Artober Music Picks

Inspiration meets improvisation

Ross Hammond's The Humanity Suite

Ross Hammond, founder of the In the Flow Festival and the weekly Nebraska Mondays series at Luna’s Café & Juice Bar, often works with musicians and poets, but for his latest project, he takes the concept of collaboration even further. A new Crocker Art Museum exhibit, Emancipating the Past: Kara Walker’s Tales of Slavery and Power, features the African-American artist’s striking black silhouettes which explore both historical and modern issues of race. As part of the exhibit, Hammond composed The Humanity Suite, a set inspired by three of Walker’s silhouettes. And just as Walker tells stories through art, Hammond tells stories through jazz, some of it improvised. For the project, Hammond will perform live on Thursday, October 3, with Vinny Golia (saxophone, bass clarinet), Catherine Sikora (saxophone), Clifford Childers (trombone, bass trumpet, euphonium), Kerry Kashiwagi (bass) and Dax Compise (drums). 7 p.m., $6-$12. 216 O Street, (916) 808-7000, http://crocker artmuseum.org. T.D.

Trip out

Cave

The Chicago-based Cave visits Bows & Arrows on Tuesday, October 15, for a night of minimalist jazz-funk-noise whatever. And by “whatever,” we mean whatever fantastic sounds this ensemble coaxes out of its guitars, keyboards, etc. The quartet will also release its third album, Threace, that same day. Like its live sets, the music here drones, heavy on the grooves with meandering, psychedelic and trip-inducing melodies, no drugs needed. 8 p.m., $6. 1815 19th Street, www.dragcity.com/artists/cave. R.L.

Boo, yeah

Halloween Hootenanny Festival

Mark your calendars for the 10th annual Halloween Hootenanny Festival. The music event takes place this year at Old Ironsides from October 24-26, and features way too many punk, Americana and rockabilly bands to list here. Some highlights: the Rocketz, the Nickel Slots, the Vintage Vandals and Rebel Punk. There’ll also be food trucks, a zombie-pinup contest and something billed as, um, a “bloody wet tee shirt contest.” Scary, indeed. 8 p.m. Thursday, 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday; $12-$15. 1901 10th Street, http://tinyurl.com/ hootenannyfestival. R.L.