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8

SATURDAY

A banal product of nightclub culture posing as an ambitious fusion experiment, most acid jazz is careful and static where its alleged components—jazz, hiphop, and funk—strive for daring propulsion. While I try to ignore its attempts to bring rapping into the mix, Liquid Soul is still an exception thanks to the audible scholarship of some contributors. Leader/saxophonist Mars Williams isn’t afraid to occasionally soil the tone with a dissonant squall, no surprise given his more avant excursions with Bill Laswell’s Massacre and his own NRG Ensemble. Keeping the grooves buoyant and wily is trumpeter Ron Haynes, a onetime Ohio Player. Tonight the Chicago crew plays as part of an Artists’ Collective Endeavors event, “Visual Groove,” featuring photographs, paintings, and mixed-media works by D.C.-area artists, opening at 6 p.m. Local funk ensembles Congregation and Sampson start the music off at 9:30 p.m. at the Black Cat, 1831 14th St. NW. $8. (202) 667-7960. (Brett Anderson)