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Friday, Feb. 20
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
[BOOKS AND BASKETBALL] When Kareem Abdul-Jabbar retired from the NBA in 1989 at age 42, he had scored more points, won more MVP awards and played in more All-Star games than any other player. In addition to being one of the most accomplished basketball players of all time, Abdul-Jabbar also writes inspirational books. He will sign copies of the second book from his Streetball Crew series, Stealing the Game. Geek out all you want, but leave the memorabilia at home because he is only signing books. Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., Beaverton, 800- 878-7323. 7 pm. Free.
Dark Horse Mega Signing
[COMICS] Like superheroes with the power to ignite the frenzy of fanboys everywhere, comic creators Mike Mignola (Hellboy, B.P.R.D.), Matt Kindt (Mind MGMT, PastAways), Eric Powell (The Goon, Chimichanga) and Brian Wood (The Massive, Rebels) will join forces for one mega-signing. The event will be split in two parts: Mignola signs between 6-7:45 pm, followed by Kindt, Powell and Wood from 8-9:30 pm. Tickets required for each session. Visit facebook.com/PortlandTFAW/events for details. Things From Another World, 2916 NE Broadway. 6-9:30 pm. Free; tickets required.
ValenTango
[TANGO] Tango! So much tango! The most tango anywhere! Feb. 18-23 at the DoubleTree by Hilton, 1000 NE Multnomah St., valentango.us. Classes $25, pack of six $138; milongas $10-$25, pass $155; everything pass $385.
Giraffage
[ELECTRO-POP] No Reason, San Francisco producer Charlie Yin's debut EP, evolves from his previous SoundCloud remixes to an allegedly sample-free production showcasing Yin's mastery of maximal, uplifting pop, and found a niche in the rotation of many big-name DJs. Rotture, 315 SE 3rd Ave., 234-5683. 9 pm. $12. 21+.
Black Out Beer Fest
[BEER] Nineteen black beers from 16 breweries, including four from host brewer Lompoc. Expect standbys like Upright's Oyster Stout, plus new innovations in darkness like a 9.3 percent ABV Fort George Tuesday's Lunch Stout brewed with roasted Spanish peanuts and blackberries. Sidebar, 3901A N Williams Ave., 288-3996. 4-10 pm. $15 for entry, glass and 8 beers. 21+.
PDX Jazz Festival: Vijay Iyer Trio
[PIANO JAZZ] Pianist Vijay Iyer's intense odd meters and ever-shifting melodies are played with free-flowing grace, demonstrating how he earned his MacArthur grant, and why his group is considered one of the most important in modern jazz. Winningstad Theatre. 9:30 pm. Sold out. See the rest of our PDX Jazz Festival picks here.
Levon's Helmet, the Zags, No More Parachutes, Mr. Bones
[POWER-POP] Levon's Helmet are part of a core of young Portland upstarts playing straight-up, no-frills power-pop full of big chords and bigger melodies. Tonight, the band celebrates the release of its debut full-length, Have the Best Day. Sandy Hut, 1430 NE Sandy Blvd., 235-7972. 9 pm. $5. 21+.
Saturday, Feb. 21
Firkin Fest
Firkins are the oldest still-in-use form of beer storage in the world,a dn you can get them from 40 breweries here, plus cheeses, chocolates and meats. Confirmed breweries include Deception, Thunder Island, Bunsenbrewer, New Belgium, Gigantic, Old Town, Base Camp, Double Mountain, Burnside, BridgePort, Hopworks, Fearless, Fat Head's and, of course, Buckman Botanical and Green Dragon. Green Dragon, 928 SE 9th Ave., 517-0660, on Saturday, Feb. 21. 11 am-6 pm. $10 includes five tastes and a 10-ounce glass. Additional tastes $1. $25 for VIP tastes. 21+.
Chowder Challenge
A real good chowdah should be rich and fillin', but not like a stew. You know how you make chowdah is you get a whole assload a clams in there, like a whole pile. But get it real creamy, like a gravy or somethin', with potatahs so soft they almost taste as creamy as the soup. Twelve contestants will duke it out, from Lompoc to Breakside to EaT oyster house. 5th Quadrant, 3901-B N Williams Ave., 288-3996. Noon-4 pm. $12 to taste the chowdah.
Big Mo, Johnny Cool, Tope, Serge Severe
[PORTLAND-VIA-MIDEAST HIP-HOP] See our profile of Big Mo here. Kelly's Olympian. 9 pm. $10. 21+.
Kevin Kadar and Takahiko Hayashi
[ART] Froelick offers a strong pairing of shows for February. A standout in Kevin Kadar's show, Portals and Puzzles, is the acrylic painting Firewall. With its flame-licked, scorched-earth landscape, it looks like the unholy love child of James Lavadour, Alex Lilly and Hieronymus Bosch. Another standout is Paint Portal, Paint Puzzle, in which two nude women stand beside an upside-down nude man, whose penis and scrotum dangle comically. In the back galleries hang Takahiko Hayashi's impossibly intricate etchings and drawings on paper. The astonishing series of 12 pen drawings, collectively entitled In a Swirl of Many, Many Small Circles, shows a geometric cyclone of circles floating like snowflakes or fairy-dust. Some of the pieces are scored with tiny pinpricks inside the circles' centers, emphasizing the fastidiousness of these miniature masterpieces. Through March 14. Froelick Gallery, 714 NW Davis St., 222-1142.
