Jazz Listings from the New York Times

From NYTimes.com:

Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society (Monday) This postmillennial big band, led by the indefatigable young composer Mr. Argue, recently released an admirable studio debut, “Infernal Machines” (New Amsterdam). In performance the group balances airtight precision with a good measure of looseness and crackle. Part of the CareFusion Jazz Festival. At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway , (212) 258-9595, nycjazzfestival.com; $20, $10 students, with a minimum of $10 at tables, $5 at the bar. (Nate Chinen)

Jim Black Trio (Thursday) Jim Black is a drummer whose spirit of polymorphous propulsion draws equally from the wellsprings of noise rock, electronic music and free improvisation. In this trio he works with an old compatriot, the multireedist Chris Speed, and a new arrival, the pianist known as Elias. At 8:30 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village , (212) 989-9319, corneliastreetcafe.com; $10 cover, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen)

Mark Helias Trio (Friday) Mark Helias is a bassist equally committed to the causes of momentum and texture, and in that sense he has ideal partners here: the pianist Craig Taborn and the drummer Nasheet Waits. At 9 and 10:30 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village , (212) 929-9883, corneliastreetcafe.com; $10 cover, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen)

Myra Melford’s Be Bread (Sunday) “The Whole Tree Gone” (Firehouse 12) is the most recent release from Ms. Melford, an insightful and far-reaching pianist-composer, with the group she calls Be Bread: the trumpeter Cuong Vu, the clarinetist Ben Goldberg, the guitarist Brandon Ross, the bassist Stomu Takeishi and the drummer Matt Wilson. Ambitious but approachable, suffused with airy warmth and restless calm, it unpacks a suite of lyrical compositions Ms. Melford has been refining since 2004. At 10 p.m., Le Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker Street, near Thompson Street, Greenwich Village , (212) 505-3474, lepoissonrouge.com; $16 in advance, $20 day of show. (Chinen)

Cooper Moore/Peter Evans (Sunday) Mr. Moore, a committed multi-instrumentalist, and Mr. Evans, a trumpeter, share an approach to improvisation that’s open-ended but disciplined. Each appears here, as part of the CareFusion Jazz Festival, with a trio. At 9 and 10:30 p.m., Zebulon, 258 Wythe Avenue, near North Third Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn , (718) 218-6934, nycjazzfestival.com; free. (Chinen)

Jason Moran with Mary Halvorson and Ron Miles (Thursday) Mr. Moran, an erudite and aggressively inventive pianist, recently hit the 10-year mark with his working trio, which he calls the Bandwagon. But he has also been branching out in the last few years, working with compatible but unexpected partners. For this CareFusion Jazz Festival special, he’ll tangle with two excellent and temperamentally divergent improvisers: Ms. Halvorson, a smartly prickly guitarist, and Mr. Miles, a calmly lyrical trumpeter. At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan , (212) 576-2232, nycjazzfestival.com; $15. (Chinen)

Matana Roberts’s ‘Coin Coin’ (Thursday) Ms. Roberts, an alto saxophonist, weaves history, folklore and genealogy into “Coin Coin,” an ambitious and audacious performance piece. She also enlists imaginative colleagues like the trumpeter Shane Endsley and the pianist Shoko Nagai, two of her collaborators on this CareFusion Jazz Festival gig. At 9 and 10:30 p.m., Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, at Spring Street, South Village , (212) 242-1063, nycjazzfestival.com; $15, members $10. (Chinen)

‘A Skirl Records Night’ (Monday) Skirl, a Brooklyn label started by the saxophonist and clarinetist Chris Speed, presents two of its newer flagships during this CareFusion Jazz Festival engagement. First up is the Benefit Band, a collective with Mr. Speed and Oscar Noriega on reeds, Trevor Dunn on bass and Jim Black on drums (at 8 p.m.). Then the aggressive but nimble drummer Ben Perowsky leads a knockabout quartet with Mr. Speed, Mr. Dunn and the accordionist Ted Reichman (at 10). Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn , (347) 422-0248, nycjazzfestival.com; $10 per set. (Chinen)

Vision Festival XV (Sunday through Thursday) This sprawling avant-garde festival enlists dozens of improvising artists, both in working groups and novel configurations. Its centerpiece event, on Thursday at Abrons Arts Center, honors the pianist and composer Muhal Richard Abrams. Other highlights include a set by the sharp young alto saxophonist Darius Jones with his trio (Monday at Local 269, 269 East Houston Street) and a series of groups anchored by the bassist William Parker (Wednesday at Abrons). For a full schedule and price information, see visionfestival.org. Abrons Arts Center, 466 Grand Street, Lower East Side , (212) 598-0400; $25 at the door, $20 for students. (Chinen)

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