Stephane Wrembel Unearths the Depth of Django Reinhardt’s Rare Classical Compositions

For the last several years, guitarist Stephane Wrembel has mined the Django Reinhardt songbook more deeply than just about anyone other than the godfather of Romany jazz himself. Wrembel’s Django Experiment albums offer uncommonly dynamic insight into how Reinhardt blended American swing, French ragtime, classical music and Romany folk songs into a style that would become its own musical subculture. Wrembel’s new solo album Django L’Impressioniste – streaming at youtube – is a milestone, a major rediscovery of Reinhardt’s rarely played and recorded classical music along with a handful of more famous tunes.

This is hardly an album that can be digested in a single sitting: the depth of Reinhardt’s ideas is vast, offering new discoveries with every return trip. The amount of time Wrembel must have spent transcribing and then working up this material is staggering. He first plays Improvisation #2 – one of the few numbers here that’s become part of the Django canon – with a sense of the fantastical, slowly and spaciously, a rapt vision of mythical beasts cavorting deep in the forest. There’s also a transcription of Reinhardt’s second take that’s even more lingering and suspenseful.

Guitarists typically play Reinhardt songs with a brisk, shuffling staccato, which makes sense since that’s how he played them; Wrembel’s resonant, thoughtfully legato approach casts this material in a completely new light. Case in point: the lingering bittersweetness of the 1937 ballad Parfum.

Juxtaposing alternate takes faithful to Reinhardt’s original recordings provides enormous insight into just how carefully he crafted his oeuvre. Back-to-back versions of a “solo improvise” from the BBC in 1937 reveal how much of a difference just a few judicious tweaks of rhythm and attack completely transform this music.

Likewise, there are two versions of Improvisation No. 3, variations on a gorgeously melancholy stroll, the second more stern and incisive. Improvisation No. 4 is the most severe until Wrembel picks it up with an unexpectedly jaunty bounce. Improvisation No. 5 is a pure, unabashed neoromantic ballad with Romany flourishes. The distantly flamencoish Improvisation No. 6 is the starkest, most nocturnal and aguably most cohesively compelling of all these pieces.

The intricate lattice of chords in Naguine foreshadows where Americans like Les Paul would take guitar jazz, yet it’s much more unpredictable. The flamenco-inflected vistas of Echoes of Spain are exactly that: spare and often utterly desolate. The epic take of Belleville, Reinhardt’s hometown shout-out, has strikingly roughhewn contrast, akin to Debussy through the rough-and-tumble prism of life on the fringes – along with what seems to be a playfully erudite study for an eventual three-minute hit.

A similarly expansive exploration of Nuages is all the more vividly summery for Wrembel’s unhurried, dynamically shifting interpretation. The details are devilishly fun: a hint of a bolero, an ambush of muted low strings, a flicker of 19th century Parisian art-song. And the only non-Django original here, Tea for Two, gets a hushed, tiptoeing treatment that really goes to the heart of that much-maligned (some would say schlocky) love ballad. Beyond the sheer beauty and scope of the music, this album has immense historical value. Wrembel’s almost-every-week Sunday night Barbes residency continues this Jan 19 at around 9:30; lately, he’s been opening the show solo and then bringing up the band. If you get lucky, he’ll play some of this material completely unplugged.

Daily updates – if you go out a lot, you might want to bookmark this page and check back regularly.

If you’re leaving your hood, don’t get stuck waiting for a train that never comes, make sure you check the MTA delays and out-of-service page for service cancellations and malfunctions, considering how unreliable the subway is at night and on the weekend.

If you don’t recognize a venue where a particular act is playing, check the comprehensive, recently updated list of over 200 New York City music venues at New York Music Daily’s sister blog Lucid Culture.

This is not a list of every show in town – it’s a carefully handpicked selection. If this calendar seems short on praise for bands and artists, it’s because every act here is recommended if you like their particular kind of music. Many different styles to choose from.

Showtimes listed here are set times, not the time doors open – if a listing says something like “9ish,” that means it’ll probably start later than advertised. If you see a show listed without the start time, that’s because either the artist, their publicist or the venue in question sent incomplete info – those acts are usually listed last on a particular date.  Always best to check with the venue for the latest information on set times and door charges, since that information is often published here weeks in advance.

If you see a typo or an extra comma or something like that, remember that while you were out seeing that great free concert that you discovered here, somebody was up late after a long day of work editing and adding listings to this calendar ;)

Weekly events first followed by the daily calendar:

Daily in January, 2-5 PM Aki Onda restages radical Filipino composer José Maceda’s Ugnayan, “an expansive audience participatory work for radio which premiered at 6 PM on New Year’s Day, 1974. Arguably the most ambitious, provocative, and controversial work in his repertoire, the fifty-one-minute-long piece consisted of twenty separate tracks, each to be played on a different public radio frequency simultaneously, producing a musical atmosphere at the scale of the city. All thirty-seven radio stations in the metropolitan Manila area turned over their channel for Maceda’s sound diffusion, with some tracks playing from multiple stations. Millions of listeners tuned in. Manila’s parks, plazas, and street corners were converted into what the composer called “Ugnayan Centers”—142 locations in all. In one of the biggest, 15,000 people congregated, their personal radios creating a stunningly knotted mass of sounds. In addition to the 20 transmitters and 20 radios installed at the gallery, visitors are encouraged to bring their own FM transistor radios and contribute to the installation by tuning into one of the transmitting frequencies,” at the Fridman Gallery, 169 Bowery

On select Wednesdays and Sundays, an intimate, growing piano music salon on the Upper West Side featuring iconoclastically insightful, lyrical pianist Nancy Garniez – a cult favorite with an extraordinarily fluid, singing, legato style – exploring the delicious minutiae of works from across the centuries, beverages and lively conversation included! This winter’s agenda is Childhood Classics: A series of three evenings featuring the music we were forced to play – music composed expressly for children, Bach to Kurtag, like it or not, and conversation about that experience, about the piano, and about ongoing musical growth…4 PM on January 19, February 16, and March 15, sug don, email for details/address

Mondays at 7 PM multi-instrumentalist Dennis Lichtman’s popular western swing band Brain Cloud at Barbes followed at 9:30 PM by a variety of tropical bands playing cumbias, boogaloo, salsa, maybe all of the above.. Brain Cloud are also playing their 10th anniversary show on Nov 22 at 9 PM at the Jalopy for $20

Mondays at the Jazz Standard it’s all Mingus, whether with the Mingus Orchestra, Big Band or Mingus Dynasty: as jazz goes, it’s arguably the most exhilarating show of the week, every week. The first-rate players always rise to the level of the material. Sets 7:30/9:30 PM, $25 and worth it.

Mondays at the Vanguard the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra – composer Jim McNeely’s reliably good big band vehicle – plays 9/11 PM, $35 per set plus drink minimum.

Mondays starting at 9:30 PM Rev. Vince Anderson and his band play two sets at Union Pool. The Rev. is one of the great keyboardists around, equally thrilling on organ or electric piano, an expert at Billy Preston style funk, honkytonk, gospel and blues. He writes very funny, very politically woke, sexy original songs and is one of the most charismatic, intense live performers of our time. It’s a crazy dance party. Paula Henderson from Burnt Sugar is the usual lead soloist on baritone sax, with frequent special guests. Sizzling guitarist Binky Griptite – Sharon Jones’ lead player – is also often there.

Tuesdays at 9 PM, clever, fiery, eclectic ten-piece Balkan/hip-hop/funk brass maniacs Slavic Soul Party at Barbes (check the club calendar), $10 cover.

Wednesdays at 9ish the Binky Griptite Orchestra (formerly Sharon Jones’ brilliant oldschool soul backing band) at Threes Brewing Outpost, 113 Franklin St (Greenpoint/Kent Aves) in Greenpoint, free

Most Thursdays at 8:30, the Brooklyn Raga Massive – a rotating cast of A-list Indian, jazz and rock musicians who love to jam out classic Indian themes from over the centuries to the present day – play the Jalopy, $15 adv tix at the bar at the main space. Tons of special guests followed by a wild raga jam!

Fridays at 7:30 PM tenor saxophonist Ken Fowser leads his band at the Django. Jukebox jazz in a JD Allen vein but not as dark and more straight-ahead/groove-oriented: as postbop party music goes, nobody’s writing better than this guy right now.

Saturdays in January the only 4 PM free concert at Bargemusic; is on 1/4.  These are usually weekly and typically feature solo piano or small chamber ensembles. If you get lucky, you’ll catch pyrotechnic violinist/music director Mark Peskanov and/or the many members of his circle. Early arrival advised.

Saturdays in January, 6 PM wildly eclectic, edgy,lyrical soul/jazz cellist/singer Marika Hughes at Barbes

Most Sundays at 5:15 PM starting in late September, a free recital on the amazing, powerful, dynamic new organ at St. Thomas Church at 5th Ave and 53rd St. featuring some of the world’s greatest organists. The space is magnificent and the music usually is too. Right now the church fathers are programming pretty much everybody who used to work here and play the mighty old Aeolian-Skinner organ that finally had to be replaced. Check the concert calendar for details.

Sundays in January at 8 PM purist guitarist Peter Mazza – who gets the thumbs up from bop-era legend Gene Bertoncini – leads a series of groups at the Bar Next Door

Sundays at 9:30 PM paradigm-shifting Romany jazz/psychedelic rock guitar mastermind Stephane Wrembel leads his band at Barbes – check the club calendar just to make sure.

1/1-2 7:30 PM the core of the early 90s Smalls scene: Peter Bernstein (guitar), Aaron Goldberg (piano), Omer Avital (bass) at Mezzrow, $20

1/1, 8 PM psychedelic klezmer/bluegrass mandolin and clarinet legend Andy Statman at Barbes, $10

1/1, 9 PM sweeping, swinging vibraphonist Behn Gillece and group at the Fat Cat

1/2, 7 PM poignant, nuanced jazz singer Amy Cervini leads her quartet at 55 Bar

1/2, 7:30 PM ferocious rising star saxophonist Chet Doxas leads a trio at Smalls

1/2, 7:30 PM Alicia Olatuja at the Lincoln Center Atrium, free, early arrival advised. The soul belter has been super popular since singing at the second Obama inauguration. Opinions vary on  the flash vs. substance factor

1/2-5, 7:30/9:30 PM purist trumpeter Sean Jones leads his acoustic “electric quartet” at the Jazz Standard, $30

1/2, 8 PM oldschool latin soul and upbeat Americana with Nikki and the Human Element at Otto’s

1/2. 8 PM ish grim slowcore band Cathari at St. Vitus, $10

1/2, 8 PM the Underground Spiritual Ground, a new supergroup and Anbessa Orchestra spinoff exploring the connection between African-American spirituals, Ethiopian and Caribbean music followed by purposefully atmospheric indie classical guitarist Gyan Riley at Barbes

1/2. 8:30 PM sitarist Galen Passen and band mash up Celtic and Indian themes at the Jalopy, $15

1/2. 8:30 ish psychedelic supergroup the Elgin Marbles feat. members of Love Camp 7, Dervisi and Peter Stampfel’s jug band at Troost

1/2-5, 8:30 PM a Herbie Nichols 100th bday celebration at the Stone at the New School, $20. Choice pick: the 1/5 show with Roswell Rudd’s Trombone Tribe plays Herbie Nichols with Deborah Weisz, Josh Roseman, Art Baron, Steve Swell (trombones) Bob Stewart (tuba) Steven Bernstein (conductor, trumpet)

1/2, 10 PM the great unsung NYC hero of darkly purposeful, noir-tinged jazz guitar, Saul Rubin is very busy early this month. He’s at the Fat Cat tonight, then back here on 1/7 at 7 followed at 9 by exploratory, brassy salsa dura band La Sonora Nuyorkina, then back on 1/14 at 7. He’s also at Smalls 1/3-4 at 7:30 PM where he’s followed at 10:30 by  sizzling postbop saxophonist Mike DiRubbo’s quartet with Brian Charette on organ.

1/3, 7:30 PM composers Fiona Gillespie and Elliot Cole premiere their new suite, a modern adaptation of the 18th-century Scottish ballad Tam Lin at 1 Rivington St., $15

1/3-4, 8 PM, repeating 1/4 also at 2 PM and 1/7 at 7:30 PM th NY Philharmonic play works by Mozart, Haydn and Respighi, $34 tix avail

1/3,  8 PM playfully lyrical, fearlessly political superduo Kill Henry Sugar – guitar/banjo mastermind Erik Della Penna and drummer Dean Sharenow – followed at 10 by Rana Santacruz – the Mexican Shane MacGowan, but without the booze if you can imagine that – at Barbes

1/3, 8 PM intense, soaring harmonium player/singer Elana Low at Branded Saloon

1/3, 8 PM the NJ Symphony Orchestra  with pianist Inon Barnatan play Smetana’s The Moldau, Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto and excerpts from Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet at NJPAC in Newark, $20 tix avail

1/3, 8:30 PM hard-driving postbop tenor saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins‘ Wire quartet at Seeds, $15

1/3. 9 PM  moodily lyrical, politically savvy Irish folk-rocker Niall Connolly at the small room at the Rockwood. Fiery, psychedelically bluesy oldschool soul/roadhouse jamband Lizzie & the Makers  are just down the block at 10 at the big room

1/3. 10:30 PM catchy Booker T-esque soul jazz with the David Gibson/Jared Gold Hammond B3 organ band at the Fat Cat

1/4, 2:30 PM the NY Classical Players perform Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 15, Op. 132 at the NYPL for the Performing Arts out back of Lincoln Center free

1/4, 6 PM wildly eclectic, edgy, lyrical soul/jazz cellist/singer Marika Hughes followed at 8 by the furry-suited, oldtimey jazz Xylopholks and at 10 by epic ranchera/bolero brass crew Banda de los Muertos at Barbes

1/4, 7:30 PM purposeful Chicago-style blues guitarslinger Bobby Radcliff – lots of notes but none of them wasted – at Terra Blues

1/4, 8 PM trippy, dubby roots reggae and ska sounds with Avo & Skalopy at the Jalopy Tavern

1/4, 8 PM darkly lyrical psychedelic pop songwriter Jennifer Hall at the Parkside

1/4-5, 8 PM playwright Sarah Krasnow and bassist James IIgenfritz at Honey’s, 93 Scott Ave, Bushwick, L to Jefferson St., $10

1/4, 9 PM Unsteady Freddie‘s monthly surf rock extravaganza at Otto’s with wickedly jangly surf/twang/country instrumentalists the Bakersfield Breakers , at 10 exotic vibraphone-driven surf band the Vibro-jets, at 11 ageless, jangly, purist NY surf rock originals the Supertones

1/4, 9 PM impassioned, politically fearless soul/blues singer Kemp Harris and band at the big room at the Rockwood, $20

1/4, 8:30 PM the Delorean Sisters – who do funny oldtimey acoustic covers of cheesy 80s pop songs – at Freddy’s

1/4, 9ish  slinky, hypnotic, percussive Moroccan trance band Innov Gnawa at the Owl

1/4, 9ish pummeling oldschool Brit-style punk band Krimewatch plus shrieky, sludgy noise-doom band Skourge at St. Vitus, $12

1/4, 10:30 PM Los Cumpleanos – with Nestor Gomez – vox/percussion; Lautaro Burgos – drums; Eric Lane – keyboards; Alex Asher – trombone and others playing trippy, dubwise tropical psychedelia, and the latin/Balkan/New Orleans-tinged Underground Horns at Drom, $10\

1/5, 2 PM pianist Marika Bournaki plays Beethoven sonatas including the Hammerklavier at Bargemusic, $35/$30 sr/$20stud

1/5, 3 PM bassist Jeremy McCoy and pianist Aurelia Mika Chang perform works by Domenico Dragonetti, Reinhold Gliere, Arni Egilsson, and Vilmos Montag at St Pauls Chapel downtown, free, reception to follow

1/5, 4 PM  the intense, historically inspired oldtime blues/gospel Piedmont Blūz string band at the Old Stone House in Park Slope, $10

1/5, 5:30 PM brilliant pianist Emilio Solla’s Tango Jazz Orchestra at Birdland, $30 gen adm. Followed at 9;30 (separate $30 adm) by the fearlessly relevant, toweringly intense Arturo O’Farrill & the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, who are also back here on 1/19

1/5. 7ish metalcore shredders Steel Bearing Hand, the even faster death metal Vomit Forth and the murkier Frozen Soul at St. Vitus, $12

1/5, 7 PM Middle Eastern-inspired cellist Ian Maksin at the Poisson Rouge, $20 adv tix rec

1/5, 7 PM Wit & Daniel: – a new duo project featuring atmospheric jazz guitarist, Prawit Siriwat, and improvising bassist, Daniel Durst – plus the similarly ambient Matt Forker, guitar and compositions; Lesley Mok, drums; Jonah Wolfson, drums; Lisa Hoppe, bass; David Acevedo, trumpet; Gabe Fraivillig, trombone and Sonya Belaya at Spectrum, $15

1/5, 8 PM Monograms – who do as good a mid-80s Cure impression as any band alive – at Alphaville, $10

1/5, 8 PM eclectic jazz bassist Or Bareket leads his quartet at Seeds, $15

1/5, 8 PM perennially tuneful, pensively lyrical Americana janglerocker Mike Ferrio of Tandy and Good Luck Mountain at 11th St. Bar

1/5, 8:30ish satirical rock night: Chris Root‘s Lulu Temple Motor Unit (a Shriner joke) followed by gonzo storyteller Mike Edison‘s band which often features Jon Spencer on lead guitar

1/5, 8:30ish  cinematic guitarist Pat Irwin and boisterous swing/ska trombonist J. Walter Hawkes do their ambient thing at Troost

1/6, 7 PM sound artists including the ambient Ginny Benson, Dani Dobkin, and bassist Bernd Klug, at the Fridman Gallery 169 Bowery, $20

1/6, 7:30 PM the Parker Quartet with clarinetist Anthony McGill, clarinet play works by Mozart, Salonen and Shostakovich’s twistedly hilarious String Quartet No. 9 at Music Mondays, Advent Church, northwest corner of 93rd and Broadway, free

1/6-8, 8:30 PM the powerfully resonant multimedia concert Broken Silence with“Erin Rogers (tenor saxophone), Kristen McKeon (alto saxophone), Dan Joseph, Dev Ray and Alex Lahoski (ebow steel string acoustic guitars) and Craig Shepard (narrator) “present music supporting listeners to engage with text drawn from court testimony connected with the ongoing scandal in the Catholic Church:” a tthe DiMenna Center, The point is to create a sonically healing space. No charge for admission. Seating is limited rsvp req 

1/6, 8:30 PM cutting-edge vibraphonist Joel Ross plays a rare trio show at Seeds, $15

1/6, 9ish new Brookliyn honkytonk band Lissy & the Jacks at the Jalopy Tavern

1/6, 10 PM haphazard dark punkish female-fronted band Cruel Children at Muchmore’s

1/7, 7 PM JAV (guitar, Buenos Aires), Joanna Mattrey (viola), Andrew Drury (percussion) improvise at Soup & Sound ,sug don

1/7-8, 7:30-/9:30 PM Ryan Truesdell leads his big band playing an all Bob Brookmeyer program at the Jazz Standard, $30

1/7, 8 PM  multistylistic, lyrical, improvisational cellist Rufus Cappodocia solo followed by clever, fiery, eclectic ten-piece Balkan/hip-hop/funk brass maniacs Slavic Soul Party at Barbes, $10

1/7, 8 PM Florida retro 60s soul/funk band Patrick & the Swayzees at the Mercury, $10. Followed at 10 ($10 separate admission) by  female-fronted stoner boogie band the Loud Soft Loud

1/7, 8 PM a killer trio twinbill: intensely tuneful baritone saxophonist Josh Sinton‘s Predicate Trio followed by  jazz cellist Tomeka Reid leading her similarly translucent, edgy one at Seeds, $15

1/7, 8 PM violinist Francisco Fullana, harpist Bridget Kibbey, clarinetist Louis Arques, and Metropolis Ensemble play works by Clarice Assad, JP Jofre and others at the Poisson Rouge, $10 adv tix rec

1/7, 9 PM wickedly jangly surf/twang/country instrumentalists the Bakersfield Breakers at 11th St Bar

1/7, 11 PM noir-tinged pianist Frank Kimbrough leads a trio at Birdland, $30 at the bar

1/8, 1 PM the Kila Quartet play Mozart: String Quartet No. 19 in C Major, K 465 (“Dissonance”) and Bartók’s harrowing String Quartet No. 3 at the Greene Space, free w/rsvp

1/8, 7:30/9 PM playfully lyrical French jazz singer/composer Camille Bertault with similarly vivid pianist Leo Genovese at Mezzr0w, $20

1/8. 8 PM haunting, fearsomely powerful soul belter and noir Americana songstress Karen Dahlstrom at the Svendale Tasting Room, 486 Court St. (4th Pl/Luquer), Carroll Gardens, F to Carroll St

1/8, 8 PM otherworldly French-Algerian singer Ourida with her combo at Barbes

1/8, 8 PM ferociously powerful, politically fearless southern gothic guitar/banjo player Amythyst Kiah at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, $20 gen adm

1/8, 9 PM Grace Kelly All Day – imagine the Talking Heads with genuine menace, echoes of dark punk and Laurel canyon psychedelia – at St. Vitus, $10

1/9, 7 PM soaringly explosive jazz composer/torch singer Nicole Zuraitis at 55 Bar

1/9-10, 7:30/930 PM  this era’s most cutting-edge, politically relevant large jazz ensemble, Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society at the Jazz Gallery, $30

1/9, 7:30/9:30 PM  terse, purposeful rising star postbop saxophonist Melissa Aldana leads a quartet with Shai Maestro on piano at the Jazz Standard, $30

1/9, 1/12 and 1/15-17, 730 PM Garrett Fisher’s Indian and Japanese-inspired Blood Moon, “A contemporary response to a 15th century Noh play, Blood Moon uses choreography, puppetry, and a Taiko-infused score to create a meditation on the end of life, the nature of joy, regret, and whether atonement is possible,” at the Baruch Performing Arts Center, $35 tix avail

1/9, 7:30 PM, repeating 1/11 at 8 pianist Paul Lewis performs Grieg’s Romantic Piano Concerto with the NY Philharmonic who then tackle Richard Strauss’ Alpine Symphony, $32 tix avail

1/9, 8 PM twinkly, chimey female-fronted dreampop/janglerock band Lunar Vacation at Baby’s All Right, $15

1/9, 8 PM bassist Michael Bates’ potentially incendiary chamber jazz band Acrobat with Mazz Swift-violin; Sara Schoenbeck-bassoon followed by eclectic violinist Dana Lyn’s protean, psychedelic, ecologically woke jazz project Mother Octopus at the Owl

1/9, 8 PM unpredictable sound sculptor Thessia Machado, electronic performer Melody Loveless, instrumental builder Viola Yip and flutist Roberta Michel explore diverse textures at Arete Gallery $15

1/9, 8:30pm cuatro shredder Jorge Glem & pianist Cesar Orozco ;9:15pm –  polymath latin jazz pianist Arturo O’Farrill leads a small group; 10:00pm – majestic, slinky cumbia accordionist/bandleader Gregorio Uribe ; 10:45pm Afro-Cuban salsa group Okan’11:45pm – psych-funk/disco group People of Earth at Drom, $15 adv tix rwc. Uribe and band are also here on 1/17 for the same deal, general admission

1/9, 7 PM eclectic indie classical/Americana banjo player Jayme Stone at the basement room at the Rockwood, $15. At 9 PM unpredictably fun, funny  art-rock/psychedelic soul band the Academy Blues Project  are at the small room there, and on 1/24 at 10 PM they’re at Shrine for $10

1/9, 10 PM feral bassist Brandon Lopez  and TAK Ensemble improvise at the Fridman Gallery, 169 Bowery, $20

1/9, 10:30 PM colorful bassist Joris Teepe leads a quintet with Wayne Escoffery on sax and Leo Genovese on piano at Smalls

