8pm

Jazz

Because of her versatility, Cleo Laine has been somewhat overlooked as a jazz singer, but she and husband John Dankworth have produced some first-rate recordings and live performances over their long career. See--and hear--for yourself as they perform their tribute to Duke Ellington.

Cleo Laine and John Dankworth, Smothers Theatre, Pepperdine University, 24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu. 8 p.m. $40. (310) 506-4522.

7 pm

Talib Kweli & Hi Tek’s “Reflection Eternal” was one of 2000’s strongest statements from the alternative hip-hop world. Rapper Kweli is now spreading the word as an opening act on Erykah Badu’s tour, with occasional nights off for his own headlining shows.

* Talib Kweli, with Mad Skills and Jack Herrera, at the El Rey Theatre, 5515 Wilshire Blvd., L.A., 7 p.m. $20. (323) 936-4790. Also Saturday at the Glass House, 200 W. 2nd St., Pomona, 8 p.m. $17.50 in advance, $19.99 at the door. (909) 469-5800.

all day

Movies

Robert De Niro and Edward Burns star in “15 Minutes,” an action thriller about a superstar NYPD homicide detective and an NYFD arson investigator who team up to pursue a pair of Eastern Europeans on a rampage through the city. John Herzfeld (“2 Days in the Valley”) wrote and directed this spin on celebrity, media and society.

* “15 Minutes,” rated R for strong violence, language and some sexuality. Opens Friday in general release.

7pm

Theater

“A Continent of Stories: Native Voices at the Autry,” a play-reading festival, features new works by Native American playwrights from Vancouver, Canada, to New York and Minnesota, including Judy Lee Oliva’s “On the Showroom Floor,” Diane Glancy’s “Jump Kiss” and Joseph A. Dandurand’s “Please Don’t Touch the Indians.”

* “A Continent of Stories: Native Voices at the Autry,” Autry Museum of Western Heritage, Wells Fargo Theatre, 4700 Western Heritage Way, L.A. Friday, 7 p.m.: “On the Showroom Floor.” Saturday, 2 p.m.: “Jump Kiss.” Sunday, 2 p.m.: “Please Don’t Touch the Indians.” Free; reservations advised. (323) 667-2000, Ext. 243.

8pm

Theater

In Jamal Williams’ one-woman drama, “Yesterday Came Too Soon . . . The Dorothy Dandridge Story,” Sloan Robinson stars as the gifted, beautiful and tragic 1950s film star who struggled for success in the white-dominated movie industry.

* “Yesterday Came Too Soon . . . The Dorothy Dandridge Story,” Los Angeles Theatre Center, Theatre 4, 514 S. Spring St., L.A. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. $15. Ends April 9. (213) 485-1681.

8pm

Music

The touring sextet called Bang on a Can All-Stars returns to Los Angeles in a single appearance at UCLA’s Schoenberg Hall, offering an eclectic contemporary-music mix of works by Paul Kline, Michael Gordon, Arnold Dreyblatt, David Lang, Don Byron, Brian Eno and Tan Dun.

* Bang on a Can All-Stars, Schoenberg Hall, UCLA, 8 p.m. $30. (310) 825-2101.

8:15pm

Pop Music

Whether fierce and fiery or compassionate and comforting, singer-songwriter Erykah Badu imbues her music with a bracing sense of passion and independence that have put her up there with Lauryn Hill at the forefront of the hip-hop-inflected R&B; movement.

* Erykah Badu, with Common and Bilal, at the Universal Amphitheatre, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City. Friday and Saturday, 8:15 p.m. $33.50 to $58.50. (818) 622-4440.

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FREEBIE: Saxophonist Marty Krystal leads his quintet at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s weekly jazz concert on the plaza, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., 5905 Wilshire Blvd. (323) 857-6234.