The stars are out this week — and not only on the celestial plane. Herbie Hancock, arguably the biggest active name in jazz, touches down midweek at the Kimmel Center. Next Sunday brings Dinner Party, a verifiable supergroup, to Union Transfer. And let’s not forget Nduduzo Makhathini, the leading jazz artist from South Africa. All this in a week that also brings a summit for mallet percussion. How lucky are we?
Spotlight: Herbie Hancock — Wednesday, Marian Anderson Hall
A few months ago, Herbie Hancock celebrated International Jazz Day with flair, in his old hometown. Taking the stage at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, he opened the All-Star Global Concert with his ageless hit “Watermelon Man” — a song that, as he explained in a pretaped video, originated on the cobblestone streets of his childhood on the South Side. Playing its signature riff on a grand piano, he sounded about as fresh and focused as ever.
Hancock is 86, so that in itself is no small feat. But beyond his undiminished touch, harmonic genius and crisp rhythmic aplomb, he’s that rarest creature: an instrumental jazz celebrity, and one who hasn’t come close to exhausting his creative options. His working band, stocked with aces like trumpeter Terence Blanchard and guitarist Lionel Loueke, knows how to follow his every turn. There will surely be a few in this concert, part of a tour that will also bring Hancock to NJPAC (on Friday) and the Newport Jazz Festival (on Sunday).
July 29 at 7:30 p.m., Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, 300 S Broad Street, $91-$287; tickets and information.
The Steve Weiss Mallet Festival — Friday through Aug. 2
A dozen years after the passing of Steve Weiss, the percussionist and instrument collector who established a thriving retail business in Willow Grove, this festival rolls on in his name. Along with an intensive workshop, running all week at the Queen Village branch of the Settlement Music School, it features a weekend’s worth of public performances. Vibraphonist and educator Tony Miceli, the fest’s organizer, will join fellow mallet maestros Warren Wolf, Behn Gillece, Oliver Mayman and Morgan Walbridge on Friday at Chris’ Jazz Cafe; he’ll also pay tribute to Lionel Hampton in the same room on Saturday, with Chuck Redd. Then Miceli and friends will preside over a PECO Free First Sunday Family Day at the Barnes Foundation.
Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., Chris’ Jazz Cafe, 1421 Sansom Street, $25 general admission on Friday, $30 on Saturday, with separate dinner packages; buy tickets here and here. Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Barnes Foundation, 2025 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, free with limited capacity, register here.
Todd Marcus-Virginia MacDonald Quintet — Tuesday, Penn Museum
Bass clarinetist Todd Marcus, a community organizer in his hometown of Baltimore, has recently forged a strong musical bond with clarinetist Virginia MacDonald, a rising star out of Toronto. This al fresco performance, in the garden at the Penn Museum, is sponsored by Nature Sacred, a nonprofit that promotes “sacred spaces” for reflection and connection within the urban fabric.
July 28 at 5:30 p.m., Penn Museum, 3260 South Street, $10-$30; tickets and information.
Nduduzo Makhathini — Thursday and Friday, Solar Myth
The Myth We Chose, the entrancing new album by South African pianist, composer and vocalist Nduduzo Makhathini, foregrounds a handful of characteristic themes: hope and healing, for starters, and a conviction in the redemptive power of genuine connection. It’s a song-forward statement that Makhathini will revisit here, in a trio with bassist Zwelakhe Duma Bell le Pere and drummer Kabelo Mokhatla. Arrive early to the Thursday show (6:30 p.m.) for a free conversation between Makathini and WRTI’s Josh Jackson, which will be featured on The Late Set podcast.
July 30 and 31 at 8 p.m., Solar Myth, 1131 South Broad Street, $30; tickets and information.
Dinner Party — Aug. 2, Union Transfer
A true-blue, new-school jazz-R&B supergroup, Dinner Party — saxophonists Kamasi Washington and Terrace Martin, keyboardist Robert Glasper, and producer 9th Wonder — will soon release its first full-length album, following a pair of well-received EPs. Whatchu Bringing? is dropping on Aug. 7, which makes this show a tantalizing preview. It’s also an embarrassment of riches, given who’ll be opening the show: groundbreaking underground hip-hop group Digable Planets, and the electric bass wizard and falsetto funkmeister known as MonoNeon.
Aug. 2 at 6 p.m., Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden Street, $78; tickets and information.
