From NYTimes.com:
Ran Blake-Sara Serpa Duo (Friday and Saturday) Mr. Blake, a venerable pianist adept at building mystery, has spent many years teaching in Boston at the New England Conservatory, where he first encountered Ms. Serpa, a nimble and imaginative vocalist. They just released their second compelling duo album — “Aurora” (Clean Feed), recorded live in Ms. Serpa’s hometown of Lisbon — with a frame of reference that includes songbook standards, film noir and Portuguese fado. At 8 and 10 p.m., Kitano Hotel, 66 Park Avenue, at 38th Street, (212) 885-7119, kitano.com; $25 cover, with a $15 minimum. (Chinen)
Steve Coleman and Five Elements (Wednesday and Thursday) “Functional Arrhythmias” (Pi Recordings), the strong new album by the alto saxophonist and composer Steve Coleman, comes with a taut conceptual hook: It is a collection of pieces inspired by the rhythms of human biological systems. More plainly, it’s a reunion with the drummer Sean Rickman and the electric bassist Anthony Tidd, both Five Elements alumni who rejoin Mr. Coleman here, alongside the trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson. At 8:15 and 9:30 p.m., ShapeShifter Lab, 18 Whitwell Place, Park Slope, Brooklyn, shapeshifterlab.com; $15. (Chinen)
John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension (Tuesday through Thursday) John McLaughlin, the English guitarist whose Mahavishnu Orchestra helped define visionary jazz-rock in the 1970s, has an analogous current outlet in the 4th Dimension, which released its second album, “Now Here This” (Abstract Logix), last year. As part of the Blue Note Jazz Festival, the band — with Gary Husband on keyboards, Étienne Mbappé on electric bass and Ranjit Barot on drums and percussion — plays a rare club engagement. At 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 475-8592, bluenote.net; $55 cover at tables, $35 at the bar, with a $5 minimum. (Chinen)
Red Hook Jazz Festival (Sunday) This neighborly outdoor festival is now in its sixth year — and its first edition since Hurricane Sandy, which may be the more pertinent fact. This is its second and final day, with performances by, among others, Allison Miller’s Big Molasses; Bad Touch, featuring the saxophonist Loren Stillman; Lark, a collective made up of the trumpeter Ralph Alessi, the pianist Kris Davis, the saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and the drummer Tom Rainey; and the Paul Kogut Trio, with Mr. Kogut on guitar, Drew Gress on bass and Vinnie Sperrazza on drums. From 1 to 6 p.m., Urban Meadow, at President and Van Brunt Streets, Brooklyn, urbanmeadowbrooklyn.blogspot.com; $10, free for children. (Chinen)
Rhythm in the Diaspora Festival (Wednesday and Thursday) Organized by the drummer and composer Harris Eisenstadt, this two-day festival puts an emphasis on the interplay between jazz and folkloric drumming. An 8:30 p.m. set on Wednesday will feature the John Amira Afro Cuban Bata Drum Ensemble, led by Mr. Amira, an authority on Santeria rhythm; the 10 p.m. set that evening, performed by Sing Sing Rhythms, will be devoted to the sabar drumming style of Senegal. And on Thursday in two sets, at 8:30 p.m., Mr. Eisenstadt will lead his September Trio, with Ellery Eskelin on tenor saxophone and Angelica Sanchez on piano, in a celebration of its new album, “The Destructive Element” (Clean Feed). Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 989-9319, corneliastreetcafe.com; $20 cover, which includes a drink. (Chinen)
Matana Roberts’s Anthem (Saturday) Ms. Roberts, a restlessly inventive alto saxophonist with a knack for teasing out unlikely connections, presents an ensemble stocked with fellow texturalists: the guitarist Liberty Ellman, the bassist Kevin Tkacz and the drummer Ches Smith. At 9 and 10:30 p.m., Jazz Gallery at Salt Space, 1160 Broadway, fifth floor, at West 27th Street, (212) 242-1063, jazzgallery.org; $20, $10 for members. (Chinen)
Vision Festival (Friday through Sunday) This independent summit of avant-garde jazz, now in its 18th year, runs through this weekend with a mix of special summits and working bands. Among the highlights are the French-American Peace Ensemble, with the clarinetist Louis Sclavis, the tenor saxophonist Kidd Jordan and others (Friday at 10 p.m.); an excellent trio consisting of the bassist Eric Revis, the pianist Kris Davis and the drummer Andrew Cyrille (Saturday at 8:45 p.m.); WORKz, an ensemble led by the bassist Reggie Workman, including Marilyn Crispell on piano and Odean Pope on tenor saxophone (Saturday at 10:45 p.m.); and Bass Roots, featuring the saxophonist Marshall Allen, of the Sun Ra Arkestra, with the bassists (and blood relatives) Christian McBride, Lee Smith and Howard Cooper (Sunday at 9:30 p.m.). A full schedule is at visionfestival.org. Roulette, 509 Atlantic Avenue, near Third Avenue, Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, (917) 267-0363, roulette.org; $30 each day, $20 for students, $140 for a festival pass. (Chinen)
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