1/10, 6 PM soaringly lyrical, fearlessly intense acoustic tunesmith Linda Draper at the American Folk Art Museum

1/10. 6 PM  irrepressible, historically informed, crystalline-voiced folk noir/art-rock/loopmusic songwriter Elisa Flynn and pensive lo-fi chamber pop band Teething Veils at Holo, sug don. 1/16 at 8 PM she’s at Lizzie King’s Parlor, 75A 5th Ave (Warren/St. Marks)., Park Slope, closest train is actually the 2/3 to Bergen St

1/10, 6 PM crystalline-voiced, noir-tinged third-stream jazz chanteuse Tessa Souter followed at 10 by maginative, purist jazz drummer Dan Pugach’s Nonet at 55 Bar

1/10, 7 PM playfully intense female-fronted Balkan band Blisk;  7:45pm flamenco funk guitarist Juan Carmona ; 8:30pm flamenco songstress/guitarist Mamselle Ruiz; 9:15pm Digging Roots – who mash up gutter blues, folk noir and dub reggae -10:00pm Haitian hip-hop artist Vox Sambou ; 10:45pm  kitchen sink Brazilian/C&W/funk/New Orleans band Nation Beat ;11:30pm Danish klezmer band Mames Babagenush at Drom, free

1/10, 7 PM a rare US performance by stark, hypnotic Siberian Sakha Republic folk artists and khomus players Yuliyana Krivoshapkina and Nachyn Choreve at the Rubin Museum of Art, $30

1/10, 7:30 PM Longleash play Beethoven’s Piano Trio in C minor, Op. 1 No. 3 and Piano Trio in D Major, Op. 70 No. 1 “Ghost” – paired with two contemporary responses: John Zorn’s Ghosts, and a Reiko Füting world premiere at Flushing Town Hall, $25/$15 stud/srs. The program repeats 1/12 at 3 at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, 921 Madison Ave, same deal

1/10, 7:30/9:30 PM purposeful Serbian composr Rale Micic on guitar with Jared Gold switching from organ to guitar – wow! – and Jason Tiemann on drums at the Bar Next Door, $12, should be interesting

1/10, 8 PM bassist Sean Lovato‘s Microcosms band with Patti Kilroy on violin and Santiago Liebson on piano followed by bassist Lisa Hoppe‘s Jein trio with Todd Neufeld on guitar at Scholes St Studios

1/10, 8 PM trumpeter Ben Holmes’ broodingly Middle Eastern/klezmer-tinged Naked Lore trio followed at 10 by followed at 10 by Super Yamba playing their bracingly psychedelic Afrobeat jams at Barbes

1/10, 8 PM charismatic loopmusic cellist Maya Beiser plays her new album Bowie Cello Symphonic: Blackstar – a new cello arrangement of Bowie’s last album – at the World Financial Center, free

1/10, 8 PM ambitiously lyrical latin jazz pianist Aruan Ortiz at Happy Lucky No. 1 Gallery $20

1/10-11, 8 PM Jeremy Schonfeld’s epic 200-person rock opera Iron & Coal, exploring the death of his Holocaust survivor father at the Lynch Theatre at John Jay College, 524 W 59th St. $35 tix avail

1/10-11. 8 PM Eliza Bent’s Toilet Fire, “a ceremony and celebration of the one thing that unites us all. Using the structure of an ancient religious ritual to talk about matters of digestion, philosophy and faith, Toilet Fire explodes with song, story, audience participation, and unexpected textual twists,” i.e. the philosophy of potty jokes? at Vital Joint, 109 Meserole St., L to Montrose Ave $20

1/10, 9 PM a rare solo show by Girls on Grass’ psychedelic guitar goddess Barbara Endes followed by catchy funk-punk/new wave band Dolly Trolly at Branded Salooon

1/10, 9 PM in reverse order: gamelanesque percussion innovator Susie Ibarra and Dreamtime Ensemble; Allard van Hoorn transmits wavelength-patterns of his new photography series on a Moog synthesizer,at the Fridman Gallery 169 Bowery, $20

1/10 ,9 PM subtle, purposeful soul guitarist/singer Julia Ziwic at the small room at the Rockwood; at 11 PM lively oldtimey swing road warriors the Bumper Jacksons are at the basement room there for $15

1/10, 10 PM the Hillbenders play their deadpan hilarious bluegrass version of the Who’s Tommy followed by Celti-grass band We Banjo 3 at Iridium, $25

1/10, 11:30 PM brilliant Danish klezmer jazz ensemble Mames Babagenush at Drom, free. 1/11 at 8:30 they’re at Mehanata for $20, 1/12 at 2 PM they’re at Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church, 155 E 22nd St. ,then 1/13 at 7:30 they’re at the Manhattan JCC for $25, then 1/18 they’re at Golden Fest

1/11, 3 PM Music for 7 Violas by the Momenta Quartet‘s Stephanie Griffin and Tony Prabowo at the Andrew Freedman Home, 1125 Grand Concourse, between McClellan and East 166th, St D to 167th St, free

1/11, 5 PM chanteuse/uke player Dahlia Dumont’s Blue Dahlia playing edgy, smartly lyrically-fueled, jazz-infused tunes in English and French with classic chanson and Caribbean influences followed eventually at 7 by edgy dobro player and Americana/jazz singer  Abbie Gardner at the small room at the Rockwood. Lush, wildly eclectic pan-Mediterranean art-rock/latin/chanson ensemble Banda Magda play down the block at the big room at 9;30 for $15

1/11, 5 PM Sufi percussionist/vocalist Kamyar Arsani at the Center for Remembering and Sharing, $20

1/11, 7:15 ish dark psychedelic, ferociously entertaining acoustic blues/klezmer/reggae/soca jamband Hazmat Modine at Terra Blues.

1/11 ,7:30/9:30 PM ambitious, smart, noir-inclined tenor saxophonist Patrick Cornelius  with Rick Rosato on bass and Carl Allen on drums at the Bar Next Door, $12

1/11, 4 PM tango guitarist Adam Tully followed at 9:30 by  accordion genius Shoko Nagai’s haunting, increasingly loud and psychedelic Tokala Silk Road/klezmer mashup project and then at 11 by pyrotechnic singer Kamala Sankaram’s slinky, surfy, cinematic cumbia/Bollywood band Bombay Rickey at Barbes

1/11, 6 PM the Ekstasis cello-piano Duo play French chamber music by Faure, Ravel, Poulenc and others at Merkin Concert Hall, free

1/11, 7 PM Sounds of Siberia feat. Yuliyana and Nachyn; spellbinding Palestinian oudist Huda Asfour 7:45 PM ; Afro-latin jazz saxophonist Cochemea 8:30 PM;’ bhangra mastermind Sunny Jain’s Wild Wild East 9:15 PM ; psychedelic latin soul band Alba and the Mighty Lions 10:00 PM excellent psychedelic tropicalia/live dub band Combo Lulo 10:45 PM’ Haitian conscious rapper Vox Sambou 11:30 PM; Lyon-based rai bandleader Sofiane Saidi and Mazalda 12:15 AM; more trippy dubwise tropical grooves with Los Cumpleaños 1:00 AM at Drom, $10

 1/11, 7 PM pensive Virginia Americana chanteuse Dori Freeman at the basement room at the Rockwood, $12

 1/11, 7:30/9:30 PM rapturous  pan-Asian singer/multi-instrumentalist Jen Shyu plays her haunting, elegaic solo Zero Grasses suite at the Jazz Gallery, $30

1/11. 8 PM pensive, anthemic parlor pop songwriter Jess Clinton followed by the more trad front-porch style Diana Jones at the People’s Voice Cafe, sugg don, $20, “more if you choose; less if you can’t; no one turned away.”

1/11, 8 PM  soprano Lucy Dhegrae sings works on themes of trauma and triumph by Eve Beglarian, Osnat Netzer, Katherine Young plus pieces by Guillaume de Machaut, Poulenc and others at National Sawdust, $25 adv tix rec

1/11, 9 PM explosive, theatrical, phantasmagorical indie/metal band A Deer A Horse followed by scampering, irrepressibly fun girlpunk/psychedelic band Sharkmuffin at the Broadway, $12. Sharkmuffin are also at Our Wicked Lady on 1/19 at 10:30 for $10

1/11, 10 PM Joanna Mattrey plays the album release for her new one with solo improvised and prepared viola pieces at the Fridman Gallery 169 Bowery, $20,

1/11, 10 PM sizzling electric bluegrass and C&W with Demolition String Band at Skinny Dennis

1/12, noon fiery ecological activist/bandleader Rev. Billy and his massive original gospel-style choir at Joe’s Pub, $15

1/12, 2 PM exhilarating klezmer/latin/cumbia jamband Metropolitan Klezmer and their mostly-female sister band Isle of Klezbos at the Cutting Room, $20 adv tix rdc

1/12, 4 PM first-rate purist honkytonk crooner/bandleader Cliff Westfall and his killer band at Skinny Dennis

1/12, 5 PM the Sometime Boys’ riveting, powerful, theatrical frontwoman Sarah Mucho at Freddy’s

1/12, 5 PM, repeating 1/15 at 7 fearless impresario/pianist Yelena Grinberg plays Handel keyboard suites  at her upper westside piano salon, reception to follow, $35, close to the 1/2/3 train at 96th St., deets here 

1/12, 5:30 PM fiery pianist Connie Han at Birdland, $30 at the bar. Followed at 7 (separate $20 adm) by whirlwind jazz drummer Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom

1/12, 6 PM noir guitar legend Jim Campilongo leads his trio at 55 Bar

1/12, 7 PM the multimedia performance Come‘Round Right pairs sculptural set pieces by Mara Baldwin, inspired by Shaker furniture and crafts, with music by Sarah Hennies based on Shaker hymns, illustrating a Shaker ghost town and its legacy at National Sawdust, $25 adv  tix rec

1/12, 7ish eclectic Americana/front porch folk songstresss Mary-Elaine Jenkins, janglerock guitar maven Teddy Thompson at around 8, then a lame, fussy faux-soul duo and at 10 irrepressible, high-voltage Americana harmony trio Red Molly at Bowery Ballroom, $20 adv tix available at the Mercury

1/12, 7 PM soaring, politically relevant, brilliantly purposeful alto saxophonist Miguel Zenon with pianist Gerald Clayton at Teatro Latea 107 Suffolk St.,, $20/$15 stud

1/12. 8 PM sound artists Todd Barton, Rachelle Rahmé, and Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe build a hypnotic dystopic dreamscape at Roulette, $18 adv tix rec

1/12, 8 PM a super rare NYC appearance by New Zealand’s trombone-driven Rodger Fox Big Band with singer Erna Ferry at Shapeshifter Lab, sug don

1/12, 8:30 PM articulate, lyrical third-stream jazz pianist Laila Biali at the basement room at the Rockwood, $10

1/13, 6 PM the Greenpoint Songwriters Exchange – a diverse bunch playing everything from folk noir to Costelloesque, literary rock to Indian ragas and oldschool soul – at Pete’s

1/13, 6:30 PM bassist Lisa Hoppe with Samantha Boshnak on trumpet and Stephen Boegehold on drums at the Bar Next Door, free wow

 1/13, 7 PM tuneful postbop pianist Jim Ridl leads his group from behind the Rhodesl at 55 Bar

1/13, 7:30 PM in reverse order at the Poisson Rouge: Kevin Eubanks and  erudite pianist Orrin Evans,, whirlwind jazz drummer Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom, plus allstar all-female jazz crew Artemis, $25 adv tix rec

1/13, 8 PM the String Orchestra of Brooklyn celebrate the release of their first studio album, afterimage, with a performance of Chris Cerrone’s High Windows and Jacob Cooper’s Stabat Mater Dolorosa at Roulette, $18 adv tix rec

1/13 8:30 PM exhilarating klezmer/latin/cumbia jamband Metropolitan Klezmer at Drom, free

1/13, midnight boisterously funny oldschool 60s C&W and brooding southwestern gothic with the Jack Grace Band at the Ear Inn

1/14, half past noon Italian organist Mario Verdicchio plays a program tba at Central Synagogue, Lex/54th, free

1/14, 7 PM dark cinematic klezmer art-rockers Barbez‘s Dan Kaufman in a rare duo with percussionist/vibraphonist John Bollinger followed by clever, fiery, eclectic ten-piece Balkan/hip-hop/funk brass maniacs Slavic Soul Party at Barbes, $10

1/14, 7 PM eclectic, hard-hitting, lyrical composer/tenor saxophonist Stan Killian at 55 Bar

1/14-15, 7:30/930 PM  the haunting, smokily atmospheric Michael Leonhart Orchestra at the Jazz Standard, $30. Anat Cohen joins the band on the 14th!

1/14, 7:30 PM the Escher String Quartet with pianist Juho Pohjonen play the Debussy String Quartet plus works by Suk, Brahms and Janacek at Alice Tuly Hall, $34 tix avail

1/14, 8 PM the Istanbul Trio – who with oud, lyra, guitar, vocals, bass and percussion are really a sextet – at Sisters Brooklyn, 900 Fulton St, C to Clinton-Washington, sug don

1/14, 8 PM sizzling Hungarian punk-folk/art-rock string band Bohemian Betyars at Drom, $10 adv tix rec

1/14, 8 PM a good terse, minimalistically intense, lyrically haunting female songwriter twinbill: Erin Durant and Claire Cronin at Trans-Pecos, $10

1/15, 6 PM multistylistic jazz singer/bandleader Tammy Scheffer followed by hard-hitting bassist Dawn Drake & Zapote‘playing psychedelic Afrobeat and funk  at the small room at the Rockwood.  Pastoral gothic accordion art-rock band Sam Reider & the Human Hands are down the block at the big room for $15 at 7

1/15, 7:30 PM cutting-edge, fearlessly woke postbop jazz powerhouse the Curtis Bros. play the album release show for their new one at Dizzy’s Club, $35

1/15, 7:30 PM, 1/16-18 at 8 and 1/18 at 2 PM, “set in a graveyard filled with the persistent cries of visitors in mourning and the music of Zulu Isicathamiya singers , the death-fixated lamentation Cion: Requiem of Ravel’s Boléro draws inspiration from Zakes Mda’s novel,  Cion and Ravel’s Boléro” at the Joyce Theatre, 175 Eighth Ave, $35 tix avail

1/15, 8 PM darkly torchy southwestern gothic/Europolitan songwriter/guitarist Miwa Gemini  followed at 10 by energetic delta blues/Romany swing guitaris Felix Slim  at LIC Bar. He’s also there on 1/19 at 9

1/15, 8 PM feral guitarist Brandon Seabrook leads a trio wih Dan Levin – cello and Henry Fraser – bass at Barbes

1/15-18, 8 PM Deniz Khateri‘s new multimedia performance The Cellos’ Dialogue, “ tells the story of a woman from the Middle East who has immigrated to America and suddenly finds herself struggling with an unexpected pregnancy. Musical experimentation, puppetry, projections, poetic language and action paint an expressionistic portrait of the woman’s tortured psyche as she wrestles with her circumstance,” at Patch Works, 98 Moore St. (Graham/Humboldt), South Williamsburg, J/M to Lorimer St, $20

1/15-19, 8:30 PM darkly tuneful pianist Kris Davis leads a series of ensembles at the Stone at the New School, $20. Choice pick: the 1/18 show with Ingrid Laubrock (sax) Trevor Dunn (bass) Tom Rainey (drums) Mat Maneri (viola) and special guest Jen Shyu (voice)

 1/15, 8:30 PM pyrotechnic clarinetist Ismail Lumanovski’s of the NY Gypsy All-Stars with pianist Ruslan Agababayev at Drom, $10

1/15, 10 PM hotshot fiddler Josie Toney‘s oldtimey string band at Pete’s

 1/15, 10:30 PM tight doom metal band Eternal Black at Arlene’s, $10

 1/16, 7 PM uncluttered, darkly diverse Americana band Kaylor & the Tin Cans at the big room at the Rockwood, $10

1/16, 7:30/9:30 PM bassist Chris Tordini leads a quartet with Red Wierenga on accordion and Anna Webber on tenor sax at the Jazz Gallery, $15

1/16, 7:30 PM Nicaraguan crooner Luis Enrique and wild cuatro band C4 Trio at the Lincoln Center Atrium, free, early arrival advised

1/16-19, 7:30/9:30 PM pyrotechnic postbop tenor saxophonist  David Murray leads his explosive octet at the Jazz Standard, $30

1/16, 7:30 PM noir-tinged art-rock bandleader Agnes Obel at National Sawdust, $25 adv tix rec

1/16, 7:30 PM pianist Per Tengstrand plays Beethoven’s Moonlight, Appasionnata and Pathetique Sonatas at Scandinavia House, $25

 1/16, 7:30 PM acerbic, enigmatic, Lynchian parlor pop/new wave/avant garde band Dollshot followedc by hypnotic minimalist postrockers Matt McBane & Build at Shapeshifter Lab, $tba

 1/16, 7:30 PM oldtime Americana maven Dom Flemons at Symphony Space, $20 for 30 and under, $30 otherwise

1/16, 8 PM feral guitarist Brandon Seabrook‘s twin-drum band Die Trommel Fatale at Nublu 151, $15

1/16, 8 PM edgy lead guitarist Damian Quinones and his psychedelic latin soul band followed by explosive, creepy, colorful psychedelic rembetiko metal band Greek Judas at Barbes

1/16, 8 PM a rare NYC performance by Luxemourg pianist Sabine Weyer with works by Bacri, Scriabin and Miaskovsky at Arete Gallery, $20

1/16, 8 PM the Furies perform their program “A Cure For Hysteria,” featuring 21st century works by Jennifer Walshe, Olga Neuwirth, Elizabeth A. Baker, Thundercunt, and Eve Beglarian; sax quartet Nois perform works by Viet Cuong, Emma O’Halloran, Pauline Oliveros, and Cassie Wieland at Scholes Street Studios, $15

1/16, 8:30 PM Dervisi feat. psychedelic guitarist George Sempepos play “exotic Greek gangsta blues” and Middle Eastern flavored hash smoking anthems at Espresso 77, 35-57 77th Street (just off of 37th Avenue), Jackson Heights

1/16, 10 PM tight ghoulabilly/rockabilly road warriors Lara Hope & the Ark-Tones at Ten Hope, 10 Hope St. in Williamsburg, fre

1/17, 2 PM mezzo-soprano Eve Gigliotti workshops her forthcoming Cindy Sherman-inspired chamber opera exploring pivotal moments in a woman’s life, with music by Ellen Reid, Paola Prestini and Missy Mazzoli at National Sawdust, $20 adv tix rec

1/17, 6 PM composer-collective Oracle Hysterical, with collaborators Hub New Music, premiere “an evening-length collection of songs inspired by the expeditions of a wide-ranging group of ambitious, gritty – and often naive, cruel, and myopic explorers. Text comes from the journals of European ‘New World’ explorers like Columbus, Cortes, and de Soto; Puritan women on their new frontier; the naturalist John James Audubon; the ill-fated Arctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott (whose Terra Nova expedition party never made it home); the ancient king Gilgamesh and his quest to cheat death; and the Chinese mariner, treasure seeker, and builder of giant ships Zheng He” at 1 Rivington St., $15

1/17, 6 PM intense, wickedly tuneful jazz oudist/guitarist Gordon Grdina with his Nomad Trio with pianist Matt Mitchell and drummer Jim Black, at the old Nublu, $10

1/17, 7ish entertainingly shuffling, harmony-driven jug band the Salt Cracker Crazies at Terra Blues

1/17, 7:30 PM and then 1/18 starting at 6 PM and going til maybe 3 in the morning, NYC’s funnest annual music festival, Golden Fest, with over a hundred Balkan, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and other dance bands throughout five different rooms at Grand Prospect Hall in Park Slope. Serbian sweets! Spinach pies! Various pickled munchies and more all included! R train to Prospect Ave, go up the hill, you can’t miss it.

1/17, 7 PM  jangly Laurel Canyon psych-folk songwriter Rebecca Turner at Buunni Performance Space, (4961 Broadway btw 207th Street and Isham in Inwood), $15

1/17, 7 PM, repeating 1/18 at 8 the fearlessly relevant, toweringly intense Arturo O’Farrill & the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra at Symphony Space, $25 tix avail

1/17, 7:30 PM catchy, edgy, fiery tarantella and Romany-inspired jamband Newpoli at Drom, $20

1/17, 8 PM a great avant garde-ish twinbill: moody lo-fi keyboardist/singer Anni Rossi and klezmer-influenced singer/multi-instrumentalist Judith Berkson at the Old American Can Factory, 232 3rd St. in Gowanus,  $15

1/17, 8 PM American Contemporary Music Ensemble perform music of Gavin Bryars at the Tenri Institute, $25/$15 stud

1/17, 8 PM rustic Brazilian jungle guitar-and-accordion sounds with Regional de NY followed at 10 by  psychedelic salsa bandleader Zemog El Gallo Bueno at Barbes

1/17, 8 PM a festival of Tatar song with the Symphony Orchestra of Tatarstan and Eilenkrig Jazz Orchestra at Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, $25 tix avail

1/17-18, 8 PM polyrhythmic jams: Michael Formanek – bass; Mauricio Herrera – percussion; Noel Brennan – percussion; Patricia Brennan – vibraphone at Happy Lucky No. 1 Gallery, $20

1/17, 8 PM drummer Lesley Mok leads her quartet with Cory Smythe on piano followed by transgressively funny postbop saxophonist Jon Irabagon in a rare duo show with pianist Brian Marsella at Scholes Street Studios, $10

1/17, 9 PM one of the great saxophonists in the history of ska, Dave Hillyard leads his Quintet at Sunny’s. The next night 1/18, same time they’re at An Beal Bocht Cafe, 445 W 238th in the Bronx

 1/17, 9 PM the annual Dolly Parton bday singalong at the Jalopy, free

1/17, 9 PM noisy, unpredictably intense female-fronted guitar/drums/organ band Parlor Walls followed by punchy noiserockers Big Bliss at Alphaville, free

1/17, 9:30 PM fiery Portuguese twelve-string guitar sorceress Marta Pereira da Costa at Joe’s Pub, $25

1/17, 10 PM crunchy, individualistic fenale-fronted metal band Sister Thieves – guitar, synth and drums – at Arlene’s $10

1/17, 10:30 PM psychedelic janglerockers American String Conspiracy at Freddy’s

 1/17, 11 PM haphazard, unhinged doom metal band Ether Coven at St. Vitus, $12

1/18, 4 PM the Erik Satie Quartet – Ron Hay (trombone), Max Seigel (bass trombone), Ben Holmes (trumpet), and Andrew Hadro (bari sax) –reinvent classic and obscure Satie chamber pieces as well as rare compositions by his obscure contemporaries, followed at 6 by wildly eclectic, edgy,lyrical soul/jazz cellist/singer Marika Hughes followed at 8 by intense, lyrical jazz bassist/composer Pedro Giraudo leading his Tango Quartet and at 10 by ex-Chicha Libre keyboard sorcerer Josh Camp’s wryly psychedelic cumbia/tropicalia/dub band Locobeach at Barbes

1/18, 7 PM fiery ecological activist/bandleader Rev. Billy and his massive original gospel-style choir at Buunni Performance Space, (4961 Broadway btw 207th Street and Isham in Inwood), $10, “nobody turned away”

1/18, 7 PM  unusually adventurous indie classical ensembles Hotel Elefant &  eclectic indie classical piano trio Bearthoven  play music by Fjóla Evans and Leaha Maria Villarreal at Arete Gallery, sug don

1/18, 8 PM Matt Sargent and Zach Rowden‘s Tide for ten basses, whooooah, at Scholes St Studios, $10

1/18, 8ish atmospherically anthemic Indian-influenced spacerock band Humeysha at Elsewhere, $12

1/18. 9 PM hip-hop artist Major Taylor followed by scorching political punk band the 1865 at BAM Cafe, get there early

1/18. 9 PM pounding, hypnotic no wave/noisecore band Kralice at St. Vitus, $12

1/18 9 PM bass goddess/soul singer Felice Rosser’s ageless reggae-rock-groove band Faith at the Way Station

