Jazz Listings

Published: June 10, 2010

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Full reviews of recent jazz concerts:nytimes.com/music.

TIM BERNE AND LOS TOTOPOS(Wednesday) Mr. Berne, an alto saxophonist and composer with a taste for coarsely layered frictions, has lately been working semi-regularly with a group he calls Los Totopos, featuring Matt Mitchell on piano, Oscar Noriega on clarinets and Ches Smith on drums. The band focuses not only on sharp and convoluted new music by Mr. Berne, but also on some rather obscure material written more than 30 years ago by his former mentor, the saxophonist and composer Julius Hemphill. Tuesday at 8 p.m., I-Beam Music, 168 Seventh Street, between Second and Third Avenues, Gowanus, Brooklyn, ibeambrooklyn.com; suggested donation $5. Wednesday at 8 p.m., the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village ,thestonenyc.com; $10. (Nate Chinen)

RICHARD BONA GROUP (Thursday) Richard Bona, the Cameroonian bassist and vocalist, conveys an unsinkable positivity in his music, as well as an unforced commitment to musical globalism. Drawing here from “The Ten Shades of Blues” (Wrasse), his most recent album, he leads a capable six-piece band. (Through June 20.) At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan , (212) 576-2232,jazzstandard.net; $25. (Chinen)

BROKEN ARM TRIO/FARMERS BY NATURE (Tuesday) Broken Arm Trio, which appears here at 8 p.m., is a fond tribute to the bassist Oscar Pettiford, featuring Erik Friedlander’s self-assured pizzicato cello playing against a simple backdrop of bass (Trevor Dunn) and drums (Mike Sarin). “Farmers by Nature,” at 10, is the name of an album released last year, consisting of the freely improvised rapport of three intelligent searchers: the drummer Gerald Cleaver, the bassist William Parker and the pianist Craig Taborn. The Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village , thestonenyc.com; $10 per set. (Chinen)

DAVE BRUBECK QUARTET (Friday through Sunday) At 89, Dave Brubeck continues his impressive touring schedule, playing the piano with less vigor but no less purpose than in his younger days. He receives unwavering support from his fine working band, with the multireedist Bobby Militello, the bassist Michael Moore and the drummer Randy Jones. At 8 and 10:30 p.m.. Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, Greenwich Village , (212) 475-8592,bluenote.net; $65 cover at tables, $45 at the bar; with a $5 minimum. (Chinen)

WAYNE ESCOFFERY QUARTET (Friday through Sunday) Wayne Escoffery, a tenor saxophonist with an engaging and assertive style, makes his bandleading debut at the Village Vanguard this week, backed by a briskly responsive rhythm section, with Kevin Hays on piano, Joe Martin on bass and Billy Drummond on drums. At 9 and 11 p.m.,Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street,West Village , (212) 255-4037,villagevanguard.com; $25 cover, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen)

DIZZY GILLESPIE ALL-STAR BIG BAND (Tuesday through Thursday) Bebop’s goateed ambassador did some of his best work with big bands, a fact that this one happily exploits. As on a recent album, “I’m Beboppin’ Too” (Half Note), the group will feature the saxophonist Jimmy Heath, a prominent veteran of Gillespie’s employ, and the trumpeter Roy Hargrove, a capable would-be heir. (Through June 20.) At 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, Greenwich Village , (212) 475-8592, bluenote.net; $35 cover at tables, $20 at the bar, with a $5 minimum. (Chinen)

★ BARRY HARRIS TRIO (Friday and Saturday) Barry Harris belongs to a generation of jazz pianists who carried the torch of bebop into an uncertain future. His touch and melodic instinct are unerring, and he leads this working trio — Ray Drummond is the bassist, Leroy Williams the drummer — with well-earned ease. At 8 and 10 p.m., Kitano Hotel, 66 Park Avenue, at 38th Street , (212) 885-7119, kitano.com; $25, with a $15 minimum. (Chinen)

