Dmitri
Shostakovich’s fi fth and most
popular symphony likely saved
his life. He had pulled his Fourth
Symphony during rehearsals out of
fear of potential retribution from
the Russian state. His response
was to compose the “abso-
lute music” of his Fifth as being
without text or explanation, and
restrained himself from pushing
boundaries that could lead to his
execution. Nevertheless, it’s an
epic and exciting work deserving
of its reputation. The fi rst half of
this weekend’s program by Swiss-
born guest conductor Baldur
Brönnimann features Canadian
cellist Johannes Moser delivering a
Saint-Saëns concerto. But the real
treat is the opening 11-minute per-
cussion extravaganza of Ângela
da Ponte’s 2011 poetically inspired
work, The Rising Sea . NATHAN
CARSON. Arlene Schnitzer Concert
Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, 503-248-
4335. 7:30 pm Saturday-Monday,
Oct. 14-16. $25-$120. All ages.
Delgani String Quartet
[CASCADIAN COMPOSITIONS]
Now in its third year, the young,
Eugene-based Delgani String
Quartet has quickly risen to
become one of Oregon’s most dis-
tinctive and impressive chamber
music ensembles. Not only do their
performances display a higher
level of preparation and energy
than most of the state’s veteran
groups, their programs also include
as much music from today’s com-
posers as established classics.
This collaboration with Cascadia
Composers features all contempo-
rary music, including fellow Eugene
32
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DATES HERE
native Paul Safar’s groovy Quartet
in Red, Black, & Blue , a Cuban-
infl uenced quartet by LA-based
Latin Grammy winner Yalil Guerra,
Joshua Hey’s piece inspired by an
Alpha Centaurian lens fl are and
more. The main course is Portland
composing eminence Tomás
Svoboda’s fi erce, tragic sixth string
quartet, inspired by fellow com-
poser Dmitri Shostakovich’s strug-
gles against Soviet repression.
BRETT CAMPBELL. Community
Music Center, 3350 SE Francis St.
7:30 pm Saturday, Oct. 14. $5-$20.
All ages.
Northwest Art Song
& The Ensemble
[WOMEN’S VOICES] Women
have long been discriminated
against in classical music, with
American orchestras devoting less
than 2 percent of their program-
ming to music written by women.
Portland is leading the way in
redressing this imbalance. This
concert, presented by local clas-
sical vocal groups, the Ensemble
and Northwest Art Song, features
two of the city’s fi nest singers,
sopranos Arwen Myers and Laura
Beckel Thoreson, accompanied by
pianist Susan McDaniel, and will
present music written by some of
today’s most prominent female
composers. That includes the ven-
erable Libby Larsen to younger
generations represented by Abbie
Betinis, Kati Agócs, Juliana Hall
and Stacy Garrop. That would be
rare enough—but here, all of the
poetry the composers set to music
is also written by women. BRETT
CAMPBELL. First Christian Church,
1314 SW Park Ave. 3 pm Sunday,
Oct. 15. $20-$25. All ages.
Portland Gay Men’s Chorus
[PROTEST SONGS] A lot of
Portland artists have gotten politi-
cal since last November, some
devoting whole seasons to cre-
ations that protest injustice or
raise social consciousness. Now
the city’s biggest gay chorus joins
the fray. The program’s centerpiece
is a harrowing, moving recent work
by Atlanta-based composer Joel
Thompson. The lyrics for each
of its seven movements consist
entirely of the last words uttered
by unarmed African-American men
and boys before they died at the
hands of police and other so-called
“authority fi gures,” including, of
course, “I can’t breathe.” The
group is putting their money
where their mouths are, donat-
ing 50 percent of proceeds from
table seats to nine co-sponsoring
local community social justice non-
profi ts. BRETT CAMPBELL. Kaul
Auditorium (at Reed College),
3203 SE Woodstock Blvd.,
503-222-6000. 3 pm Sunday, Oct.
15. Contact venue for ticket prices.
All ages.
Organic Nation Listening Club
[PEPPER UPPER] A couple weeks
ago, Parkrose High hosted the
fi fth annual Jim Pepper Native
Arts Festival—a symbol of the
high regard the state holds for
one of its most prominent Native
American artists and nationally
renowned jazz legends. A charter
class inductee of the Oregon Music
Hall of Fame, the Salem-born saxo-
phonist pioneered a blend of jazz
and Native American music with
his ’60s band, the Free Spirits.
His music, recorded on over 50
albums and including an origi-
nal symphony, also often incorpo-
rated Latin and African infl uences.
Tonight, David Ornette Cherry, son
of late trumpet legend Don Cherry,
celebrates Pepper in this edition of
the keyboardist’s annual Organic
Listening Club Project, tracing
his trajectory through Portland
and beyond. BRETT CAMPBELL.
Artists Repertory Theatre, 1515 SW
Morrison St., 503-241-1278. 7:30
pm Tuesday, Oct. 17. $15. All ages.
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