Karl Berger’s Stone Workshop Orchestra (Monday) Mr. Berger, the composer, conductor and former guiding spirit of the Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, N.Y., has been presiding over this exploratory large ensemble every Monday night for months, with an open rehearsal at 7:15 p.m. and a performance at 9 p.m. The run is coming to an end in a few weeks, and with it the irreducible energy of this band in this space; consider yourself forewarned. At the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, thestonenyc.com; $20, or $10 for students and musicians. (Chinen)
Cuneiform at the Stone (Friday through Sunday, and Tuesday and Wednesday) Among the highlights of this stretch of programming, organized by the Cuneiform label, are a set by Cross-Fade, led by the bassist Carlo De Rosa (Friday at 8 p.m.); Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, from Boston (Saturday at 8 p.m.); Ergo, with Brett Sroka on trombone, Jason Moran on piano and Shawn Baltazor on drums (Sunday at 10 p.m.); and Gutbucket, the Brooklyn jazz-punk band (Wednesday at 10 p.m.). At 8 and 10 p.m., the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, thestonenyc.com; $10 cover. (Chinen)
Screwgun at the Stone (Thursday through Dec. 14) The first half of next month at the Stone has been programmed by Screwgun Records, a Brooklyn label with a house style defined by the scrappy intensity of its founder, the alto saxophonist Tim Berne. Kicking things off, on Thursday at 8 p.m., is a trio comprising Mr. Berne, the drummer Dan Weiss and the guitarist Marc Ducret; at 10 p.m. the focus turns to Mr. Ducret’s music as played by him and Mr. Berne, with the pianist Matt Mitchell and the drummer Ches Smith. At 8 and 10 p.m., the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, thestonenyc.com; $10 per set. (Chinen)
Henry Threadgill’s Zooid (Wednesday through Dec. 2) Mr. Threadgill, a penetrating saxophonist, flutist and composer, has long been a sly maestro of unconventional timbres, bristling counterpoint and tough but slippery rhythms. Zooid, his working band for the last decade, features the guitarist Liberty Ellman, the tuba and trombone player Jose Davila, the acoustic bass guitarist Stomu Takeishi and the drummer Elliot Humberto Kavee. In two recent albums on Pi, this group has been utterly itself, and that’s even truer up close and in person. At 8 p.m., Roulette, 509 Atlantic Avenue, Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, (917) 267-0368, roulette.org; $25, or $15 for members and students. (Chinen)
Nate Wooley Quintet Omega (Wednesday) The trumpeter Nate Wooley has made his name among the more texture-minded proponents of improvised music, often by distilling fresh clarity from abrasive obscurity. As on a fine recent album, “(Put Your) Hands Together” (Clean Feed), he works with Josh Sinton on reeds, Matt Moran on vibraphone and Harris Eisenstadt on drums. On the album the bottom end is entrusted to a bassist; here it’s handled by Dan Peck, on tuba. At 8 and 9:30 p.m., Brooklyn Lyceum, 227 Fourth Avenue, at Union Street, Park Slope, (718) 857-4816, brooklynlyceum.com; $10. (Chinen)
