MUSIC Allen Youngblood Quartet. Saturday, 10.30pm, Fringe Club Dragon's Back Gallery, free.
Jazz Club habitues will be familiar with Youngblood as a regular house pianist playing with visiting acts as well as in combination with other locally based players in a variety of formats.
Tonight he steps out as a leader, although exactly who the group is going to comprise was unclear at the time of going to press. Whatever line-up he pulls out of the bag this should be well worth turning out for - Youngblood is a superb pianist with a range that covers more or less every genre from blues and the standards repertory through to the funkier end of modern jazz. He also has a mischievous sense of humour which surfaces in some interesting places in the music, and you can hardly argue with the price of admission.
Ondekoza. Tuesday and Wednesday, 8pm, City Hall Concert Hall, $150, $250, Urbtix.
As much an athletic display as a musical performance, an appearance by this 10-strong drumming troupe will appeal strongly to those who like percussion and like it loud. There is a substantial element of ritual involved - the troupe keeps busy at home playing Japanese festivals - and the rhythms have a positively hypnotic effect. The principle behind the music is that it is a conduit to nature and primal instincts, and Ondekoza uses a variety of all-acoustic instruments to explore different timbres and textures. As well as the battery of drums - including one 320-kilogram temple drum - the music involves flutes and string instruments. These are likely to be memorable evenings.
CINEMA Medium Cool. Tuesday, 7.30pm, Hong Kong Arts Centre Lim Por Yen Film Theatre, $50, Urbtix.