Philadelphia Weekly

Wu-Tang Clan

Thurs., Jan. 10, 8pm. $45. Trocadero, 1003 Arch St. 215.922.LIVE. www.thetroc.com
The first time I listened to 8 Diagrams, the new album from Staten Island's venerable Wu-Tang Clan, I agreed with Ghostface and Raekwon: This album is wack. Around the 12th or 13th time I listened to 8 Diagrams, I thought: Ghost and Rae are wack. Everyone from Method Man to GZA to Inspectah Deck and even friggin' Masta Killa sounds great. ODB is missed, but eh, it's not a dealbreaker. And there are some tracks here that rank among the group's best. Not that it really matters--they haven't been playing a single goddamn thing from 8 Diagrams on this tour, and RZA's been a no-show in every city so far, likely because of his beef with Ghost and Rae. Wack. (Michael Alan Goldberg)

Antfarm Quartet

Sat., Jan. 12, 8pm and 10pm. $15. Chris' Jazz Cafe, 1421 Sansom St. 215.568.3131. www.chrisjazzcafe.com
Ambitious, experimental, straight ahead, traditional--these words go a short way to describe one of the Philly area's most broad-minded and daring jazz groups. Antfarm Quartet's Dialogues, Pt. 2 features original material as well as impressive arrangements of "The Days of Wine and Roses," "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" and Joe Henderson's "Tetragon." Vocalist Paul Jost's elastic maneuvers transform the songs' expected direction; pianist Jim Ridl adds clever punctuations and humanist melodies; drummer Bob Shomo and bassist Tim Lekan circle the front line like watchful hawks. Antfarm Quartet turn "Put on a Happy Face" into the hippest thing this side of Mose Allison and Han Bennink. (Ken Micallef)

Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra

Fri., Jan. 11, 5pm. $10-$14. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 26th St. and the Pkwy. 215.763.8100. www.philamuseum.org
Critics are gaga over Maria Schneider, and it's not just groupthink. Her aural brushwork has reached its highest expression with Sky Blue, cementing her reputation as the van Gogh (maybe the Seurat) of jazz. A creative descendant of Bob Brookmeyer and Gil Evans, Schneider conjures heat, heartbreak and rapture as she conducts her 17-piece ensemble. The soloists are straight from New York's A-list, and Schneider delights in throwing them new curves, like rhythms derived from the Peruvian lando tradition. Schneider is also the poster child for ArtistShare, the new anti-label. Her Concert in the Garden won a 2005 Grammy on the strength of Web-only sales, a historic first. (David R. Adler)

Lesley Gore

Fri., Jan. 11, 7:30pm. $30. World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St. 215.222.1400. www.worldcafelive.com
Quick--name a song other than "It's My Party" performed by Lesley Gore. Yeah, I had trouble too, so I went back and gave a listen to some of the great albums the former Lesley Sue Goldstein put out in the mid- to late '60s--after the aforementioned pop classic propelled her to huge fame in 1963 at age 16. She deserves to be remembered as a girl-group-era superstar rather than a one-hit wonder. Gore's lived a colorful life nonetheless: mentored by Quincy Jones; played "Pink Pussycat" on the original Batman TV series; covered AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap." These days she's doing the ruminative, semi-acoustic singer/songwritery thing. But I bet she'll play that song. (M.A.G.)

Steve Lehman Quintet

Sat., Jan. 12, 8pm. $12. Philadelphia Art Alliance, 251 S. 18th St. 215.545.4302. www.philartalliance.org
Probing the furthest frontiers of rhythm science, alto saxophonist Steve Lehman represents some of the most advanced compositional thinking in jazz today. A child of the avant-garde, he's a former student and bandmate of Anthony Braxton and a member of Fieldwork, the collaborative trio with piano visionary Vijay Iyer. Lehman's 2005 outing Demian as Posthuman, featuring Me'shell Ndegeocello, is a study in splintered soundscapes and mind-altering beats. His new quintet disc On Meaning, with alto, trumpet, vibes and rhythm section, harnesses that groove magic in an acoustic framework (much like his live quartet session Manifold). A warning: Lehman's drummer, the young Tyshawn Sorey, might wreck your world. (D.R.A.)

Shout Magic

Fri., Jan. 11, 10pm. $5. With Saudi Arabia + Da Comrade. Tritone, 1508 South St. 215.545.0475. www.tritonebar.com
Most Philly bands don't get attention for a music video before a record, but only Shout Magic would write an eponymous song about and shoot a feel-good video inside their favorite Chinese restaurant Golden Empress. Besides making you hungry, it should inspire you to dig deeper into the band's horn-addled Sea and Cake-ish sound, starting with their brand-new EP Ceiling Fan & Other Revolutions. In addition to sharp turns and sunny orchestral touches, the album gives a hometown nod in the form of the jazzy instrumental "Passyunk." With so much pride, Shout Magic could be the best thing to happen to our city's tourism industry since that sleepover slogan. (Doug Wallen)

Ozzy Osbourne

Thurs., Jan. 10, 7:30pm. $49.75-$89.75. With Rob Zombie. Wachovia Center, 3601 S. Broad St. 215.336.3600. www.comcasttix.com
Every time I look at Ozzy Osbourne nowadays I don't think of Black Sabbath, or "Crazy Train," or him biting the heads off of bats, or him being the doddering dad on that reality show, or him snorting a line of ants, or Randy Rhodes, or Ozzfest, or him throttling his wife, or him pissing on the Alamo, or Lita Ford, or Zakk Wylde and his squealy guitar, or the way he holds the microphone and sorta headbangs and then dumps water on himself to (allegedly) hide the fact that he's pissed his pants. Nah, all I think about is that line from Pink Floyd's "Time": "Shorter of breath and one day closer to death." Catch him while you can, I guess. (M.A.G.)