This week's jazz picks for Minneapolis-St. Paul: Oct. 28-Nov. 3, 2011

Tonight (Friday, Oct. 28) at Orchestra Hall: Herbie Hancock, solo. Need anyone say more? He’ll play the Fazioli piano they’re bringing in just for him (he has promised that the sound will make us cry) and probably a lot of electronics, if his performance earlier this month at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia is at all prophetic. 7 p.m., $70-$40.

Tonight and Saturday at the Artists’ Quarter in St. Paul: Atlantis Quartet. Zacc Harris on guitar, Brandon Wozniak on saxophone, Chris Bates on bass, Pete Hennig on drums. They’re releasing their live CD, Lines in the Sand, which they recorded at the AQ several months back. Hearing them play their own music is reason enough to go, but because this is Halloween, there’s a bonus: Every Halloween for four years now, they have played a classic album from start to finish. In 2008 it was Coltrane’s A Love Supreme; in 2009, Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters, in 2010, Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy, and this year it’s Sonny Rollins’s The Bridge. 9 p.m. $10.

On Tuesday, Nov. 1, the great guitarist John Scofield plays one night only at the Dakota. He was here not that long ago, in February of this year, but nobody is complaining. Scofield is on tour with his latest CD, a luminous collection of ballads called A Moment’s Peace. He’s bringing Michael Ekroth on piano, Ben Street on bass, and Greg Hutchinson on drums. 7 and 9 p.m. $40/$30.

On Wednesday, Nov. 2, at MacPhail’s lovely Antonello Hall, the fiery, thundering Cuban pianist Nachito Herrera will give a program and workshop called “Reflections on Rachmaninoff.” He’ll be joined by Manny Laureano, principal trumpet for the Minnesota Orchestra. 7:30 p.m. $5; free for MacPhail and Minnesota Youth Symphonies students.

CANCELLED. Bummer! The Community Pool: Deep End series of music at the Black Dog, regularly on Fridays, moves to Thursday, Nov. 3, to accommodate the visiting trio Das Kapital. Based in France, it includes German saxophonist Daniel Erdmann, Danish guitarist Hasse Poulsen, and French drummer Edward Perraud. Their current CD, Conflicts and Conclusions, continues to explore the music of German composer Hanns Eisler, a journey begun on their previous CD, Ballads and Barricades. Briefly: Eisler studied with Arnold Schoenberg, was banned by the Nazis, fled to the United States, was blacklisted as a Communist, and got deported back to Germany, where he soon drew the eye of the Stalinists.  The music—melody plus improvisation, idealism and subversion—starts at 8. No cover, but please find the tip jar.