Long before at-home technology made everyone and their mother a record producer, Los Angeles based musician/composer, Vinny Golia founded Nine Winds Records in 1977. His goal: to capture the best of West Coast New Jazz, Contemporary Classical, and Improvised music.

Friday, one of the record label's younger jazz quartets - The Empty Cage Quartet (formally MTKJ Quartet) - will play at Café Metropol for the release of their Day of the Race album. Not your typical background jazz music, this local group is in your face, angular, fresh, and assertively spontaneous. If you want to judge for yourself, you can download selected unreleased/out of print recordings.

Dig it? If so, you may want to follow the show's producer, Rocco Somazzi, who Los Angeles Magazine describes as a "rare local booker who keeps jazz fans wondering what he's going to do next."

The show is Friday, December 30, 8:00 p.m. at Café Metropol; tickets are $5.

Photo by J. Star via Flickr.