9/20: Richard Lloyd at Wilbert's

If talent recognizes genius, then even the best will go unappreciated by many. Guitarist Richard Lloyd knew Jimi Hendrix through his friend Velvert Turner, whom Hendrix was teaching guitar. That musical spark would propel Lloyd through a musical career that’s yielded the proto-punk band Television and five solo albums. His distinctive guitar style (sleek, sonorous and wiry) offered a fine counterpoint to former bandmate Tom Verlaine’s more florid playing. With just two albums, Television produced a guitar vocabulary that would influence many subsequent artists — from the Pixies and Sonic Youth to the Strokes. Lloyd has played with many other artists, including Matthew Sweet, John Doe and Cleveland's Rocket From the Tombs, whose last album he produced. Perhaps fired by that old-school punk sound, he followed up the jazzier guitar pop of 2001’s The Cover Doesn’t Matter with last year’s The Radiant Monkey, on which he played every instrument but drums. It’s his most hearty, fibrous rock effort since his Television days, and he’s never sounded better vocally. He plays Wilbert’s (812 Huron Rd. E., 216.902.4663) at 8 p.m. Donation requested. — Chris Parker