Photograph: Brantley Gutierrez

Monkey Town; Mar 21, 2008, and Mar 22, 2008

Alone onstage with his baritone saxophone and an extensive repertoire of squeaks, growls, pops and gritty shrieks, Colin Stetson frequently alludes to avant-garde jazz. But while Anthony Braxton, Evan Parker and other reedmen fond of the unaccompanied setting have used it as a platform for heady experimentation, Stetson’s methods seem more likely to inspire booty-shaking. Despite his esoteric sonic palette, Stetson’s rhythmic sense gravitates toward boisterous, unhinged groove; for proof, check out Stetson’s contributions to Tom Waits’s 2002 albums, Alice and Blood Money.

No stranger to the rock world, the Michigan native—who came to prominence at the helm of the blistering jazz-funk unit Transmission—has also worked with indie luminaries such as Arcade Fire and TV on the Radio. Amid these commitments, Stetson has been busy honing his solo debut, New History Warfare: Volume 1, which he celebrates at these record-release shows. The disc flaunts not just the saxist’s formidable technique but the way he puts it to constructive musical use. On the remarkable extended piece “Time Is Advancing with Fitful Irregularity,” Stetson combines circular breathing with percussive key taps, yielding a bracingly poignant narrative. In the live setting, Stetson’s passion is palpable; nodding and swaying, he summons a powerful physicality to match his brawny sound.

—Hank Shteamer