TODAYRapper rises”A Healthy Distrust” is the new...

TODAY

Rapper rises

“A Healthy Distrust” is the new album by Sage Francis, and on the record the underground rap hero braces for the backlash he expects to come his way while also showing the confidence to transcend it. A product of Rhode Island suburbia, Francis has cemented his stature as a star of his scene, and his current tour leads toward an appearance at the Coachella Festival on April 30.

Sage Francis, Henry Fonda Theatre, 6126 Hollywood Blvd., L.A. 9 tonight. $18. (323) 464-0808.

Corea redux

Acclaimed jazz pianist-composer Chick Corea enlists some members of flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia’s band to join him as he revisits music from his classic 1982 “Touchstone” album and other Spanish-flavored material. Corea’s band includes Carles Benavent on bass, Jorge Pardo on sax and flute, Rubem Dantas on percussion and Tom Brechtlein on drums.

Chick Corea’s Touchstone Quintet, Catalina Bar & Grill, 6725 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood. 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. today. $20-$35. (323) 466-2210.

* Also 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Lang Lang at UCLA

Wherever young Chinese pianist Lang Lang plays, controversy follows. Legions of fans adore his virtuosity. Critics call it shallow. Lang Lang appears with the Chinese Philharmonic, led by Long Yu, to play Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.” The program will also include Rimsky-Korsakov’s colorful “Tsar’s Bride” Overture, Bartok’s percussive “Miraculous Mandarin” Suite and two works by Chinese composers -- Yanjun Hua’s “Moon Reflections” and Guo Wenjing’s “Das Lied auf der Erde.” Ironically, the Chinese poems that make up “Das Lied” are known best through Mahler’s orchestral setting in German.

Lang Lang, Chinese Philharmonic, Royce Hall, UCLA, Westwood. 8 p.m. today. $38 to $60. (310) 825-2101.

FRIDAY

A lesson from birds

Searching for truth on the streets of San Francisco led homeless poet Mark Bittner to a feral flock of colorful birds, or perhaps they found him. Judy Irving’s documentary “The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill” tells the story of how an itinerant writer received lessons in Zen from his avian friends.

“The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill,” rated G, opens Friday at the Landmark Nuart, 11272 Santa Monica Blvd., West Los Angeles, (310) 281-8223.

Caesar in Glendale

A Noise Within’s spring season begins with a new production of “Julius Caesar,” Shakespeare’s classic of bloody political intrigue and corruption. It will be directed by Eve Adamson, founder of the Jean Cocteau Theatre in New York.

A Noise Within, 234 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale. Opens 8 p.m. Friday. $30-$40. (818) 240-0910,

ext. 1.

* Runs 8 p.m. Saturday, Wednesday, April 13-14, 21-22, May 6-7 and May 12; 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday, 2 p.m. April 10, 2 and 8 p.m. April 23. Ends May 13.

Beijing dancers

The classic Pink Floyd album “The Wall” inspired “Rear Light,” a full-evening dance drama to be performed by the Beijing Modern Dance Company in the Music Center dance series. Choreographed by Li Hanzhong and his wife, Ma Bo, the work “rocked the often sedate Joyce Theater” in New York, wrote Associated Press recently, “in a 70-minute exploration of individuality and conformity.” Two years ago, the company performed the same choreographers’ daringly political setting of Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring,” evoking some of the more horrific periods of recent Chinese history and creating, in the words of a Times reviewer, “a powerful declaration of the need to cast away a heritage of mass brutality and embrace an entirely different kind of future.”

Beijing Modern Dance Company in “Rear Light,” Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, L.A. Music Center, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. 7:30 p.m. Friday. $20 to $50. (213) 365-3500.

* Also 8 p.m. Saturday.

SATURDAY

Herms installation

As one of the original members of the Beat generation, artist George Herms embraces jazz, poetry and social commentary, often incorporating these elements into his art. “Hot Set,” a survey of his career and curated by Walter Hopps, showcases Herms’ broad, artistic range through his assemblages, sculptures and collages created from 1959 to the present.

“George Herms: Hot Set,” Santa Monica Museum of Art, Bergamot Station G1, 2525 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica. Opens Saturday. $3-$5 suggested donation. (310) 586-6488.

* Hours: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturdays. Ends May 14.

Works by Benjamin

The 1959 exhibition “Four Abstract Classicists” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art established Karl Benjamin as one of four “hard edge” Abstract painters and propelled him into the international art scene. “Drawings 1950-1965” is a collection of some of his earlier pieces that features works on paper using black ink, a departure from his signature attention to vibrant colors and sharp, geometric forms.

“Karl Benjamin: Drawings 1950-1965,” Louis Stern Fine Arts, 9002 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood. Opens Saturday. (310) 276-0147.

* Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays. Ends April 9.