Thursday Happenings

The Canon

-- The NEC's celebration of composer Elliott Carter's 100th birthday continues with a performance of his Canonic Suite (1939). William Drury leads the NEC Jordan Winds as they tackle this sublime slice of neoclassical juvenalia. Also on the program: Schoenberg, Krommer, and Beethoven. Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory, 30 Gainsborough St., 8 p.m. Free.

Abandoning All Hope

-- Gardner After Hours, the Izzy G.'s monthly party for young adults, has a dismal theme tonight: Dante's Inferno. Featuring experimental violin from Emil Altschuler and Dante manuscripts from the Gardner's collection, it's an evening that will remind you what sin is all about. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 5:30 p.m. $12/$5.

Jazz

-- New York Times jazz critic Ben Ratliff's newest book is a collection of interviews with jazz luminaries set to music. It's an illuminating look at how jazz musicians listen and what they like to hear. Ratliff will conduct a live interview with pianist and composer Ran Blake, set to Blake's favorite film music. Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard Ave., Brookline, 7 p.m. Free.

Swords and Sorcerers

-- Magner's Irish Film Festival kicks off its retrospective of work by Irish director John Boorman with Excalibur (1981), his epic-scale interpretation of Arthurian legend. The sex scenes scandalized a young, wizards-loving Bostonist, and we never recovered our innocence. Watch for younger incarnations of Liam Neeson and Gabriel Byrne. Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St., 9:30 p.m. $9.50