Critic’s Picks : Jazz

Jazz concerts get serious as they move indoors for the fall season. And there’s no more serious music around than that of saxophonist Wayne Shorter and pianist Herbie Hancock as they combine in acoustic duo explorations of familiar and not-so-familiar songs. While the pair hinted at what they’re capable of outdoors last month at the Long Beach Jazz Festival, they should pull out all the stops when they appear at the Alex Theatre in Glendale Sept. 28 and again at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Springs on Sept. 30.

Other concerts to mark on your calendar include drummer T.S. Monk’s Sextet and singer Nnenna Freelon at Veterans Wadsworth Theater Oct. 10, the Tribute to Dizzy Gillespie led by trumpeter Jon Faddis at the Luckman Fine Arts Complex on the Cal State L.A. campus Oct. 18, the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra at Veterans Wadsworth Oct. 24 and guitarist John McLaughlin at Veterans Wadsworth Nov. 9.

But not all the concert action will be inside. Billy Higgins, Horace Tapscott, Patrice Rushen and the group Black Note are among those scheduled to appear Sept. 20-21 at the Leimert Park Jazz Festival in the Crenshaw district. And the L.A. County Museum of Art continues its excellent series outdoors on the plaza every Friday evening, which includes cornetist Bobby Bradford’s Mo’tet on Oct. 10.