From the Times:
GERALD CLEAVER QUARTET (Thursday) Dealing less in rhythm than in pulse, Gerald Cleaver’s drumming perfectly suits the fluid requirements of jazz’s post-everything avant-garde. With this group he experiments with timbre, enlisting Jean Carla Rodea on vocals, Joe Morris on guitar and banjo, and Andrew Bishop on reeds. At 10:30 p.m., Living Theater, 21 Clinton Street, near Stanton Street, Lower East Side, (212) 696-6681, livingtheatre.org; $8. (Chinen)
VIJAY IYER QUARTET (Thursday) Vijay Iyer, a pianist with a taste for tonal frictions and rhythmic convolutions, reconvenes the intuitive crew from his most recent album, “Tragicomic†(Sunnyside): Rudresh Mahanthappa on alto saxophone, Stephan Crump on bass and Marcus Gilmore on drums. (Through Aug. 3.) At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232, jazzstandard.net; cover, $20. (Chinen)
BEN MONDER TRIO (Saturday) Ben Monder, a guitarist known for his beguilingly fluid technique, mixes standards with originals here, backed simply by bass and drums. At 9 and 11:15 p.m., Bar Next Door, 129 Macdougal Street, West Village, (212) 529-5945, lalanternacaffe.com; cover, $10, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen)
★ PAUL MOTIAN OCTET (Tuesday through Thursday) A mysterious and luminous ensemble that consists of two contrasting pairs of improvisers (the tenor saxophonists Tony Malaby and Chris Cheek, the guitarists Steve Cardenas and Ben Monder); a couple of stabilizers (Jerome Harris and Thomas Morgan, both bassists); a wild card (the violist Mat Maneri); and a mastermind (Mr. Motian, on drums). (Through Aug. 3.) At 9 and 11 p.m., Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village, (212) 255-4037, villagevanguard.com; cover, $20, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen)
PEOPLE’S REVOLUTIONARY PARTY (Friday) The guitarist James Keepnews leads this experimental nonet, stocked with improvisers like the multireedist Daniel Carter and the trumpeter Matt Lavelle. At 9 p.m., Living Theater, 21 Clinton Street, near Stanton Street, Lower East Side, (212) 353-6971, livingtheatre.org; $10, students $8. (Chinen)
STOCHASTIC BROOKLYN (Wednesday) In the first set of this experimental series, the violist Jessica Pavone leads a string quartet of sorts, with Sam Bardfeld on violin, Loren Dempster on cello and Reuben Radding on bass. Then Ms. Pavone appears in a collective called the Thirteenth Assembly, along with the cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum, the guitarist Mary Halvorson and the drummer Tomas Fujiwara. At 8 and 10 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177, barbesbrooklyn.com; cover, $10 per set. (Chinen)
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