Listening to the powerful songs on her forthcoming debut album, it’s hard to believe that Melissa Suzanne hasn’t always had the kind of soulful voice that makes heads turn.

As a 2004 Spring Sing winner and major-label recording artist,
it’s hard to believe Tyrone Wells wasn’t always a star
on the rise.
Growing up as a preacher’s son in Spokane, Wash., Wells
had to hide away his pop music until after his parents’
bedtime and was encouraged to listen primarily to gospel.

KENNY BURRELL’S 75TH Saturday, 8 p.m. Royce
Hall, $15
Those who think that jazz music died out alongside Ellington,
Coltrane, Davis and Gillespie ought to take another look closer to
home.

Immersed in the atmosphere of a dark movie theater, where all
you can see are flashing images projected onto an enormous screen,
it’s often easy to forget that movies are actually multimedia
projects.

SHOSTAKOVICH Today, 8 p.m. Schoenberg Hall
Though the regimes of 20th-century Russia produced great
suffering, they also inspired great art.
In honor of the 100th anniversary of renowned Russian composer
Dmitri Shostakovich’s birthday, the UCLA Philharmonia will
initiate its new season with a tribute to him under the leadership
of conductor Neal Stulberg, the visiting director of orchestral
studies.

In years past, a new wave crooner such as Baby Dayliner on his
first national tour might have been sponsored by left-leaning radio
stations such as KCRW.

For UCLA alumna Sasha Brookner, exposure to avant-garde music
and culture is nothing new.
Brookner, a Berkeley, Calif. native, grew up alongside Telegraph
Avenue and the East Oakland music scene.

For its 20th anniversary, the annual JazzReggae Festival is
going back to its Bruin roots.
Sponsored by the Cultural Affairs Commission, the two-day
concert takes place Sunday and Monday.

Although the origins behind the personage of Gnarls Barkley
remain intriguingly undisclosed, it is no secret that “St.
Elsewhere,” the first collaboration album between Atlanta
rapper and singer Cee-Lo and mix-master producer Danger Mouse is
likely to be the most genre-bending album of the summer.

Most books are formatted and printed in much the same way. The
Books, on the other hand, have a more unorthodox approach.
This week, The Books will bring their eccentric three-month,
North American tour to two consecutive concerts in the Harold M.