Avant Music News

Ecstatic Music Festival (Saturday and Wednesday) On Saturday, the beguilingly quirky instrumental quartet Clogs and the consistently impressive Brooklyn Youth Chorus perform separately and together, offering new works by the Clogs members Bryce Dessner and Padma Newsome. On Wednesday, Shara Worden, an operatically trained indie-rock singer who performs under the name My Brightest Diamond, is featured in “Penelope,” a rapturous song cycle by Sarah Kirkland Snider; providing accompaniment is the versatile ensemble yMusic, which will unveil a new work by Ms. Worden. At 7:30 p.m., Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, Manhattan , (212) 501-3330, kaufman-center.org; $25, $15 for students. (Smith)

Todd Reynolds (Wednesday) Think of “Outerborough,” an engrossing new two-CD set by the violinist Todd Reynolds on the Innova label, as your road map through the wilds of contemporary-classical New York. Beyond demonstrating Mr. Reynolds’s skills as a fiddler, electronics programmer and composer, the album also highlights works by a range of vital composers, including Michael Gordon, David Lang, Phil Kline, David T. Little and Paula Matthusen. At 8 p.m., Issue Project Room, 232 Third Street, at Third Avenue, third floor, Gowanus, Brooklyn , (718) 330-0313, issueprojectroom.org; $10, with CD $20. (Smith)

Signal (Sunday) This contemporary-classical all-star squadron made its initial splash with a piece by Steve Reich at the 2008 Bang on a Can Marathon and sold out two performances of Mr. Reich’s “Music for 18 Musicians” at Le Poisson Rouge just months later. The ensemble returns to that mesmerizing composition twice on Sunday night with the help of Third Coast Percussion, a noteworthy Chicago quartet. At 7:30 and 10 p.m., Le Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker Street, near Thompson Street, Greenwich Village , (212) 505-3474, lepoissonrouge.com; $25 at 7:30 p.m., $20 at 10 p.m. (Smith)

Stephan Crump (Friday and Thursday) Mr. Crump, a bassist, assumes a leading role on two bandstands in the coming week, beginning on Friday with his Rosetta Trio, featuring a coolly intertwining pair of guitarists: Liberty Ellman on steel-stringed acoustic and Jamie Fox on electric. On Thursday Mr. Crump digs in with the alto saxophonist Steve Lehman, reprising their effort on a bold new duo album, “Kaleidoscope & Collage” (Intakt). (Mr. Ellman will also be on that bill, leading his own trio.) On Friday at 7 p.m., Rockwood Music Hall, 196 Allen Street, near Houston Street, Lower East Side, (212) 477-4155, rockwoodmusichall.com; no cover, one drink minimum. On Thursday at 8 p.m., Littlefield, 622 Degraw Street, between Third and Fourth Avenues, Gowanus, Brooklyn , (718) 855-3388, littlefieldnyc.com; $10. (Chinen)

Kris Davis Quartet (Saturday) In her piano playing as well as in her composing, Kris Davis favors a sparkling restlessness, often skirting chaos but rarely succumbing to it. This quartet features the adaptable tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby along with the bassist Eivind Opsvik and the drummer Tom Rainey. At 9 and 10:30 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village , (212) 989-9319, corneliastreetcafe.com; $15 cover, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen)

Paul Motian Trio 2000 + 2 (Friday through Sunday) The drummer Paul Motian recently hit on a new lineup for this nonstandard-standards ensemble: Masabumi Kikuchi on piano, Loren Stillman on alto saxophone and both Ben Street and Thomas Morgan on bass. Expect a weightless and luminous sort of music, with an equal commitment to mystery and melody. 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. (Nate Chinen)

Friday 11 | 8.30pm | £9
trioVD
There is plenty of bracing music to be heard from the new generation of UK jazz, nowhere more so than in Leeds, home to the LIMA collective and its standard bearers trioVD.

Guitarist Chris Sharkey, saxophonist Christophe de Bézenac and drummer Chris Bussey are the three musicians unleashing a maelstrom of sonic energy and ferocious, interlocking counterpoint that comes to rest somewhere between The Thing and Meshuggah.

