The Arthur Goldstein Quartet is headlining a Late Night Penn State Jazz/Blues show tonight in the HUB-Robeson Center, featuring local bands who hope this performance will put them on the map.

Local bands Suffrage, Third Degree, Tim Powell Group and the Tony Knuckles Quartet will accompany the Goldstein Quartet.

Arthur Goldstein, who teaches history of jazz at Penn State, said he will be playing solo as well as with his quartet.

He is a pianist, jazz keyboardist and composer and has played such venues as the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts and university concerts.

Goldstein thinks the show will be "clever and a pretty interesting event."

"We do some original things . . . we try to put a spin on different kinds of things," Goldstein said about himself and his quartet.

Goldstein plays at 4:30 p.m. on Thursdays at Saint's Cafe, 123 W. Beaver Ave., and starting in March his quartet will be playing at Zeno's, 100 W. College Ave.

When Goldstein and his quartet get together, he said they are mainly concerned with achieving "a tight group sound, but not at the expense of improvising though."

"We're just trying to be as fresh and original as we can be," Goldstein said.

Tim Cichan, bassist for Suffrage and Third Degree, helped organize the show and said, "this is a good opportunity to use the (HUB Late Night) program to showcase the local music scene."

Suffrage will be the opening act Monday night at the Brewery, 233 E. Beaver Ave., and Third Degree plays every other Saturday at Smoke-n-Joe's, 128 Locust Lane.

"It's kind of hard for these groups to play out because they're certainly not bar material and most of the coffee shops in town are a little too small," Cichan said.

According to the artist info page on Suffrage, the band describes itself as unlike any artist people might have heard.

It adds "we have experience playing jazz, blues and rock 'n' roll and these styles all come through in ambitious jazz, funk and fusion compositions."

The show will be from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. in Alumni Hall, and is free of charge.