1/18, 10 PM amusing weedhead rapper Kaheim Rivera followed by messy, funny female-fronted punk/80s band Ashjesus at the Broadway, $12

1/19, 3 PM Jessica Park, violin; Benjamin Larsen, cello; Hyungjin Choi, piano play works by Natalie Dietterich, Robert Sirota, Frank Bridge and Mozart at Concerts on the Slope, St. John’s Episcopal Church, 139 St. John’s Place, downhill from 7th Ave, Park Slope, any train to Grand Army Plz, sugg don

1/19, 5 PM bassist Sam Suggs plays solo bass arrangements of famous and not so famous classical works tba at the Lounge at Hudson View Gardens, 128 Pinehurst Ave @ W 183rd St, A train or #1 train (to 181st St) or the M4 bus (to 183rd St), $15/$12 stud/srs

1/19, 5:30 PM lavish, slinky latin noir big band jazz with the  Scott Reeves Jazz orchestra at Birdland, $30

1/19, 6:30 PM haunting Middle Eastern jazz bassist Petros Klampanis and his group followed eventually by similarly haunting violinist Layale Chaker at Drom, $20

1/19, 7 PM brilliant steel guitarist Mike Neer’s Steelonious – who do Monk covers in the same vein as Buddy Emmons –   followed at 9:30  by Romany jazz/psychedelic rock guitar mastermind Stephane Wrembel at Barbes

1/19, 7 PM pianists Brian Mark, Isabelle “Izzy” O’Connell, and Kathleen Supové join to explore the subject of migration and human struggle in a multidisciplinary setting with flutist Tessa Brinckman playing works by Meredith Monk, Missy Mazzoli, Randall Woolf, Howie Kenty, and Mary Kouyoumdjian, among others plus world premieres by Valerie Coleman and Raymond Deane at Arete Gallery $15

1/19, 9 PM Slovenian saxophonist Jan Kus’ Slavo Rican Assembly at the big room at the Rockwood $10

1/20, 7 ish epic haunting goth-tinged slowcore band Vestments, moody lo-fi keyboardist/singer Anni Rossi and the darkly armospheric Sondra Sun-Odeon at St. Vitus, $10

1/20, 7:30 PM soprano sax star Sam Newsome leads a quartet with Angelica Sanchez on piano at Smalls

1/20, 8/10:30 PM cutting-edge vibraphonist Joel Ross’ genuinely Good Vibes band at the Blue Note, $20 at the bar

1/20, 9 PM deviously funny, satirically-inclined Americana rockers Whisperado play the album release show for their new one at Arlene’s, $10

1/20, 9;30 PM trumpeter Sonny Singh’s “revolutionary devotional Sikh music”project at Barbes

1/21, drinks at 5:30 PM, show at 6, violinist Lauren Cauley leads a 21st century music ensemble at the Miller Theatre, free

1/21, 7:30 PM this era’s most fearlessly relevant, hard-hitting tenor saxophonist, JD Allen leads his explosive new trio at Smalls followed at 10:30 by charismatic, adventurous postbop/avant garde trombonist/crooner Frank Lacy

1/21, 7:30 PM pianist Xiaohui Yang plays works by Beethoven, Saint-Saens, Faure, Chopin, Shulamit Ran and others at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, $20

 1/21, 7:30/9:30 PM purist postbop jazz guitarist Ed Cherry leads his organ trio with Kyle Koehler on the B3 at the Jazz Standard, $30

1/21-25, 8:30/11 PM iconic fire-and-ice jazz singer Karrin Allyson plays Mose Allison at Birdland, $30, wow, could be amazing

1/21, 9 PM drummer Arthur Vint & Associates reinvent classic Morricone spaghetti western soundtracksat Skinny Dennis

1/22, 7 PM pianist Lucas Debargue plays works by Ravel and Scarlatti at National Sawdust, $25 adv tic rec

 1/22, 7:30 PM bassist Alexis Cuadrado leads a group playing live film scores for Alice Guy-Blaché’s The Consequences of Feminism and Algie the Miner, Harold M. Shaw’s The Land Beyond the Sunset and Charlie Chaplin’s The Immigrant at the World Financial Center, free

1/22-25, 8 PM, also 1/25 at 3 not a music event but seems cool: Cameron Stuart’s new play Police in the Wilderness, “a narrative set in a future where burying or honoring the dead is illegal. Enforcers of these laws are agents of The Order, a cult that opposes symbols, language, and thinking. When an unmarked grave is discovered in the wilderness, a confrontation occurs between the local police and an old hermit. After a priest of The Order gets involved, a profane ritual unfolds with unforeseen consequences,” at Patch Works, 98 Moore St. (Graham/Humboldt), South Williamsburg, J/M to Lorimer St, $15

 1/22, 7 PM furious, politically fearless soul-punk/postrock band Algiers play the album release show for their new one at Rough Trade, free w/vinyl purchase

1/22, 8 PM singer Dida Pelled salutes obscure and cult favorite women songwriters including Connie Converse, Elizabeth Cotten, Molly Drake, Vashti Bunyan and Norma Tanega at Barbes

 1/22, 8 PM dark, savagely brilliant guitarist Ava Mendoza and viola sorceress Jessica Pavone at Happy Lucky No. 1 Gallery. They’re also there on 129

 1/22, 8:30 PM haunting Middle Eastern violinist Layale Chaker & Sarafand: Jake Charkey (cello) Phillip Golub (piano) Nick Dunston (bass) Adam Maalouf (percussion) at the Stone at the New School, $20

1/22, 9 PM lush, snidely lyrical parlor pop/new wave band Office Culture at the Sultan Room, $10

1/22, 9 PM slashing guitarist Steve Antonakos plays slide guitar blues with his band at Bar Chord

1/22, 10:30 PM shapeshifting pianist Sullivan Fortner solo at Mezzrow, $20

1/23, 7 PM plaintive Iranian classical songs with Amir Vahab and ensemble at the People’s Forum, 320 W 37th St, $15

1/23, 7 PM lustrous singer and badass cello-rock bandleader Serena Jost at Pangea

1/23, 7:30 PM plush, balmy, playful oldtimey uke swing band Daria Grace & the Pre-War Ponies at Symphony Space, $20 for 30 and under, $30 otherwise

1/23, 7:30 PM trippy dubwise tropical grooves with Los Cumpleaños at the Lincoln Center Atrium, free, early arrival advised

1/23. 7:30 PM organist Clara Gerdes plays her new arrangement of Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloe Suite No. 2, as well as Julius Reubke’s iconically venomous Sonata on the 94th Psalm at St. Bartholomew’s Cathedral, free, wow

 1/23, 8 PM mutimedia artists and improvisers including  Sugar Vendil, Jean Carla Rodea, Popebama (Erin Rogers and Dennis Sullivan) play and debate the relevance of new music in a 21st century, historically-informed context at Arete Gallery, $15

1/23, 8 PM composer Scott Johnson and indie classical ensemble ensemble Contemporaneous  play relevant new works examining nationalism and racism, inspired by the sampled voices of immigrants to the US at Roulette, $18 adv tix rec

1/23-24, 8 PM hauntingly jangly noir Americana/surf/punkgrass band the Sadies  at Union Pool,$20, yessssss, they slayed here the last couple of times

 1/23, 8 PM brooding Bulgarian art-rock chanteuse Ruth Koleva at Drom, $20 adv tix rec

1/23, 8 PM pianist Tianqi Du performs 13 pieces  from Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I & II, and Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op.87. at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, $30 tix avail

1/23. 8 PM conversational pianist Jeffrey Siegel plays works by Grieg, Stenhammar, Sibelius, Nielsen, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff at Scandinavia House, $25

 1/23-26, 8:30 PM rapturous  pan-Asian singer/multi-instrumentalist Jen Shyu leads a series of groups at the Stone at the New School, $20. Choice pick: 1/24 with violist Mat Maneri, remixed live by Ikue Mori

1/23, 8:30 PM Nick Cave-ish psychedelic bandleader J Hacha de Zolla followed by ferocious psychedelic guitarist Debra Devi at Headroom Bar & Social, 150 Bay St, Jersey City, $10, Path train to Grove St

1/23, 9ish wild live techno with sax-and-drums monsters Moon Hooch at Bowery Ballroom, $20 adv tix rec available at the Mercury

1/23, 9 PM Certain General guitarslinger Phil Gammage plays his dark Americana and blues at 11th St Bar

1/24, 7 PM trumpetert Kate Amrine plays the album release show for her new protest record with music by Gemma Peacocke, Kevin Joest, Jacob TV, Niloufar Nourbakhsh, Ruby Fulton, Howie Kenty, and original compositions, joined by Ford Fourqurean on clarinet, Leanne Friedman on alto flute, and Richard Harris on trombone, t Spectrum, $15

1/24, 7 PM composer David ieri presents an “audacious” new live score for Carl Th. Dreyer’s 1928 silent film classic La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc, at the Greene Space, $25

1/24, 7 PM not a music event but relevant: a screening of Astra Taylor’s provocative new documentary What Is Democracy followed by a book signing for her new book Democracy May Not Exist, but We’ll Miss It When It’s Gone. at Buuni, 4961 Broadway btw 207th Street and Isham in Inwood). Sug don

1/24, 7:30 PM the New Juilliard Ensemble play works by women composers Jacqueline Fontyn, Ursula Mamlok, Ruth Crawford Seeger, Elisabeth Lutyens, Galina Ustvolskaya at the Sharp Theatre at Juilliard, free, tix req 

1/2,4 8 PM best twinbill of the year so far: timeless, haunting, playful octogenarian Armenian jazz sage and multi-reedman Souren Baronian‘s Taksim followed by the world’s creepiest, slinkiest, most psychddelic crime jazz/film noir band, Big Lazy at Barbes

1/24-25, 8 PM the reliably entertaining, adventurous Chelsea Symphony play Jennifer Higdon’s elegiac blue cathedral, TCS’ first drumset concerto presentation, Just Say Yes, by Alexandra Gardner featuring Michael Blancaflor and Milhaud’s first cello concert with Kurt Behnke, both on Friday night’s performance. Saturday’s concert includes Sara Dudley’s soloist debut on the William Walton viola concerto; both shows conclude with Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 at the DiMenna Center $25

1/24, 9 PM amazingly versatile, genuinely Hendrixian guitar shredder Viva DeConcini followed by bass sax monster Stefen Zeniuk’s punk mambo crew the NY Fowl Harmonic at Branded Saloon

1/24, 10 PM allusively haunting, minimalist folk noir singer Belle-Skinner at the Owl

1/25, 4 PM high-energy Afro-Colombian trance-dance band Grupo Rebolu at Flushing Town Hall, $14

 1/25, 7 PM New York’s most charismatic, darkly compelling lyrical songwriter/storyteller/keyboard genius Rachelle Garniez‘ annual goodbye party – saluting some of those who’ve left us this year – at Pangea, $25

1/25, 7 PM Egyptian exile and firebrand songwriter Ramy Essam and visual artist Ganzeer team up with playwrights/ musicians The Lazours to commemorate and keep the hope of the Arab Spring alive .at National Sawdust, $20 adv tix rec

1/25, 7 PM four sets of improvisation til 11 starting with pianist Eric Zinman‘s New Language Collaborative +2, Matt Lavelle‘s Night River septet with the bandleader on bass clarinet, multi-reedman JD Parran sparring with guitarist Dave Ross and then at 10 another multireedman, Ras Moshe’s sextet at Scholes Street Studios, $10

1/25, 7:30 PM the Rosamunde String Quartet play works by Mendelssohn, Kevin Puts and Schubert at Washington Irving High School, 40 Irving Pl, $18

 1/25, 8 PM NY Baroque Incorporated sing works by Handel, Lully, Muffat and Telemann at the Miller Theatre, $30 seats aavil

1/25, 9 PM the Jaded Babies play their theatrical, quirky, comedic mashups of punk and art-rock at LP n Harmony, 683 Grand St in Williamsburg, free, take the G to Lorimer

1/25, 9 PM the Dirty Waltz Band- a seven-piece group playing more than a dozen instruments in 3/4 time from Balkan, Irish, jazz, blues and American folk traditions – at the Jalopy, $15

 1/25, 10 PM slinky, hypnotic percussive Moroccan trance band Innov Gnawa at Barbes

 1/25, 11 PM one of the great saxophonists in the history of ska, Dave Hillyard and the Rocksteady 7 at the Gutter, $7

 1/26, 2 PM a rare US appearance by raucous Chinese central plains party ensemble Zhou Family Band at Flushing Town Hall, $18

1/26, 6ish haunting folk noir/Americana songwriter Emily Frembgen at LIC Bar

1/26, 7 PM guitarists Jim Campilongo and Steve Cardenas duke it out followed by paradigm-shifting Romany jazz/psychedelic rock guitar mastermind Stephane Wrembel at Barbes

1/26, 7 PM tenor saxophonist Sam Weinberg, feral guitarist Brandon Seabrook and bassist Henry Fraser duel; it out; then bassist Charlie Kirchen leads his Trio at Scholes Street Studios, $10

1/26, 8 PM high-voltage psychedelic cumbia/Afrobeat jamband MAKU Soundsystem  at C”Mon Everybody, $10

1/26, 8 PM pissed-off funny punkish music for the disenfranchised: irresistibly funny political all-female punk trio Witchslap, the even more pissed-off Bint, the even rougher Que Sick, the sardonically spot-on Anxious? Anxious!, haphazard dark punkish female-fronted band Cruel Children at Footlight Bar, $10

1/26, midnight psychedelic cinematic Italophile instrumentalists/parodists Tredici Bacci at the Mercury, $10 adv tix rec

1/27, 7 PM jazz vibraphonist Stefon Harris and Blackout at the Schomburg Center, free

 1/27, 7 PM atmospheric, psychedelic violinist/singer Concetta Abbate and Rose Stoller pull “ambient lullabies” out of the ether at Footlight Bar, sug don

1/27, 10ish  feral singer Carolina Oliveros’ mighty 13-piece Afro-Colombian trance/dance choir Bulla en el Barrio at Barbes

1/28, 7:30 PM the New Juilliard Ensemble play works by female composers Vivian Fine ,Florence Price, Young-ja Lee, Priaulx Rainier and Mary Lou Williams at the Sharp Theatre at Juiliard, free , tix req 

1/28, 7:30 PM iconic art-rockers the Bang on a Can All-Stars play world premieres by Amanda Berlind, Alvin Curran, Hildur Guðnadóttir and Qasim Naqvi, plus Phil Kline’s Exquisite Corpses and Julius Eastman’s “super-groove” Stay on It at Merkin Concert Hall, $25

1/28, 8 PM haunting, magical Middle Eastern classical singer Shelley Thomas plays oud with classical ensemble Brooklyn Takht at Sisters Brooklyn, 900 Fulton St, C to Clinton-Washington, sug don

1/28, 8 PM a sizzling New Orleans brass night at Drom: the badass, original all-female Brass Queens, hip hop-influenced Flowingos and diverse, latin-influenced Brass Monkeys, $10 gen adm

1/28, 8 PM the hauntingly hallucinatory film Mother Sparrow by Sonya Belaya and Eryka Dellenbach plus live music performance by Belaya’s ensemble Dacha and a live dance performance of Make the Brutal Tender by Nola Sporn Smith and Dellenbach, at Roulette, $18 adv tix rec

1/29, 7 PM rainy-day art-rock/Balkan jazz singer Tamara Jokic followed at 8:30 by intense, rapturous Balkan/Middle Eastern ensemble the Secret Trio –Tamer Pinarbasi, Ismail Lumanovski & Ara Dinkjian – at Drom, $10

1/29, 7 PM Peter Abinger remixes Eric Wubbels’ piano live at the Austrian Cultural Center, free, res req. “Ablinger likes to think about Voices and Piano as his song-cycle, though nobody is singing in it: the voices are all spoken statements from speeches, interviews or readings. And the piano is not really accompanying the voices: the relation of the two components is to be seen more as a competition. Speech and music is being compared. We can also say: reality and perception. Reality/speech is continuous, perception/music is a grid, which tries to approach speech. Actually the piano part is the temporal and spectral scan of the respective voice, something like a coarse gridded photograph it is the analysis of the voice. Music analyses reality….”

1/29, 7:30 PM the New Juilliard Ensemble play works by female composers Miriam Gideon, Vítězslava Kapralova, Germaine Tailleferre, Ruth Crawford Seeger, Margaret Sutherland, Grete von Zieritz, at the Sharp Theatre at Juiliard, free , tix req

1/29-2/1, 7:30/9:30 PM this era’s most consistently interesting jazz pianist, Vijay Iyer at the Jazz Standard, $30. Solo on the 29th, with a trio the rest of the way plus special guest Wadada Leo Smith on trumpet on 2/1, wow

 1/29, 830 PM perennially interesting piano/percussion ensemble Yarn/Wire leads a series of groups at the Stone at the New School, $20. Choice pick: 1/31 with bassoonist Katie Young

1/29, 9 PM Melissa Gordon of Melissa & the Mannequins, one of the best purist janglerock songwriters in NYC, at LIC Bar

1/29 9ish ntense, wickedly tuneful jazz oudist/guitarist Gordon Grdina with his band at I-Beam, $15

 1/29, 9:30 PM ambient electroacoustic sitarist/composer Ami Dang at Joe’s Pub, $15

1/30, 7 PM thoughtfully explorator pianist Yoko MIwa leads her trio at Birdland, $20 at the bar

 1/30, 7:30 PM the New Juilliard Ensemble play works by female composers Lili Boulanger, Peggy Glanville-Hicks, Johanna Magdalena Beyer, Louise Talma, Margaret Bonds, Myriam Marbe, Amy Beach and Ruth Zechlin at the Sharp Theatre at Juiliard, free , tix req 

1/30, 7:30 PM sprawling psychedelic funk jamband Burnt Sugar reinvent songs from Porgy & Bess at the Lincoln Center Atrium, free, early arrival advised

 1/30, 8 PM pianist Simone Dinnerstein leads a quartet playing Bach keyboard sonatas at the Miller Theatre, $30

1/30, 10 PM zabumba player Mike LaValle’s original forro band with Vitor Gonçalves on accordion at Barbes

1/30-31, 10 PM trip-metal doomscapers Wolf Eyes at Union Pool, $15

 1/31, 7 PM hard-hitting latin jazz pianist Donald Vega leads his trio at Birdland, $20 at the bar

 1/31, 7 PM the Neel Murgai Ensemble play the album release show for his new Indian string band record with amazing violin duo Arun Ramamurthy and Trina Basu at the Rubin Museum of Art, $30

 1/31, 7:30 PM the New Juilliard Ensemble play works by female composers Betsy Jolas, Grażyna Bacewicz, Ethel Smyth, Thea Musgrave, ​Sofia Gubaidulina with Raphael Vogl, organ at Alice Tully Hal, free , tix req at the box ofc

1/31, 7:30/9:30 PM Marcus Strickland, JD Allen and Stacy Dillard lead a ferocious tenor sax frontline with rhythm section at the Jazz Gallery, $30

1/31, 8 PM perennially sharp, hilarious avant garde icon Laurie Anderson at Happy Lucky No. 1 Gallery no joke, get there early, $20

1/31, 10 PM Cumbiagra – who’ve been going in a much more psychedelic, electric cumbia direction lately at Barbes

Full calendar for February coming 2/1

2/1, 2:30 PM the NY Classical Players perform the Debussy String Quartet, Dvorak’s American String Quartet and the Ravel Sonata for Violin and Cello at the NYPL for the Performing Arts out back of Lincoln Center free

2/1, 7:30 PM ruthlessly funny, politically satirical faux-folk duo Friends Who Folk (Rachel Wenitsky and Ned Riseley) at Union Hall,702 Union St. north of 7th Ave, R to Union St and walk uphill, $10

2/6, 7:30 PM the Telegraph Quartet play a program tba at the Lincoln Center Atrium, free, early arrival advised

2/6, 10ish explosive, creepy, colorful psychedelic rembetiko metal band Greek Judas at Niagara, Ave A/7th St

 2/13 ,7:30 PM hotshot, purist bassist Endea Owens leads her band at the Lincoln Center Atrium, free, early arrival advised

2/17, 7:30 PM vocal and piano group Mirror Visions Ensemble “explores The Disappearing Art of Letter Writing: letters of love and vengeance, reports from the North Pole, missives asking for money or forgiveness, including correspondence of Abraham Lincoln, Emily Dickinson, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Gertrude Stein, and Sullivan Ballou. Tom Cipullo provides indispensable instruction with a newly commissioned Guide to Letter Writing, along with works by Gwyneth Walker, Cole Porter, Wolfgang Erich Korngold, Dominick Argento, Richard Pearson Thomas and Christopher Berg” at the Sheen Center, $25/$15 for students

2/20, 7:30 PM high-voltage oldschool salsa dura with longtime Tito Puente sideman John “Dandy” Rodriguez’s “Dream Team” at the Lincoln Center Atrium, free, early arrival advised

2/23, 5 PM the Fair Trade Trio with pianist Taisiya Pushkar play works by Faure, Schnittke and Jessica Meyer at Our Savior’s Atonement, 178 Bennett Ave (one block west of Broadway at 189th St, frees

2/24, drinks at 5:30 PM, show at 6, violinist Austin Wulliman & pianist Conrad Tao at the Miller Theatre, free

2/27, 7:30 PM intense, atmospheric chanteuse Imani Uzuri and ensemble “share an intimate chamber concert of compositions from her various works for voice, strings, flute and piano” at the Lincoln Center Atrium, free, early arrival advised

3/19-21 the NY premiere of Susan Kander and Roberta Gumbel’s new chamber opera DWB (Driving While Black) with live score by cello/percussion duo New Morse Code at the Bauch College auditorium, $36/$16 stud

3/31, drinks at 5:30 PM, show at 6, the new generation’s most eclectic jazz harpist, Brandee Younger & bassist Dezron Douglas at the Miller Theatre, free

4/14 drinks at 5:30 PM, show at 6, indie classical supergroup the Hands Free – James Moore, guitar & banjo; Caroline Shaw, violin Eleonore Oppenheim, bass; Nathan Koci, accordionat the Miller Theatre, free

Escaping the Nazis with a Quartet for the End of Time

Olivier Messiaen premiered his Quartet for the End of Time in a Nazi prison camp. There’s no way of knowing exactly what he was thinking at the time, but it’s probably safe to say that he considered that maybe this could have been his last concert, and the last piece of music he’d ever write. And while much of it is macabre, there’s a transgresssive subtext: we’re going to make a break for it and get the hell out of here, Messiaen seems to be saying. And he got away with it, right under the Nazis’ noses!

As it turned out, Messiaen didn’t have to go through with an escape plan, and there were no reprisals. Either the Nazis didn’t get it, or they didn’t take him seriously. He would eventually be liberated in 1941 and go on to write lots of other somewhat less creepy music. The new recording of the Quartet for the End of Time by clarinetist Raphael Severe with the Trio Messiaen – streaming at Spotify – is worth owning just for the liner notes. Long story short: new scholarship reveals that the composer didn’t write all of it in the Nazi camp. Like so many other European artists, he’d volunteered to fight the Nazis, but this harrowing suite underscores how much he hated wartime conditions.

There are parts of the new album that sound fast, and others that sound slow, although that perception uptimately proves false. It’s probably due to how intensely Severe and the group – pianist Théo Fouchenneret, cellist Volodia van Keulen and violinist David Petrlik– tackle the piece. The many passages that evoke the songs of the birds that Messiaen loved so much are muted and distant, a taunt to a prisoner who can only hear them. The aching, acidically immersive, apocalyptic rapture of the final movement drags on and on – exactly as the composer persuaded his bandmates to play it the first time around. But the frantic, stormy moments before then are just short of grand guignol. Messiaen, a devout Catholic, left no doubt how sincere his liturgical themes of struggle and salvation were, but here the real-life horror narrative is inescapably, barely concealed amidst the shrieks, sprints and sudden swells.