Their evolution has been uncompromising and quite old school, borne of marathon, stamina building rehearsals where labyrinthine rhythmic forms are committed to memory, all the better for their subsequent deconstruction.

A storm rages, but there is plenty of detail, invention and musicality. Confrontational, uninhibited and clever, their use of volatile materials is invigorating and their demonic humour is catching.

trioVD will be performing brand new material from their new album which will be released later this year.

Sunday 13 | 8.30pm | £8
Simon Bookish with Leafcutter John
Simon Bookish plays glittering and eery new versions of his songs re-arranged for piano and electronics, in collaboration with Leafcutter John (Polar Bear).

Simon Bookish is the pseudonym of experimental composer and vocalist Leo Chadburn, whose music covers everything from experimental ambient music and surreal cabaret to the big band pop of his last album ‘Everything/Everything’ with it’s songs about science and ‘the deluge of information’.

Monday 14 | 8.30pm | £12

Toshinori Kondo & N.E.W.
Based in Amsterdam and Tokyo, Toshinori Kondo is jazz ‘fusion’ trumpeter highly acclaimed not only in his native Japan but also in Europe, the USA and Africa for his experimental work.

A visionary spirit, he has amassed an impressive list of avant-gardist collaborators including John Zorn, Derek Bailey and Peter Brotzman among many others.

Drummer Steve Noble’s N.E.W is a totally improvising power trio, featuring John Edwards on double bass and Alex Ward on guitar.

Tuesday 15 | 8.30pm | £12

Toshinori Kondo, Matt Bourne
& Sean Noonan
Toshinori Kondo (trumpet, electronics), Matt Bourne (piano, keyboard) and Sean Noonan (drums)

Toshinori Kondo & Grasscut
Experimental pop / post-punk duo signed to Ninja Tunes Grasscut comprises Andrew Phillips and Marcus O’Dair.

‘One of that select band of artists who are making genuinely daring music that still remains an accessible and enjoyable listen’ (Tom Robinson, BBC 6 music)

Thursday 17 | 8.30pm | £9
Louis Moholo Moholo Quintet
Widely regarded as being not only one of South Africa’s most important musicians, but also one of the world’s finest drummers, Louis Moholo’s influence on the development of music in this country is immeasurable. The Quintet features a stellar line up including Paul Dunmall (saxophone), Alan Tomlinson (trombone), Alexander Hawkins (piano) and Olie Brice (bass).

Friday 18 | 8.30pm | £10
Charming Transport Band

Led by tuba player Oren Marshall, the band play a potent mix of jazz, Afro-beat, traditional Ghanaian, Sephardic and European free-improvised music.

Sunday 20 | 8.30pm | £8/6

Roberto Sassi / Ricardo Tejero

From fiery explosions to delicate nuance this Italian / Spanish guitar and sax pairing draws influences from jazz, rock, noise, electronic and contemporary music. A perfect integratration of push and pull inventiveness. Now resident in London they have become an integral part of the local scene.

Steve Beresford / Satoko Fukuda

Guillaume Viltard
A musician whose references are from an enormous range of music, with the musicianship and creativity to match, pianist Steve Beresford is joined by the astonishingly talented violinist Satoko Fukuda and French bass wizard Viltard for this debut trio performance which promises to be a sheer delight

Guylaine Cosseron / Phil Minton / John Russell

French vocalist Cosseron, here for this concert only, is a phenomenal vocalist, highly respected in her native country. With Minton vocal boundaries are pushed to the extreme whilst retaining a deep musical understanding. They are joined by renowned guitarist Russell for an unmissable trio!

