Also this issue: Austin Power Philly bands look for big breaks at SXSW. —Maura Johnston Laying It Bare Dashboard Confessional jams on the breaks. —Brian Howard Fiddle Sticks Laurie Lewis says the bluegrass craze is for real this time. —Mary Armstrong Clinic —Sam Adams Bobby McFerrin —Nate Chinen

April 4-10, 2002

musicpicks

Ron Affif Trio

At its least compelling, bebop guitar is a mechanical exercise: finger-calisthenics on a fretted grid. The best practitioners of the idiom are those who manage to infuse the math with a vivid lyricism; their accomplishment is the negotiation between technical achievement and narrative depth. Ron Affif walks this line, which is to say that his playing sometimes tumbles into the canyon of rote virtuosity. By contrast, what elevates him most are those moments when he's telling a story. Affif, a product of Pittsburgh, knows great storytellers: His affinities include the logical extremes of Joe Pass, the taut melodic sense of Kenny Burrell and the soulful precision of fellow Iron City export George Benson. Since moving to New York (via Los Angeles) in the late-1980s, he has fused these and other influences into a winsome style. And his trio -- which often features drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts -- never fails to surprise.

Fri., April 5, 5-8:45 p.m., Philadelphia Museum of Art, Ben Franklin Parkway and 26th St., 215-684-7506, www.philamusuem.org.

—Nate Chinen