There aren’t many other pieces of music for such a strange lineup as piano, violin, clarinet and cello, but the group found one: Thomas Ades‘ Studies from his opera The Tempest. These short character sketches – Messiaen-inspired instrumental arrangements of operatic themes – run the gamut from calm pensiveness to brooding melancholy.

 

It’s Been a Typically Eclectic Year at Upper Manhattan’s Home for Adventurous New Classical Sounds

If new classical music is your thing, don’t let any possible twee, gentrifier associations scare you away from the Miller Theatre‘s series of so-called “pop-up” concerts. For almost a decade now, Columbia’s comfortable auditorium at the top of the stairs at the 116th St. stop on the 1 train has been home to an often spectacularly good series of free, early evening performances of 21st century works along with the occasional blast from the past. The name actually reflects how impromptu these shows were during the series’ first year, and while the schedule now extends several months ahead, new events still do pop up unexpectedly. Sometimes there’s free beer and wine, sometimes not, but that’s not the main attraction, testament to how consistently solid the programming here has become.

This past fall’s first concert was a revelatory world premiere of John Zorn’s new JMW Turner-inspired suite for solo piano, played with virtuosic verve by Steven Gosling; that one got a rave review here. The October episode, with indie classical chamber ensemble Counterinduction playing an acerbic, kinetic series of works by their charismatic violist Jessica Meyer, was also fantastic. Various permutations of the quintet, Meyer joined by violinist Miranda Cuckson, cellist Caleb van der Swaagh, clarinetist and bass clarinetist Benjamin Fingland and pianist Ning Yu began with the dappled shades of I Only Speak of the Sun, then brought to life the composer’s many colorful perspectives on Guadi’s Sagrada Familia cathedral in a dynamic, high-voltage partita. The most bracing number of the evening, Meyer explained, drew on a David Foster Wallace quote regarding how “ the truth will set you free, but not until it lets you go,”

There were many other memorable moments here throughout the past year. In February, Third Sound played an assured but deliciously restless take of Schoenberg’s Chamber Symphony No. 1 along with a mixed bag of material from south of the border. A month later, pianist Marilyn Nonken parsed uneasily lingering works by Messiaen and Tristan Murail.

Then in April, Rebecca Fischer delivered a fascinating program of solo violin pieces along with some new arrangements. The highlight was a reinvention of Missy Mazzoli‘s incisively circling Death Valley Junction. Fischer also ran through an increasingly thorny, captivating Paola Prestini piece, along with brief, often striking works by Lisa Bielawa, Gabriela Lena Frank and Suzanne Farrin.

Last month, Tak Ensemble tackled elegantly minimalist chamber material by Tyshawn Sorey and Taylor Brook. And December’s concert featured firebrand harpist Bridget Kibbey, who played the Bach Toccata in D faster than any organist possibly could, then slowed down for simmering, relatively short pieces by Albeniz and Dvorak among others.

The next Miller Theatre “pop-up” concert on the calendar is next January 21 at 6 PM with violinist Lauren Cauley.

A Dreamy, Hypnotic Holiday Celebration with Roomful of Teeth and Tigue at the Guggenheim

Last night Roomful of Teeth sang a cocooning, dynamically pulsing, brilliantly conceived site-specific program, beneath and sometimes on the rotunda at the Guggenheim Museum. Conductor Brad Wells marveled at the space’s natural reverb, whose benefits were bolstered by the presence of percussion trio Tigue on several numbers.

The night’s most striking and hauntingly memorable song was Sarah Riskind‘s 2016 Hanerot Halalu, based on a stark melody in the chromatic Jewish freygish mode. Tynan Davis introduced that one from the second level of the balcony, the rest of the octet gathered on the ground-floor stage, Esteli Gomez eventually tossing the melody back up to her with similar elegance. Counterintuitively, the choir reconvened and followed with Gustav Holst’s wistful, folksy 1906 song In the Bleak Midwinter.

To open the evening, Tigue held the ground floor with their subtle, snowy accents while the choir, gathered four flights up on the balcony, delivered an emphatic, minimalistic new arrangement of Praetorius’ 1609 motet Lo, How a Rose. Caroline Shaw, who seems to have become the ringleader of this merry band, explained that the night’s bill was “A mix of the familiar and the unknown, by design,” works selected to rise up and ripple around the space. The two ensembles would come full circle at the end with more stately, reverent Praetorius, Tigue up on the balcony this time with handbells to add delicate tingle to the mix.

The night’s most dramatic, dynamically charged piece was Caleb Burhans‘ 2010 partita Beneath, ascending and falling with catchy, simple riffs punctuating slowly crescendoing, tectonic layers. Shaw described the world premiere of On Snow, which the Guggenheim’s Works and Process series (of which this concert was a part) had commissioned from her, as being “Music of the 17th century melting bit by bit.” The ensemble couldn’t conceal the fun they were having with the music’s coy, loopy, swoopy motives, bolstered by an elegant, slow crescendo by Tigue, from a ripple to a rumble.

Jeremy Faust’s Jubilo came across as a purposeful blend of minimalism and Renaissance polyphony. The choir followed the dreamy counterpoint of the 16th century Coventry Carol with the steady wave motion of Wells’ 2014 composition Render. Then Tigue built a matter-of-fact yet playful thicket of polyrhythms, the choir eventually interpolating airy swells and gentle gusts.

After the rhythmically pulsing variations of Judah Adashi‘s 2014 Bjork-inspired piece My Heart Comes Undone, the whole crew – also including baritone Jason Awbrey, bass Cameron Beauchamp, tenor Eric Dudley, baritone Jeffrey Gavett, sopranos Abigail Lennox  and Sarah Brailey – seemed to relish the wryly dipping, undulating quasi-mordents of Shaw’s Sarabande, from her Pulitzer Prizewinning 2011 suite.

This was the final concert at the Guggenheim this year. The museum’s events series continues next year with plenty of dance, opera and theatre as well.

Lush, Low-Register Rainy-Day Sonics from One-Woman Orchestra Maya Beiser

What does the famous Adagio from Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata sound like on a cello? Lush, and trippy, and as gothic as gothic gets. That’s how cellist Maya Beiser plays it, overdubbing herself into a broodingly lustrous one-woman string orchestra, with some magical overtones trailing toward the end. And that’s not even the most memorable track on her allusively apocalyptic latest album delugEON, streaming at Spotify.

Beiser’s choice of material is as diversely interesting as usual, with more of a loopmusic influence than ever. The light electronic touches are unobtrusive, mostly limited to sustain effects and subtle rhythmic loops. The album’s centerpiece is Slow Seasons, a stunningly saturnine, somewhat abridged reinvention of the iconic Vivaldi suite, completely transformed by transpositions to the lower registers and tempos at halfspeed or less. She opens with the slow, expressive Autumn, followed by the shivery, rather chilly Summer. By contrast, Spring can’t seem to extricate itself from winter’s icy grip. Winter itself, a delicate canon pulsing along with echoey pizzicato, seems balmy by comparison.

Lkewise, Water is a stripped-down, moodily atmospheric take on a glacially paced, famously apocalyptic Messiaen theme, Beiser’s overdubs imbued with such a cantabile quality that it’s practically a chorale. Then she raises the energy somewhat with a windswept, tectonically shifting take of Monteverdi’s Ah Dolente Partita

Beiser’s Stabat Mater has a dirgey, minimalist rusticity consistent with its medieval origins. The album ends with its most epic yet minimalistically baroque track, Purcell’s When I Am Laid in Earth, its aching rises and falls grounded in Beiser’s most somber textures here. Rainy-day music at the end of the decade doesn’t get much better than this.

An Exhilirating, Revelatory Carnegie Hall Debut by the Aizuri Quartet

In their Carnegie Hall debut last night, the Aizuri Quartet played an exhilarating, “wonderfully quirky” program, as violinist Miho Saegusa grinningly characterized a lively, animatedly conversational performance of Haydn’s String Quartet in B minor, Op. 64, no. 2. And that wasn’t the highlight of the night. The suite of Komitas’ Armenian folk songs, via a colorful Sergei Aslamazian arrangement, were often gorgeously poignant. And Paul Wiancko‘s 2016 triptych Lift, an “ode to joy,” as violist Ayane Kozasa put it, was a thrilling, ceaslessly bustling, distinctly urban choice of coda. Wiancko is a cellist by trade: his work for strings takes maximum advantage of all those instruments can offer.

The theme of the night was “locally sourced” music inspired by the composers’ home turf that also resonated with the group members. Cellist Karen Ouzounian explained that the night’s five dances collected by Komitas – a Near Eastern musical polymath and proto Alan Lomax– were “a musical link for a lot of families in the diaspora to a distant home…a tiny window into Armenia.” Growing up in Toronto, she’d developed a passion for the repertoire, something the group clearly share.

The wistfully waltzing song without words they opened with set the bar almost impossibly high for the rest of the night, lit up with Saegusa’s sparkling pizzicato. They’d revisit that plaintiveness with the third piece, a distantly Viennese-tinged waltz, Kozasa adding aching intensity with a solo toward the end. In between, a kinetic, celebratory number featured forceful call-and-response and a nimble pizzicato bassline from Ouzounian. The acerbic fourth tune, with its uneasy, Iranian-tinged modalities and stormy gusts, morphed into a jauntier waltz that set the stage for a bounciy vamping conclusion.

In the Haydn, violinist Emma Frucht got to indulge in some unusual single-string voicings that the composer had written for a string-playing buddy. The group reveled in the occasional puckish, peek-a-boo moment and coy instants of anticipation: they’d really taken the quartet apart to find all the best jokes. Dynamics were very hushed in the quietest passages, so that when the group really dug into the Romany-inspired minor-key phrases that Haydn would inevitably smooth out, the effect was all the more striking. Deft handoffs of neatly interwoven counterpoint between the instruments became more animated as the music grew more straightforwardly triumphant, to a playful coda.

Wiancko’s triptych had a cinematic restlessness, a hive of activity built around several intriguing thematic variations. The ensemble kicked it off memorably with a shiver of harmonics, quickly hitting a bustle that brought to mind Charles Mingus’ mid-50s work. Seemingly tongue-in-cheek rounds of pizzicato gave way to circular, Philip Glass-ine phrasing and some of the night’s most unselfconsciously lustrous harmonies between the violins. As the piece went on, lively swoops and dives along with a long series of short, colorful solo spots for each of the instruments mingled with hazy atmospherics, Debussy-esque echoes of ragtime and a return to a frenetic cityscape to tie up any possible loose end. What appeared to be a sold-out crowd exploded with a series of standing ovations.

The Aizuri Quartet’s next New York gig is Dec 15 at 11 AM at Subculture, playing a program TBA; cover is $20, which includes coffee and breakfast snacks. Concert Artists Guild, who sponsored this show, also have a characteristically innovative series of performances from future stars of the serious instrumental music world. Their next one is Feb 11, 2020 at 7:30 PM back at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, with pianist Yi-Nuo Wang playing works by Rachmaninoff, Bartok, Brahms, Chen-yi Lee and Liszt; tix are $30.

Live Music Calendar for New York City and Brooklyn for December 2019

Daily updates – if you go out a lot, you might want to bookmark this page and check back regularly.

After the end of December, this calendar won’t be updated. Check the January calendar for the latest listings.

If you’re leaving your hood, don’t get stuck waiting for a train that never comes, make sure you check the MTA delays and out-of-service page for service cancellations and malfunctions, considering how unreliable the subway is at night and on the weekend.

If you don’t recognize a venue where a particular act is playing, check the comprehensive, recently updated list of over 200 New York City music venues at New York Music Daily’s sister blog Lucid Culture.

This is not a list of every show in town – it’s a carefully handpicked selection. If this calendar seems short on praise for bands and artists, it’s because every act here is recommended if you like their particular kind of music. Many different styles to choose from.

Showtimes listed here are set times, not the time doors open – if a listing says something like “9ish,” that means it’ll probably start later than advertised. If you see a show listed without the start time, that’s because either the artist, their publicist or the venue in question sent incomplete info – those acts are usually listed last on a particular date.  Always best to check with the venue for the latest information on set times and door charges, since that information is often published here weeks in advance.

If you see a typo or an extra comma or something like that, remember that while you were out seeing that great free concert that you discovered here, somebody was up late after a long day of work editing and adding listings to this calendar ;)

Weekly events first followed by the daily calendar:

On select Wednesdays and Sundays, an intimate, growing piano music salon on the Upper West Side featuring iconoclastically insightful, lyrical pianist Nancy Garniez – a cult favorite with an extraordinarily fluid, singing, legato style – exploring the delicious minutiae of works from across the centuries, beverages and lively conversation included! Next show is 12/27, 7 PM revisiting Haydn, Bartok, Brahms, Mozart, $20

sug don, email for details/address

Mondays at 7 PM multi-instrumentalist Dennis Lichtman’s popular western swing band Brain Cloud at Barbes followed at 9:30 PM by a variety of tropical bands playing cumbias, boogaloo, salsa, maybe all of the above.. Brain Cloud are also playing their 10th anniversary show on Nov 22 at 9 PM at the Jalopy for $20

Mondays at the Jazz Standard it’s all Mingus, whether with the Mingus Orchestra, Big Band or Mingus Dynasty: as jazz goes, it’s arguably the most exhilarating show of the week, every week. The first-rate players always rise to the level of the material. Sets 7:30/9:30 PM, $25 and worth it.

Mondays at the Vanguard the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra – composer Jim McNeely’s reliably good big band vehicle – plays 9/11 PM, $35 per set plus drink minimum.

Mondays starting at 9:30 PM Rev. Vince Anderson and his band play two sets at Union Pool. The Rev. is one of the great keyboardists around, equally thrilling on organ or electric piano, an expert at Billy Preston style funk, honkytonk, gospel and blues. He writes very funny, very politically woke, sexy original songs and is one of the most charismatic, intense live performers of our time. It’s a crazy dance party. Paula Henderson from Burnt Sugar is the usual lead soloist on baritone sax, with frequent special guests. Sizzling guitarist Binky Griptite – Sharon Jones’ lead player – is also often there.

Mondays at 10 PM noir guitar legend Jim Campilongo leads his trio at the big room at the Rockwood, $10

Tuesdays at 9 PM, clever, fiery, eclectic ten-piece Balkan/hip-hop/funk brass maniacs Slavic Soul Party at Barbes (check the club calendar), $10 cover.

Wednesdays at 9ish the Binky Griptite Orchestra (formerly Sharon Jones’ brilliant oldschool soul backing band) at Threes Brewing Outpost, 113 Franklin St (Greenpoint/Kent Aves) in Greenpoint, free

Most Thursdays at 8:30, the Brooklyn Raga Massive – a rotating cast of A-list Indian, jazz and rock musicians who love to jam out classic Indian themes from over the centuries to the present day – play the Jalopy, $15 adv tix at the bar at the main space. Tons of special guests followed by a wild raga jam!

Fridays at 7:30 PM tenor saxophonist Ken Fowser leads his band at the Django. Jukebox jazz in a JD Allen vein but not as dark and more straight-ahead/groove-oriented: as postbop party music goes, nobody’s writing better than this guy right now.

Saturdays in January the only 4 PM free concert at Bargemusic; is on 1/4.  These usually feature solo piano or small chamber ensembles. If you get lucky, you’ll catch pyrotechnic violinist/music director Mark Peskanov and/or the many members of his circle. Early arrival advised.

Saturdays in December, at 6 PM  haunting, cinematic lapsteel genius Myk Freedman  plays with a series of bands at Barbes

Saturdays in January, 6 PM wildly eclectic, edgy,lyrical soul/jazz cellist/singer Marika Hughes at Barbes

Most Sundays at 5:15 PM starting in late September, a free recital on the amazing, powerful, dynamic new organ at St. Thomas Church at 5th Ave and 53rd St. featuring some of the world’s greatest organists. The space is magnificent and the music usually is too. Right now the church fathers are programming pretty much everybody who used to work here and play the mighty old Aeolian-Skinner organ that finally had to be replaced. Check the concert calendar for details.

Sundays in December,12/1, 12/8, 12/22 an d 12/29 at 8 PM purist guitarist Peter Mazza – who gets the thumbs up from bop-era legend Gene Bertoncini – leads a series of groups at the Bar Next Door

Sundays at 8:30/11 PM the epic, intense, politically fearless Arturo O’Farrill & the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra at Birdland, $30 bar seating avail

Sundays at 9:30 PM paradigm-shifting Romany jazz/psychedelic rock guitar mastermind Stephane Wrembel leads his band at Barbes – check the club calendar just to make sure.

12/1, 2 PM fiery ecological activist/bandleader Rev. Billy and his massive original gospel-style choir at Joe’s Pub, $15,

12/1, 2 PM pianist Benjamin Grosvenor plays works by Schumann, Janacek, Prokofiev and Liszt at the Town Hall, $20

12/1, 3 PM a string quartet with Jennifer Gersten, violin; Jungwon Yoon, violin; Nick Pauly, viola; Benjamin Larsen, cello play works by Natalie Dietterich, Robert Sirota and Samuel Barber at Concerts on the Slope, St. John’s Episcopal Church, 139 St. John’s Place downhill from 7th Ave, Park Slope, any train to Grand Army Plz, sugg don

12/1, 4 PM Hell’s Kitchen Country play “lesser known material of bluegrass pioneers such as the Sauceman Brothers, as well as the Stanley Brothers and Jimmy Martin” at the Old Stone House in Park Slope, $10

12/1. 5 PM, repeating 12/5 at 7 Allison Kiger, flute; Valeriya Sholokhova, cello and hostess/impresario Yelena Grinberg, piano play a rare program of works by female composers Clara Schumann, Dame Ethel Smythe, Louise Farrenc, Cecile Chaminade and Fanny Mendelssohn at Grinberg’s upper westside piano salon, reception to follow, $35, close to the 1/2/3 train at 96th St., deets here 

12/1, 7:30/9 PM disarmingly direct, lustrous jazz singe Marianne Solivan with Joshua Richman (piano), Barry Stephenson (bass) at Mezzrow, $20

12/1, 8 PM perennially tuneful, pensively lyrical Americana janglerocker Mike Ferrio of Tandy and Good Luck Mountain at 11th St. Bar

12/1, 8:30 PM  cinematic guitarist Pat Irwin and boisterous swing/ska trombonist J. Walter Hawkes at Troost

12/1, 9 PM a rare reunion of gothic Americana legends O’Death followed at 10:30 by politically fearless dirty gospel piano wildman Rev. Vince Anderson with his classic 1999 lineup at Pete’s. No shit. Get there early

12/2, starting at 6ish the annual Winters Eve festival at and around the triangla where Broadway meets Columbus Ave, some surprisingly good acts show up and play in the cold. Klezmer under the xmas tree, maybe?

12/2, 6 PM whirlwind klezmer violin icon Alicia Svigal‘ Klezmer Fiddle Express at the triangle at Broadway and 66th St

12/2, 6 to 9 PM, with several breaks, Mariachi Nuevo Mexico at1900 Broadway between 63rd & 64th St

12/2 6 to 9 PM, with breaks to go down for repairs at the least opportune time, the L Train Brass Band at 1865 Broadway at 61st St.

12/2 6 to 9 PM, with breaks, electric violinist Monica Portillo at 1932 Broadway at 64th St

12/2, 7 PM Colombian-Haitian roots dance band Strings & Skins at the Lincoln Center Atrium, free, note early showtime

12/2, 7 PM Jocelyn MacKenzie, the better half of popular late zeros chamber pop band Pearl & the Beard at Pete’s

12/2, 7:30 PM percussionist/composer Qasim Naqvi, violinist Jennifer Koh and singer Davóne Tines perform Naqvi’s compositions plus works by J. S. Bach, Hildegard of Bingen, Isang Yun, and traditional African-American spirituals at Music Mondays, Advent Church, northwest corner of 93rd and Broadway, free

12/2, 7:30 PM charmingy edgy all-female latin tropicalia dance band Ladama plus Guatemalan songwriter Gaby Moreno and chamber orchestra Metropolis Ensemble at Merkin Concert Hall, $20

12/2, 8 PM pianist Jim Funnell and violinist Chloe Seunghyen Kim jam out originals and works by Shostakovich and Couperin at Scholes St. Studios

12/2, 9 PM boisterously funny oldschool 60s C&W and brooding southwestern gothic with Jack Grace solo at Bar Chord. 12/9 at 9 he’s with his band at Skinny Dennis

12/2, 9 PM edgy lead guitarist Damian Quinones and his psychedelic latin soul band at LIC Bar

 12/2, 9 PM sweeping, swinging vibraphonist Behn Gillece and group at the Fat Cat

12/3, 7 PM Venice-themed “madrigals for cello, choir, and city” by Andrea Liberovici performed by Aaron Wolff, cello with the Fractio Modi vocal quartet at the Italian Academy at Columbia, 1161 Amsterdam Ave just south of 118th, free

12/3, 7 PM soprano Lucy Dhegrae and the Talea Ensemble play David Adamcyk’s new composition, Father, My Father, a reflection on the #MeToo movement at the Americas Society, free, rsvp sugg

12/3, 7:30/9:30 PM whirlwind B3 jazz organist Pat Bianchi leads his quartet at the Jazz Standard, $30

12/3-8, 8:30/11 PM monster drummer Johnathan Blake & his sizzling quintet Pentad at the Vanguard

12/3-7, 8:30 PM perennnially edgy, darkly tuneful, fearlessly noisy guitarist Mary Halvorson leads a series of ensembles at the Stone at the New School, $20. Choice picks: 12/6-7 with her Code Girl sextet with Amirtha Kidambi (voice) María Grand (tenor saxophone, voice) Adam O’Farrill (trumpet) Michael Formanek (bass) Tomas Fujiwara (drums)

12/3, 9 PM Americana rock songstress and Hadestown creator Aiofe O’Donovan followed at 10:30 by Lake Street Dive’s Bridget Kearney doing her new wave rock project at Pete’s

12/3, 9 PM brilliant drummer/percussionist Willie Martinez & La Familia Sextet playing classic salsa grooves at the Fat Cat

12/4, 1 PM the Ulysses Quartet play works by Komitas, David Haas and others at the Greene Space, free, rsvp req

12/4, 7 PM crystalline-voiced noir Americana songwriter Jessie Kilguss with her excellent band at Mirror in the Woods, 575 Union St, Gowanus, R to Union St

12/4, 7 PM Carlos Aguilar, Simone Baron, Robert Fleitz, Carrie Frey,, Alec Goldfarb, Giancarlo Latta, Helen Newby, Erin Rogersand Clara Warnaar pay scores by George Lewis, Lou Sheppard and others “centered on ideas of loss, fragmentation, and recreation” for improvising ensemble. at Scholes St. Studios, $15/$10 stud

 12/4, 8 PM psychedelic klezmer/bluegrass mandolin and clarinet legend Andy Statman at Barbes, $10. 12/16 at 8 he’s at the Jalopy Tavern for the tipjar

12/4, 8:30 PM Dervisi feat. psychedelic guitarist George Sempepos play “exotic Greek gangsta blues” and Middle Eastern flavored hash smoking anthems at Troost

12/4, 9 PM sharply lyrical southwestern gothic/Americana songwriter Tom Shaner  at LIC Bar

12/4. 9 PM psychedelic soul band  Frankie Sunswept and the Sunwrays at the Jalopy Tavern

12/4, 9 PM edgy, dreampop-tinged Americana rock songwriter Juliana Nash back at her old stomping ground at Pete’s, which she booked brilliantly for years back in the 90s and zeros

 12/5, 8:30 PM Thurston Moore and his non Sonic Youth band at the Poisson Rouge, $20 adv tix rec

12/5 8:30 PM a klezmer dance party with T-Klez featuring clarinetist Dena Ressler, the legendary Psachya Septimus & drummer David Licht at Town & Village Social Hall, 334 E 14th St.(between 1st & 2nd Ave.), $15

 12/5, 7 PM poignant, nuanced jazz singer Amy Cervini leads her quartet at 55 Bar

12/5. 7/9 PM poignantly lyrical, eclectic pianist Marta Sanchez leads her quintet with Chris Cheek on sax playing the album release show for her new one at Birdland, $20 bar seating avail

12/5, 7:30 PM the fearlessly relevant, toweringly intense Arturo O’Farrill & the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra at Bric Arts, $25 standing room avail

12/5 7:30 PM, repeating 12/7 at 8 the  NY Philharmonic with piano legend Yefim Bronfman play Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4. plus Symphony No. 2, $32 tix avail

12/5, 7:30 PM guitarist Wendy Eisenberg solo followed by drummer Devin Gray and his improvisational trio featuring saxophonist Chris Pitsiokos and bassist Luke Stewart at Greenwich House Music School, $15

12/5, 8 PM the Monenta Quartet “joins forces with composers Elizabeth Brown and Frances White in a multimedia evening fusing Western contemporary music with Japanese aesthetics,” at Roulette, $20 gen adm

12/5, 8 PM 21st century classical star Bright Sheng plays piano joined by the Curtis 20/21 Ensemble at the Miller Theatre, $20 tix avail

 12/5, 8 PM a night of improvisation: Donald Sturge Anthony McKenzie II + On Ka’a Davis; 8:45pm pensively intense microtonal violinist/singer Sarah Bernstein solo; 9:30pm Telepathic Band
 (Daniel Carter, Patrick Holmes, Matthew Putman, 
Hilliard Greene, Federico Ughi) at Union Pool, $15

12/5, 8:30ish psychedelic supergroup the Elgin Marbles feat. members of Love Camp 7, Dervisi and Peter Stampfel’s jug band at Troost

12/5, 10 PM the great unsung NYC hero of darkly purposeful, noir-tinged jazz guitar, Saul Rubin leads his Zebtet at the Fat Cat. He’s also here on 12/10 and 12/17 at 7

12/5, 10 PM explosive, theatrical, phantasmagorical indie/metal band A Deer A Horse at Trans-Pecos, 410

12/5-6,10:30 PM indie powerpop/jangle superstars the Joy Formidable at Rough Trade, $25. Some think they’re this era’s Pretenders; others think they’re peevishly opaque.

