How exciting a week is this? Put it this way: Shabaka, the peripatetic British flutist and multi-reedist, has a sold-out album-release show that isn’t listed here, and you won’t even miss it. (Well, you might literally miss it, but you get the idea.) Strap in, here we go.
Spotlight: Irreversible Entanglements — Friday and Saturday, Solar Myth
Future Present Past, the title of the fifth album by Irreversible Entanglements, comes by its temporal inversion honestly. This five-piece avant-garde collective — with vocalist Camae Ayewa, trumpeter Aquiles Navarro, saxophonist Keir Neuringer, bassist Luke Stewart, and drummer Tcheser Holmes — pushes revolutionary concerns to the fore, with a fervor rooted in historical struggle and undeterred by voices of accommodation. The band’s message, on this album as on others, is that a better world is not just achievable, but non-negotiable.
No stranger to Ars Nova Workshop, Irreversible Entanglements comes with a varied brief this weekend. On Friday night the band will celebrate the new album, performing material like the rattling “Juntos Vencemos.” Then on Saturday morning, they’ll join WRTI’s Josh Jackson in a listening session and conversation at the Fabric Workshop and Museum, focused on Don Cherry’s 1972 double album Organic Music Society. Later that evening, the band will present their interpretation of that album — a performance that will no doubt be informed by the earlier talk, and Don and Moki Cherry’s utopian creative vision.
Performance: March 27 and 28 at 8 p.m., Solar Myth, 1131 S Broad Street; $25-30; tickets and information for March 27; tickets and information for March 28.
WRTI Listening Session and Discussion: March 28 at 11 a.m., Solar Myth, 1131 S Broad Street, Free; tickets and information.
Boscov Berks Jazz Fest — Through March 29, Reading, PA
A regional staple since the early ‘90s, the Berks Jazz Fest unfolds in a clutch of venues around Reading, with a stylistic focus that favors the smoother end of the spectrum. Highlights this week include a Chuck Loeb Memorial All-Star Jam, hosted by Eric Marienthal and Philly’s own Gerald Veasley (Thursday); saxophonist Boney James, in his 19th festival appearance (Friday); guitarist Stanley Jordan Plays the Dead (Saturday); and Marcus Miller & Friends, featuring the electric bassist alongside guests including saxophonist Ravi Coltrane and vibraphonist Warren Wolf (Saturday).
Through March 29, Reading, PA, various prices; tickets and information.
Orcutt Shelley Miller — Monday, Solar Myth
Guitarist Bill Orcutt, drummer Steve Shelley and bassist Ethan Miller hail from different but compatible sectors of noise-rock, and last year they released a self-titled album that introduces a new psychedelic power trio. That band headlines this standing show at Solar Myth; Philly guitar hero Chris Forsyth opens with What Is Now, another three-piece, drawing from a new release with a Kierkegaardian title, Both / And.
March 23 at 8 p.m., Solar Myth, 1131 S Broad Street, $35-40; tickets and information.
Nik Bärtsch's Ronin — Wednesday, 118 North, Wayne
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.
March 25 at 7:30 p.m., 118 North, 118 N Wayne Ave, Wayne, PA, $34; tickets and information.
John Pizzarelli Presents Dear Mr. Bennett — Friday and Saturday, Chris’ Jazz Cafe
On strictly vocal terms, John Pizzarelli might suggest a mismatch for Tony Bennett: his tone evokes a suede armchair rather than a silver bell, and grand gestures aren’t his thing. But as he reminds us on Dear Mr. Bennett, Pizzarelli shares the master’s familial ease with the Great American Songbook, along with a natural phrasing that extends to his guitar playing. He appears here with the same elite partners as on the album: pianist Isaiah J. Thompson and bassist Mike Karn.
March 27 and March 28 at 7:30 p.m. & 9:30 p.m., Chris’ Jazz Cafe, 1421 Sansom Street; $45 on Friday, $50 on Saturday, with dinner packages; tickets and information.
WRTI Presents Bill Frisell & Petra Haden — March 29, Sellersville Theater
Bill Frisell just turned 75, and in case anybody thinks the guitarist might ease up on his output, he has a richly imagined new album, In My Dreams, on Blue Note. He has spent this weekend at a birthday fête at Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the celebration continues with a WRTI Presents concert in Sellersville, featuring duets with the shapeshifting singer Petra Haden — a regular collaborator before and since their 2003 album, which gives you an idea of the sound world they’ll conjure together.
March 29 at 8 p.m., Sellersville Theater, 24 W Temple Ave, Sellersville PA, $50-$87; tickets and information.
