jazz

World Café teams with Ropeadope and Blue Note Records to present the first in its new monthly series, What Is Jazz? But pondering that question while this roster is on stage will likely leave you sitting on the curb sucking on exhaust fumes while the music zooms right on past. The show is headlined by a piano "duel to the death" between Uri Caine and Jason Moran, both of whom usually require a lengthy trail of hyphens to modify their "jazz" designation. Philadelphia's Caine is known for his efforts to jazz up classical repertoire, while Moran blends a hip-hop sensibility into his radical reworkings of jazz and the blues. Also featured are Charlie Hunter Trio saxophonist John Ellis, whose New Orleans heritage colors his loose-limbed jam-band playing, and Philly funk-fusioners Calvin Weston and Jamaaladeen Tacuma in cahoots with Yohimbe Brother DJ Logic. A screening of Sun Ra's Space Is the Place precedes the concert.

DJ Logic Trio with Calvin Weston and Jamaladeen Tacuma, John Ellis Quartet and Uri Caine vs. Jason Moran, Wed., Sept. 21, 6 p.m. film, 7 p.m. concert, $15, World Café Live, 215-222-1400, www.worldcafelive.com.