You can tell a lot about the East Bay instrumental enigma Three Piece Combo from the company it keeps. For example, virtuosic saxophonist Mitch Marcus recently sat in with the guitar-bass-drums trio at an Oakland warehouse party, the act of which gives jazz cred to the Combo's thorny compositions, which don't exactly swing in the traditional sense. Perhaps a closer-to-home endorsement comes from the studio whiz who mixed the band's forthcoming debut CD: Dan Rathbun, bassist for pomo art rockers Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. Similarly to SGM, Three Piece Combo arranges its soundtracks with heavy, syncopated grooves, dramatic stops and starts, jagged rhythms, unusual time signatures, and a crafty application of sculpted noise. Add to this Matt Lebofsky's sophisticated six-string melodies (à la Yes-era Steve Howe) and an overarchingly bent aesthetic that manages a rare twisted tunefulness. Check out Three Piece Combo when it opens for soulmates Sleepytime Gorilla Museum on Saturday, March 19, at the Independent; call 771-1421 or go to www.theindependentsf.com for more information.-- Sam Prestianni
