The Bad Plus (Monday through Jan. 6) Few groups in the greater jazz orbit sound more doggedly intrepid than the Bad Plus, which flirted with electronic textures on “Made Possible” (eOne), released in the fall. The band — Reid Anderson on bass, Ethan Iverson on piano, David King on drums — can often sound impatient to greet the future, even as it basks in nostalgic reflection. A good fit, in other words, for a run that begins on New Year’s Eve. Monday at 9:30 and 11:30 p.m., Tuesday through Jan. 6 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 one-drink minimum; $150.00 for both sets on Monday and a $25 drink credit. (Chinen)
Bells at Midnight (Monday) The guitarist Marc Ribot has devoted a lot of artistic capital to the veneration of Albert Ayler, a saxophonist of searing ardor who helped carry out the free-jazz insurgency of the 1960s. Here, for the third year in a row, Mr. Ribot leads his Ayler-esque ensemble Spiritual Unity — with Roy Campbell Jr. on trumpet, Henry Grimes on bass and Chad Taylor on drums — in a New Year’s Eve resuscitation of Ayler’s landmark 1965 album, “Bells.” At 11 p.m., the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, thestonenyc.com; $40, with a Champagne toast at midnight. (Chinen)
Countdown 2013: John Coltrane Festival (Friday through Jan. 5) John Coltrane’s music provides a reliable hook at Smoke this week and next, mostly with a band that features the tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander and the pianist Harold Mabern. On Friday they’ll join the alto saxophonist Steve Wilson in saluting Coltrane’s work with Cannonball Adderley; on Saturday and Sunday they’ll recreate the landmark album “Blue Train,” with help from the trombonist Steve Turre. On Monday, New Year’s Eve, they’ll add a singer, Vivian Sessoms, and on Tuesday they’ll address “My Favorite Things.” Then comes a shift change, on Wednesday and Thursday, when the tenor saxophonist Azar Lawrence leads his own band in a tribute to “A Love Supreme.” At 7, 9 and 10:30 p.m., (Monday at 6:30 and 9:45 p.m.), Smoke, 2751 Broadway, at 106th Street, (212) 864-6662, smokejazz.com; $35 cover, special dinner packages on New Year’s Eve. (Chinen)
Mary Halvorson Trio (Thursday) The guitarist Mary Halvorson, a calmly prickly and increasingly prominent presence on the avant-garde landscape, holds down a three-night run at Cornelia Street Café next week, leading a different band each night. She begins with this working trio, featuring John Hébert on bass and Ches Smith on drums: the same pliable rhythm team she has used on each of the three albums recorded solely under her name. At 8:30 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village, (212) 989-9319, corneliastreetcafe.com; $10 cover, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen)
Ben Perowsky presents: Reunions Pt. 1 (Saturday) Mr. Perowsky, a nimble and assertive drummer, anchors two regrouped bands that used to be fixtures of the downtown scene: Tronzo Trio, featuring David Tronzo on guitar and Stomu Takeishi on bass; and Spanish Fly, with Steven Bernstein on trumpet, Mr. Tronzo on slide guitar and Marcus Rojas on tuba. At 8:30 and 9:30 p.m., Shapeshifter Lab, 18 Whitwell Place, Park Slope, Brooklyn, shapeshifterlab.com; $12. (Chinen)
Tom Rainey Trio (Sunday) Tom Rainey is a starkly suggestive drummer who recently formed this working trio with Ingrid Laubrock, a tenor and soprano saxophonist adept with abrasive strategies, and Mary Halvorson, a young guitarist with a sharp-splintered but flexible attack. “Camino Cielo Echo” (Intakt), the trio’s rewarding second album, captures some of the forceful expressivity it’s sure to demonstrate here. At 8:30 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 989-9319, corneliastreetcafe.com; $10 cover, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen)
