Also this issue: Playing the Joker Deirdre Flint talks shop and loses her religion. -M.J. Fine The Sound and The Fury Matt Pond is naughty by nature (not 'cause he hates ya). -Patrick Rapa The Beatmaster Isn't it about time King Britt made a hip-hop album? -A.D. Amorosi The BellRays -Sam Adams 20 Miles -Paul Burress Alô Brasil -Mary Armstrong Rainer Maria/ Mates of State -Patrick Rapa Beat Box -Ainé Ardron-Doley

March 13-19, 2003

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Uri Caine's Goldberg Variations

It seems like forever ago that homeboy Uri Caine pulled a fast one on purists everywhere with his assault on the house of Bach. The pianist's Goldberg Variations (Winter & Winter) was a style-blind tour de force, careening through jazz, gospel and illbient soundscapes, to name but a few. What reactionary conservatives failed to notice is that he mounted his offensive with total reverence for Bach's back-story: the barroom melodies, ethnic flavors and various other influences that get lost in most modern readings of his work. More importantly for jazz fans, he did it in a way that moves and shakes. The project is less jarring in person than on record, as Caine and his crew shift expertly from one texture to the next. And with trumpeter John Swana, saxophonist Greg Tardy, violinist Diane Monroe, singer Barbara Walker, bassist Drew Gress, drummer Cornell Rochester, and yes, DJ Olive on turntables, it's sure to be a blast.

Fri., March 14, 8 p.m., $20, Pennsylvania Convention Center, 12th and Arch sts., 215-569-8080.

—Kyle Parker