Thursday Happenings

Image of Jo Kondo courtesy Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

The Izzie G. kicks off its "Avant-Gardner" series with a night of contemporary Japanese music. Renowned composer Jo Kondo will be on hand while NEC's Callithumpian Consort performs his works Aquarelle (1990) and Standing (1973), along with Hosokawa's Vertical Time Study I (1992), and Takemitsu's Toward the Sea (1981). The Gardner After Hours shindig is included in the price of admission. Tapestry Room, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 280 the Fenway, 7 p.m. $23 and lower.

Birthdays

Our old friends at Socializing for Justice are celebrating the group's third birthday. The birthday parties tend to be the biggest SoJust events, so it's an ideal chance to meet and mingle with the likeminded, if you are a lefty. Lir Irish Pub, 903 Boylston St., 6 p.m. $2. More information.

Folksy What-Have-You

Jolie Holland plays a folksy rock hybrid that owes debts to the country, blues, and jazz traditions in equal measures. Her promoters compare her voice to Billie Holiday, which is a mighty set of pipes to fill. Two shows. Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St., Cambridge, 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. $20.

Metal

Don't tell the tamarins, but Watertown goes metal tonight. Local shredders Creeping Death, 18 Wheels of Justice, Guilt as Sin, and Charlotte and the Harlotts will raise a ruckus within spitting distance of the Meat Spot. Weirder things have happened. Watertown Lodge of Elks, 268 Arlington St., Watertown, 7 p.m. $8.

Thumb Pianos

Mbira—that's an African type of thumb piano—masters Erica Azim and Patience Chaitezvi will conclude a week-long residency at Tufts with a formal performance of mbira music. Granoff Music Center, 20 Talbot Ave., Medford, 8 p.m. $10, free for Tufts students.