★ FRED HERSCH TRIO (Tuesday through Thursday) Leading up to the release of his excellent new album, “Whirl” (Palmetto), the melodically minded, elegant pianist Fred Hersch plays this weeklong run with two sympathetic partners, the bassist John Hébert and the drummer Billy Hart. (Through June 20) At 9 and 11 p.m., Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village , (212) 255-4037, villagevanguard.com; $25 cover, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen)

★ VIJAY IYER TRIO (Wednesday and Thursday) “Historicity” (ACT), one of last year’s most heralded jazz releases, finds the pianist-composer Vijay Iyer interrogating the very premise of a covers album, with restive versions of songs by (among others) M.I.A. and Andrew Hill. He draws partly from the album here, with the same bassist, Stephan Crump, and a worthy substitute drummer, Justin Brown. (The drummer from the album, Marcus Gilmore, will swap back in on June 18 and 19.) At 8:30 and 11 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton , (212) 581-3080, birdlandjazz.com; $30 side seating; $40 center seating, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen)

JOSÉ JAMES AND JEF NEVE (Tuesday) “For All We Know” (Impulse!) is the first album of jazz standards by Mr. James, a silky baritone who has otherwise made an impact in club music and R&B. Celebrating the album’s release, Mr. James calls on its only other contributor, the Belgian pianist Mr. Neve. At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway , (212) 258-9595, jalc.org; $30 cover, students $15, with a $5 minimum. (Chinen)

★ KEITH JARRETT, GARY PEACOCK, JACK DeJOHNETTE (Thursday) The gold standard of jazz piano trios, this ensemble derives much of its identity from the extemporizations of Mr. Jarrett, who can sound dry and boppish one moment and fluidly romantic the next. But Mr. Peacock, an agile bassist, and Mr. DeJohnette, a deeply musical drummer, also play clearly defining roles; their names appear on that marquee, as part of the CareFusion Jazz Festival, for good reason. At 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall , (212) 247-7800, nycjazzfestival.com; $40 to $90. (Chinen)

JOE LOVANO NONET (Friday through Sunday) Joe Lovano, a tenor saxophonist with broad experience in large ensembles, has led this bop-flavored nonet intermittently for a number of years. Driving the ensemble in this run, and billed as a featured guest, is the impeccable drummer Lewis Nash. At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., with an 11:30 set on Friday and Saturday. Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway , (212) 258-9595, jalc.org; $30 to $35 cover, with a minimum of $10 at tables and $5 at the bar. (Chinen)

BEN MONDER-BILL McHENRY/THE CELLAR AND POINT (Thursday) “Bloom” (Sunnyside), a new album from Mr. Monder, a guitarist, and Mr. McHenry, a tenor saxophonist, reflects a calm but restless intelligence, showing the many possible sides of duologue. Both musicians appear here, sharing a bill with the Cellar and Point, the chamberlike enterprise of another productive partnership, of the percussionist Joseph Branciforte and the guitarist Christopher Botta. At 8:30 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village , (212) 989-9319, corneliastreetcafe.com; $10 cover, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen)

SEABROOK POWER PLANT/MOSTLY OTHER PEOPLE DO THE KILLING(Thursday) Both bands on this double bill, among the more rambunctious on the CareFusion Jazz Festival roster, are out to scramble the usual jazz dynamics without abandoning the principles of the form. Seabrook Power Plant, which goes on at 9 p.m., does this with a distortion-laced banjo playing hard-core punk riffs; Mostly Other People Do the Killing, scheduled to play at 10, does it with spasmodic small-group interplay.Zebulon, 258 Wythe Avenue, near Metropolitan Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn ,carefusionjazz.com; no cover. (Chinen)

SUN RA ARKESTRA (Thursday) Led by the irrepressible 86-year-old alto saxophonist Marshall Allen, this ensemble carries on the cosmic avant-gardism of its namesake with ragtag brio. The group appears here under the banner of the CareFusion Jazz Festival. At 7 p.m., Studio Museum in Harlem, 144 West 125th Street , (212) 864-4500, nycjazzfestival.com; $15; $10 members and students. (Chinen)