12/6, 5:30 PM dark, carnivalesque oldtimey songwriter Feral Foster at the American Folk Art Museum

12/6, 7 PM Yara Arts Group with bandurist Julian Kytasty singing wintertime Carpathian songs at the Ukrainian Museum, 222 E 6th St $25/$20 stud/srs

12/6, 7 PM singers Theo Bleckmann and Magos Herrera, trombone monster Ryan Keberle, and Endless Field with special guests at St Peter’s Church, 54th/Lex, $20 to benefit the NRDC

12/6, 7:30 PM chamber quintet Vista Lirica play works by Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann and a rare Max Reger quintet piece at Greenwich House Music School, $25/$15 stud/srs

12/6, 8 PM iconic fire-and-ice jazz singer Karrin Allyson and pianist Roberta Piket’s sextet project celebrate the compositions of legendary jazz pianist Marian McPartland. at Flushing Town Hall, $16/$10 srs/students 18 and under free w/school ID

12/6, 8 PM guitarist Alex Levine and pianist Alex Tosca lead their Trios at Scholes St. Studios, sug don

12/6, 8 PM, repeating 12/8 at 3 the NJ Symphony Orchestra with pianist George Li play works by Anna Clyne, Dvorak and Rachmaninoff’s 3rd Piano concerto at NJ PAC in Newark, $20 tixa vail

12/6, 8 PM avant singer Charmaine Lee with Tyshawn Sorey (percussion) remixed live by Ikue Mori at Issue Project Roomm, $15/$12 sud/rs

12/6, 8 PM the reliably entertaining, adventurous Chelsea Symphony play Arturo Marquéz — Danzón No. 2; Max Bruch — Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, op. 26 with soloist Molly Fletcher on violin; Camille Saint-Saëns — Introduction & Rondo capriccioso with violin soloist Dawn Wang; Fernande Breilh Decruck — Les clochers de Vienne: Suite de Valses (NYC Premiere); Ralph Vaughan Williams — Fantasia on Greensleeves; Leroy Anderson — Sleigh Ride; and Aaron Dai — The Night Before Christmas at St. Paul’s Church, 315 W 22nd St., $20 sugg don

12/6-7, 8 PM pan-Asian chanteuse/multi-instrumentalist Jen Shyu debuts hauntingly atmospheric new work at Happy Lucky No. 1 Galllery, $20

12/6, 8:30 PM John McCowan plays solo contrabass clarinet followed by bass clarinetist Aaron Novik‘s close-harmonied, overtone-layered homage to downtown NYC noiserock bands of the 80s at Arete Gallery $15

12/6, 9 PM fearlessly relevant latin rock songwriter and protest song connoisseur Ani Cordero at the Sultan Room, $20

12/6, 9 PM anthemic Iron Maiden-style metal band the Blackfires at the Mercury ,$12

12/6, 9 PM a rare Friday installment of Unsteady Freddie‘s monthly surf rock extravaganza with Drew & the Blue, at 10 surfed-up tv themes from Commercial Interruption, at 11 hard-hitting, reverb-iced Strange but Surf, and around midnight Drip Culture

12/6, 9:30 PM a rare reunion of brilliant resonator guitarist/bluesmama Mamie Minch‘s sassy all-female oldtimey blues quartet the Roulette Sisters followed at 10:30 PM by the world’s creepiest, slinkiest, most psychedelic crime jazz/film noir band, Big Lazy at Pete’s

12/6, 9:30 PM stoner boogie/punk/powerpop band the Evictions, heavy psych band the Warhorses and Brooklyn’s hilarious counterpart to Spinal Tap, stoner metal parodists Mighty High at the Gutter, $7

12/6, 10 PM hard-hitting, brass-fueled newschool latin soul/boogaloo dance band Spanglish Fly at Barbes

12/6, 10:30 PM tuneful oldschool soul/jazz trombonist Dave Gibson leads his quintet at the Fat Cat

12/7, 5 PM singer Mary Thorne leads a septet performing Bach advent cantatas at the cozy, rustically festive Christ Church Cobble Hill, 326 Clinton St, Brooklyn, F to Bergen St., reception to follow, sug don

 12/7, 6 PM fiery, psycheirdelically bluesy oldschool soul/roadhouse jamband Lizzie & the Makers  at Pete’s

12/7, 6 PM haunting, cinematic lapsteel genius Myk Freedman followed at 8 by the furry-suited, oldtimey jazz Xylopholksand then at 10 by epic ranchera/bolero brass crew Banda de los Muertos at Barbes

 12/7, 7 PM soca hall of famer Mighty Sparrow and his equally hilarious, phenomenal band in a rare intimate show at Joe’s Pub, $25

12/7, 7:30 PM the Calidore String Quartet play works by Webern, Haydn and Beethoven: String Quartet No. 12 in E-flat Major, Op. 127 iat Irving Auditorium, Irving Pl/17th St., $17

 12/7, 7:30 PM sultry retro Franco-American torch jazz/chamber pop/ukulele swing band les Chauds Lapins at the basement room at the Rockwood, $12

 12/7, 8 PM trippy, dubby roots reggae and ska sounds with Avo & Skalopy at the Jalopy Tavern

12/7, 8 PM veteran satirical poliical songwriter Charlie King and Appalachian folksinger Annie Peter at the People’s Voice Cafe, sugg don, $20, “more if you choose; less if you can’t; no one turned away.”

 12/7, 8 PM Gamelan Kusuma Laras performs traditional Javanese gamelan music under the direction of the renowned I. M. Harjito. at Roulette, $30

12/7, 9 PM the Machio Ozawa Tango Duo at Bar Thalia adjacent to Symphony Space, free

12/7, 10 PM fiery, deviously fun oldtimey swing guitarist/crooner Seth Kessel & the Two Cent Band at Skinny Dennis

12/8. 11 AM fearless indie classical pianist Jenny Lin plays a program tba at Subculture, $20, coffee and breakfast snacks included

12/8, noon ish brilliant, fearlessly political B3 organist Greg Lewis plays Monk tunes at Bar Lunatico. He’s also here on 12/22

12/8, 3 PM singer Jessica Bowers and guitarist Oren Fader play art-songs by Scott Wheeler, Hilary Purrington, Frank Brickle, William Anderson, Randy Woolf, and Paul Salerni. $15/$10 stud/srs followed at 8 PM by trumpeter Ryan Messina leading his Trio with Marius Duboule, guitar; Michael Brownell, bass at Scholes St. Studios, sug don

12/8,  4 PM the Sometime Boys’ riveting, powerful, theatrical frontwoman Sarah Mucho sings dark cabaret and rock tunes at Freddy’s

12/8, 6 PM noir guitar legend Jim Campilongo leads his trio at 55 Bar

12/8, 6 PM violinist Sana Nagano does double duty, first with mandolinist Sam Harnet and bassist Zach Swanson, then in the duo  Peach and Tomato with violist Leonor Falcon at Downtown Music Gallery

12/8, 7 PM a rare free show by Ethio-jazz piano/accordion pioneer Hailu Mergia at Pioneer Works

12/8, 7 PM spine-tingling, darkly mystical art-rock/avant-garde/chamber pop songwriter Carol Lipnik – pretty much everybody’s choice for best singer in all of NYC – at Pangea

 12/8, 7 PM haunting, fearsomely powerful soul belter and noir Americana songstress Karen Dahlstrom – at Scratcher Bar, 209 E 5th St

12/8, 9ish Bubble  leader Dave Foster’s retro jazz song project the Gershwin Bros followed by torchy singer Rembert Block’s concert version of her new opera at the Treehouse at 2A

12/8 ,10ish wryly psychedelic cinematic Italophile instrumentalists/parodists Tredici Bacci at the Sultan Room, $10

12/8, 10 PM ntriguingly opaque parlor postrockers Green & Glass  play the album release show for their new one at the Mercury, $10

12/9, 6 PM the Greenpoint Songwriters Exchange – a diverse bunch playing everything from folk noir to Costelloesque, literary rock to Indian ragas and oldschool soul – at Pete’s

12/9, 7 PM tuneful postbop pianist Jim Ridl leads his group from behind the Rhodesl at 55 Bar

12/9, 8 PM Toot Sweet play twisted theatrical female-fronted accordion glam rock at the small room at the Rockwood.

 12/9, 8 PM bassist James Ilgenfritz’s Anagram Ensemble play the world premiere of Colombian-American composer Federico Garcia De Castro’s Themuru, for two guitars, two percussionists, clarinet, saxophone, viola, cello, and bass followed by Ilgenfritz’s multimedia opera I Looked At The Eclipseat Roulette, $18 adv tix rec

12/9, 8:30 PM suave oldschool tuneful postbop: Harry Allen (tenor sax) leads his quartet at Birdland, $20 bar seating avail

 12/9, 8:30 PM enigimatically witty, erudite jazz chanteuse/songwriter Dorian Devins  leads her trio at the Bar Next Door, $12

12/9, 10ish the NYC Gaita Club – a Bulla en el Barrio spinoff – play rustically pounding Afro-Colombian trance-dance music at Barbes

12/9, 7:30 PM imaginative, purist jazz drummer Dan Pugach’s Nonet followed at 10:30 PM by this era’s most intensely powerful tenor saxophonist/composer, JD Allen‘s smoking, intense trio at Smalls

 12/9, 9 PM smartly lyrical, eclectically tuneful 70s British style pub/punk rockers Binky Phillips & the Planets at Arlene’s, $5

12/10, drinks at 5:30 PM, show at 6, badass harp virtuoso Bridget Kibbey plays works by Bach, Gershwin, Albeniz and Tschaikovsky at the Miller Theatre, free

12/10, 7 PM eclectic, hard-hitting, lyrical composer/tenor saxophonist Stan Killian at 55 Bar

 12/10, 7:30/9 PM lyrical jazz piano icon Fred Hersch in a rare duo show with his longtime, subty coloristic drummer Eric McPherson at Mezzrow, $20

12/10, 8 PM guitarist Josh Farrar leads the electric Microaggressions playing classic Arabic songs by Balegh Hamdi and Sayyed Makawi plus works by Aram Khachaturian and Erik Satie, plus, “most enticingly,” the “Wasla from Hell,” an extensive suite that juxtaposes melodies by the venerated Arab masters Mohammed Abdl Wahab, Farid Al Atrash, and Mohammed Qasabgi with metal and proto-metal riffs by Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Slayer. at Sisters Brooklyn, 900 Fulton St, C to Clinton-Washington

12/10-15, 8;30/11 PM state-of-the-art jazz bassist Christian McBride & Inside straight at the Vanguard

12/10, 9 PM klezmer-influenced singer/multi-instrumentalist Judith Berkson premieres new work with adaptive new music chamber ensemble Ordinary Affects at Roulette, $18 av tix rec

12/10, 10:30 PM charismatic, adventurous postbop/avant garde trombonist/crooner Frank Lacy leads his quintet at Smalls. He’s also here on 12/24. same time

12/11, 6;30 PM not a music event but relevant and recommended: a free screening of the documentary film La Supplication (Voices from Chernobyl) directed by Pol Cruchten, at the Americas Society, free, rsvp req

12/11, 8 PM violist Carrie Frey and Tamika Gorski present: A Very Merry Minimalistmas! “A play-along of Carrie Freiley’s In C(hristmas)! It’s based on Terry Riley’s classic “In C,” but with a hefty dose of holiday twist. There will be music and festive snacks and beverages! Bring your instruments, voices, or jingle bells, and play along, or come to hang out and listen! Latecomers and early leavers also welcome,” at Scholes St. Studios

12/11 day 1 of the annual Roots & Ruckus Festival at the Jalopy and Jalopy Tavern, free. Stage 1: The Jalopy Theatre 8:00 PM – Sam Talmadge, 8:30 PM – The Jalopy Chorus. 9:00 PM – Ken Schatz, 9:30 PM – brilliantly relevant Americana/pan-American songwriter Miriam Elhajli; 10:00 PM – the intense, historically inspired oldtime blues/gospel Piedmont Blūz Acoustic Duo. 10:30 PM – Yva Las Vegass & Amelia Jackie. 11:00 PM – 19th century style string band The Four O’ Clock Flowers. 11:30 PM – Astroturf Noise. Stage 2: Jalopy Tavern 8:00 PM – Paisley Fields. 9:00 PM – Anna J. Witiuk. 10:00 PM – Lissy & the Jacks, 11:00 PM – Lord Youth

12/11, 7:30/9:30 PM purposeful raga pianist Utsav Lal at the Jazz Gallery, $15

12/11, 7:30 PM the amazing, haunting, otherworldly NY Andalus Ensemble – who play ancient Middle Eastern and North African Jewish sounds from as far back as a thousand years ago  –  at La Nacional, 239 W 14th St, $22/$16 stud/srs

12/11, 8 PM dark, ferociously eclectic guitarist Anders Nilsson – who careens from Satie to Big Lazy to metal – and band at Barbes

12/11, 8 PM  pyrotechnic clarinetist Ismail Lumanovski’s ferociously kinetic NY Gypsy All-Stars at Drom $10

12/11, 10 PM atmospheric, cinematic drummer/composer Tim Kuhl and band at Pete’s

12/12, 6 PM performances by Jo˜ão Rezende, bandoneon sorcerer JP Jofre, celtic folk trio Tam Lin (Elliot Cole, Fiona Gillespie, and friends), Andrew Yee, and ambient electronic performances from Sebastian Zel, Alex Ring Gray, natalie[dot]computer, and David Bird plus fancy drinks! at 1 Rivington St., 2nd fl, free, rsvp req 

12/12. 7 PM Hyojin Kang – one of Korea’s most celebrated gayageum (magically warptoned zither) virtuosos at Spectrum, $15

12/12, 7 PM soaringly explosive jazz composer/torch singer Nicole Zuraitis at 55 Bar

12/12, 7 PM in their New York debut, the Eybler Quartet play the U.S. premiere of Pedro Ximénez de Abrill Tirado’s Quartet, Op.55, at the Americas Society, $20- a rare chance to hear fascinating obscure 19th century Pan-American repertoire.

12/12, 7:30 PM postminimalist pianist Julian De la Chica “explores raw scenes from watching people’s every day life from a friend’s apartment window in Soho,” hmmm, at the DiMenna Center, $25

12/12, 7:30 PM spoofy goth and folk noir parodiies with the Gothic Archies at Symphony Space, $20 for 30 and under ,$30 otherwise

12/12 day 2 of the annual Roots & Ruckus Festival at the Jalopy and Jalopy Tavern, free. Stage 1: The Jalopy Theatre – 8:00 PM – Taylor Plas; 8:30 PM – fiery, fearless oldtimey blues songwriter/historian Vienna Carroll; 9:00 PM – Maria Alejandra Rodriguez; 9:30 PM – the otherworldly Ukrainian Village Voices; 10:00 PM – Neel Murgai & Mir Naqibul Islam playing an Indian raga or two; 10:30 PM – wild klezmer band Litvakus. Stage 2: Jalopy Tavern – 8:00 PM – Brotherhood of the Jug Band Blues playing sly Memphis Jug Band classics; 9:00 PM – The Buck and a Quarter Quartet; 10:00 PM – Starcrossed Losers; 11:00 PM – Jackson & the Stanks

12/12, 7:30 PM Indian and latin-tinged jazz improvisation with the Karuna Trio featuring Hamid Drake, Adam Rudolph, and Alexis Marcelo at the Lincoln Center Atrium, free

12/12, 8 PM the fifteen-piece Collapsible Shoulder Big Band performs compositions from Chris Cochrane’s upcoming release at Roulette, $18 adv tix rec

 12/12, 8 PM Indian percussion genius Deep Singh’s Sharabi live bhangra project, reggae-rockers Zion80 and wild, hilarious klezmer punks Golem at Drom, $20

12/12. 8 PM saxophonist Anna Webber  leads her combo at Jamaica Center for Arts, 161-4 Jamaica Ave, Queens, $10

12/12, 8 PM enigmatic improvisational rock with 101 Crustaceans’ Ed Pastorini & indie classical piano trio Bearthoven at the Owl

12/12, 8 PM charmingly dangerous harmony trio the Whynotte Sisters – Sara Milonovich, the Pre-War Ponies’ Daria Grace and Vibeke Saugestad –  followed at 10 by drummer Arthur Vint & Associates reinventing classic Morricone spaghetti western soundtracks at Barbes

12/12, 8:30 PM a rare duo performance by klezmer chanteuse Polina Shepherd with Klezmatics accordion wizard Lorin Sklamber at Town & Village Social Hall, 334 E 14th St.(between 1st & 2nd Ave.), $15

12/12, 8:30 PM riveting Japanese shamisen player/singer/improviser Emi Makabe leads a trio with Thomas Morgan on bass, Vitor Gonçalves on piano/accordion at I-Beam, $15

12/12, 9 PM 20s hot jazz revivalists Cait and the Critters at Radegast Hall

 12/12, 9 PM lavish, slinky latin noir big band jazz with the  Scott Reeves/Jay Branford Dectet at Silvana

 12/12, 9ish ferocious female-fronted art-rock/stoner metal band Ruby the Hatchet and German stoner band Kadavar at St Vitus, $20

 12/13, 5;30 PM imagistic original front-porch folk songwriter Lisa Bastoni at the American Folk Art Museum

 12/13, 7 PM drummer Adam Rudolph’s strikingly tuneful, rumblingly improvisational Go Organic Orchestra  and Brooklyn Raga Massive – 40 people onstage, insane Indian jamband awesomeness – at Elebash Hall, 365 5th Ave, $25

12/13 day 3 of the annual Roots & Ruckus Festival at the Jalopy and Jalopy Tavern. Stage 1: Jalopy Theatre – 8:00 PM – Barry Clyde 8:30 PM – Chris Acker and the Growing Boys 9:00 PM – Mary Go Round 9:30 PM – Morgan O’Kane10:00 PM – soaring Americana songstress Maggie Carson & Band 10:30 PM – The Horse-Eyed Men 11:00 PM – devious Hawaiian guiarist Isto 11:30 PM – Nat Myers; Stage 2: Jalopy Tavern 8:00 PM – Mara Kaye 9:00 PM – Skalopy Brass 10:00 PM – Hasta la Zeta 11:00 PM – Papa Vega’s Rocket 88s

 12/13. 8 PM magically hypnotic pan-Asian multi-instrumentalis/singer Jen Shyu‘s harrowing, elegaic suite Zero Grasses at the Center for Remembering and Sharing, $25 adv tix rec

12/13, 8 PM intrepid indie classical chamber group Wet Ink Ensemble  play works by Charmaine Lee, Pierre Tremblay, Kristina Wolf, Bryn Harrison and Eric Wubbels at St. Peters Church, 346 W 20th St, $10, stud free

 12/13-14 8 PM cellist Jay Campbell leads an improvisational ensemble at Happy Lucky No. 1 Galllery, $20

12/13, 8 PM poignant, eclectic, lyrical jazz bassist/composer Pedro Giraudo’s Tango Quartet followed at 10 by psychedelic salsa bandleader Zemog El Galle Bueno at Barbes

 12/13, 8:30 PM Ikue Mori remixes a live show by arguably the foremost piano improviser alive (and a hell of a composer too), Satoko Fujii and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura at the Stone at the New School, $20. The following night 12/14, same time Fujii and Tamura are at I-Beam for five bucks less sans Mori; 12/15 at 8 they’re at 244’s Black Box Theatre, 244 West 54th St.,10th fl

12/13, 8:30 PM ambitious, perennially tuneful saxophonist Mike McGinnis leads his pastoral jazz Roadtrip nonet at I-Beam, $15

12/13. 9ish kitchen sink Brazilian/C&W/funk/New Orleans band Nation Beat at Nublu 151, $15

12/13, 10 PM irrepressibly sardonic janglerock/folk-punk songwriter, New Yorker illustrator and White Hassle alum Marcellus Hall  at Pete’s

12/14, 4 PM colorful violinist Zoe Aqua leads her klezmer band playing a Hanukah celebration at Congregation Beth Elohim Ballroom, 274 Garfield Pl, Park Slope, $20

 12/14, 5 PM third-stream neoclassical group Electric Diamond with Ruth Cunningham – founding member of legendary choir Anonymous 4 at the Frances X. Cabrini Shrine, 701 Fort Washington Ave, A to 190th st, sug don

12/14, 7 PM  this era’s most spellbinding oldschool country singer, Laura Cantrell followed by Gguitar goddess Barbara Endes’ exhilarating psychedelic janglerock band Girls on Grass at WFMU Monty Hall, 43 Montgomery St., Jersey City, $12, BYOB plus there will be free eggnog and snacks! Path train to Exchange Place

12/14, some pretty wild improvs: 7 PM Aron Namenwirth: guitar, Eric Plaks: piano; 8 PM Stephen Gauci: sax, Santiago Leibson: piano, Shawn Lovato: bass, Colin Hinton: drums; 9pm Paul Austerlitz: bass and contrabass clarinet, Don Slatoff: bass clarinet, Ehran Elisha: drums; 10pm Bonnie Kane: sax, Hans Tammen: buchla, John Loggia: drums, Jon Panikkar: drums at Scholes St. Studios

12/14 day 4 of the annual Roots & Ruckus Festival at the Jalopy and Jalopy Tavern.7:00 PM – Johanna Wacker 7:30 PM – The Skipping Stones 8:00 PM – captivating flamenco/Sicilian songstress Julia Patinella 8:30 PM – Orbisonesque crooner Bobby Blue the Balladeer 9:00 PM – rising star banjo player Nora Brown 9:30 PM – folk noir impresario Feral Foster 10:00 PM – multi-instrumental Americana talent Ali Dineen 10:30 PM – Americana jamband road warriors Spirit Family Reunion 11:00 PM – Rashad Brown. Stage 2: Jalopy Tavern 7:00 PM – Miss Maybell & Charlie Judkins; 8:00 PM – sizzling blues guitar genius Michaela Gomez 9:00 PM – The Homestead Street Band 10:00 PM – psychedelic soul band Frankie Sunswept & The Sunwrays11:00 PM – Wyndham Baird & Band

12/14, 7:30 PM ruthlessly funny, politically satirical faux-folk duo Friends Who Folk (Rachel Wenitsky and Ned Riseley) at Union Hall, Union St. north of 7th Ave in Park Slope, $10

12/14, 7:30 PM Rajrupa Chowdhury plays ragas on the sarod at the Chhandayan Center For Indian Music, $20

12/14, 8 PM intense, pyrotechnic oudist and ngoni virtuoso Brandon Terzic plays Middle Eastern and west African sounds followed at 10 by  feral singer Carolina Oliveros’ mighty 13-piece Afro-Colombian trance/dance choir Bulla en el Barrio at Barbes, . Bulla are also here on 12/23 at 10

 12/14, 8 PM indie classical rising stars  TAK Ensemble play world premieres by Younge and Lopez  at Saint Mary’s Episcopal Church, Harlem , 521 W 126th St, sug don

 12/14, 9 PM  Super Yamba play their bracingly psychedelic Afrobeat jams at Bar Chord for the tip jar. Then on 12/19 at 7:30 they’re at at Symphony Space, $20 for 30 and under ,$30 otherwise

12/14, 9 PM  Andrew Vladeck – whose lyrically-driven songs careen from stark oldtimey tunes to epic, cinematic anthems – at Pete’s

12/14, 10 PM fiery electric bluegrass and C&W with Demolition String Band at Skinny Dennis

12/15, 11 AM the Aizuri Quartet play a program TBA at Subculture, $20, coffee and breakfast snacks included

 12/15, 2 PM the legendary  Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio play an all-Beethoven program at the Town Hall, $20

12/15, 5 PM sharply lyrical southwestern gothic/Americana songwriter Tom Shaner,  intense, soaring harmonium player/singer Elana Low and haunting folk noir/Americana songwriter Emily Frembgen at LIC Bar

12/15, 5 PM repeating 12/18 at 7 Eric Silberger, violin; Laura Metcalf, cello; and bandleader/impresario Yelena Grinberg, piano play works by Clara and Robert Schumann, Mendelssohn and Brahms and Robert Schumann at Grinberg’s upper westside piano salon, reception to follow, $35, close to the 1/2/3 train at 96th St., deets here 

12/15, meet at the Washington Square arch at 5:45, march to Tompkins Square Park at 6 PM, this year’s Unsilent Night electronic music procession is a NYC institution and one of the funnest, trippiest things you can do this holiday season. Download one of the twinkling piece’s four tracks for your phone, stream it or borrow one of composer Phil Kline‘s original cassettes for your boombox. Fun for the whole family!

