THREE-DAY FORECAST

JAZZ

Attached to Satchmo

Nicholas Payton reminds a lot of people of the great Louis Armstrong -- and Payton doesn’t mind the association. In 2001, the 27-year-old recorded his Grammy-nominated CD, “Dear Louis,” in which he reinvented some of Armstrong’s signature tunes in his own contemporary style. Like the legendary Satchmo, Payton grew up in New Orleans. The young trumpeter studied with Ellis Marsalis, the father of Branford and Wynton and the teacher of such other jazz greats as trumpeter Terence Blanchard, saxophonist Donald Harrison and pianist Harry Connick Jr. Southlanders have five chances to hear this young master this weekend.

Nicholas Payton, the Neurosciences Institute, 10640 John Jay Hopkins Drive, San Diego. Thursday, 8 p.m. $21 to $24. (858) 454-5872. Also, Friday and Saturday, 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Founders Hall at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. $48 to $52. (714) 556-2787.

*

DANCE

Scored for four violins, four engines

Angelin Preljocaj dances where other choreographers fear to tread. In the past, the controversial head of France’s Ballet Preljocaj has brought local audiences a dance drama suggesting that the Virgin Mary wasn’t exactly happy about the Annunciation, a dark interpretation of “Romeo and Juliet” depicting war between the homeless and a fascistic police state, plus radical remakes of vintage Ballets Russes classics. This time, he dares to take on Karlheinz Stockhausen’s “Helikopter Quartet,” a score for four violins and four helicopter engines (recorded in flight), and the monumental “Rite of Spring” by Igor Stravinsky. He sees the latter work as portraying “a slowly rising force of desire and at the same time a kind of controlled panic.” So expect full-frontal nudity and the spectacular intensity for which his dancers are famed.

Ballet Preljocaj, Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine. Friday, 8 p.m. Also Saturday, 8 p.m. $32 to $38. (949) 854-4646.

*

MOVIES

Leigh looks at a tragedy

In British writer-director Mike Leigh’s “All or Nothing,” a supermarket checker and her philosophizing taxi-driver husband live a joyless existence in a working-class section of London. Their loveless marriage gets an unexpected kick-start when tragedy strikes. Timothy Spall, Lesley Manville, Alison Garland, James Corden and Ruth Sheen head the ensemble cast.

“All or Nothing,” rated R for sexual content and language, opens Friday in selected theaters.

*

ART

Baldessari’s visions

“New Work: Junctions and Intersections,” John Baldessari’s first local gallery show in five years, explores the boundaries and intersections of culture and nature via 10 large-scale paintings. Baldessari, a seminal figure in Conceptual art, juxtaposes unrelated components in these new works by cropping and reframing movie stills and photographs he has taken.

“John Baldessari: New Work: Junctions and Intersections,” Margo Leavin Gallery, 812 N. Robertson Blvd., L.A. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Reception Sat. Oct 26, 4-6 pm. Free. Ends Dec. 7. (310) 273-0603.

*

POP MUSIC

Sir Paul returns

Paul McCartney swings back through the Southland on the second leg of his “Back in the U.S.” tour, landing at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim on Friday and then Staples Center on Monday. His show last spring in Los Angeles was more celebratory and poignant than even many longtime fans had expected as he coursed through three-dozen songs spanning his years in the Fab Four, including warm remembrances of John Lennon and George Harrison, and the many hits from his post-Beatles solo career. A two-CD live album and a DVD from the tour are due Nov. 26, but don’t miss the real thing.

Paul McCartney, Arrowhead Pond, 2695 E. Katella Ave., Anaheim. Friday, 8 p.m. $50 to $275. (714) 704-2500. Also Monday at Staples Center, 1111 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles. 8 p.m. $51.75 to $259.25. (213) 742-7340.

*

MOVIES

Uncle from New York

Campbell Scott is “Roger Dodger,” a sarcastic advertising copywriter with a rapier wit and a penchant for using and discarding women like yesterday’s taglines. When his virginal teenage nephew arrives in Manhattan begging for lessons in the art of seduction, Roger delivers a crash course in nightlife that proves to be educational for both of them. Jesse Eisenberg, Isabella Rossellini, Jennifer Beals and Elizabeth Berkley co-star.

“Roger Dodger,” rated R for sexual content and language, opens Friday at the Laemmle Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (323) 848-3500; and the Landmark Regent, 1045 Broxton Ave., Westwood, (310) 208-3259.

*

POP MUSIC

A tribute to Johnny Cash

“Hello, I’m Johnny Cash....” The famed man in black with the deep baritone voice, Johnny Cash is responsible for such classic hits as “Folsom Prison Blues,” “I Walk the Line,” “Ring of Fire” and “A Boy Named Sue.” During his nearly 50-year career, Cash has recorded more than 100 albums, including his historic live recordings at both Folsom and San Quentin prisons. In honor of his 70th birthday, the Richard Nixon Library in Yorba Linda is presenting a tribute that will include personal memorabilia, guitars, costumes, awards and photos of this American musical icon.

Johnny Cash 70th Birthday Tribute, Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace, 18001 Yorba Linda Blvd., Yorba Linda. Mondays to Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. $5.95, seniors and students, $3.95; ages 8 to 11, $2; children 7 and younger, free. (714) 993-5075.

*

THEATER

A burning premiere

Ray Bradbury’s Pandemonium Theatre Company presents a world premiere production of “Fahrenheit 451,” Bradbury’s new stage adaptation of his sci-fi classic about a paternalistic world in which individual liberties, including the freedom to read a book, are seen as threats to the security of the country. It is directed by Bradbury’s longtime artistic collaborator, Charles Rome Smith; D.B. Sweeney heads the cast as the rebel fireman.

Falcon Theatre, 4252 Riverside Drive, Burbank. Opens Saturday, 8 p.m. Runs Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 4 p.m.; ends Nov. 24. $25-$37.50. (818) 955-8101.