1. BB&C The Veil (Cryptogramophone) This sprawling, fangs-bared live set reunites three longtime compatriots — saxophonist Tim Berne, guitarist Nels Cline and drummer Jim Black — for a ferocious trio date. Berne’s scything alto, Cline’s extraterrestrial eruptions and Black’s scrapyard…

[ jazz ] Like any set of brothers, Philly’s famed Eubanks boys found distinct ways to express their shared genetic material. Trumpeter Duane forged a solid straight-ahead path, while guitarist Kevin strode into the pop realm, spending 15 years as…

[ jazz ] Though they made the inevitable move to New York more than five years ago and their regular jam session is at Smalls in Greenwich Village, saxophonist Ken Fowser and vibraphonist Behn Gillece can still lay claim to…

Neal Santos Neal Santos LIFE’S WORK: Photographs of family, friends and former students adorn the top of the piano in Amadie’s Bala Cynwyd home. Neal Santos “Who the fuck is Jimmy Amadie?” Doubtless more than a few people will be…

[ reading/signing ] The subtitle of John Lithgow’s memoir, Drama: An Actor’s Education (Harper, Sept. 27), could just as easily have been An Actor’s Life, but it’s all the same thing: Every experience, onstage and off, amounts to schooling for…

[ rock/blues ] On his latest effort, The Secret (Six Degrees), guitarist/singer Vieux Farka Touré jams with several famous friends, including Dave Matthews, Derek Trucks and Ivan Neville. But at the core of the album is the combination of transcendent…

[ reading/signing ] When two petty criminals snatched little Charley Ross from his family’s front lawn in Germantown and into their horse-drawn carriage, the only goal they had in mind was his father’s money. But two years before the 1876…

[ rock/experimental ] As one-third of blistering math-metal trio Dysrhythmia, guitarist Kevin Hufnagel makes it his business to unleash brain-melting shredding. But on his own he employs a very different sonic palette, exploring elegant neo-classical acoustic pieces, hypnotic loops and…

Thomas Pitilli If three-time (so far) mayoral candidate Sam Katz can’t take control of Philadelphia’s future, then he can at least stamp his brand onto the city’s past. In Katz’s eyes, recounting history may not be nearly as attractive as…