Jazz Listings in New York

Jazz in NY from the New York Times:

SAM RIVERS FESTIVAL If you happened to tune in to 89.9 FM this week, you have already reaped the benefits of the Sam Rivers Festival, a comprehensive celebration of this august saxophonist, flutist and composer. The broadcast, which began last Friday afternoon and concludes tonight at 9, is a characteristic labor of love (and, yes, obsession) by that station, WKCR. And in many ways the marathon format suits its subject. Mr. Rivers, above, has been an indefatigable and often prolix presence in jazz over the last 60 years, and even in his 80s he can seem impervious to fatigue, as anyone who attended last year’s Vision Festival will attest.

Tonight he brings his energies and expertise to the Miller Theater for the festival’s thrilling finale: a reunion of the 1970s Sam Rivers Trio, with Dave Holland on bass and Barry Altschul on drums. This was the experimental group that Mr. Rivers led during the intensely creative period in New York that has come to be known as the “loft era,” in honor of artist-run performance spaces like Studio Rivbea, which Mr. Rivers and his wife, Beatrice, operated throughout the ’70s. The trio was fairly well documented in its time, though usually on bootleg recordings and sessions for shoestring-budget European labels. At the start of this week WKCR marched through that terrain, playing albums like “Paragon” (Fluid, 1977) alongside unreleased concert tapes. It all sounded fantastic, and the smart money says that tonight’s performance will be just as compelling. (The Sam Rivers Trio performs tonight at 8, Miller Theater, 2960 Broadway, at 116th Street, Morningside Heights, 800-838-3006, wkcr.org; $25.) NATE CHINEN

THEO BLECKMAN AND BEN MONDER (Tuesday) Mr. Bleckman, a vocalist, and Mr. Monder, a guitarist, share a fondness for diaphanous atmosphere, as they demonstrate on “At Night” (Songlines), their mysterious new album. At 10 p.m., Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery, near Bleecker Street, East Village, (212) 614-0505, bowerypoetry.com; cover, $8.

JEF LEE JOHNSON BAND/ROB REDDY TRIO (Tonight) Groove is the common denominator of these two progressive trios, the first led by the guitarist and vocalist Jef Lee Johnson, and the second organized by Rob Reddy, a saxophonist. At 9, Jalopy Theater, 315 Columbia Street, Brooklyn, (718) 395-3214, jalopy.biz; $10. (Chinen)

TONY MALABY’S NOVELA (Tomorrow) Yet another adventurous new project from the tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby, with Nate Wooley on trumpet, Ben Gerstein on trombone, Angelica Sanchez on piano, Jason Ajemian on bass and Chad Taylor on drums. At 9 and 10:30 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village, (212) 989-9319, corneliastreetcafe.com; cover, $10, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen)

BEN MONDER (Thursday) In the hands of Mr. Monder the electric guitar is a coloristic instrument. He features his coolly convoluted pieces for a trio with Chris Lightcap on bass and Ted Poor drums. At 10 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177, barbesbrooklyn.com; cover, $10. (Chinen)

★ NEW LANGUAGES FESTIVAL (Tonight, tomorrow and Thursday) Advancing an ideal of cross-fertilization, this Williamsburg, Brooklyn, festival is organized partly by the alto saxophonist Jackson Moore, who leads a trio tomorrow night at 10. The schedule also includes Attack/Adorn/Decay, a project of the trumpeter Nate Wooley (tonight at 10); Heavy Merge, a trio led by the pianist Russ Lossing (tomorrow night at 8:30); and the Indo-Pak Coalition, assembled by the alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa (Thursday night at 8:30). At 8:30, 10 and 11:30 p.m., Rose Live Music, 345 Grand Street, near Marcy Avenue, Williamsburg, (646) 644-2766, newlanguages.org; $10. (Chinen)

PLAYDATE (Wednesday) The guitarist Amanda Monaco and the pianist Noah Baerman are the core of this whimsically named ensemble, which also includes the bassist Henry Lugo and the drummer Vinnie Sperrazza, along with Steve Wilson, a special guest, on alto saxophone. At 8:30 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village, (212) 989-9319, corneliastreetcafe.com; cover, $15, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen)

TODD SICKAFOOSE’S BLOOD ORANGE (Tonight) A bassist and composer equally fond of rough edges and rounded forms, Todd Sickafoose performs here with two guitarists (Adam Levy and Mike Gamble), two drummers (Allison Miller and Simon Lott) and a frontline of Shane Endsley on trumpet, Ben Wendel on saxophones and Alan Ferber on trombone. At 9 and 10, Tea Lounge, 837 Union Street, between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 789-2762, tealoungeny.com; no cover.

(Chinen)