 12/15-16, 7 PM the annual Rotunda Holiday Concert with all-star indie classical choir Roomful of Teeth, composer/singer/viollinist Caroline Shaw and percussion trio Tigue at the Guggenheim, $25 standing room avail

12/15, 8 PM shreddy female-fronted heavy psych/metal band Thrilldriver followed by the similarly dark, more eclectic, psychedelic  enigmatic Lorraine Leckie and her killer band at the big room at the Rockwood

12/15, 9:30 PM exhilarating acoustic guitar instrumentalist Lyle Brewer – like John Fahey on steroids – at Pete’s

 12/15, 9:30 PM ferociously dynamic, tuneful, female-fronted power trio Castle Black  at Our Wicked Lady, $10

 12/16, 7 PM Greg Lewis’ brilliant, fearlessly political Organ Monk Trio at 55 Bar

12/16, 7 PM female composers night: violinist Meg Okura, Tracy Yang, and the Jen Allen Jazz Orchestra at Shapeshifter Lab, $15s

12/16, 7:30 PM riveting, charismatic, intuitive pianist Karine Poghosyan plays two Beethoven Sonatas plus the Liszt solo piano arrrangement of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony at Broadway Presbyterian Church, 601 W 114th St at Broadway, $15 sug don

12/16, 8 PM feral bassist Brandon Lopez debuts new work for his trio and 4tet at Roulette, $18 adv tix rec

12/16, 7:30 PM songwriter Adrienne S. Witt’s new play Unseen – “As the news of another black teen being killed by a white police officer covers every newspaper, Ava Janine Wright can’t help but be deeply affected. As the Chief Financial Officer at Bucchanan Trust Accounting Firm she feels guilty for not doing more to help her community. When her Ivy league education, position and money can’t protect her from the red tape of Buchanan Trust and her highschool friend Elijah is profiled by police; Ava decides it’s time to reassess her future,” at Dixon Place, $17 adv tix rec

12/16, 9:30 PM ex-Chicha Libre keyboard sorcerer Josh Camp’s wryly psychedelic cumbia/tropicalia/dub band Locobeach at Barbes

12/17, 2 PM nimble tsimblist Pete Rushefsky leads a klezmer band at Poe Park in the Bronx, Grand Concourse at 192nd St., free

12/17 ,7 PM the Jack Quartet play a Catherine Lamb world premiere at the first-floor New School auditorium at 63 5th Ave. They’re back here on 12/18 playing works by Tyshawn Sorey and Clara Iannotta, free w rsvp

12/17, 8 PM Ultrafizz (pianist Nathaniel LaNasa and singer Lucy Degrahe) play works by Pauline Oliveros Meredith Monk, Guillaume de Machaut, and unknown 13th century choral composers at Arete Gallery, $15

 12/17, 8 PM soaring, politically relevant, brilliantly purposeful alto saxophonist Miguel Zenon  leads a quartet with Seth Trachy (tenor sax), Joel Mateo (drums), Chris Tordini (bass), Glenn Zaleski (piano) at Nublu 151, $15

12/17-22, 8:30/11 PM piano icon Kenny Barron leads his quintet at the Vanguard; then he’s there with a trio through 12/29

12/17-21, 8:30/11 PM iconic, tuneful Jamaican jazz pianist Monty Alexander at Birdland, $30 bar seating avail

12/17, 8:30 PM smartly tuneful oldschool soul/psych-pop songwriter Mimi Oz at Pete’s

12/17, 9 PM wickedly torchy noir and new wave songwriter Julia Haltigan at 11th St Bar

12/18, 7:30 PM surrealist avant garde free jazz collective thingNY play”audio-visual chamber music and sonic theaters” – works by Paul Pinto, Jennifer Walshe, Sam Scranton, Jesse Marino and a Robert Ashley world premiere at Arete Gallery, $15

12/18, 8 PM the album release show by  Peach and Tomato – Sana Nagano -violin and Leonor Falcón -viola plus guitarist Juanma Trujillo;s Quartet at Scholes St. Studios

12/18, 8 PM Spycatchers ( amazing, psychedelic instrumentalists Sandcatchers  doing their Middle Eastern set)  at Erv’s on Beekman,2122 Beekman Ph, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, B/D to Prospect Pk

12/19, 7:30 PM Los Rumberos del Callejón bring their salsa out of the alley at the Lincoln Center Atrium, free, get there early

12/19, 8 PM the Bushwick Book Club – a lit-rock collective including both some of NY’s smartest songwriting talent along with some dorky open mic lifers – at Barbes

 12/19, 8:30 PM lyrical pianist Jason Yeager and quintet play the album release show for his brilliant, latin-inspired new protest jazz record at the Cell Theatre, $15

12/19, 8:30 PM a klezmer dance party with Khanike Tanzhoyz at Town & Village Social Hall, 334 E 14th St.(between 1st & 2nd Ave.), $15

12/19, 10 PM the world’s darkest, slinkiest, most blackly funny crime jazz/film noir band, Big Lazy  at Bar Lunatico

12/19, 11 PM catchy, politically fearless soulstress Alice Lee – Nina Simone meets Fiona Apple, equally psychedelic and torchy – at Pete’s

12/20, 8 PM rustic Brazilian jungle guitar-and-accordion sounds with Regional de NY followed at 10 by slinky, hypnotic percussive Moroccan trance band Innov Gnawa at Barbes

12/20, 8 PM hilarious original oldtimey-style hokum blues songwriter Al Duvall followed by a quartet covering Fats Waller led by the wonderful Joanna Sternberg alongside Charlie Burnham, Joe Cohn, and Anthony Coleman. at the American Can Factory, 232 3rd St., Gowanus $15

 12/20, 8 PM “join Brooklyn’s premier Dolly Parton coverband, Doll Parts for a holiday celebration of our Lord and savior Dolly Parton,” at the Bell House, $16

12/20-21, 8 PM amazingly eclectic, alternately punishing and subtle drummer Ches Smith‘s quartet with Mary Halvorson (guitar), Liberty Ellman (guitar), Nick Dunston (bass) at Happy Lucky No. 1 Galllery, $20

12/20, 8 PM trio improvisations: Ras Moshe with Dave Miller and Dave Ross; 9pm Jack DeSalvo with Tom Cabrera and Dmitry Ishenko; 10pm Matt Lavelle with Evan Crane and Leonid Galaganov at Scholes St. Studios $10

12/20, 9 PM deviously funny twin-trombone dub reggae crew Super Hi-Fi play their sick dub versions of xmas songs at Bar Chord

12/20, midnight legendary 90s Brooklyn psychedelic funk unit Groove Collective reunite at Drom, $15

12/21, 4 PM jangly, intense, soaring bandleader/guitarist/bassist Debby Schwartz followed at 5 by Bubble‘s Dave Foster at Pete’s

12/21, 7 PM ambient guitarist and Bowie collaborator Gerry Leonard a.k.a. Spooky Ghost at the basement room at the Rockwood, $15

12/21, 8 PM dark cabaret legend Sanda Weigl and her Romany-flavored band at Barbes

12/21, 8ish popular, gritty, propulsive 90s indie rockers Versus at Elsewhere, $12

12/21, 10 PM first-rate purist honkytonk crooner/bandleader Cliff Westfall and his killer band at Skinny Dennis. He’s also here on 12/28

12/21, 10 PM hard-hitting bassist Dawn Drake & Zapote‘play psychedelic Afrobeat and funk at Shrine

12/22, 11 AM cellist Astrid Schween leads her ensemble at Subculture, $20, coffee and breakfast snacks included

12/22, 7:30 PM noir-inspired alto saxophonist/composer Nick Hempton followed at 10:30 by tuneful oldschool soul/jazz trombonist Dave Gibson leading his quintet at Smalls

12/22, 8 PM epically soaring psychedelic art-rock/chamber pop pianist/bandleader Greta Gertler and innumerable special guests at Barbes

12/22, 8 PM smart, darkly pensive third-stream jazz pianist Noa Fort at the small room at the Rockwood

12/22, 8 PM trumpeter Matt Lavelle’s improvisational outfit 12 Houses celebrate their 10th anniversary at Scholes St. Studios sug don

12/23, 7:30 PM Camille Thurman – a double threat as nuanced singer and intense tenor saxophonist – leads her quintet at Smalls

12/23, 7:30 PM mostly-female, kinetic klezmer/cumbia/cinematic jamband Isle of Klezbos at Joe’s Pub, $20

12/24, 8 PM the annual klezmer show at Barbes with plenty of usual suspects – Ben Holmes, Michael Winograd, Matt Darriau all possible – playing classics and their own material

 12/24, 8:30 PM elegant bop-era guitar legend Gene Bertoncini plays a rare solo show at the Bar Next Door $12

12/24. 9:30 PM the Microscopic Septet’s Paul Shapiro leads his band playing a live klezmer jazz score to the cilent film His People – a crazy 1925 Russian-Jewish family drama – at the 14th Street Y, 344 E 14th St, $20. Then on 12/26 at 8 he and his Ribs & Brisket Revue plays theme music from Mrs. Maisel with special guest Eleanor Reissa at City Vineyard, $20

12/26, 8 PM deviously theatrical oldschool C&W/rockabilly parodists Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. at Otto’s

12/26, 10 PM Pangari & the Socialites play classic ska and rocksteady – most of it from the 60s Skatalites catalog – at Barbes

12/27, 4 PM whirlwind klezmer violin icon Alicia Svigals plays her soundtrack to the cult classic 1920s silent film The Ancient Law,  at Theater for the New City,155 First Ave, free

 12/27, 5 PM charmingly inscrutable Parisienne jazz chanteuse Chloe & the French Heart Jazz Band at Club Bonafide,$20.

12/27-28, 7/9 PM powerful jazz belter – and Gil Scott-Heron reinventor –  Charenee Wade leads her group at Ginny’s Supper Club, $20

12/27, 7:30 PM wry, gruffly entertaining vintage Springsteenian blue-collar songwriter Al Lee Wyer at Freddy’s

 12/27, 8 PM the Skyline Salsa Band at FM Jersey City, $10

12/27, 8 PM electric, electric C&W/blues band the Jug Addicts followed by the world’s darkest, slinkiest, most blackly funny crime jazz/film noir band, Big Lazy at Barbes

12/27, 9 PM furiously lyrical, charismatic soul-rockers NO ICE followed by fifth-wave garage punks the Veda Rays at Alphaville, $11

12/27, 9:30 PM deviously hilarious, charismatic oldtimey New Orleans swing songwriter Carsie Blanton at Rough Trade, $15 adv tix rec

12/28, 8 PM repeating 12/29 at 3 percussionist Alessandra Belloni‘s  witchy tarantella band play a conceptual concert, Healing Journeys with the Black Madonna – the premise is that god is a black woman – at Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave, $25

12/28, 10 PM the Bubble leader Dave Foster’s retro jazz song project the Gershwin Bros with the transcendent Erica Smith on vocals at Barbes

12/29, 6 PM intuitive, lyrical pianist  Melody Fader and Momenta Quartet violinist Emilie-Anne Gendron play works by Clara and Robert Schumann, Brahms, Bach, Chopin and Kreisler at the TownHouse Bar, 236 E 58th St, wow, Carnegie Hall quality for pregamers

12/29, 8 PM well-liked, fearlessly political LES soul-rock songwriter/chanteuse Dina Regine,, dark blues/folk noir/oldschool soul songwriter Kelley Swindall and Diane Gentile – who has the Dream Syndicate’s incendiary Jason Victor on lead guitar – at 11th St Bar

12/29, 10 PM guitarslinger Mallory Feuer’s fiery Patti Smith-ish band the Grasping Straws at Alphaville, $10

12/29, 10 PM timeless second-wave punk band the New Bomb Turks – whose albums have the best titles of any band, ever – at St. Vitus $25 gen adm

12/30, 7 PM New York’s most charismatic, darkly compelling lyrical songwriter/storyteller/keyboard genius Rachelle Garniez‘s 4th annual goodbye party – saluting some of those who’ve left us this year – at Pangea

12/30, 8 PM dark intense lyrical southwestern gothic/paisley underground rockers Shanghai Love Motel at  at Arlene’s, $10

12/30, 9ish bouncy live hip-hop groove band the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble at the Knitting Factory, $18

12/31, 7 PM sharply lyrical pianist Kelly Green at the Fat Cat

12/31, 7 PM the annual New Year’s Eve Concert for Peace with the Cathedral Choir and Orchestra led by director of music Kent Tritle with special guests Judy Collins and organist David Briggs at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, free

12/31, 9ish clever, fiery, eclectic ten-piece Balkan/hip-hop/funk brass maniacs Slavic Soul Party  at Barbes, $20

12/31, 11 PM funnest New Year’s event in town is Paolo Bordignon playing a program TBA on the massive Aeolian-Skinner organ at St. Bartholomew’s Cathedral, 52nd/Park Ave, free

Full calendar for January 2020 coming on Jan 1

1/1-2 7:30 PM the core of the early 90s Smalls scene: Peter Bernstein (guitar), Aaron Goldberg (piano), Omer Avital (bass) at Mezzrow, $20

1/1, 8 PM psychedelic klezmer/bluegrass mandolin and clarinet legend Andy Statman at Barbes, $10

1/1, 9 PM sweeping, swinging vibraphonist Behn Gillece and group at the Fat Cat

1/2, 7 PM poignant, nuanced jazz singer Amy Cervini leads her quartet at 55 Bar

1/2, 7:30 PM ferocious rising star saxophonist Chet Doxas leads a trio at Smalls

1/2, 7:30 PM Alicia Olatuja at the Lincoln Center Atrium, free, early arrival advised. The soul belter has been super popular since singing at the second Obama inauguration. Opinions vary on  the flash vs. substance factor

1/2-5, 7:30/9:30 PM purist trumpeter Sean Jones leads his acoustic “electric quartet” at the Jazz Standard, $30

1/2, 8 PM oldschool latin soul and upbeat Americana with Nikki and the Human Element at Otto’s

1/2. 8 PM ish grim slowcore band Cathari at St. Vitus, $10

1/2, 8 PM the Underground Spiritual Ground, a new supergroup and Anbessa Orchestra spinoff exploring the connection between African-American spirituals, Ethiopian and Caribbean music followed by purposefully atmospheric indie classical guitarist Gyan Riley at Barbes

1/2. 8:30 PM sitarist Galen Passen and band mash up Celtic and Indian themes at the Jalopy, $15

1/2. 8:30 ish psychedelic supergroup the Elgin Marbles feat. members of Love Camp 7, Dervisi and Peter Stampfel’s jug band at Troost

1/2-5, 8:30 PM a Herbie Nichols 100th bday celebration at the Stone at the New School, $20. Choice pick: the 1/5 show with Roswell Rudd’s Trombone Tribe plays Herbie Nichols with Deborah Weisz, Josh Roseman, Art Baron, Steve Swell (trombones) Bob Stewart (tuba) Steven Bernstein (conductor, trumpet)

1/2, 10 PM the great unsung NYC hero of darkly purposeful, noir-tinged jazz guitar, Saul Rubin is very busy early this month. He’s at the Fat Cat tonight, then back here on 1/7 at 7 followed at 9 by exploratory, brassy salsa dura band La Sonora Nuyorkina, then back on 1/14 at 7. He’s also at Smalls 1/3-4 at 7:30 PM where he’s followed at 10:30 by  sizzling postbop saxophonist Mike DiRubbo’s quartet with Brian Charette on organ.

1/3, 7:30 PM composers Fiona Gillespie and Elliot Cole premiere their new suite, a modern adaptation of the 18th-century Scottish ballad Tam Lin at 1 Rivington St., $15

1/3-4, 8 PM, repeating 1/4 also at 2 PM and 1/7 at 7:30 PM th NY Philharmonic play works by Mozart, Haydn and Respighi, $34 tix avail

1/3,  8 PM playfully lyrical, fearlessly political superduo Kill Henry Sugar – guitar/banjo mastermind Erik Della Penna and drummer Dean Sharenow – followed at 10 by Rana Santacruz – the Mexican Shane MacGowan, but without the booze if you can imagine that – at Barbes

1/3, 8 PM intense, soaring harmonium player/singer Elana Low at Branded Saloon

1/3, 8 PM the NJ Symphony Orchestra  with pianist Inon Barnatan play Smetana’s The Moldau, Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto and excerpts from Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet at NJPAC in Newark, $20 tix avail

1/3. 9 PM  moodily lyrical, politically savvy Irish folk-rocker Niall Connolly at the small room at the Rockwood. Fiery, psychedelically bluesy oldschool soul/roadhouse jamband Lizzie & the Makers  are just down the block at 10 at the big room

1/3. 10:30 PM catchy Booker T-esque soul jazz with the David Gibson/Jared Gold Hammond B3 organ band at the Fat Cat

1/4, 2:30 PM the NY Classical Players perform Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 15, Op. 132 at the NYPL for the Performing Arts out back of Lincoln Center free

1/4, 6 PM wildly eclectic, edgy, lyrical soul/jazz cellist/singer Marika Hughes followed at 8 by the furry-suited, oldtimey jazz Xylopholks and at 10 by epic ranchera/bolero brass crew Banda de los Muertos at Barbes

1/4, 8 PM trippy, dubby roots reggae and ska sounds with Avo & Skalopy at the Jalopy Tavern

1/4, 8 PM darkly lyrical psychedelic pop songwriter Jennifer Hall at the Parkside

1/4-5, 8 PM playwright Sarah Krasnow and bassist James IIgenfritz at Honey’s, 93 Scott Ave, Bushwick, L to Jefferson St., $10

1/4, 9 PM impassioned, politically fearless soul/blues singer Kemp Harris and band at the big room at the Rockwood, $20

1/4, 8:30 PM the Delorean Sisters – who do funny oldtimey acoustic covers of cheesy 80s pop songs – at Freddy’s

1/4, 9ish  slinky, hypnotic, percussive Moroccan trance band Innov Gnawa at the Owl

1/4, 9ish pummeling oldschool Brit-style punk band Krimewatch plus shrieky, sludgy noise-doom band Skourge at St. Vitus, $12

1/4, 10:30 PM Los Cumpleanos – with Nestor Gomez – vox/percussion; Lautaro Burgos – drums; Eric Lane – keyboards; Alex Asher – trombone and others playing trippy, dubwise tropical psychedelia, and the latin/Balkan/New Orleans-tinged Underground Horns at Drom, $10\

1/5, 2 PM pianist Marika Bournaki plays Beethoven sonatas including the Hammerklavier at Bargemusic, $35/$30 sr/$20stud

1/5, 3 PM bassist Jeremy McCoy and pianist Aurelia Mika Chang perform works by Domenico Dragonetti, Reinhold Gliere, Arni Egilsson, and Vilmos Montag at St Pauls Chapel downtown, free, recpetion to follow

1/5, 4 PM  the intense, historically inspired oldtime blues/gospel Piedmont Blūz string band at the Old Stone House in Park Slope, $10

1/5, 5:30 PM brilliant pianist  Emilio Solla’s Tango Jazz Orchestra at Birdland, $30 gen adm. Followed at 9;30 (separate $30 adm) by the fearlessly relevant, toweringly intense Arturo O’Farrill & the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, who are also back here on 1/19

1/5. 7ish metalcore shredders Steel Bearing Hand, the even faster death metal Vomit Forth and the murkier Frozen Soul at St. Vitus, $12

1/5, 7 PM Middle Eastern-inspired cellist Ian Maksin at the Poisson Rouge, $20 adv tix rec

1/5, 7 P M Wit & Daniel: – a new duo project featuring atmospheric jazz guitarist, Prawit Siriwat, and improvising bassist, Daniel Durst – plus the similarly ambient Matt Forker, guitar and compositions; Lesley Mok, drums; Jonah Wolfson, drums; Lisa Hoppe, bass; David Acevedo, trumpet; Gabe Fraivillig, trombone and Sonya Belaya at Spectrum, $15

1/5, 8 PM Monograms – who do as good a mid-80s Cure impression as any band alive – at Alphaville, $10

1/5, 8 PM perennially tuneful, pensively lyrical Americana janglerocker Mike Ferrio of Tandy and Good Luck Mountain at 11th St. Bar

1/6-8, 8:30 PM the powerfully resonant multimedia concert Broken Silence with“Erin Rogers (tenor saxophone), Kristen McKeon (alto saxophone), Dan Joseph, Dev Ray and Alex Lahoski (ebow steel string acoustic guitars) and Craig Shepard (narrator) “present music supporting listeners to engage with text drawn from court testimony connected with the ongoing scandal in the Catholic Church:” a tthe DiMenna Center, The point is to create a sonically healing space. No charge for admission. Seating is limited rsvp req 

1/5, 8:30ish  cinematic guitarist Pat Irwin and boisterous swing/ska trombonist J. Walter Hawkes  at Troost

1/6, 9ish new Brookliyn honkytonk band Lissy & the Jacks at the Jalopy Tavern

1/6, 10 PM haphazard dark punkish female-fronted band Cruel Children at Muchmore’s

1/7, 7 PM JAV (guitar, Buenos Aires), Joanna Mattrey (viola), Andrew Drury (percussion) improvise at Soup & Sound ,sug don

1/7-8, 7:30-/9:30 PM Ryan Truesdell leads his big band playing an all Bob Brookmeyer program at the Jazz Standard, $30

1/7, 8 PM  multistylistic, lyrical, improvisational cellist Rufus Cappodocia solo followed by clever, fiery, eclectic ten-piece Balkan/hip-hop/funk brass maniacs Slavic Soul Party at Barbes, $10

1/7, 8 PM Florida retro 60s soul/funk band Patrick & the Swayzees at the Mercury, $10. Followed at 10 ($10 separate admission) by  female-fronted stoner boogie band the Loud Soft Loud

