Avant Music News

From NYTimes.com:

THE BAD PLUS (Friday through Sunday) The pianist Ethan Iverson, the bassist Reid Anderson and the drummer David King constitute the Bad Plus, a delivery system for smartly sweeping original songs, as well as wryly affectionate renditions of pop tunes. At 9 and 11 p.m., Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village , (212) 255-4037, villagevanguard.com; cover, $25, with a $10 minimum.

TIM BERNE AND LOS TOTOPOS (Thursday) Mr. Berne, an alto saxophonist and composer with a taste for coarsely layered frictions, presents a newly minted ensemble with Matt Mitchell on piano and electronics, Oscar Noriega on clarinets and Ches Smith on percussion. 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. At 9 and 10:30 p.m., Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, at Spring Street, South Village , (212) 242-1063, jazzgallery.org; cover, $15. (Chinen)

PETER EVANS SEXTET (Monday) Mr. Evans, probably best recognized for his role in the upstart free-bop quartet Mostly Other People Do the Killing, is a trumpeter with an expressive command of timbre and tone. He’s also a bandleader of emerging promise; in this group he corrals the pianist Carlos Homs, the bassist Tom Blancarte, the drummers Kassa Overall and Kevin Shea, and the electronics artist Sam Pluta. An opening set will feature solo saxophone improvisations by Johnny Butler. At 10 p.m., Zebulon, 258 Wythe Avenue, near Metropolitan Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn , (718) 218-6934, zebuloncafeconcert.com; no cover. (Chinen)

GEORGE GARZONE GROUP (Wednesday) Mr. Garzone, a tenor saxophonist with a headlong but intelligent approach to free improvisation, presides over a tribute to the pianist Charlie Banacos, an influential jazz educator who traveled in the same Boston circles as Mr. Garzone (and who died just last month). The ensemble gathered for the task is worthy, with Rachel Z on piano, Peter Slavov on bass and Pete Zimmer on drums. At 8:30 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village , (212) 989-9319, corneliastreetcafe.com; cover, $10, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen)

KATT HERNANDEZ AND JOE MORRIS (Thursday) Mr. Morris, a guitarist who applies the clear tone of Jim Hall to darker purposes, has an assertive partner here in Ms. Hernandez, a Philadelphia-based violinist with broad experience in free-improvising and psychedelic-folk circles. At 10 p.m., the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village , thestonenyc.com; cover, $10. (Chinen)

MAT MANERI QUARTET (Tuesday) Mr. Maneri, a violist with an elastic approach to pulse and pitch, leads a well-suited band with Jacob Sacks on piano, Garth Stevenson on bass and Randy Peterson on drums. At 7 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn , (347) 422-0248, barbesbrooklyn.com; cover, $10. (Chinen)

NICOLE MITCHELL’S TRUTH OR DARE (Saturday) More than a serious and soulful flutist, Ms. Mitchell, from Chicago, organizes her music with a high degree of conceptual savvy. In this group, which probably has nothing to do with Madonna (though you never know), she works alongside the violinist Renée Baker and the drummer Shirazette Tinnin. At 8 p.m., the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village , thestonenyc.com; cover, $10. (Chinen)

JESSICA PAVONE’S ARMY OF STRANGERS (Tuesday) Ms. Pavone, a violist and violinist with an increasingly prominent profile in avant-garde circles, works here with musicians a good deal more acquainted than her project’s name would suggest: Brandon Seabrook on guitar, Jonti Siman on bass and Harris Eisenstadt on drums. At 8 p.m., the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village , thestonenyc.com; cover, $10.

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