MNDSGN, Bones, Citymouth, Northern Draw
[BEATS] I donât really smoke weed anymore, but Iâm pretty sure Ringgo Ancheta does. The producer known as MNDSGNâitâs pronounced âmind designââdrops beats missing J Dillaâs trademark shuffle but that are equally as blunted. 2014âs Yawn Zen goes full Saturday morning melancholy on âCamelbluesâ and Sunday evening bliss with âExchanging.â Itâs like that weekend you forgot but didnât want to. MITCH LILLIE. The Know, 2026 NE Alberta St., 473-8729. 9 pm. $5. 21+.
Probosci
[ELECTRO-ACOUSTIC CHAMBER DUO] It took 15 years and a move from his native California to Brooklyn for guitarist-composer Gyan Riley to become known as more than the son of minimalist pioneer Terry Riley, but his work with such diverse musicians as Zakir Hussain, Mike Marshall, Dawn Upshaw, the San Francisco Symphony, Iva Bittová and, yes, his dad has established Gyan as one of the 21st century's rising contemporary classical stars. Violinist-trumpeter-composer Timba Harris is best known for his work with the fascinating modern proggers Secret Chiefs 3 and has ventured into collaborations with avant-jazzers such as John Zorn and Sunn O. Together, they create surprisingly sweet, sometimes assertive sounds fueled by Middle Eastern, Eastern European and other wide-ranging ingredients. BRETT CAMPBELL. Performance Works NW, 4625 SE 67th Ave., 777-1907. 8 pm Saturday, Feb. 21. $12-$20 sliding scale. 21+.
Sunday, Feb. 22
PDX Jazz Festival: Nicholas Payton Trio & Billy Childs' Map to the Treasure
[JAZZ] Trumpeter Nicholas Payton rose to jazz fame as part of the Wynton Marsalis-led parade of âYoung Lionsâ who emerged from New Orleans in the 1980s. In this new trio with bassist Vicente Archer and veteran drummer Bill Stewart, Payton also sings and plays electric piano. Pianist Billy Childs, a protégé of Freddie Hubbard who has collaborated with Chris Botti, classical ensembles and orchestras, this month picked up his fourth Grammy Award for his surprising 2014 album which featured a wide range of singers (Alison Krauss, Esperanza Spalding, Renée Fleming, Shawn Colvin). The album inventively covered the music of the venerated folk-pop singer Laura Nyro, whose songs ruled the late-â60s and â70s pop charts. Here, theyâll be sung by rising vocalists Becca Stevens and Alicia Olatuja. BRETT CAMPBELL. Newmark Theatre, 1111 SW Broadway, 248-4335. 7 pm Sunday, Feb. 22. $32-$52. All ages.
Jessica Pratt
[FRAGILE FOLK] The L.A. singer's songs are so delicate, melancholy and sparse, it almost feels like an intrusion listening to them. On Your Own Love Again, her new sophomore album, adds layers of harmonizing and lead guitar, but it's still mostly just her and a nylon-stringed guitar alone in a room. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., 231-9663. 9 pm. $12. 21+.
The Church
[NEWISH WAVE] Roughly as old as the place of religious practice it's named after, the Church has released a staggering 25 records in 35 years. Started in Sydney, the prolific group has evolved from a New Wave startup to an experimental alt-rock mainstay of international proportions. Steve Kilbey and company's latest LP, Further Deeper, is more than just another product from a prolific act, expertly merging the drones and echoes of shoegaze with the noodling and complexity of prog rock. Newest member and former Powderfinger guitarist Ian Haug enters the fray without so much as a single audible seam. MARK STOCK. Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie Ave., 234-9694. 8 pm. $25 advance, $30 day of show. Under 21 permitted with legal guardian.
Flight Facilities, Beat Connection
[REMIX RENAISSANCE MEN] Building sizable cachet on the strength of star-studded guest vocalists and banger remixes is a double-edged sword with regard to a group's live show. Australia's Flight Facilities certainly knows its way around the retro grooves that make kindred spirits like Classixx and Chromeo top-flight attractions on the festival circuit, but what does one do in the downtime between cameos from the likes of Reggie Watts and Emma Louise? On 2014's Down to Earth, the answer is a little bit of everything, with Flight Facilities massaging your soul on the comedown tracks and limbering it up on the come-ups that punctuate the headphones-friendly production that makes the album so remarkably enjoyable. Pure Moods for club kids may not have worked in the ravey Astralwerks-dominated '90s, but times have changed, and nothing has sounded this sublime in years. PETE COTTELL. Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell St., 284-8686. 9 pm. $20 advance, $22 day of show. All ages.
Flesh for Fantasy: A Theatrically Sensual Exploration of Fantasies
This show is centered on sensual fantasies from a womanâs perspective. Produced by Miss Kennedy and Jay Lieber, the show was inspired by Cirque du Soleilâs half burlesque/half cabaret show âZumanity,â and will include fire performances by Johnny Nuriel, Rummy Rose dressedâsort ofâas a nun, and a 15-foot barge making its way onstage during Nina Nightshadeâs Cleopatra-inspired act. Danteâs, 350 W Burnside St., 226-6630. 8 pm Sunday, Feb. 22. $12-$20. 21+.
WWeek 2015
