The New York Times-20080127-Pop

Return to: The_New_York_Times-20080127

Pop

Full Text (253  words)

Pop

Ben Ratliff

ROBIN HOLCOMB's music is in too-short supply. She has gotten her inspiration from American folk and gospel music and film and dance and jazz and, to some extent, from her husband, the pianist and composer Wayne Horvitz. (It's a two-way street of influence.) Part of New York's downtown-jazz world in the '80s, Ms. Holcomb moved to Seattle at the end of that decade. For her rare visit this weekend she's playing two different sets. On Friday at 8, playing piano with a quintet, she performs instrumental music from Larks, They Crazy, a brilliant, should-be-better-known, natural-sounding semi-jazz record from 1988. On Sunday at 10, after a set (also recommended) of Mr. Horvitz performing his music with a classical quartet, she will perform a set of songs by Stephen Foster, Michael Hurley, herself and others. The Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, thestonenyc.com; $10 per set.

The Minneapolis trio HAPPY APPLE sounds nothing like Ms. Holcomb -- it's often manic, while she never is -- but it too makes music that's informed by jazz yet completely open. Its members (David King, drums; Michael Lewis, alto saxophone; Erik Fratzke, electric bass) came into their own after the '80s, but they're the beneficiaries of all the excited interrogations of jazz that happened back then. Tuesday at 9:30, Joe's Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 967-7555, joespub.com; $15.

[Illustration]PHOTO: Happy Apple, an often-manic jazz trio from Minneapolis, will perform at Joe's Pub on Tuesday night. (PHOTOGRAPH BY MIKE DVORAK)