March 11 – Union Pool – 484 Union Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211 – (718)
609-0484 (with Dysrhythmia, Smother Party, and A Fucking Elephant)

March 19 – Orion Studios – 2903 Whittington Ave # C, Baltimore, MD
21230 -(410) 646-7334 (with Danny Sher Quartet)

March 20 – The Rotunda – 4014 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 -
(215) 573-3234 (with Electric Simcha)

March 21 – Galaxy Hut – 2711 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22201 -
(703) 525-8646 (with Matta Gawa)

March 22 – The Camel – 1621 West Broad Street, Richmond, VA
23220-2106 – (804) 353-4901 (with SCUO and Top Knot)

March 23- Eastside Lounge – 485 Flat Shoals Rd, Atlanta, GA 30316 -
(404) 521-9666 (with TBA)

March 24 – Trash Mountain – 1619 Greenland Drive Murfreesboro, TN
(with Beautiful Creatures, Technikiller, and Square People)

March 26 – The Phoenix Project – 406 S. Haskell, Dallas, TX – (with TBA)

March 27 – Salvage Vanguard Theater (hosted by Church of the Friendly
Ghost) – 2803 Manor Rd, Austin, TX 78722 (with Miles Okazaki)

March 28 – Elmo Jones Metal/Punk Music Complex – 8329 Camp Bowie W.,
Ft. Worth, TX 76116 (with Raging Boner, Haggard Daggers, Odor)

March 29 – Scorpion’s Nest – 406 Alta Ave, Midland, TX 79705 (With
Flying Scorpion and The Internet)

March 30 – Solar Culture Gallery – 31 East Toole Avenue, Tucson, AZ
85701- (520) 884-0874 (with Gamma Like Very Ultra)

March 31 – The Trunk Space – 1506 NW Grand Ave,Phoenix, AZ 85007 -
(602) 256-6006 (with Destroyah and TBA)

April 1 – The Smell – 247 South Main Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 -
(213) 625-4325 – (with Upsilon Acrux and TBA)

April 2 – Mama Buzz – 2318 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, CA 94612 (with
Groundskeeper)

April 3 – St. James Infirmary – 445 California Avenue, Reno, NV 89501
- (775) 657-8484 – (with Frendo)

April 5 – The Walnut Room – 3131 Walnut St, Denver, CO, 80205 (with
Bottesini Project)

April 6 – Zoo Bar – 136 North 14th Street, Lincoln, NE 68508 – (402)
435-8754 (with Masses and TBA)

April 7 – The Brick – 1727 McGee Street, Kansas City, MO 64108-1423 -
(816) 421-1634 (with Nomad’s Atlas)

April 8 – Schlafly Tap Room – 2100 Locust St, Saint Louis, MO 63103 -
(314) 241-2337 (with Spelling Bee and Britches)

April 9 – Mexicains Sans Frontieres – 120 S Division Ave. #226, Grand
Rapids MI 49503 – (with Night Toucher)

April 10 – Melody Inn – 3826 North Illinois Street, Indianapolis, IN
46208 – (317) 923-4707 – (with Kuan, Gash Hound, and Goliathon)

April 11 – South Park Tavern – 1301 Wayne Avenue, Dayton, OH 45410 -
(937) 586-9526 – (with Kuan)

April 12 – Carabar – 115 Parsons Ave, Columbus, OH 43215 (with Kuan,
Lemia Belus, and TBA)

April 13 – The Bug Jar – 219 Monroe Avenue, Rochester, NY 14607-3527
- (585) 454-2966 (with Rickles and Epilogue)

April 14 – Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA) – 3rd Floor
Auditorium, 330 E State St (aka Martin Luther King Jr. St), Ithaca,
NY 14850 (with Makeshift, The Invisible Hand)

April 15th – Elm Bar – 372 Elm St, New Haven, CT 06511 (with Old Man
Lady Luck)

Until now, Ars Nova Workshop’s “Composer Portraits” series has consisted of concerts by a variety of ensembles focusing on music penned by a single artist. The latest installment flips the equation around, however, to create a group portrait of the collective trio Fieldwork. Over the course of three concerts, the members of Fieldwork — pianist Vijay Iyer, alto saxophonist Steve Lehman and drummer Tyshawn Sorey, each one of the most innovative voices in modern jazz — will present their music as a group and split apart to present solo chamber pieces.