From NYTimes.com:
The Bad Plus (Tuesday through Jan. 4) This was a banner year for the Bad Plus: in addition to a sturdy new album of originals, the band released its take on Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring,” and took a bravura spin through Ornette Coleman’s “Science Fiction.” All of which adds up to a wealth of possibilities for its annual stand at the Village Vanguard, straddling the turn of the new year. At 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. (at 9:30 and 11:30 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, with the doors opening at 8:30), Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village, 212-255-4037, villagevanguard.com; $30 cover, with a one-drink minimum. On New Year’s Eve, the cover is $150, which includes both sets, a $25 drink credit, finger food and party favors. (Chinen)
Open Loose (Friday and Saturday) Mark Helias is a bassist equally committed to the causes of momentum and texture, and in that sense he has a very good thing in Open Loose, a band with Tony Malaby on tenor saxophone and Tom Rainey on drums. At 9 and 10:30 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, Greenwich Village, 212-989-9319, corneliastreetcafe.com; $10 cover, with $10 minimum. (Chinen)
Tom Rainey Trio (Tuesday) Tom Rainey, a precisely off-kilter drummer, has broken into bandleading of late, often with the partners in this trio: Ingrid Laubrock, a tenor and soprano saxophonist of exploratory instincts, and Mary Halvorson, a guitarist with a sharp-splintered but flexible attack. At 8:30 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, Greenwich Village, 212-989-9319, corneliastreetcafe.com; $10 cover, with $10 minimum. (Chinen)
Eri Yamamoto Trio (Sunday) The pianist Eri Yamamoto weighs exploratory instincts against a reflective temperament, and her trio, with David Ambrosio on bass and Ikuo Takeuchi on drums, supports her at every turn. At 8:30 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, Greenwich Village, 212-989-9319, corneliastreetcafe.com; $10 cover, with $10 minimum. (Chinen)
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