Highlights for this week in NYC.
BEN ALLISON (Tomorrow) Mr. Allison, a bassist and composer, has a knack for assembling hardy and sophisticated ensembles like this one, with Michael Blake on saxophones, Frank Kimbrough on Wurlitzer keyboard and Michael Sarin on drums. At 10 p.m., 55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, West Village, (212) 929-9883, 55bar.com; cover, $10. (Chinen)
COMMON THREAD/BRASS CONSCIOUSNESS (Wednesday) Common Thread is a cadre of incisive players currently or formerly apprenticed to the influential avant-garde saxophonist Steve Coleman: the trumpeters Jonathan Finlayson and Shane Endsley, the trombonist Tim Albright, the bassist Chris Lightcap and the drummer Marcus Gilmore. Brass Consciousness, which plays a later set, adds one more trumpeter, Ralph Alessi. At 8 and 10 p.m., the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, thestonenyc.com; cover, $10 per set. (Chinen)
DANCE NOW MUSIC (Tuesday through Thursday) Avant-garde music and movement are equal partners in this off-season Vision Festival series, which runs through next Sunday. Next week’s highlights include trios led by the multireedists Joe McPhee (Tuesday) and Cooper-Moore (Wednesday), and a duo by the dancer Julia Wilkins and the alto saxophonist Matana Roberts (Thursday). (Through Jan. 21.) At 7:30 p.m., Teatro La Tea at Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center, 107 Suffolk Street, near Rivington Street, Lower East Side, (212) 696-6681, visionfestival.org; $20 a night ($10 for students), or three nights for $40.
ANDREW DURKIN’S INDUSTRIAL JAZZ GROUP/DARCY JAMES ARGUE’S SECRET SOCIETY (Sunday) Two powerful big bands, each guided by a clear vision. The Industrial Jazz Group, based in Los Angeles and led by the pianist Andrew Durkin, offers retro sounds with an ironic touch; the Secret Society, let by the composer Darcy James Argue, is future-minded and dead serious. At 8 p.m., Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery, near Bleecker Street, East Village, (212) 614-0505; cover, $12. (Chinen)
JOHN HOLLENBECK’S CLAUDIA QUINTET (Tomorrow) This improvising chamber ensemble pursues texturally oriented and often contrapuntal exploration; Mr. Hollenbeck’s drumming is one color on a palette that also includes Chris Speed’s clarinet and tenor saxophone, Ted Reichman’s accordion, John Hebert’s bass and Matt Moran’s vibraphone. At 9 and 10:30 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village, (212) 989-9319, corneliastreetcafe.com; cover, $12, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen)
RE:ACTION (Wednesday) The bassist Sean Conly features his own compositions in this aptly titled band, with Tony Malaby and Michaël Attias on saxophones and Take Toriyama on drums. At 10 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177, barbesbrooklyn.com; cover, $10. (Chinen)
ANGELICA SANCHEZ/TONY MALABY/TOM RAINEY (Sunday) A collective trio that treads a middle ground between lyricism and abstraction, with Ms. Sanchez on piano, Mr. Malaby on saxophones and Mr. Rainey on drums. At 8:30 and 10 p.m., Jimmy’s, 43 East Seventh Street, East Village, (212) 982-3006, freestylejazz.com; cover, $10, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen)
JENNY SCHEINMAN (Tuesday) Ms. Scheinman is that rare jazz violinist who embraces her instrument’s folksier side without making concessions to genre. Her Tuesday night engagement features different players each week; this time around, the cast includes the clarinetist Doug Wieselman and the guitarist Steve Cardenas. At 7 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177, barbesbrooklyn.com; cover, $8. (Chinen)
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