1/7, 9 PM wickedly jangly surf/twang/country instrumentalists the Bakersfield Breakers at 11th St Bar

1/7, 11 PM noir-tinged pianist Frank Kimbrough leads a trio at Birdland, $30 at the bar

1/8, 1 PM the Kila Quartet play Mozart: String Quartet No. 19 in C Major, K 465 (“Dissonance”) and Bartók’s harrowing String Quartet No. 3 at the Greene Space, free w/rsvp

1/8, 7:30/9 PM playfully lyrical French jazz singer/composer Camille Bertault with similarly vivid pianist Leo Genovese at Mezzr0w, $20

1/8. 8 PM haunting, fearsomely powerful soul belter and noir Americana songstress Karen Dahlstrom at the Svendale Tasting Room, 486 Court St. (4th Pl/Luquer), Carroll Gardens, F to Carroll St

1/8, 8 PM otherworldly French-Algerian singer Ourida with her combo at Barbes

1/8, 8 PM ferociously powerful, politically fearless southern gothic guitar/banjo player Amythyst Kiah at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, $20 gen adm

1/8, 9 PM Grace Kelly All Day – imagine the Talking Heads with genuine menace, echoes of dark punk and Laurel canyon psychedelia – at St. Vitus, $10

1/9, 7 PM soaringly explosive jazz composer/torch singer Nicole Zuraitis at 55 Bar

1/9-10, 7:30/930 PM  this era’s most cutting-edge, politically relevant large jazz ensemble, Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society at the Jazz Gallery, $30

1/9, 7:30/9:30 PM  terse, purposeful rising star postbop saxophonist Melissa Aldana leads a quartet with Shai Maestro on piano at the Jazz Standard, $30

1/9, 1/12 and 1/15-17, 730 PM Garrett Fisher’s Indian and Japanese-inspired Blood Moon, “A contemporary response to a 15th century Noh play, Blood Moon uses choreography, puppetry, and a Taiko-infused score to create a meditation on the end of life, the nature of joy, regret, and whether atonement is possible,” at the Baruch Performing Arts Center, $35 tix avail

1/9, 7:30 PM, repeating 1/11 at 8 pianist Paul Lewis performs Grieg’s Romantic Piano Concerto with the NY Philharmonic who then tackle Richard Strauss’ Alpine Symphony, $32 tix avail

1/9, 8 PM twinkly, chimey female-fronted dreampop/janglerock band Lunar Vacation at Baby’s All Right, $15

1/9, 8 PM bassist Michael Bates’ potentially incendiary chamber jazz band Acrobat with Mazz Swift-violin; Sara Schoenbeck-bassoon followed by eclectic violinist Dana Lyn’s protean, psychedelic, ecologically woke jazz project Mother Octopus at the Owl

1/9, 8 PM unpredictable sound sculptor Thessia Machado, electronic performer Melody Loveless, instrumental builder Viola Yip and flutist Roberta Michel explore diverse textures at Arete Gallery $15

1/9, 8:30pm cuatro shredder Jorge Glem & pianist Cesar Orozco ;9:15pm –  polymath latin jazz pianist Arturo O’Farrill leads a small group; 10:00pm – majestic, slinky cumbia accordionist/bandleader Gregorio Uribe ; 10:45pm Afro-Cuban salsa group Okan’11:45pm – psych-funk/disco group People of Earth at Drom, $15 adv tix rwc. Uribe and band are also here on 1/17 for the same deal, general admission

1/9, 7 PM eclectic indie classical/Americana banjo player Jayme Stone at the basement room at the Rockwood, $15. At 9 PM unpredictably fun, funny  art-rock/psychedelic soul band the Academy Blues Project  are at the small room there, and on 1/24 at 10 PM they’re at Shrine for $10

1/9, 10:30 PM colorful bassist Joris Teepe leads a quintet with Wayne Escoffery on sax and Leo Genovese on piano at Smalls

1/10, 6 PM soaringly lyrical, fearlessly intense acoustic tunesmith Linda Draper at the American Folk Art Museum

1/10. 6 PM  irrepressible, historically informed, crystalline-voiced folk noir/art-rock/loopmusic songwriter Elisa Flynn and pensive lo-fi chamber pop band Teething Veils at Holo, sug don

1/10, 6 PM crystalline-voiced, noir-tinged third-stream jazz chanteuse Tessa Souter followed at 10 by maginative, purist jazz drummer Dan Pugach’s Nonet at 55 Bar

1/10, 7 PM playfully intense female-fronted Balkan band Blisk;  7:45pm flamenco funk guitarist Juan Carmona ; 8:30pm flamenco songstress/guitarist Mamselle Ruiz; 9:15pm Digging Roots – who mash up gutter blues, folk noir and dub reggae -10:00pm Haitian hip-hop artist Vox Sambou ; 10:45pm  kitchen sink Brazilian/C&W/funk/New Orleans band Nation Beat ;11:30pm Danish klezmer band Mames Babagenush at Drom, free

1/10, 7 PM a rare US performance by stark, hypnotic Siberian Sakha Republic folk artists and khomus players Yuliyana Krivoshapkina and Nachyn Choreve at the Rubin Museum of Art, $30

1/10, 7:30/9:30 PM purposeful Serbian composr Rale Micic on guitar with Jared Gold switching from organ to guitar – wow! – and Jason Tiemann on drums at the Bar Next Door, $12, should be interesting

1/10, 8 PM bassist Sean Lovato‘s Microcosms band with Patti Kilroy on violin and Santiago Liebson on piano followed by bassist Lisa Hoppe‘s Jein trio with Todd Neufeld on guitar at Scholes St Studios

1/10, 8 PM trumpeter Ben Holmes’ broodingly Middle Eastern/klezmer-tinged Naked Lore trio followed at 10 by followed at 10 by Super Yamba playing their bracingly psychedelic Afrobeat jams at Barbes

1/10, 8 PM charismatic loopmusic cellist Maya Beiser plays her new album Bowie Cello Symphonic: Blackstar – a new cello arrangement of Bowie’s last album – at the World Financial Center, free

1/10, 8 PM ambitiously lyrical latin jazz pianist Aruan Ortiz at Happy Lucky No. 1 Gallery $20

1/10-11, 8 PM Jeremy Schonfeld’s epic 200-person rock opera Iron & Coal, exploring the death of his Holocaust survivor father at the Lynch Theatre at John Jay College, 524 W 59th St. $35 tix avail

1/10, 9 PM a rare solo show by Girls on Grass’ psychedelic guitar goddess Barbara Endes followed by catchy funk-punk/new wave band Dolly Trolly at Branded Salooon

1/10 ,9 PM subtle, purposeful soul guitarist/singer Julia Ziwic at the small room at the Rockwood; at 11 PM lively oldtimey swing road warriors the Bumper Jacksons are at the basement room there for $15

1/10, 10 PM the Hillbenders play their deadpan hilarious bluegrass version of the Who’s Tommy followed by Celti-grass band We Banjo 3 at Iridium, $25

1/10, 11:30 PM brilliant Danish klezmer jazz ensemble Mames Babagenush at Drom, free. 1/11 at 8:30 they’re at Mehanata for $20, then 1/13 at 7:30 they’re at the Manhattan JCC for $25, then 1/18 they’re at Golden Fest

1/11, 5 PM chanteuse/uke player Dahlia Dumont’s Blue Dahlia playing edgy, smartly lyrically-fueled, jazz-infused tunes in English and French with classic chanson and Caribbean influences followed eventually at 7 by edgy dobro player and Americana/jazz singer  Abbie Gardner at the small room at the Rockwood. Lush, wildly eclectic pan-Mediterranean art-rock/latin/chanson ensemble Banda Magda play down the block at the big room at 9;30 for $15

1/11, 5 PM Sufi percussionist/vocalist Kamyar Arsani at the Center for Remembering and Sharing, $20

1/11 ,7:30/9:30 PM ambitious, smart, noir-inclined tenor saxophonist Patrick Cornelius  with Rick Rosato on bass and Carl Allen on drums at the Bar Next Door, $12

1/11, 4 PM tango guitarist Adam Tully followed at 9:30 by  accordion genius Shoko Nagai’s haunting, increasingly loud and psychedelic Tokala Silk Road/klezmer mashup project and then at 11 by pyrotechnic singer Kamala Sankaram’s slinky, surfy, cinematic cumbia/Bollywood band Bombay Rickey at Barbes

1/11, 6 PM the Ekstasis cello-piano Duo play French chamber music by Faure, Ravel, Poulenc and others at Merkin Concert Hall, free

1/11, 7 PM Sounds of Siberia feat. Yuliyana and Nachyn; spellbinding Palestinian oudist Huda Asfour 7:45 PM ; Afro-latin jazz saxophonist Cochemea 8:30 PM;’ bhangra mastermind Sunny Jain’s Wild Wild East 9:15 PM ; psychedelic latin soul band Alba and the Mighty Lions 10:00 PM excellent psychedelic tropicalia/live dub band Combo Lulo 10:45 PM’ Haitian conscious rapper Vox Sambou 11:30 PM; Lyon-based rai bandleader Sofiane Saidi and Mazalda 12:15 AM; more trippy dubwise tropical grooves with Los Cumpleaños 1:00 AM at Drom, $10

 1/11, 7 PM pensive Virginia Americana chanteuse Dori Freeman at the basement room at the Rockwood, $12

 1/11, 7:30/9:30 PM rapturous  pan-Asian singer/multi-instrumentalist Jen Shyu plays her haunting, elegaic solo Zero Grasses suite at the Jazz Gallery, $30

1/11. 8 PM pensive, anthemic parlor pop songwriter Jess Clinton followed by the more trad front-porch style Diana Jones at the People’s Voice Cafe, sugg don, $20, “more if you choose; less if you can’t; no one turned away.”

1/11, 8 PM  soprano Lucy Dhegrae sings works on themes of trauma and triumph by Eve Beglarian, Osnat Netzer, Katherine Young plus pieces by Guillaume de Machaut, Poulenc and others at National Sawdust, $25 adv tix rec

1/11, 9 PM xplosive, theatrical, phantasmagorical indie/metal band A Deer A Horse followed by scampering, irrepressibly fun girlpunk/psychedelic band Sharkmuffin at the Broadway, $12. Sharkmuffin are also at Our Wicked Lady on 1/19 at 10:30 for $10

1/12, noon fiery ecological activist/bandleader Rev. Billy and his massive original gospel-style choir at Joe’s Pub, $15

1/12, 2 PM exhilarating klezmer/latin/cumbia jamband Metropolitan Klezmer and their mostly-female sister band Isle of Klezbos at the Cutting Room, $20 adv tix rdc

1/12, 5 PM the Sometime Boys’ riveting, powerful, theatrical frontwoman Sarah Mucho at Freddy’s

1/12, 5 PM, repeating 1/15 at 7 fearless impresario/pianist Yelena Grinberg plays Handel keyboard suites  at her upper westside piano salon, reception to follow, $35, close to the 1/2/3 train at 96th St., deets here 

1/12, 5:30 PM fiery pianist Connie Han at Birdland, $30 at the bar. Followed at 7 (separate $20 adm) by whirlwind jazz drummer Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom

1/12, 6 PM noir guitar legend Jim Campilongo leads his trio at 55 Bar

1/12, 7 PM the multimedia performance Come‘Round Right pairs sculptural set pieces by Mara Baldwin, inspired by Shaker furniture and crafts, with music by Sarah Hennies based on Shaker hymns, illustrating a Shaker ghost town and its legacy at National Sawdust, $25 adv  tix rec

1/12, 7ish eclectic Americana/front porch folk songstresss Mary-Elaine Jenkins, janglerock guitar maven Teddy Thompson at around 8, then a lame, fussy faux-soul duo and at 10 irrepressible, high-voltage Americana harmony trio Red Molly at Bowery Ballroom, $20 adv tix available at the Mercury

1/12, 7 PM soaring, politically relevant, brilliantly purposeful alto saxophonist Miguel Zenon with pianist Gerald Clayton at Teatro Latea 107 Suffolk St.,, $20/$15 stud

1/12. 8 PM sound artists Todd Barton, Rachelle Rahmé, and Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe build a hypnotic dystopic dreamscape at Roulette, $18 adv tix rec

1/12, 8 PM a super rare NYC appearance by New Zealand’s trombone-driven Rodger Fox Big Band with singer Erna Ferry at Shapeshifter Lab, sug don

1/12, 8:30 PM articulate, lyrical third-stream jazz pianist Laila Biali at the basement room at the Rockwood, $10

1/13, 6 PM the Greenpoint Songwriters Exchange – a diverse bunch playing everything from folk noir to Costelloesque, literary rock to Indian ragas and oldschool soul – at Pete’s

1/13, 6:30 PM bassist Lisa Hoppe with Samantha Boshnak on trumpet and Stephen Boegehold on drums at the Bar Next Door, free wow

 1/13, 7 PM tuneful postbop pianist Jim Ridl leads his group from behind the Rhodesl at 55 Bar

1/13, 7:30 PM in reverse order at the Poisson Rouge: Kevin Eubanks and  erudite pianist Orrin Evans,, whirlwind jazz drummer Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom, plus allstar all-female jazz crew Artemis, $25 adv tix rec

1/13, 8 PM the String Orchestra of Brooklyn celebrate the release of their first studio album, afterimage, with a performance of Chris Cerrone’s High Windows and Jacob Cooper’s Stabat Mater Dolorosa at Roulette, $18 adv tix rec

1/13 8:30 PM exhilarating klezmer/latin/cumbia jamband Metropolitan Klezmer at Drom, free

1/13, midnight boisterously funny oldschool 60s C&W and brooding southwestern gothic with the Jack Grace Band at the Ear Inn

1/14, 7 PM dark cinematic klezmer art-rockers Barbez‘s Dan Kaufman in a rare duo with percussionist/vibraphonist John Bollinger followed by clever, fiery, eclectic ten-piece Balkan/hip-hop/funk brass maniacs Slavic Soul Party at Barbes, $10

1/14, 7 PM eclectic, hard-hitting, lyrical composer/tenor saxophonist Stan Killian at 55 Bar

1/14-15, 7:30/930 PM  the haunting, smokily atmospheric Michael Leonhart Orchestra at the Jazz Standard, $30. Anat Cohen joins the band on the 14th!

1/14 7:30 PM the Escher String Quartet with pianist Juho Pohjonen play the Debussy String Quartet plus works by Suk, Brahms and Janacek at Alice Tuly Hall, $34 tix avail

1/14, 8 PM the Istanbul Trio – who with oud, lyra, guitar, vocals, bass and percussion are really a sextet – at Sisters Brooklyn, 900 Fulton St, C to Clinton-Washington, sug don

1/14, 8 PM sizzling Hungarian punk-folk/art-rock string band Bohemian Betyars at Drom, $10 adv tix rec

1/14, 8 PM a good terse, minimalistically intense, lyrically haunting female songwriter twinbill: Erin Durant and Claire Cronin at Trans-Pecos, $10

1/15, 6 PM multistylistic jazz singer/bandleader Tammy Scheffer followed by hard-hitting bassist Dawn Drake & Zapote‘playing psychedelic Afrobeat and funk  at the small room at the Rockwood.  Pastoral gothic accordion art-rock band Sam Reider & the Human Hands are down the block at the big room for $15 at 7

1/15, 7:30 PM cutting-edge, fearlessly woke postbop jazz powerhouse the Curtis Bros. play the album release show for their new one at Dizzy’s Club, $35

1/15, 7:30 PM, 1/16-18 at 8 and 1/18 at 2 PM, “set in a graveyard filled with the persistent cries of visitors in mourning and the music of Zulu Isicathamiya singers , the death-fixated lamentation Cion: Requiem of Ravel’s Boléro draws inspiration from Zakes Mda’s novel,  Cion and Ravel’s Boléro” at the Joyce Theatre, 175 Eighth Ave, $35 tix avail

1/15, 8 PM feral guitarist Brandon Seabrook leads a trio wih Dan Levin – cello and Henry Fraser – bass at Barbes

1/15-19, 8:30 PM darkly tuneful pianist Kris Davis leads a series of ensembles at the Stone at the New School, $20. Choice pick: the 1/18 show with Ingrid Laubrock (sax) Trevor Dunn (bass) Tom Rainey (drums) Mat Maneri (viola) and special guest Jen Shyu (voice)

 1/15, 8:30 PM pyrotechnic clarinetist Ismail Lumanovski’s of the NY Gypsy All-Stars with pianist Ruslan Agababayev at Drom, $10

1/15, 10 PM hotshot fiddler Josie Toney‘s oldtimey string band at Pete’s

 1/15, 10:30 PM tight doom metal band Eternal Black at Arlene’s, $10

 1/16, 7 PM uncluttered, darkly diverse Americana band Kaylor & the Tin Cans at the big room at the Rockwood, $10

1/16, 7:30/9:30 PM bassist Chris Tordini leads a quartet with Red Wierenga on accordion and Anna Webber on tenor sax at the Jazz Gallery, $15

1/16, 7:30 PM Nicaraguan crooner Luis Enrique and wild cuatro band C4 Trio at the Lincoln Center Atrium, free, early arrival advised

1/16-19, 7:30/9:30 PM pyrotechnic postbop tenor saxophonist  David Murray leads his explosive octet at the Jazz Standard, $30

1/16, 7:30 PM noir-tinged art-rock bandleader Agnes Obel at National Sawdust, $25 adv tix rec

1/16, 7:30 PM pianist Per Tengstrand plays Beethoven’s Moonlight, Appasionnata and Pathetique Sonatas at Scandinavia House, $25

 1/16, 7:30 PM acerbic, enigmatic, Lynchian parlor pop/new wave/avant garde band Dollshot followedc by hypnotic minimalist postrockers Matt McBane & Build at Shapeshifter Lab, $tba

 1/16, 730 PM oldtime Americana maven Dom Flemons at Symphony Space, $20 for 30 and under, $30 otherwise

1/16, 8 PM feral guitarist Brandon Seabrook‘s twin-drum band Die Trommel Fatale at Nublu 151, $15

1/16, 8 PM edgy lead guitarist Damian Quinones and his psychedelic latin soul band followed by explosive, creepy, colorful psychedelic rembetiko metal band Greek Judas at Barbes

1/16, 8 PM a rare NYC performance by Luxemourg pianist Sabine Weyer with works by Bacri, Scriabin and Miaskovsky at Arete Gallery, $20

1/17, 2 PM mezzo-soprano Eve Gigliotti workshops her forthcoming Cindy Sherman-inspired chamber opera exploring pivotal moments in a woman’s life, with music by Ellen Reid, Paola Prestini and Missy Mazzoli at National Sawdust, $20 adv tix rec

1/17, 6 PM composer-collective Oracle Hysterical, with collaborators Hub New Music, premiere “an evening-length collection of songs inspired by the expeditions of a wide-ranging group of ambitious, gritty – and often naive, cruel, and myopic explorers. Text comes from the journals of European ‘New World’ explorers like Columbus, Cortes, and de Soto; Puritan women on their new frontier; the naturalist John James Audubon; the ill-fated Arctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott (whose Terra Nova expedition party never made it home); the ancient king Gilgamesh and his quest to cheat death; and the Chinese mariner, treasure seeker, and builder of giant ships Zheng He” at 1 Rivington St., $15

1/17, 6 PM intense, wickedly tuneful jazz oudist/guitarist Gordon Grdina with his Nomad Trio with pianist Matt Mitchell and drummer Jim Black, at the old Nublu, $10

1/17, 7:30 PM and then 1/18 starting at 6 PM and going til maybe 3 in the morning, NYC’s funnest annual music festival, Golden Fest, with over a hundred Balkan, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and other dance bands throughout five different rooms at Grand Prospect Hall in Park Slope. Serbian sweets! Spinach pies! Various pickled munchies and more all included! R train to Prospect Ave, go up the hill, you can’t miss it.

1/17, 7 PM  jangly Laurel Canyon psych-folk songwriter Rebecca Turner at Buunni Performance Space, (4961 Broadway btw 207th Street and Isham in Inwood), $15

1/17, 7 PM, repeating 1/18 at 8 the fearlessly relevant, toweringly intense Arturo O’Farrill & the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra at Symphony Space, $25 tix avail

1/17, 8 PM American Contemporary Music Ensemble perform music of Gavin Bryars at the Tenri Institute, $25/$15 stud

1/17, 8 PM rustic Brazilian jungle guitar-and-accordion sounds with Regional de NY followed at 10 by  psychedelic salsa bandleader Zemog El Gallo Bueno at Barbes

1/17, 8 PM a festival of Tatar song with the Symphony Orchestra of Tatarstan and Eilenkrig Jazz Orchestra at Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, $25 tix avail

1/17-18, 8 PM polyrhythmic jams: Michael Formanek – bass; Mauricio Herrera – percussion; Noel Brennan – percussion; Patricia Brennan – vibraphone at Happy Lucky No. 1 Gallery, $20

 1/17, 9 PM the annual Dolly Parton bday singalong at the Jalopy, free

1/17, 9 PM noisy, unpredictably intense female-fronted guitar/drums/organ band Parlor Walls followed by punchy noiserockers Big Bliss at Alphaville, free

1/17, 9:30 PM fiery Portuguese twelve-string guitar sorceress Marta Pereira da Costa at Joe’s Pub, $25

1/17, 10 PM crunchy, individualistic fenale-fronted metal band Sister Thieves – guitar, synth and drums – at Arlene’s $10

1/17, 10:30 PM psychedelic janglerockers American String Conspiracy at Freddy’s

 1/17, 11 PM haphazard, unhinged doom metal band Ether Coven at St. Vitus, $12

1/18, 4 PM the Erik Satie Quartet – Ron Hay (trombone), Max Seigel (bass trombone), Ben Holmes (trumpet), and Andrew Hadro (bari sax) –reinvent classic and obscure Satie chamber pieces as well as rare compositions by his obscure contemporaries, followed at 6 by wildly eclectic, edgy,lyrical soul/jazz cellist/singer Marika Hughes followed at 8 by intense, lyrical jazz bassist/composer Pedro Giraudo leading his Tango Quartet and at 10 by ex-Chicha Libre keyboard sorcerer Josh Camp’s wryly psychedelic cumbia/tropicalia/dub band Locobeach at Barbes

1/18, 7 PM fiery ecological activist/bandleader Rev. Billy and his massive original gospel-style choir at Buunni Performance Space, (4961 Broadway btw 207th Street and Isham in Inwood), $10, “nobody turned away”

1/18, 7 PM  unusually adventurous indie classical ensembles Hotel Elefant &  eclectic indie classical piano trio Bearthoven  play music by Fjóla Evans and Leaha Maria Villarreal at Arete Gallery, sug don

1/18, 8 PM Matt Sargent and Zach Rowden‘s Tide for ten basses, whooooah, at Scholes St Studios, $10

1/18, 8ish atmospherically anthemic Indian-influenced spacerock band Humeysha at Elsewhere, $12

1/18. 9 PM hip-hop artist Major Taylor followed by scorching political punk band the 1865 at BAM Cafe, get there early

1/18. 9 PM pounding, hypnotic no wave/noisecore band Kralice at St. Vitus, $12

1/18, 10 PM amusing weedhead rapper Kaheim Rivera followed by messy, funny female-fronted punk/80s band Ashjesus at the Broadway, $12

1/19, 3 PM Jessica Park, violin; Benjamin Larsen, cello; Hyungjin Choi, piano play works by Natalie Dietterich, Robert Sirota, Frank Bridge and Mozart at Concerts on the Slope, St. John’s Episcopal Church, 139 St. John’s Place, downhill from 7th Ave, Park Slope, any train to Grand Army Plz, sugg don

1/19, 5 PM bassist Sam Suggs plays solo bass arrangements of famous and not so famous classical works tba at the Lounge at Hudson View Gardens, 128 Pinehurst Ave @ W 183rd St, A train or #1 train (to 181st St) or the M4 bus (to 183rd St), $15/$12 stud/srs

1/19, 5:30 PM lavish, slinky latin noir big band jazz with the  Scott Reeves Jazz orchestra at Birdland, $30