THE THIRTEENTH ASSEMBLY (Tuesday) This collective — the guitarist Mary Halvorson, the cellist Jessica Pavone, the cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum and the drummer Tomas Fujiwara — has a recent album, “(un)sentimental” (Important), that puts a noisy new wrinkle into the upstart avant-garde. In performance, the group seems inclined to draw from the album, but also diverge from it in whatever ways feel useful. At 9:30 p.m.,Korzo, 667 Fifth Avenue, at 20th Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn , (718) 285-9425,korzorestaurant.com; suggested donation $5. (Chinen)

CHARLES TOLLIVER BIG BAND (Thursday) The veteran trumpeter and composer Charles Tolliver has enjoyed a robust resurgence in recent years, chiefly for his work with this high-impact ensemble. (Through June 20.) At 8 and 10 p.m., Iridium Jazz Club, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street , (212) 582-2121, iridiumjazzclub.com; $30 cover, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen)

MARK TURNER GROUP (Wednesday and Thursday) Mark Turner, a tenor saxophonist given to flowingly articulate harmonic elaboration, takes one of his infrequent turns as a bandleader here, with excellent partners: the trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, the bassist Ben Street and the drummer Marcus Gilmore. From 9 p.m. to midnight,Smalls, 183 West 10th Street, West Village , smallsjazzclub.com; $20 cover. (Chinen)

TWO MILES A DAY (Friday and Saturday) The name of this group coincides with the title of a likably cagey recent album by the pianist Jacob Sacks and the bassist Eivind Opsvik, with Mat Maneri on viola and violin and Paul Motian on drums. The group has never performed in full outside the recording studio, lending this engagement an air nearly as mysterious as the music itself. At 9 and 10:30 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village , (212) 989-9319, corneliastreetcafe.com; $15 cover, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen)

★ UNDEAD JAZZFEST (Saturday and Sunday) An upstart arrival to New York’s jazz festival smorgasbord, this series features some of the best working bands on the scene, spread across three nearly adjacent Greenwich Village clubs. Highlights include Dave Douglas and Keystone at Le Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker Street, near Thompson Street, on Saturday at 8:20 p.m.; Josh Sinton’s Ideal Bread at Kenny’s Castaways, 157 Bleecker Street, on Sunday at 6:40 p.m.; and Steve Coleman and Five Elements at Sullivan Hall, 214 Sullivan Street, on Sunday at 8 p.m. For a full schedule, see undeadjazzfest.com. $25 for a one-night pass; $30 for two nights. (Chinen)

DAVID WEISS AND POINT OF DEPARTURE (Wednesday) Mr. Weiss, a resourceful trumpeter and arranger, devotes his Point of Departure band to the style and repertory of 1960s postbop, with contemporary urgency. “Snuck In,” an album due out on Sunnyside this month, features music by Herbie Hancock and Tony Williams, among others: good fodder for Mr. Weiss and his partners, including the guitarist Nir Felder and the tenor saxophonist J. D. Allen. At 8 and 10 p.m., Iridium Jazz Club, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street , (212) 582-2121, iridiumjazzclub.com; $20 cover, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen)

★ MIGUEL ZENÓN (Friday through Sunday) “Esta Plena” (Marsalis) was the first album that Mr. Zenón, a searching but grounded young alto saxophonist from Puerto Rico, made after receiving his prestigious MacArthur Foundation grant. If that raised expectations for the album, which explores a popular folk tradition from his homeland, Mr. Zenón met them squarely, with cogent writing for the same ensemble found here: three vocalists with a flexible rhythm section. At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., with an 11:30 set on Friday and Saturday. Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan , (212) 576-2232, jazzstandard.net; $30, $25 on Sunday. (Chinen)