Fans of composer/guitarist Larry Polansky, the subject of this installment of Difficult Listening Hour, take note: He's part of the lineup in what sounds like a pretty amazing collection of experimental performances happening here in town over the next two weeks.

Last week, while on a walk to visit some Seattle fishmongers, I spent a few minutes watching an elderly Indian man playing sitar at the corner of an intersection. Any pair of lay ears could perceive the old musician was talented, and so he had an appreciative crowd, despite this being a fairly cold sort of January morning. I remarked to a friend that no one was likely confused or intimidated by the genre definition of the music he was playing. Even though it was happening on the street, it was clearly a formal music: not meant for dancing or soundtracking a TV show or casually accompanying any other [...]