TODAYJAZZRedman at the helmLed by acclaimed saxophonist...

TODAY

JAZZ

Redman at the helm

Led by acclaimed saxophonist Joshua Redman, San Francisco Jazz Collective is an eight-piece touring ensemble featuring some of today’s top individual jazz players and composers, including legendary vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson and trumpeter Nicholas Payton. Each year, the ensemble performs a new repertoire that consists of original octet arrangements of vintage pieces by a modern jazz master (this year: Herbie Hancock) and new compositions by each of the members, commissioned by SFJAZZ. Other members of the octet include saxman Miguel Zenon, pianist Renee Rosnes, trombonist Andre Haywood, bassist Matt Penman and drummer Eric Harland.

San Francisco Jazz Collective, UC Riverside , 900 University Ave., Riverside. 8 tonight. $32. (951) 827-4331.

* Also at Founders Hall, Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. $54 to $58. (714) 556-2787.

ART

Lives marred by civil war

Members of the VII photo agency -- Ron Haviv, Gary Knight, Antonin Kratochvil, Joachim Ladefoged and James Nachtwey -- traveled with the humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders for four months to document the plight of the Congolese people. The photographic exhibition “Democratic Republic of the Congo: Forgotten War” sheds light on a war with the highest death toll attributed to war in Africa since World War II.

“Democratic Republic of the Congo: Forgotten War,” Stephen Cohen Gallery, 7358 Beverly Blvd., L.A. Opens today. (323) 937-5525.

* Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Ends May 6.

WORDS

Can you see the pattern?

Lawrence Weschler, art historian and former staff writer for the New Yorker, is the author of “Everything That Rises: A Book of Convergences,” a collection of essays examining the visual rhymes that occur in images as seemingly disparate as, for example, Joel Meyerowitz’s photos of New York firemen working at ground zero and an anonymous shot of Union soldiers

during the Civil War. Joining Weschler for a discussion on the world of synchronicity

is the renowned film and sound editor Walter Murch, cosmology enthusiast

and winner of an

unprecedented “double” Oscar for sound and film editing for “The English Patient.”

Lawrence Weschler and Walter Murch, Mark Taper Auditorium at the Richard J. Riordan Library, 630 W. 5th St., L.A. 7 tonight. (213) 228-7025.

FRIDAY

MOVIES

A traumatic memory

A nominee for this year’s Academy Awards for best foreign language film, the Italian drama, “Don’t Tell,” details a young woman’s traumatic discovery of a long-suppressed childhood memory. Sabina (Giovanna Mezzogiorno), a voice-over actress, is so upset she flees to the U.S. to seek solace with her brother. Angela Finocchiaro, Stefania Rocca, Luigi Lo Cascio and Alessio Boni costar. Director Cristina Comencini adapted her own novel.

“Don’t Tell,” rated R for sexual content, nudity, language and a brief violent image, opens Friday in selected theaters.

THEATER

Midlife in the Midwest

In Tracy Letts’ “Man From Nebraska,” a crisis of religious faith pulls a middle-aged, middle-American man out of his accustomed, well-settled life and sends him on a journey as his family waits and wonders. William Friedkin, director of “The Exorcist” and “The French Connection,” stages this 2004 Pulitzer finalist, showing what he can do without a car chase or pea soup.

“Man From Nebraska,” South Coast Repertory’s Argyros Stage, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Opens 7:45 p.m. Friday. $28 to $58. (714) 708-5555. www.scr.org.

* Runs 7:45 p.m Tuesday through Friday, 2 and 7:45 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Ends April 2.

SATURDAY

POP MUSIC

Bouncier rock ‘n’ roll

If rock with buoyancy, bounce and a subversive edge is to your taste, and if you go for melodic pop that has muscle and bite, the Wiltern LG’s bill of Belle and Sebastian and the New Pornographers should be a dream come true. The Scottish headliners have returned to customary catchy, Kinks-influenced form on their current album “The Life Pursuit,” and the Canadian openers have given their hook-happy fans plenty of new signature riffs and harmonies on their latest, “Twin Cinema.”

Belle and Sebastian and New Pornographers, The Wiltern LG, 3790 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. 8 p.m. Saturday. $30. (213) 380-5005.

* Also 8 p.m. Sunday.

MUSIC

Two Bachs, and more

Violinist Elizabeth Blumenstock, the eloquent resident artistic director of Musica Angelica, leads the ensemble in works by Scheidt, Buxtehude and two Bachs -- the great Johann Sebastian and his youngest surviving son, Johann Christian. Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Lane will be the soloist in Bach’s Cantata No. 54, “Widerstehe doch der Sunde” (Stand steadfast against transgression), and a lament by son Johann Christian expressing an overwhelming sense of sin.

Musica Angelica, Norton Simon Museum, 411 W. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. 8 p.m. Saturday. $27 and $33. (310) 458-4504; www.MusicaAngelica.org.

* Also: 4 p.m. Sunday, All Saints Church, 504 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills.

FAMILY

Birds on

the move

“When the swallows come back to Capistrano / That’s the day I pray that you’ll come back to me!”

Leon Rene’s 1940 popular song and folklore have it that the swallows return each year to the old mission church at San Juan Capistrano on or about March 19, the feast of St. Joseph. The swallows fly from their winter home in Argentina and spend the summer in California. The mission holds its annual Return of the Swallows celebration this weekend with artisans demonstrating crafts, mariachi performers, school choirs and performers, Indian dance groups, ethnic foods, displays, tours, living history presentations and other attractions.

Return of the Swallows Day, Mission San Juan Capistrano, 31522 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano. 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. $4 to $6. (949) 234-1317.

* Also 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

MUSEUMS

Enlivening abstracts

L.A.-based artist Monique van Genderen gives the lobby walls of the Hammer Museum a makeover with her bright, abstract murals. Her use of adhesive vinyl and reflective materials continues her exploration of contemporary graphic design and color.

Monique van Genderen, Armand Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood. $3 to $5; 17 and younger, free. Opens Saturday. (310) 443-7000.

* Hours: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, except 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursdays. Ends July 30.

SUNDAY

MUSIC

Variations on Bach

Masaaki Suzuki’s Bach Collegium Japan stunned audiences with vividly involving performances of Bach’s two great Passions at UCLA in 2003. Now a smaller instrumental contingent returns for a Bach program, including the Fifth “Brandenburg” Concerto and the Harpsichord Concerto in D minor, with Suzuki at the keyboard.

Bach Collegium Japan, Royce Hall, UCLA. 7 p.m. Sunday. $35 to $50. (310) 825-2101; www.UCLALive.org.

DANCE

Sampling the steps

The 21st edition of “Spectrum: Dance in L.A.” comes to the Ivar Theatre in Hollywood packed with the usual award-winning sampling of locally based companies and choreographers with new works to showcase. Expect contemporary flamenco from Sarah Parra, rhythm tap from Hiroshi Hamanishi, ballet from John Castagna and Ellen Rosa, hip-hop from Mecca Vazie and Marlon Pelayo, plus many forms of jazz-dancing from Michael Menna, Janelle Burgess, Bob Borros and series producer Deborah Brockus. Pieces by Laurie Cameron, Olivia Gaugain, Benjamin Allen, Del Leon, Lilian Manansala and the always surprising Bubba Carr are also scheduled.

Spectrum: Dance in L.A., Ivar Theatre, 1605 Ivar St., Hollywood. 7 p.m. Sunday. $16 (advance) and $20 (day of show). (562) 531-8949.