Happy New Year! We’re starting 2025 off just like we do any year: with our eyes trained on the concert calendar. And there’s ample reason to get excited, with some of jazz’s leading lights working all around town. Here are 10 highlights happening between now and Memorial Day. Don’t forget to subscribe to Moment’s Notice for weekly recommendations. See you out there!
Darius Jones Trio — Jan. 10, Solar Myth
Darius Jones is an improvising artist obsessed with the pursuit of revelation — a process that plays out both inwardly, through the thoughtful inquiry of his compositions, and outwardly, in the yawp and squall of his alto saxophone. Last year he released an ambitious, gripping album, Legend of e’Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye), featuring the same exceptional rhythm team he has here: Chris Lightcap on bass, Gerald Cleaver on drums.
Robert Glasper — Jan. 15-17, City Winery Philadelphia
At some point in the last several years, Robert Glasper expanded his creative portfolio, so that he’s no longer just an in-demand keyboardist, composer and producer along the jazz-R&B continuum, but also a lifestyle curator and brand ambassador. Still, his core value proposition is what he sets in motion on the bandstand — a point made succinctly on his new Apple Music Sessions EP, and one he’s sure to underscore during this three-night run.
Jaleel Shaw / Cameron Campbell Quartet — Feb. 12, Solar Myth
Jaleel Shaw is well known to the Philly jazz community as an alto saxophonist who apprenticed with the great Roy Haynes, among others. He recently took on an apprentice of his own through the Jazz Gallery’s Mentoring Series: the rising pianist Cameron Campbell, who hails from Worcester, Mass. Their progress together will be on full display here, in heavy company: Matt Brewer on bass and Johnathan Blake on drums.
The Bad Plus — Feb. 23, Ardmore Music Hall
After two productive decades as a piano-bass-drums triumvirate, The Bad Plus retooled its format a few years back, bringing in guitarist Ben Monder and tenor saxophonist Chris Speed. Their rapport, which can run silvery and luminescent or barbed and brackish, has a firm foundation in the band’s founding rhythm team: Reid Anderson on bass and David King on drums. This show will draw from a fine recent album, Complex Emotions.
Nik Bärtsch's Ronin — Feb. 24, City Winery Philadelphia
Swiss pianist and composer Nik Bärtsch refers to the music of Ronin as “zen-funk,” which gets at the heart of its serene yet hyperkinetic style. Drawing from an energetic recent album, SPIN, Bärtsch will marshal the full resources of his fellow Ronin: Sha on bass clarinet and alto saxophone, Jeremias Keller on electric bass, and Kaspar Rast on drums.
Daymé Arocena — Feb. 27, World Cafe Live
It has been nearly a decade since Daymé Arocena leveled up from local notoriety in Havana, stirring up worldwide interest in her brand of Afro-Cuban jazz and soul. She’s on tour behind her fourth album, Alkemi, which she made in Puerto Rico, working with producer Eduardo Cabra of Calle 13; it will surely be a thrill to hear her expand on its eclectic canvas in concert.
Vijay Iyer Trio — March 15, Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts
Around this time last year, pianist Vijay Iyer released an album, Compassion, that went on to garner great acclaim. The all-star trio from that recording will be in residency at The Village Vanguard in New York at the end of this month; Iyer is at the helm of a different rhythm section, with Devon Gates on bass and Jeremy Dutton on drums, for this concert on the Jazz Cultural Voices Concert Series.
Orrin Evans’ 50th Birthday Party — April 2, Chris’ Jazz Cafe
Bearing the tagline “50 Shades of O,” this party for pianist-composer-bandleader Orrin Evans is sure to be an action-packed affair. At its center is his Captain Black Big Band, which recently scored its third Grammy nomination, for Walk a Mile in My Shoe. That album features a slew of killer vocalists; for this special occasion, the featured guest will be Jazzmeia Horn, who’ll put a fresh spin on “Happy Birthday,” among other familiar fare.
Nubya Garcia — April 2, Ardmore Music Hall
In her interview on The Late Set last fall, tenor saxophonist Nubya Garcia agreed with the characterization of her latest album, Odyssey, as a creative culmination. It features starry guests and an occasional cohort of strings, but its fundamental strength lies in the dynamism of Garcia’s working band, which draws on dub and carnival music as well as jazz, and joins her here.
Lakecia Benjamin — May 9, Zellerbach Theater
An alto saxophonist whose live show can suggest an ungrounded electrical current, Lakecia Benjamin starts 2025 off with two Grammy nods, for Best Jazz Instrumental Album and Best Jazz Performance. Both of those nominations are for Phoenix Reimagined, an album whose fiery dimensions give some indication of what Benjamin will deliver with her quartet at this Penn Live Arts subscription concert.