1/19, 6:30 PM haunting Middle Eastern jazz bassist Petros Klampanis and his group followed eventually by similarly haunting violinist Layale Chaker at Drom, $20

1/19, 7 PM brilliant steel guitarist Mike Neer’s Steelonious – who do Monk covers in the same vein as Buddy Emmons –   followed at 9:30  by Romany jazz/psychedelic rock guitar mastermind Stephane Wrembel at Barbes

1/19, 7 PM pianists Brian Mark, Isabelle “Izzy” O’Connell, and Kathleen Supové join to explore the subject of migration and human struggle in a multidisciplinary setting with flutist Tessa Brinckman playing works by Meredith Monk, Missy Mazzoli, Randall Woolf, Howie Kenty, and Mary Kouyoumdjian, among others plus world premieres by Valerie Coleman and Raymond Deane at Arete Gallery $15

1/19, 9 PM Slovenian saxophonist Jan Kus’ Slavo Rican Assembly at the big room at the Rockwood $10

1/20, 7 ish epic haunting goth-tinged slowcore band Vestments, moody lo-fi keyboardist/singer Anni Rossi and the darkly armospheric Sondra Sun-Odeon at St. Vitus, $10

1/20, 7:30 PM soprano sax star Sam Newsome leads a quartet with Angelica Sanchez on piano at Smalls

1/20, 8/10:30 PM cutting-edge vibraphonist Joel Ross’ genuinely Good Vibes band at the Blue Note, $20 at the bar

1/20, 9;30 PM trumpeter Sonny Singh’s “revolutionary devotional Sikh music”project at Barbes

1/21, drinks at 5:30 PM, show at 6, violinist Lauren Cauley leads a 21st century music ensemble at the Miller Theatre, free

1/21, 7:30 PM this era’s most fearlessly relevant, hard-hitting tenor saxophonist, JD Allen leads his explosive new trio at Smalls followed at 10:30 by charismatic, adventurous postbop/avant garde trombonist/crooner Frank Lacy

1/21, 730 PM pianist Xiaohui Yang plays works by Beethoven, Saint-Saens, Faure, Chopin, Shulamit Ran and others at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, $20

 1/21, 7:30/9:30 PM purist postbop jazz guitarist Ed Cherry leads his organ trio with Kyle Koehler on the B3 at the Jazz Standard, $30

1/22, 7 PM pianist Lucas Debargue plays works by Ravel and Scarlatti at National Sawdust, $25 adv tic rec

 1/22, 7:30 PM bassist Alexis Cuadrado leads a group playing live film scores forAlice Guy-Blaché’s The Consequences of Feminism and Algie the Miner, Harold M. Shaw’s The Land Beyond the Sunset and Charlie Chaplin’s The Immigrant at the World Financial Center, free

1/21-25, 8:30/11 PM iconic fire-and-ice jazz singer Karrin Allyson plays Mose Allison at Birdland, $30, wow, could be amazing

 1/22, 7 PM furious, politically fearless soul-punk/postrock band Algiers play the album release show for their new one at Rough Trade, free w/vinyl purchase

1/22, 8 PM singer Dida Pelled salutes obscure and cult favorite women songwriters including Connie Converse, Elizabeth Cotten, Molly Drake, Vashti Bunyan and Norma Tanega at Barbes

 1/22, 8 PM dark, savagely brilliant guitarist Ava Mendoza and viola sorceress Jessica Pavone at Happy Lucky No. 1 Gallery. They’re also there on 129

 1/22, 8:30 PM haunting Middle Eastern violinist Layale Chaker & Sarafand: Jake Charkey (cello) Phillip Golub (piano) Nick Dunston (bass) Adam Maalouf (percussion) at the Stone at the New School, $20

1/22, 9 PM lush, snidely lyrical parlor pop/new wave band Office Culture at the Sultan Room, $10

1/22, 10:30 PM shapeshifting pianist Sullivan Fortner solo at Mezzrow, $20

1/23, 7 PM plaintive Iranian classical songs with Amir Vahab and ensemble at the People’s Forum, 320 W 37th St, $15

1/23, 7:30 PM plush, balmy, playful oldtimey uke swing band Daria Grace & the Pre-War Ponies at Symphony Space, $20 for 30 and under, $30 otherwise

1/23, 7:30 PM trippy dubwise tropical grooves with Los Cumpleaños at the Lincoln Center Atrium, free, early arrival advised

1/23. 7:30 PM organist Clara Gerdes plays her new arrangement of Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloe Suite No. 2, as well as Julius Reubke’s iconically venomous Sonata on the 94th Psalm at St. Bartholomew’s Cathedral, free, wow

 1/23, 8 PM mutimedia artists and improvisers including  Sugar Vendil, Jean Carla Rodea, Popebama (Erin Rogers and Dennis Sullivan) play and debate the relevance of new music in a 21st century, historically-informed context at Arete Gallery, $15

1/23, 8 PM composer Scott Johnson and indie classical ensemble ensemble Contemporaneous  play relevant new works examining nationalism and racism, inspired by the sampled voices of immigrants to the US at Roulette, $18 adv tix rec

1/23-24, 8 PM hauntingly jangly noir Americana/surf/punkgrass band the Sadies  at Union Pool,$20, yessssss, they slayed here the last couple of times

 1/23, 8 PM brooding Bulgarian art-rock chanteuse Ruth Koleva at Drom, $20 adv tix rec

1/23, 8 PM pianist Tianqi Du performs 13 pieces  from Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I & II, and Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op.87. at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, $30 tix avail

1/23. 8 PM conversational pianist Jeffrey Siegel plays works by Grieg, Stenhammar, Sibelius, Nielsen, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff at Scandinavia House, $25

 1/23-26, 8:30 PM rapturous  pan-Asian singer/multi-instrumentalist Jen Shyu leads a series of groups at the Stone at the New School, $20. Choice pick: 1/24 with violist Mat Maneri, remixed live by Ikue Mori

1/23, 9ish wild live techno with sax-and-drums monsters Moon Hooch at Bowery Ballroom, $20 adv tix rec available at the Mercury

1/23, 9 PM Certain General guitarslinger Phil Gammage plays his dark Americana and blues at 11th St Bar

1/24, 7 PM trumpetert Kate Amrine plays the album release show for her new protest record with music by Gemma Peacocke, Kevin Joest, Jacob TV, Niloufar Nourbakhsh, Ruby Fulton, Howie Kenty, and original compositions, joined by Ford Fourqurean on clarinet, Leanne Friedman on alto flute, and Richard Harris on trombone, t Spectrum, $15

1/24, 7 PM composer David ieri presents an “audacious” new live score for Carl Th. Dreyer’s 1928 silent film classic La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc, at the Greene Space, $25

1/24, 7:30 PM the New Juilliard Ensemble play works by women composers Jacqueline Fontyn, Ursula Mamlok, Ruth Crawford Seeger, Elisabeth Lutyens, Galina Ustvolskaya at the Sharp Theatre at Juilliard, free, tix req 

1/2,4 8 PM best twinbill of the year so far: timeless, haunting, playful octogenarian Armenian jazz sage and multi-reedman Souren Baronian‘s Taksim followed by the world’s creepiest, slinkiest, most psychddelic crime jazz/film noir band, Big Lazy at Barbes

1/24-25, 8 PM the reliably entertaining, adventurous Chelsea Symphony play Jennifer Higdon’s elegiac blue cathedral, TCS’ first drumset concerto presentation, Just Say Yes, by Alexandra Gardner featuring Michael Blancaflor and Milhaud’s first cello concert with Kurt Behnke, both on Friday night’s performance. Saturday’s concert includes Sara Dudley’s soloist debut on the William Walton viola concerto; both shows conclude with Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 at the DiMenna Center $25

1/24, 9 PM amazingly versatile, genuinely Hendrixian guitar shredder Viva DeConcini followed by bass sax monster Stefen Zeniuk’s punk mambo crew the NY Fowl Harmonic at Branded Saloon

1/24, 10 PM allusively haunting, minimalist folk noir singer Belle-Skinner at the Owl

1/25, 4 PM high-energy Afro-Colombian trance-dance band Grupo Rebolu at Flushing Town Hall, $14

 1/25, 7 PM New York’s most charismatic, darkly compelling lyrical songwriter/storyteller/keyboard genius Rachelle Garniez‘ annual goodbye party – saluting some of those who’ve left us this year – at Pangea, $25

1/25 7 PM Egyptian exile and firebrand songwriter Ramy Essam and visual artist Ganzeer team up with playwrights/ musicians The Lazours to commemorate and keep the hope of the Arab Spring alive .at National Sawdust, $20 adv tix rec

1/25, 7:30 PM the Rosamunde String Quartet play works by Mendelssohn, Kevin Puts and Schubert at Washington Irving High School, 40 Irving Pl, $18

 1/25, 8 PM NY Baroque Incorporated sing works by Handel, Lully, Muffat and Telemann at the Miller Theatre, $30 seats aavil

1/25, 9 PM the Dirty Waltz Band- a seven-piece group playing more than a dozen instruments in 3/4 time from Balkan, Irish, jazz, blues and American folk traditions – at the Jalopy, $15

 1/25, 10 PM slinky, hypnotic percussive Moroccan trance band Innov Gnawa at Barbes

 1/25, 11 PM one of the great saxophonists in the history of ska, Dave Hillyard and the Rocksteady 7 at the Gutter, $7

 1/26, 2 PM a rare US appearance by raucous Chinese central plains party ensemble Zhou Family Band at Flushing Town Hall, $18

1/26, 7 PM guitarists Jim Campilongo and Steve Cardenas duke it out followed by paradigm-shifting Romany jazz/psychedelic rock guitar mastermind Stephane Wrembel at Barbes

1/26, 8 PM high-voltage psychedelic cumbia/Afrobeat jamband MAKU Soundsystem  at C”Mon Everybody, $10

1/26, 8 PM pissed-off funny punkish music for the disenfranchised: irresistibly funny political all-female punk trio Witchslap, the even more pissed-off Bint, the even rougher Que Sick, the sardonically spot-on Anxious? Anxious!, haphazard dark punkish female-fronted band Cruel Children at Footlight Bar, $10

1/26, midnight psychedelic cinematic Italophile instrumentalists/parodists Tredici Bacci at the Mercury, $10 adv tix rec

1/27, 7 PM jazz vibraphonist Stefon Harris and Blackout at the Schomburg Center, free

 1/27, 7 PM atmospheric, psychedelic violinist/singer Concetta Abbate and Rose Stoller pull “ambient lullabies” out of the ether at Footlight Bar, sug don

1/27, 10ish  feral singer Carolina Oliveros’ mighty 13-piece Afro-Colombian trance/dance choir Bulla en el Barrio at Barbes

1/28, 7:30 PM the New Juilliard Ensemble play works by female composers Vivian Fine ,Florence Price, Young-ja Lee, Priaulx Rainier and Mary Lou Williams at the Sharp Theatre at Juiliard, free , tix req 

1/28, 7:30 PM iconic art-rockers the Bang on a Can All-Stars play world premieres by Amanda Berlind, Alvin Curran, Hildur Guðnadóttir and Qasim Naqvi, plus Phil Kline’s Exquisite Corpses and Julius Eastman’s “super-groove” Stay on It at Merkin Concert Hall, $25

1/28, 8 PM haunting, magical Middle Eastern classical singer Shelley Thomas plays oud with classical ensemble Brooklyn Takht at Sisters Brooklyn, 900 Fulton St, C to Clinton-Washington, sug don

1/28, 8 PM a sizzling New Orleans brass night at Drom: the badass, original all-female Brass Queens, hip hop-influenced Flowingos and diverse, latin-influenced Brass Monkeys, $10 gen adm

1/28, 8 PM the hauntingly hallucinatory film Mother Sparrow by Sonya Belaya and Eryka Dellenbach plus live music performance by Belaya’s ensemble Dacha and a live dance performance of Make the Brutal Tender by Nola Sporn Smith and Dellenbach, at Roulette, $18 adv tix rec

1/29, 7 PM rainy-day art-rock/Balkan jazz singer Tamara Jokic followed at 8:30 by intense, rapturous Balkan/Middle Eastern ensemble the Secret Trio –Tamer Pinarbasi, Ismail Lumanovski & Ara Dinkjian – at Drom, $10

1/29, 7 PM Peter Abinger remixes Eric Wubbels’ piano live at the Austrian Cultural Center, free, res req. “Ablinger likes to think about Voices and Piano as his song-cycle, though nobody is singing in it: the voices are all spoken statements from speeches, interviews or readings. And the piano is not really accompanying the voices: the relation of the two components is to be seen more as a competition. Speech and music is being compared. We can also say: reality and perception. Reality/speech is continuous, perception/music is a grid, which tries to approach speech. Actually the piano part is the temporal and spectral scan of the respective voice, something like a coarse gridded photograph it is the analysis of the voice. Music analyses reality….”

1/29, 7:30 PM the New Juilliard Ensemble play works by female composers Miriam Gideon, Vítězslava Kapralova, Germaine Tailleferre, Ruth Crawford Seeger, Margaret Sutherland, Grete von Zieritz, at the Sharp Theatre at Juiliard, free , tix req

1/29-2/1, 7:30/9:30 PM this era’s most consistently interesting jazz pianist, Vijay Iyer at the Jazz Standard, $30. Solo on the 29th, with a trio the rest of the way plus special guest Wadada Leo Smith on trumpet on 2/1, wow

 1/29, 830 PM perennially interesting piano/percussion ensemble Yarn/Wire leads a series of groups at the Stone at the New School, $20. Choice pick: 1/31 with bassoonist Katie Young

 1/29, 9:30 PM ambient electroacoustic sitarist/composer Ami Dang at Joe’s Pub, $15

1/30, 7 PM thoughtfully explorator pianist Yoko MIwa leads her trio at Birdland, $20 at the bar

 1/30, 7:30 PM the New Juilliard Ensemble play works by female composers Lili Boulanger, Peggy Glanville-Hicks, Johanna Magdalena Beyer, Louise Talma, Margaret Bonds, Myriam Marbe, Amy Beach and Ruth Zechlin at the Sharp Theatre at Juiliard, free , tix req 

1/30, 7:30 PM sprawling psychedelic funk jamband Burnt Sugar reinvent songs from Porgy & Bess at the Lincoln Center Atrium, free, early arrival advised

 1/30, 8 PM pianist Simone Dinnerstein leads a quartet playing Bach keyboard sonatas at the Miller Theatre, $30

1/30, 10 PM zabumba player Mike LaValle’s original forro band with Vitor Gonçalves on accordion at Barbes

1/30-31, 10 PM trip-metal doomscapers Wolf Eyes at Union Pool, $15

 1/31, 7 PM hard-hitting latin jazz pianist Donald Vega leads his trio at Birdland, $20 at the bar

 1/31, 7 PM the Neel Murgai Ensemble play the album release show for his new Indian string band record with amazing violin duo Arun Ramamurthy and Trina Basu at the Rubin Museum of Art, $30

 1/31, 7:30 PM the New Juilliard Ensemble play works by female composers Betsy Jolas, Grażyna Bacewicz, Ethel Smyth, Thea Musgrave, ​Sofia Gubaidulina with Raphael Vogl, organ at Alice Tully Hal, free , tix req at the box ofc

1/31, 7:30/9:30 PM Marcus Strickland, JD Allen and Stacy Dillard lead a ferocious tenor sax frontline with rhythm section at the Jazz Gallery, $30

1/31, 8 PM perennially sharp, hilarious avant garde icon Laurie Anderson at Happy Lucky No. 1 Gallery no joke, get there early, $20

1/31, 10 PM Cumbiagra – who’ve been going in a much more psychedelic, electric cumbia direction lately at Barbes

Full calendar for February coming 2/1

2/1, 2:30 PM the NY Classical Players perform the Debussy String Quartet, Dvorak’s American String Quartet and the Ravel Sonata for Violin and Cello at the NYPL for the Performing Arts out back of Lincoln Center free

2/6, 7:30 PM the Telegraph Quartet play a program tba at the Lincoln Center Atrium, free, early arrival advised

2/6, 10ish explosive, creepy, colorful psychedelic rembetiko metal band Greek Judas at Niagara, Ave A/7th St

 2/13 ,7:30 PM hotshot, purist bassist Endea Owens leads her band at the Lincoln Center Atrium, free, early arrival advised

2/17, 7:30 PM vocal and piano group Mirror Visions Ensemble “explores The Disappearing Art of Letter Writing: letters of love and vengeance, reports from the North Pole, missives asking for money or forgiveness, including correspondence of Abraham Lincoln, Emily Dickinson, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Gertrude Stein, and Sullivan Ballou. Tom Cipullo provides indispensable instruction with a newly commissioned Guide to Letter Writing, along with works by Gwyneth Walker, Cole Porter, Wolfgang Erich Korngold, Dominick Argento, Richard Pearson Thomas and Christopher Berg” at the Sheen Center, $25/$15 for students

2/20, 7:30 PM high-voltage oldschool salsa dura with longtime Tito Puente sideman John “Dandy” Rodriguez’s “Dream Team” at the Lincoln Center Atrium, free, early arrival advised

2/24, drinks at 5:30 PM, show at 6, violinist Austin Wulliman & pianist Conrad Tao at the Miller Theatre, free

2/27, 7:30 PM intense, atmospheric chanteuse Imani Uzuri and ensemble “share an intimate chamber concert of compositions from her various works for voice, strings, flute and piano” at the Lincoln Center Atrium, free, early arrival advised

3/31, drinks at 5:30 PM, show at 6, the new generation’s most eclectic jazz harpist, Brandee Younger & bassist Dezron Douglas at the Miller Theatre, free

4/14 drinks at 5:30 PM, show at 6, indie classical supergroup the Hands Free – James Moore, guitar & banjo; Caroline Shaw, violin Eleonore Oppenheim, bass; Nathan Koci, accordionat the Miller Theatre, free

2/24, drinks at 5:30 PM, show at 6, violinist Austin Wulliman & pianist Conrad Tao at the Miller Theatre, free

3/31, drinks at 5:30 PM, show at 6,  the new generation’s most eclectic jazz harpist, Brandee Younger & bassist Dezron Douglas at the Miller Theatre, free

4/14 drinks at 5:30 PM, show at 6, indie classical supergroup the Hands Free – James Moore, guitar & banjo; Caroline Shaw, violin Eleonore Oppenheim, bass; Nathan Koci, accordionat the Miller Theatre, free

Fresh New Interpretations and Dazzling Technique from Conrad Tao at Carnegie Hall

Wednesday night at Carnegie Hall, pianist Conrad Tao delivered a performance that offered a glimpse of an unselfconscious bon vivant sensibility along with daunting, world-class chops and and frequently astonishing insight into a very diverse program.

Tao played with such precision and and evenness of attack that even the night’s most staccato passages had fluidity. He leveraged the thrill factor with an old orchestral trick, beginning pieces or developing themes from a whispery pianissimo so that when things got loud, they seemed even louder. But what was most impressive is that he’d spent a lot of time under the hood with these works, figuring out exactly what makes them purr…or roar.

He opened with David Lang‘s Cage [sorry dude, titles are capitalized around here], a brisk study in single-note counterpoint and a shout-out to the famously silent American composer. Tao’s matter-of-factness and exactitude enhanced the music’s hypnotic feel: others might not have played this as a nocturne, and that’s their loss.

Others also definitely would not have played Bach’s Tocccata in F Sharp minor, BWV 910 with as much spaciousness, and dynamics, and probably with less or even none of the judicious rubato that Tao would return to again and again throughout the evening. But in so doing, he revealed the love ballad at the heart of the work, its fondly jubilant righthand melody cleverly cached amid the composer’s outwardly morphing phrases. Obviously, Bach on the piano is inevitably going to be iconoclastic: this was as rewarding to hear as it must have been fun to play, Tao gritting his teeth and raising his eyebrows as the web grew more complex.

Another work that got even more time under the microscope, as far as extracting every ambitious flicker of modernity, was Rachmaninoff’s Etude-Tableau in A minor, Op. 39, no. 2. Harmonically, it’s almost shockingly more adventurous than the rest of those relatively brief High Romantic iano pieces, most of which he wrote in the 1890s. This one dates from 1917, foreshadowing where he’d go with the Third Piano Concerto and its incessantly shapeshifting jazz-influenced rhythms and flourishes.

Tao delivered Julia Wolfe‘s Earring with acerbity and meticulous, often pointillistic rhythm. There seemed to be a man-versus-machine narrative prefiguring her John Henry suite; here, the machine grew more and more human, with a belltone poignancy. To close the first half of the evening, Tao returned to Lang for another 1990s composition, Wed, an increasingly plaintive, restless, frequently carrilonesque ballad written as a salute to a couple who got married while the bride lay dying in the hospital.

The centerpiece of the second half of the program was a breathtakingly expressive and fresh performance of Schumann’s Kreisleriana. Counterintuitively, the high point was also the quietest section, awash in resonant, lingering phrases, the contrast even greater considering how fast Tao had scampered, if not particularly loudly, through the introduction. Lilting cantabile passages stood out amid minor-key unease and a dance that seemed not only rather Russian but almost phantasmagorical, as Tao worked the dynamics up and down, all the way through to a puckish coda.

There were a couple of misfires too. It’s one thing to program a study in spastic/resonant contrasts, but two? At least the Jason Eckart piece eventually wound down to a blackly suspenseful reflecting pool…but getting there, as the rhythm was epileptically jerked around any time the music could have coalesced, was torture. Which is not to say that ugly music can’t be meaningful or impactful, but this could have made its point in a tenth the time, never mind the Elliott Carter piece it was paired with. And the mawkishly inept freak-folk of Daniel Johnston is no less artless or awkward at Carnegie Hall than it would be on open mic night at any grungy, overpriced Bushwick beardo bar.

Tschaikovsky for a Winter Afternoon

If you’re considering a splurge on the post-Thanksgiving, 2 PM Nov 30 matinee performance of Tschaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 by the NY Philharmonic, it’s probably a good idea. Music Director Jaap Van Zweden is back, and he and the orchestra excel with Rachmaninoff, so this also could be sublime. Tix are pricy: $34 will get you in. The Mozart Wind Serenade in E flat might seem like an odd piece to start the show, but Van Zweden has a knack for making sense of seemingly bizarre segues.

And if you’re looking for a way to warm up for the concert, there’s an excellent, characteristically epic new recording of Tschaikovsky’s Symphonies Nos. 4 and 5 just out from the Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev and streaming at Spotify. Make no mistake about it, this is heavy music: Swan Lake it is not, although it also isn’t completely dark.

The delicately brooding bassoon-and-strings lament that bookends the first movement’s stern, angst-fueled waltz and blustery, swirling crescendos will be a recurrent trope. Likewise, Gergiev and the ensemble stay low to the ground in the grimly murky atmospherics that wind up the first movement, and the melancholy horn melody that opens the second. Mournful bassoon and clarinet eventually rise warily, but not that far. When the plucky basses introduce a secondary theme, that’s a big message, foreshadowing a sudden jolt from nocturnal contentment to sheer horror.

The lickety-split counterpoint of the third movement is downright furtive, and closure doesn’t quite happen with the relative calm of the waltz afterward. For that we have to wait til the triumphant lustre and unexpected, jovial majesty of the finale. And ultimately, it’s too pat: happiness just busting through the clouds without the slightest warning?

So the album’s piece de resistance is the gloomy cumulo-nimbus Russian gothic Symphony No. 4, the opening track. The obvious model is Beethoven’s Fifth, and there are riffs everywhere that Rachmaninoff nicked and took to their logical conclusions with his Second Symphony. The angst police show up with a fanfare; strings sweep down like a flock of vultures, relentlessly; that bassoon and clarinet again!

Momentary cheer gets strutted off to trial or shadowed by a stalker or three. Desolation on some barren steppe gets maximum grandeur. What another orchestra might do as a ballet all the way through, this group introduce as phantasmagoria. Gergiev and the orchestra finally reach Eldorado in the rapidfire overture of the finale, filling the sonic picture, floor to ceiling: they get this troubled masterpiece.