Here ahead is a week for stretching definitions. Consider the exuberant, multi-hyphenate music of Red Baraat or BADBADNOTGOOD: two very different bands, each with a tangential but not-inconsiderable tether to the jazz tradition. Both are worth branching out for — but don’t worry, we’ve also got some smart, swinging options for you, from seasoned hands and new faces alike. Whatever your vibe, there’s something here for you.
BADBADNOTGOOD — May 4, Franklin Music Hall
The primacy of groove and the virtues of flexibility are core tenets for BADBADNOTGOOD, a Toronto-bred instrumental trio now marking its 15th year on the grind. You may know the band through any number of touch points: collaborations with the rappers Ghostface Killah and Tyler, the Creator; promotional affiliations with Coachella and Louis Vuitton; production work for everyone from Kali Uchis to Kaytranada to Kendrick Lamar.
What makes BADBADNOTGOOD click beyond the contact list is an organic feel for rhythm and texture, and an understanding of how to build a cresting wave. The band’s core members — saxophonist Leland Whitty, bassist Chester Hansen, drummer Alexander Sowinski (aka Al Sow) — welcome a handful of friends on their 2024 double album, Mid Spiral. Some of those fellow travelers, like keyboardist Felix Fox-Pappas, trumpeter Kaelin Murphy and percussionist Juan Carlos Medrano Magallenes, are on board for the band’s tour, which rolls into Franklin Music Hall next Sunday.
May 4 at 8 p.m., Franklin Music Hall, 421 North 7th Street, $35; tickets and information.
Red Baraat — Wednesday, World Cafe Live
Led by Sunny Jain, who plays the dhol, a double-sided barrel drum, Red Baraat bills itself as “America’s only South Asian wedding band,” though that may undersell its appeal. The group is a wild dynamo in performance, with an ebullient spirit that welcomes all comers — including the likes of drummer Stewart Copeland and producer Karsh Kale, who both appear on a new album, Bhangra Rangeela.
April 30 at 8 p.m., World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut Street, $20-$25 advance, $25-$30 day of show; purchase tickets.
Future Tense Quartet — Friday, Chris’ Jazz Cafe
Dave Brodie is the instigator of this pianoless quartet, whose lodestar would seem to point more toward the Chet Baker-Gerry Mulligan band of the early 1950s than the Ornette Coleman Quartet of a decade later. In any case, its frontline features Elliot Bild on trumpet and Victor North on saxophone, with a rhythm engine of Brodie on bass and Doug Hirlinger on drums.
May 2 at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Chris’ Jazz Cafe, 1421 Sansom Street, $25, $95 and $115, with dinner packages; purchase tickets.
Tyler Bullock Quintet — Saturday, Chris’ Jazz Cafe
Pianist Tyler Bullock has been steadily making a name for himself over the last several years, since moving from Nashville to New York to attend the jazz program at Juilliard. He surrounds himself with other bright young talent in this new-breed post-bop band: trumpeter Ace Williams, tenor saxophonist Aidan McKeon, bassist Ben Feldman, and drummer Anwar Marshall.
May 3 at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Chris’ Jazz Cafe, 1421 Sansom Street, $30, $100 and $120, with dinner packages; purchase tickets.
Lee Ranaldo / Leila Bordreuil — Saturday, Solar Myth
Lee Ranaldo is best known as a co-founder of Sonic Youth, though his experimental approach to the electric guitar has also found traction in myriad other settings. One is this improvisational duo with Leila Bordreuil, a French-American cellist on the Brooklyn new-music scene. They have performed under the auspices of Issue Project Room in New York, and make perfect sense for Ars Nova Workshop’s 25th anniversary concert season.
May 3 at 8 p.m., Solar Myth, 1131 South Broad Street, $30 advance, $35 day of show; purchase tickets.
